Chapter Six. I sat bolt upright in bed

I sat bolt upright in bed. Was I awake? My heart was pounding in my ears. I hate those dreams when you know you're dreaming but you can't wake yourself. Someone...something...in this dream had been shaking my bed, urging me to wake up.

I looked around until my eyes adjusted to the pitch-blackness of my room. I was awake and Chance was growling. She was no longer on the bed and, through the darkness, I saw her by the door.

Then I heard it...a shuffling sound in the hallway. I got up and put my ear to the door. I stood for several seconds before hearing it again. I haphazardly struggled into my jeans and sweater and slipped into my shoes, thankfully not falling flat on my face.

"C'mon, Chance," I whispered and the traitor jumped on the bed and laid there. "You coward! If I get killed, you'll be sorry." What was I saying? Nobody was getting killed.

It was dark but the moon cast a perfect light from the hallway window so I wasn't totally in the dark, as I opened my door.

Who the hell was I kidding? I was completely in the dark, and I knew it. I closed my door behind me and walked out into the hall. Putting my ear to Maggie's door, I heard nothing. I cautiously opened her door and peered into the darkness. I heard her breathing and snoring peacefully. I must have imagined the whole thing.

It was on my way back to my room that I heard a noise downstairs. My heart stopped. I turned toward the staircase and took a few steps. I thought I heard Maggie's door creak, so I turned around, but no, the door was still closed. I sneaked to the top of the stairs, leaned over the railing and looked around before I slowly descended. Occasionally, a stair would creak. Of course, they had to creak, since I was trying so hard to be quiet.

A shiver rippled through me. Someone's walking over your grave. My Irish Grandmother's words came back to me. Thanking Granny for the gruesome mental picture, I reached the bottom of the stairs and turned into the hallway. It was freezing. I walked down the hall and into the living room.

Through the darkness, I examined the contours of each wall and then I saw it. The curtains were blowing wildly in the wind. The French doors were wide open. I had locked them myself. Someone was already in the house. I tried to swallow, but couldn't peel my tongue off the roof of my mouth.

I was terrified as I walked over to the doors. Then I felt something behind me, but I couldn't move. I opened my mouth to scream but nothing came out.

"You shouldn't be here,"the voice came in a wicked whisper, touching my ear.

I do believe I may have screamed then, as I instinctively raised my arm and swung my elbow backward, catching the intruder at the head. As he grabbed me, we crashed through the French doors.

We tumbled out onto the deck and I felt something sharp pierce my shoulder. The intruder whined like some scared animal as he tried to gain the upper hand. My adrenaline was at an all-time high and power surged through me. I was almost on top of him, surprised to get the upper hand so quickly, when he broke free and pushed me off. It was enough for him to get to his knees.

As I struggled to get to my feet, the intruder picked up a piece of firewood and swung it in my direction. I tried to dodge the lumber, but it grazed my head enough so I saw stars and my knees buckled.

He slipped and fell on the wet grass as he took off running like hell into the woods.

I attempted to run after him, but fell to my knees instead. The back yard was spinning. I got to my feet and stood, bent over with my hands on my knees, trying not to faint. Of course, it started to rain...what else?...as I stood for a moment longer, trying to get my bearings. Actually, the light rain may have saved me from passing out.

Disgusted, scared, wet and a little shaky, I headed back to the house, trying to avoid the broken pieces of glass, and ran into Hannah.

"Good heavens," she said. "You're bleeding!"

"Call the police, Hannah. Now."

Hannah was at the phone before I even finished.

Maggie rushed into the living room. "What the hell happened?"

"Someone was in the house." I started shaking uncontrollably.

"Christ," Maggie looked around, as if ensuring no one else was there before looking back at me. "Kate, you're bleeding."

I impatiently waved her off. "We have to make sure there's no one else in the house."

With that, we heard sirens. Within a minute or two, there were police at both the front and back doors.

A policeman in full rain gear was standing in the middle of the room talking to Maggie. She gave me a very worried look. I looked back outside and saw two other policemen with flashlights combing the back yard. Thankfully, the rain had stopped.

One of them poked his head in. "Can you come out here, please?"

"No, Steve, she cannot," Hannah answered harshly.

"Hannah, I need..." Steve started.

I waved my hand. "Let's get this over with." I was freezing, wet and tired, and not necessarily in that order.

"You okay?" Steve asked me.

"I'll live," I said.

"What happened?" he asked.

As I told him everything, he wrote it down in his book. He then looked around the yard. "Any idea who it might be?" he asked as we made our way back inside.

