The Fifth Victim. BEVERLY BARTON

his own two eyes, he found it incomprehensible.

      An odd feeling hit him in the pit of his stomach. He’d humorously considered her a witch who had cast a spell over him last night. Seeing her now, in this setting, with a host of spellbound animals circling her, Dallas didn’t find the thought of Genny possessing some sort of unearthly power quite as amusing.

      Get a grip, Sloan, he told himself. Genny isn’t a witch, because there is no such thing as witches. She hasn’t cast a spell over you or those animals. You find her sexually appealing. And as for the animals—she’s probably been feeding them for years. Yeah, that was it. Those explanations made sense to him. They were logical.

      Suddenly the birds flew away and the animals scattered. Genny turned her head and looked toward the front of the house. That’s when Dallas heard the drone of motors in the distance.

      Genny came running into the house, stripping off her coat and hat as she flew into the kitchen. “The snowplows are coming up the mountain,” she said breathlessly. “We’ll be able to get into town soon.”

      “We?” Dallas asked.

      “Your car is still in the ditch, so we’ll take mine. We can send a wrecker back for yours. We both want to see Jacob as soon as possible, don’t we?”

      “Why do you want to see—”

      “To tell him about the second victim,” she replied. “But it’s possible he already knows. I feel fairly certain she was killed in a church, probably one of the fancier churches in town. None of the country churches have stained-glass windows.”

      “What are you talking about? You’re actually going to bother the sheriff with that crazy dream you had? You don’t honestly think it was real, that what you dreamed really happened.”

      Genny stared at him quizzically, as if he’d spoken to her in an alien language. “You don’t understand, do you? No, of course not.” She tossed her coat and hat on the table, then kicked off her boots. “I’ll freshen up and get dressed. We should be able to head down to Cherokee Pointe very soon.”

      As she raced past him, Dallas reached out and grabbed her arm. She halted, glanced over her shoulder and looked directly at him, as if to ask What?

      “You’re right, I don’t understand,” he said. “How about explaining it to me?”

      She tugged against his grip. He released her immediately. “Everybody in these parts knows about me. My grandmother and both of her grandmothers before her were … different. And so am I. I’m able to sense things, see things, feel things that other people don’t.”

      Dallas glared at her. Hell, what was she trying to tell him? Whatever it was, he already didn’t believe her.

      “Before you start trying to convince me that you’re some sort of soothsayer or psychic or whatever the hell all the phonies call themselves, don’t bother,” Dallas said sternly. “If I can’t experience it through my five senses, then I don’t believe it.”

      “Ah.” Her mouth formed a soft oval. Moisture glistened in her black eyes.

      “Ah, what? You act like I’m the crazy one for not believing you.”

      “No one knows except Jacob and my friend Jazzy—and probably Sally and Ludie—about my recent vision. If you stay in these parts for a while, you’ll meet Sally and Ludie.” Genny shook her head. “That’s neither here nor there, of course. The truth is that whether you believe me or not, it doesn’t matter. Jacob believes me. He knows.”

      Genny rushed out of the kitchen, leaving Dallas with his mouth hanging open. Well, she told you, didn’t she?

      After a few minutes, he followed her, not willing to leave things as they were between them. When he caught up with her in her bedroom, he walked in on her just as she jerked her pajama top over her head and threw it on the bed atop her robe. Holy shit! Hurriedly, she removed the bottoms, which left her completely naked. He stood frozen to the spot, looking at her, devouring her perfect body with his gaze, unable to move or speak.

      When she tossed her pajama bottoms on the bed, she must have sensed his presence. She turned, then gasped. Her eyes rounded in surprise.

      “Sorry,” he said, lying through his teeth. To his dying day, he’d never regret this moment. Genny Madoc might be a certifiable nutcase, but he didn’t care. Her beauty took his breath away.

      She didn’t scream or try to cover her nakedness. She simply stood there, allowing him to drink his fill. After a couple of minutes, he realized how totally inappropriate his actions were.

      “Genny … I-I’ll wait for you in the living room.” He turned and practically ran down the hall.

      When he reached the living room, he pounded his fist against the wall. “Idiot!” The sight of Genny in all her naked glory flashed through his mind repeatedly. She was small and slender, delicately made. Her skin, the color of light honey, was flawless. Tiny waist. High, round breasts, peaked with dusty peach nipples. Full, tapering hips. A tight, lush butt. And a triangle of jet black hair nestled between her trim thighs.

      Dallas swallowed, then cursed under his breath. He had the hard-on from hell.

      Jim Upton caught his grandson trying to sneak up the back stairs. The boy had been out all night doing only God knew what. Jim hadn’t slept much, worrying about Jamie, wondering just what the hell kind of mischief he’d been up to. Some of his usual nonsense, no doubt. Screwing some two-bit floozie. Drinking himself into oblivion. Gambling away money he’d never earned. Getting into a fight and landing himself in jail or winding up in County General’s ER. Seeing Jamie all in one piece, with no black eyes or broken bones, allowed Jim some momentary relief. More than once these past few years he’d been on the verge of writing the boy off as a lost cause. But Reba would champion their only grandchild to her dying day, no matter what he did.

      Jim walked across the big, modernized kitchen and stopped at the foot of the stairs. “Glad to see you finally made it home.”

      Jamie stopped dead in his tracks. He squared his shoulders and turned to face his grandfather, a silly, aw-shucks grin on his handsome young face.

      “Morning, Big Daddy.” Jamie made his way back down the stairs. “Looks like it’s going to be a right pretty day, despite the foot of snow we got last night.”

      “Got caught in town, did you?” Jim asked.

      Jamie shrugged. His cocky grin widened. “Yeah, something like that.”

      “You could have called. Your grandmother was worried sick about you. And Laura was none too happy that you’d deserted her.”

      “I’ll smooth things over with my ladies. Don’t worry. They’ll forgive me.”

      “Reba will forgive you for anything, but I won’t. You’d better keep that in mind. Sooner or later, you’ll cross the line as far as I’m concerned.”