Smoke in Mirrors

whispered.
    “I’m sure as hell not in what you might call a jocular mood.”
    She took a grip on her plummeting stomach and moved back to get a better look at him. “He used a golf club?”
    “Ed said the kid’s on the Eubanks team. Ouch.”
    “Sorry.” She applied the cotton ball a little less forcefully. “I know what you’re thinking.”
    “I’m thinking about that bag of golf clubs we saw in Alex Rhodes’s back room.”
    “I knew it. Did you mention the clubs to Ed Stovall?”
    “No point. He’s satisfied with his version of events and it’s not like I’ve got any evidence to contradict him. My only hope is that when the kid comes off his drug trip he’ll be able to tell Ed where he got the crap that madehim see monsters. But I’m not holding my breath. The E.R. folks said he might not remember anything about the experience. They said that judging from the few cases they’ve handled, the drug is very unpredictable and that goes double when it’s mixed with alcohol.”
    “Oh, my God, Thomas. Do you think Alex got the boy high and deliberately sent him out to murder you?”
    “Maybe not. Maybe he just wanted to send a warning.” Thomas gingerly touched his right shoulder with his left hand. “Make it clear that it would be best if I stayed out of his private business.”
    She turned away to drop the bloody cotton ball in the trash. “How could he possibly know?”
    “About our interest in him? Julie Bromley. Wouldn’t be surprised if he found out about our little chat with her this morning. Probably made him nervous.”
    She stared at him in the mirror, unable to look away. “You have to talk to Ed Stovall.”
    “I wish like hell it was that easy. Trust me, at this point it would be a complete waste of time.”
    “Maybe if I went with you to talk to him?”
    “No offense, but that won’t help.” Thomas’s mouth twisted grimly. “He’ll assume you’re backing me up because you’re sleeping with me.”
    She cleared her throat. “I see. He’ll think that I’m blinded by passion, is that it?”
    Thomas started to get to his feet. “Ed will look for any excuse to dismiss my story, because he’ll figure I’m still working on a conspiracy theory with Deke.”
    “Sit still.” She picked up the tube of antibiotic ointment. “I haven’t finished with you yet.”

    When she had done what she could for his bruises, she steered him into the kitchen. Some of the feral qualityhad finally faded from his eyes but he still looked much too dangerous.
    She sat him down at the table and gave him some of the over-the-counter anti-inflammatory tablets she kept handy for occasional stress headaches.
    She poured a glass of milk and put it down in front of him to accompany the painkillers.
    He looked at the milk. “Got whiskey?”
    She smiled slightly. “No. Sorry.”
    “How about that cognac you served with the apple pie?”
    “Right.” She opened a cupboard, took down the bottle and poured a hefty measure into a glass.
    He took it from her. “Thanks.”
    She watched him down the tablets and half the contents of the glass in a single swallow.
    “Thomas, what on earth are we going to do?”
    “Don’t know yet. I need to do some thinking.”
    “What about Alex Rhodes?”
    Thomas contemplated that for a long moment.
    “He’ll probably assume that I suspect he was the one behind the assault tonight, but he’ll also know there’s not much I can do about it. He’s well aware of the local situation. He knows that everyone, including the chief of police, thinks that Deke is obsessed with his murder conspiracy, and that any move I make will be viewed as aiding and abetting my brother’s delusions.”
    “We can’t just ignore the fact that he may have tried to have you killed tonight.”
    “I think it might pay to let him worry for a while,” Thomas said. “He’s bound to be sweating a little by now, wondering what move I’ll make. Wouldn’t hurt if he gets a bit nervous. Nervous people make mistakes. Meanwhile, we’ll have our chat with Margaret Lewis tomorrow and see what comes of that. We need a strategy.”

    “Strategy?”
    “A plan, you know? I’d really like to have one of those. I always feel better when I’m working from a blueprint.”
    She frowned. “Thomas, I don’t think—”
    “Mind if I spend the night here?”
    Not long ago she had been half-wishing that she had invited him to sleep in her bed tonight, thinking of all the reasons why that would not