"No, I don't, but earlier I thought I saw someone out in the woods when I was out with my dog. I thought it was my imagination, but I guess not." I looked over at Maggie, who threw a shocked look in my direction.

"I guess not," he agreed. "You're lucky. You could have been hurt. As it was, you handled yourself pretty well. So, whoever it was, was wearing black. That narrows it down."

I stared at the floor in contemplation. Something wasn't right.

He waited for a moment watching me. "Something else?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. It's just, well, he didn't seem that strong. I was surprised that's all." I scratched my head. "Maybe it was the adrenaline." However, I knew that wasn't it. It annoyed me. I was missing something.

Two other policemen had checked the house and, of course, found nothing. They checked the cellar and every room in the house. The only sign of the break-in was the shattered French doors. A third officer was dusting for fingerprints around the doors.

Steve looked at me. "Your forehead is bleeding, better get that looked at."

I felt the side of my head with my fingers. It was sticky with blood. As I turned away, I heard him continue.

"Hey, your shoulder is bleeding too. Hannah, you'd better call Doc Jenkins."

"I'm all right, I think," I said, looking at my right shoulder. I didn't want to move any farther, fearing someone would find I had sprung a leak somewhere else.

Both Hannah and Maggie were immediately at my side.

"Christ Kate," Maggie said as she touched the side of my face. She then looked through the rip in my shirt and examined my shoulder.

Steve slipped the small notebook into his vest pocket. "I'll have a deputy get some plywood on the window tonight, Maggie. Would you like me to take her over to the clinic?"

"No, thanks Steve, we'll take care of her."

"Well, Mike and I will cruise the area for the rest of the night and Ed will stay out in front." He turned to me. "I'm glad you weren't injured too badly. Goodnight, ladies, I'll keep in touch."

When he had gone, Maggie turned to me and, once again, I saw an irritated look. "You need stitches, let's go."

She made a phone call and grabbed her keys.

"I'm fine," I said stupidly but no one listened as they pushed me out the door.

"Miss Winfield?" We all turned to see Bedford limping out of the darkness. Well at least he's off the list of suspects. "I just talked with the police, Miss," he said to Maggie.

"Good, please be careful, Bedford. Someone nearly killed Miss Ryan. We're taking her to the clinic. Please, stay with the police. We shouldn't be long."

"I am sorry, Miss Ryan," he said.

"You and me both, Bedford," I replied.

He nodded and stepped back as I got into the car. I saw the concerned look on his face.

For some reason a shiver swept through me. Bedford gave me the creeps.

We drove a mile or so outside of town and pulled up to a two-story building that stood on the top of a hill, set back into the woods. It looked rather ominous perched up there by itself and set back into the woods.

We met Doc Jenkins who ushered me into a small emergency room. Hannah offered to wait outside in the small waiting room.

"Maggie, check her vitals," Doc said.

I was confused. How can she do this? She took my blood pressure and everything else that accompanies it.

"Are you a doctor or something?" I asked the obvious question.

"Or something," she said, continuing her work.

Doc smiled and used scissors to cut the sleeve of my shirt. "I'd say ten, maybe twelve, sutures. What do you think, Maggie?"

She looked and agreed. She was checking the cut on my eyebrow. She put some liquid on it that made me jump.

"Sit still, please," she said. She put her hand on my neck to hold me. I felt the warm fingers and felt my heart racing. Don't take my blood pressure now.

"So, you're a doctor?" I asked again, as I watched her, completely intrigued.

Doc answered for her. "Almost. If she'll get off her duff and finish her internship, she can take over for me and I can retire. That's the game plan anyway."

I noticed the affectionate exchange and I glanced around the room. "I saw a sign that read The Winfield Clinic. Hannah mentioned it earlier. The family business?"

Maggie nodded with a shrug.

"I understand your grandfather started it," I said and looked at Doc. I had a feeling I wasn't going to get any information out of Maggie right now for some reason.

"That's correct. Back in the fifties, Alexander Winfield, Maggie's grandpapa, spent big money to have a clinic started. Of course, it had to be in his name and nobody was going to argue with him since he had more money than anyone else in this town could ever hope to see," he said, preparing my torture.

"Which he got from his business?" I asked.

Doc glanced at me then nodded. "Hannah's been talking I see. Yes, Alexander was a very good businessman."

"So, he wasn't a doctor. Who ran it back then?"

