Divine Evil

the keys. “Why don't you start by telling me as much as you remember about what happened?”
    “I don't remember.” The fingers in her brother's hand began to flex and flutter.
    “Your car broke down?” Cam prompted.
    “Yes. I was driving down from Philadelphia to see Roy. I wanted to…” But she couldn't speak of the ballet, of the company, of her dreams coming true. “I got lost, made a wrong turn.” She sent Roy a wan smile. “Some things don't change.”
    Afraid he would weep, he squeezed her hand tighter but said nothing.
    “I looked at the map and figured out that I was only a couple of miles from Emmits-Emmits-”
    “Emmitsboro,” Cam supplied.
    “Yes. Emmitsboro. I thought I would start walking, maybe I would come to a house. I was walking …” Shecould see herself turning pirouettes in the center of the road.
    “What happened then, Miss MacDonald?”
    She shook her head. There was a black curtain between herself and her memory. Thin but opaque. “A car.” She closed her eyes, shook her head. “A car,” she repeated, but couldn't quite grasp it. “There was a woman.” She could hear a voice in her head, frightened, shaking. Gentle fingers on her face. “I needed her to help me.”
    “Why?”
    “I was afraid.”
    “Of what?”
    Lisa shook her head again. “I only remember being afraid. She helped me into the car. We have to hurry. We have to get away.”
    “From what?”
    Her eyes filled, and the salt burned the injured one. “I don't know. Was there a woman? Did I imagine it?”
    “No, there was a woman.” There were times he had to trust his instincts. “Hold on a minute,” he said, then went to the door. “Clare?”
    Clare whipped around quickly and started toward him. “Are you going to let me see her?”
    “I want you to be prepared for two things. One, she's in bad shape. Two, everything that's said in that room is on the record.”
    “Okay.”
    “You don't have to go in.” He continued to block her way. “You can get a lawyer before you say anything.”
    She sent him a long, searching look. “I don't need a lawyer.” Impatient, she moved past him, then hesitated when the man in Lisa MacDonald's room turned and looked hard at her.
    Ray MacDonald knew. The moment he saw her heknew. This was the woman who had run his sister down. He rose quickly and came to the door.
    “What the hell do you think you're doing? I don't want her anywhere near my sister.”
    “Mr. MacDonald-”
    “I want her out.” He cut Cam off with a hostile look. “Isn't it enough that she put my sister in that bed?”
    “Mr. MacDonald, your sister was already hurt, running out of the woods, before the accident with Miss Kimball. Don't you want to know why?”
    Roy reined in his temper, which was three quarters fear, and nodded grimly before he looked at Clare. “You say one thing, just one, to upset her, and I'll throw you out personally.”
    Sensing Cam's reaction, Clare put a hand on his arm. “You're entitled.”
    She'd wanted to see Lisa. Had insisted on it. But she hadn't known that crossing that tile floor to the hospital bed would be so difficult. Would be so frightening. The woman in the bed was almost as colorless as the bandages on her face and arms. Her one eye was covered with gauze, and her leg was surrounded by what looked to Clare like an erector set.
    “Lisa.” Clare pressed her lips together and gripped the bed guard. “I'm Clare Kimball.”
    As she stared at her, Lisa's breath began to come quickly. She shifted, tried to sit up further. Her brother was there to soothe and support her with pillows. “Don't worry, sweetie, no one's going to hurt you. She's going now.”
    “No.” Lisa groped until her hand closed over Clare's. “I remember you.”
    “I'm sorry. So sorry.” Sobs clogged in Clare's throat as she made a helpless gesture. “I know there's nothing I cando to make this up to you, to make it right. But I want you to know that anything you want, everything you want… ”
    “The lawyers will deal with that,” Roy said. “This isn't the time to clear your conscience.”
    “No, it's not.” Clare steadied herself. “Lisa-”
    “I remember you,” Lisa repeated. “You saved my life.” Because her hand began to shake, she gripped Clare's harder. “You were there, on the road. They were going to kill me, those men. In the woods. Did you see them?”
    Clare only shook her head.
    “How did you get in the woods, Lisa?” Cam asked quietly.
    “I