Grand Passion

her with deep concern. They then turned and looked expectantly at Max.
    Max wrapped both of his hands around the handle of the hawk-headed cane. He regarded the family with a considering gaze.
    “Someone has been threatening Cleo because of the book she wrote,” he said.
    Everyone stared at Cleo.
    “Good heavens, I don't believe it,” Andromeda said softly. “Cleo? Are you all right?”
    “Yes, Andromeda,” Cleo said soothingly. “I'm fine. Max is making a big production out of this.”
    Ben put his arm around Trisha and frowned at Max. “What's going on?” he asked.
    “Did someone hurt Cleo?” Sammy demanded anxiously.
    Max looked down at him. “No,” he said quietly. “And no one is going to hurt her. We are all going to keep an eye on her.”
    “Even you?” Sammy asked.
    “Especially me,” Max said.
    Cleo listened with a growing sense of unreality as Max gave everyone a quick, concise summary of events. They all paid close attention. It was obvious that they were looking to Max for leadership in this crisis. No one questioned his authority.
    It occurred to Cleo that somewhere along the line Max had become a very important part of the family. Today he had even begun to challenge her own role as the head of the clan. She realized that she would have to make some adjustments if Max stayed on at Robbins' Nest Inn.
    In a flash of rueful insight Cleo suddenly understood why Kimberly and her family had refused to give Max a seat on the Curzon board. He would have ended up running the company in short order.
    Forming a partnership with Max was going to be an interesting challenge, Cleo thought.
    She watched, impressed in spite of herself, as Max took complete control of the situation in the kitchen and managed to reassure everyone, including Sammy.
    “O'Reilly will arrive tomorrow,” Max concluded. “He's a first-class private investigator. He'll want to interview everyone, including all of us.”
    “But we don't know anything about these strange incidents,” Andromeda said unhappily. “What can we tell him?”
    “Just answer his questions,” Max instructed. “O'Reilly knows how to do his job. In the meantime, we all have a job to do, too. From now on, Cleo is not going to leave the inn alone. Clear? I want someone with her any time she steps foot outside the inn's front door.”
    Cleo roused herself for another weak protest. “Max, that's taking things too far. I'll be careful, I promise.”
    “The way you were this afternoon?” he asked bluntly.
    Cleo glared at him. “I didn't know the situation was going to get this bad.”
    “Exactly.” Max turned back to the others and surveyed them with the air of a commander sending troops into battle. “Is everyone straight about this? Cleo does not leave the inn alone.”
    “Got it,” Ben said. “We'll keep an eye on her.”
    Sylvia nodded. “Don't worry, we'll make sure she's never alone.”
    “What happens if she goes outside by herself?” Sammy demanded.
    Max raised a brow. “If you see Cleo disobeying orders, you come and tell me right away. Understand?”
    “Will you make her go into her room for a time out?” Sammy inquired with grave interest. “That's what Mommy does to me when she gets mad at me.”
    “I might do just that,” Max said. “Only I think I'll make her go to my room instead of her own room.”
    For some reason that sent Sammy off into a gale of giggles.
    “Sheesh,” Cleo muttered. “I'm going to go crazy.”
    Trisha smiled at her. “Don't worry, we won't let you go crazy alone.”

    The blood was everywhere. So much blood. It had soaked into the carpets and spattered against the walls. It had saturated her mother's dress and pooled beneath her father's head. Too much blood. The smell of it made her sick to her stomach. The sight of it drove her to the edge of sanity .
    Cleo opened her mouth to scream and discovered that she was voiceless. She struggled to escape the evil room and realized she could not move. She was trapped .
    “Cleo. Cleo, wake up. You're dreaming.”
    Max's voice cut through the gossamer strands of horror that had been used to weave Cleo's nightmare. She opened her eyes and saw him looming over her. He had his hands on her shoulders, pinning her against the pillows.
    Reality emerged from the whirling mist of red that clouded her mind. She was safe in the attic room with Max. She was not alone.
    For the first time, she was not alone when she awoke from the dream .
    “Max?”
    “It's all