Fatal Identity Read Free

spilling out from the garden just beyond the pool. Red blossoms like the blood that had bubbled and bloomed from Aunt Neecie’s mouth. He had to stop it before it spilled out and covered him.
    The red mist began to swirl around his feet, rising, rising. He had to move quickly, before it was too late. He stepped out very softly, very quietly, to do what had to be done. Around the pool, behind the hedge of lush green boxwoods without a rustle. Like a cat in the dead of night, he moved without hesitation. And then he dropped to his knees on the soft earth by the bubbling blossoms. And he whimpered as he plucked them off one by one, crushing the petals between his fingers and feeling them die.
    Her head turned in his direction. It seemed as if she were looking directly at him with her beautiful green eyes. But he knew that was only an illusion. She saw only a shadow, heard only a faint rustle. A neighbor’s cat in the garden, a fierce night prowler stalking his blood prey. Her head rose out of the water, watching, listening. But he was as still as death.
    And then she began to swim again, her fears laid to rest. As well they should be. He was here. And he would always protect her from the red.
    Tears fell from his eyes, like warm spring rain. How he loved her! He had broken the rule to warn her, broken his vow of silence. He had chosen the words to tell her, cut them out of paper and pasted them to the letter he’d sent to her. Red is the color of blood.
    He knew he had frightened her. And he was ashamed. But his words had done their work, and she had been wise enough to listen. She had changed her hateful red bedroom to a sea green place of beautiful peace.
    The red mist was rising now, rising up to claim him. In a few moments it would reach his mind, and then there would be a merciful darkness. But there was work to be done before he could rest.
    He dropped to the ground, shredding the petals into thin strips that blew away in the winter wind. They would shrivel and fade, buffeted by the air until they turned to a harmless brown. Earth, air, fire, and water. They were the ancient elements. They had the power to destroy the red, to send it away forever.
    At last he was finished, and he smiled as he got to his feet. It was his job to keep her safe. He was her guardian, her lover, her unseen protector. Only he knew how to save her from the certain destruction of the red.

CHAPTER 1
    Even though she’d had a grueling day, Mercedes Calder flashed the driver one of her famous, million-watt smiles as he helped her out of the studio limo. Her smile was totally genuine. Mercedes liked the new driver the studio had assigned to her. George never tried to make idle conversation on the twenty-minute trip to the studio when she had lines to learn; he didn’t mind stopping at the school to pick up her twins on the days she finished shooting early; and he was unfailingly prompt. Even though George was well paid by the studio, Mercedes planned to give him a generous bonus when they wrapped her film.
    â€œSix-thirty tomorrow morning, George? I have an early call.”
    â€œNo problem, Miss Calder. I’ll be here. Do you want me to check out the house for you?”
    Mercedes shook her head. “That’s not necessary, George. They finally finished installing the security system. But thanks for asking. That was very thoughtful.”
    George tipped his hat and slid back in, behind the wheel. He was a retired policeman who looked like a fullback, over six feet tall with the muscular body and lightning reflexes of a professional athlete. He’d told Mercedes he’d taken his early retirement option when he’d been shot chasing down a murder suspect. He’d known they were planning to kick him upstairs, and he hadn’t liked the idea of sitting behind a desk all day. Early retirement pay wasn’t all that much, and George had done private detective work for a year or two. Then he’d landed this