Eye of the Beholder

Trask was with me when Guthrie drove off Avalon Point. There is no way he could have been involved."
    "Take it easy, Alexa," Stewart said. "No one is saying that Trask killed Dean Guthrie."
    "Hell, no," Brad said quickly. "No one's claiming that Guthrie's death wasn't an accident. It's just, well, strange, that's all. The timing, I mean."
    "And the place where it happened," Stewart added softly. "Avalon Point. The very same place Harry Trask—"
    "Don't say it," Alexa warned, Stewart raised one big tattooed shoulder in a massive shrug, but he did not finish the sentence.
    Dylan's gaze slid away from Alexa's. "According to the theory of Dimensions, there are no coincidences in the universe."
    Alexa realized her hand was trembling from the effort it took to control her fury. Very deliberately she set her cup down before it slipped from her grasp. She looked at each member of the small group in turn.
    "Contrary to popular opinion," she said, "Trask had no reason to want Dean Guthrie dead. I don't think it's any secret that he has some questions about what happened to his father twelve years ago, but he won't make any moves until he has answers."
    "Maybe it was the pressure," Brad mused. "Maybe it pushed Guthrie over the edge in more ways than one."
    "What pressure?" Alexa snapped.
    "The pressure Guthrie must have felt." Brad gave her an apologetic look. "The way I heard it, Trask's return to Avalon had really agitated him. There was that scene in the country club parking lot the other night..."
    "It was Guthrie who threatened Trask, not vice versa," Alexa said tightly. "Furthermore—"
    Joanna gave a short, muffled cry. Her plastic cup fell to the floor. Hot tea splashed across Alexa's sandal-shod feet. She stepped back hastily.
    "I was so afraid something like this would happen," Joanna whispered in a choked voice.
    Her low, anguished words riveted everyone's attention. Alexa turned toward her and saw that tears glistened in her dark eyes. Instinctively she took a step forward and put out a hand.
    "Joanna?"
    "I'm sorry." Joanna evaded Alexa's outstretched hand. "It's late. I've got to open my shop." She seized a tissue from her purse, buried her face in it, and rushed out the door.
    Alexa felt the eyes of everyone in the shop turn to her.
    "Joanna's right," she said. "It's getting late."
    She did not look back as she walked out the door.

    Joanna looked up from a tray of colored crystals when Alexa walked into Crystal Rainbow a few minutes later.
    "That was very embarrassing," Joanna said quietly. "I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to make a scene. Did the tea burn your foot?"
    "No. I'm fine, Joanna."
    "I upset you." Joanna blinked rapidly. "I've been very tense lately. Stress, you know. My doctors gave me some pills. I should probably take another one."
    "I've been a little tense myself." Alexa walked past an array of sparkling, glittering stone and crystal jewelry. "Will you tell me what that was all about, Joanna? I think I've got a right to know."
    "Yes. Yes, you do." Joanna closed her eyes and massaged her temples. When she looked at Alexa again, it was clear she had herself back under control. "But I really don't know what to tell you, Alexa."
    "What do you think happened to Harry Trask twelve years ago?"
    Joanna picked up one of the crystals, an amber-hued stone. Her fingers tightened around it as if it were a talisman.
    "It was an accident, just as the police said," she whispered. "We'd had one of our summer monsoons. A lot of rain had fallen. The roads were wet and slippery. Harry lost control of his car and went off the Point. But I always knew that his son did not believe that explanation."
    "But you believed it?"
    "Yes, of course I did." Joanna gripped the amber-colored crystal so fiercely that her fingers whitened at the knuckles. "When young Trask left and did not return to Avalon, I assumed that he'd come to terms with Harry's death, too. Then Avalon Resorts announced that the company was planning to build a new hotel here. I knew then that Trask was finally coming back."
    "Now he's here."
    "Yes." Joanna opened her hand and stared at the amber stone. "He's here. And someone else is dead."
    "Are you afraid that Trask is somehow responsible?" Alexa took a step closer. "Listen to me, Joanna, I swear that Trask was with me all evening. We were together when we heard the crash."
    Joanna stared at the amber crystal. "I believe you."
    "Then why are you so frightened?"
    "Only a fool would deny that