A dark, hooded figure steps out of the shadows and approaches me, slowly. I don’t want to see what is under the hood, but its hands pull back the fabric. Morgan.
Someone pounded on the door. I awoke on the couch with afternoon sun streaming in the windows. After we’d arrived home, Seth had taken the dogs for a walk. I’d stretched out on the couch and must have fallen asleep. My scratchy eyes didn’t want to open all the way and I felt disoriented after the dream.
I glanced at my watch. Seth had been gone about an hour. The pounding continued and was now punctuated by Diana’s urgent voice. “Clyde! Are you there?”
My heart sped up and I felt a jolt as I woke up fully and realized Seth wasn’t home yet and Diana was attacking my front entrance.
I jumped up and raced to the door. I wrenched it open such that Diana almost fell on me in her quest to break it down.
“Oh, you are here. Good.” She straightened up and smoothed her wild hair.
“Where’s Seth? Did something happen?”
Diana tilted her head and jerked her thumb over her shoulder. Seth was there in the yard, with Dylan and the dogs. Baxter and Tuffy were welcoming Dylan in their doggy way and Seth laughed at something Dylan said. I felt my body relax. After the dream and the urgent pounding, it took a moment to calm down.
“Why were you pounding on the door like that?”
Diana blushed. “I just . . . got worried when you didn’t answer. Seth said you were home and I got a bad feeling. . . .”
I grimaced and swung the door wide so she could enter.
“I take it Mac came to his senses about Dylan?”
Diana nodded. “Charla dropped him off just a little while ago. It seems they have new evidence.”
“What new evidence?”
Diana shook her head and shrugged. “She wouldn’t say. Just that Dylan wasn’t a suspect anymore. Rupert seemed relieved, and maybe a little disappointed that he wouldn’t need to go to court.”
I sat on the couch and rubbed my forehead.
“Are you okay?” Diana asked.
I nodded and offered her a weak smile. I knew I should be thrilled for Diana that Dylan was out of jail, but the dream lingered with a sense of menace and I was worried about this case. None of it made sense to me and I felt no closer to figuring it out than I had that first day in Mac’s office. “I’m so glad Dylan is in the clear, Diana. I just wish they had caught the killer by now.”
Diana dropped into the seat next to me. “I know. I was at the hospital earlier visiting Lucan and they have a police officer stationed outside. I had to show my driver’s license and get clearance from Mac just to go in the room.”
“Mac must think he’s still in danger.”
“What’s going to happen when they let him out of the hospital? Luke will never put up with a babysitter cop hanging around. . . .”
“You seem to know him pretty well,” I said.
Diana blushed and dropped her head so her face was hidden behind her hair. “He’s . . . not like anyone I’ve ever met.”
I vacillated about whether to tell her he was a private investigator, but decided to wait on that for now. It was his story to tell and she had enough to deal with.
“How long do you think you can keep Mac a secret from your family?” she said.
I had the same worry she did. It wouldn’t take long for them to put everything together and figure out that I had been with Mac when Lucan was found on the side of the road.
“Maybe another hour or so?” I sighed.
35
Diana and I were making tea in the kitchen when the front door opened. Expecting to hear Seth’s voice, I froze when Vi’s “I knew it!” floated into the room. Diana and I exchanged a glance, and I took a deep breath. We heard the dogs jumping and the stomping of multiple feet in the front room.
“Clyde? Where are you?” Seth called.
“I’m here,” I said and walked into the living room clutching my tea for support.
“We came over as soon as we heard!” Mom said.
Dad had his arm slung over Dylan’s shoulder and a big grin plastered on his face.
“Jillian called your mother to tell her that Dylan was out of jail,” Vi said. Jillian, Tom’s mother and my mother’s best friend, was the main source of gossip in town. Vi turned her frown in my direction. “We had to hear it from the grapevine, like everyone else. Why didn’t you call us?”
I held up a hand. “I just found out myself. Diana came by to tell me.”
Mom looked me over and tsked. “You look awful, Clyde. Did you get any sleep?”
I nodded. “About an hour,” I said.
“There’s no time for sleeping,” Vi said. “We need to celebrate. Call Alex and tell him we’re on our way.”
I took a moment to welcome Dylan home with a quick hug while Vi pushed everyone out the door.
If it hadn’t been cold and misty, we could have walked. As it was, we piled into various cars and caravanned downtown. Alex met us at the door of the restaurant. We were lucky that it was in between lunch and dinner, so the place was deserted.
Alex clapped Dylan on the shoulder and waved us toward the back, where he had pulled two tables together.