almost asleep now.
But she remained aware long enough to hear her dead friend speak. “That was pretty impressive, Dream. Those kids are scared
shitless, what with you makin’ like Linda Blair in the motherfuckin’ Exorcist . But this ain’t over.” Alicia gave her head an emphatic shake. “Uh-uh, not by a long shot. But listen, you remember what
I told you before about trouble comin’, don’t you? I wasn’t talking about these kids, honey.”
Dream’s eyes closed. “Whatever.”
Alicia leaned close. Her rancid corpse breath hot on Dream’s ear. “Trouble’s out there, Dream. Lurking, waiting for you to
show yourself. And let me tell you something—if you somehow walk out of here alive, somewhere down the line you’ll wind up
wishing these punks had killed you.”
Dream sighed.
She could think about Alicia’s warnings later. Maybe.
Her breathing evened out.
At long last, the world went away again.
CHAPTER SIX
The sound of the television emanating from the bedroom abruptly silenced. Allyson looked at her reflection in the bathroom
mirror and listened to the muffled sound of Chad yawning. He was tired. Not surprising, given how long a day it had been,
and given how many glasses of whiskey he’d downed over several hours of conversation with the man he called Jim.
Allyson had returned to the house less than fifteen minutes after storming off, making sure to stay out just long enough to
allow Chad to believe she’d only been blowing off some steam. She had to stay in character. So she’d come home just soon enough,
smiling and apologizing to their uninvited “guest,” but not making too big a deal about it. The men retired to the den while
she cleaned up in the kitchen. And while she cleaned, she worked at not thinking about the hard, dangerous men who would soon
be here. Whether they were coming to kill or merely apprehend, she did not know. And didn’t want to know.
Or so she told herself, over and over.
It wasn’t supposed to matter. Chad was just a mark, and his friend was just a person some other people wanted to get their
hands on. She’d done everything asked of her, working her way into Chad’s life, earning his trust, making him love her. Being
there when the moment her employers said would arrive finally did. She knew she should continue to be cold and emotionless
about it, just wait until the opportunity arose to slip away in the middle of the night, but…
The damnedest thing.
She liked Chad. There was no use denying it. The line between playacting and reality had become blurred at some indistinct
point. The moments before placing that phone call earlier had been like walking up to the very edge of a high cliff and deciding
whether to jump. She had taken that leap after only a minor hesitation, believing her second thoughts would evaporate with
the deed done.
But those thoughts were still swirling around in her head, taunting her with images and fantasies of possible futures that
could no longer be. They were all the more maddening for the obvious impossibility of taking it all back.
What’s done is done , she thought, silently addressing her reflection. Just leave it be and when you board that flight tomorrow morning start working on forgetting there ever was a Chad Robbins.
Right.
She had a feeling that was going to fall into the category of things easier said than done.
And as if she didn’t have enough to fret about, there was the matter of this mystery man. Chad clearly liked and respected
the man a great deal, which added yet another layer of regret to her betrayal. There was something so naggingly familiar about
the man. So she’d decided to eavesdrop on their conversation, kicking off her shoes and padding on her bare feet to a spot
in the hallway just outside the den.
They had talked of small things at first. But the tone of the conversation abruptly shifted when Jim at last told Chad why
he had come to see him after all
But she remained aware long enough to hear her dead friend speak. “That was pretty impressive, Dream. Those kids are scared
shitless, what with you makin’ like Linda Blair in the motherfuckin’ Exorcist . But this ain’t over.” Alicia gave her head an emphatic shake. “Uh-uh, not by a long shot. But listen, you remember what
I told you before about trouble comin’, don’t you? I wasn’t talking about these kids, honey.”
Dream’s eyes closed. “Whatever.”
Alicia leaned close. Her rancid corpse breath hot on Dream’s ear. “Trouble’s out there, Dream. Lurking, waiting for you to
show yourself. And let me tell you something—if you somehow walk out of here alive, somewhere down the line you’ll wind up
wishing these punks had killed you.”
Dream sighed.
She could think about Alicia’s warnings later. Maybe.
Her breathing evened out.
At long last, the world went away again.
CHAPTER SIX
The sound of the television emanating from the bedroom abruptly silenced. Allyson looked at her reflection in the bathroom
mirror and listened to the muffled sound of Chad yawning. He was tired. Not surprising, given how long a day it had been,
and given how many glasses of whiskey he’d downed over several hours of conversation with the man he called Jim.
Allyson had returned to the house less than fifteen minutes after storming off, making sure to stay out just long enough to
allow Chad to believe she’d only been blowing off some steam. She had to stay in character. So she’d come home just soon enough,
smiling and apologizing to their uninvited “guest,” but not making too big a deal about it. The men retired to the den while
she cleaned up in the kitchen. And while she cleaned, she worked at not thinking about the hard, dangerous men who would soon
be here. Whether they were coming to kill or merely apprehend, she did not know. And didn’t want to know.
Or so she told herself, over and over.
It wasn’t supposed to matter. Chad was just a mark, and his friend was just a person some other people wanted to get their
hands on. She’d done everything asked of her, working her way into Chad’s life, earning his trust, making him love her. Being
there when the moment her employers said would arrive finally did. She knew she should continue to be cold and emotionless
about it, just wait until the opportunity arose to slip away in the middle of the night, but…
The damnedest thing.
She liked Chad. There was no use denying it. The line between playacting and reality had become blurred at some indistinct
point. The moments before placing that phone call earlier had been like walking up to the very edge of a high cliff and deciding
whether to jump. She had taken that leap after only a minor hesitation, believing her second thoughts would evaporate with
the deed done.
But those thoughts were still swirling around in her head, taunting her with images and fantasies of possible futures that
could no longer be. They were all the more maddening for the obvious impossibility of taking it all back.
What’s done is done , she thought, silently addressing her reflection. Just leave it be and when you board that flight tomorrow morning start working on forgetting there ever was a Chad Robbins.
Right.
She had a feeling that was going to fall into the category of things easier said than done.
And as if she didn’t have enough to fret about, there was the matter of this mystery man. Chad clearly liked and respected
the man a great deal, which added yet another layer of regret to her betrayal. There was something so naggingly familiar about
the man. So she’d decided to eavesdrop on their conversation, kicking off her shoes and padding on her bare feet to a spot
in the hallway just outside the den.
They had talked of small things at first. But the tone of the conversation abruptly shifted when Jim at last told Chad why
he had come to see him after all
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