Gates of Paradise (Casteel 4)

if Luke didn't come? Panicked, desperate, my mind

raced like a caged bird. Rye Whiskey! I must get him

to help me! Or Troy! Or Parsons! Anybody! Please

somebody help me get away from this madman! What

had he done to my grandmother to make her run

away? I could barely stand to think about it. The only

thing that comforted me was the realization that it

would soon be morning. I embraced myself as tightly

as I could, the way Mommy would hold me to her

whenever I had a bad dream and she came to my bed.

And this was more than a bad dream. This was a

living nightmare. I was afraid to fall asleep again, afraid that I would awaken once more to Tony naked at my side, but my eyelids grew heavy and I slipped

into an exhausted slumber.

"Good morning," Tony sang cheerfully. My

eyelids fluttered open and I saw him opening the

curtains wide. The bright sunlight turned away each

and every shadow. He raised the windows to permit

more air, and the curtains began a happy little jig over

the windowsill. I didn't lift my head from the pillow.

Instead, I lay there silently, watching him move about

the room. He was dressed in a clean, light blue silk

robe and looked unbelievably chipper. Was he pretending so I would think that none of what happened

last night really happened?

"I'll have your breakfast in a jiffy," he said.

"Being nice to me this morning isn't going to help,

Tony. I haven't forgotten last night."

"Last night?" He turned, smiling. "Oh . . last

night. You mean when I yelled at you downstairs. I've

already explained and apologized for that, Annie. You

shouldn't hold grudges. All of us make mistakes." "I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about