Eye of the Beholder

was enough of Shadow Canyon 's perpetual twilight coming through the windows to reveal a bed and a chest of drawers.
    A squeak sounded behind her. She jumped and swung around so quickly she nearly lost her balance. Another dose of adrenaline poured through her, making her palms go cold.
    "Trask?" she whispered.
    "What?" His voice came softly through the open door of the office. It was accompanied by another squeak.
    She realized that what she had heard was the sound of a metal file cabinet drawer being opened.
    "Nothing." She exhaled deeply, tightened her grip on the flashlight, and stepped into the bedroom.
    Her first impression was that there was nothing out of the ordinary. The bed had been made. The closet doors were neatly closed.
    She used the flashlight to illuminate the titles of the volumes on the nightstand. Dimensions in Our Lives. A Daily Journey Through Dimensions. Losing Weight the
Dimensions Way
    .
    "You're really into this Dimensions thing, aren't you, Liz?" she whispered.
    She crossed the room to the closet and cautiously opened the doors. The flashlight beam revealed a large gap between a pair of dark blue slacks and a little black cocktail dress. It was as if someone had grabbed all of the garments that had hung between the pants and the dress and yanked them out of the closet.
    As if someone had packed in a huge hurry.
    There was also a large, empty space on the shelf above the rod. It looked to be about the right size for a suitcase.
    Turning, she walked quickly into the adjoining bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet and aimed the light at the shelves. They were virtually empty. Only a box of ear swabs and a half-filled bottle of mouthwash remained.
    She went back through the bedroom and out into the hall. She stuck her head around the doorway.
    "I think you're right," she said. "It looks like Liz not only left in a hurry, she intends to stay gone for a while. A bunch of clothes and all of her toiletries and cosmetics are missing."
    Trask did not look up from the contents of one of the file cabinets. "Something scared her off, all right"
    "The guy with the knife, probably."
    "Maybe. The only thing we can be sure of at the moment is that it's going to be impossible to get Strood to take this seriously. There's no hard evidence that anything's wrong here."
    She realized he was fully occupied with Liz's files, so she turned and continued to the end of the hall.
    One of the shoji screen panels stood open. Her stomach flip-flopped when she realized that the panel had been left in that position by the intruder. It was proof of her story but not the kind that Strood would buy.
    The dim light of the Shadow Canyon dawn filtered through the pale drapes of the meditation room. Nothing had altered here. The rose-colored crystal sat in the same position on the low table. The pillow was exactly where it had been the last time she was in this room.
    She played the flashlight beam around the small chamber. It splashed across the crowded bookcase. A chill of awareness went through her.
    Trask came up quietly behind her. "What is it?"
    "I'm not sure. This room feels different."
    She ran the flashlight over the bookcase again. The various Dimensions titles still stood packed together on the shelves. She was about to give up when it hit her.
    "The journal is gone," she said.
    "What are you talking about?"
    She turned slowly to look at him. "Liz's Dimensions personal journal. It's gone. If she hasn't been back, then he must have taken it."
    "The guy with the knife?"
    "Yes. But why on earth would he do that?"
    "Beats me. What's a Dimensions personal journal?"
    "It's used for recording your progress toward a heightened state of peace and serenity. You get one when you take a course at the Institute. Liz's was sitting right there on top of that bookcase yesterday. Now it's gone."
    "What kind of stuff would she record in the journal?"
    "I don't know. A journal is supposed to be a very personal thing. It's a sort of diary. Liz probably used it to jot down her feelings about her meditation exercises."
    "How about the name of her personal meditation guide?" Trask asked thoughtfully. "Would she have written that down?"
    Alexa swallowed as she realized where he was headed with that question. Liz's personal meditation guide could well have been the last person to see her before she disappeared.
    "Yes." She took a deep breath. "Now that you mention it, she might have made some reference to her guide. Oh, lord, Trask, it's