Child Of The Night

by Lee Karr

  Barry let out a slow whistle. “Tyla, these are serious charges.”

  “I know.” She remembered the dark, foreboding presentiments that had overtaken her in Clay’s presence. Why had she let her heart overrule her common sense? She had known she shouldn’t get involved with him. All of the warnings had been there, but she had ignored them. She felt as if someone were twisting a knife in her gut.

  “Well, if the only thing you have is a little girl’s word, I don’t see what you can do. The police won’t open the investigation on that kind of evidence. Unless someone else-”

  “I think Cassie’s grandfather knows the truth,” Tyla interrupted abruptly, and leaned forward. “But he’s suffered a major stroke.” She told Barry about her visit with Karl and the feeling she’d picked up from him when Lynette’s accident was mentioned. From Barry’s skeptical expression she knew he’d never believe the psychic telephone calls and her conviction that Cassie’s grandfather was trying to communicate something to her.

  “Well, if the man can’t talk, I guess that’s a dead end.”

  “Maybe not.” Tyla’s eyes narrowed. She was convinced that Karl Millard had strong telepathic powers. “I think I’ll try again to communicate with him. Besides, Harriet may know what Karl knows but has kept quiet. She might suspect that Clay’s alibi is not valid. Maybe she’s afraid of Clay.” Tyla felt a wave of new apprehension. “I’ve got to protect Cassie. If Clay learns what she’s told me—”

  “You can’t believe Archer would harm his own child.”

  The vise in Tyla’s stomach tightened. “I don’t know what to believe.” She got to her feet. “I can’t take any chances. I’ve got to find out the truth if I can. Thanks, Barry. I’m going to have another talk with the Millards.”

  “Maybe that’s the place to start,” Barry said. “But why don’t you wait until tomorrow?”

  “No. I’m afraid to wait.” Just the thought of confronting Clay in her present state sent a weakness into her legs. Waiting would only increase the pain—and danger to Cassie.

  “Would you like me to go with you?”

  Tyla’s first impulse was to refuse the offer, but she decided that false pride in this situation was pure stupidity. Barry’s cool, detached perspective offered the kind of support she needed. She hated to admit it, but her confidence to handle the impossible situation alone had been shaken. “Would you mind?”

  “Not at all. I have to tell you, though, that I think you’re way off base, Tyla. If Lynette Archer’s death wasn’t an accident, suicide is certainly more logical than murder.”

  They took Tyla’s Volvo, and as they drove to the Archer home, Tyla was anxious that Clay might be there. She had no idea what she would say or do. Her feelings for him threatened to block out all rational behavior. If he looked at her with his deep, caring eyes, she might bury her face against his chest and start crying. She prayed they wouldn’t meet face-to-face until she’d had a chance to see Karl.

  Harriet would be difficult enough. Thank heavens Barry had volunteered to come with her. She hoped that his presence would keep Harriet role-playing the gracious hostess even though she might be seething inside at Tyla’s presence.

  “Fill me in a little on the family,” Barry said as they neared the exclusive residential area where the Archer home was located.

  “Lynette’s parents, Karl and Harriet Millard, moved into the house after Karl had a massive stroke. After Lynette’s death, they continued to live there. And you’ve met Doreen. I’m persona non grata with both her and Harriet.”

  “Why is that?”

  Tyla wasn’t about to admit to Barry that jealousy over Clay’s attention to her was probably the main reason for the two women’s dislike. Barry had warned her enough about keeping her distance from Clay, and she didn’t want to open up that subject for discussion. “They wanted to take Cassie out of treatment, and Clay wouldn’t agree.”

  When they reached the house, she didn’t see any sign of Clay’s Mercedes. She parked her Volvo on the circular driveway in front of the house. So far so good, she thought. Clay probably wouldn’t be home for another hour.

  Barry took her arm as they walked up the steps to the front door. He gave a low whistle as he looked around. “I could get used to this.”

  Nelson answered the door. The older man nodded with a slight smile as he recognized her and stepped back to let them in. “Nice to see you again, Dr. Templeton.”

