Grand Passion

right?”
    “Yes, yes, I'm fine. Just a little shaky.” Cleo made a valiant effort to pull herself together. “I'm sorry, I'm acting like an idiot, aren't I?”
    “No. You're acting like someone who's had a bad scare.”
    Cleo straightened, but she couldn't bring herself to pull away from the comforting warmth of his arm. She found a hankie in her pocket and blew into it. Then she took a deep breath.
    “The car ran out of gas,” Cleo said in what she thought was a firm, controlled voice. “Only it shouldn't have, because I had just filled the tank. I started walking home. Then I heard the footsteps. I called out. No one answered. I got off the road until whoever it was had passed. That's really all there was to it. I don't know why I freaked.”
    Max cut through the rambling explanation. “Where's your car?”
    “Back there somewhere. Not far.” Cleo waved vaguely to indicate the road behind her. “I think some kid must have siphoned the gas out of my tank or something.”
    “We'll worry about your car later. Right now I want to get you home. Sylvia, Trisha, and the others are starting to get worried.” Max opened the Jaguar's door and ushered her into the warmth.
    “I'm sorry everyone's upset,” Cleo mumbled as she relaxed into the warmth of the front seat. She reached for her seatbelt. “I really do feel sort of stupid. I'm sure my imagination just got the better of me.”
    “Maybe.” Max got in beside her and started the engine. He put the Jaguar in gear and eased it back onto the road.
    “Aren't you going to turn around and drive back to the inn?” Cleo asked.
    “I want to make sure your car is far enough off the road. We don't want anyone hitting it in this fog.”
    Cleo didn't argue.
    A short distance down the road, the Jaguar's headlights picked up the ghostly shape of the Toyota wreathed in fog.
    “Let me have your keys.”
    “What are you going to do?” Cleo asked as she handed him the keys. “You can't start it. There's no gas.”
    “I just want to take a quick look. I'll be right back.”
    “Is this another one of those male things?”
    Max closed the door without deigning to answer. Cleo sat watching as he went over to the Toyota, opened the door, and got behind the wheel. She waited for the engine to sputter to life and then die, but Max made no move to start the car. He just sat behind the wheel for what seemed like a very long time. She could not tell what he was doing.
    Cleo was about to get out of the Jaguar to see what was keeping him, when the Toyota door opened again. She saw that he had a piece of paper in his hand. The uneasiness stirred back to life within her.
    Cold air and tendrils of fog swirled into the Jaguar when Max opened the door.
    “I found this on the driver's seat.” His eyes were grimly intent as he handed the piece of paper to Cleo. “I assume it wasn't there when you left the car to start walking back to the inn.”
    Cleo read the typewritten message on the piece of paper:

    The first Cleopatra was a whore. She died the death she deserved.

Chapter

11

    O 'Reilly, I don't want to hear any more about the lack of results.” Max's voice was low and harsh as he spoke into the phone. He was sitting at the small desk in the attic room. His cane was propped against the back of the chair. “I know you didn't find anything interesting when you ran those names through your computers. I'm telling you that we need a whole new angle on this thing.”
    There was a short, taut silence as Max listened to whatever his friend was saying on the other end.
    Cleo sat in the middle of Max's bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. She was still fully dressed and feeling chilled, although the room was pleasantly warm. Max had hustled her straight upstairs to his room the minute they had reached the inn. On the way through the lobby he had told Sylvia, Ben, Trisha, and the others that he would explain everything later. Cleo was starting to fret because she knew the family was downstairs worrying.
    “That's right, for all intents and purposes the note sounded like a death threat,” Max said. His jaw tightened as Cleo shuddered. “No, I don't know of anything going on out here that would push some local crazy over the edge. Yes, I'm going to keep an eye on her. No, she's not going to go anywhere alone from now on.”
    Cleo opened her mouth to protest that statement, but Max only looked more grimly determined, so she shut it again.
    “Yes, I think the case needs a little