TRACE EVIDENCE by Carla Cassidy Read Free Book Online Page A

suffered the night before, the vision of Tamara being killed by a monster.
    He knew his cousin had been particularly fragile over the last couple of months. Before the crime at his parents' house Alyssa had been experiencing what she said were the worst visions she'd ever had. She'd told him all she saw was blackness, but accompanying the dark was an overwhelming feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
    Since the crime, Clay knew she blamed herself for not "seeing" exactly what was going to happen, for not "seeing" clues that would lead to the recovery of Rita wherever she was.
    Alyssa was fragile and under stress, and he was certain that hearing about the damage to Tamara's classroom was what had prompted her latest vision.
    Twilight was on its way out the door, leaving behind the deep shadows of night. It would be even darker around Tamara's place where the woods were thick and kept out most of the moonlight.
    As the cottage came into view, he saw that there were no lights on. It looked as if nobody was home. He parked next to her car, then saw her seated behind the steering wheel.
    She got out as he did. "Clay," she said with obvious surprise. "I didn't expect to see you."
    "Since I was out at the schoolhouse, I decided to go ahead and come out here and take a report." She looked tense … frightened. "Is there a reason you're out here sitting in your car instead of inside?"
    "I wasn't sure it was safe inside. I know it sounds silly, but I got spooked and just stepped in long enough to grab the phone and call the police, then I came out here, started the car engine and locked myself inside."
    "It doesn't sound silly, it sounds like the intelligent thing to do." He leaned into the van and removed his handgun from the seat. "So, what exactly have we got here?"
    "There's a dead deer on my porch." Her voice was low and steady. "At first I thought maybe it had been hit by a car and had somehow made its way to the porch, but when I looked more closely at it, I realized there were claw marks across its side like the ones that were made in my classroom. That's when I got spooked."
    "Lock yourself back in the car and let me check out the house. Once it's clear, then I'll take a look at the deer."
    He was glad she didn't question or argue with him, but instead did exactly what he asked.
    When she was back in her car, he released the safety on his gun and approached the cottage. There were no lights on, but he could see just enough to step over the dead animal and push open the front door.
    Gun firmly gripped in his hand and held up before him, he stepped through the door and flipped on the light switches that illuminated both the porch and the lamps on the end tables in the living room.
    The room looked exactly as it had last night when he had been inside. Nothing appeared to be out of place, but he wouldn't be at ease until he'd checked every room, every closet, every place that a person might hide.
    From the living room he moved into the kitchen, hitting the switch to light the room. Again, everything looked normal. He checked the small pantry, finding nothing more than canned goods, then left the kitchen and moved down the narrow hallway. The bathroom was tiny and the shower curtain hid nothing more than a spotlessly clean tub.
    At the end of the hallway was the single bedroom. Clay turned on the light switch, tensed and ready for confrontation. Again he found nothing … except a bedroom that instantly assailed him on all senses, evoking thoughts that definitely had nothing to do with his job.
    A bright red spread covered the double bed. Sprawled across the bed was a splash of yellow silk that he recognized must be Tamara's nightgown. Yellow and red curtains hung at the single window the room boasted, a window unit air conditioner filling the lower portion of the window itself.
    The room breathed color and life and passion and it smelled like her … that mysterious blend of wildflowers and fresh rain and dark