"Well, Nathan and I were finishing med school. He told Nathan to run the clinic. I was here as well to begin with then started my own practice in town. It started out a small clinic but, by the sixties, it was as efficient as a small hospital. It took a while to get the state to approve it, but Nathan was proud of it, and he should be. He worked hard. I have to admit, as much as I hate to give credit to Sarah, she kept that clinic going and kept fighting for it. She was on the Board of Directors along with Nathan, Old Man Winfield, Jonathan and Hannah. How she wrangled that one I don't know."

"Wrangled? I don't understand? Isn't she a Winfield?" I asked, looking at both of them.

Doc shrugged and came at me with a huge needle. I leaned back. "Okay, forget I asked," I said seriously. I heard a small laugh from the 'almost' doctor. Sure, now she laughs.

Doc smiled. "This will hurt you more than it will hurt me."

After administering the anesthesia, Doc nodded. "Okay, look at Maggie if you're squeamish."

I'm not a squeamish person. However, I turned my head and looked at Maggie. She smiled slightly and put a warm hand on my shoulder. I felt a jolt that was not caused by Doc's suturing skill.

"So, you didn't tell me you were a doctor. You didn't tell me about the clinic. Is there anything else you haven't told me?" I looked at her with a good deal of uncertainty.

Her smile faded. "I wasn't aware that it was important."

"Someone is scaring the hell out of you, if not trying to kill you. It could be a disgruntled patient. It could be anything or anybody. It may not have anything to do with your wealth, Maggie."

Doc finished stitching me up and stripped off his latex gloves. "Maggie why don't you finish dressing this? You need the practice," he said with a wink. "And you, Miss Ryan, will be fine. Don't move around too much. Stitches can come out in a week. You can see your doctor at home."

Maggie bandaged both my shoulder and my forehead. As I struggled into my shirt, she gently pushed my hands away.

"Sit still," she said.

I sat staring off into space while my body reacted to the warm fingers on my neck as she smoothed my collar. Okay, Ryan, deep breaths, deep breaths. When I looked up, I saw her standing at my side, frowning.

"This is a nasty scar," she said.

Doc walked up behind me and gently pulled at my collar. "Hmm. Looks relatively new."

Okay, too much attention. I instinctively pulled my collar up. "It happened a few years ago," I said, very aware of their scrutiny.

I glanced up at Maggie who gave me a curious look but said nothing. All at once, I was exhausted. I lifted my arm and tried to get a feel for my range of motion. I immediately winced at the sharp pain that ran through me.

"He told you not to move it too much. My God, you're like a child," Maggie said, handing me a small bottle of pills. "Here, take two and..."

"Call you in the morning? I don't like taking pills. I'll be okay."

"Suit yourself, but you're gonna be sore." She shrugged and put the pills in her pocket as Hannah appeared in the doorway.

"How's the patient?"

"She'll live," Maggie said with a smug grin.

Doc laughed and went over to Hannah. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded.

He gave her a hug and kissed her forehead. "Okay, everybody home and to bed," he ordered.

It was an eerie feeling to stand in the living room. True to his word, Steve had a piece of plywood over the pane of glass that had been broken.

Hannah had gone to the kitchen and come back with a broom and dustpan to begin sweeping up the shards of broken glass.

I went to the front door and looked out to see a police car right in the front. I felt a little better seeing a patrol car cruise by them. I looked at my watch...4:30.

"Well, are we going to bed or staying up?" I asked.

We all looked at each other. "Staying up," we said in unison.

"I'll make some coffee," Maggie said.

"I'll light a fire," I said, trying to maintain control. I quelled the urge to break into a dead run and go screaming into the night, never looking back.

"I'll get the cognac," Hannah said.

I stopped dead.

"I just wanted to see if you were listening," she said.

My body was turning against me as I bent over for the firewood. I groaned and grabbed at my shoulder.

Maggie came out of the kitchen and put the coffee on the table in front of the couch. "What's the matter, sore?" Her voice reeked with sarcasm.

I looked to at the ceiling and counted to ten. What would I get for strangling a snotty rich kid?

"Kate, you could have been badly hurt. What have we gotten you into?" Hannah asked.

"After tonight, nothing," Maggie answered as she pushed me out of the way. "Go sit down." She grabbed the wood from my hand and busied herself with the fire. "I will not have anyone else hurt over whatever this is. Call your sister, get your car and get back to your normal life." She slammed the wood into the fireplace and faced me. "Why didn't you tell me you saw someone in the woods? Didn't you think I could take it? Let me tell you, I've had a lifetime of this so don't treat me like a child. And another thing...why did you go downstairs? We could have called the police and stayed in the room. What if something happened to you? Did you think of that? No, you didn't. And now you're standing there, bleeding, bandaged up and...Christ!"

