"I wanted you to do what was needed. Get the child. Find Travis."

A pause. "And kill him?"

"No. I want to do it myself. Besides, he's going to prove more valuable alive for a while." He hung up.

Travis and Andreas. Travis was not being held against his will. What in hell was happening? Since he had been here, he had stumbled on intriguing and profitable possibilities he hadn't expected. But now the picture was becoming more puzzling.

Also more promising?

He'd always believed a clever man was one who let others win the prize and then plucked it from their grasp. Travis was moving, manipulating, and obviously shifting into high gear with Andreas…

A gift for me, Travis?

Chapter Seven

"Get up here," Jessica said when Travis picked up the phone two nights later. "Now."

"I’ll be right there."

She was waiting on the porch when Travis arrived a short time later. "How long has it been going on?" he asked.

"Fifteen minutes."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"I wanted to give her a chance to come out of it by herself."

He followed her into the house. "And eliminate the need for my services."

"Of course."

"I understand. But that fifteen-minute delay m ight not be healthy for Cassie."

"And are you healthy for her?"

"I'm the best game in town." They climbed the stairs, and Travis nodded at Fike as they reached Cassie's room. "Good evening. Same drill?"

"Sorry."

"I didn't expect anything else." He leaned against the wall while Fike searched him. "At this rate, we're going to become very intimate friends." He opened the door. "Has she been screaming like that since it started?"

Fike nodded. "Poor kid. I've never heard anything like this before. Sometimes she scares me to death."

"Stop talking and go help her, Travis," Jessica said curtly." If you can."

Travis sat down on the bed. "I'll do my best." He gathered Cassie's hands in his. "Listen to me, Cassie. It's Michael. I'm here and nothing's going to harm you. You don't have to run away."

Cassie screamed.

"I stopped them before. I can do it again. Just let me help you and we'll find a way…"

Thank God.

Michael was there in the darkness of the tunnel. Melissa couldn't see him, but she could feel him. Which meant Cassie could feel him too.

Or maybe she could see him. Melissa was so frightened, she couldn't tell.

The monsters. Sweet Jesus, the monsters. They were going to catch us and blow our heads to bits.

Run.

Run.

Run.

Find it.

Run.

Find it before they got close enough to-

Run.

It hurt to breathe. Their hearts were going to burst.

No, slow down.

Michael was here. The monsters couldn't touch them as long as he stood between.

What was he saying?

It didn't matter.

He was here.

Cassie's grip on Melissa was loosening. She was floating free…

She could feel Cassie's desperation. "Come back. Miss you," the little girl told her.

The call was as alluring as a siren's song. Don't yield. Stay clear.

"You're part of me," Cassie said.

"No."

"Lonely."

"Then come back with me."

She felt Cassie's ripple of fear. "Bad."

"Not anymore."

"Lonely. Safe now. No monsters. Together we'll find it. Come back."

Melissa was lonely too. Why not stay and let herself be-She was drifting closer to Cassie. She made a tremendous effort and jerked herself free. "No, I'm going away. Good-bye, Cassie."

"Lonely…"

"Melissa."

She opened her eyes to see Jessica's face above her. She was so tired, she could barely speak. "Hi. It's…okay, isn't it?"

Jessica nodded. "Cassie's sleeping?"

"Not yet. But she will be soon. The nightmare's over." She reached out and took Jessica's hand. "Don't look so worried. We're both fine. Where's Travis?"

"Outside in the hall." She paused. "He…helped?"

"I know you'd like me to say no, but we couldn't have made it without him." Her eyes closed. "And you didn't have to leave him out in the hall. He…knows about me."

Jessica stiffened. "What does he know?"

"That I'm a freak."

"You told him?"

"He figured it out for himself. He's very comfortable with it. Not like you. Poor Jessica…"

"Poor Mellie."

"No, I'm learning…It's not like I thought. There's so much more going on with Cassie. I had a weird feeling she's hiding something."

"What?"

"I don't know, but things may not be what I thought. And she's so lonely, Jessica. It hurts me that she's so lonely."

"You said Donny was lonely."

"Not like this."

"Weren't you lonely when you were in your forest?"

"No, I had you, I knew you were there. Maybe out of sight, but you never left me."

"Cassie has people who love her."

"But she's afraid to let them in. She's afraid if she lets anyone into her tunnel, the monsters will get in." Her grip tightened. "The monsters are terrible, terrible creatures. We can't let them in."

"Cassie can't let them in."

Melissa tried to smile. "I did it again? The monsters frighten me as much as they do her, and it kind of throws me back."

"We have to get Cassie to let us in so we can bring her back."

Melissa nodded. "It's just that…"

"The monsters?"

"Think of your worst childhood nightmare and multiply it a hundred times and you'll realize how Cassie feels." She closed her eyes. "Good night, Jessica. I don't want to talk anymore. Go hash this out with Travis. He's probably listening at the door. I'll see you in the morning." She heard a chuckle from the other side of the door and called, "Good night, Travis. You did very well tonight."

"Eavesdropping is exceptionally rude," Jessica told Travis.

"She didn't mind."

"But I did. If I'd wanted you in the room, I'd have invited you."

"And if I'd waited for invitations in my line of work, I'd be a pauper. You don't gather information by standing politely to one side. I wanted to know what was happening with Melissa, so I listened." He took her elbow. "Come on. I'll make you coffee."

"I don't want coffee." She bit her lip. "I want to talk about Mellie. I'm sure what's happening is only temporary. She's not really…"

"You want me to promise I won't call the local funny farm and tell them to bring the straitjacket for your sister?"

"There's nothing wrong with her."

"I believe that." He looked at her. "Do you?"

"Of course I do." She rubbed her temple. "I'm not taking this very well. This psychic stuff's not my cup of tea."

"Then let me handle it."

"The hell I will. Mellie's my sister. All I want from you is for you to not hurt her."

"That sounds very familiar," he murmured. "You two aren't as different as I first thought. Never fear. I'm not going to use anything I hear in this house to hurt Melissa."

She gazed at him suspiciously.

"Why should I? It's nothing to me."

She nodded slowly. "That's right, none of us is important to you."

"I can't let you be important." He smiled. "But that doesn't mean I don't admire you both. I think I'm even starting to like you."

"Amazing."

"Yes, it is. So can I make you coffee? We can both use it, and since I'm going to be around, we might as well call a truce."

She stared at him without speaking. His principles were questionable and he was different from anyone she'd ever known. There was a blunt honesty about him she found oddly comforting. "You have truces only when there's war. If you keep helping Cassie, there's no war." She started down the stairs. "One cup of coffee."