MOON FALL by Tamara Thorne Page B

sleeping pills to do the job, hence the razor blade and then the jump. John forced himself to discount his unease, because he suspected it was born of personal dislike, not a cop's instinct
    The other person who had set off his suspicions was St. Gertrude's caretaker, Basil-Bob Boullan, an old letch who was somehow simultaneously seedy and obsessively clean. Despite the fact that he leered at the girls and the nuns alike, no one had a bad word to say about the man and John h ad to let that drop, too.
    The only other thing that still gave him pause was a slight chemical imbalance found in Tynan's blood. It was a very minor thing and Cutter had concluded that it was an unimportant allergic reaction to a food or an over-the-counter drug.
    Apart, these things meant nothing, and together, not much more. Maybe it had been Gus's talk later that night -We've all got our demons, and you rs are out there at St. Gertrude’ s that had upped his anxiety. And that, combined with Mark's revelation that old Minerva Payne seemed magically to know he was plagued by nightmares, had made him overly suspicious, when all he really wanted to do was close the case and forget about it and the memories it stirred.
    Right after the discussion with his son, John h ad intended to go talk to Minerva again. Her telling Mark that Greg's death wasn't John's fault intrigued and annoyed him as much as her apparent knowledge of his recurring nightmares. But the weeks passed and he didn't pay her a visit, partly because he was always busy, and if he were to be perfectly honest with himself, because he knew she would again ask him why he'd never told anyone that he'd seen her at Witch Falls the morning they found Greg. He didn't know the answer to that and didn't care to try to figure it out.
    Maybe she cast a spell on you. Every so often, the thought would wing through his mind, unbidden, fueled by her knowledge of his nightmares and guilt. He did his best to quell his childish superstitions - what was he going to do, knock on her door and accuse her of witchcraft?
    No. Not in a million years. If she did know about the dreams, Mark must be behind it; since he'd heard his father's night terrors, he was probably frightened and confided in her. He'd never known Mark to lie, but in this case it was likely, and he couldn't really be angry with the boy for worrying about him.
    The doorknob turned and the door creaked. John swung his feet off his desk before his dispatcher's face appeared. ''Damn it all, Dorothy, why won't you at least knock? What if I was changing clothes in here?"
    "Then you should lock your door." The little round woman gave him the same smile she'd given him when he was eight years old and had shown up at the office to charm her out of some of her never-ending supply of caramels. "There's someone here to see you, Johnny."
    "Who?"
    "A very pretty young woman."
    "Did you ask her to come here?" Dorothy had been trying to fix him up ever since his divorce had been finalized, years ago.
    "No, Johnny," she said, barely rolling her eyes. "I've never seen her before. Her name is Sara Hawthorne and she would only say that she wants to talk to you about a case."
    "Okay. I'm coming." He stood, leaned back to stretch his back, then followed her out of his office.
    The young woman waiting at the tall counter was pretty, Dorothy was right about that. She had pale skin, dark eyes, and glossy dark brown hair that waved in a pageboy just above her shoulders. The tall counter unfortunately hid the rest of her from view.
    "Hi. I'm Sheriff Lawson. You need to see me?"
    ''Uh, yes." Her voice was soft, tentative.
    ''Regarding?" He smiled and waited.
    "Something that happened a long time ago." She suddenly sounded more sure of herself.
    "How long?"
    "Twelve years."
    With a nod, he walked over to the end of the counter and opened the gate. "Come on in. We'll talk in my office."
    "Thank you."
    As she walked past him, he sensed uncertainty under the air of confidence and