Page 82 of Strangers She Knows

“No, but I wish I could get into her head right now.”

“Me, too,” he said with heartfelt sincerity. “It would add much needed sanity to her brain.”

Kellen laughed in a sudden, unexpected (by her) gust. “There is that.”

“Since you can’t read Mara’s mind, what do you think—go or stay?”

The FBI said to stay.

The Coast Guard said to leave.

She looked around the old house. Even with its quirks and its spooks, she loved this place. But Max was right, it had weathered without upkeep. “I think in view of what happened to Dylan and Jamie, and the spooky disappearance of the firearms, and this house and the storm…we’d better go while we can, and trust law enforcement and our own good sense to protect us from Mara, if she’s waiting.”

“Okay. That’s what we’ll do.” Max trusted her judgment without question, and for someone who’d had brain surgery, that meant a lot. “As soon as Rae gets back, we’ll pack up and leave.”

34

“Miranda! Miranda!” Rae skidded down the path toward the south beach, knocking pebbles into the sand, yelling her head off.

Mara looked up, annoyed. She had been counting the number of anemones in the designated tide pool. Now she’d have to start all over again. “What?” she asked sharply.

Rae stood astride the rocks, trying to get her breath. “Dylan Conkle…did something to Jamie. He was covered in blood.”

Mara narrowed her eyes at Rae.Shut the window in my face, will you?“Sounds like Jamie’s problem.”

“There’s blood in the house.” Rae gasped as if she’d raced all the way from the house. “We think she’s dead. You’ve never seen anything like it.”

Want to bet?

“Miranda, it’s horrible.”

Or wonderful. Depends on your point of view.

“And there’s a big storm coming in.”

“I can’t do anything about that, either.”

“No—” Rae held her side as if she had a stitch “—but I came to warn you.”

“Warn me?”

“Daddy and Mommy said Dylan drank moonshine, or smoked bad weed. You need to be careful. And you need to take shelter before the storm hits.”

Mara blinked at Rae, once, twice, three times. “Wait. Why’d you come down?”

“To warn you!”

“You ran down here to warn me?”

“Rode down. Yes. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Rae swooped in suddenly, right next to where Mara knelt, and hugged her around the waist. “I like you!”

“You like me?” Mara felt funny. Not so angry.

“Yes.” Rae scrambled to her feet again. “I gotta go. I have to be home in thirty minutes—”

That reminded Mara again about her visit last night to the big house, seeing Rae with her parents, having Rae shut the window in her face.

Rae was still talking. “—because we have to get off the island.”

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