Heart of Shadows

by Joyce

  She whispered his name urgently. “Where are you?” The rustling leaves and spitting snow answered her. There was no word from Steve.

  The bungalow was one of the dark ones. The steep path was icy. She had a hard time seeing through the furiously falling flakes. Rae stumbled a few times as she tried to find her way. How did Steve melt into the snow so quickly? Why didn't he answer?

  Guessing that he moved around to the other side, she rounded the corner of the bungalow. Something hard hit her in the back of the head. She collapsed to the ground on her knees. Pain burst across her eyes like shards of glass. She could hear Steve's voice from a long way off. He was coming towards her down a long tunnel. She felt the cold ground under her hands. The strong scent of mint was in her nostrils. Then her thoughts stopped. She didn't feel it when her head hit the ground or the cold mud pushed against her face.

  * * * *

  When she woke up, she was in a small, white cubicle. The smell of antiseptic was strong. Hospital. There was a bright light high above her. Another shining down as someone used a quick finger to hold her eyes open.

  "The tests all seem okay. I think she had a bad hit on the head. How long did you say she was unconscious?"

  "I'm not sure,” Steve replied in his deep voice. “Probably not more than a few minutes."

  "She's coming around now. Hello?” The doctor greeted her cheerfully. When there was no response, he looked at Steve. “What did you say her name was?"

  "Rae Harris."

  "Rae?” The doctor called her name. “Rae Harris? How are you? Does your head hurt?"

  "Like someone hit me.” She winced and tried to sit up.

  Steve was there. He took her arm and helped her up in the narrow emergency room bed.

  "You seem all right. A little swelling on the back of your head but nothing serious. I'm Doctor Robycek. I've been taking care of you. How many fingers do you see me holding up?"

  "Two.” She wanted to ask Steve what happened and wished the doctor would leave them alone.

  "That's very good. I'm sure you're fine. But we should just get a quick CT scan and make certain."

  "I don't think so.” She looked down at the white half-gown that barely covered her.

  The doctor frowned and turned to Steve. “I'll go and set it up. You can convince her while I'm gone."

  The white curtain closed behind the doctor. Rae held a hand to her head. “Don't bother. I'm fine."

  "It wouldn't hurt to check. I'm sorry, Rae. We shouldn't have separated and I should've brought backup."

  "What happened? I was walking around the back of the bungalow, looking for you. Someone hit me from behind."

  "I was walking around the side, trying to find a window to look into. I heard you call me and started back around. I found you on the ground. When I ran back to the parking lot for help, someone had tampered with the car. It wouldn't start. One of the other cars was gone and the bungalow was empty."

  "Damn!” She cried both for the pain in her head and losing Bryce again. “I knew she was there. I saw her footprints in the snow."

  "Duke and the security team are out there. They haven't found anything so far. Mary was ready to go. She didn't leave anything behind."

  "Do you think she suspected something? Or saw us when we pulled into the parking lot?"

  He sighed heavily. “I don't know, Rae. After I found you, I tried to call for help but I had no signal on my cell phone. I ran back to have the desk clerk call an ambulance. He stayed with you while I looked at the other bungalows. Apparently, Mary or the man you saw her with, hit you. They took Bryce before I could see everything that was going on. It was impossible out there with the snow. I was lucky to find you without tripping over you."

  "Then how did they see us pull into the lot? You didn't park under the light. How did they know again?"

  "I wish to God I had an answer. We were so close."

  "Where's the doctor? My head is killing me!” Rae shook her head then instantly regretted it. Pain was radiating from the base of her skull. She put her hand there and felt the tender lump the doctor mentioned. Her shoulders felt tight with it.

  "I'll find him."

  Steve came back with the doctor who cheerfully gave her something light for the pain. It made her feel sleepy. She lay back on the bed. Steve's gentle hand soothed her forehead with easy strokes. With the other hand, he signed for her to have the scan she refused. She slept through the test.

