Dawn in Eclipse Bay (22 page)

“For heaven's sake, Gabe. Would you want to employ someone as your close, personal assistant who had slept with your wife?”

He didn't miss a beat.

“I'd destroy any man who slept with my wife.”

The absolute finality of that statement made her catch her breath. “I see.”

“But I'm not a politician,” Gabe continued. “Politicians are different.”

She thought about Marilyn's disturbed behavior. “I'm not sure that they're so very different.”

“Marilyn mention me?”

“Oh, yes.”

“What did she say?”

“What everyone else seems to be saying. Something about your interest in me probably being linked to an obsessive interest in Harte Investments.”

He watched her with unreadable eyes. “And that observation is what made you decide to come over here this afternoon?”

“I'm here because I want to be here.”

“Glad to hear that. You do realize that you probably won't get home until noon tomorrow.”

“Not like I'm getting much work done here in Eclipse Bay, anyway.”

She did not return to the cottage until after lunch the following day, just as Gabe had warned. He walked her back across the bluffs and left her at the front door with a long, lingering kiss.

“I know you need to paint this afternoon,” he said. “Why don't I come over here for dinner tonight? I'll bring the wine this time.”

She went into the house and smiled at him through the screen. “That'll work.”

He raised a hand in casual farewell and went down the steps. She watched him walk away across the bluffs, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jacket, his dark hair ruffled by the wind. A dark squall line hung across the bay, moving swiftly toward shore.

Memories of last night's lovemaking ignited hot little sparklers of pleasure deep inside her. But there was something else burning down there, too, a long fuse that promised a painful explosion sometime in the future when this very adult relationship blew up in her face.

Don't look too far ahead. Just take it one day at a time. That's all you can do for now. That's all you dare to do now.

Gabe was right. She needed to paint.

She hung her jacket in the closet and started toward the hall that led to her makeshift studio. Halfway across the living room she noticed the light on the answering machine and changed course. She went to the table where the phone sat, and punched up the message.

She was startled to hear Arizona Snow's harsh whisper.

There was a muffled crash on the other end of the line. Arizona had hung up in a hurry.

Lillian glared at the answering machine. “You know,” she said to the universe at large, “I came out here to find a nice, serene place to do some painting.”

She picked up the phone and dialed Gabe's cell phone. He answered on the first ring.

“Madison here.”

She could hear the muffled sound of the wind and the surf. He was probably halfway back to the old Buckley place.

“Doing anything important?” she asked.

“Depends how you define important. I'm thinking about a proposal from a small startup company that needs five million in cash. That strike you as a weighty matter?”

“Five mil? Sounds like penny-ante stuff to me.”

“Appreciate your consulting opinion.”

“My bill is in the mail.” She watched the dark shadow of the squall line moving across the bay. “Would you like to do something more exciting?”

“Such as?”

“Help defend Eclipse Bay against the spies up at the institute?”

“Does this involve frozen extraterrestrials?”

“Probably.”

“Well, it's not like I've got anything else to do now that you've taken all the fun out of my puny little five- mil deal. I'm almost back to the house. I'll get my car and come pick you up.”

The squall struck just as he geared down to take the steep, rutted path that led through the woods to Arizona's cabin. He did not want to think about what the rough road was doing to the Jag's expensive alignment.

“She said she was being followed?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Did she give you a description?”

“No.” Lillian watched the narrow road. “Just said she thought it was an institute spy. But she sounded nervous, Gabe. That's what worried me. In all the years I've known A.Z. she's always seemed very cool and somehow in full command of her crazy conspiracy theories. I've never heard her sound genuinely scared or even uneasy.”

“Maybe she's slipped another cog. Sunk a little deeper into her fantasy world.”

“Gone from being seriously eccentric to seriously crazy, you think?”

“It's a possibility.”

Lillian folded her arms tightly beneath her breasts. Her body was tense. She was concerned and she appeared to be getting more so as they got closer to Arizona's cabin.

“Take it easy, we both know there's nothing really wrong here,” he said.

“It's A.Z's state of mind I'm worried about. I wonder if getting involved with that crowd at the bakery is responsible for pushing her over some psychological edge.”

