He removed the lid and lifted the Styrofoam cup to his mouth. She couldn’t watch. She turned on the pretense of looking out the window, but nothing could be seen through the nearly opaque glass louvers. She finished the last bite of muffin, stuffed the wrapper in the paper cup, and dropped it in the trashcan beside the open condom packet.

She stood staring down at the packet, wishing she hadn’t seen it, wishing the past night had never happened. And she’d been doing a pretty good job pretending it hadn’t happened until that moment.

“We’ve got to get going,” Daniel said from behind her. She heard the bed shift and knew he’d gotten to his feet. “I told Jo I’d have you at the police station by ten.”

Cleo’s heart began to beat faster. She couldn’t put herself through that again. “I have to brush my teeth.”

She pushed past Daniel to shut herself in the pitch-black of the bathroom. She groped for the chain, found it, and pulled, the fluorescent light flickering, then finally stabilizing. Her eyes were huge, with blue shadows under them. Purple lips. Wild hair.

This time there would be no trance, she told herself. She would fake it. Nobody would ever know. She would pretend. And this time she would describe in more detail everything she’d seen before.

She’d forgotten to comb her hair, and it had begun to dry the way it had fallen after she’d removed the towel from her head. She pulled it back and held it in place with a large clip. After that, she brushed her teeth, turned off the light, and stepped out to join Daniel, who was waiting, one shoulder against the door.

Daniel waited while she slipped her feet into her sandals, waited while she gathered her bag.

When he’d unlocked the door and stepped into the stuffy room, she’d taken his breath away. She’d emerged from the darkness with her shiny, freshly scrubbed face devoid of makeup, her hair wet and coiling on each side of her face, and for a moment he’d forgotten how to breathe.

He wished he’d kissed her last night. Kissed her deep and hard, the way he had that first time. Last night, he’d wanted her to see what it felt like to be treated with such insignificance, but Christ, he’d gone too far.

On the way to the police station, he attempted to apologize. “Look,” he began. “About last night-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’m sorry. That’s all.”

She didn’t answer. And why should she? Why should she waste her breath on me?

Daniel parked next to Burt the Flirt’s sport utility vehicle. Campbell was a good outlet for the frustration and anger Daniel felt toward himself. Didn’t the guy ever work? Didn’t he have teeth to drill?

It looked as if it was going to be pretty much a repeat of the last performance, with the same cast members. The shades were drawn, the candle lit. They made a circle, everyone sitting in the same order except for Daniel and Dr. Campbell. Daniel traded places with the dentist so he could sit directly across from Cleo.

Just as she had the day before, she spoke in a low, husky voice, a voice that was soothing and melodic, a voice that could almost put a guy in a trance.

“Watch the flickering flame,” she whispered. “Watch the flame.”

A minute later, she told them to close their eyes, to visualize the flame. Daniel closed his eyes and tipped back his head so he could watch Cleo through the haze of his lashes.

She looked from one person to the next, as if assuring herself that they were with the program and nobody was cheating. When she reached Daniel, he let his lids fall closed, an almost imperceptible movement. A short while later, he cracked them enough to see Cleo.

“The key,” she said. “Everyone focus on the key.” A pause. Then, “You must now replace the flame with the key. Concentrate. Focus.”

As he watched, a little secret smile hovered at the corner of her mouth, a look of satisfaction.

He had to admit that for a moment in the bathroom yesterday he’d briefly wondered if she’d at least convinced herself that this nonsense was real, but right now there was no denying she was a fraud.

She suddenly gasped and stiffened, the way he guessed one was supposed to do when being possessed by some spirit, some unknown force.

Her chest was thrown out, her head back, her throat exposed to the light and shadow of the flickering flame. It took Daniel back to another time when she’d thrown back her head in just such a way and had let out just such a gasp.

And then the spirit must have left her. She went limp and melted on the floor.

Everyone gathered around except for Daniel. He got to his feet and observed.

The twins fanned her face, Harvey stared in fascination, Jo made clucking sounds, and Burt the Flirt told everybody to get back and give her some air.

Finally the master thespian sighed and allowed herself to be pulled to a sitting position.

“What did you see?” Jo asked. “Anything different this time?”

Cleo stared blankly ahead, as if looking into a world nobody else in the room could see. “Yes,” she said, reaching blindly for Jo’s hand, finding it, hanging on tightly. “I saw the barn again.”

“The barn?” Jo said, sounding a little disgusted.

“Yes, but so much more. This time-” Cleo’s words broke off. She pulled her gaze back from the mysterious place she’d gone, focusing on Jo. “This time,” she whispered, “I went inside.”

All three women let out a titillated gasp. “What did you see?” they asked in unison.

“At first it was hard to see anything,” Cleo said. “It was so dark and creepy.”

Creepy? You could have used a more descriptive word than that, Daniel thought. You’re getting sloppy, Cleo.

Almost as if she’d read his mind, she shuddered for effect then said, “It smelled like rotten things. Rotten wood. Rotten hay. Rotten ground. There was a feeling of decay about it. It’s a bad place. I know it’s a bad place. But I made myself move.” She got that trancelike look on her face again. “I stepped forward, and I could see my feet in my sandals. And it was weird, because I was wearing a slip. A black slip. I could see the lace edge against my leg.” She kind of gave herself a shake, as if realizing she was getting sidetracked. “Someone handed me a shovel and told me to dig. So I started digging. I kept digging until-” Her words came to an abrupt halt.

“Yes? Yes?” Everyone asked.

“What was in the hole?” Jo asked. “What did you find?”

Cleo ran her tongue across her lips then looked directly at Jo. “The key.”

Chapter Seventeen

After the séance, Cleo pleaded a headache and exhaustion. “This kind of thing always leaves me feeling like a limp rag,” she said, smiling weakly. From the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel staring at her, his expression unreadable.

“Can I give you a lift back to your motel?” Dr. Campbell asked.

Cleo jumped at the offer-anything to get out of riding with Daniel. She was pretty sure he’d been watching her throughout the reading and knew she’d faked the whole thing. The last thing she wanted was another interrogation.

“That would be great,” Cleo said, gathering up the incense and candles.

She’d briefly thought about trying to cut a deal with Jo, maybe settling for a thousand dollars if she let her go now, but Cleo no longer wanted anything from the town of Egypt except to leave it.

Outside, Dr. Campbell opened the passenger door for her. Wow, Cleo thought, sliding into the plush, almost decadent seat. Sport utility vehicles were certainly getting luxurious. Campbell took his place behind the wheel. After a few deft maneuvers, they headed in the direction of The Palms.

“You were amazing back there,” he said, keeping his hands in the ten-and-two-o’clock position.