Charmed to death: an Ophelia and Abby mystery by Shirley Damsgaard Page B

stronger this time, aren't you?"
    "You have no idea." I reached in my purse and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. Using the top of my car as a hard surface, I scribbled my phone number and address on the paper. Whirling around, I shoved the paper at Comacho. "Here. It's my phone number and address. Give it to Perez or keep it—whatever. If anything new develops, let me know."
    I got in my car, slammed the door, and drove away. I was so angry at Comacho that I didn't see the other car follow me.

Chapter Seven

    "Grandpa. Grandpa. Stop the swing. I can't hear you."
    I stood on Abby's wide front porch. The scent of newly plowed earth floated on the spring air that drifted around me while the stars glittered in the night sky like diamonds cast on black velvet. My grandfather sat in the swing and next to him sat Henry Comacho.
    I knew it was a dream, but I couldn't wake myself up. Nor, in the dream, could I move from my position near the porch railing. It was as if my feet were frozen to the shiny gray boards.
    Squeak, squeak . The sound was so loud that I couldn't hear their voices over it.
    "Grandpa, stop. Don't tell him anything. We can't trust him." I struggled to move closer to them.
    Squeak, squeak . Henry sat, not talking, with his head tilted, listening to my grandfather. While Grandpa talked, he stabbed the air with his finger, as if to make a point. Henry nodded.
    My panic rose. I couldn't let Grandpa tell Henry our secrets.
    "Stop!"
    Suddenly the dream shifted, as they often do, and I wasn't on Abby's porch. Instead I stood in an open field, the same field I had dreamed of a few nights ago. Only this time I realized it wasn't an open field. It was a park. In the darkness I made out the shape of the slide and merry-go-round. To my left was a Civil War monument. I knew this park.
    Yes, Wallace Park, that's where I was. Brian and I had come here often in the summer. It was close to the university and a popular place for both the students and the staff. Surrounded by a tall hedge, its gravel paths wound through the trees. They had found Brian's mutilated body nearby.
    The killer. He had left Brian's body in the Dumpster and walked through this park. Was he still here? I strained my eyes searching the empty spaces, but saw nothing, only shadow.
    In the last dream what path had the killer taken? I spun around. Think, Jensen, think. Remember the dream. Yes, he went to the north, through the hedge .
    I ran down the gravel path. It exited the park on the north side, on
    First Street
    . Would I catch him this time? Would I see his face? I ran faster.
    Rounding the corner, my feet slid in the loose gravel when I skidded to a halt. There, on the street, a blue van. Moving toward it was a dark figure, Brian's killer.
    "Stop!" I yelled.
    He heard me and looked over his shoulder, but it was too dark for me to see his face. Yanking the door open, he got in and the van peeled away from the curb. Its red taillights disappeared around the corner of
    First Street
    .
    Dang, I missed him again. Frustrated, I stood staring down the empty street.
    The sound of pounding jolted me awake. Where was I? Oh, yeah, the hotel and somebody was pounding on the door to my room. Shaking my head to clear away the dream, I stumbled to the door. I opened it to see Darci with her fist raised. Her blonde hair was tousled from sleep and, dressed in her pink satin robe, she looked like a model from a lingerie catalog. Except her robe was on wrong-side-out. She must've thrown it on in a hurry.
    "What's going on? I could hear you shouting through the wall. Are you okay?" she asked, her words tumbling out all at once.
    Dang, did I wake up the whole hotel ? A quick look down the hall assured me no one else stood peering out their door. I grabbed Darci's arm and pulled her in the room, shutting the door behind her.
    "Yeah. I was dreaming." I walked past Darci to the bathroom and filled a glass with water. The cool water felt good as it slid down my burning