“If she has cracked up big-time,” he said, “you're right. We've got a big problem on our hands. I doubt if we'll be able to talk her into checking into some nice quiet psych ward for observation.”

“She'd never trust a psychiatrist or a sanitarium.”

“Probably not.” He negotiated another sharp bend in the road. “There's not much you can do for someone who won't go for help unless she is a clear danger to herself or others.”

“Let's try to keep some perspective here. We're talking as if A.Z. has gone off the deep end. We have no evidence of that yet. Keep in mind that she hasn't ever hurt anyone in her life.”

“That we know of.”

She shot him a swift, searching glance. “What do you mean?”

“Just that no one around here knows anything about her past before she showed up in Eclipse Bay. I remember asking Mitchell about her once when I was in high school. He just shrugged and said that she was entitled to her privacy so long as she didn't do anyone else any harm.”

“That's the whole point,” Lillian said. “To the best of our knowledge or anyone else's she's never done any damage to people or property.”

He navigated the last tight curve in the road and saw the cabin. Rain and wind slashed the heavy limbs of the trees that loomed over the weather-beaten structure. Arizona's ancient truck was parked in the small clearing.

He eased the Jag to a halt behind the truck and switched off the engine.

“Well, at least she's here and not out prowling around the new wing of the institute with her VPX 5000,” he said.

He unfastened his seat belt and reached into the back seat for Lillian's rain cloak and his jacket.

“She said something about holing up for a while.” Lillian put her arms into the sleeves of her cloak and pulled the hood up over her head. “That's not like her, either, when you stop and think about it. She's always out doing recon and surveillance. Says she likes the bad guys to know she's keeping an eye on them.”

“True.”

He shrugged into the jacket, tugged the hood up over his head and opened the door. Rain driven by rough winds dampened his hair when he got out.

Lillian did not wait for him to come around to her side of the car. She already had her own door open. A few seconds later she joined him at the front of the Jag.

They both went quickly toward the shelter of the porch. Gabe took the steps two at a time and came to a halt at the front door. Dripping rain from her sparkling cloak, Lillian stopped beside him.

There was no doorbell. Gabe banged the brass eagle knocker a few times.

There was no response. No surprise, he thought. No right-thinking paranoid would open a door without verifying the identity of the person on the other side.

“A.Z.? Gabe and Lillian out here,” he called.

The door did not open. He glanced at the nearest window. It was covered with what looked like blinds fashioned from metal slats.

“I got your message.” Lillian rapped her knuckles on the blank window. “Are you okay in there?”

The wind-driven rain whipped around the cabin. He knew Lillian was getting more agitated. He had to admit that the utter silence from inside the cabin was starting to bother him, too.

He tried the heavy, steel-braced screen door. It was locked.

“She's not a young woman,” Lillian said. “I hope something hasn't happened.”

“Like what?”

“A heart attack or stroke. Or maybe she fell.”

“Calm down. I'm sure she's fine. Probably locked in her war room and can't hear us.”

“Let's try the back door.” Lillian turned and disappeared around the corner of the porch.

“Hang on, not so fast, damn it.” He went after her, moving quickly. “The woman's a full-blown conspiracy theorist, remember? Paranoid as hell. No telling how she's got this place booby-trapped.”

“I just want to see if I can find a window that isn't covered with those steel blinds. I don't understand why she isn't—”

She broke off on a strangled gasp. He saw the crumpled body lying on the porch at the same time.

“A.Z.” Lillian rushed forward. “Oh, my God, Gabe, I was afraid of this. She's had a heart attack.”

She went to her knees beside Arizona, feeling for a pulse at the throat.

He looked at the blood on the wooden boards beneath Arizona's head and went cold.

“Not a heart attack.” The cell phone was in his hand. He didn't remember taking it out of his pocket. He punched in the emergency number.

Lillian followed his gaze. “You're right. It wasn't her heart. She fell and hit her head.” Her fingers moved gently on Arizona's throat. “She's breathing but she's unconscious. The bleeding doesn't seem to be too bad.”

“Better not move her.”

