denying what her brain was thinking. The truth was, Aidan could have painted this simple water-color with one hand tied behind his back. And only Aidan would have any reason to remove that smock, with its telltale paint blobs, from her purse.
“What’s the matter?” he asked when he noticed that she was staring at him. “Why do I all of a sudden feel like I have two heads?”
Rachel’s silence gave her away.
Aidan’s eyes narrowed. He said quietly, intensely, “You just put me on your list of suspects, didn’t you? You think I sent you that calendar page? Why would you think that, Rachel?”
“I never said I thought that, Aidan.” Then, boldly, “I mean, there isn’t any reason why you would, is there?”
Aidan looked as if she’d slapped him.
“Rachel!” Paloma gasped, clearly shocked. “How could you suspect Aidan?”
Samantha, however, said nothing, which Rachel found interesting. If anyone were going to rush to Aidan’s defense, she would have expected it to be Sam. They seemed to be such close friends. Maybe Sam knew something about Aidan that no one else did.
“I would just like to remind you,” Aidan said icily, “that while you were supposedly trapped in that supply closet, I was downstairs in the lobby making small talk about art with two professors and a teaching assistant. If you’d like to check with them, I’d be happy to give you their names.”
But Rachel didn’t feel like backing down. Hadn’t she dreamed about someone being suffocated with a death mask? Aidan made those masks. Others did, too, but he was the best at it. Maybe that particular nightmare had been her subconscious, warning her not to trust him. And as far as Aidan’s alibi went, he could have slipped away from the lobby conversation just long enough to take the elevator upstairs, grab her purse, and lock her in the closet. He could have been back downstairs before anyone even noticed he was missing.
Everyone was staring at her.
Rachel didn’t want to think these things about Aidan. If she could be that wrong about someone she was attracted to, that made her too stupid to live. Also, she was still attracted to him, and already sorry that she’d hurt his feelings.
“Look,” she said, laying the purse aside, “I’m sorry, Aidan. I didn’t mean that. But you don’t know what it was like, any of you. You don’t even seem to believe that it all happened the way I said it did. Being trapped in that awful place, thinking I’d never get out, and then that horrible ride down in the dumbwaiter. I’ve never been so scared in my life. And now this, ” holding up the calendar page. “So don’t expect me to act rationally, because I don’t think I can, okay? I’m shaking inside.”
“Well, I believe you,” Bibi said, taking the watercolor and the calendar page from Rachel. “We need to take these to the security office. But for now, you need to go out and do something to take your mind off all this. I’ll put these things in your top drawer.”
“We have to take some stuff from the show to the mall,” Sam said. “Rachel, come with us. You can’t stay here alone.”
“And I won’t be here.” Bibi picked up her own purse. “I promised Rudy I’d help him take a load of paintings to the mall.”
Rachel didn’t want to go to the mall. She didn’t want to go anywhere. But if Bibi wasn’t going to be here, neither was Rachel. The purse had been delivered to her room. Maybe the mystery artist was lurking outside in the hall at that very moment, chuckling gleefully over her imagined reaction to his “gift.”
Bibi turned to the others, asking, “How about it? A trip to the mall will do Rachel good. Help her forget about all this stuff. You know what they say: When the going gets tough …”
“The tough go shopping,” Sam finished, laughing. Just as quickly, she sobered. “This is more than tough going, what’s happening to Rachel. This is very scary stuff. But,” she went on more
“What’s the matter?” he asked when he noticed that she was staring at him. “Why do I all of a sudden feel like I have two heads?”
Rachel’s silence gave her away.
Aidan’s eyes narrowed. He said quietly, intensely, “You just put me on your list of suspects, didn’t you? You think I sent you that calendar page? Why would you think that, Rachel?”
“I never said I thought that, Aidan.” Then, boldly, “I mean, there isn’t any reason why you would, is there?”
Aidan looked as if she’d slapped him.
“Rachel!” Paloma gasped, clearly shocked. “How could you suspect Aidan?”
Samantha, however, said nothing, which Rachel found interesting. If anyone were going to rush to Aidan’s defense, she would have expected it to be Sam. They seemed to be such close friends. Maybe Sam knew something about Aidan that no one else did.
“I would just like to remind you,” Aidan said icily, “that while you were supposedly trapped in that supply closet, I was downstairs in the lobby making small talk about art with two professors and a teaching assistant. If you’d like to check with them, I’d be happy to give you their names.”
But Rachel didn’t feel like backing down. Hadn’t she dreamed about someone being suffocated with a death mask? Aidan made those masks. Others did, too, but he was the best at it. Maybe that particular nightmare had been her subconscious, warning her not to trust him. And as far as Aidan’s alibi went, he could have slipped away from the lobby conversation just long enough to take the elevator upstairs, grab her purse, and lock her in the closet. He could have been back downstairs before anyone even noticed he was missing.
Everyone was staring at her.
Rachel didn’t want to think these things about Aidan. If she could be that wrong about someone she was attracted to, that made her too stupid to live. Also, she was still attracted to him, and already sorry that she’d hurt his feelings.
“Look,” she said, laying the purse aside, “I’m sorry, Aidan. I didn’t mean that. But you don’t know what it was like, any of you. You don’t even seem to believe that it all happened the way I said it did. Being trapped in that awful place, thinking I’d never get out, and then that horrible ride down in the dumbwaiter. I’ve never been so scared in my life. And now this, ” holding up the calendar page. “So don’t expect me to act rationally, because I don’t think I can, okay? I’m shaking inside.”
“Well, I believe you,” Bibi said, taking the watercolor and the calendar page from Rachel. “We need to take these to the security office. But for now, you need to go out and do something to take your mind off all this. I’ll put these things in your top drawer.”
“We have to take some stuff from the show to the mall,” Sam said. “Rachel, come with us. You can’t stay here alone.”
“And I won’t be here.” Bibi picked up her own purse. “I promised Rudy I’d help him take a load of paintings to the mall.”
Rachel didn’t want to go to the mall. She didn’t want to go anywhere. But if Bibi wasn’t going to be here, neither was Rachel. The purse had been delivered to her room. Maybe the mystery artist was lurking outside in the hall at that very moment, chuckling gleefully over her imagined reaction to his “gift.”
Bibi turned to the others, asking, “How about it? A trip to the mall will do Rachel good. Help her forget about all this stuff. You know what they say: When the going gets tough …”
“The tough go shopping,” Sam finished, laughing. Just as quickly, she sobered. “This is more than tough going, what’s happening to Rachel. This is very scary stuff. But,” she went on more
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