Witchcraft

life, Starke?" It occurred to her that there was more to this man than met the eye. His laconic speech and quiet mannerisms belied the harshness of his appearance. He looked at her and blinked owlishly.
    "There was a knife fight in some alley in Hong Kong. Dare was trying to deal with three punks who had waylaid him outside his hotel. I was on my way to see him and found it all going down in the alley a block from the hotel. I'm pretty good with a knife," Starke explained blandly.
    Kimberly shivered. "Oh." Starke's brows bunched tog ether in a heavy line. "Promise me you won't tell Dare I told you all this, okay? He'd have my head if he thought I was out here scaring you to death with those kind of stories."
    "Why are you scaring me to death with those tales, Starke?" Kimberly asked perceptively. "I guess I just want you to understand that there's a lot more to Dare than may seem obvious by looking at Cavenaugh Vineyards."
    "I know that, Starke," Kimberly said gently. Starke looked suddenly relieved. "Sure you do. If you didn't, you wouldn't love him, would you?" Kimberly recoiled, a protest rising automatically to her lips. Her love was still a private, personal matter at this point. She had not dreamed that others knew of it. But before she could find the words to make Starke understand that it was much too soon to make such statements' he was slipping out of his jacket and handing it to her. "Here," he said gruffly. "If you're going to stay out here awhile, you'd better put this on." Then he turned and strode back into the house. With a sigh, Kimberly walked off the patio and into the garden. She really didn't want to go back into the house just yet. The thought of all those people looking at her, speculating on her relationship with Cavenaugh , perhaps coming to the same conclusion Starke had, was suddenly overwhelming. She needed some time alone. Not that she would be able to stay out here very long. Julia, Aunt Milly , Ariel, Mrs. Lawson or even Cavenaugh or Starke was likely to miss her and start looking for her. So many people who would concern themselves over her. She wasn't accustomed to it. Kimberly glanced up as she wandered into the garden. The light in Scott's room was finally turned off. He had been sent to bed a couple of hours ago, but only under protest. It had been his future father, Mark, who had taken on the task of putting Scott to bed. Kimberly had seen the warmth in Julia's eyes as she watched her france handle the boy. At the edge of the garden Kimberly came to a halt again and stood staring at the dark winery facility several yards beyond the rock wall. A few outside lights illuminated the beautiful grounds in front of the building where tourists gathered during the days. The rear of the large structure was shrouded in darkness. This was as far as she ought to go. In another few feet she would be crossing the low, rambling rock wall. Doing that would set off the alarms, which in turn would certainly put a damper on the Cavenaugh party tonight, she thought humorously. Aunt Milly and Ariel would never forgive her. That was assuming, of course, that Starke hadn't had a little too much whiskey tonight and was able to realize an alarm had been triggered. As for Cavenaugh's reaction, he was more likely to turn her over his knee than make love to her if she pulled that stunt again. Once was forgivable. Disobeying orders a second time probably wouldn't go down well with the lord and master of Cavenaugh Vineyards. With a wry smile at the thought, Kimberly reluctantly turned to walk back up through the garden to the patio and into the noisy, well-lit house. The statue-still figure in a cowled robe was waiting for her, blocking the path through the garden. Kimberly was so stunned by the dark apparition that for a timeless moment she couldn't even scream.
    Frozen in the moonlight the two stared at each other and then the robed figure raised both hands, revealing the ornate silver dagger he held.
    Kimberly did scream then but it was the kind of scream one had in a nightmare, a choked soundless cry that reached no one. Fear stifled the first attempt and before she could make another, the cowled creature took a menacing step forward. Kimberly got the scream past her lips this time but even as it echoed through the night she told herself that no one would hear it over the noise of the party. She was at the rear of the garden, much too far from the safety of the house. The dagger flashed in the watery