presence in the bedroom that made her skin crawl. She hugged herself and shivered slightly.
She had been scared after the burglary attempt, but the fear passed quickly because she convinced herself that the attempted burglary was a random incident. Now she knew it wasn't.
'Are you all right, Mrs. Griffen?' Sheriff Dillard asked.
'I'm fine, just tired and a little scared.'
'It wouldn't be normal if you weren't.'
Abbie checked the chest of drawers and her end table. She went through her wallet carefully. Then she looked in the closets.
'As far as I can see, nothing's missing.'
'Why don't you come on out to the deck so you can sit down and get some fresh air,' the sheriff said solicitously.
Abbie walked out of the room into the bracing salt air and sat on one of the deck chairs. She looked out past the rail and saw the wide blue plain that was the sea.
'Do you think you're up to telling us what happened?' the sheriff asked.
Abbie nodded. She started with the sound she had heard in the woods before dinner and walked Stamm and Sheriff Dillard through the events of the night, stopping occasionally to give them specific details she hoped would prove helpful to the investigation. Remembering what happened was almost more terrifying than experiencing it, because now she had time to think about what would have happened if she hadn't escaped. To her surprise, Abbie found she had to pause on occasion to fight back tears.
When Abbie told the sheriff about seeing the intruder in the doorway, Sheriff Dillard asked her if she could describe the man.
'No,' Abbie replied. 'I only saw him for a second before I dropped off the deck. I just had an impression of someone dressed in black. I'm certain he wore a ski mask or a stocking over his face, but I saw him for such a short time and it was just before I jumped. I was mostly concentrating on the ground.'
'Go on.'
'When I hit I rolled and took off. There's a dirt trail along the bluff. I heard the deck door slam. He must have pushed it hard.
Then I was running in the dark. I could hear the ocean and see the whitecaps, but that was it. I was scared I'd go off the trail and fall from the bluff.
'About a hundred yards along the cliff, the trail branches into the woods. I saw a gap in the woods and took the offshoot, hoping the man would go straight. I tried to be quiet. He passed on the trail. I could hear his footsteps and his breathing. I was starting to feel like I'd gotten away when I heard something off to my right.'
'What kind of thing?'
'I don't know. Just . . .' Abbie shook her head. 'Just something. It spooked me.'
'Could there have been a second person?'
'That's what I thought. When I heard the sound, I jumped off the trail and dodged through the undergrowth. I was really scared and not making any effort to be quiet. Just plunging away from the bluff and the place where I'd heard the sound.'
Abbie told Stamm and the sheriff about her hiding place under the log.
She remembered the insects and shivered involuntarily.
'For a while it was quiet,' she continued. 'I hoped the man had gone off. Then a shadow moved between two large trees a short distance from me. I think it was the man I'd seen in the doorway.'
'Couldn't you be sure?' the sheriff asked.
'No. He seemed to be the same size and shape, but it was so dark and I only saw the man in my room for a second.'
'Go on.'
'I knew if he turned and looked down he'd see me. I was certain he could hear me breathing. Suddenly, he did turn and I was sure I'd been discovered. Then the woods lit up.'
'Lit up?' Sheriff Dillard repeated.
'There was a brief, but intense flash. It came from the other side of the log.'
'Do you know what caused the flash?' the sheriff asked.
'No. I was under the log. I could just see a change in the light.'
'Did you recognize the man?' the sheriff asked.
Abbie hesitated. 'Two weeks ago, a man tried to break into my house in Portland. I scared him away, but I got a good look at him while he was on my back porch. He was dressed like the man who broke into the cabin tonight. I'm certain it was the same person. I could never identify him in a lineup. He was wearing something over his face both times, but something about him reminded me of Charlie Deems.'
Stamm looked startled.
'Who is Charlie Deems?' the sheriff asked.
'A man I convicted on a murder charge more than a year ago.
He was sentenced to death, but the Supreme Court reversed his sentence recently and he's out of prison.'
'Right. I knew the name sounded familiar. But why do you think it was Deems?'
'The size, his build. I could never swear it was Deems. It was just a feeling.'
'Did you report the attempted break-in in Portland?' the sheriff asked.
'No. I didn't see any purpose in reporting it. I couldn't identify the man and nothing was taken. He wore gloves, so there wouldn't be any prints. And at the time I thought he reminded me of someone, but I didn't make the connection with Deems then.'
The sheriff nodded and said, 'Okay. Why don't you finish telling us what happened tonight, so you can go home.'
'After the flash, the man froze for a second, then took off in the direction of the light. I heard him crashing through the underbrush away from me. After a while, ! couldn't hear him anymore. I decided to stay still for a long time. I wanted to be sure he wasn't waiting for me to move. I didn't have a watch, so I don't know how long I stayed put, but it seemed forever. When I thought I was safe I made my way to the Wallace cabin and Mrs. Wallace called you.'
'When the man ran off, did you hear anything else?'
'No, but there had to be someone else out there. The flash, those sounds.'
'Okay. I guess you'd like to shower and change. Why don't I take Mr.
Stamm downstairs. We'll be in the living room when you're ready to go.'
'Tell me some more about Charlie Deems,' Sheriff Dillard said when they were downstairs.
'If Deems is after Abbie, she's in serious trouble,' Stamm said. 'He's a stone killer. As cold as they come. He tortured a rival drug dealer to death, then he killed a little girl and her father to keep the father from testifying. I sat in on Deems's interrogation.
He never blinked. Smiled the whole time. Super polite. He treated the whole thing as if it was a joke. I watched his face when the jury came in with the death sentence. I'll bet his heart rate didn't go up a beat.'
'Would he try to kill Mrs. Griffen?'
'If he wanted to, he would. Charlie Deems is basically a man without restraints. I just don't know why he'd go to the trouble, now that he's out. Then again, rational thought is not one of Deems's biggest assets.'
Sheriff Dillard looked distracted and troubled.
'I'll tell you what concerns me, Mr. Stamm. Nothing was stolen. That could mean that the intruder was a thief who panicked. But I don't think so. If he was a thief, why follow Mrs. Griffen into the woods?
Why hunt for her? No, I think the intruder was here to do your deputy harm.'
Chapter TEN
The Griffens' yellow three-story colonial stood at the end of a winding gravel drive on five acres of wooded land. A sawhorse blocked entry to the driveway. Despite the late hour, curious neighbors milled around in front of the barrier straining for a glimpse of the house and debating the cause of the explosion that had shattered the silence of their exclusive Portland residential neighborhood.
Nick Paladino drove through the crowd slowly, pausing in front of the sawhorse. A uniformed officer ducked his head down and looked through the driver's window. Paladino had the face of a gym-scarred boxer. The officer
