Light in Shadow

Chapter OneThe walls screamed at her. "Oh, damn," Zoe Luce whispered. She halted in the doorway of the empty bedroom and stared at the white walls. Not now. Not today. Not this time. I really need this job.The walls sobbed. Terror pulsed through layers of Sheetrock and the fresh coat of stark white paint that covered it. The silent shrieks ricocheted off the floor and ceiling. She put her fingers to her temples in a purely instinctive, utterly useless gesture. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself against the ragged bolts of icy lightning that were shooting through her and pooling into a glacial pond somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach. Davis Mason had followed her so closely down the hall that he was only a pace behind her when she came to a sudden stop. He bumped awkwardly against her. "Oops, sorry." He caught his balance. "I wasn't paying attention." "My fault." With what she hoped was an unobtrusive movement, she eased out of the doorway back into the hall. Things were much better out here. She could cope. She gave Davis what she hoped was a bright, assured smile. It wasn't easy, what with the muffled cries still leaking out of the bedroom. She wanted out of this house. Fast. Whatever had happened in the bedroom had been bad. "Hey." Davis touched her shoulder lightly. "Are you all right, Zoe?" She gave him another shaky smile. It was relatively easy to smile at Davis. He had elegant lines and cleaning styling with just the right touch of roguish flair. If he'd been a car, he would have been a sleek, European roadster. Judging by the spacious home, the hand-tailored shirt and trousers, and the onyx and diamond ring he wore, he was also wealthy. In short, she thought sadly, until that moment, she had considered him the ideal client. Everything had changed now, of course. "Yes, I'm fine." She did a little on-the-spot deep breathing, using the techniques she had learned in her self-defense class. Summoning up her teacher's instructions, she sought the calm, stable center that was supposed to be somewhere deep inside her. Unfortunately, she had not yet mastered that part of the program. All she could feel was a bad case of the jitters coming on. "What's wrong?" Davis was looking seriously concerned now. "Just the start of a headache," Zoe said. "I often get one when I forget to eat breakfast." The lies came so easily these days. But, then, she'd had a lot of practice. Too bad she wasn't yet clever enough to convince herself, she thought. A little self-delusion would be very welcome right now. Davis watched her intently for a few seconds, and then he relaxed. "Missed your morning shot of caffeine?" "And food. It's a blood sugar thing. I should know better." Feeling an urgent need to change the topic of conversation, she looked back into the bedroom and blurted out the first thing that came into her mind. "What happened to the bed?" "The bed?" They both looked at the large, empty stretch of uncovered hardwood flooring between two massive, mission-style bedside tables. Zoe swallowed uneasily. "The rest of the residence is fully furnished," she said. "I couldn't help but notice that there's no bed in here." "She took it," Davis said grimly. "Your ex-wife?" He sighed. "She loved that damned bed. Spent months shopping for it. I swear, it meant more to her than I did. When she left, it was about the only thing she insisted on taking with her in addition to her personal stuff." "I see." "You know how it is in a divorce. Sometimes the biggest fights are over the smallest, dumbest things." Whatever else it had been, Zoe thought, the missing bed had not been small. "I understand." Davis searched her face. "Headache getting worse?" "It'll be all right once I've had lunch and a cup of coffee," she assured him. "TellKrentz, Jayne Ann is the author of 'Light in Shadow' with ISBN 9780399149382 and ISBN 0399149384.