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If Emma’s talents took such a sad turn, would he want her to practice so that every dream was filled with horror?
The phone on his desk rang, and he answered, “Raintree.”
“I took a nap,” Echo said without preamble. “I just…fell asleep on the couch, you know, and I had this dream. I don’t understand this one, Gideon. It’s not like the others.”
“Tell me about it,” he said, remaining calm.
“There was an explosion. I couldn’t see where it was, but there were people,” she said in a low, shaking voice. “Lots of people. They didn’t know it was coming. One minute they were happy and laughing, and then…There was so much blood, and there was fire, and people were screaming….”
The odds were that it was already too late to help anyone, but he had to try. “Calm yourself and think back. There had to be a hint in the dream as to where this explosion took place. Just take a deep breath and go there, Echo. You can do it.” Whether she wanted to or not, she could do it.
He heard her take that deep breath. “It doesn’t make sense,” she said, only slightly calmer. “It wasn’t just people, Gideon. I mean, there were lots of people, and they were cut and burned. But the sun exploded, a big bright rainbow faded into nothing and disappeared, and the moon broke apart into a million tiny pieces….”
“I know what that means!” Gideon slammed down the phone, lifted it again and dialed The Silver Chalice. Normally he would call on the run, but his damned cell phone wouldn’t do for this call. Not today. He couldn’t take the chance that he would get cut off, or that Hope wouldn’t be able to understand. Rainbow answered, and his heart almost returned to a normal rhythm. He wasn’t too late. “This is Gideon. I need to talk to Hope.”
“Hope’s around here somewhere,” Rainbow Malory said casually. “I just saw her looking at some new…”
“This is an emergency,” Gideon interrupted. “I want you to get everyone out of the shop.”
“But—”
“Now.”
He hat
ed to do this, but he had no choice. “There’s a bomb in your store.” Then he slammed down the phone and ran out of the office. He had other phone calls to make, but he would have to make do with the cell, interference or not.
From her seat by the window at the café across the street from The Silver Chalice, Tabby muttered a curse word as people began to stream out of the shop. Even from here, she could tell they were afraid and confused. She saw and felt it. Someone had found the bomb.
That didn’t mean it wouldn’t go off, or that she wouldn’t still have Gideon Raintree right where she wanted him, but it would have been nice to have a few fireworks to enjoy before things got under way. Panic was always so lovely to enjoy, and the terror of hearing bomb as opposed to the terror that came from actually experiencing it were very different sensations.
She studied the people who streamed from the shop, waiting for the female cop to show. The stream of people turned into a trickle, and the woman wasn’t among them. Tabby heard sirens in the near distance. Gideon Raintree was no doubt right behind the responding emergency vehicles. He might even get here before them.
Tabby took more than enough cash to pay for her coffee from the deep pocket of her oversized dress and placed it on the table. Then, with the tabletop shielding her hands from view, she removed the knife from the leather scabbard at her thigh and slipped it into her pocket, where it would be handy. Not that she was likely to need it. Much as she loved to work with her blade, she had a much more efficient weapon stashed in the back stairwell of the building across the street.
Ready for Raintree once again, determined to complete her task here and now, Tabby stood and headed outside.
The woman who owned The Silver Chalice stood on her tiptoes and searched the crowd, no doubt looking for her daughter. Tabby smiled. Maybe she would get that bonus after all.
Hope had intended just to change clothes, but her bed had looked so good that she’d fallen into it for a quick nap. After all, she hadn’t exactly had lots of sleep this week. She fell asleep easily, snug in her familiar bed, warmed to her bones in a way she hadn’t been warmed in a very long time.
She dreamed of Gideon and the beach, and of a dark-haired little girl who had a really great laugh. They were pleasant dreams, untouched by the stress of her job or any uncertainty about the future. There were no monsters here, not of the human variety, not of any variety.
Precious. Gideon thought she was precious. Whether he said so or not, that was love.
A door slammed, interrupting her pleasant dream of sand and laughter, and she heard Gideon calling her name. His voice was unnecessarily sharp, and it took her a moment to realize that what she heard wasn’t a part of her dream.
Hope opened her eyes as he rushed into the room. “Is it seven already?” she asked as she sat up and stretched her arms over her head.
“I think there’s a bomb downstairs,” he said crisply. “Let’s go.” He didn’t wait for her to respond but half lifted and half dragged her from the bed.
“I need my shoes,” she protested, still muddled from sleep.
“No time,” he responded, leading her toward the door that opened onto the stairway to the shop.
She was half-asleep, still fuzzy-brained and confused, and she wanted to collect her shoes and her purse and maybe an answer or two. “What do you mean, you think there’s a bomb?” That didn’t make any sense at all. There either was a bomb or there wasn’t.
“Echo had a dream.” Gideon’s jaw clenched, and a muscle twitched there.
