Free Night of Shadows by Marilyn Haddrill, Doris Holmes Page A

understand it, but some women seem to think Mac has a certain kind of gruff
charm. Debbie, for instance."
    Melinda let that one pass. She was
eager to contact the girls as soon as possible. Melinda noticed a telephone on
the desk, and reached for it.
    "I'll borrow your phone and call
right now to see when we can get together."
    "Sorry. The flood washed out
all our telephone lines. Service will be out for a couple of weeks, at least."
Preston hesitated. "Tell you what. If you promise to take care of
yourself, I'll make you a deal. In a couple of days, we'll be taking some
horses in to Ruidoso for the races. Then I'll personally take you to see the
girls. Maybe as Joan's sister you'll be able to think of something we
overlooked. You realize the sheriff has already questioned them thoroughly. But
if it will make you feel better..."
    "Yes!" Melinda responded.
"At least I'll be doing something!"
    "Okay," Preston agreed. "We
have plenty of room at our cabin. You can plan on staying there when we
go."
    "Thank you," Melinda
said, unable to avoid a tone of dismissal.
    Now that she had a plan in place,
she wanted to be alone. She selected a book at random and pretended to browse
through it. Preston took the hint.
    "Well, I have work to do. I'd
better get busy before Mac comes in here to remind me of my responsibilities. He's
good at that."
    Preston sounded sulky, almost like
a teenager instead of a full-grown man. As he stalked from the room,
Melinda decided that perhaps he and Joan were well-matched after all — at
least, in terms of their mutual immaturity.
    Theirs had to be a stormy marriage. Melinda
couldn't help but wonder. How much understanding had Joan received from Preston
or Mac in this male-dominated world?
    She thoughtfully closed the book she
held. Already, she was making excuses for her sister. The story of her life. But
if she intended to solve this mystery, she must stay open to the facts — even
if they cast Joan in a bad light.
    The morning dragged on. Melinda
settled into an armchair and attempted to escape into the pages of a National
Geographic . But somehow the plight of the citizens in Sri Lanka paled in
comparison to her own.
    At one point, she found she had
been staring at a page without really seeing the words for a good while. Finally,
she walked over to a window and morosely stared outside as the sheer curtain
billowed out in the breeze.
    She felt herself growing listless
and bored. Would this day never end? She couldn't wait for darkness to fall, so
she could meet with Sammy. She wasn't expecting too much from him, though. Surely
if he knew where Joan was, he already would have told someone.
    She turned and looked wistfully at
the telephone on the desk. She thought about Perry, who right now seemed like
the only friend she had in the world. She knew he was bound to wonder what had
happened to her, since she had been unable to call as promised.
    Well, at least she could send him a
letter. She slid open the desk drawer and found some old-fashioned stationery,
with slightly yellowed pages indicating it hadn't been touched for a long time.
Then she sat and wrote down the events of the last week, trying to downplay her
adventures to avoid alarming Perry. She had just finished sealing the envelope
when she heard the sound of someone clearing his throat behind her.
    When she turned, she saw Mac
standing there, laden with packages. Her heart leaped involuntarily as he
spoke.
    "Your clothes were ruined in
the flood. I didn't think you could make the trip to town just yet, so I — uh —
bought you a few things."
    He dumped the packages in a nearby
chair, as he looked at the letter in Melinda's hand.
    "Do you need something mailed?
Here. I'll take care of it."
    He took the letter, frowned down at
the name, then turned and retreated out the library door before she even had
the chance to say "thank you."
    Curious, she hurried over to the
chair and began to sort through the packages. They contained several pairs