Foxfire (18 page)

“Killer?” Adam's voice rose to a near squeal.
“The Knoxville Knifer?”

“No, the man Grace has been hiding from. The
man who wants to kill her.”

And Brad told Adam the entire story.

Chapter Eleven

Outside, a car door slammed. What now?
Tension riddled Grace to the point of screaming. She sighed and
looked at Tyler.

“Somebody's here.” Grace had spent the last
twenty minutes trying to convince Tyler she could take care of
herself. The mental and physical exhaustion had worn her down. She
needed a quick shower and time alone. The thought of dealing with
one more person was almost more than she could bear.

Resigned to get rid of whoever it was, she
headed toward the living room, and Tyler followed.

Harri's sharp glance raked over them. She
waited on Grace's doorstep with her hands on her hips and her
brightly painted lips pressed together in a straight line. When
Grace opened the screen, Harri swept into the house, her orange
locks bouncing against an emerald green tank top, which, paired
with white shorts, was much tamer than usual. Her shirt matched the
shade of Tyler's eyes, vibrantly noticeable when he bent to kiss
Harri's cheek.

“How are you, Harri?” he asked.

“Better than you, I suppose,” she answered
sarcastically. “Now shoo, so Grace and I can talk.”

Tyler turned to Grace with a protesting
frown.

“Please,” Grace said. “I'd like to talk to
Harri alone. We can continue our conversation later.”

“Trust me, we will,” Tyler said, his gaze
piercing hers with a make-no-mistake-about-it glare.

Their eyes did a visual battle for an
agonizingly long moment before he turned to smile at Harri. “I'll
go check on Tiffany.”

After the door shut behind him, Harri turned
her piercing gaze on Grace.

“Okay, spit it out. What's happened between
you and Tyler?” Harri asked.

“Nothing worth mentioning, but Harri, I need
your advice.”

“That's why I'm here.” She lifted her nose
and sniffed. “Is that coffee I smell?”

Grace slipped her arm through Harri's. “Come
on, I'll get you a cup.”

She poured coffee for Harri, then opened the
cabinet and pulled out a bag of cookies. She arranged several on
the plate before noticing the shocked expression on Harri's
face.

“What?” Grace asked, her pulse
accelerating.

“You're offering me store-bought
cookies?”

Grace looked down at the plate in her hand,
then felt a giggle rising.

Harri's brown gaze, filled with mirth, met
hers.

“Thanks, Harri. I needed that.”

Harri walked forward, took the plate and set
it on the table. She wrapped soft, comforting arms around
Grace.

Grace absorbed the love emanating from
Harri's motherly embrace. If only she could lose herself in the
good feelings and forget all the horror of the past twenty-four
hours but she couldn't afford to do that. Grace pulled away and
gave Harri her best cover-up smile. “You don't have to eat the
cookies,” she said.

“Oh, fiddle.” Harri grabbed the plate and her
coffee. Let's go in the living room and get comfortable. We have
things to discuss.”

Grace sat on the hearth, leaving the rocking
chair for Harri.

Harri arranged herself in the chair, crossing
her ankles. “I just came from Brad's. Now will you tell me what in
the daylights is going on?”

Grace pulled her feet toward her, wrapping
her arms around her legs. “Before I say anything else, you've got
to promise not to tell Brad.”

Harri's hand, gripping the coffee mug,
stopped inches from her mouth. She pulled it away without taking a
drink. “I tell Brad everything,” Harri protested.

“You can't tell him this. Promise me,
Harri.”

Harri placed the mug on the floor beside her.
“We can't leave Brad out of this.”

“If you don't promise, then I won't tell
you.”

As expected, Harri threw up her arms in a
dramatic gesture of defeat. “Whatever. I promise.” She narrowed her
gaze on Grace.

“I have a plan.” What she wanted now was to
get her life back in order. And she needed Harri's help to do
it.

“What plan is that?” Harri asked. She held
out her hand, palm toward Grace. “Wait. Don't tell me. You're going
to set yourself up as bait.”

“Maybe.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have a gun. Max wants me and if I make him
believe I'm here alone, he'll come.”

“Sure he will, and he'll kill you.”

“Not if I have help.”

Harri narrowed her eyes. “What kind of
help?”

