Silver Linings

so.”
    “Is he planning on moving here to Seattle or are you going out there?”
    “That's one of the things we're still working on,” Mattie admitted.
    “I'll bet you end up out there,” Evangeline said thoughtfully. “I don't know Abbott very well. Just saw him with you that morning. But my guess is that he ain't the city type.”
    “No, I don't think he is.”
    “And men aren't very adaptable. Ever notice? They tend to get real set in their ways. Much more so than women.”
    “I expect that's one of the reasons why women have usually had to do the adapting,” Mattie agreed with a sigh. “It's not fair, is it?”
    “Nope. But that's life, I guess. So what will you do if you go out to St. Gabe with him? Lie around and get a tan?”
    “Tanning is no longer considered a healthy leisure-time activity,” Mattie said.
    “I heard that. Sort of like sex. I'm thinking of going out of the business real soon.”
    “You're going to open that little dress boutique you talked about? Design your own clothes for tourists?”
    Evangeline nodded. “I think I've got enough in certificates of deposit, T-bills, and stocks to do it now. First thing I've got to do is find a good location, though. Hawaii is too crowded. Commercial rents are sky high. I need a place that's just about to get discovered, you know? Some place where the tourists are just starting to head. Brimstone ain't it.”
    “Hugh says St. Gabe is on the way to being discovered,” Mattie said almost to herself. “The tourists are starting to show up regularly.”
    “Yeah? Hey, maybe you and me could both go into business there. Wouldn't that be a kick?”
    “I can't sew.” Then Mattie smiled slowly. “But I can sell paintings. And if I can sell art, I can probably sell anything. Tourists always buy souvenirs, don't they?”
    “You're serious, aren't you?”
    “I've got to figure something out. And fast. The walls are starting to close in on me.”
    “I know the feeling. Been closing in on me for years. This Rainbird thing was the last straw.”

    Mattie was never quite certain what woke her that night. She had been sleeping fitfully anyway, so perhaps it was simply the change in the pattern of shadows on the ceiling when the door to the huge studio was stealthily opened.
    Whatever it was, she knew that something was very wrong. For a few seconds she lay absolutely still, wishing desperately that Hugh were there beside her. Then she heard the tiny squeak that signaled the door being closed.
    Mattie took several deep breaths, fighting to overcome the panic that gripped her. She could not just lie here like this while someone burglarized the apartment. Evangeline was asleep on the couch. Whoever had come into the studio would see her.
    Mattie pushed back the covers and silently got out of the bed. She tiptoed to the railing and looked down.
    There, silhouetted in the light coming in through the high windows, was the figure of a man. The faint neon glow glinted off the gun in his hand as he aimed it at Evangeline.
    Without skipping a beat, Mattie's fear turned to fury. This was her apartment, her sanctuary. She would not allow anyone to invade it like this.
    Mattie snatched up the heavy black vase by her bed and hurled it over the edge of the railing, straight at the intruder's bare head.
    There was a horrendous crash. The man with the gun crumpled to the floor, his gun skittering across the wooden surface. The intruder groaned and tried to rise. Mattie grabbed the phone and yanked the plug out of the wall. She raced down the spiral staircase with some vague notion of using the phone as a club.
    But she needn't have worried.
    Evangeline screamed as she woke up and took in the situation at a glance. Obviously accustomed to emergencies such as this, she leaped up off the couch and began bashing the fallen man over the head with the nearest available object. It was Shock Value Frederickson's brilliantly executed metal sculpture, On the Brink .
    The man groaned once more and fell back onto the floor.

CHAPTER

Seventeen

    “Good grief, Evangeline, be careful with that sculpture. It's going to be worth a fortune in another five years.” Mattie had just rounded the last turn in the staircase and leaped off the last step, phone raised on high. The hem of her flannel nightgown trailed behind her as she flew across the room. “Are you all right?”
    “Yeah, thanks to you, honey. You're a great one for coming to the rescue, aren't you?” Evangeline,