“All right. You’re good.” He released her wrist.
She pushed unruly hair out of her face. “What do you mean I’m good?”
“You’d hear it if someone was in the house.” He settled back against the pillow. “The atmosphere changes when another person’s in your space. Energy shifts. You know that, Doc. It’s just fact and nothing magical.” He rolled onto his side and, apparently satisfied, fell right back to sleep.
She stared at him for another moment. He took up more than his fair share of the bed. She had no idea how he managed to fall back into sleep so quickly. Meanwhile, she’d never in her life been able to roll over and drift off again. Her mind was already racing and trying to deal with reality.
She slipped from the bedroom, stopping at her dresser to pull on a pair of thick wool socks before easing the door shut behind her. The hallway was dim, lit only by the faint glow from the stove clock. The house felt different at night. The rain had picked up now, steady against the roof, carrying the clean scent of wet pine.
In the kitchen she set the kettle on for herbal tea. The quiet wrapped around her as she waited for the water to heat. The events of the last forty-eight hours played through her mind. She had to do something.
She just didn’t know what that something was yet.
The kettle clicked off. She poured the tea, grabbed her phone off the counter, and walked down the short hallway to the far end of the house where her small office waited. The wood floor creaked faintly under her steps.
She stepped inside the office, shut the door gently, and flipped on the light. Was this a mistake? Perhaps she should actually think about it for a moment. She settled into her leather desk chair and rolled toward the window on the far wall. With a small push of the remote button, the blinds lifted slowly, revealing a world washed in silver. Even at three in the morning, the sky held a dull glow, the kind that never fully surrendered to night this time of year. Rain drifted down in steady sheets from a low ceiling of gray clouds, soft but persistent.
The house felt insulated from the rest of town, wrapped in damp air and silence. For a moment she simply watched the rain fall, letting its rhythm settle the frantic pace of her thoughts.
Yeah. She had to do something. So she turned back to her desk and slid open the top drawer, fingers brushing past paper clips and old prescription pads until she found the yellow, crumpled piece of paper tucked toward the back. She smoothed it flat against the desk, cleared her throat, and dialed the number written in dark ink.
The line rang twice. On the third, a bright voice answered. “Serendipity Spa and Elixirs. How may I help you?”
May paused with her tea cooling in her hand. Her pulse felt louder than the rain. “This is May Smirnov. I’d like to speak with Stella.”
“I’m so sorry, but Stella is with another client right now. Can I have her get back to you?” The woman sounded practiced and polite.
This was weird. “That would be great. Here’s my number.”
“I have it. We have caller ID.” The line went dead.
May lowered the phone slowly and stared at it for a moment. Huh. Well, all right.
She set the phone down and glanced toward the stack of patient files waiting beside her laptop. One in particular needed finishing. She took a sip of tea. Her head throbbed faintly behind her eyes, and her stomach felt hollow in a way that had nothing to do with hunger.
The phone rang.
She jumped and grabbed it on the first ring. “Hello?”
“May. It better just be you,” Stella said.
Relief loosened May’s tight back. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry to call you at this hour.”
“It’s okay. I told you to call if you needed me. What’s going on?” Stella asked.
May couldn’t imagine where Stella had hunkered down. “First, why are you awake? As your doctor, I’m advising more sleep.” Although May had just called her, so it looked like May sucked as a doctor. “How are you?”
“I’m good. I followed your instructions and don’t sleep much. But the bandages are just fine. Why are you calling?”
The brisk efficiency in her tone steadied May. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes briefly. “I didn’t know who else to call.” She took a deep breath. “You were a spy, right?”
“No. Wasn’t a spy. Never heard of spies. Would never be a spy,” Stella said easily. “However, what do you need, May? I owe you one, so give it to me.”
May looked out at the rainy scene outside. “Here’s what’s happening.” She told Stella everything going on, from her dating years with Kyle to the murders to Ace’s arrest. “I know Ace didn’t kill anybody,” she finished. “And I’m sure the troopers will find who did eventually. I hope. But right now I have to get Kyle to back off. He’s a U.S. senator. He has more power than I think even Ace realizes, and he’s putting pressure on the district attorney.”
Stella didn’t respond immediately. Rain continued its steady cadence outside the window. “Well, he’s a U.S. senator,” Stella said at last. “The district attorney and his assistants work for the state. There’s no direct line there.”
“Yeah, but you know how it works.” May rubbed her temple. “I lived in D.C. for a while. I know what power is. Kyle could be promising the ADA absolutely anything.”
