Christmas at Timberwoods - Fern Michaels [36]
A few minutes later, the doorbell sounded. “I’ll get it, honey,” Summers called through to the kitchen.
He opened the door and admitted a slightly built man whose overcoat was pulled up over his chin. He wore a knitted hat low over his ears.
“Hello, Dayton.”
Shivering, Dayton lifted his face. His ingenuous smile and electric blue eyes met Lex’s and Harold’s. “How do. Pleased to meet you both.”
“Gentlemen, this is Dr. Noel Dayton. Noel—Felex Lassiter and Harold Baumgarten. Here, give me your coat.”
“Where’s Amy?” the doctor asked, a slight New England twang in his voice.
“The kitchen. How about a little something to take the nip out? Still drinking bourbon?”
Dayton headed for the sofa. “Yep. Thanks. So what’s going on? Eric here tells me we have a problem.”
Lex wondered if Dayton used the collective we as a leftover from medical school and hospital training. But he took the initiative and broke the ice, telling Dayton about the bomb threat and Angela Steinhart.
“Is the kid on drugs? Is that it?” Noel asked.
“Apparently she’d taken some tranquilizers to calm her down, or so she said. I don’t know how many. But I don’t think she’s an addict,” Lex explained.
“Did she send the threat?”
“She says she didn’t,” Lex replied. “And frankly, I believe her.”
“Where’s Angela now?”
Dayton’s questions were fired off efficiently. Harold sat back, relaxing for the first time since Summers had come to report Angela’s visit to Heather the day before. It was evident that Dayton had a very good grasp of the situation, and he wasn’t panicking.
“I have no idea where she is,” Lex answered. “Heather and I were the last to see her at her home. She wanted to avoid her mother, so she ran out on us. But she can’t get away from this. It’s with her all the time, I could tell. She’s scared. She’ll turn up—I know it in my gut.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Summers demanded.
“Jesus, I don’t know. You were top at the police academy. You tell me, Eric.”
“They didn’t teach us about stuff like this. You were right behind me in class, Lex. If you hadn’t copped out at the eleventh hour, you’d be my boss by now.”
“Police work wasn’t for me. Just like publicity isn’t for you.”
“You could have made a damn good cop. I bleed whenever I think about it.”
“Gentlemen,” Dayton interrupted, “this isn’t getting us anywhere. We have to decide on a course of action. Since you want me to get involved, it’s imperative that I talk to Angela Steinhart. Not that I’m giving credence to her statements about being precognitive. As I see it, she may actually know something about the bomb threat. If she didn’t send it herself, she might know who did. You say this is the third such threat? Did the papers report on the others?”
Eric squirmed. “Yeah, we had a leak somewhere.”
“Then it’s just possible that the whole business is a coincidence. Angela, having read about the previous bomb threats, could just be angling to get noticed, not realizing that this latest missive would back her up.”
“Seems like more than one psychiatrist told her mother the same thing—that she was making a bid for attention,” Eric said. “Maybe she is. I don’t know. But that’s why we want you to talk to her.”
“Well, where is she?” Dayton’s smooth tone and slightly raised eyebrows challenged him.
“What’s your opinion, Harold?” Summers looked at the chief of security, who was sinking lower and lower into the sofa, his empty glass clutched in his hand.
“I don’t know about Angela. I haven’t met her or heard what she has to say. But as far as the mall goes, I don’t think we have much choice. We can’t afford to guess, so it should be closed. Lassiter agrees. Any risk is too big a risk as far as I’m concerned.”
“That’s why Richards fired you, because you told him to close the mall.” Eric laughed. “He fired you for the most sensible thing you’ve ever said.”
“I’m no fool,” Harold continued, “but what if this is some kind of prank? What if the kid is