“Only for a little while. I know you’re working hard at school too,” Sandra said. “But she’d love Cinderella’s Castle.”
Not only love it, but be dazzled. A dazzled Bonnie was too much to resist. “We’ll work it out.”
“I can’t wait to tell her,” Sandra said, her gaze going to the ice-cream stand that had once again come into view as the crowds shifted. “Will you let me do it, Eve?”
She was as childishly excited as Bonnie had been when she’d dashed for the ice-cream stand. “Okay, but don’t give a date. I have to see what I can—”
“Where is she?” Sandra interrupted. “I don’t see her.”
“What?” Eve frowned, her gaze flying to the ice-cream stand. “But she was right there. I saw her a minute ago in front of the stand.”
But she wasn’t there now. No little girl in a Bugs Bunny T-shirt and wild red curls.
Eve jerked to her feet in a panic.
“Bonnie!”
KEEP CALM. EVEN NOW THE MEMORY of that moment of terror was bringing back all the horror of the nightmare.
Get busy. Eve whirled toward the reconstruction of Matt on the pedestal. She began to work swiftly, frantically. “Help me, Matt.” Her fingers started smoothing the clay. “And I’ll help you.”
“WE’VE GOT IT PATCHED.” The burly Georgia Power repairman was coming toward Patty with a clipboard in his hand. “Sorry it took so long.” He held up the wire. “I had to cut it and splice in a new wire.”
“No problem.” Patty couldn’t take her gaze from the remains of the wire coiled in his hand. “You did a neat job.”
“That’s not my work. It was severed where it reached the house.” He shook his head. “It was cut through.”
She stiffened. “How?”
“Don’t ask me, lady. Whoever did it knew what they were doing, or they would have been electrocuted.”
“Someone cut it?” She shook her head. “I thought it was caused by the storm.”
“We didn’t have any outages last night in this area.”
“That’s what they told me when I called your office to report the power loss,” she said absently, her gaze on the wire.
“You should have believed them.” He handed her the clipboard and a pen. “Sign there.”
She signed her name and handed him the board. “You’re sure? Couldn’t something have fallen on it? Maybe a branch that would tear it and—”
“It was snipped clean as a whistle,” he repeated. “It might not be a bad idea to call the police and make out a report on this.” His gaze went across the street to the park. “Some bad things are happening around here lately.”
“I may do that.”
“Do you want this?” He held up the coiled wire.
“No.” Good God, it was actually reminding her of a serpent. Silly. That wasn’t like her. No one was more practical or less imaginative than she. “Just throw it in the garbage can on your way out.”
“Right.”
She watched him go out the gate before she slowly followed him. She should get back to Granddad. She’d already been away from him too long. There was little doubt she’d be in for one of his tantrums.
The coiled wire was on top of the trash as she reached the front of the house.
Some bad things are happening around here.
She shivered. Yes, they were. And for the first time she felt as if those bad things were creeping close to her.
Stop standing here staring at that damn wire. She lifted her shoulders as if to shrug off that heavy burden. Just go inside and soothe down Granddad and make his supper, then think about what she should do.
If that crazy son of a bitch was trying to make her a victim, then she’d find a way to blow him out of the water.
SETH CALEB WAS ALREADY WAITING in the reception area at Rico’s when Eve and Jane walked into the restaurant.
He smiled. “This is an interesting place. Sombreros on the walls and policemen at every table.”
“The food is good, and it’s close to the precinct,” Eve said. “Joe should be here any minute.”
“He’s here now,” Joe said from behind her. “I would have been here sooner, but Ed Norris stopped me when I was leaving.” He hailed a white-aproned waiter. “A table, Marco.”
Marco smiled. “Right away, Detective. Only one minute.”
“Why meet here?” Caleb asked. “Am I supposed to be intimidated by all this display of legal might?”
“If you have reason to be,” Joe said. “But I didn’t want to wait until I got home to question you. There’s a chance I might have to go back to the precinct to check out something you tell me.”
