“According to you, he’s going to do that anyway.” Reva shuddered and flipped the heater on high. “Did he really say he’d kill me, too?”
Grace nodded. “And if he finds out I told the police, he’ll just go into hiding. Trust me. He’s very sneaky. They’ll never find him. And just when we think it’s safe, he’ll show up and get us!”
Reva shuddered again. Would she have to look over her shoulder the rest of her life just because she’d been nice enough to invite Grace home for the holidays?
Remind me never to do anything that nice again, she told herself. It’s definitely not worth it.
“What happened, anyway?” she asked as she turned another corner, heading into North Hills. “Did Rory come to the house?”
“He called,” Grace told her. “He said he was close. Real close. I didn’t believe him at first. But a few minutes later, I heard the dogs barking like mad. When I looked out the window, I saw him!”
“Inside the grounds? Where was the guard?” Reva demanded.
“Rory wasn’t inside the grounds, he was outside the gate.” Grace held her raw, cold hands in front of the heating vent. “I didn’t see the guard. Maybe he was trying to quiet the dogs or something.”
“Rory would never make it past the dogs or the guard,” Reva told her. “You should have stayed in the house.”
“Maybe, but I panicked,” Grace admitted. “I couldn’t help it, I just had to get out. I ran out the back way and kept running until I got downtown.”
Too bad you stopped there, Reva thought. You should have kept running—right out of my life.
“I’m sorry,” Grace murmured. “I know I’m causing you a lot of trouble, Reva.”
Reva rolled her eyes. Then why don’t you just pack up and go home? she thought.
Reva sighed. “It’s not just you,” she told Grace. “Daniel made this awful phone call to me. That’s why I was down at the police station. He actually told me I deserved what Traci got. Can you believe it? All because of that stupid joke I pulled.”
Grace shook her head. “That’s awful. I guess you hurt his feelings.”
Reva sniffed. “Oh, please! I mean, I didn’t ask him to come! Daniel is a loser, that’s all. I’m glad I met Grant.”
“I bet Liza isn’t glad,” Grace murmured.
Reva snorted. “If she can’t hold onto her boyfriend, that’s her problem. Besides,” she added, “I really need Grant, with everything that’s going on.”
“You mean Traci’s death?” Grace asked. “That was so terrible.”
Reva nodded. “And it really messed up the scarf show. The first one is tomorrow, you know, and we never really got a chance to rehearse. I’ll have to hire a new model first thing in the morning. I just hope she doesn’t fall on her face.”
“I’m sure everything will go okay,” Grace assured her.
“It better,” Reva declared. “The scarf show is really important to me. I can’t let anything ruin it.”
As Reva pulled to a stop in front of her house, Grace sat up, tense again.
Reva glanced around warily. She hadn’t seen a car following them, but that didn’t mean anything. Rory might have come a different way.
Still, everything seemed quiet. “If Rory were here, the dogs would be barking,” she told Grace. “Come on. Let’s get inside.”
As they left the car and dashed up the front steps, the door swung open.
Reva’s father stood there, a grim expression on his face.
“Daddy!” Reva cried. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
“I have some news, Reva,” Mr. Dalby told her, his voice as grim as his expression. “Some very bad news.”
Chapter 19
ANOTHER FRIGHTENING
CALL
Grace gasped. “It’s Rory, isn’t it? I know it is! What happened? What did he do?”
Mr. Dalby stared at her. “I’m sorry, Grace. I don’t know what you mean. Who’s this Rory?”
“Never mind that now, Daddy!” Reva cried. “You look so upset. What is it?”
“Take off your coat and come into the living room,” her father told her. “Grace, if you’ll excuse us?”
“What? Oh, sure.” Grace hurried toward the stairs. “See you upstairs, Reva.”
Reva tossed her jacket on the foyer table and followed her father into the living room. What was going on?
Mr. Dalby stood in front of the fireplace and gazed sternly across the room at her.
“Daddy, tell me what happened!” Reva pleaded. “Is it Michael? Is something wrong with him?”