Page 46 of The Bride Wore White

“Luther. We need a few strings pulled, and in this town, he’s the one who pulls them.”

Chapter 20

Maud Hollister moved into Clara’s bedroom and set the breakfast tray with its perfectly poached egg, toast, orange juice, and coffee on the small table near the window. In addition to the meal were a copy of the morning edition of theBurning Cove Heraldand an envelope.

Clara, dressed in a robe and slippers, her gray hair secured in bobby pins, closed the door and turned around. Her eyes were feverish with excitement. The strange glitter made Maud uneasy. Clara had been prone to fits of nerves in the past few weeks. Her odd turns had become decidedly worse since she had learned of Gilbert’s death. Last night she had awakened in another panic attack. It had taken some time and another dose of medication to get her calmed down.

“Well?” she said. “Any news of the creature?”

Maud picked up the morning paper and handed it to her. “There’s a mention on page three in the Visiting Celebrities column. Madame Ariadne has an early-afternoon appointment at a local spa.”

“Call the spa. Find out when she is due to check in. When you are sure of the time, tell Henry to have the car ready.”

“I know you are set on confronting Prudence Ryland face-to-face, but I don’t think doing so in such a public place is a good idea.”

“I don’t care what you think,” Clara said, practically vibrating with the energy of her anticipated revenge. “Gilbert made it very clear in the vision last night. She must know what is coming. She is a witch and she will die by fire. I am to witness her punishment.”

“It was just a dream, Mrs.Dover. You should not take it seriously.”

“Normal people do not take their dreams seriously, but I am not a normal dreamer. My dreams have meaning. They are the means by which I access my paranormal senses. I cannot and will not ignore them.”

Maud sighed. “I will make sure Henry has the car ready at the proper time.”

When you worked for Clara Dover, you learned early on that once her mind was made up, there was no talking her out of a plan. You also learned that there was no point delaying bad news. Maud took a deep breath.

“Rollins phoned before you woke up,” she said. “He was at a gas station. He informed me that he and Ella are on their way here to Burning Cove. They got on the road early this morning and expect to arrive midafternoon.”

“What?” Anger flashed in Clara’s fever-bright eyes. “He intends to interfere with Gilbert’s plan. That is so like Rollins. He was always jealous of his brother. Now he cannot abide the knowledge that Gilbert is able to contact me from the Other Side.”

“For the last time, Gilbert is dead,” Maud said. “There is no plan to punish Prudence Ryland. Your sleep has been very disturbed of late. You are—” She managed to stop herself before she let the wordhallucinatingslip out. Any reference to mental instabilitywas guaranteed to drive Clara into a fury. “I believe that you are misinterpreting your dreams.”

“Visions,” Clara said. “Dr.Flood has made it very clear that what I am experiencing are visions, not ordinary dreams. Thanks to his medicine, the door to my psychic senses has been fully opened.”

“You are having nightmares, Mrs.Dover. Anxiety attacks.”

“Only because I am going through an adjustment period as I learn how to control my enhanced paranormal senses. Never mind. Whatever you do, you must not breathe a word of my intention to confront the witch at the spa to Rollins or his wife. I will not be stopped.”

“I understand, Mrs.Dover.”

“They can’t stay here. I won’t have that woman underfoot.”

“Mr.Dover said he had booked a room at a local hotel,” Maud said.

Poor Ella. Doomed to bethat woman, never a unique individual in her own right. Sometimes Maud wondered if her employer had actually forgotten the name of her second son’s bride.

It wasn’t that Clara disapproved of the marriage, although that was probably what Ella believed. The truth was, Clara had very little interest in her. Yes, she was certain Ella had married Rollins for his money, but Clara didn’t hold that against her. The same would have been true of any woman who moved in society. Marriages in those circles were always made for fortune and position. Clara had married Copeland Dover for those very reasons.

Aside from assurances that Ella had the manners and demeanor required to move in upper-class circles, Clara had been content to ignore the woman her younger son had chosen for his bride.

Maud picked up the coffeepot and filled a cup. When she set the pot down, she paused for a moment to contemplate the view from the second-story window. It was so very different from the sceneshe saw every morning when she drew the curtains in Clara’s bedroom in San Francisco.

It was the same ocean, but the Pacific took on a much different aspect here in Burning Cove. In San Francisco, the waters of the Bay were often gray and choppy or layered in fog. Here in Southern California, the waves sparkled in the morning light. Both versions were equally deceptive, she thought. Both concealed the dangerous currents that seethed and swirled below the surface.

She picked up the envelope and held it out to Clara. “I’m afraid there has been another letter. I found this when I went into the kitchen to prepare your tray.”

Clara eyed the envelope as if it were a cobra. “The blackmailer followed me to Burning Cove?”

“So it appears.”

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