“A stack of photocopied financial reports,” she said. “I can’t make heads or tails of them, not tonight.” She wasn’t sure what she’d hoped to find in the envelope. A diary. Photos. A suicide note. Something personal to Mo to explain what it was that she’d left for her. It made her question if Tricia had been in her right mind. Wasn’t that her fear? That Natalie hadn’t killed the baby? The only other person in the house that day was Tricia.
“I’m tired, too,” Brick said as he checked outside again.
“Have you seen the vehicle that you thought was following us?” she asked, putting the manila envelope into her suitcase.
“No, maybe I was just being paranoid.”
“Or letting Natalie get to you,” Mo said with a sigh. “I’ll wash up and go to bed.”
Brick moved away from the window and stretched out on top of his bed.
By the time she came out of the bathroom, he was sound asleep. She crawled between the sheets in the matching queen bed. She couldn’t quit thinking about her sister. Had Tricia fallen in love with the mystery man? That she would even have an affair was so unlike her, it was hard to believe. Tricia had always been the good one. It was one of the reasons she had gone to their grandmother’s instead of Mo.
She closed her eyes, desperately wanting to put the day behind her. Natalie was dead. Whatever secrets the woman had refused to give up would go to the grave with her. She felt sleep tugging at her. Her last thought was that she hadn’t gotten a chance to tell her sister goodbye.
Mo came out of the dream screaming. She felt hands on her and fought to shove them off, but the fingers were like steel.
“Mo. Mo?” The hands gave her a shake, and she opened her eyes, startled and instantly embarrassed because she knew she’d had another one of her dreams.
Brick released her and she sat up, backing against the headboard as she chased away the last of the darkness. They’d hardly spoken after renting the motel room. Mo didn’t remember falling asleep but it must have been quickly.
She gulped air and tried to still her pounding heart. A chill in the room dried the perspiration on her skin, but her nightshirt still felt damp. As the light on in the room chased away the dark shadows that followed her sleep, she began to breathe easier.
“Better?” Brick asked now. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, but no longer touching her.
She nodded, unable to look at him. The nightmares were terrifying and embarrassing. They made her feel weak. Worse, vulnerable.
“A bad one, huh? I’ve had a few that followed me into daylight,” he said quietly. “The worst ones don’t go away easily. They always make me afraid to close my eyes again because I know the terror is waiting for me.”
She glanced in his direction and saw that he was looking at the hideous mountain painting on the opposite wall instead of at her. Her heart seemed to fill. He understood what she was going through because he’d not only had the bad dreams, but also he’d felt the weakness, the vulnerability, the embarrassment of them.
“If it helps, I can leave the light on,” he said when he finally did look at her.
Mo shook her head. As he started to get up from her bed to turn off the lamp next to them, she touched his hand. She hadn’t meant to reach for him. It was as if an inner need was stronger than she was. She hated needing anyone and yet she did.
“I can turn out the light and stay here, if you want me to,” he said quietly.
She nodded, tears filling her eyes. She wiped at her the wetness on her face, heard him turn off the light, then felt his weight settle in next to her on the bed. She took a few calming breaths before she slid down in the bed to lie next to him.
Staring at the ceiling in the ambient light coming through the motel room’s curtains, she felt him take her hand in his large warm one. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized that she was trembling. But as he held her hand, she felt his warmth move through her until she quit shaking, until she was no longer afraid to close her eyes.
BRICK WOKE WITH Mo snuggled against him and his arm around her. He didn’t dare move, not wanting to wake. Not wanting to let her go just yet. He wondered about her bad dreams and was glad she hadn’t had another one later last night.
With a shock he realized that he hadn’t had one since the two of them had joined forces. Maybe he really was getting better. He smiled to himself and felt her shift in his arms. He held his breath.
“I know you’re awake,” she whispered.
“How can you tell?” he asked.
“Because your hand isn’t on my breast anymore.”
Brick withdrew his arms as she turned to face him. “I’m sorry, if I did anything—”
“I was joking,” she said smiling. “You were a perfect gentleman.” She eyed him as if surprised by that. And maybe...disappointed? “Should I be insulted?”
He chuckled. “Trust me, it’s not because I haven’t wanted to.”
She laughed and turned to get up on the opposite side of the bed. “Trust you?” she said, her back to him. “Won’t that be the day. I’m going to get a shower.” She stopped and turned. “Have you ever carved your initials into a tree along with the name of one of your...women?”
“No.”
Mo nodded and smiled. “I’m anxious to find that tree. I’m assuming you’ll want to go along?” She said it over her shoulder as she headed for the bathroom.
“I’m stuck to you like glue,” he said before she closed the door.
They spent the morning canvassing the neighborhood around Tricia and Thomas’s house. Brick knew
