“Well—cherry,” Grace said. “But if they’re for a party, maybe we shouldn’t eat any now.”
“Who cares?” Reva shrugged and pulled out a pie. “The cook can always make more. That’s her job.”
While Reva boiled water in a copper kettle, Grace cut two slices of pie at the big marble-topped island in the center of the gleaming kitchen. Reva plunked down two steaming mugs and the two of them sat on high wooden stools, waiting for the tea to cool.
Grace took a bite of pie, then wrapped her hands around her mug. She still felt cold. “How can you be so calm?” she asked.
Reva gazed at her over the rim of her mug. “Why shouldn’t I be calm?”
“Because of Rory!” Grace cried. “I mean, maybe you don’t realize how dangerous he is, but I do! He beat me up, remember? What if he comes here?”
“As I said, let him.” Reva sipped some tea. “You’re safe here, Grace.”
Grace shook her head. “I wish I could believe you. But you don’t know Rory.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Reva told her. “Listen, I told you about being kidnapped last year, right?”
“Yes, but what does that have to do with Rory?”
“Well, as soon as it was over, my father beefed up the security around here,” Reva explained. “Not only does this house have the best alarm system in the world, we now have three guard dogs on the grounds. Plus,” she added, “Daddy hired two full-time security guards.”
Grace shuddered. “You make it sound like a prison.”
Reva frowned. “Thanks a lot.”
“I didn’t mean it that way!” Grace felt herself blushing. She was always saying things wrong. “It’s a beautiful house, really. And I’m so grateful to be here. I guess I’m just upset, because of the phone call.”
“Yeah, well, you can stop being upset. If Rory tries to get in here, the guard will stop him.” Reva laughed. “And if the guard doesn’t, the dogs will. Take my word for it, they’re trained to go for the throat.”
The throat. Grace shuddered again.
“So forget about Rory, okay?” Reva said. “And stop flinching at every little noise. It’s not exactly fun.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Grace lifted her mug. Her hands shook and the tea slopped out over the rim.
“What’s the matter now?” Reva asked, sounding irritated. “How many times do I have to tell you that he can’t get in here?”
“I want to believe you,” Grace told her. “But you didn’t hear Rory on the phone just now. He was wild, Reva! And when he’s like that, nothing can stop him. Not dogs or guards or alarms or anything.”
She mopped up the tea with a napkin. “And he said . . . he said when he got here, he was going to finish what he started with me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He was talking about when he beat me up.” Grace swallowed. “He—he meant this time he’s going to kill me!”
Before Reva could respond, someone knocked at the kitchen door. Reva jumped.
Grace jumped, too, knocking her mug over. Dark tea spread across the marble and dribbled onto the floor.
Another knock, louder this time.
Grace wanted to run, but she couldn’t move. She sat frozen in terror, her eyes on the door. “It’s . . . it’s him! He did come.”
A third knock. A fourth.
“It’s Rory!” Grace cried.
Chapter 7
SURPRISE!
Reva shivered at Grace’s words.
Could Rory really be on the other side of that door?
Daddy spent zillions to protect this place. Rory couldn’t possibly have gotten inside the grounds. And if he did, wouldn’t the dogs be barking?
Another knock.
Enough. Reva slid from the stool.
Grace grabbed her wrist. “You’re not going to open it are you?”
Reva stared at her. Her roommate’s eyes were wide with fright, and her teeth chattered.
She looks like a scared rabbit, Reva thought. “Get a grip, Grace. If Rory came to kill you, would he really knock on the door?”
Prying Grace’s icy fingers from her arm, Reva walked hesitantly to the door. She turned the lock, but left the security chain on. No sense being totally stupid, she thought.
She pulled the door open a crack.
Behind her, Grace gasped loudly as a man’s face rose into view.
Reva almost laughed. “Relax. It’s one of the security guards.”
The guard, a red-faced man in a dark blue uniform, nodded at Reva. “Sorry to disturb you, Miss.”
Reva frowned at him. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”