She got that all out in one breath. To say she was upset would be a drastic understatement.

"Look," I said indignantly. "I heard a noise from your room and went to see if you were all right. You were asleep. Then I heard a noise downstairs, so I went to check the locks again. I noticed the doors opened and whoever it was...was right behind me. I had no chance to do anything but try to get him off me. I didn't plan this. Good grief, you can be the most ungrateful..." I stopped and put my hand to my forehead.

Maggie turned, flew past Hannah and went upstairs. I heard her slam her door.

Hannah winced. "That went well. She hasn't gotten that angry since earlier this morning. You seem to be the common denominator. You must bring out the best in her." She patted me on the back as if I'd won first prize.

"So, now what?" I asked. "I wasn't trying to do it all by myself. It just happened. You must know she's not the easiest..."

We heard her coming down the stairs. Maggie appeared as white as a ghost, and her eyes were wide.

"Did you leave my bedroom door opened after you checked on me?" Maggie asked.

"No, why?" I said.

"Because when I heard the glass door break, I flew out of bed and had to unlock the door. Did you lock it?" she said, shaking.

"It was locked? From the inside?"

I moved her out of the way and ran upstairs and into her room. Her bathroom door and closet door were both closed. I began to get panicky all over again.

Both the Winfields were behind me. Maggie was holding onto the back of my shirt and making me nervous. Hannah was standing next to Maggie holding her hand.

We all moved as if we were glued together. We walked to the bathroom door. I reached for the knob, threw the door open and backed up, my arm extended as if to protect them. It was also to give whomever a fast and clear getaway.

Nothing. I poked my head around to check out the bathroom. The shower curtain was closed and of course, it wasn't transparent. Quietly, I walked into the bathroom with the Winfield family behind me.

I reached over and quickly pulled back the curtain, with a tad too much strength. There was no one in the bathtub, but in my adrenaline rush, I yanked the curtain off the rod.

I stood there with the plastic remains in my hands. "S-Sorry..."

Maggie merely nodded and took the curtain.

Back in Maggie's room, I flipped on the light and looked around. "Is everything in place?"

Maggie shrugged as she looked around. "I believe so."

Then she went over to her bed, sat down and grabbed a pillow to hug. A piece of paper fell off the bed and onto the floor. She bent to pick it up and examine it.

She looked up, stunned, and handed it to me.

"What is it, dear?" Hannah asked in a shaky voice.

I reached over and took the paper.

YOU SLEEP LIKE AN ANGEL

The realization made my stomach lurch. He had been in her room while she was sleeping. He must have been in there. I interrupted him when I opened Maggie's door. Christ, he was in the room the whole time.

Why would he lock her door? What was he planning to do? Leave the note or something worse? I looked at Maggie and Hannah. By the looks on their faces, I could tell they were thinking the same thing.

"Maggie," I started while she stared at the note.

She didn't answer, just continued to stare at the note.

I went over and gently shook her shoulders. "Maggie."

She blinked and looked up. She was beginning to scare me. Like I wasn't scared spitless all ready.

"Maggie, what is it?" I said.

"My mother used to say that to me when I was a young girl. That I slept like an angel." She had tears in her eyes. Hannah looked like she was about to faint.

I was still trying to figure out why he locked the door. I looked around the room. The only other way out was through the window. I went to the bedroom door and examined the lock, pushing the button on the doorknob. My mind raced with a scenario. "Okay, let's try this. He gets in through the French doors, comes upstairs to presumably leave the note, and hears me in the hallway..."

"But why lock me in?" Maggie asked as Hannah sat next to her on the bed.

"He can't merely slip out now. He could have heard me in the hallway and knew the only way out was the way he came in, through the French doors. So, he locks you in and comes downstairs, figuring he can get by me, but it would be difficult to get by both of us." I said. "Okay, no one goes anywhere alone anymore. We all go together. The police checked the house tonight so we're fine for now." I was trying to sound confident. I hoped it worked. "Give me the note, Maggie. We'll call Steve."

We went back downstairs and in our paranoia, we double-checked the doors and locks.

Hannah sat on the couch, looking scared, tired, and, for the first time, her age. I sat at the other end of the couch. Chance, the coward, jumped up on the couch and put her head on Hannah's lap. Hannah smiled and ruffled her ears lovingly. Damn mutt was good for something.

Maggie had started the fire. She sat in the armchair next to Hannah. We talked for a while longer, and they both fell asleep.