“Yours. You hide in the living room and when
he comes, you call Tyler. I'll hold him at gunpoint until Tyler
comes and arrests him.”

“That's the craziest plan I ever heard. I'm
not going to do it and neither are you.” Harri pointed a finger at
Grace. “I'm not stupid enough to think we can ever pull something
like that off. He'll take the gun away from you and shoot us both
before help can come. Why don't you ask Tyler to help?”

“Well, it's the best plan I've been able to
come up with. Tyler would want to do things his way. You know how
men are.”

“And he'd be right. I suggest you forget the
whole thing. Let Tyler deal with this guy. You stay out of
reach.”

Maybe it was a stupid idea, but she had to
take a chance. If Harri wouldn't help her, then she'd find a way to
do it herself. She decided to change the subject. “Have you heard
about Tiffany?”

Harri's face settled into an expression of
grief. “Oh, honey, I did. I'm so sorry.”

Grace swallowed hard. “She's all right. Tyler
took care of her.”

“You trust him, then?”

“He's a good vet,” she answered.

“That's not what I asked. Do you trust
him?”

“I don't know.” Grace dropped her forehead to
her legs for a second, then lifted her gaze and huffed a
breath.

Harri rocked back and forth, creaking the
chair against the wooden floor. Her blank gaze seemed to turn
inward, then she stopped rocking. Her eyes focused on Grace.
“Grace, listen to me. I had a vision. I saw a man with a knife
coming after you.”

Grace felt the blood rush from her face.
“When did you have that vision?”

“Last night. Grace, you're in danger. I've
already told Brad about it. That was before I learned about Max
being here and Tyler being a secret agent.”

“He's not a secret agent.”

“Whatever. It doesn't matter. You're in
danger. You've got to believe me. This is serious. Nobody believes
I'm psychic, but I am.”

“I believe you, Harri.” And that meant she'd
have to face a killer with a knife. Would her self-defense skills
help her? No. She shuddered inwardly, remembering the last time
she'd been threatened with a knife. She'd have to rely on her gun.
And she'd have to be on guard every second.

“Then believe me when I say you have to get
out of here. Something bad is about to happen. I can feel it.”
Harri's strong voice trembled with emotion. “Come stay with
me.”

“I can't. I need to stay close to
Tiffany.”

“But you can't stay here alone.”

“I can't stay with you or Brad. I won't put
you in jeopardy, too.”

Grace paced across the room. “Tyler wants me
to stay with him. Maybe that's best.”

“You have feelings for him, don't you?”

Grace spun around. “Of course I do, but I've
always made bad choices when it comes to men. Tyler's no
exception.”

“I've seen the way he looks at you. He's in
love with you.”

“Tyler's not in love with me, Harri. He's in
love with a ghost.”

Harri's eyes lit with interest. “A
ghost?”

“His dead wife. Max killed her.”

Harri rocked back and forth again. “Max
again. Now Tyler's dark aura makes sense. It clouded my reading
when I first met him.”

“Harri, you exaggerate sometimes, just like
Brad says.”

“I'm telling you my visions are real. You're
in danger, Grace. I think the Knoxville Knifer is planning to make
you his next victim. And now you've got that Max guy wanting to get
you, too. You need your friends.” She leaned forward. “All your
friends.”

A chill slithered up her spine. What
connection was there between Max, the Knoxville Knifer, and Harri's
vision?

“You're scaring me, Harri.”

Harri crossed her arms across her ample
chest. “You should be scared. There's something else I know.
Tyler's going to save you.”

“No man needs to save me, Harri. I can take
care of myself.”

“Maybe you want to believe you're invincible,
but none of us are. Give him a chance.”

“I'll try.”

“Good. Then let's go to the clinic. I want to
see Tiffany.”

Grace jumped to her feet. Maybe Tiffany was
awake. With all her heart, she hoped so. She needed something
positive to focus on.

She locked the door before joining Harri at
the bottom of the steps. Grace glanced at Harri's car. “Do you want
to drive?”

Harri pulled a pair of sunglasses from her
purse and slipped them onto her nose. “Nope. I need the exercise.
Let's walk.”

A few minutes later, they reached the clinic.
Grace slowed when she noticed the absence of Tyler's truck.

“Maybe I should have brought my key. Looks
like Tyler's gone,” Grace said. “We won't be able to get in.”

