Read Online Horoscope: The Astrology Murders by Georgia Frontiere - Free Book Online Page B

breath. “Ever since Julie left for college, and with Jeff already away, I’ve been alone in the house, except for Emma downstairs in her apartment …” She was still looking at her friends. She wanted to tell them. She really did. But she couldn’t. Instead, she took another breath and said: “I haven’t been myself.”
    “Why don’t you come home with us tonight?” Michelle asked.
    There it was. The question that always came up. Why don’t you leave your house like a normal person would? “No, I can’t. I mean I don’t need to. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
    “But what if he calls again?” Mark asked.
    Kelly shook her head. “He won’t. That’s what I was trying to say. I’ve just been nervous lately, so everything puts me on edge.”
    As if to prove her point, Kelly practically jumped in response to the sudden knock on the study door. It was Emma.
    “Sorry to startle you, Kelly. I’m about to close up the kitchen before I take King for a walk. Anybody want anything?”
    Kelly turned to Mark and Michelle. Her look told them to drop the subject they’d been discussing.
    “No, thanks,” Mark responded.
    Michelle smiled warmly at Emma. “It was a wonderful dinner, Emma. Thank you.”
    “My pleasure.”
    As Emma left the doorway and headed toward the elevator that would take her downstairs, Kelly called after her, “See you in the morning, Emma.”
    “See you in the morning,” Emma’s voice called back to her.
    Mark glanced at his watch. “We have to go,” he said apologetically. “We promised the babysitter we’d be home fifteen minutes ago.”
    Michelle turned to Kelly again. “You’re sure you won’t come home with us? It wouldn’t be any trouble—”
    Kelly shook her head. “No. Really. It was probably just some drunk who didn’t like what I said in my column, looked up my office number, and called to spook me. I’ll probably never hear from him again.”
    She couldn’t tell from their faces whether Michelle and Mark believed what she was saying; she certainly didn’t believe it herself. In an effort to convince them, she added, with more confidence than she felt, “I’ll be fine.”

Twelve
    F IFTEEN MINUTES LATER , K ELLY stood in the front doorway, her feet on the inside edge of the threshold, watching her friends walk down the steps of the brownstone toward the street. This was as far as she was able to go. She felt the anxiety rising within her and knew that if she tried to step out the door onto the front stoop, her mind and body would rebel in panic that she would die. Her toes just touching the portal, she pretended nothing was wrong, and she waved and did her best to smile when Michelle waved to her from the sidewalk.
    “How about meeting for lunch on Wednesday?” Michelle offered. “I only have patients in the morning.”
    Kelly shook her head again. “No, I … I’m sorry. Wednesday’s impossible.”
    Michelle looked disappointed. “I’ll call you.”
    Kelly saw that Mark had already gotten a cab to stop, and he was about to open the passenger door. She couldn’t wait for him and Michelle to get into the cab and go home; the stress of having to stand in the doorway without being able to move a millimeter farther outside was beginning to make her feel short of breath.
    “If that man calls again,” Michelle was saying, “come to our place, okay? It doesn’t matter what time it is.”
    Kelly nodded. “Okay.” She could feel her heart beating faster,and she was relieved when Michelle finally turned away from her and got into the cab. Mark gave her a final wave before he started getting into the cab, too. She stepped back into the house and closed the door before the cab even pulled away. She locked the top and bottom locks on the door and started up the stairs. She was happy that she’d had her friends over, but now that they were gone, she was aware once again of how lonely she felt and how helpless to deal with the terror of the outside world that was