Page 25 of In the Dead of Night

She met his gaze levelly. “In case you’re not reading between the lines here, I need to see this through. Maybe it’s not safe. But life’s that way sometimes. Damn it, Nick, I can’t run away from this.”

Angry with himself, angry with her, Nick turned away and paced to the patio door. “Yeah, well, I don’t feel like sitting around doing nothing while you get yourself killed.”

She crossed to him, her eyes flashing, and planted her finger in his chest. “Don’t you dare try to manipulate me by scaring me.”

Nick braced, hating it because the reaction was more physical than intellectual. He refused to let his eyes sweep down the front of her. But her scent titillated his nose. The porcelain-white of her skin made his fingers itch to touch. The sheen of moisture on her lips made him hungry to taste her.

As if realizing the moment had turned into something she hadn’t expected, Sara stepped back. “I’m going to start looking for that manuscript.”

Nick watched her walk away, berating himself for enjoying the view just a little too much. “What the hell are you thinking?” he muttered and followed.

He found her in the formal dining room. Nick could tell by her expression she was remembering.

“I spent a lot of time here when I was a kid,” she said. “My mom and dad liked to cook. Lots of fancy meals Sonia and I couldn’t pronounce. They loved to entertain. We got in the way a lot, but Mom and Dad seemed to love the chaos.”

Not knowing what to say, Nick shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You miss them.”

“Every day.” She turned moist, thoughtful eyes on him. “This house used to be so full of life and laughter. It’s hard to see it so…empty.”

“It’s the people who fill up a house.”

Turning away, she left the room and went to the foyer. There she stood with her hands on her hips, looking around. “If my father wanted to hide something,” she said to herself, “where would he put it?”

Nick trailed her as far as the hall, careful not to get too close. He didn’t like the way he was reacting to her. Didn’t like the feelings boiling beneath the surface inside him. Or the edgy attraction tugging low in his gut. A moment ago he’d wanted badly to reach out, find a way to comfort her. But he was far too smart, far too cautious to let himself get that close.

“Closet?” he offered. “Built-in safe?”

“He designed and built the house himself. He was creative…”

“Secret panel? Floorboard? Attic? Crawl space?”

A flash of memory blinded Sara for a fraction of a second. She and her sister standing in her father’s study. A doll that had lost an eye. Her sister lifting a carved wooden panel for a decent burial.

“The study,” she said abruptly.

Without waiting for Nick, Sara jogged down the hall toward the study and flipped on the light. She heard Nick moving behind her, but she didn’t turn. The memory hovered on the outskirts of her mind and she was afraid it would slip away at any time.

The room stood barren and somehow lonely. Her eyes were drawn to the floor-to-ceiling bookcases and cabinets her father had built so lovingly. The bookcase section took up the top portion of the wall. The cabinets were located in the bottom half. In between, an eight-inch carved mahogany panel shone with a dark-chocolate patina.

Without speaking, Sara went to the panel. The hidden hinges creaked as she lifted it.

“I’ll be damned.” Nick knelt beside her. “A hidden shelf.”

“I remember now,” she said. “Dad had measured the shelves and cabinets incorrectly. When he installed them, they weren’t tall enough to reach the ceiling, so he added eight inches of dead space and hid it with a wood panel to make it look nice.”

“Makes a pretty good hiding place.” He shone his flashlight inside. “Let’s see if he put it to use.”

Sara craned her head and peered in. The shelf was wide, but shallow. She saw naked wood, rusty nails, cobwebs and dust bunnies. Before she could reach inside, Nick ran his hand along the length of the shelf.

“There’s something here.”

Sara choked out a laugh when he pulled out the one-eyed doll. “Misty! I can’t believe she’s still there.”

He smiled at her. “Ugly doll.”

“She had a lot of personality.”

Grimacing, he ran his hand once again along the shelf. “There’s something else.”

Sara’s heart pounded when the reel-to-reel tape came into view.

“What the hell?” Nick said.

“A tape.”

“Looks like eight millimeter.”

Her gaze went to his. “There was a reel-to-reel projector in the attic.”

He blew dust from the tape. “In that case let’s go see what someone left for us.”