When Darkness Falls(36)

“Lydia came to visit,” Devon said.





Chapter Fifteen


“Lydia?” Haley shifted on the sofa, the fabric scratching her thighs, and tried to remember everything Devon had said about Lydia. Not much.

“She just showed up, I didn’t invite her.”

“Your friend from California.”

“Right.”

“She stayed all weekend?”

Idiotically, the first thought that ran through Haley’s head was hadn’t Lydia eaten anything all weekend, either?

“Friday night. And Saturday day,” Devon said.

“And?”

“And she seems to think, she seemed to imply, that she knew something about what’s wrong with me.”

Haley felt Devon’s hand sweating in hers. “Well? What did she say it was?”

“She didn’t, exactly. She kept implying things.”

“Like?” Haley said.

“There’ve been some murders here. Women strangled.”

“Everyone’s heard about it.” Haley couldn’t see where Devon was going with this. She felt like she was listening in on a conversation where every other sentence was being deleted. “You and I talked about it. That’s part of why I haven’t gone out more by myself.”

“Lydia seemed to be saying that—that I had something to do with them.”

Haley stared at him. “Why would she say something like that?” She felt sure he was holding something back, whatever had made him make such a production of telling her about the weekend.

“Lydia’s…strange. I don’t know how else to describe her. But when she said that, I made her leave.”

“Was she mad at you for something?”

“No. Well, maybe.” Devon’s hand tightened around Haley’s. “See, I, well, I told you Lydia and I are friends. And we are, we have been. We’ve never been anything else, except one night when I was in California.”

Haley made a conscious effort to slow her breathing. “After our first date.”

“Yes. But the trip was planned long before that. And you and I didn’t have any commitment, I know it can’t be good to hear this, and I shouldn’t have done it. It was a bad idea.”

Haley counted to ten in her mind to clear her thoughts and to give him time to finish. She wasn’t going to say it for him. Because while no, they hadn’t had a commitment, and they’d barely done more than kiss during that first date, she’d known it was the start of something that mattered. She’d hoped it was, and she’d believed he felt the same. That he’d had sex with someone else a few days later made her feel like he’d plunged a knife into her gut.

“We had sex,” Devon said. “And it was just that one time, but when she was here she didn’t seem to understand that I’m married now, and even if I weren’t, I don’t feel that way about her. Are you mad?”

“You barely knew me.”

“But are you?”

Haley let go of Devon’s hand and shifted position to look straight at him. She needed to be honest. “I’m hurt. It might not be fair, but I am. And I wonder why you did that if you aren’t interested in her that way.”

“I hadn’t been seeing anyone in a long time other than that one date with you, and she said she hadn’t either, and we drank too much. At least I did, and it was all supposed to be sort of once-between-friends, no-strings-attached. I’d like to say I didn’t think it would hurt anyone, but what happened is I didn’t think. I mean, Lydia’s not unattractive, and she came on strong, and I didn’t try all that hard to stop myself. I should have.”

Haley bit her lip. Not unattractive. The few times Devon had spoken about Lydia before, there’d been no intensity, no hint of feelings for her, in his voice. Haley had pictured Lydia as somewhat unattractive, or at best plain. Now his tone seemed different. It had an edge. His pupils had dilated, making his eyes dark. With excitement? Fear? Both?

“Did something happen this weekend?” Haley said.

Devon kept his gaze steady. “No. She slept on the couch.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.”

“Nothing happened. But she wanted it to. What bothers me is I don’t think she was mad, so I don’t know why she said those things.”

“Did she say why she believed them?”

“I told you I’ve always had violent dreams, and I’ve been having more. But I don’t have them when you’re with me, only when you’re gone. Lydia researched these attacks, and they happened before you and I got married, and on the two weekends you were gone.”

“You’re not really worried about this, are you?” Taking Devon’s hand again, Haley struggled to stay calm, despite her racing heart. “There must be hundreds of men in this city whose wives or girlfriends happened to be away those two weekends. It’s a coincidence. I don’t know how or why she happened to pick it out, but that’s all it is.”

Devon stared at the floor. “But my dreams are, they’re, well, they’re similar to what happened to those women.”

“But you’ve had violent dreams all your life. Do you think you’ve been out doing whatever you dreamed of since you were a little kid?”