Night Passage by Carol Davis Luce

Author:Carol Davis Luce [Luce, Carol Davis]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller
Published: 2014-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

Monday

First thing that morning Roni had tried again to reach Dr. Greene at the clinic in Ely. The receptionist had taken her name and assured her the doctor would return her call as soon as possible. While waiting she dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and tennis shoes, then went out to the back of the house and chopped away the thick, woody vines that climbed the trellis and blocked the morning sun to the master bedroom. By mid-afternoon she was done.

Pulling off the garden gloves she stood in the rear yard admiring her handiwork. She looked from the tangled mound of vines to the now-naked trellis, her eyes following it up to the second-floor window of Caroline's room. Along the ledge that ran the length of the house, she saw a broken portion beneath the window apron. If she closed her eyes she could see Larry standing on that ledge, could imagine it breaking away and dropping him to the ground.

What was it he had seen through that window?

After testing the strength of the trellis, she climbed it to the second floor just as Larry had done and, attempting to see from his vantage point, peered through a diamond-shaped section into the bedroom. The fireplace stood to the immediate right; to the left was the bed, nightstand, and the small closet.

A cloud passed in front of the sun, a cool gust of wind swirled around her. She shivered.

Her view of the right side of the room was blocked by the fireplace mantel. With her left foot she stepped on the ledge, holding tight to the trellis, and leaned to the side.

"Hey, look out!"

Startled, Roni's foot slipped and she lunged to the side. She cried out as her shin scraped along the rough edge of a shingle. Before she could reach the trellis with her free hand, she felt an arm around her waist pulling her back. She grabbed the trellis and clung desperately, her heart pumping.

James Glazer pressed against her back, holding her.

"I'm sorry," he said close to her ear. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was afraid you'd fall... like Larry. Are you okay?"

She inhaled a ragged breath and nodded.

"Good. Look, I'll get out of your way so you can get down. Something tells me I'm more hindrance than help." James eased his arm from around her, lowered himself down a couple feet, then jumped to the ground.

Roni descended carefully. Safely on the ground again, she turned back to the trellis, braced her foot on the bottom slat, and bent to inspect the scrape on her shin. "What do you want?" she asked flatly.

"To apologize. I don't blame you for being pissed." He leaned in. "How bad is it?"

"A scratch." She blew on it. "And it hurts like a sonofabitch."

He laughed. Before she could protest, he had her by the hand and was pulling her toward the back door. "We'll get you fixed up. While we do that I'll explain a few things. Things I should have told you from the beginning.

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