Dark Melody Page 0,73

a chance. He had no need. He took you with him to retrieve the things you and Lisa wanted. I was surprised he did that, by the way. I would have bet my last dollar that he would have tied you up at our house to keep you safe. How did you talk your way around him?"

"He's very reasonable." Even as she said it, the car was taking her further and further from him, and her heart was laboring harder and harder.

"You're certain he didn't go back to the house? We ran into trouble - did Dayan tell you?" She tried to sound matter-of-fact about it.

Cullen pinned her with speculative eyes. "No, he didn't say a single word. What kind of trouble?"

Corinne rubbed her pounding temple. She was feeling sick to her stomach. And the terrible dread was increasing with each passing mile. "Things. A peculiar fog bank. There was someone at the house. Dayan went out into the fog, and then we went into the house. There was a car..." She trailed off, trying to pull the memory out of her hazy brain. "I can't think - I feel sick."

"Do you have medicine you should be taking?" Cullen was concerned about her color. Corinne was deathly white.

They were approaching the large park where Lisa was to do the photo shoot. To their left, Cullen could see the vehicles crowded together. An area was cordoned off for the cameras and crew. Corinne put both hands protectively over her stomach. She was feeling very sick, struggling just to sound as if she were breathing normally.

"Corinne!" Cullen said sharply. "Do you have medicine with you?"

She nodded toward her purse. Her heart was pounding hard, erratically. The baby was moving in alarm. Cullen spilled out two tablets into his palm, very afraid for her. He never should have brought her with him to this place.

Corinne.

The voice was soft and steady, a brushing like butterfly wings in her head.

What is wrong with your heart? You must calm down.

Dayan's voice alone managed to calm her. Where was he? The fact that he could reach her reassured her that he was alive and well. Corinne took the tablets and made an effort to breathe rhythmically.

I am okay now, Dayan. You are not where I left you.

It was a clear reprimand.

Where are you?

"Corinne?" Cullen asked anxiously. "I shouldn't have brought you. If anything happens to you, Lisa and Dayan will kill me."

It was strange to carry on two conversations at the same time. "Nothing is going to happen to me, Cullen. See, I'm much better."

We've come for Lisa. She went to a park where they're photographing her. No! It is not safe. I cannot come to you yet. Leave that place at once!

It was a clear order, delivered tersely with a hard "push" behind it.

She wanted to obey him. Needed to obey him more than anything else in the world. Everything in her demanded she do as he told her, but there was Lisa. As much as her entire heart and soul required that she comply with that order, she could not leave without Lisa.

Don't be upset, Dayan. I will get home as soon as I have Lisa safe with us. Cullen is here too.

Dayan lay helpless beneath the earth, seething with rage. With fear that amounted to terror. He didn't dare make his command any stronger. Corinne was strong-willed and she was fighting him. Her loyalty to Lisa demanded that she get her sister-in-law to safety. Dayan knew her heart would not survive a struggle against him. He subsided, a shadow in her mind. The time until sundown seemed to tick away with agonizing slowness.

"Maybe you'd better stay in the car," Cullen said uneasily. Dayan was working on him, pushing at Cullen's mind so that he felt it was of paramount importance to protect Corinne. "It won't take me long to collect her."

"You'll never get through security," Corinne replied, resolutely pushing open the door. She slipped out before her reluctant body refused to do as she asked.

Cullen leapt out of the car and raced around it to take her arm. She walked determinedly along the walkway to the path that cut through to the interior of the park. At the area cordoned off for the shoot, she waved to the nearest security man and flashed a smile at him. "Frank! I didn't know you'd be working today or I would have come sooner. How's Lisa doing?"

The man in uniform grinned at her. "My favorite woman. I