Lillian nodded. She stripped off her cloak and arranged it snugly around Arizona's chunky frame while he gave a terse account of the situation to the 911 operator.

He saw the overturned plant stand lying nearby just as he ended the call. The stand was made of wrought iron.

Lillian bent intently over A.Z. “Arizona? It's me, Lillian. Help is on the way. You're going to be okay. Can you hear me?”

Arizona groaned. Her lashes fluttered. She squinted up at Lillian.

“What happened?” she mumbled.

“It looks like you slipped and fell. How do you feel?”

“Bad.”

“I'll bet you do,” Lillian said gently. “But you're going to be okay.

Arizona closed her eyes again. She mumbled something.

“What did you say?” Lillian asked.

“Said I didn't fall.”

“You probably don't remember much,” Lillian said soothingly. “I think that's pretty normal when you've had a blow to the head. Don't worry about it.”

Arizona's hand moved a little in a small, agitated gesture, but she did not speak again.

Lillian looked up and saw Gabe watching her. She frowned.

“What?”

“I don't think she fell, either,” he said.

“Why in the world do you say that?”

“I'm no cop, but it looks to me like someone used that plant stand to hit her on the back of the head.”

They were standing in the busy hallway outside Arizona's hospital room. Monitors beeped and pinged. Lights winked on computer screens. High-tech equipment gleamed. Eclipse Bay Community Hospital had moved with the times, Gabe thought.

He noticed that everyone around him who wore a name tag and a stethoscope appeared purposeful and competent and a little high on adrenaline. Those who were not decked out with a name tag and a stethoscope looked worried. Civilians, Gabe thought. He and Lillian fit into that category. Definitely worried.

Sean Valentine, Eclipse Bay's chief of police, on the other hand, fell into some middle zone. He had the same purposeful, competent air that marked the members of the hospital staff, but he didn't look as if he were enjoying an adrenaline rush. There were deep lines around his eyes and mouth. The marks weren't caused by Arizona's problems. Sean always looked as if he anticipated the worst. Gabe figured the permanently etched expression was a legacy of his days as a big-city cop in Seattle.

“Probably came home and interrupted some SOB who was trying to break into her cabin,” Sean said. “The bastard must have grabbed the first available heavy object and used it on the back of her skull.”

“Whoever he was, he can't be from around here,” Gabe said. “Everyone in town knows that it would take an armored tank and a battering ram to break into A.Z.'s cabin.”

“Could have looked like a challenge to some dumb-ass kids from Chamberlain who'd had a few beers,” Sean speculated. “Or maybe a transient found the place and didn't realize it was actually a small fortress.”

“He could have killed her.” Lillian's anger vibrated in every word and in every line of her body. She was very tightly wound at the moment.

“The blow was a little off,” Sean said. “Fortunately for A.Z. She's concussed but they say she should be okay. They're going to keep her here at the hospital for a couple of days for observation.”

Lillian looked at him. “Are you sure we shouldn't take that message she left on my machine seriously?”

“I take everything seriously,” Sean said. “Way I'm made, I guess. But I gotta tell you that a call from A.Z. claiming that she was being tailed by an institute spy does not give me a whole heck of a lot to work with. In her world, institute spies are everywhere and they're all trying to follow her.”

“There is that,” Lillian agreed reluctantly.

“Another thing,” Sean added. “There's a small flaw in A.Z.'s logic here. Assuming the institute actually employed spies, none of them would need to tail her in order to find out where she lives. Everyone in town knows where her cabin is located. All anyone looking for her would have to do is ask a few questions down at Fulton's Supermarket or the video rental shop.”

“Nobody ever said A.Z.'s logic holds up well under scrutiny,” Gabe said.

Sean's face twisted briefly in a wry smile. “Nope.”

Lillian gave them both a quelling glance. “A.Z. operates in a parallel universe but within that universe, her reasoning is consistent and logical.”

Sean looked wary. “Meaning?”

“Meaning that something scared her enough to make her use a telephone and leave a message on an answering machine. She would never willingly do that if she could avoid it. She's convinced that all phones are tapped. She doesn't even have one in her house.”

“Tapped by institute spies?” Sean asked politely.

