Peril in Paperback (19 page)

On the way to breakfast, I noticed a few more odd things. I’d been using a shortcut through the library the past two times I’d gone to breakfast. But now when I opened the door that led to the passageway, there was only about ten feet of hall before it ended abruptly. There was a pretty window at the end, with a nice view of the forest. Still, where was the hallway I’d been using for two days?

I stared out the window in confusion. I didn’t see the lake, only a forest of pine trees. So I wasn’t facing north, as I thought I should be.

I suppose I could now relate to what Madge had been going through when I first ran into her. Because I could swear that two days ago, this hall had continued for another thirty feet, leading to another hall that led to the back entrance of the kitchen, where I’d found Merrilee. In fact, Merrilee was the one who had given me directions to come this way. Wasn’t she?

Obviously I was mistaken. I mean, I’d clearly turned down the wrong hallway. There were lots of hallways in the house. The front south hall, the back north hall, the east hall, the west hall. And that was just on the first floor.

“Yoo-hoo!”

I jolted at the sound, then stared down the hall. It was Grace! She was waving to me!

“Grace! Thank goodness,” I cried. “I’m completely lost!” I walked toward her, laughing because she continued to wave at me. “I’m coming. I’m coming.”

“Yoo-hoo!” she called again.

I stopped a few yards from where she stood and looked more intently at her.

“Yoo-hoo!” she said, and continued to wave in the same exact way she’d been doing for the past minute or so.

Quick shivers ran down my arms as I realized I could see right through her. It wasn’t really Grace. It was a hologram.

Either that, or I had just crossed over into the Loony Zone.

“Oo-kay,” I murmured, refusing to be sucked into madness. Grace was a great trickster and I tried to drum up some appreciation for her cleverness. But it didn’t work. I just felt stupid. Were there hidden cameras recording my reactions? Maybe we’d show home movies later and everyone would have a good laugh.

“Fine.” I turned and walked back to the other end of the hall, determined to start over. I’d lost my way somewhere along the line. If I could retrace my steps, I would figure it out. I was just a little stressed out, that’s all. And who could blame me? We’d all had a few stressful days.

First, there was Bella’s horrible murder by cyanide. Then there was the balcony railing that was tampered with to near-deadly results. Then Kiki’s fall down the stairs that could’ve meant her death. And let’s not forget the strange woman who had answered my boyfriend’s phone. That could ruin a girl’s day.

So, yes, I could admit I’d been going through more than my share of stress, which had clearly brought about a hysterical reaction. The result was that I no longer recognized the landmarks around me. And maybe I was having problems with concentration, too, because I must have made a directional error or two. No big deal. It happened all the time.
Recalculating,
as my car’s GPS would say.

But as I stared from one unfamiliar wall to the other, I remembered Vinnie’s complaints and Grace’s warning to watch my step. Suzie and Vinnie had told me that when Grace bought this house, she had gutted it to create her greatest game board ever: her own home.

But moving entire hallways? Interchangeable wall panels? And carpets? A pretty window where a long hall had been? And there were paintings on these walls I’d
never seen before. Was everything in the house moveable? Computerized?

There was nothing wrong with that, I supposed. A homeowner ought to be able to do whatever she wanted to do in her own home. Well, other than kill off her guests, of course.

And didn’t that thought give me a warm, snuggly feeling inside?

I glanced at the formal lighting fixtures that hung from the ceiling, then noticed more attractive sconces mounted on the walls. Soft circles of light highlighted the expensive artwork. I moved closer to look at the paintings. I reached out to touch the frames.

There was nothing there!

“Oh God, I’m going bananas.” But if I stepped back, the paintings reappeared. I waved my hand in the space where the painting was.

“More holograms,” I muttered. Really good ones. I would have to compliment my hostess. If I ever saw her again.

I turned and started to retrace my steps, walking back the way I’d come. Then I stopped. If the hall had been changed to this extent, could there also be a new trapdoor in the floor? Or was I being ridiculous?

“I’m stressed out. Remember?” I reminded myself, and bit back an urgent need to scream. “Try to calm down.”

And I was talking to myself again.

