always she found fault with the way the table was set, with the flowers that had been carefully arranged as a centerpiece. She even found fault with the way Heather was dressed.
“This isn’t a barn.” Meredith looked her up and down without bothering to hide her contempt. “Save your denims and boots for the horses. I expect you to dress for dinner while you’re a guest in my home.”
It was on the tip of Heather’s tongue to remind her aunt that this wasn’t the White House, but one look at her two young cousins, and she felt a wave of sympathy. It must be terrible to have to live with so much seething anger and resentment. There seemed to be no love left in this home.
“If you’d like me to change…” she began.
“If I’d like?” Meredith’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits. “Are you so thick-headed you have to ask? Get this straight. I don’t want to see you in this room until you’re wearing what you’d wear to one of your fancy country club dinners. Is that understood?”
Before Heather could reply Meredith slammed out of the room, leaving her sons staring after her in disbelief.
Hoping to calm them, Heather put an arm around each of them and gave them her brightest smile. “Looks like this is your lucky day. You’re about to see me looking the way I look at a glamorous dinner party. I’ll be right back after I change.”
They all looked up at the sound of a loud report, followed by the shattering of glass.
“What was that?” Teddy’s eyes went wide with fear.
Even as he cried out the question, they all knew what they’d heard. It was unmistakably a gunshot. The sound was eerily like the sound they’d heard another time, at Joe’s party.
For the space of a heartbeat they all went perfectly still, absorbing the shock.
Heather was the first to recover her senses. She was already rushing through the open doorway and toward the stairs, a scream lodged in her throat, when the boys started after her. Seeing them, she stopped and held out her hands.
“You don’t want to come up here,” she said insistently. “Not until I see what’s happened.”
The thought of these two little boys finding their father lying in a pool of blood, dead or wounded, was too terrible to contemplate. As they rushed toward her she caught them and held them back, then glanced over their heads to where Inez stood in the doorway, staring in stunned silence. “Take the boys with you into the dining room and keep them there.”
The poor woman was too frightened to respond.
Just then her aunt hurried into the hallway.
The woman who had for years pretended to be Meredith paused at the scene before her. Her mind couldn’t seem to take in what her heart already knew. The gunshot. The eerie silence. It was so much like the previous time. But that time she’d been prepared. It had all been carefully choreographed by her, Patsy Portman. This time the gunshot had caught her completely by surprise. What was going on here? This hadn’t been part of her plan. In fact, she’d been so busy trying to do away with Emily, she hadn’t given any more thought to getting rid of Joe.
“Aunt Meredith.” Seeing her aunt’s apparent confusion, Heather adopted a tone she’d used as a camp counselor whenever she was dealing with an errant child. “You don’t want your boys to go up here. Please see that they stay downstairs, out of harm’s way.”
For a few more seconds Patsy’s mind seemed to be somewhere else, mulling this strange twist. Then, with great effort, she pulled herself back from her thoughts and called sternly, “You heard Heather. Come down here and wait with me.”
Heather turned away, relieved, and started up. Just then Joe Colton appeared at the head of the stairs. In his eyes was a look of dazed fury.
In a voice that sounded deadly calm he said, “Heather, call the police.”
“Are you all right? Was it a gunshot?”
He nodded. “I’m fine. Call now. And, Heather…”
She paused.
“Keep everyone downstairs and in one place until the police detectives have had a chance to gather evidence. We know the routine by now. I don’t want anyone messing up footprints or other signs this madman may have left behind.”
She was so grateful to see that her uncle was alive and unharmed, she could hardly speak. She gave a quick nod of her head, then raced toward the phone. After speaking with the police, she realized that she was trembling. Joining the others in the dining room she sank down onto a chair and waited for the tremors to pass.
Thad Law was out of his car and striding across the yard within minutes of the call. He was thankful that he’d been in the vicinity. Otherwise there was no telling how long it might have taken him.
As he drew near the front door he saw a shadowy figure and drew his gun.
“Police. Hold it right there.” He saw the figure pause and dart a look toward him. At that same moment he took careful aim. “I wouldn’t move if I were you, unless you’d like this to be your last minute on earth.”
The voice was low and deep and slightly out of breath. “What the hell is this about?”
“I’ll ask the questions.” Thad could see the man clearly outlined in the spill of light from the glass panels on either side of the door. His shrewd cop’s mind was already memorizing every detail. A hair over six feet. Strong, rugged build. Jet black hair. Dressed casually enough, in charcoal slacks and sweater. To blend into the darkness? Thad wondered.
He stepped closer and spun the man around, forcing his face to the door, while he searched for a weapon. Seeing that he wasn’t armed, Thad stepped back, allowing the man to turn.
Thad’s tone was sharp. “Now tell me who you are and what you’re doing here.”
The man looked startled by the questions before saying, “My name’s Jackson Colton. I’m here to see my uncle.”
“You got a beef with Joe Colton?”
“A beef? Of course not. I’m Joe’s nephew, and I’m here for a visit.”
“Did Joe know you were coming?”
There was a slight hesitation before Jackson said quietly, “No. I didn’t call and tell him I was coming. With Joe it isn’t necessary. His family is always welcome. Now I’d like to know what right you have to hold me at gunpoint and ask me these questions.”
“I have every right. There were shots fired here.” Thad gave a sharp rap on the door and waited until it was opened by a trembling Inez. Shoving Jackson ahead of him, he headed toward Joe Colton’s office. As he stepped inside he heard the high-pitched wail of sirens signaling the arrival of the rest of the squad. When a uniform rushed into the room, Thad nodded his head toward Jackson Colton.
“This guy claims to be a relative. He was outside when I got here. See that he sits in that chair and doesn’t move until I’ve had a chance to interview everyone here.” He gave Jackson a look that spoke, more than any words, what would happen if he dared to argue.
Then
