Eye of the Beholder

agree to sell the Avalon Mansion property to that chain. So one of you found a way to get rid of him."
    "Damn it, I've had enough." Lloyd's voice hardened. "I'm trying to be patient. I know you've had a hellish few days, and I know you've got a lot of responsibility to shoulder. But you're going too far here."
    "Believe me, Kenyon, I haven't even started."
    "You're going to have to get your priorities straight, Trask. You've got your brother to think about. He's only seventeen, and you're all the family that boy has left in the world."
    "Thanks to you or Guthrie."
    "That's a damn lie. When you come to your senses and calm down, you'll see that. Meanwhile, you'd better start thinking about the future. You've got your work cut out."
    "Don't talk to me about my work, you son-of-a-bitch."
    "Someone better talk to you about it. You're going to have to get through the fallout from your father's bankruptcy and take care of your brother at the same time. That's a man-sized job. You need to get focused and stay that way. You can't afford to waste your energy chasing a wild conspiracy fantasy."
    "I don't need you to tell me what I have to do, Kenyon. I'll take care of Nathan, and I'll take care of myself. But one day I'll find out what really happened at Avalon Point the night Dad died."
    Alexa reached the bottom of the stairs. Neither man noticed her. They were intent only on each other. Lloyd had his back to her as he confronted Trask.
    This was the first time she had seen John Laird Trask in person. She knew from what Lloyd had said that his family came from Seattle . It had been Harry Trask's plan to restore the old Avalon Mansion and turn it into a destination resort. The project had brought him to Arizona on a frequent and regular basis during the past year. His two sons had remained in Seattle .
    Alexa paid little attention to Lloyd's business affairs even though he managed the inheritance she had received from her grandmother. As a result, she knew almost nothing about Harry Trask and even less about his sons.
    But after tonight she knew that she would never forget John Laird Trask.
    From where she stood she could see him looming in the hall, taking up far too much space. The warm glow of the overhead fixture did nothing to soften the sinister angles of his face and jaw. She could feel the energy waves of his fury.
    She was only a step away from the phone now. She took a deep breath, stretched out her hand, and picked up the receiver.
    "If you don't go away right now, Mr. Trask, I'm going to call the police," she said with a fierceness that startled her as much as it did everyone else.
    Both men swung around to stare at her, but it was Trask's relentless green-gold gaze that riveted her. For an instant she could not move. Her hand clenched around the phone.
    "It's all right, Alexa." Lloyd's face gentled as he looked at her standing there with the phone clutched in her hand. "Everything is under control. Trask is leaving now. Isn't that right, Trask?"
    Trask continued to watch Alexa for another second or two, as if assessing both her and her threat. Abruptly he turned away, dismissing her with a cold disdain that sent another chill through her.
    "Yeah, I'm going now, Kenyon," he said. "But one day I'll come back for the truth. And when I do, someone will pay. Count on it."
    Without another word, he walked out into the night.
    A startling silence gripped the entire house for a few endless seconds.
    Then Lloyd exhaled deeply and quietly closed the front door. He turned to give Alexa a reassuring smile.
    "Don't worry, he didn't mean any of that nonsense."
    She thought about the pitiless determination she had seen in Trask's eyes. "Yes, he did."
    Outside a pickup truck engine roared to life.
    Vivien came slowly down the stairs. "He sounded very serious, Lloyd. Do you think he might come back to cause trouble?"
    "Nah. That was the pain of a young man who has just lost his father talking." Lloyd put his arm around his wife. He looked at Alexa with perceptive eyes. "You know what he's going through, don't you, honey?"
    The phone buzzed. Alexa realized that she still held the receiver in a death grip. Slowly she replaced it. "Yes," she said. "I guess I know how he feels."
    "He was just lashing out at the nearest target and I was it." Lloyd shook his head. "Trask has got some tough times ahead of him. His father was a great one for dreaming up projects, but he wasn't much good at the bottom line. He left his finances in a