Deception at Dark Hall (The Briony Martin Mystery Series) by Stacey Coverstone Page B

correct?”
    Briony saw Daniel’s Adam’s apple slide up and down his throat. “That’s none of your business. What are you driving at?” he said, angrily.
    The corner of Yannatos’s mouth turned up, and his fang-like tooth glistened. “They’re as different as fire and ice, but men are always falling in love with both of them. There’s something oddly provocative about twins, don’t you agree?” His eyebrow cocked.
     “What in the hell are you prattling on about?” Daniel said. “You’re very close to sounding perverted. If you don’t watch your mouth, I may have to punch it.”
    “You, Mr. Collier, are no different from all the others. You were a fool to get mixed up with any of them.”
    Any of them ? The air in the hall suddenly grew thick. It was hard for Briony to breathe. Her mind clouded over. She tried desperately to grasp the man’s meaning, but her logical brain refused to accept his implication.
    Yannatos ignored Daniel’s threat and strode to the end of the hall and stopped. “This is Shawna’s room. When I introduce you, try to hide your shock. It could be devastating for her if you don’t.” He knocked on the door and then turned his watchful eyes on them as if expecting them to make a run for it.
    “Who the hell is Shawna?” Daniel croaked.
    Standing beside her, Briony could sense his tense muscles practically bursting through his clothes. Her heart pounded with an insane rhythm. She stared at Yannatos. His mesmerizing eyes sparkled wickedly, and the blinders fell from her eyes. Her body went numb. If only she’d been more perceptive all along! But she’d been as sightless as Sharlyn.
    “Come in,” a voice called.
    Yannatos pushed open the door and the three of them stepped inside. There she was standing in the middle of the room. Briony gazed around quickly. It was the room of a teenage girl, with clothes scattered on the floor, the bed unmade, and rock and roll music playing from a transistor radio.
    “Shawna, please turn the music off,” Yannatos requested.
    She did so and stepped forward and sighed. “Hello, Nickolaos.” The words were not spoken in Sharlyn’s sweet, bewitching tone nor in Shelby’s seductive voice, but with the intonation of a bored teenager who didn’t want to be bothered. Her long hair was pulled into two braids, and despite the cold weather, she wore Capri pants and a short-sleeved top that accentuated her soft curves. Her head angled.
    “We have guests,” Yannatos told her. “Do you recognize these people, my dear?”
    The woman with both Sharlyn and Shelby’s face rudely chomped on the gum inside her mouth and shook her head. “Nope. Should I?”
    This was neither Sharlyn nor Shelby, but someone else altogether. Shawna, the lawyer had said. Briony flicked a glance at Daniel. From the petrified expression on his face, she thought he understood. Or maybe he didn’t understand at all.
    “Are these people doctors?” Shawna asked. “Are they here about Griggs?”
    “No, my dear,” Yannatos replied. “They’re not doctors. They’re friends of Sharlyn and Shelby.”
    “Oh.” Her face went blank. “I heard them crying a while ago. Has something dreadful happened to Griggs?”
    He reached out to pat her arm. “We’ll talk about all that later, Shawna. Say goodbye to these nice people.”
    “Goodbye,” she said, turning her back on them. Daniel exited the room behind Yannatos trudging out like a war-wounded soldier. Before Briony followed, she watched Shawna flick the transistor back on and start dancing. When she twirled and caught Briony watching, she stuck her tongue out and marched forward and slammed the door in her face.
    The three of them stepped into the elevator. They rode it in silence to the ground floor. Briony ached for the depth of pain that filled Daniel’s face.
    Once they’d reached the foyer, he asked, “Are they triplets? Or…”
    She remembered the advertisement about a movie that had been released at the end of