Bodyguards Read Online Free PDF Page B

she
listened to fairy tales. She glanced around to orient herself, then squeezed
out between two bushes. She started to run before she even reached the street.
Her house wasn’t very far; she’d run there and finally call the police. Better
that than to stop and talk to anyone. She wasn’t sure whom she could trust
anymore, and who might turn out to be a raving lunatic.

 
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
    Echoes
     
     
     
    The beginning of dizziness and the
burning taste of bile at the back of her throat caused Vivien to slow down when
she reached her street. She’d been running as fast as she could the entire way.
Her breath coming out in sharp little pants, she walked up the driveway and to
the side door.
    She’d thought of calling the
police as soon as she reached the house, but now that she was there, something
else was more pressing. She needed to hear Anabel say this was all nothing more
than nonsense, and of course her parents had not been king and queen of some
strange land. It was all just silly.
    “Ana?” she called as soon as she
entered.
    Nothing but silence answered
Vivien’s call. She crossed the kitchen, heading straight for the front room
where Anabel received customers for her readings. The light above the door was
still on, but Vivien didn’t care at that moment if she interrupted Anabel when
she was about to reveal to a conflicted woman which of her suitors she should
choose. They were all much too old for make-believe.
    The front room had once been her
favorite playground as a little girl, and she had pretended to herself that the
room had magic of its own, magic Anabel drew upon to reveal the future to her
customers. Vivien had long since stopped believing in magic, however, and she
couldn’t even remember the last time she had been in there.
    As soon as she pushed the door
open, a strong, familiar scent flowed over her, calling her back to her
childhood. The sweetness of Anabel’s ever-present tea, mixed with the deeper
scent of incense, formed an aroma that was always overpowering at first, and
that would cause anyone—except Anabel—to feel a little groggy after a while.
    Without the many candles that
usually lit the room, Vivien couldn’t see much. Thick velvet drapes covered the
windows, their deep purple matching the color of the walls and making the room
appear even darker than it was. One thing was all too apparent, though: Anabel
wasn’t there.
    Vivien turned around and rushed up
the stairs, heading straight to Anabel’s room. It was empty as well, but Vivien
gasped when she saw it. The state of the room spoke of a break-in, with
furniture upturned and clothes strewn all over. Her heart hammering in her
chest, Vivien started down the hallway again, pausing in front of another open
door to stare in disbelief.
    Her room had been tossed as well,
the linens striped off the bed, clothes pulled from the closet and dresser and
thrown onto the floor, her laptop lying in two pieces at opposite ends of the
room. Unbidden, tears of anger rose to her eyes. Who could have done this, and
why? What had they been looking for? More importantly, where was Anabel?
    Rushing back downstairs to the
phone, Vivien suddenly noticed the small, dark drops splattered on the
linoleum, more of them close to the door to the front room. Was it...
    She gulped and entered the front
room again, her hand fumbling against the wall to find the switch Anabel never
used. The light bulb above her flickered to life and cast a bright light on the
room. For a moment, everything looked as it should be, with the two armchairs
facing each other around the narrow table just waiting for Anabel to receive a
customer. Even the cards were already in place for a reading, set in a neat
pile in the center of the table.
    One card had tumbled to the floor,
however; ‘the future,’ Anabel called it. It depicted a little girl, her hands
cupped one on top of the other as though she were protecting something. Without
thinking, Vivien stepped forward