I stood where I was and looked both ways down the shortened hall. I was afraid to go either way, afraid to take a step in case I fell through a trapdoor. Vinnie would tell me that it was a reasonable fear to have in this place. That fear would keep you alive, she would say.

So here I was. Afraid to take another step in case of a trapdoor. Afraid of going crazy on the spot. Afraid if I didn’t move I would faint from hunger.

Was there such a thing as hunger-induced psychosis?

Hunger pangs won the day. I needed nourishment, so
I made my move. Carefully tiptoeing along either side of the carpet runner, I retraced my steps back to the door leading into the library. I felt safe for a moment. I continued down the newly decorated hallway, past my bedroom, where I’d started out in the first place, and followed the usual route to the sweeping grand stairway.

“I know where I am now.” And from there, I started over, heading for the west hall this time. No new décor, no trapdoors or sliding paneled walls to trip me up. I was breathing easier by the time I entered the cheery informal dining room. And I was thrilled to see a familiar face at the table, gripping a coffee cup.

“Babe,” Gabriel said without smiling.

I took in his stern expression, then noticed Madge sitting next to him. She kept scooting her chair closer and eyeing him with a look of hunger that had nothing to do with breakfast. Madge was hungry for Gabriel.

No wonder he stared at me with such complete focus. I knew I had to rescue him.

“I’ll be ready to go in just a minute,” I said.

“Good.” He looked at Madge. “Excuse me.” Then he shoved back his chair and stood. He looked at me and jerked his head toward the door, grabbed his coffee mug, and walked out of the room.

I got the message that I was to follow him. He probably had some vitally important news to tell me. Perhaps it had to do with Kiki. I really wanted to hear what he had to say, but I wasn’t going to go anywhere until I got some food. I’d been wandering the halls for the past twenty minutes and I was peckish, to say the least.

If Madge’s eyes had been laser beams, I would be dead by now. She was glaring at me as though I’d stolen her favorite teddy bear. But I managed to ignore her completely. She was pathetic if she thought that Gabriel would give her the time of day, but hope springs eternal, I suppose.

I grabbed one doughnut and a cup of coffee. Then I heard murmurings and knew that the big glazed monster
on the end was calling my name. I couldn’t ignore it. Nor could I ignore the chocolate-covered buttermilk beauty crooning at me.

And just in case, I went back and snagged an apple fritter. Because they contained apples, a good source of essential minerals. Yeah.

Dear Lord, I walked out of there with four doughnuts. It was too insane, so I ran back and returned the fritter to its platter. Taking a big bite of the glazed doughnut, I strolled out of the dining room and spied Gabriel standing halfway down the hall, staring out a window.

“What’s up?” I asked as soon as I spotted him. “How’s Kiki doing?”

He turned and his dark eyes studied me for a few long seconds. I stared back, momentarily captivated. I’m not sure how I could forget, but sometimes it slipped my mind that Gabriel was so gorgeous that some women would probably kill to get this close to him. His intensity seemed to grow as the silence lingered.

“Gabriel?” I said, mentally shaking myself. “What is it?”

The intensity passed and one side of his mouth quirked up. “You’ve got glazed sugar on your chin.”

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s it? That’s what you wanted to tell me?”

“No, babe,” he murmured, “but I can’t talk to you without doing this first.”

I held my breath as he took hold of my chin and brushed his paper napkin across that part of my face. Then he dabbed it on the corners of my mouth. “There. All gone.”

“Um, thank you?” I touched my chin to make sure the crumbs were gone. There were possibly several hundred million women on this earth who would’ve been tingling with excitement if a man like Gabriel had touched them in that innocent, intimate way. I, on the other hand, was unfazed by his charms.

Oh, who was I kidding? I wasn’t completely immune.
You could count me in with those gazillion women, too. But while it was a total thrill to be standing up close and personal with Gabriel, Derek Stone was my guy. He was the one man who made me completely happy. So why wasn’t he here right now? Why wasn’t he investigating this gnarly murder case with me? Why wasn’t he brushing crumbs off my chin? I missed my partner in crime.

Gabriel touched my arm. “Hey, are you crying?”

I jerked my arm away. “What? No. Of course not.”

