Eye of the Beholder (20 page)

“By this time, half the town probably knows about Guthrie's crash.”

“I imagine so.” She paused. “One of the medics told me Guthrie probably died instantly. At the very
least, he would have been unconscious when the fire broke out.”

It was, Trask reflected, the same rough comfort the authorities had offered him after Harry's crash at Avalon Point. Something in Alexa's voice told him that a long time ago someone had given her similar assurances about her own father's death.

He listened to the silence on the line. They both knew the truth, he thought. No one could be certain how long either of the victims had lived after disaster struck. No one knew how much awareness the men had had of their terrifying last moments.

But Trask also knew that, for the sake of those who were left behind, it was important to preserve the fiction that neither had suffered for long.

“I'm sure the medic was right,” Alexa said. “The impact must have killed Guthrie instantly.”

“Yeah.”

Silence hummed again on the line.

Trask looked at the faint glow in the sky. “Maybe you should stay home from work today. Get some rest.”

“I've got a shop to run. Besides, I think it would be better if I kept myself busy.”

“Sure.” He understood all too well that work was a useful narcotic for dulling unpleasant memories. He'd used it to take the edge off a lot of things, including a failing marriage.

She hesitated. “What are you going to do today?”

“Me? I'll be busy, too. Didn't I tell you? I've got another hot date with Chief Strood.”

“You're going to talk to him again? Why? We told him everything that we saw last night.”

“Seems he
wants to revisit the subject of my little parking lot altercation with Guthrie.”

“Oh,
no.
Surely he doesn't think that you—?”

The alarmed concern in her voice warmed him for some obscure reason.

“Strood just wants to clear up a few questions,” he said. “Can't blame him. He's got a job to do.”

“Do you think he might try to involve you in this in some way? Why? Strood wasn't even the chief of police here in Avalon twelve years ago. He didn't take the job until after Wilcox died. That was only about five years back.”

“Strood has heard the rumors, same as everyone else in town.”

“I can call Lloyd's lawyer if you think you should have one.”

“Don't worry, Avalon Resorts, Inc., has a herd of lawyers on retainer.” Trask smiled slightly. “If I need one, I know where to get one.”

“There is absolutely no way anyone can connect you with Guthrie's accident. Remind Strood that you were with me when it happened.”

“Yeah.” Trask smiled to himself. “I'll do that.”

The cloud of morbid curiosity was thick in Café Solstice. Every eye in the place shifted toward Alexa when she walked through the door shortly before ten.

She came to a halt and gazed around at the ring of familiar faces. “I take it everyone has already heard the news?”

Murmurs of assent went through the small crowd of shopkeepers huddled over their tea and muffins.

Dylan, propped against a counter, looked at Alexa with a troubled expression. “Is it true that you and Trask were first on the scene?”

Alexa shuddered. “Yes. It was awful.”

Joanna gazed down into her tea. “Poor Guthrie.”

Brad Vasquez, the owner of the Out Of Body Experience travel agency, shook his head. “The courts should have yanked Guthrie's license years ago. Everyone knew he had a serious drinking problem.”

“He nearly sideswiped me once on that sharp curve on Bandit Road,” Stewart said as he poured boiling water into a pot. “A couple inches closer and he would've hit me. I called him up later and told him that he could have gotten both of us killed.”

Alexa went to the counter to collect her tea. “What did he say?”

Stewart shrugged. “He got mad. Yelled and screamed a lot. Claimed he'd been in complete control.”

“I wonder how his ex-wife is taking the news,” Brad mused.

Stewart looked up. “Which one? There were at least three at last count.”

Joanna raised her bowed hed. Her face was tight and bleak. “Liz is having a tough time. I talked to her this morning. She and Dean were still seeing each other, you know, even though the divorce was final a few months ago.”

Brad raised his brows. “Guthrie was sleeping with his ex-wife?”

Joanna's mouth tightened primly. “They had a relationship, yes.”

Alexa glanced at her. “How do you know that?”

