The Devil's Eye. Dawn Brown

said, holding his gaze. “Cursed. This land is cursed.”

      “Because of the people who disappeared?”

      She turned back to the stove and covered the sausage platter. “The disappearances are just the tip of the iceberg. How else can you explain Mr. James’s misfortunes? Two dead wives. Failing investments. Oh, things get better for a while, but they always crumble in the end. And now with that Matthew Langley…” She snatched the spatula from the counter and whirled to face him, waving the utensil like a witch waving a wand. “You mark my words, they’ve found one dead man. There’ll be more.”

      Did she actually know something about what happened to the men who’d vanished, or was the woman merely relishing in the story? “Why do you stay?”

      She jerked a shoulder. “We all have to eat, haven’t we? Mr. James pays more than a fair wage. There’s evil here, granted, but it doesn’t want me. You, though…”

      “Afraid I might disappear like the others?” he asked, forcing his voice to remain amused despite the cold prickling the back of his neck. “You shouldn’t worry. I don’t.”

      “You wouldn’t—too young and full of yourself. Still, you’re not a bad sort. We’ve certainly had worse working here.”

      Like Matthew Langley? Reece had heard stories about his predecessor. And a con man could always recognize another con man. “What do you think happened to the men who disappeared?”

      “I think they’re dead.” Mrs. Voyle’s dark eyes held his. “The house takes what it wants. It always has.”

      * * *

      Brynn stood with Eleri outside the pocket doors separating Arthur’s siting room from his bedroom. Nerves fluttered in her throat and she wiped her damp palms on her pants. What did she have to be so nervous about? He was the one to ignore her for the past twenty-three years. He was the one who owed her an explanation, who should be nervous.

      Eleri hesitated before sliding open the door. “He’s not a nice man.”

      Knots tangling Brynn’s insides squeezed. She swallowed hard. “Thanks for the warning.”

      Eleri pushed open the doors and Brynn entered the dimly lit room. Silence closed in on her, except for the low hiss from the oxygen tank next to the bed. The sour odor of sickness combined with a sterile hospital-like smell sent a sharp pang slicing across her middle. For an instant, she was back in her grandfather’s hospital room, watching helplessly as he wasted away. She swallowed hard and shook the memory away, making a concentrated effort to breathe through her mouth. The doors slid closed with a thunk behind her.

      “If you’re coming in, come in.” She jumped at the man’s raspy voice.

       Nice to see you, too, Dad.

      She let out a slow breath and squared her shoulders, then crossed the room to a chair next to his bed—getting her first look at her father in more than twenty-five years.

      He met her gaze with her own dark brown eyes—Eleri’s eyes, too. His thinning white hair was cut short to his head, gaunt features sharp, pointed, much like her sister’s. His sallow skin grooved around his mouth and at the corners of his eyes. Propped into a sitting position with pillows, heavy blankets hid his lower body. Long clear tubes coiled from the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth to the tank on the floor. Despite the telltale signs of illness, he sat stiff and regal.

      Brynn held her breath, waiting for some spark of recognition.

      Nothing.

      Her heart sank. He might as well have been a complete stranger.

      He shoved his oxygen mask aside and nodded to the empty chair next to the bed. “Sit.”

      Sit? Really? Twenty-three years and the best he could come up with was sit? She hadn’t been expecting them to fall into each other’s arms, or that he’d crumple to his knees and beg for her forgiveness—okay, maybe she’d been hoping for something like that—but she had expected something more than sit.

      She swallowed down her hurt and stiffened under the man’s glare. “I’m fine where I am.”

      He let out an impatient sigh. “Eleri overstepped herself. She’d no right to bring you here without my knowledge. There’s nothing for you, know that from the start.”

      Perfect. Reece had been right. He did think she was after his money. He’d let her go through life believing he was dead, never once tried to contact her, but she was the bad guy here? “I don’t want anything. Eleri contacted me because you were ill—”

      “And you came to see what you could get.”

      Her hands curled into fists at her sides, fingernails digging into her palms. “No. I’d been told you were dead. When I found out that wasn’t the case, I wanted to meet you.”

      He let out a dry bark of laughter that sounded more like he was choking. She wished he were choking. “You thought I would finally be the father you always wanted? That we’d become a happy little family? I made my peace with you when you left.”