She walked to the front and tried the door.
Sure enough, it was locked. “Maybe we can get in through his
apartment. I'll check.” She walked down the steps and around the
building, stopping abruptly at seeing the infirmary door standing
ajar.

Harri pointed. “What about that door?”

Grace's heart leapt to her throat. Tyler
wouldn't have left it open.

“Stay here,” she ordered.

Grace hurried to the door and barged inside.
A man leaned toward the cage where Tiffany lay.

“No!” Grace charged forward but halted in
confusion when Adam turned with a smile on his face. The adrenaline
rush had her heart pounding and she couldn't believe what she was
seeing.

“Look. She likes me, Grace.” Adam's hand
rested on Tiffany's head. The dog's tail wagged in greeting.

“She's awake.”

“Yep. Tyler went into town to get something.
I told him I'd keep an eye on her. He says she can't get out and we
have to keep her quiet. You're not mad, are you?”

Grace put her hand through the bars and
rubbed Tiffany's ears. The dog's tail thumped against the metal
cage floor.

“I'm not mad. Looks like you two are friends
now.”

He grinned. “I'm scared of dogs, especially
big dogs.” He nodded toward Tiffany. “Like her. But she's not mean.
Even if she used to growl at me all the time.”

“I think she knew you were afraid of
her.”

Adam's face flushed. “I guess so, but I'm not
afraid of her now. She's a nice dog.”

She graced him with a smile.

Harri joined them. “Hi, Adam.”

“Hi, Harri.” He nodded.

“Looks like Tiffany's better,” Harri
said.

“Yeah, I should go,” Adam said. “You can keep
an eye on her until Tyler gets back.”

Grace touched Adam's arm. “Thanks for looking
after her for me.”

Adam looked at her hand resting on his arm.
He lifted his gaze to hers and something flickered in their depths.
Something Grace didn't want to acknowledge. She snatched her hand
to her side.

“You're welcome, Grace.” He nodded again at
Harri, then left, closing the door firmly behind him.

“That's one strange man,” Harri said.

Grace heard tires crunching on the gravel
driveway, followed by a door shutting. A few seconds later, Tyler
entered the room, a look of surprise on his face.

“Where's Adam?”

“He left,” Grace answered.

“And that's what I'm going to do,” Harri
announced.

“No—” Grace started to protest.

“I promised Brad we'd go to town for an early
dinner.” She glanced at her watch. “I really should get back to him
before he comes looking for me. I have a box of clothes he's going
to take to the church for the rummage sale.”

Grace didn't want to be alone with Tyler, but
it looked like Harri had a different perspective. If she didn't
know better, she'd think Harri was matchmaking. Funny that Harri
hadn't even liked Tyler in the beginning, but now it seemed as if
she'd taken his side...if there were any sides in this ridiculous
melodrama.

“I'll walk back with you,” Grace
volunteered.

“No, dear, that's not necessary.” The wicked
imp had the audacity to wink.

Grace flicked a glance at Tyler to see if
he'd noticed. All she saw was the grim set of his lips. She knew he
was going to continue his campaign to keep her in his 'safety
zone.'

Harri hugged her and whispered, “Give the man
a chance.”

Grace had already done that. She wouldn't go
there again, no matter what her heart said.

“Don't forget what I told you,” Harri
said.

“I won't.”

When the door closed behind her, Grace turned
to follow.

Tyler stopped her, his hand gripping her
upper arm. “We have unfinished business.”

“You're hurting me.” Grace tugged her arm
free, and glared into his eyes.

He stepped back. “I didn't mean to hurt you,
but you're not going anywhere until we hash out some issues.”

“Haven't we already done that?”

Tiffany whined.

Grace hurried back to her cage. “See what
you've done?” She turned an angry glare on Tyler. “You're upsetting
her. Shouldn't she be kept quiet?”

“She's fine.”

Tiffany wagged her tail. Great. Now even her
dog was turning against her. Did Tyler have everyone under his
spell?

“Come on,” Tyler said. “You're not getting
away until we finish the discussion we started earlier.”

He led the way back to his apartment, where
Grace chose to sit in a comfortable chair opposite the sofa. She
leaned back, feeling dwarfed and at a disadvantage. Catching the
humorous glint in Tyler's eyes, she folded her arms across her
chest.