“What the hell’s wrong? You’re too quiet, Cara.” Jock was frowning as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs in the reception room. “I don’t like it, dammit.”
“Maybe I’m tired.” She smiled with an effort. Lord, she’d tried to avoid this. But Jock was always conscious of her every mood. She’d hoped that Darcy would be able to join them again for dinner, but she’d had a voice lesson already scheduled. So Cara had been forced to face Jock by herself. Ridiculous to feel this strain after all the years of being together. But it seemed as if just trying to pretend an emotional change had not taken place was making it more acutely obvious that it had. It would be okay, she assured herself. She just needed a little more time to make the adjustment. “Or maybe you’re too sensitive. You’ve been on edge since you got here. I’ve only seen you for a few hours a day, and the rest of the time you’re running around with that man Stanton or on the phone.” She moistened her lips. “Maybe it’s good that I’m leaving for home day after tomorrow. It will give you time to decompress.”
“Not long.” His lips tightened. “Not if you’re set on going to New Orleans the week after. You haven’t given me your word that you’ll call Kaskov and cancel.”
“And I won’t. I still have a week to decide.” She shrugged. “And maybe you’ll be able to find a reason why I shouldn’t go in that time. I haven’t seen any sign yet that anything Stanton told you had anything to do with my grandfather.” She took her violin case from him and turned toward the stairs. “Until then, I’m not going to think of anything but being with Eve and Joe and Michael. I can’t tell you how I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a tough quarter for me.”
“And I didn’t make it any easier.”
“No, you didn’t,” she said. “But perhaps I didn’t react as reasonably as I should have done. I have to realize that you have a life that has nothing to do with me. I’ll try to do better.”
“What?” He was frowning again. “That’s pure bullshit. Since when have you ever been coolly reasonable? There’s nothing cool about you, Cara.”
“Then I can’t blame you for feeling that being around me is sort of overwhelming.” Everything she said appeared to be upsetting him, and that was the last thing she wanted. She was only trying desperately to give him his space so that he wouldn’t think he’d have to take it. She’d better get away from him before she completely blew it. She quickly started up the stairs. “Good night, Jock. Will I see you tomorrow?”
“You bet you will,” he said grimly. “I’ll be close as glue to you until I put you on your flight to Atlanta.”
“That’s nice, I’ll miss you when I’m at Eve’s.”
“Will you?” His gaze was narrowed on her. “Then why do I feel you’re trying to escape?”
She was ruining everything. She stopped on the steps and turned to smile at him. “Why would I do that? You’ve always been my best friend. You always will be.”
It was true. She stood there looking down at him as all those years of caring and friendship flooded back to her. That was enough. That had to be enough. “See you tomorrow.” She turned and ran up the stairs.
She didn’t slow down until she had reached the second floor. She stopped and took a deep breath before she started down the hall toward her suite. Now she was glad that Darcy had not been able to join them. Darcy’s eyes were far too keen, and though she’d been trying to stifle that curiosity that was so inherent, Cara had no desire to have it focused on her tonight.
She just wanted to take a shower and crawl into bed and try to convince herself that she hadn’t been as obvious as she feared.
She took out her key and unlocked her door.
No light.
She reached for the wall switch. She’d thought she’d left the lamp in the bathroom on. Maybe Darcy had come back and turned—
Brutal hands on her throat, jerking her into the room!
Pain.
Her violin case dropped from her grip and she reached up to desperately grab at those hands.
He cursed as she bent back his index finger.
Move.
Get away!
She tossed one arm out and knocked the lamp on the hall table to the floor.
Crash!
She reached for the violin case and slammed it into his stomach.
More cursing. Low, full of venom, full of hate.
Then the case was torn away and skittered across the room.
And his hands closed on her throat again.
Fight him …
They pressed tighter, digging.
She couldn’t breathe …
Darkness.
CHAPTER
4
Darcy’s face above her …
Darcy’s hand, bathing her throat with a cold cloth.
“Awake?” Darcy gave a sigh of relief. “Jock said you’d regain consciousness soon, but I wasn’t too sure. I don’t know about this kind of thing. You scared me.”
“Jock?” It hurt to talk. She cleared her throat. That hurt worse. “He’s here?”
She nodded. “He just left. You roused a little, and he knew you were going to be okay. He ran down to the street to meet the EMTs.”
“You called an ambulance?”
“Jock did. I’m glad. I was too shaky to do much of anything. And I wasn’t about to argue with him about anything in his present mood.”
Cara couldn’t blame her. Jock could be totally lethal and intimidating when anything triggered a slip back into the man he’d been all those years ago. Evidently what had happened here had provided the trigger. She looked around her. She was lying on the couch in the sitting room. But the entire room was in chaos. Overturned chairs, drawers opened, and the contents scattered all over the floor. A broken lamp on the floor by the front door. “What happened?”
“I was hoping you’d tell me,” Darcy said shakily. “I came home from class and the front door was wide open and you were lying on the floor.” She looked around the room. “It looks like a robbery, doesn’t it? The bedroom is just like it.”
“My violin.” She sat upright in alarm. “Did they get my violin?”
Darcy shook her head. “No, it’s over there against the wall. Maybe they were on their way out, and you surprised them.”
Cara breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t have anything else of value, but her violin was a gift from her grandfather and was worth a small fortune. To her, it was priceless. “No ‘they.’ It was only one man. I remember hitting him with the case. But he lost his biggest score if he didn’t take the violin.” She looked at Darcy. “Did you lose anything?”
“Not that I’ve been able to tell. I haven’t had much time to look through my stuff.” She put another cold cloth on Cara’s neck. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad that you weren’t badly hurt.”
“So am I,” she said dryly as she gingerly touched her throat. “He was very strong.”
Darcy nodded. “Your throat is turning three colors even as we speak. Did you let him in?”
“Why would I do that?” She was frowning. “The door was locked. I had to use my key.”
“That’s crazy. How could that happen?”
“I have no idea. Maybe the police can tell us.”
“A skeleton key.” Jock was standing in the doorway. “Not all that difficult. Or a bumper key that opens ninety-five percent of the locks around town. I would have had no trouble.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” Cara said hoarsely.
“Shut up. You sound like a frog.” He was suddenly beside her. He gently tilted her head up to look at her throat. He muttered a curse. “The EMTs should be up here in a few minutes to take you to the ER. Just keep quiet until they come.”
“I’m not going to the hospital,” Cara said. “I have a few bruises. Otherwise, I’m fine. I won’t spend all night being checked out.”
“The hell you won’t.”
Her jaw set. “No. If I did, they’d probably call Eve, and she’d just worry.”
“And nothing must make Eve worry,” he said dryly. “Not even an attack that could have killed you.”
“It was a robbery.” She veered in another direction. “How did you get here?”