Lillian exhaled unhappily. “Yes.”

“I think I'll go with my theory of an interrupted burglary in progress for now, if you don't mind. But if you get any more useful information from her when you talk to her, let me know.”

He nodded to Gabe, then turned and walked off down the hospital corridor. Lillian watched him until he turned a corner and disappeared. Then she looked at Gabe.

“He's probably right, isn't he?” she said.

“Probably.” Gabe hesitated. “You have to admit, it's a simpler explanation than one involving vast government conspiracies. When it comes to this kind of stuff, cops prefer simple because most of the time that's the right answer.”

“I know. And we are dealing with A.Z. here. Whatever the answer is, it can't possibly be as mysterious as she thinks it is. Come on, let's go see how she's doing.”

“Sure.”

He walked beside her to the doorway of the hospital room. Arizona was stretched out on a bed. She looked so different in a hospital gown, he thought. In all the years he had known her he had never seen her in anything except military camouflage and boots. She had always seemed curiously ageless, sturdy and vigorous. But now, bandaged and helpless, her gray hair partially covered with a white bandage, she looked her age. A wave of anger swept through him. What kind of bastard would hit an elderly woman on the head with a wrought-iron planter?

A nurse wearing a tag inscribed with the name Jason leaned over A.Z., taking her pulse. When he was finished he lowered her wrist very gently to the sheet and moved toward the door. Behind him, Arizona stirred restlessly but she did not open her eyes.

“Are you family?” Jason asked quietly.

“No.” Lillian looked toward the bed. “I don't think she has any family. We're friends. How is she doing?”

“She's got a nasty headache and she's confused and disoriented. Pretty much what you'd expect after a severe blow to the head.”

“A.Z. always seems confused and disoriented to people who don't know her well,” Gabe said. “Has she said anything?”

Jason shook his head. “Just keeps talking about something called a VPX 5000.”

“Her new camera,” Lillian said. “She was very excited about it.”

On the bed, Arizona moved slightly. She turned her head on the pillow. Her face was drawn with pain. Her cheeks were slightly sunken. “Lillian? Gabe?”

“Right here, A.Z.” Lillian went to the bed and patted Arizona's hand. “Don't worry about anything. You're going to be fine.”

“My VPX 5000.” Arizona's voice had lost its usual hearty timbre. She sounded a thousand years old. “I can't find it.”

“Don't worry about it,” Lillian assured her. “You'll find it when they let you go home.”

“No.” Arizona gripped Lillian's hand with gnarled fingers. “They said someone hit me. Probably the institute spy. I'll bet he took my VPX 5000. Gotta get it back. Can't risk having it fall into the wrong hands. Pictures. Of the new wing. They'll destroy 'em.”

Gabe went to stand at the bed. He leaned on the rails. “Tell you what, A.Z., Lillian and I will go back to your cabin and see if we can find the camera. Maybe you left it in your truck.”

“Gotta find it.” Arizona's eyes fluttered closed. “Can't let the bastards get it.”

An hour later, after a fruitless search of the interior of Arizona's aging pickup, he closed the door on the driver's side and pocketed the keys. He watched Lillian come down the cabin's porch steps and start toward him.

“Any luck?” she asked.

“No. What about you?”

“I went over every square inch of the porch and checked the flower beds around it. It's gone, unfortunately. I hate to have to give her the bad news. She was so thrilled with that camera.”

“She may be right. Whoever hit her probably stole it. Maybe he figured he could get a few bucks for it.”

“If he's got any sense, he won't try to unload it anywhere near Eclipse Bay,” Lillian said. “Sean Valentine will be watching for it and so will everyone else in town.”

“I'll do some research online,” Gabe said. “Maybe I can find another one to replace it for her.”

Lillian flashed him a grateful smile. “That would be wonderful.”

He liked it when she smiled at him like that, he thought. He liked it a lot. That smile had a very motivating effect on him. He took a long, slow breath and then he took her arm.

“It's getting late,” he said. “Be dark soon. Let's go back to your place and get some dinner.”