  “Thank you, Nelson.” She returned his smile and said, “Dr. Reardon and I would like to see Mr. and Mrs. Millard.”

  He nodded his gray head. “They’re in the library. This way, please.”

  Tyla shot Barry a conspirator’s look as they followed the servant down a hall. Beautifully carved doors opened into an imposing combination study and library. Walls paneled in deep mahogany harmonized with a thick wine carpet and a dark red fireplace. Karl’s wheelchair was parked facing the door, and Tyla had a chance to smile at him before Nelson announced, “Dr. Templeton and Dr. Reardon.”

  Harriet’s head jerked up from the magazine she was reading. A ruddy flush crept into her face as she rose to her feet. Her daggered look softened slightly when she saw Tyla was not alone.

  “Dr. Barry Reardon,” Tyla said, making a quick introduction. “Doctor of Psychiatry at the Colorado Mental Health Clinic.”

  Harriet managed a stiff but polite nod.

  Barry extended his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Millard. I believe I’ve seen you at the clinic with your granddaughter.” He gave her a smile that conveyed the impression that she was the kind of woman worth remembering.

  Harriet’s rigid mouth relaxed slightly, but her tone was still abrasive. “I don’t understand the reason for your visit. You work with Dr. Templeton?”

  “Sometimes, as a consultant.”

  “I see,” she said, but her expression refuted her words. She waited for Barry to continue.

  “Dr. Templeton has shared your concerns about your granddaughter.” His tone was soft and supportive. “I can understand how difficult everything must be for you, Mrs. Millard.”

  Harriet’s crusty manner softened. “Yes, most difficult.”

  “If you don’t have any objections to a private conversation, maybe we could talk somewhere…alone?” Barry’s smooth, slightly flirtatious manner had its desired effect.

  Harriet nodded and then glared pointedly at Tyla. “I’m glad that someone of more competence has been called in.”

  Barry turned to Tyla. “If you’ll excuse us for a few minutes, Dr. Templeton.” His eye closed ever so slightly in a wink.

  “Yes, of course.” Tyla would have preferred to be present for his interview with Harriet, but for the moment she wanted to concentrate on Karl. She was the only one who believed the paralyzed man was capable of sending out telepathic energy. Tyla moved closer to the wheelchair. “I’ll wait here with Mr. Millard.”

  Harriet’s displeasure was evident. “It’s time my busband retired to his room. I’ll tell Nelson to send for the nurse. She can see to him. Come along, Dr. Reardon,” Harriet ordered in her usual imperious manner. “We can talk in my sitting room.”

  Tyla’s hopes of having time alone with Mr. Millard were fading fast. As they left the room, Tyla turned to the paralyzed man. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words caught in her throat as she looked at him.

  “Karl!” His breathing was so shallow that his chest barely moved. Sweat beaded on his forehead. His eyes had sunk in his head, completely unfocused. Was the man having a heart attack? Another stroke?

  “Barry!” she yelled. “Come quick.”

  He hurried back into the room, followed by Harriet and Nelson. Barry took one look at the stricken man and grabbed his wrist for a pulse.

  “What is it? What’s happening?” screamed Harriet.

  “Call 911, someone,” Barry ordered. “He’s in trouble.”

  The house nurse appeared from the direction of the kitchen, where she must have been enjoying a l
ateafternoon snack. The next few minutes were total confusion while they waited for an ambulance. Barry and Nelson put the stricken man on the couch. Harriet screamed at Tyla. “What did you do to him? Get out! Get out of my house now.”

  Barry put his hand on Tyla’s shoulder and led her out in the hall. “Why don’t you disappear somewhere until the ambulance comes?”

  “He’s bad, isn’t he?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Maybe the excitement of our visit was too much.”

  “That’s nonsense and you know it.”

  Her lip trembled. “I didn’t even have a chance to talk to him.”

  “I’m sorry, Tyla,” Barry said gently. “I’m afraid that whatever the man knows he’s going to take to the grave with him. As I said before, I think you’re really giving a lot more credence to a little girl’s story than you should.”

  Cassie! She turned away from Barry and headed down the hall. “I’ll be upstairs.”

