Deadly Visions (Nightmare Hall) Read Online Free PDF

voice. “Are you that upset about Ted?”
    Rachel stood up. “I want to see that painting again,” she said, her voice steady.
    “What painting?”
    “The seascape. The one at the exhibit yesterday. The painting that I thought showed someone drowning and none of the rest of you did, remember?”
    Aidan stood up, nodding. “Yeah, I remember. It wasn’t very good.”
    “Maybe not,” Rachel said crisply, turning on her heel to move toward the Fine Arts building. “But someone did drown last night. So I want to see that painting again.”
    She moved swiftly across campus, Aidan matching her stride for stride. “Rachel, you really think that painting is connected to what happened to Ted? That’s crazy!”
    She ignored him.
    Taking the hint, he fell silent. But he stayed with her.
    The art building was even more crowded than it had been the night before, although the bulk of the crowd seemed to be adults. Some Rachel recognized as professors. Others were, she decided, residents of Twin Falls and other neighboring communities. From the sound of their voices, they seemed to approve of most of the work on display.
    But there was, like yesterday, no crowd in front of the far wall.
    Rachel knew the exact spot where the seascape was hanging. She pushed her way through the crowd, anxious to see if her eyes had been lying to her. Maybe this time she would see the painting exactly as everyone else had, and know that Aidan was right. That there was no connection between the seascape and Ted’s death.
    Elbowing her way through a thick cluster of people discussing the pros and cons of a work of sculpture in the center of the room, Rachel emerged on the other side of the group and aimed straight for the far wall.
    When she was still several feet away the crowd cleared, and her eyes went to the spot where the seascape had been hanging.
    She stopped, her mouth dropping open in disappointment.
    It was gone.

Chapter 4
    R ACHEL STARED QUESTIONINGLY AT the blank space on the wall where the seascape had, just the night before, been hanging. “It’s gone,” she said. “The exhibit isn’t over until tomorrow. Why would someone take their work down already?”
    “The artist probably hated it as much as everyone else did,” Aidan said.
    Rachel barely heard him. She was studying the blank space on the wall almost as intently as she’d studied the painting. “Now I’ll never know who painted it,” she complained.
    “Look, here’s what probably happened,” Aidan said seriously. “We were told six months ago there’d be an exhibit this weekend, so most of us moved our butts trying to get as much decent work done as possible. But the seascape artist, if we can call him that, probably goofed off until it was too late—then panicked and dug up an old work that only a truly desperate person would dare to hang in public. When he saw how people reacted to it, he had the smarts to take it down. We can only hope he destroyed it completely.”
    “I don’t care what you say, the painting wasn’t that bad,” Rachel said coolly, turning away from him.
    Aidan laughed. “You mean, you don’t know much about art, but you know what you like? I never thought I’d actually hear someone say that.”
    Rachel’s mouth tightened. He was insufferable. Did she really want to get to know someone who talked to her as if she belonged in a kindergarten finger-painting class? “I wanted to see the painting because I still think I saw someone drowning in it, and someone did drown last night, in case you’ve forgotten,” she said stiffly. “That has to seem a bit weird, even to you. And now the painting is gone. So I can’t check it out again.”
    “You didn’t see anybody drowning in that painting,” he said firmly. “And neither did anyone else. Come and have breakfast with me and I’ll teach you everything I know about art.”
    “That shouldn’t take long,” Rachel snapped.
    Aidan’s face reddened. “Ouch! I guess I had that coming.