Echo Of Danger

She pressed her free hand to her temple, wishing she could push the thought out of her mind. Dixie, laughing, generous Dixie, was gone forever. She’d never hear her caustic comments or feel Dixie’s rare, warm hug. Deidre’s heart clenched painfully.

And Kevin might have seen something. Must have, surely, to cause him to fall. She didn’t want to consider it, but it had to be faced, and by bringing it up now, Jason was helping her to prepare. That had probably been his aim. An attorney had to think of that sort of thing for a client.

“I see that they have to find out. But they can’t do anything to endanger his recovery. He’ll need love and assurance, not questions.”

“I know. Believe me, I’ll do everything I can to hold them off. I can ensure that we’re present for any conversation the cops have with him. And it will only take place when his doctor says he’s well enough.” He leaned toward her, his eyes dark and intent. “That’s the best you can expect.”

Deidre managed to nod. He was trying to help, she knew. And at least she wasn’t having this conversation with her father-in-law. “All right. I guess it sounds as if I’m not even thinking of Dixie, but I am. She was a good friend, and...” Her throat tightened, and she couldn’t go on. The image of Dixie lying there was too vivid, stabbing at her heart.

“You told the police that you’d locked the door when you left the house. Are you sure?” He was probably trying to get the conversation back to a less emotional level, not that anything could.

“Positive. I remember doing it.” She shrugged. “When I was growing up, I don’t think my parents ever locked the doors. But things are different now, even in a town like Echo Falls. I locked it and double-checked, as I always do.”

“There was no sign of a break-in. That means either they had a key or your friend let the person in.”

She was already shaking her head. “The only person I can think of who has a key is my partner, Judith. If we’re away, she comes in to deal with things for the business and to water my plants.”

She was tempted to ask him why he was so intent about this. He’d have some sense of responsibility simply because he’d been with her, but it would surely be more natural for him to want to walk away afterward.

Of course, the judge had asked him to represent her. No doubt he saw it as part of his job.

Jason frowned, his lean face taut. “So Dixie probably let him in, whoever he is.”

“I suppose so.” She hadn’t even thought of it, and she tried to focus, but her mind kept straying back to her son. Surely the doctor would come in soon. “But I can’t see her letting someone in when she was staying with Kevin. Dixie was...” She hesitated, trying to think of how to explain Dixie to someone who hadn’t known her. “She gave the impression of being interested in having a good time and nothing else, but at heart she was so warm and giving. She loved Kevin, and she was very careful with him. She...”

Her voice broke, the memories overwhelming her. Dixie and Kevin laughing together over some silly knock-knock joke. Dixie giving up her afternoon off to take him to a children’s movie...

“Sorry.” He must have regretted opening the subject, but he didn’t seem inclined to back off. “Does Kevin often get up at night?”

“No.” It was another thing she hadn’t spared the time to ponder. “If he were frightened or ill, he’d call out to me or come to my room, but he ordinarily sleeps through the night.”

But not with the intensity and stillness he displayed now. Her fingers squeezed his.

“Would he be likely to wake up if he heard voices downstairs?”

Jason was far more demanding than the police had been. Deidre reminded herself again that he probably thought it was his duty. “He might, but...” The thought struck her. “He knew Dixie was coming, and he’d tried to stay awake to see her. I guess if he heard her voice, he might have had the idea of going down to talk to her.”

She could picture him heading for the stairs, trailing the blue blanket that he still liked to have when he went to sleep. She gasped and fought for control, closing her eyes.

Jason’s hand closed strongly over hers. “What is it?”

“Nothing. It... I just pictured it too clearly.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice seemed to deepen, as if he understood.

How could he? He barely knew her. Deidre took a steadying breath. “Kev didn’t necessarily see anything. He could have tripped on the blanket.”

“Possible.” Jason drew back, letting go of her hand. “But the police have to find out. Whoever killed your friend is still out there. He has to be found, both for her sake and your son’s.”

Fear jagged through her. “You mean Kevin might be in danger if that person thinks he knows something.”

“I mean the sooner the police know everything he knows, the better,” he said bluntly. “Then he can’t be a danger to anyone.”

That made sense, but somehow it didn’t offer a lot of comfort. Would the person who attacked Dixie reason that way?

“I just don’t understand it. If someone broke in, intending to rob the house... But they’d hardly do that when someone was there, would they?”

“The police couldn’t find any signs of a break-in.” His flat tone seemed to eliminate that possibility. “You’ll want to check, but there was no obvious indication that someone was trying to rob you.”

Deidre rubbed her temples. “Surely no one would have come there to deliberately hurt Dixie. How would they even know she was there? And if they thought I was home...” She didn’t finish the sentence. It made even less sense that way.

“That’s a good question. You’d expect, if someone was targeting her, they’d do it at her apartment, not at your house.”

“I can’t imagine anyone hating Dixie that much. She had some rough edges, but she hadn’t had an easy life. And she was so good-hearted. She’d have done anything for Kevin.”

“She was divorced, I gather. Any problems with the ex-husband?”

She ventured a glance at him. His face was stern, maybe judgmental. “Not anything recent. I don’t think she’d been in contact with him at all since she came back to Echo Falls. His name is Mike Hanlon. I don’t know where he lives.”

The police would look into that, of course. Didn’t they say that the spouse was often responsible in a murder?

“Would she have let a boyfriend in while she was there with Kevin?”

“No!” Her temper, already frayed, unraveled at that. “Dixie dated, but there wasn’t anyone serious, and even if there had been, she wouldn’t have invited him to my house. She wasn’t a teenager.”

Skepticism showed in his narrowed eyes. “You can’t be sure of that.”

“Yes. I can.”

She glared at him, knowing what was happening. He’d heard rumors linking Dixie with one man or another. He’d added that together with the way she dressed and the fact that she worked at a bar, and he’d come up with an answer—categorizing her.

Jason looked ready to snap back at her. But the door swung open, and Liz Donnelly came in, a chart in one hand. Deidre started from her chair, everything else dismissed by her need to know what Liz and the other medical personnel thought. She couldn’t seem to find words to ask the question.

Liz smiled. “It’s good news, really it is. All the tests we’ve done so far show little or no brain swelling, and his brain function looks normal.”

Deidre sagged against the bed. She’d been so braced to face whatever came that the relief was overpowering.

Liz patted her shoulder and then moved to the bed, taking a look at Kevin while she gave Deidre time to compose herself. “Everything here seems fine. Blood pressure right where it should be. Temperature normal. Breathing fine.”

“He’s going to be all right.” She had to hold back the tears.

But Liz seemed reluctant to go that far. “We can’t say positively what effects the injury might have until he’s awake, but if all continues to go well, we’ll wake him up slowly tomorrow morning.”

And when Kev woke up, they’d know. They’d know if he’d seen the attack on Dixie, and she’d have to find a way to help him through the consequences, no matter what.

* * *

STILL THINKING ABOUT the situation with Deidre and her son, Jason walked the few blocks from the hospital to the office. One thing he had to say about Echo Falls—nothing was very far. The town stretched along the valley floor, making Echo Falls narrow and long as it followed the contours of the land.