  Had anyone called Clay? How could she face him? And what was more frightening was the chance that Cassie might innocently ask him, “Papa, why did you let Mama’s car go off the cliff?”

  If he quizzed Cassie and she told him she’d seen him in the car with her mother, what would his reaction be? She knew that he had resisted the idea that his daughter was clairvoyant. But Cassie’s accurate descriptions might convince him, thought Tyla as her stomach took a sickening plunge.

  For the first time she wondered where Doreen might be. She would have heard all the yelling and commotion if she’d been home.

  “What’s going on, Dr. Templeton?” Marie hovered at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide and questioning. “Is it Mr. Millard?”

  Tyla nodded. “He’s had another stroke…or heart attack. An ambulance is coming. Where’s Cassie?”

  “In her room. Taking a nap. I wanted to go downstairs and see what was happening but I thought I’d better stay close. You know how Cassie is. Any kind of commotion throws her into a tantrum.”

  “I’ll stay with her. Why don’t you go down and see if you can be of help? I think Nelson has his hands full:”

  The maid bustled away, and Tyla went into Cassie’s bedroom. The little girl was asleep on her bed with her bunny cuddled in her arms. Dark lashes fringed her rounded cheeks, and her little mouth was curved with childish innocence. A swell of tenderness filled Tyla’s eyes with warm tears. The child had captured her heart beyond anything she had thought possible. Every maternal instinct that had lain dormant while she pursued her career flared with bewildering intensity. She had an insane urge to sweep the little girl up in her arms and flee from the house. The irrational impulse quickly faded, but Tyla couldn’t rid herself of the feeling that sand was falling quickly through an hourglass and time was running out.

  Tyla could hear the piercing wail of an ambulance growing louder and louder as it entered the exclusive residential area and stopped in front of the house. A few minutes later she heard it leave. Was Karl still alive? Had his life slipped away even as he had tried to communicate with her? Once more a wave of guilt swept over her. Had her visit had anything to do with his attack?

  Clay left the office right after his four-thirty conference. He’d been fuming ever since he’d called the clinic and suspected that Tyla had refused his call. Something in the receptionist’s tone had told him that Tyla was there, all right, but didn’t want to talk to him. He’d sent the flowers as an apology for what had happened between them, but the gesture had obviously failed. If she wouldn’t talk to him on the phone, he had no choice but to say what had to be said in person. He only hoped that it wasn’t too late. His mouth was set in a tense line as he drove to the clinic.

  The receptionist shook her head. “I’m sorry, Dr. Templeton isn’t here. She and Dr. Reardon left early today.”

  “Together?”

  Penny hesitated and then nodded. “They left in her car.”

  Clay managed a smile and a shrug. “Well, no matter. I’ll call her tomorrow. I just wanted to check on my daughter’s progress.” He ignored the knowing glint in the receptionist’s eyes. Was his lie that obvious?

  He strode out of the clinic, slammed the door of his car, and drove past Tyla’s empty parking spot with rising fury. Never in his life had he run after a woman before. How had he let his emotions get in such a tangle? He felt utterly transparent and like a fool. So she and her guard dog had taken off early. Working in the same building, sharing common interests, they must have a lot to talk about. A slow burn rose into his throat like liquid fire as he remembered Reardon’s possessive attitude.

  He stiffened and then slapped the steering wheel angrily. Damn, she would confide in Reardon. Everything that had happened between him and Tyla would be analyzed, shredded and laid bare. The idea that the psychiatrist would be sharing Tyla’s most intimate confidences created an explosive fury that brought a granite hardness to his eyes.

  All right, she’d proved her point. He should have been smarter. Life had slapped him down often enough when he followed his heart instead of sticking to cold, rational facts. His parents, his wife and even his daughter had taught him the pain of caring too much. He had plenty of battle scars when it came to his private life, and it shouldn’t have surprised him that the woman he’d been looking for all his life would only bring more of the same.