  The doctor pronounced her fit to travel when the test results were back. She was groggy and unsteady. Steve helped her into the back of the limo that came for them. He sat beside her and cushioned her head in his lap on the drive back to the house.

  It was 2 a.m. The house was streaming with light through the rapidly falling snow when they arrived. Security guards offered to carry her up to her room. Steve pushed aside their offers and took her upstairs. Her head was nestled in the hollow of his shoulder. He touched her cheek with a careful hand.

  Alabaster bustled around the room after she turned down the bed. Her actions made it plain that she didn't plan on leaving them alone. She had her own way of enforcing her will on the house. “She needs her rest, Steve."

  "I'm leaving. I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

  "It seems to me that you already did that.” She gave him the truth.

  He acknowledged her accusation. “You're right. It was careless of me. It came up so quickly. There wasn't time to plan. But the doctor says she'll be all right. And this won't happen again."

  She nodded, satisfied. “She'll see you in the morning then."

  "Good night, Alabaster. Thanks."

  He left the room, closing the door behind him while Alabaster took up her knitting under the small lamp in a comfortable chair by the door. There would be no shenanigans while the girl was under her care.

  * * * *

  Rae was awake two hours later. Her head was clear and she suddenly knew what she had to do. Not wasting any time, she got up and got dressed. She packed her few things into her bag and walked downstairs.

  The house was quiet except for the light in the kitchen and Steve's library. She skirted both areas, not wanting to confront Alabaster or Steve. But she forgot that this wasn't an ordinary house. There were two men stationed at the front door.

  "Excuse me."

  The men looked at one another but didn't move from their places.

  "I'm going out.” She put her hand on the doorknob.

  One of the men covered it with his hand. “We have orders not to let anyone in or out tonight."

  "Orders from who? I'm not a prisoner."

  "No one goes in or out."

  "What's going on?” Steve interrupted. “Rae?"

  She hefted her bag a little higher when she felt his gaze on it. “I need to leave tonight."

  "Is it your grandmother?"

  "Yes."

  "I understand. I'll have the pilot get the plane ready."

  "No. I can't do that again. I'm going to take the bus home."

  "Don't be silly. You can be home in half the time."

  "You know how I feel about planes.” The two security guards loomed over her. “Maybe someone could drop me at the bus station."

  Steve wasn't happy about her suggestion. “I'll have Sam drive you back in a car. I don't want you to take the bus. This way, it won't be more than few hours."

  "Fine. Thanks."

  Steve let her go with surprising ease. “I'm sorry I can't come with you. When this is over, I'd like to come and see you.” He helped her into the warm car.

  "I'd like that.” She held herself stiffly away from him. She couldn't control the warm flow of images that passed between them. Did he feel them too? “I'm sorry to have to leave so quickly."

  "I understand. I hope your grandmother will be okay."

  Rae half expected him to kiss her. She steeled herself for it. But he didn't make the attempt. With a grateful sigh, she settled into the limo. He closed the door behind her and the car swept
out of the long drive towards Atlanta.

  Close to the highway, she told Sam to pull over because she had to go to the bathroom. Once inside the all-night gas station, she made a quick exit out the back. Stone-faced Sam sat in front, listening to the CD player in the limo.

  It wasn't a nice part of town that she found herself in. It wasn't a good time of night to be there. Thankfully, the scant few inches of snow kept a lot of people indoors.

  Rae shivered in the cold wind that blasted from the cars and trucks that passed her. She finally found a motel with a vacancy. Steve would look for her when Sam reported her disappearance. She used her last bit of cash to get a room for the rest of the night. She didn't want to take a chance on him tracing her credit card. Tomorrow, she'd rent a car and find Bryce before it was too late. By that time, he wouldn't be able to stop her.

  She'd made contact with Bryce again. This time, there was no doubting what she saw and heard.

