Mind Over Matter

her. Her gaze was locked on his and the fury was fierce and very equal. He wanted, God, he wanted to drag her just a bit closer, wipe that maddening look off her face. He wanted to crush his mouth to hers until she couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t fight. He wanted, more than anything, to make her suffer the way he suffered. He released her so abruptly she took two stumbling steps back.
    “Get lost,” he ordered, and turned to mount the stairs.
    It took her a minute to catch her breath. She hadn’t known she could get this angry, hadn’t allowed herself to become this angry in too many years to count. Emotions flared up inside her, blinding her to everything else. She dashed up the stairs behind him.
    “Ms. Fields, nice to see you again.” Alex stood on the top landing in front of a wall where the paint had peeled and cracked. He gave her an easy smile as he smoked his cigar and waited to be called back in front of the camera.
    “And I want to talk to you, too,” she snapped at him. Leaving him staring, she strode down the hall after David.
    It was narrow and dark. There were cobwebs clinging to corners, but she didn’t notice. In places there were squares oflighter paint where pictures had once hung. A.J. worked her way through technicians and walked into the room only steps behind David.
    It hit her like a wall. No sooner had she drawn in the breath to shout at him again than she couldn’t speak at all. She was freezing. The chill whipped through her and to the bone in the matter of a heartbeat.
    The room was lit for the shoot, but she didn’t see the cameras, the stands or the coils of cable. She saw wallpaper, pink roses on cream, and a four-poster draped in the same rose hue. There was a little mahogany stool beside the bed that was worn smooth in the center. She could smell the roses that stood fresh and a little damp in an exquisite crystal vase on a mahogany vanity that gleamed with beeswax and lemon. And she saw—much more. And she heard.
    You betrayed me. You betrayed me with him, Jessica.
    No! No, I swear it. Don’t. For God’s sake don’t do this. I love you. I—
    Lies! All lies. You won’t tell any more.
    There were screams. There was silence, a hundred times worse. A.J.’s purse hit the floor with a thud as she lifted her hands to her ears.
    “A.J.” David was shaking her, hands firm on her shoulders, as everyone else in the room stopped to stare. “What’s wrong with you?”
    She reached out to clutch his shirt. He could feel the iciness of her flesh right through the cotton. She looked at him, but her eyes didn’t focus. “That poor girl,” she murmured. “Oh, God, that poor girl.”
    “A.J.” With an effort, he kept his voice calm. She was shuddering and pale, but the worst of it was her eyes, dark and glazed as they looked beyond him. She stared at the center ofthe room as if held in a trance. He took both of her hands in his. “A.J., what girl?”
    “He killed her right here. There on the bed. He used his hands. She couldn’t scream anymore because his hands were on her throat, squeezing. And then…”
    “A.J.” He took her chin and forced her to look at him. “There’s no bed in here. There’s nothing.”
    “It—” She struggled for air, then lifted both hands to her face. The nausea came, a too-familiar sensation. “I have to get out of here.” Breaking away, she pushed through the technicians crowded in the doorway and ran. She stumbled out into the rain and down the porch steps before David caught her.
    “Where are you going?” he demanded. A flash of lightning highlighted them both as the rain poured down.
    “I’ve got to…” She trailed off and looked around blindly. “I’m going back to town. I have to get back.”
    “I’ll take you.”
    “No.” Panicked, she struggled, only to find herself held firmly. “I have my car.”
    “You’re not driving anywhere like this.” Half leading, half dragging, he pulled her to his car. “Now stay here,” he ordered, and slammed the door on her.
    Unable to gather the strength to do otherwise, A.J. huddled on the seat and shivered. She needed only a minute. She promised herself she needed only a minute to pull herself together. But however many it took David to come back, the shivering hadn’t stopped. He tossed her purse in the back, then tucked a blanket around her. “One of the crew’s taking your car back to town.” After starting the engine, he headed down the bumpy, potholed