Don't Close Your Eyes Read Online Free PDF

can’t prescribe drugs, which I think she needs.” Lily slowed down and pulled into the driveway of the Cape Cod. Ahead of them sat a new blue Ford Contour. “That’s Tamara’s car, but look at it. It’s covered with twigs and leaves. They must be from the storm last night. Tam wouldn’t leave a car, especially a new one, sitting beneath a tree in a storm. She’d put it in the garage.”
    “Maybe the garage door is broken,” Natalie suggested.
     
    “That happened at Kenny’s condo one time. A cable broke and he couldn’t get the door up.”
    “I don’t know,” Lily said doubtfully. “If that were the case, she would at least have moved it from beneath the tree where a limb could have fallen on it.” She got out of the Corvette and headed for the front porch. “Here’s the morning newspaper. Tam always reads the paper while she drinks her morning coffee.”
    Natalie followed Lily across the lawn. Although the sun shone brightly and the temperature was in the mid-seventies, the ground still felt slightly spongy. The rain had lasted for hours last night.
    “And look at this living room window!” Lily called, alarm edging her voice. “It’s raised about three inches. The sheer curtains are water-stained. Tam would never leave a window up during a storm.”
    “It’s just one window.” Natalie tried to sound calm although her own nerves tingled. “It’s easy to forget a window.”
    Lily had backed off the porch and stood on the lawn looking upward. “There’s another open window upstairs. It’s her bedroom window. Don’t tell me she forgot that one!”
    There was nothing else comforting Natalie could say. Clearly something was wrong. “Okay, what do we do first? Call the police?”
    “The police?” Lily shook her head. “No. Sheriff Purdue would have listened to me, but we’ve got a new guy from New York City.”
    “New York City? Here?”
    “Yeah. His name is Meredith and he left New York because of some tragedy involving his wife. Anyway, he goes by the book. He’ll say Tam hasn’t been gone long enough to be declared missing or some damned excuse for not doing anything.” She ran her hands through her hair. “Tam usually takes a walk after dinner. Maybe she fell.”
    Natalie glanced up and down the street with its scattering of large, new houses. “Which direction did she walk?”
    “Not the street. Tam walked Hyacinth Lane that leads to
     
    Ariel Saunders’s house.” She walked out onto the lawn and pointed. “Maybe Tam walked all the way to the house. Maybe now she’s lying hurt in that house and I didn’t sense it because I’m so wrapped up in myself and—”
    “Lily!” Natalie shouted, hurrying to catch up with her. “Let’s just keep calm until we search the lane and the house.”
    “And if she’s not around?”
    “We’ll call Warren.”
    “I don’t know where he’s staying.”
    “There can’t be that many psychology conventions going on in Cleveland right now. We’ll find him.”
    “And if he didn’t talk to Tamara last night?”
    “Then we’ll have to call your jerk of a sheriff. But let’s not go off the deep end. Getting hysterical won’t help us find Tamara.”
    Lily drew a deep breath. “You’re right. You were always the voice of reason. It’s just that Tam has seemed so unhappy lately, so vulnerable. If only I’d paid more attention to her—” She broke off. “What is that noise?”
    Natalie had been vaguely aware of the noise for a few moments. Leaves brushing together. Twigs snapping. They both stood still. Everything went quiet. Even the birds stopped chirping. A line from a Keats poem floated through Natalie’s head: “And no birds sang.”
    “Something’s in the brush,” Lily hissed.
    “I know.” Natalie kneeled. “Come here. Come to me. It’s all right.”
    “What are you doing?”
    “Lily, be quiet for a minute.” Natalie peered into the dense undergrowth. “Come.” She held out her hand, palm down. “I won’t