'Alexi!' This time, he whispered in fear. Then he found motion and ran down the steps to drop by her side. She was so white. Pasty white. How long had she been lying there? Swallowing frantically, he reached for her wrist, forcing himself to be calm. She had a pulse. A strong pulse.
'Oh, God,' he breathed. 'Oh, God. Thank you.'
What had happened? He glanced quickly up the stairs, wondering if she had tripped and fallen. That didn't seem right. Why would she turn off every light in the house to come down to the cellar?
“Alexi... ?' He touched her carefully, trying to ascertain whether she had broken any bones. She moaned softly, and he paused, inhaling sharply. She blinked and stared up at him in a daze, groaning as the light hit her eyes. 'Rex?'
'Alexi...stay still. I think I should call for an ambulance--''
'No! No!' Alexi sat up a little shakily, gripping her head between her hands and groaning again. 'Alexi!'
'I'm all right, really I am. I think.' She stretched out her arms and legs and tried to smile at him, proving that nothing was broken. But he didn't like her color, and he was worried about a head injury that had left her unconscious.
She gasped suddenly, her eyes going very wide as she stared at him. 'Did you see him, Rex?' 'Who?'
'Someone was here. Really, Rex, I swear it.' 'Alexi, maybe you just fell--'
'I didn't! I heard someone in the house after you left. I kept trying to assume that I was imagining things, too. But there was someone here, Rex. Behind me on the stairs. I came down to feed the kittens, and when I tried to turn...I was struck on the head.'
'You're... sure?'
'Damn you, Rex!' She tried to stand, to swear down at him. But the effort was too dizzying, and before she could get any further, she felt herself falling.
She didn't fall. He caught her and lifted her into his arms. 'I'm...all right,' she tried to tell him. 'No, you're not,' he told her bluntly, starting up the stairs. She laced her fingers around his neck as he carried her that the snakes had her and studied his face as he emitted a soft oath at Samson to get out of his way so that he wouldn't trip.
'There's no one here now?' she asked.
'There's definitely no one here now. But I am going to call the police.'
A silence fell for a moment as he reached the top of the stairs and closed the cellar door behind him. Alexi, cradled in his arms, kept staring at the contours of his face. She reached up to brush his cheek lightly with her knuckles.
'Were you angry, Rex? Or did you just need to escape?'
'I was angry,' he told her. He carried her on through the kitchen and out to the parlor, laying her down carefully on the sofa. He told her to hold still, and ran his fingers over her skull, wincing when he found the lump at her nape.
'Police first, then the hospital.'
'Rex--'
He ignored her and picked up the phone. Alexi closed her eyes for a moment. Maybe he was right. She still felt the most awful pain throbbing in her head.
But, curiously, she felt like smiling. He had come back-- all somber and gruff and very worried--but back nonetheless. And he hadn't been running away from her--he had left because he had been angry, and for him, walking away had probably been the best way to deal with it.
He set the phone down and came back to her.
'With me?' she asked him.
'What?'
'Were you angry with me?'
He frowned, as if he wasn't at all sure what she was talking about. 'I'm going to get a cold cloth for your temple. That might make you feel a little better.' He started out of the room.
'Rex!'
'What!'
'Where did you go?'
He held in the doorway and arched a dark brow, smiling slowly as he looked at her. 'I beg your pardon?' She flushed and repeated herself softly. He hesitated, still smiling. 'Inquisitive, aren't you?'
'Not usually.'
'Well, that rather remains to be seen, doesn't it?' he asked her huskily. Then he said, 'I went out to see Gene.'
'Gene?' She sat up abruptly, then moaned and slid down again. 'Gene? He's my great-grandparent.'
'Yeah, but he's my very good friend. I saw him every day, you know. I lived here. You were off in New York.'
There was a strange sound to his voice as he said that; Alexi didn't have time to ponder it, because he went on to say, 'I'm sorry. Maybe I had no right. I went out to ask him if he thought John Vinto could be behind all these strange occurrences.'
Alexi watched him, then offered up a soft smile that Rex knew was not for him. 'How is he?' she asked. 'Gene?'
'Of course Gene.' 'He's fine. He'll be out soon. He wanted to give you time to surprise him.'
She was still smiling when he left the room. By the time he came back with a cloth for her head, they could hear the sound of a siren as the sheriffs car headed for the house. Alexi closed her eyes as Rex placed the cold cloth on her head.
'Mark's here,' he told her, listening as the sound came closer and closer. 'Mark?'
'Mark Eliot. A friend of mine.' He saw the deep smile that touched her lips. 'You have a lot of friends around here, Mr. Morrow--an awful lot of friends for a recluse.'
'It's a friendly place,' he said lightly. He squeezed her hand and went on to answer the door.
Mark Eliot was a tall man with sandy-blond hair and a drooping mustache. Rex shook hands with him at the door and was glad to see that Mark seemed to be taking it all very seriously--not with the humor he had shown when Rex had suggested that the snakes might have been set loose in the house purposely.
'Was anything taken?' Mark asked as they came into the parlor.
'Not that we know of,' Rex said. He frowned as they came in, noting that Alexi had chosen to sit up. She still seemed very pale.
'Alexi, Mark Eliot, with the sheriff's office. Mark, Alexi--'
'Alexi Jordan.' Mark took her hand. He didn't let it go. 'Anything, ma'am. Anything at all that we can do for you, you just let us know.'
'Mark--we're trying to report a break and enter and assault.'
'Oh, yeah. Yeah.'
He sat down beside Alexi. Rex crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall and watched and waited. Mark did manage to get through the proper routine of questions. He even scribbled notes on a piece of paper, and when he was done, Rex had to admit that even tripping over his own tongue, Mark was all right at his job.
'There is no sign of forced entry. Nothing was taken. Rex, when you came back, the house was still locked tight as a drum. Miss Jordan...' He hesitated.
'I didn't imagine a knock to my own head,' Alexi said indignantly.
'Well, no...' Mark murmured. He looked to Rex for assistance. Rex didn't intend to give him any. 'You did fall down the stairs,' Mark said. 'After I was struck,' Alexi insisted quietly. 'Well, then...' He stood up, smiling down at her. 'I can call out the print boys. May I use the phone?' 'Of course. Please.'
Mark Eliot called his office. Rex offered to make coffee. In very little time, the fingerprint experts were out and the house was dusted. Alexi insisted on coming into the kitchen with the men. While the house was dusted, Mark excitedly told Rex about the book he was working on, and Rex gave him a few suggestions. Alexi put in a few, too, and was somewhat surprised when they both paid attention to her. It was late when the men from the sheriffs department left. Alexi started picking up the coffee cups that littered the kitchen. Rex caught her hand. 'Come on.' 'Where?' 'Hospital.'