Music to Die For by Radine Trees Nehring Page B

fall in a heap on the floor. Before 1:30, Carrie McCrite was sound asleep.
     

Chapter VIII
    A fire engine raced through the night, its siren a jerky jangle of irritating noise. Carrie ran toward it, stumbled, and then ran again. She had to reach the fire engine, but it was going too fast, going away. She had to tell them something, what was it? The bells were so loud... tell them... fire!
    Then she was aware that she was no longer running. She was lying down, and the ground was soft. She couldn’t feel any rocks.
    She opened her eyes. The noise didn’t stop, though the fire engine was gone and she was in her motel bedroom.
    Carrie blinked and turned her head to stare at the telephone by her bed. It rang once, twice and, thank goodness, was silent. Bright sunlight filtered through the draperies, illuminating the telephone—and her travel clock.
    Oh, oh. Oh, no . 8:30? She was sure she’d set the alarm last night or, it had been this morning, hadn’t it? Yes, she had set it for seven; there were important things to do. She must have turned the thing off without waking.
    Then it all came back—the child, the dead man, the fire. She sat up slowly, pushed her pillow against the headboard, leaned back, and thought about a little girl who had spent the night with strangers. She shut her eyes again, listening in the silence for ideas about what action to take today. She already had plans, but were they the best she could do?
    For a moment she thought about what it would be like if she hadn’t followed the Masons last night.
    She could lie in bed peacefully, looking forward to three carefree days with Henry and the Stacks. No dark shadows. No worries. She wouldn’t be planning for anything but a good time.
    She shoved the dreams aside and began thinking about Dulcey Mason and Farel Teal. Once again, Carrie McCrite had become part of the darkness of murder and, this time, kidnapping. She guessed that meant she was supposed to help. That was why she had followed the Masons last night. Probably, she thought, that’s even why I’m here. Eyes still shut, she forced herself to pray about following God’s direction and about loving her neighbors, every one of them.
    At first it wasn’t easy. She was just beginning to feel a familiar peace when the brrrring noise began again.
    Carrie sighed and this time she reached for the phone.
    Beth sounded testy. “Oh, did I wake you up, your royal highness? For goodness sake, I thought you got up with the chickens. You said to meet you here at eight. Too bad, it’s almost nine and I’ve eaten. Got to get on the road. I did keep calling. I was beginning to worry.”
    Good glory! She and Beth had planned to meet at the Folk Center’s Iron Skillet restaurant for breakfast before Beth started home to Spavinaw County.
    “Oh, Beth, I am so sorry. I was out with the Masons later than I expected last night and….”
    Oops, she’d already opened her mouth and said too much. Now she was in for it with questions from Beth, especially after her actions at the dinner last night. Following the Masons like she did would have seemed downright weird to anyone who took much time to think about it, and, spending time with the Masons, with such famous people, how could she explain why they’d even noticed her?
    Fortunately Beth wasn’t much of a thinker.
    “Well, you’ve missed all the excitement and seeing every cop in Stone County here this morning. Someone, a man, was actually killed here last night. Right here in the craft grounds! Everyone’s talking about it.” Now Beth sounded like she was gloating.
    “How awful, who was killed?”
    “Oh, no—not going to tell you one word more about it now. Get dressed, Carrie. I’ll eat another biscuit and wait for you here. But hurry, I do need to start for home.”
    That was Beth. She had an exciting story and exclusive news to share, so she would delay her trip.
    “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
    She almost made it. The big schoolroom clock