Page 20 of Cursed
With fingers that were almost frantic, she worked the buttons, restraining the impulse to simply rip the garment down the front. When she was free of the straitjacket, she tossed it onto the small upholstered chair in the corner of the bedroom.
Naked, she breathed out a sigh of relief, then began prowling the room.
She hadn’t thought to look for anything else to wear. Now she started opening drawers. In one she found a man’s dress shirt, soft from many washings.
Earlier she’d shied away from the idea of wearing anything that might belong to Andre Gascon. But necessity made her slip into the shirt. As he’d warned, it was much too long. But when she rolled up the sleeves, she decided it would make a good enough night shirt.
Clicking the light on her watch, she saw that it was too early to get up. And she was reluctant to prowl around a strange house in the dark—dressed like a ragamuffin.
So, she lay back down, knowing that the possibility of sleep was a distant one. In fact, her mind was whirling with toomany ideas. She tried to think about the mystery of the woman outside, chanting. But she kept coming back to the mystery of Andre Gascon. And the other man named Andre whom she had met only in two very vivid dreams.
The long-ago Andre had stirred her senses. Made her aware of hot, sexy feelings that she hadn’t experienced since she’d been in Trevor’s arms. And dreaming of him had brought her to orgasm, if she were honest.
Damn him. He wasn’t Trevor. He wasn’t her husband, the love of her life. The man who had taught her about sex. Taken her skydiving and spelunking and to the Ritz in Paris. Deliberately she brought back the feelings she’d experienced when she’d learned of his death. The aching sense of loss and despair.
He had been so much a part of her life that she had hardly known how to cope. Luckily for her, an old friend from her law enforcement training days now worked for Decorah Security and had persuaded her to join him there. He’d gotten her a job with Frank Decorah there, when she would have spent her days lying in bed in the dark, mourning her loss.
The friends she’d made at her new job had rallied around her, too, and helped pull her through the worst of it. They were the most amazing group of men and women she had ever encountered. They had all been through dangerous and frightening experiences.
Hunter and Kathryn Kelley had fought off a government conspiracy. Knox Marshall had come back from a drug-induced stupor. And Mac Bradley had returned from an adventure no one would believe. In fact, once the men and women of Decorah had gotten to know and trust her, they had shared secrets about themselves that were hard to believe
They were strong. They had lent her their strength. And she had told herself that if they could survive what life had thrown at them, she could too.
Still, the reality of Trevor’s loss had always been a given in her life. Even when the grief had dulled, it was a part of her soul.
Tonight, she felt more alive than she had since his death. She should welcome that feeling, she told herself. Instead, she resented it. She had gotten used to living a certain way—and a dream lover had brought her to a new level of reality.
A dream lover. She hated that part of it as much as anything else. He wasn’t even real.
Or was he? Did he have something to do with the present Andre Gascon? She wanted to put that notion out of her head. Maybe she did, because sometime before dawn, she fell asleep.
When she woke, bright sunlight was streaming in the window—sunlight that helped banish all the strange and disturbing notions that had been churning around in her head.
She sat up and looked toward the door, then gave a startled exclamation.
Her suitcase and her carry-on, which had been locked in the trunk of the car, were sitting just inside the door. Obviously, while she’d slept, someone had put it there. Janet had said Andre would get them in the morning. So, had he been in her bedroom without her knowing it?
Another thought occurred to her, and she climbed quickly out of bed. The car keys had been in the ignition. Which meant that the trunk might as well have been unlocked. Anyone could have looked through her belongings before they arrived in her room. And the most valuable thing she’d brought along was her computer.
Quickly, she opened the zipper of the carry-on, then breathed out a sigh when she found the laptop still sitting on top of the change of clothing she always brought along on a plane in caseher checked luggage was delayed. Sitting next to the carry-on was her purse, and she realized with a start that she’d forgotten all about what might be in there!
First, she thumbed through her wallet. As far as she could tell, no money or credit cards were missing. Her cell phone was also in an inside pocket along with the silver honey bear charm Trevor had given her to tease her about her sweet tooth.
Satisfied that she hadn’t been robbed, she got out toilet articles, clean underwear, and casual top and slacks, then locked the bedroom door before changing her clothing.
Andre stretched out his long legs under the kitchen table, trying to appear relaxed. When Janet turned from the stove, she gave him a sympathetic look.
“It’s good you got her suitcases.”
“I knew she’d want her things.”
“Yes.”
The conversation ground to a halt. Andre fiddled with the cutlery in front of him on the table, then put down the spoon he was turning in his hand.
“You’re nervous,” Janet said.
“Why not? I wouldn’t say we had a very calm night.”
