Dream Eyes

of the project was dead. And once again it was Gwen Frazier who had found the body.
    He contemplated the heavily forested landscape for a while. There was a lot of wilderness left in the mountains of Oregon. Every year, people went out hiking in this part of the Pacific Northwest and disappeared forever. The rough terrain provided ample hiding places for all kinds of predators, including the human kind. A killer could commit murder and vanish into the woods for as long as it suited him.
    He turned away from the window and yanked off the crewneck pullover. Opening his leather bag, he took out a fresh edition of the shirt in a slightly different shade of gray, grabbed his overnight kit and went into the grand, Victorian-style bathroom to freshen up. He wasn’t used to working for private pay clients, but he suspected that neatness counted; at least he was pretty sure it counted with a client like Gwen. Downstairs in the tearoom she had made it clear that she had some doubts about both his talent and his commitment to the job. He’d better get his act together before she fired his ass.
    He had to consider the reputation of Coppersmith Consulting, he told himself. It wasn’t like he could afford to lose another client.
    It took him half a second to recognize the guy in the mirror. His eyes didn’t appear quite as bleak and soulless as they had for the past few weeks. He’d been right about one thing: Gwen Frazier was the distraction he’d been needing.
    He tucked the clean shirt into the waistband of his khakis and left the giant bathroom.
    A muffled meow stopped him. He turned toward the connecting door. It was closed and locked on his side, but he could see the shadows of four paws under the lower edge. The cat meowed again, sounding curious this time, and began to pace back and forth on the other side of the door.
    Judson unlocked the door on his side, but when he tried the handle, he discovered that it was still secured on Gwen’s side.
    “Sorry, cat,” he said. “You’re stuck in there for now.”
    There was another muffled meow from the other room. This time the cat sounded irritated.
    “Take it up with the boss lady,” Judson said.
    He went back across the room and paused to brace his right boot against the bench at the foot of the bed. He pulled up his pant leg and checked the pistol in the leather sheath strapped to his ankle.
    Satisfied that he was appropriately dressed for business—probably overdressed for this job—he let himself out into the hall and went back downstairs. A disturbing whisper of energy arced across his senses when he realized that Gwen was not waiting for him in the lobby.
    The desk clerk looked up from whatever he was working on and squinted through his black-framed glasses. He was in his early thirties, with a stocky build and sandy brown hair that had evidently been thinning for a while. The comb-over style was not working for him. His nametag read
Riley Duncan
.
    “If you’re looking for Ms. Frazier, she went outside to talk to a guy,” Riley said.
    Judson nodded. “Thanks.”
    He looked out the window and saw Gwen in the parking lot. She was not alone. A tall man with a shoulder-length mane of blond hair was with her. Something about the way the two stood together made it clear that they were not strangers. Gwen’s tightly crossed arms and angled chin told him that she was not happy with the way the conversation was going.
    He pushed open the front door and went outside. It was late afternoon, and the Pacific Northwest was still basking in the long days of summer. But here in the mountains, twilight fell early, even at this time of year. The shadows were already creeping over Wilby.
    Anticipation heated Judson’s blood as he walked toward Gwen and her companion. Maybe this was the guy he was going to have to kill to get to Gwen.
    Gwen was facing the entrance of the inn. She was still wearing the trousers and dark, long-sleeved pullover that she’d had on earlier but she had added a lightweight black jacket. She saw him immediately. Relief followed by an urgent warning flashed through her eyes. Her smile was too bright and too welcoming. It was the smile a woman gave to a man with whom she was intimately involved.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Judson wondered.
    “Oh, there you are, Judson,” she said quickly. “I was just explaining to Wesley that you and I have plans for this evening. This is Wesley Lancaster. Wesley, this is Judson Coppersmith.”
    It