“Oh, hell. You are. Come here.” He held both my elbows firmly while he stared at me. “What is it? What happened? Did somebody say something to you? Are you hurt? Damn it, Brooklyn, tell me what’s wrong.”

“Jeez, Gabriel. Chill out.” I laughed but it sounded more like a wheeze. Something tickled my cheek and I took a swipe at it. My fingers came away damp. How annoying! I shook my head, sniffled, then smiled up at him. “I’m fine. I’m okay. Maybe I’m catching a cold. I just…oh, God.”

He yanked me into his arms and hugged me tightly. After a minute, he whispered in my ear, “Where’s the Brit?”

He meant Derek Stone, of course.

“On assignment in France,” I said. “Or Belgium. Somewhere. He couldn’t tell me exactly where he was going.”

“So? What happened?”

I sighed. Gabriel wasn’t going to let this go and I didn’t feel like holding it in anymore. He was a good friend and he was a man, so I told him about the phone call in the hopes that he might give me some perspective.

“Babe, don’t even go there,” he said, his arm still wrapped around my shoulder. “Take it from me, that woman was pulling a number on you. She’s obviously a drama queen and she means nothing to Stone. She’s an assignment—that’s it.”

I hated to sound so insecure, but I had to ask. “How can you be sure?”

“Because I know the man.” He shrugged, then held
me at arm’s length and admitted, “He’s so crazy about you, it’s an embarrassment to men everywhere.”

I laughed, as he’d probably hoped I would. He eased his grip on me and I stepped back, relieved to have gotten it all out of my system. Gabriel seeing my tears was a little humiliating, but I’d get over it. Apparently the tears had been in there, just lurking behind my eyelashes, waiting for their chance to escape. Now that they had, I actually felt better. “Thank you. I know Derek wouldn’t do what that woman was implying. It was stupid of me to give her any credibility at all.”

“You got that right.”

“I was doing fine for a while,” I said, in my own shaky defense. “But I guess I’m overtired. And I just spent twenty minutes trying to find my way out of the maze of hallways, which nearly drove me nuts. But never mind that. It’s just been so tense around here, what with Bella’s murder and the thing that happened to Shelly yesterday and then Kiki’s fall.”

He took the hint and said, “Kiki’s fine, just feeling a little achy. I checked with her first thing. She’s resting in her room today.”

“I’m so glad she’s okay.”

“Me, too.” He gave my shoulder a lighthearted nudge to change the mood. “Look, Brooklyn. I’m no expert, but I think most of your stress came from worrying about your bongo act last night. I know you felt some performance anxiety over it.”

“I did,” I said, nodding. “There were a lot of high expectations.”

He took my hand in his and we headed in the direction of the conservatory at the far end of the front hall. “That’s understandable. The bongo is a dying art form.”

“I’m keeping it alive.”

“Just barely,” he said with a toothsome smile.

I laughed. I was so grateful for his counsel and for the fact that we’d become such good friends that he was able to tease me out of my odd moods. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

I shrugged. “Nothing.”

He nodded sagely. “Snow’s getting worse.”

“I can see that.”

We entered the glass-walled conservatory and he stopped to gaze out the window. “Power might go.”

“Grace told us that there’s a generator that’ll keep the whole house up and running.” I glanced at him. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

“What?”

“When I first saw you in the breakfast room, you indicated you wanted to talk to me about something.”

“Nope.” He looked around. “Just wanted to get a move on.”

“Oh. Okay, we’re moving.” I got the point. Gabriel was usually a man of few words, so I didn’t expect him to get all flowery. It was just nice to know he’d been concerned about me.

Outside, a thick blanket of white covered every surface. Snow was collecting on the branches of the trees, causing them to sag precariously. If it got much colder and the snow hardened to ice, the branches and the treetops might snap off.

I yawned.

“You sleeping okay?” he asked.

I started along the path and he joined me. “It was rough the first night, but I’ve been fine since then. Slept straight through last night. Why? Do I look sleepy to you?”

“Not playing that game, babe. You look beautiful as always.”

I laughed. “I wasn’t fishing for compliments.”

He gave me a sideways glance. “You’re a woman.”

“Okay, fine,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I appreciate the compliment. And I’m sleeping okay now. So let’s get back to the topic.”

His eyes narrowed. “Which was?”