Read Online A Cry In the Night by Mary Higgins Clark - Free Book Online Page A

Almost everything she had seen so far seemed to have been left to him.
    He threw open the door of the room next to the master bedroom. Here too the overhead light was already on. She saw a single maple bed covered by a colorful quilt. A rolltop desk, half-open, revealedpencils and crayons and sketch pads. A three-shelf bookcase contained the Book of Knowledge. A Little League trophy stood on the dresser. A high-backed rocker was in the left corner near the door. A hockey stick was propped against the right wall.
    It was the room of a ten-year-old child.

7

    I never slept here after Mother died,” Erich explained. “When I was little I used to love lying in bed, listening to the sound of her moving around in her room. The night of the accident I couldn’t stand to come in here. To calm me down, Dad and I both moved to the two back bedrooms. We never moved back.”
    â€œAre you saying that this room and the master bedroom haven’t been slept in in nearly twenty-five years?”
    â€œThat’s right. But we didn’t close them off. We just didn’t use them. But someday our son will use this room, sweetheart.”
    Jenny was glad to go back into the foyer. Despite the cheerful quilt and warm maple furniture there was something disquieting about Erich’s boyhood room.
    Beth tugged at her restlessly. “Mommy, we’re hungry,” she said positively.
    â€œOh, Mouse, I’m sorry. Let’s go to the kitchen.” Beth raced down the long hall, her footsteps noisy forsuch little feet. Tina ran behind her. “Wait for me, Beth.”
    â€œDon’t run,” Erich called after them.
    â€œDon’t break anything,” Jenny warned, remembering the delicate porcelain in the parlor.
    Erich lifted the mink off her shoulders, dropped it over his arm. “Well, what do you think?”
    Something about the way he asked the question was disturbing. It was as though he was too eager for approval, and she reassured him now the same way she answered a similar question from Beth. “It’s perfect. I love it.”
    The refrigerator was well-stocked. She heated milk for cocoa and made ham sandwiches. “I have champagne for us,” Erich said. He put his arm over the back of her chair.
    â€œI’ll be ready for it in a little while.” Jenny smiled at him and tilted her head toward the girls. “As soon as I clear the decks.”
    They were just about to get up when the doorbell rang. Erich’s scowl changed to a look of pleasure when he opened the door. “Mark, for heaven sake! Come on in.”
    The visitor filled the entry. His windblown sandy hair almost touched the top of the doorway. Rangy shoulders were not hidden by his heavy hooded parka. Piercing blue eyes dominated his strong-featured face. “Jenny,” Erich said. “This is Mark Garrett. I’ve told you about him.”
    Mark Garrett. Dr. Garrett, the veterinarian, who had been Erich’s closest friend since boyhood. “Mark’s like a brother,” Erich had told her. “In fact if anything had happened to me before I married, he would have inherited the farm.”
    Jenny extended her hand, felt his, cold and strong, cover hers.
    â€œI’ve always said you had good taste, Erich,” Mark commented. “Welcome to Minnesota, Jenny.”
    She liked him immediately. “It’s lovely to be here.” She introduced the girls to him. They were both unexpectedly shy. “You’re very, very big,” Beth told him.
    He refused coffee. “I hate to barge in,” he told Erich, “but I wanted you to hear it from me. Baron pulled a tendon pretty badly this afternoon.”
    Baron was Erich’s horse. Erich had talked about him. “A thoroughbred, flawless breeding, nervous, bad-tempered. A remarkable animal. I could have raced him but prefer having him for myself.”
    â€œWere any bones broken?” Erich’s voice was