When Twilight Comes

The freshly paved road wound up the mountain. They hadn’t gone far when she had to put Lexi down and catch her breath. After that, the child insisted on walking. Thankfully Jenna had grabbed a sweater for her daughter. She put it over the footed duck pj’s. Jenna carried Fred, but Lexi wouldn’t give up her rag doll, Clarice. The going was slow, the darkness around them intense. Along the road the trees were dense and dark.

Jenna was beginning to think this was a mistake when they crested a hill and the road abruptly widened. There, shrouded in fog, was a huge castlelike building looming out of the night.

She couldn’t contain the chill that moved over her.

Fred dug his claws into her arm, seconding Jenna’s thoughts. This place gave her the creeps, too.

“It’s a castle,” Lexi cried.

If this was a castle, then an evil count lived here, Jenna thought. But then, she’d been living with evil for some time. She still wondered how she could have been so deceived by Lorenzo. Why hadn’t she seen what kind of man he was before she’d married him? She knew the answer. Lorenzo was very adept at hiding his true nature. But living with him, she’d quickly seen through his facade right down to his black soul.

As tired as she was, she wouldn’t have been surprised if the hotel turned out to be a mirage. But all the lights were on in the huge lobby, and she could see someone inside.

“Come on, Mommy,” Lexi said, and ran toward the wide front steps.

The air was damp and cold. Jenna could hear a roar as if there was a waterfall nearby. She caught up to Lexi, taking her hand. As they ascended the wide steps, Jenna looked up.

The face of a man appeared at one of the third-floor windows. She had the distinct impression he’d been watching them as if waiting for them. Maybe the hotel was open to guests, after all.

She had little more than an impression of him before he was gone.

HARRY BALLANTINE WASN’T sure what had made him go to the window and look out. Just a feeling.

Even more odd was what he saw from the window: a slight-framed woman with a young child, and something in her arms. A cat.

So what had drawn him to the window after all these years?

Apparently the woman.

She was dressed all in black, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore no jewelry of any great value, something he could tell even from this distance. Her face, pale in the foggy light emanating from the lobby, had the appearance of both strain and exhaustion, but also fear.

She was in trouble. Why else would she be banging on the door of a not-yet-opened hotel after midnight on a rainy night?

He saw no reason why he might be interested in her. In fact, there was every reason not to get involved in whatever trouble she was in, even if he could help her.

That’s what made it so strange. He was interested. Something had drawn him to the window. Just as it now drew him to the woman. What worried him was that he had no idea why.

RAYMOND VALENCIA CALLED Lorenzo just before midnight. “What the hell?” he said by way of greeting.

Lorenzo had gone to bed, turning out all the lights, just as he would have if nothing unusual had happened tonight.

“Raymond?” he asked, pretending he’d been awakened from a sound sleep. He sat up, fumbling with the lamp beside the bed. “What time is it?”

“Where the hell is Franco?”

“Franco?” He yawned. “How should I know where Franco is?”

“You might recall he was at your place to pick up something of mine a few hours ago,” Valencia snapped. “Or don’t you know anything about that, either?”

“Actually, he was late. Didn’t get here until almost ten, seemed…nervous. Smelled like he’d been drinking.”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

It was all Lorenzo could do to keep from filling the space, but talking too much would only make Valencia suspicious.

“What time did he leave with the money?”

“Right away,” Lorenzo said. “I offered him a drink, but he said he was in a hurry.”

More silence. He could almost hear the wheels in Valencia’s head turning. Franco was a man Valencia trusted so much he was going to let him take Lorenzo’s place. And Franco knew firsthand what happened to anyone who crossed the boss. It was no wonder Valencia was having a hard time believing that Franco would betray him.

“He probably stopped off to see his girlfriend and lost track of time,” Lorenzo said, yawning again. “Hell, he probably had a fight with her and that’s why he was late and had been drinking. Women. They can twist a man up good.”

“What girlfriend?” Valencia demanded. “I know nothing about a girlfriend.”

“Oh yeah?” He shrugged, counted slowly to five. “I don’t know her name. I just overheard him on his cell with her one day. She was giving him a hard time, from the sound of it. He was kissing her butt, trying to calm her down. Pretty funny, really.”

Valencia swore. Even a man as cold and hard as Raymond Valencia knew the effect a woman could have on a man.

Lorenzo smiled to himself when Valencia slammed down the phone without another word.

He’d offered the bait and the boss had taken it. Lorenzo put the receiver back in its cradle and turned out the light, lying in the darkness, thinking about the way Jenna had messed him up.

His first impulse was to go after her. But he couldn’t indulge that impulse. If he left town now, Valencia would become suspicious. More suspicious than he no doubt already was.

No, Lorenzo had been forced to put one of his former employees on Jenna’s trail.

He’d called a man who was so dumb Lorenzo trusted him. Alfredo made Franco look like a genius. The man was all brawn and no brain, and because of that he was like a robot when it came to just doing his job without any questions. Alfredo didn’t even complain about being awakened in the middle of the night. He said he would find Lorenzo’s ex, not let anyone know where he’d gone, and “detain” her until Lorenzo could join them at a later time.

“Good. I want to handle this myself when the time is right,” Lorenzo had said.

“No problem.”

He’d hung up. He hated waiting, and here he was going to have to wait some more. But he had confidence that Alfredo would find her and the money, and that was all that mattered. As long as it was soon.

The problem was what to do once he had Jenna and his daughter and the duffel full of money. Maybe he would just tell Valencia the truth. Valencia would be furious at him for killing Franco, but Lorenzo figured it was something he could get over. Especially since Valencia would have his money back.

Or…Lorenzo could go with plan B. He could keep the money, take his kid and get out of Dodge. By then Valencia would be fairly convinced that Franco had ripped him off. Lorenzo could maybe plant some evidence, a trail for Valencia to follow that would make it even clearer that Franco had taken the money. Franco and his girlfriend.

What if Franco really did have a girlfriend? Lorenzo had had to lie about overhearing Franco on the cell phone with someone. But what if the stupid thug really did have a girlfriend? That could mess things up good.

Lorenzo swore, almost wishing he hadn’t killed Franco. If Franco had a girlfriend, then Lorenzo would have to find her before Valencia did.

Chapter Three

Jenna followed Lexi up the steps and across the hotel’s wide veranda, then knocked on the door. Earlier she’d seen someone moving around inside the expansive lobby, where several huge ornate chandeliers glowed brightly.

Lexi peered in, seeming enchanted by the place. It was definitely elegant, from what Jenna could see. Expensive, too. And apparently not open yet. Had she just imagined someone inside earlier? What about the man she’d seen at the third-floor window?