  That first day when he’d picked up Cassie at the clinic, Tyla had captured him with her poise, her natural feminine grace and the clear, steady gaze of her beautiful soft eyes. He’d wanted to reach out and touch her creamy skin and feel the full curve of her lips on his. Even now he felt a spurt of desire remembering her beautiful, sensuous body. She had shown him what paradise could be like between a man and woman. He wanted her in his life, now and always. How ironic that Lynette still stood between him and happiness. She had poisoned their child against him, and her death continued to put a shadow on the first real love of his life.

  From the beginning Tyla had resisted the attraction between them and had warned him that she was determined not to get emotionally involved. He should have listened and taken his cue from her, but she’d gotten under his skin. At work, at home, morning, night, no matter what he was doing, she hovered in his thoughts. He’d never been sympathetic with men who played the lovesick fool, but he had proved himself to be the worst of the lot.

  Time to cash in the chips and take your losses, he told himself. From now on he’d stick to making money and forget about dreams of sharing his life with someone like Tyla Templeton.

  He drove to the Rover Club on Cherry Creek Drive. He didn’t make a habit of stopping for a drink after work but tonight be needed a drink.

  “Hello, stranger,” the bartender greeted Clay with a broad smile. “Haven’t seen you around for a while. Hey, Bonnie, look who’s here.”

  A bleached blonde in a black velvet sheath slipped onto a stool beside Clay and asked in an inviting voice, “How goes the stock market, handsome?”

  “Good enough to buy you a double.” Clay forced a smile. He’d never given the gal much encouragement, but loneliness swept over him with such force that he took a deep breath and said, “Whatcha been up to, Bonnie?”

  Tyla stayed in Cassie’s room until Marie came back and told Tyla in whispered tones what had been happening downstairs.

  “The nurse and Mrs. Millard went with the ambulance.” Marie’s eyes rounded. “They had Mr. Millard on oxygen. Tubes stuck in his arms. I guess he was still alive. Miss Doreen arrived just as the ambulance was leaving. She’s in the breakfast room with Dr. Reardon now.”

  “Did someone notify Mr. Archer?” Tyla needed time to brace herself if he was on his way home.

  “They called his office, but he wasn’t there. He must be on his way home.”

  Tyla drew in a shaky breath. “I think I’d better go downstairs and wait for him.” She had no idea how she was going to explain her presence in the house. She only knew that the sleeping child had to be protected.

  A heavy silence gr
eeted her as she went downstairs and turned toward the back of the house where Marie had told her to find the breakfast room. As she passed the spacious living room and library, they seemed hauntingly empty, as if death had already walked through the house.

  Light spilled out into the hall from a room beyond double terrace doors, and Tyla heard muffled voices as she approached it. She was only a few steps from the open door when she heard Doreen in the middle of a tirade. What she was saying stopped Tyla with the force of a ten-ton truck.

  Chapter 18

  “Are you trying to ruin everything, Barry?” Doreen’s accusing voice floated out into the hall. “Have you taken leave of your senses? Coming here like this?”

  He said something that Tyla couldn’t quite hear. Only Doreen’s voice was raised enough to be heard clearly.

  “Why take chances?” she demanded. “You’ve been damn lucky up till now.”

  Barry replied and Tyla caught phrases and heard her name. “Tyla…had to check out…make sure…Karl…”

  “You know damn well that Lynette never bothered to watch her tongue in front of her father after his stroke. In fact, I think she got pleasure out of taunting him when she was on the phone with you. She knew he couldn’t tell anyone. I used to worry the way she’d tell me all about your hot-and-heavy affair right in front of him.”

  Tyla stood there paralyzed. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Like a broken record the two names sounded over and over in her mind. Barry and Lynette. Barry and Lynette.

  Doreen gave a brittle laugh. “No wonder Karl had another stroke tonight, you waltzing into the house all innocent-like.”

  Barry and Lynette, lovers. Her mind finally accepted the unbelievable truth. Barry had been lying to her all along.

  Tyla moved closer to the door. She couldn’t believe that Barry had breached ethical standards and had an affair with a client. The misconduct would put an end to his career if it came to light. Barry’s voice was still lowered, and she couldn’t hear him as clearly as Doreen’s brazen tones.