Christmas at Timberwoods - Fern Michaels [21]
Heather looked down at her new pair of plain but expensive pumps, and grimaced. It would cost Angela’s parents a double fortune just to replace the carpeting, to say nothing of the damage to the wiring. But then they had that kind of money. She didn’t. Heather considered the cost of her shoes and sighed.
“Angela, we want to talk to you about your visit to my office yesterday,” she said quietly. “I want you to tell Mr. Lassiter what you told me, word for word.”
“Why?”
“Because you came to me—you seemed to have a lot on your mind, but I didn’t really give you a chance to go into it.”
“What did I say? I don’t exactly remember.”
Heather and Felex exchanged a look. Was Angela faking it or being truthful? Felex gave her a very slight nod to go on.
“Angela, you said that you had predicted some bad accidents in the past. And that—that something might happen at Timberwoods. Sooner rather than later. If you’re telling the truth, then perhaps we can help.”
“It’s too late. What do I have to do to make you understand? Nothing is going to change what I saw in my dream.”
“What dream?” Felex asked quietly.
Angela smiled in an odd way. “Wrong word. Not a dream. It was a nightmare.”
“When was that?” Heather asked.
Angela shrugged. “A few days ago. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, you can’t do anything. There’s no stopping it. It’s going to happen. Period.”
The effect of the pills in her empty stomach was dulling her senses.
“Maybe it isn’t too late,” Lex said. “I want to help if I can.”
Angela felt herself responding to the man’s genuine concern. Then, discounting it as another effect of the pills she’d hastily swallowed, she sighed. “You won’t listen. I already saw it. When I see it, that’s sure to be the end. You can’t change what I see. I don’t know why I went to the mall offices yesterday. I just had this need to tell someone, to get somebody to listen to me. I felt I had to try. Well, I’m not trying anymore. I’m never going to try again. I can’t change anything.”
Lex sat quietly, listening to the tone of Angela’s voice. The slight sing-song quality alerted him. “Are you—did you take any medication, Angela?”
“Just some tranquilizers. I’m jittery, I need something. What business is it of yours, anyway?”
“Angela,” Lex said softly, ignoring the girl’s defiance. “Ms. Andrews has given me a rough idea of what you told her. I’d like to hear more. Just from you.”
“Well, forget it. I don’t want to go over it again. It was bad enough when I went home and fell asleep and had the horrible vision.”
“I’m sorry. I wish there was something Heather or I could have done to keep you from having a nightmare like that. We didn’t know,” he sympathized.
Heather’s eyes flew to Lex. He wasn’t going to let her off this easily, was he?
Lex continued to speak, his voice soft and soothing. “But how did you know it was Timberwoods Mall in this vision of yours?”
“Because I was there. I was standing outside and all of a sudden there was an explosion and then another. Buildings collapsed. First one and then another!” Her voice rose in hysteria and even the tranquilizers couldn’t calm her down. “And fire,” she continued. “Thick black smoke. Flying glass. People were trapped in the stores. The exits were blocked. Children vanished and their parents were searching for them in a red mist. I tried closing my eyes, but all I could see was blood and fire . . . and no way out!” Her voice rose to a wail.
“Easy does it.” Lex reached out and took Angela by the shoulders. He held her steady, could feel her quaking and trembling.
But now that Angela had started, she couldn’t stop. “People were trapped under mountains of stone and rubble. Everyone was screaming. I couldn’t see to get to the trapped ones because of the fire, but I knew they were there. I could hear their screams . . .”
“Angela, Angela, hush, it’s all right.” Lex looked over Angela’s head to Heather, who was sitting quietly with a stricken expression on her face. The girl’s words were vivid, her panic was genuine. Heather believed her.
Angela calmed,