“Liz is a good friend of mine,” Joanna said quietly. “I've
carried her jewelry designs in Crystal Rainbow for years. She's active out at the Institute. We've served on several committees together.”

Dylan screwed his features into a quizzical expression. “Why'd she marry a mean drunk like Guthrie?”

“The usual reason.” Joanna returned her attention to her tea. “She thought that she could change him.”

“Yeah, I've heard that one before,” someone muttered.

Stewart's gaze was somber. “When you stop and think about it, you gotta admit, there's something really weird about Guthrie's death. I mean, what are the odds?”

A short, charged silence fell on the small group. Alexa noticed that no one met her eyes.

“Odds about what, Stewart?” she asked quietly.

Dylan stirred against the counter. His gaze flickered to Stewart and the others. Then he looked at Alexa. “He means the odds that Guthrie would die now. Like Brad says, he drove drunk for years. By rights he should have run himself off that cliff a long time ago.”

Alexa watched him very steadily. “What are you saying, Dylan?”

It was Joanna who answered the question.

“He's saying what everyone else who knew Guthrie in the old days is saying this morning. It's a very strange coincidence that Guthrie died only a few days after Trask returned to Avalon.”

“And even weirder that he was killed at the same place where Harry Trask died,” Dylan whispered.

Alexa's temper flared without warning. “If you're
implying that Trask had anything to do with Guthrie's accident, you can forget it. Trask was with me when Guthrie drove off Avalon Point. There is no way he could have been involved.”

“Take it easy, Alexa,” Stewart said. “No one is saying that Trask killed Dean Guthrie.”

“Hell, no,” Brad said quickly. “No one's claiming that Guthrie's death wasn't an accident. It's just, well, strange, that's all. The timing, I mean.”

“And the place where it happened,” Stewart added softly. “Avalon Point. The very same place Harry Trask—”

“Don't say it,” Alexa warned.

Stewart raised one big tattooed shoulder in a massive shrug, but he did not finish the sentence.

Dylan's gaze slid away from Alexa's. “According to the theory of Dimensions, there are no coincidences in the universe.”

Alexa realized her hand was trembling from the effort it took to control her fury. Very deliberately she set her cup down before it slipped from her grasp. She looked at each member of the small group in turn.

“Contrary to popular opinion,” she said, “Trask had no reason to want Dean Guthrie dead. I don't think it's any secret that he has some questions about what happened to his father twelve years ago, but he won't make any moves until he has answers.”

“Maybe it was the pressure,” Brad mused. “Maybe it pushed Guthrie over the edge in more ways than one.”

“What pressure?” Alexa snapped.

“The
pressure Guthrie must have felt.” Brad gave her an apologetic look. “The way I heard it, Trask's return to Avalon had really agitated him. There was that scene in the country club parking lot the other night…”

“It was Guthrie who threatened Trask, not vice versa,” Alexa said tightly. “Furthermore—”

Joanna gave a short, muffled cry. Her plastic cup fell to the floor. Hot tea splashed across Alexa's sandal-shod feet. She stepped back hastily.

“I was so afraid something like this would happen,” Joanna whispered in a choked voice.

Her low, anguished words riveted everyone's attention. Alexa turned toward her and saw that tears glistened in her dark eyes. Instinctively she took a step forward and put out a hand.

“Joanna?”

“I'm sorry.” Joanna evaded Alexa's outstretched hand. “It's late. I've got to open my shop.” She seized a tissue from her purse, buried her face in it, and rushed out the door.

Alexa felt the eyes of everyone in the shop turn to her.

“Joanna's right,” she said. “It's getting late.”

She did not look back as she walked out the door.

Joanna looked up from a tray of colored crystals when Alexa walked into Crystal Rainbow a few minutes later.

“That was very embarrassing,” Joanna said quietly. “I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to make a scene. Did the tea burn your foot?”

“No. I'm fine, Joanna.”

“I upset you.” Joanna blinked rapidly. “I've been very
tense lately. Stress, you know. My doctors gave me some pills. I should probably take another one.”