I, too, nodded off, but couldn't sleep. I roused myself and looked at my watch. It was 6:45. They had been asleep for two hours. I got up, very stiffly, as my shoulder throbbed wildly. I took the afghan from the back of the couch and laid it over Hannah. I found another one, with a beautiful Native American pattern on it, behind a chair. I used it to cover Maggie, even as I wondered if there was some way it could mistakenly slip into my bag when I left.

It was a cool, crisp autumn morning with a light fog covering the ground. I decided to take a walk down the path and into the woods. Perhaps the intruder dropped something when he dashed through these woods last night. In the light of day, maybe I'd find something the police couldn't see last night. It was very creepy, walking in the light fog, but with Chance a good twenty yards ahead of me, I felt braver than wandering around alone. Ryan, you big ninny.

Chance was in doggie heaven with her nose to the ground and her tail wagging. She roamed back and forth in the same area. What was she doing?

I walked to where Chance was tenaciously nosing about. As I got closer, I noticed small pieces of what looked like material strewn about on the ground. I picked them up and realized it was burlap. I remembered when I first saw my crazy dog with the bundle in her mouth the day before.

As I picked it up, it almost immediately disintegrated in my hands. Whatever Chance dug up must have been buried for quite a while. I looked over at her. She still had her nose to the ground, sniffing.

"What is it girl? I'd give big bucks if you could talk right now!" I ruffled her ears and looked out into the woods. I fought the shiver that ran down my spine at the thought of venturing out there alone. "Let's say we take a walk, Chance?" She heard the word "walk" and ran around in circles. I saw a fine-looking path and decided to see where it led. Chance was in front of me, eager to go exploring yet again today. I wondered if she already knew where we were heading.

As I walked along, I noticed how quiet and peaceful the woods were. I'd only walked about three-hundred feet when I came up to the lake. I was amazed. I had no idea it was this close. It was beautiful. Straight across, I saw a flock of geese lazily swimming.

With Chance running ahead, sniffing, I had an eerie feeling and shivered slightly. Okay, here we go again. I had the feeling of being watched. I looked in all directions but saw nothing.

Then I stopped dead and noticed Chance. She was no longer nosing around, but sitting perfectly still with her head cocked to one side. She was staring across the lake. I looked but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hey girl!" I called and the scary mutt sat there, staring at whatever. With that, I heard her whine as she lay down, still staring.

As I started for her, she took off running around the small lake and into the woods. "Chance!" I called after her. I must have been a little too loud. The small flock of geese honked up a storm and flew off the lake. Chance was braver than the geese and me as she ran around the lake. I saw a glimpse of her darting in between the trees. Fine, now I have to go get her. I hope she didn't find an animal or something. The squirrel incident last summer came to mind.

As I started in her direction, she came darting out of the woods with something in her mouth, shaking it.

I slowly walked up to her and she dropped the material without me asking, begging or pleading. There was something wrapped around the burlap. It appeared to be a necklace of some kind. As I picked it up, I noticed it was locket with a broken chain. Tarnished badly, it must have been out in the elements for sometime. I turned it over and noticed the inscribed initial M.

A few feet away something glinted. A watch, also badly tarnished. What in the hell was this? I carefully searched the surrounding area. When I saw more burlap pieces, I knelt down and picked them up. A ring fell out. I looked at it. It was a wedding band. On the inside was an inscription: All my love, Jonathan. 6/3/65.

I was shocked. I frantically looked around for anything else. I couldn't remember any places by the house that looked like she might have been digging. I searched for signs of her digging around here, but found nothing. Where did she find these?

Yesterday, she had something in her mouth, shaking it up. I looked at the letter on the locket. My curiosity was piqued, but I decided to give it to Maggie and let her take the first look at the inside. I carefully put all the findings in my breast pocket.

I started back to the house. I looked down and saw Chance staring at me, her nose in the air. I knelt down and she immediately snorted at the pocket of my shirt. I ruffled the fur on her head.

"Is this what you found, you bloodhound, you?"

As I watched my mutt sniff around, I thought of the intruder last night. My father's words were haunting me...everything is useful. Never discount a thing no matter how small it may seem. I was missing something.

What came to mind was how easily I'd fought last night's prowler off. Was I actually stronger than I thought? What were the odds of that? I'd heard of adrenaline rushes where people lifted cars and all that. Either I was Super-Adrenaline Woman or he was a wuss. I was desperately trying to remember some kind a distinguishing feature about the intruder.

What was it?