  She was in the little room where the girl was being kept. Mary was there with her because Bryce wasn't feeling well. The man who Rae couldn't identify before came into the room. In the dim light, she was able to make out Duke Barneby's face.

  "Just keep her well for another day or so. That should be plenty of time for Steve to finish this off. Then we'll be on Easy Street."

  "And Bryce?” Mary wondered with a quick look at the sleeping child.

  "Steve knows what he's doing. He'll take care of it."

  That was all Rae needed to hear. Cold anger filled her soul. Experience modified her reaction. It was more important to save Bryce then to confront Steve. She played her excuse and took herself out of the equation. Without Steve knowing her every move, she could find Bryce and expose him. There was one day left on the deadline. She prayed it was enough time.

  There was nothing to do at the motel. She couldn't sleep. Waves of nausea enveloped her. She sat in the room and looked at David's ring. Steve and David probably never dreamed what their lives would be like when the big time actually hit them. David already knew that he couldn't handle it. Steve wasn't far behind. To make matters worse, Steve had sex with Sharin. If David had reached Steve's house that night, what would he have done?

  How did this happen to the two brothers? One of them was dead. Possibly murdered by the other. Steve was willing to sacrifice his niece to achieve his ends. Steve was right. They were certainly a long way from their mother's basement. Solutions was the beginning and the end of both their lives.

  Finding Bryce before Steve could make his final move would change all of that. Now that she knew the truth, she began to suspect other things. A small voice had been screaming at her that there was something more than a little suspicious about David's death. She felt from the beginning that David's death was tied in with Bryce's kidnapping.

  Was it possible that Steve engineered them both? Did he do something to the brakes on David's car? Was it only to get at David's shares of the company through Bryce? Instinct told her that there was more. Maybe he wanted Sharin too. He had a funny way of showing it. But maybe that was part of the game.

  Yet, instinct abandoned her when it came to Steve. Until she heard Duke's words in her dream, she believed in him. She was close to falling in love with him. She didn't seriously think that he could be the real culprit behind Bryce's kidnapping. Not even when Sharin was telling her the truth. She'd been blind and stupid.

  Hadn't she reminded herself over and over that emotion was bad for psychic impressions? Hadn't Lessie warned her not to get involved with him?

  Rae sighed and took a few aspirin for her aching head. He could have killed her out there at the motel to stop her from finding Bryce. But that would draw more attention to what was going on. He kept the whole thing away from the police on the pretext of not wanting Bryce to be hurt. The trouble now was that she had to do the same. If she called Lynn, Bryce might not have a chance to survive. Her link to Bryce was probably the girl's only hope.

  Her confidence was badly rattled. She needed verification of her impressions about David's crash. It was barely dawn when she looked up the number of an all night cyber café. She walked carefully outside the motel. She kept her head down and her senses alert for any sign that Steve might have tracked her there. By that time, he knew she was gone. He probably guessed that she knew the truth. That wasn't going to make him happy.

  There was only one question she really wanted him to answer. Why did he come to Sullivan's Island to get her to investigate? All the evidence would show that he did everything in his power to look for Bryce. The world would mourn her loss with him. He would be totally blameless.

  Bringing in a psychic wasn't a smart move. He didn't want her to find Bryce. At the same time, no one reputable would look at her record and commend him for bringing her in on the case. The police would see it as a desperate action by a frightened relative. Why did he come for her?

  Rae caught an ice-covered bus at the corner and used a street map she found at the motel to locate the café. There were two or three people drinking coffee and surfing the Internet. She wasn't exactly friendly with a computer but she wasn't illiterate either. She knew where to look for information that was available to the public.

  Between cups of coffee, she got her answers. At the Nurvin Technology site, it was easy for her to find the name Steve Williams listed as a major stockholder. Sharin was right about that, too. She wrote down the information. With Bryce's stocks, he could initiate a takeover that would include the unsuspecting Nurvin's and Solutions. With the blessings of the Federal Trade Commission, he'd be a very wealthy and powerful man.

