I swore he counted to three before letting go. But then he reached out and patted my back, the kind of “there, there” comfort you give a child who has scraped her knee, and I had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing through my tears.

“Thank you,” I said when I could manage a straight face, and he nodded, obviously relieved that he’d done the right thing. Also glad it was over.

“If it’s her, I’ll deal with that,” he said. A wry twist of a smile. “She can’t hurt me anymore.”

I threw my arms around his neck. He stiffened in alarm. I gave him a fierce squeeze, careful to keep my embrace even shorter than his. But when I went to pull away, he hugged me back, and by the time I realized that, it was too late to stop withdrawing. He felt my hands falling away and quickstepped out of my embrace, and by then the moment had passed and…

The moment passed. There was nothing more to be said. It always passed.

I took a deep breath and shone my light around. “This is silly. There’s obviously not going to be a working phone in the fun house.”

Gabriel shook his head. “Something drew you here.”

“Did it?” I threw up my hands, penlight beam pinging over the walls. “Maybe I’m using my visions as an excuse to knock off work for a while because…”

Because of this morning. Because I don’t want that bitch to be Seanna, and I’m afraid, I’m really, really afraid, she might be.

“Between your parents’ appeal and our normal workload, you haven’t had a day off in weeks,” Gabriel said. “You’re tired, and you need a break. I propose that we agree—both of us—to take this weekend off.”

“Uh, didn’t you tell me not to make plans because you needed me?”

“I only asked if you had the weekend clear.”

“And then said to keep it clear.”

“Yes…” He seemed to flounder before coming back with, “Because you need to rest. Ricky is away, so you won’t have plans with him, and I would suggest you don’t make any plans at all. In fact, I insist on it.”

“Okay…”

“You will rest. All weekend. That’s an order.”

“Uh-huh…”

“For now, though, you will explore this fun house.”

“Which is also an order?”

“No, it’s a very strong suggestion, backed by the warning that I’m the one with the car keys, and if I stay here, you’ll be stranded.”

“We’re already stranded, remember? You can’t drive your car until the air bags are reset.”

“Good, then that’s settled.” He waved down the dark hall. “Onward.”

CHAPTER SIX