"Ready."
She managed the feat a second time.And a third. And she was so frightened each time she took the fall that she forgot to be frightened of the whisper that had threatened her that morning....
They did break for lunch. Bryn was too nervous to do more than pick at her yogurt. Like a stalked animal, she kept an alert eye out for Lee. And each time she looked for him, she found him watching her.
He approached her as she threw away the half-eaten yogurt.
"Is that all you ever eat? No wonder you look like a scared rabbit today."
"I'm sorry if I resemble a rabbit," she said briefly. "What's wrong with you?" "Nothing is wrong with me!"
"Do you know, Bryn, the truth sometimes suffices where a lie is ridiculous."
"There is nothing wrong with me. I'm just a little tired." "You should get more sleep."
"Yes, I should. But don'tworry, I won't let my work slip." "I wasn't worried."
She glanced at him sharply, only to discover that he really wasn't worried. He wasn't even looking at her.
He was scanning the room, eyes keenly alert. She had the sudden impression that if she had felt like something hunted, he definitely seemed like a stalking cat. It was all part of that new tension. He was watching, waiting...searching....
For what?
She was being ridiculous.
He was tense because he was always tense. He was always a hard taskmaster. And he seemed like a powerful cat on a stealthy prowl because he was...
Lee Condor.
She was a nervous wreck, and so she was reading ominous signals into everything she saw. She had done it that morning to Andrew, and she was trying to do it now to Lee.
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She began to pray for the day to end.
They were all gone, the dancers, the cameramen, the workers--everyone. Only Lee and the group remained behind.
"I think the police should be called in," Mick stated flatly.
Lee lifted his hands in an absent gesture,then crossed them over his chest again. "And what am I going to say, Mick? I think my house has been broken into several nights in a row? There won't be any prints.
This guy is good. I never heard anything. I'm going strictly on intuition. Of course it might have been while I was out."
"But if you report it--" Andrew suggested.
"No," Lee interrupted, shaking his head. "If I do that, I'll never know how Bryn is involved.If she is. The car might have just been some guy hoping for a date with a beautiful woman."
"But you don't believe that."
"No, I don'tPerry, it's your turn to watch her house tonight."
"No problem," Perry agreed.
"Yeah, but don't ask her for a ride in tomorrow morning. I think she was suspicious," Andrew warned.
"That's because you didn't have the sense to mess your clothes up!" Perry teased.
"Hold it!" Lee laughed. "Perry, just disappear into the trees when she gets ready to leave. I'll pick you up. That will solve that problem."
"What about your house, Lee?" Andrew asked. "I really think one of us should be with you."
"Thanks, Andrew, but no. If I'm going to catch a sneak thief, I'm going to have to be a better sneak than he is. That means being alone."
"Take care," Andrew advised gruffly. "I mean, I like being a musician. Without you, we might have to start back at the bottom, and I've gotten quite fond of an adequate income, you know."
Lee chuckled. "Don't worry, Andrew. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing--so far, at least."
"I'm aware you're no fool, Lee. And that you know how to take care of yourself. Like I said--just take care."
"I will."
"Well," Andrew murmured lightly, "since it seems I'm off for the night, I'm going to go ahead and try to enjoy myself." He started for the door with the others behind him,then turned back. "I'll be by my phone, Lee, Perry, if you need me."
"So willI ," Mick added bluntly.
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"Thanks," Lee told them. He shrugged. "Maybe I am crazy."
They all shrugged. Not one of them thought so.
The phone was ringing as she turned the key in the front door.
Bryn felt chills, and her ringers shook. She didn't want to answer it.
"Hurry, AuntBwyn !" Adam said, slurring the r in her name as he sometimes did. "The phone is ringing!"
"I know," she murmured. The door opened and swung inward. The boys rushed in ahead of her, the older ones tearing toward the phone together.
"Don't answer it!" she snapped sharply, but too late. Brian was already saying "Hello?"
A wave of cold swept over her as she watched her nephew, a feeling that she would fall...that she would faint....
"It's Barbara, Aunt Bryn.Something about a picture for the travel agency."
Relief was almost worse than the fear. Her voice crackled when she took the phone from Brian.
"Hi, Barb, what's up?"
"Nothing big, honey.I just need another print of the iguana by the cactus. Can you do me an eight by ten tonight?"
"Sure."
"Great. You can bring it to me tomorrow."
"Sure."