“I've been a little tense myself.” Alexa walked past an array of sparkling, glittering stone and crystal jewelry. “Will you tell me what that was all about, Joanna? I think I've got a right to know.”

“Yes. Yes, you do.” Joanna closed her eyes and massaged her temples. When she looked at Alexa again, it was clear she had herself back under control. “But I really don't know what to tell you, Alexa.”

“What do you think happened to Harry Trask twelve years ago?”

Joanna picked up one of the crystals, an amber-hued stone. Her fingers tightened around it as if it were a talisman.

“It was an accident, just as the police said,” she whispered. “We'd had one of our summer monsoons. A lot of rain had fallen. The roads were wet and slippery. Harry lost control of his car and went off the Point. But I always knew that his son did not believe that explanation.”

“But you believed it?”

“Yes, of course I did.” Joanna gripped the amber-colored crystal so fiercely that her fingers whitened at the knuckles. “When young Trask left and did not return to Avalon, I assumed that he'd come to terms with Harry's death, too. Then Avalon Resorts announced that the company was planning to build a new hotel here. I knew then that Trask was finally coming back.”

“Now he's here.”

“Yes.” Joanna opened her hand and stared at the amber stone. “He's here. And someone else is dead.”

“Are you afraid
that Trask is somehow responsible?” Alexa took a step closer. “Listen to me, Joanna, I swear that Trask was with me all evening. We were together when we heard the crash.”

Joanna stared at the amber crystal. “I believe you.”

“Then why are you so frightened?”

“Only a fool would deny that there are things in this world, especially here around Avalon, that we do not fully comprehend.”

Alexa gazed at her, appalled. “Are you telling me that you actually believe that some mysterious negative force has been awakened by Trask's return? That some dark energy vortex is responsible for Guthrie's death?”

“There's no reason to look for supernatural causes. Human beings generate more than enough negative energy all on their own to account for most of the problems in the world.”

“On that, we agree,” Alexa said firmly. “From what I've seen and heard of Dean Guthrie, he was his own worst enemy.”

“You're right,” Joanna whispered. “Everyone knows that.”

Alexa took another step, reached out, and put her hand on Joanna's arm. “Talk to me. Tell me why you're so scared. What do you think Trask might uncover here in Avalon?”

“I don't know.”
The skin of Joanna's finely molded face drew very tight. “That's the problem. Don't you understand? I don't
know
what Trask will find out if he continues to dig up the past. Opening old graves is always a dangerous business.”

Old graves.

It was a good thing she did not believe in negative auras and bad vibrations, Alexa thought. Joanna's anxiety and barely controlled fear lapped at her in dark waves.

“Joanna—”

“You want to know why I'm scared? I'll tell you why.” Joanna hurled the amber crystal onto the counter. “Twelve years ago the man I loved was killed in a terrible accident. His son vowed revenge. Now that same son is here in town, and one of the men he threatened all those years ago is dead. No, I don't think it's a coincidence.”

“Are you telling me that you think Trask murdered Guthrie?”

“No.”

“Then what are you saying, Joanna?”

“I'm saying that I think Trask should go away before someone else dies.”

A tiny, trembling movement caught Alexa's eye. She glanced down. Joanna's hands were shaking so violently that her turquoise and silver Dimensions bracelet was dancing on her wrist.

“I need my pills,” Joanna said.

The day did not improve markedly as time passed. Trask did not call, but a reporter from the
Avalon Herald
did.

“Rich Rudd, Ms. Chambers. Just following up on what I got from the cops. Guthrie was one of the movers and shakers here in Avalon for a long time, you know.”

“Yes, I know.”

“I
understand that you and JL Trask, the president and CEO of Avalon Resorts, were first on the scene?”

“That's right. We were just finishing dinner when we heard the crash.”

“Dinner?”

Alexa drummed her fingers on the counter. “We had dinner together.”

“I don't recall a restaurant near Avalon Point…”

In for a penny, in for a pound, Alexa thought. “JL Trask was a guest in my home last night, which happens to be close to Avalon Point.”