Grand Passion

going to Cosmic Harmony.
    The phone rang on the desk.
    Cleo jumped. She paused, her hand on the doorknob, and glanced at the instrument as if it had come alive. It rang again, an urgent summons that sent a thrill of fear down her spine. Reluctantly she went toward it and picked it up.
    “Hello?”
    “Cleo? It's O'Reilly. I'm on the car phone. I'm on my way to the inn.”
    “ O'Reilly .” Cleo felt weak with relief. “Max was just about to call you.”
    “That doesn't surprise me. Sometimes that guy is downright psychic when it comes to trouble. Is he there?”
    “No, he just left. He's on his way to Cosmic Harmony. There's a fire over there.”
    “Damn it to hell,” O'Reilly muttered. “You sure?”
    “We can see the flames from here.”
    “Cleo, listen to me.” O'Reilly's voice was suddenly cold and tense. “You stay put, do you hear me?”
    Cleo grimaced. “That's what Max just said. Give me one good reason.”
    “Because something has finally turned up, and I don't like it at all.”
    “What is this all about, O'Reilly? I'm already scared enough tonight.”
    “Cleo, did you know your father was a witness at a murder trial two years before he died?”
    “Sure, I knew about it.” Cleo's fingers clenched around the phone. “He saw a man leaving a building where the police said a murder had been committed. He identified the man on the stand. What has that got to do with anything?”
    “That man's name was Emile Wynn. He was a professional hit man. A couple of small-time hoods gave evidence against him, but it was your father's testimony linking him to the scene of the crime that tipped the case in the prosecution's favor. Wynn went to prison.”
    “I know. O'Reilly, what is this all about? Please hurry. I want to go see what's happening at Cosmic Harmony.”
    “Three months before your father and mother died, Wynn was released on a technicality.”
    “What?” Cleo stared at the flames on the other side of the cove. “We were never told about that.”
    “It wasn't exactly news. Happens every day. At any rate, Wynn disappeared almost immediately. The authorities believed that he had left the country. It was a logical assumption. But I'm beginning to think that Wynn may have changed his identity instead.”
    Cleo sank down onto the chair. “You think he may have killed my parents out of revenge?”
    “It's a real possibility. Cleo, there were a couple of things about Wynn that were noted at the trial. The first was that he had a reputation, and that reputation meant everything to him. He was a fanatic about it.”
    Cleo rubbed her temple, trying to think. “What sort of reputation?”
    “He never failed, and he never left any evidence. He was a professional, and he was obsessive about it.”
    “Sort of like Max,” Cleo whispered.
    “Max? What the hell are you talking about?”
    “He never screws up.”
    “Yeah, well, Wynn screwed up that last time, and your father saw him. Now your father is dead. It's possible that Wynn killed him and then murdered your mother simply because she was on the scene at the time.”
    Cleo squeezed her eyes shut. She felt sick to her stomach. “No witnesses.”
    “Right. Wynn never left witnesses. Listen, Cleo, this is all conjecture at this point, but I think you may have triggered Wynn back into action when you hired Eberson last summer.”
    “No,” Cleo said softly. “Oh, no.”
    “I think Eberson did some digging around and came up with some of the same conclusions that I've come up with. He may have been careless and accidentally alerted Wynn to the fact that someone was looking into the case again. Wynn may have decided that his new identity was at risk.”
    “You think Wynn killed Mr. Eberson, too?”
    “I think it's a real possibility. Cleo, do you understand what I'm saying here?” O'Reilly asked tightly. “If I'm right, then you're Wynn's target now. Don't leave the inn.”
    “But what has all this got to do with the threats I've received concerning my book?”
    “Wynn was noted for being very thorough. He did his research carefully. He preferred to make his jobs look like accidents or, as in the case of your father, suicide. He had a reputation for going to a lot of trouble to set up the scene of the hit.”
    “You think he did some checking on me, found out I'd written The Mirror , and decided to set up the scenario that would make people think I was murdered by a deranged reader?”
    “He probably knows how much Cosmic Harmony