Stealing Shadows

she had first run to this place looking for peace.

Her aunt had certainly not feared that she would get her heart broken. Rejection by a lover, while destructive, seldom destroyed. And yet, somehow, in some way, Alex had been convinced that unless she stayed away from him, Ben would destroy her.

'Dammit, Alex, why didn't you explain?' she murmured. But even as the words left her lips, Cassie knew the answer. Predicting the future was a tricky business, and more often than not the worst thing a psychic could do was offer explicit details even if she was sure of them.

Precognitive visions tended to be shrouded in symbolism, with interpretation uncertain and conclusions risky. Alex could have known with absolute certainty that Ben Ryan had the ability or potential to destroy her niece without being at all sure how that could or would come about.

So the simplest and most direct warning was the safest. Stay away from him. He'll destroy you.

'Too late,' Cassie said to her aunt and to herself. 'Whatever is meant to happen… will happen.'

Running three thousand miles hadn't changed that. This warning would not change that.

She turned her head and gazed at the box full of papers that had been sitting in a nearby chair for days now, waiting for her attention. She had avoided the task just as she had avoided reading her aunt's journals. She had kept herself distant from her aunt's personality whenever possible, preferring not to know about the woman who had quarreled so bitterly with her sister that they had never spoken again.

Alex Melton's silence upon being notified of her sister's murder had hurt Cassie deeply.

And yet despite her own unwillingness to remain ignorant of who Alexandra Melton had been, her aunt's personality had refused to remain a mystery, because she had left clues behind and because other people had spoken of her. Evidence such as all the unopened craft kits Alex had bought from Jill, the purchases obviously used as excuses for visits, indicated a surprising shyness. Her warning to Abby, reluctant and troubled, was clear evidence to Cassie both of her aunt's sense of responsibility and her reluctance to meddle in other lives.

There had been other indications of personality during the months Cassie had spent in her aunt's home. From the way she had decorated and the books she had read to her extensive collection of movies on videotape – a passion Cassie shared – Alex Melton's taste and preferences had gradually seeped into Cassie's awareness.

Yet she still had no idea why her mother and aunt had quarreled. She had no idea if Alex had left her this house and property only because she was the sole survivor of the family or if some other reason had prompted the bequest.

And she had no idea how to interpret a specific and yet enigmatic warning delivered from beyond the grave.

Gazing at the box filled with papers that might hold some vital clue in understanding her aunt's warning, Cassie wondered if her own reluctance to know Alex Melton might prove more costly than she could ever have imagined.

She got up from the sofa, went to the fireplace, and looked down at the note and envelope in her hand. Her hesitation was a brief one. She tossed them into the fire and watched them burn.

Then she got the box filled with her aunt's papers and began trying to understand a life.

'All right,' Larry Ramsay said as he escorted the girls into the mall. 'We're here.' He adopted the long-suffering tone common to put-upon males who would much rather be somewhere else, preferably tinkering with?.n engine.

'I really appreciate this, Larry,' Sue said, not quite batting her eyes.

'No problem,' he said politely.

'It's just that I really do need to check about that software program today so I'll have the weekend to work on the project. So I'm really grateful.'

Deanna stifled a giggle. Though Larry appeared oblivious – perhaps not unexpectedly since he was ten years older – it was no secret to Deanna that her best friend had a crush on her brother. She was mildly interested on most days but today had her mind most definitely on her own troubles.

'It's okay,' Larry said, only his sister hearing the touch of impatience in his voice. 'Radio Shack is – '

'Sue, didn't you say you saw the program at that computer store at the other end of the mall?' Deanna asked quickly.

'Oh, yeah – I did see it there,' Sue agreed obediently.

'Then, let's go.' Larry gestured for the girls to precede him but stuck close as they joined the other brave souls who had ventured out to the mall.

Deanna glanced surreptitiously at her watch. Three-thirty. She still had a few minutes. She hoped the computer store was as crowded as it usually was. It would be much easier for her to slip away for a few minutes if that was the case. Even though Larry tended to get absorbed in computer stuff, and even though Sue had promised to ask his advice about that program she was considering, Deanna knew her absence would be much less likely to be noticed if the store was busy.

And there was that little alcove between the store and one of the exits, which was perfect.

Just perfect.

Hannah Payne knew it probably wasn't smart to go to the mall by herself after promising Joe she wouldn't stir outside the house alone, and it took her some time to talk herself into it. But in the end, boredom and necessity won out over caution. Since he hadn't gotten to bed until after their morning trip to the grocery store, Joe would sleep until nearly suppertime; Hannah was expecting a long and dreary afternoon to stretch out before her.

Besides, the worries and what-ifs that were frightening in the wee hours of the night, when a body was alone in the house and jumping at shadows, looked absurd in the bright light of day with the world awake and going about its business as usual.

And, anyway, when they were out earlier, she'd forgotten she needed to pick up some material she'd ordered from the fabric store at the mall.

Hannah was a seamstress, talented enough to make a nice living at it, and she had lately tried her hand at designing a few outfits for one of the stores in town. The interest in her work was promising, and she wanted to get a few more things made as quickly as possible. So she needed that material.

She probably should have taken Beason with her, but the dog was an uneasy traveler and prone to bark constantly if left in the car by himself, so she went alone. She left Joe a note explaining where she was going just in case he woke up while she was gone, and she locked the car doors and kept an alert eye out for strangers.

But she encountered no strangers and nothing suspicious, arriving at the mall without incident.

It was just past three-thirty when she parked her car as close as possible to the main entrance and went in.

Canned music blared from the speakers, seemingly louder than usual because the crowds were thinner and quieter than usual. And everybody was visibly nervous.

The sight amused him. The shoppers spoke to one another warily if at all, their gazes suspicious. Children were kept close to their mothers' sides, and it was plainly apparent that both more husbands and fewer teenagers were present at the mall than was usual on a Friday afternoon.

But she was here.

And that was all that really mattered.

Ben drove his Jeep out to Cassie's place, while Matt arrived separately in his cruiser. The sheriff had not blinked when Ben made the suggestion, and he had not protested; Ben had an uneasy feeling that his own voice had been a bit forceful, perhaps even defiant. And that Matt understood all too well where Ben's motives lay.

It was a hell of a thing when a man with walls so thick that a psychic couldn't see past them still managed to wear his hopes on his sleeve.

Hopes he didn't want to think too much about. He was beginning to think he was obsessed with Cassie, and that bothered him a great deal. He had always been able to take relationships lightly, be casual about a physical need that had never really touched his emotions, but it was different with Cassie. The physical need was there, certainly, but it was more than matched by a riot of emotions he hardly knew how to deal with.

It was simpler to just try to ignore them, at least for the present.

Cassie greeted them at the front door, the alert dog as usual at her side. She was smiling faintly and her voice was calm, but Ben knew immediately that she was even further away from him than she had been before they'd talked that morning. She was shut inside herself, remote, and when her gaze rested on him briefly, he didn't feel a