Falling Awake

because, well, because you’re sort of right. But neither my current financial situation nor my career objectives are the issue here. And, no, I’m sorry, Farrell, but I don’t think your business problems are anywhere near as serious as your marriage, and I can guarantee you that Leila will take the same point of view. Why haven’t you told her you’re in trouble?”
    “Don’t you understand? I’m supposed to be Mr. Perfect. The man her daddy approved of right from the start.” He jabbed at his chest with his thumb. “I’m the guy who goes on television talk shows and tells people that if they follow my method they can become successful, just like me.”
    “You can’t possibly believe that Leila only married you because you’re a success and Dad gave his approval.”

    Farrell exhaled deeply. “I know that’s not the sole reason she married me. But I’m also damn sure she wouldn’t have looked twice at a guy who dug ditches for a living.”
    “That’s not fair. She loves you, Farrell, and it’s not because you’re successful. It’s because you’re the person you are—a good man with some big dreams. Okay, so maybe some of the dreams aren’t working out. So what? That doesn’t change the important things.”
    “It’s not that simple, Isabel.”
    She pushed herself to her feet. “Listen up, brother-in-law. My sister is sinking into a deep depression because she thinks Kyler, Inc., has become more important to you than having a family. Trust me, finding out that the reason you’ve been acting weird lately is because you’ve got financial problems is going to come as an enormous relief to her.”
    Farrell hesitated, desperation in every line of his body. “How do you know that?”
    “I know my sister.” She went to the door. “But try to remember that Leila has a few dreams of her own and that they all involve having a full-time husband who cares about his family. You might not be able to make every dream come true, but you have the power to make that one real, don’t you?”
    She went out into the hall and closed the door very quietly behind her.

34
    b ruce Hopton dropped the heavy, leather-bound logbook onto the desk and flipped it open. “This is the sign-in sheet for the night the old man died. Need anything else?”
    “One thing.” Ellis set his briefcase on the floor and pulled out a notebook. “I’d like to talk to someone who can give me a little background on every member of the staff who worked that night.”
    Hopton rested his bulky frame against the edge of the counter, watching Ellis closely. “I’ve been head of security here at the center since day one. I know everybody.”
    “You’ll do,” Ellis said.
    It took them fifteen minutes to go through the list of people who signed in and out on the night of Belvedere’s death. As promised, Bruce recognized them all.

    Halfway down the list, Ellis put his finger under Isabel’s name.
    “Ms. Wright often worked nights,” Bruce said. “Sure miss her. She was a real nice lady.” He paused. “You ever hear of a condition called sleep paralysis?”
    “Yes.” Ellis glanced up, curious about the change of topic. “It’s a sensation some people get occasionally when they’re transitioning from the dreaming state to the waking state. They suddenly feel paralyzed and they are because the brain hasn’t yet switched off the mechanism that keeps them from moving around during a dream.”
    Bruce nodded, very serious. “Ms. Wright explained it. She said that mechanism is what protects the sleeper from falling out of bed at night or worse. But occasionally the switch doesn’t get turned off when it’s supposed to and you wake up still frozen. You can’t move. Can’t speak. Whatever dream you’re coming out of gets tangled up with the paralysis and you hallucinate. Very scary stuff.”
    Ellis wondered where this was going. “Some researchers think that sleep paralysis may explain the stories of alien abductions. People who report that kind of thing usually say they felt paralyzed. Other cultures have other metaphysical or supernatural explanations for the experience.”
    “My grandson was experiencing sleep paralysis once or twice a week,” Hopton said soberly. “Had terrible hallucinations and nightmares. Got so the kid was terrified to even go into his bedroom. Tried to stay up all night just so he wouldn’t fall asleep. His folksthought at first that he was just being difficult. Then they started to