Another squall struck just as Gabe halted the car in front of the cottage. Lillian pulled up the hood of her cloak, opened the door, leaped out and made a dash for the front porch. Gabe was right behind her. She stopped in front of the door, shook rainwater off her cloak and rummaged in her purse for her keys.

When she got the door open, she headed straight for the mudroom, intending to hang up her cloak so that it could drip dry.

Gabe followed, stripping off his jacket. When they reached the mudroom she did not bother to switch on the overhead light. There was enough illumination from the hall to see the row of metal clothes hooks beneath the window.

“I don't know about you,” she said, “but I'm starving.”

“I'll open the wine. You can do the salad tonight.”

“It's a deal.” A damp draft sent a chill through her.

“It's cold in here. Why don't you start a fire before you—” She broke off abruptly.

“What's wrong?”

“No wonder it's cold in here. The back door is open. I can't believe I forgot to lock up. But I've been distracted a lot lately.”

She crossed the small space to push the door closed.

“Wait,” Gabe said quietly, pointing to the door.

He reached out to switch on the mudroom light and then moved past her. She watched him lean forward slightly to examine the door frame.

“Damn.”

“What is it?” She moved closer. “Something wrong?”

“Yeah. Something's wrong, all right. Looks like A.Z. wasn't the only one who got hit by a burglar today.”

She didn't answer him, just stared, disbelieving, at the deep gouges in the wooden door frame and the broken lock.

“You sure there's nothing missing?” Sean Valentine asked for the second time.

“No, not as far as I can tell,” Lillian said.

Gabe leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her answer Sean's questions. She sat hunched on the kitchen stool, knees drawn up, feet propped on the top rung.

“I went through the whole house,” she added. “Nothing looks as if it's been touched. Of course, we don't keep anything really valuable here because the cottage is empty for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. Still, there's the old television and the new answering machine. And all the stuff I brought with me from Portland. My painting supplies. Some clothes.”

“Nothing that would bring a burglar a lot of fast cash, though.” Sean looked down at what he had written. “You know, these guys aren't known for neatness. They usually leave the place in a mess. Maybe he got scared off before he could get inside. A car coming down the drive would have done it. Or someone taking a walk along the bluff with a dog.”

Gabe considered that. “Think that after he got nervous here, he went looking for another, more isolated house to break into? A.Z.'s place?”

“And got surprised again. Hit Arizona and took off with her fancy camera.” Sean nodded. “Makes sense.” He flipped the notebook closed. “I've been interviewing people all day. So far no one has noticed any strangers acting suspiciously. But that still leaves a bunch of college kids and unknown transients. The camera is my best hope. If someone turns up with it, I'll have a lead.”

“Otherwise, zip, right?” Lillian asked morosely. “I've heard that these kinds of burglaries often go unsolved.”

“That's true in big cities but not so true in a small town where you've got a more limited group of suspects.” Sean stuffed the notebook into the pocket of his jacket and started toward the door. “I'll let you know if I come up with anything useful. Meanwhile, get that back door fixed.”

Lillian nodded. “I'll ask the Willis brothers to come over here tomorrow and take care of it.”

Sean paused at the door. “Folks are usually a little nervous after a break-in.” He angled a brief, meaningful glance at Gabe. “Nice for you that you won't be here alone tonight.”

Lillian gave him a basilisk stare from her perch on the stool. She did not say a word.

Sean did not move. But, then, that was only to be expected, Gabe thought. A basilisk could turn a man to stone with the power of her gaze.

“I mean, you'll be a lot more comfortable with Madison here,” Sean muttered. “Not nervous or anything.”

Lillian continued to glare.

“Right, she won't be alone.” Gabe pushed himself away from the counter. “I'll walk outside with you.”

He did not know why he felt obliged to rescue Sean. A guy thing, maybe. Or maybe he just didn't like the way Lillian had reacted to Sean's assumption that she was sleeping with him. She looked ticked. For some reason that irritated him.

Sean cleared his throat. “Sure. Got to get going. Things to do.”

Gabe crossed the kitchen in a few long strides. He had the front door open for Sean by the time the police chief reached it.

He moved out onto the porch after Sean and closed the door behind them. They stood in the yellow light and looked at the cars parked in the drive.