Page 96 of Shadow of Doubt

She nodded, realizing that the last time she’d gotten even a little close to a stranger had colored her thinking. She used to be so trusting. But Landry Jones had changed all that.

Thoughts of what could have happened if she’d gotten into the car with Landry that night skittered past. Another shudder ran through her as she stepped farther away from Odell.

“If you’re all right, I’m going back to bed,” he said, seeing her move away from him. He seemed irritated. After all, according to him, he’d just saved her.

She nodded and stumbled backward to the stairs, groping with one hand behind her as if blind, even though an almost full moon and a canopy of stars now lit the courtyard.

Odell said nothing, just watched her until she disappeared up the steps and through the open door of her apartment. She closed the door, locked it and moved to the window to peer through the blinds down on the courtyard and the pool. Had it really only been a nightmare?

Odell was still standing by the pool looking up at her apartment.

She retreated from the window, letting the blind fall back into place. She couldn’t quit shaking. She hadn’t walked in her sleep since she was a child.

Shuddering again at the memory of the child’s face in the water, she hurried to turn on a lamp, sending the darkness skittering back to the far corners of the apartment. But no light could take away the chill the nightmare had left behind. Or rid her of the feeling that it hadn’t been a dream at al

l.

The hand coming out of the pool had been Andres Santiago’s dead son grabbing her—

Almost as if still asleep, she slowly looked down at her left wrist, not realizing until that moment that she’d been rubbing it.

A stifled cry escaped her lips. The skin was chafed red where something—someone—had grabbed her wrist, the skin already starting to bruise.

CHAPTER SIX

Willa woke to the sound of a boat motor. She bolted upright in bed, momentarily confused. All the lights were on in her apartment and she realized she’d left them on all night. She was on top of the covers where she must have lain once she’d returned to her apartment last night.

Her memory was fuzzy. Had she dreamt all of it, including waking up by the pool? She looked down at her wrist, shocked again to see distinct bruises in the shape of fingertips. And calluses on her palms from shoveling.

She groaned. Some of it had definitely been real.

Last night she knew she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep until she found out if Odell had buried something behind the villa.

She’d waited until his lights went out, and then giving another thirty minutes to make sure everything was quiet in the villa, she dressed and sneaked down.

As she passed the pool, she hadn’t dared look into the water as if it might cast a spell on her. Or even worse, that she might see the little boy and he might reach for her again as he’d done in the nightmare.

Past the pool, she’d slipped through the arch, just as Odell had done earlier. The moon had sent silver shafts of light down through the palms and dense vegetation close to the villa. Just as she’d suspected, Odell had left the shovel just outside the courtyard leaning against the wall.

Silently she took it and gazed into the darkness under the trees for the spot where she’d seen him digging. It was harder to find from this angle. But she was good with directions. It went with being raised in South Dakota. A person could get lost on the prairie with no trees or even a knoll to use as a marker.

A few yards from the villa, the darkness settled over her like a shroud. She stumbled to the spot and turned to look back at the villa.

No lights shone. Moonlight played along the edge of the back wall. She saw no dark figure watching her, heard nothing as she turned back to the spot and removed the palm fronds Odell had used to cover it.

The earth had obviously been turned here. She was more than having second thoughts as she took the shovel in her hands and began to dig. While she’d brought the penlight, she didn’t want to use it unless she absolutely had to, fearing that the light might be seen from the villa. The last thing she needed was an audience for what she suspected would be one of her more foolish acts.

She tried to imagine what her friends back in South Dakota would say if they could see her now. Worse, her mother. Better to think about that instead of what she might be digging up.

The blade struck something, making a ringing sound that seemed too loud. Everyone back at the villa had to have heard. Worse, she started to imagine all kinds of things buried down there. She shuddered and carefully turned over another shovelful then another.

Something glittered in the dim light. She put down the shovel and, taking a chance, turned on the penlight and shone it down into the hole, her nerves on end.

What the heck? She bent closer. It appeared to be a pint jar full of something. She cringed, not wanting to pick it up and yet how could she not? As if she could just cover it back up now…

Gingerly she bent down and cautiously picked up the jar wondering why Odell would have gone to the trouble to bury it. In the glow of the penlight, she could now see that it was a small mayonnaise jar and it was full of nails and tacks, all swimming in a yellowish liquid. Talk about odd.

She tilted the jar, the contents rattling softly. This made no sense. Putting down the penlight, she tried the lid. It unscrewed easily. Bracing herself, she took a whiff and recoiled at the smell. It couldn’t be! But she knew it was. The color. The smell.

---