  At the Georgia DMV, she found more damning evidence. David Williams died on impact in a head-on collision. There were no skid marks at the scene. The driver's side airbag didn't deploy.

  Rae closed her eyes and recalled how frantically he pushed on the brakes in the car. David tried to stop the car. No matter how it looked to the outside world. She opened her eyes and wrote down the investigating officer's name. By eight fifteen, she was at the downtown Atlanta PD.

  Detective Albright had been assigned the case. He was a jovial man with a round face and a suit that didn't fit him. He listened as Rae explained that she was checking into David Williams’ death. Then he sat back in his chair. “Why don't you reporters give the guy a break? I heard on the news that he resigned as CEO of that corporation him and his brother owned. What else do you want?"

  "I'm not here to give him a hard time,” Rae promised. “And I'm not a reporter. I'm a friend of the family. And I want to know what you found out about the crash, please."

  He shrugged. “It's public record, I suppose. Can't hurt him now anyway."

  Rae waited impatiently while he went to get the file. She knew that she was on the right track.

  But the detective came back empty-handed. “Guess they sealed the record. The file's gone. Sorry."

  "Could you answer one question for me?"

  "I could try. What do you want to know?"

  Rae sat forward intently. “I want to know if the car was serviced before the accident. Was there any record of any work being done on it?"

  Detective Albright considered her question. “Look, you and I both know what happened to that car. It was shushed up but we both know David Williams committed suicide. There were no skid marks. He didn't even try to stop. And he had the driver's side airbag taken out of the car two days before the accident. His wife said he was afraid of them. But if you're a friend of the family, then you know that."

  "But you didn't submit that as a conclusion to the report?"

  He sat back again. “Didn't have a chance before it was closed. Steve Williams has a lot of pull."

  Rae thanked him and left the station. She warmed her hands around a steaming mug of tea at Starbucks. She thought about the accident. David Williams didn't commit suicide. He fought to save his life.

  Enraged at finding out about Sharin and Steve, he ripped off his wedding band and threw it in a corner of the foyer. He raced out o
f the driveway and the car hit a patch of ice. He put his foot down on the brakes but they were gone. That's why there were no skid marks. Steve covered up what really happened. He probably fed the police enough information so they'd believe David committed suicide. If she was right, then he was the one who tampered with the brakes and the airbag.

  Glancing at her watch, Rae realized she didn't have time for introspection. Whether or not Steve would bring Bryce home was anyone's guess. She felt certain that it would be easier for him not to find her alive. And if she was right about David's death, then Steve had already committed murder once. Killing the second time would be easier.

  She stopped at a pay phone and called her grandmother. But Steve was busy during the night.

  "Rae? Where are you? Steve Williams called here looking for you. He said you've been hurt."

  "I know, Lessie. I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry you."

  "So you waited and let him call me? I think I might be less worried if you called, sweet pea. What's goin’ on down there?"

  Rae explained what happened in quick, short sentences. Traffic streamed by the phone booth. She deliberately chose a high traffic area to make her phone call. Even if Steve or one of his security people found her there, they wouldn't be likely to try anything. She was a few miles from the motel where she spent the night. She didn't plan on going back there.

  "I think you should come home now.” Her grandmother was adamant when she understood the situation. “There's nothing left for you to do there."

  "I can still find Bryce and prove that Steve is guilty of her kidnapping and David's death."

  "This has gotten out of control, Rae. You're too caught up in it."

  "I won't abandon Bryce."

  Her grandmother sighed. “Think with your wits and not your heart for a minute, Rae. You should call the police and let them handle it. If he hurt you once at that motel, he could try again."

  "He doesn't know where I am,” Rae told her. “But if I leave now, he could kill Bryce."

  "You've done the best you could, honey. Don't let your decision be colored by your feelings for him. Best to come home before you get into trouble."