Murder In Her Dreams (13 page)

He turned to the mail MaryLou had left in the
In Tray. He quickly scrawled his signature on several letters and
initialed the invoices for payment. He glanced through the
correspondence file. MaryLou had tagged a letter from Bob Rantry of
the Chamber of Commerce.
Shall I send the usual refusal?
Ian
stopped and read the letter.

Bob wanted a few volunteers to serve Easter
dinner to the homeless. He started to scribble okay and then
changed his mind and set the letter aside. He would probably let
MaryLou send the refusal, but at least he would consider it
overnight. He had never been able to free up time for volunteer
work in the past, and he wasn’t sure he should start now.

He gazed over at the tapestry on the far
wall. He didn’t go in much for art work, but something about it had
struck a chord. He loved the blues and the wild surge of the water
over the brown rocks.

His grandmother had always loved the sea and
talked of it for hours on end. Ian had loved her tales of St.
Brendan daring the great Atlantic in a hide-covered boat. Odd
boats? Kon Tiki. Thor Hyerdahl. Hyerdahl had started out to prove a
point, but had become increasing strange with his papyrus boat and
the Egyptians as the progenitors of the Mayan pyramids. Some people
never knew when to stop. Like Cassie Blake. Rabbits yet.

He had more important things to do than worry
about killer rabbits. How ridiculous could anyone get? He hit the
resume key on his computer and turned back to the spreadsheet he
had been working on earlier. He did a few calculations, but his
attention wandered.

A pair of frightened blue eyes kept
intruding.

Chapter
Ten

Cassie fumed as she walked from the side
street where she had parked her car to Tula’s Tea Room. It wasn’t
enough that Ian McLeod had dismissed her as a crazy woman and
forcibly escorted her from his office. On top of that, that punk on
the motorcycle had almost creamed her. Her stomach growled,
reminding her she hadn’t eaten lunch yet. Not a good day.

She wanted someone to cheer her up, to tell
her she wasn’t crazy. That meant Tula. No one else understood.

Despite the time, almost one thirty, Cassie
found Tula busy with customers to seat and serve. Cassie saw no
sign of Kinesha, Tula’s plump, cheerful waitress, as she sat at the
usual table near the kitchen and waited for her friend.

A few minutes later, Tula arrived. “Whew,
everyone decided to come for lunch, and Kinesha called in sick.”
She took Cassie’s order and then hurried off.

She returned in five minutes and dropped off
Cassie’s sandwich, but the bell at the front summoned her to seat
another customer. Cassie was halfway through her cheese and sprouts
sandwich before Tula finally had time to join her.

“Sometimes I wonder why I keep this up.” Tula
grimaced at Cassie as she set down a pot of Tula’s Special and two
cups.

“Because you like people, that’s why. I’ve
had a horrible day, too. When things go this bad, you always say
the planets are under Uranus.”

Tula poured the tea and handed a steaming cup
to Cassie. “Interesting you should mention that. I think they are.
What’s happened to you?”

“Uh, I went to see Ian McLeod.” Cassie stared
down at her cup.

Tula nodded. “And he didn’t believe you.”

“Even worse. I spilled coffee all over his
carpet, and he escorted me out of his office with orders not to
come back.”

“You can always offer to pay for cleaning the
carpet.” Tula’s grin made light of the incident.

“Yeah, if I could afford it.”

Tula leaned forward, bright eyes filled with
curiosity. “So, what did you think of him?”

“Well,” Cassie paused as she sought the right
words for Ian McLeod. “He looks as good as he did in my dreams, but
he made me feel like I should have worn a coat.”

Tula cocked her head to one side. “A
coat?”

“If he’d been any colder, I’d have
frostbite.”

“That cold, huh?”

“I guess I didn’t help matters by telling him
about the dreams.” She sighed. “I told you he’d respond just like
Rod.”

“Hey girl, you know the dreams are real.
That’s all that counts.”

“For us, maybe, but what good does it do to
warn someone who refuses to listen to you?”

“Did he?”

“Well, not exactly, not at first. He listened
when I told him about Ellie Latham and then the dreams about him
until I got to the rabbit. He really lost it when I mentioned the
rabbit. After that, he couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.” Cassie
stared at her hands.

“So he threw you out?”

“After the coffee. He didn’t believe me about
that either. Tula, I just couldn’t take the chance. In my dream,
the coffee turned blood red. Maybe I was wrong, but I took that to
mean poison, especially since I saw the cup next to his dead
hand.”

“Yeah, sounds like poison to me. You did the
right thing.” Tula wrapped her long fingers around her cup. “As for
the rabbit, I told you, you need to work out who or what the rabbit
stands for.”

“I just don’t see the connection. I don’t
know anything about Ian McLeod. The rabbit probably means more to
him then it does to me. He told me, in the dream his conscious self
would reject dreams. He did, in a big way.”

Tula shook her head and poured them each more
tea. “So, what’s the next step?”

Cassie bit her lower lip and tried to marshal
her thoughts. “I don’t know. I want the dreams to stop. I warned
him — that should be enough.” She appealed to Tula for
reassurance.

Her friend fingered the gold sun pendant
around her neck. “I’m not certain it is. The rabbit is the key.
With luck, Ian McLeod will heed your warning. If he does, you won’t
have to worry about any more dreams. I guess we’ll have to wait and
see if you dream again, and whether the dream tells us any
more.”

“I hope not.” Cassie shuddered and then
sipped her tea. Gradually, the hot, spicy liquid helped to soothe
her nerves.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. After all the
hassle with Ian McLeod, someone almost creamed me.”

“What?” Tula stared at her as her right hand
gripped her sun pendant. “Are you saying someone tried to kill
you?”

Uncertain, Cassie focused on her almost empty
cup. Tula’s words struck home, but the old man had implied the
cyclist buzzed pedestrians all the time.

“I ... wouldn’t go that far. Some jerk on a
motorcycle almost ran me down after I left McLeod’s office.”

Tula took Cassie’s hand in both of hers.
“Cassie, is there any chance the person threatening Ian McLeod knew
you had gone there to warn him?”

“What?”

Tula’s words shocked her, but she shook her
head. “I don’t see how. I haven’t told anyone except you about the
dreams. I told the receptionist I’d come about taxes. Why would
anyone want to kill me?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” Tula
frowned, her normally smooth forehead a mass of furrows. “You warn
McLeod, and someone tries to run you down. Be careful. It could be
the same person.”

“Great. I try to help McLeod, and I become a
target too. How do I protect myself from someone I don’t even
know?”

Looking thoughtful, Tula fingered the disk of
the sun pendant. “Concentrate on the rabbit. Work out who or what
the rabbit represents, and you’ll have the key to stop him.”

“It sounds easy, but it isn’t,” Cassie
protested. “Dream images aren’t that simple. You know that.”

“Have you turned up anything interesting on
rabbits so far?”

Cassie pulled out her note cards and held
them up. “I know their life history, the sounds they make and when,
how often they mate, the size of their litters, their life
expectancy. Rabbits aren’t rodents, but a separate order all
together.”

Tula waved that aside. “Those are just facts.
Facts are not what you need. Focus more on symbolism.”

Sorting through her notes, Cassie scanned
them for relevant items. Which cultures had regarded the rabbit as
sacred?

“Well the Chinese believed rabbits lived on
the moon and could be used in auguries as omens of the future. They
symbolize the Yin force.”

“That fits.” Tula nodded, her face solemn and
her eyes almost black. “Yin is the dark force.”

“In most cultures,” Cassie continued, “the
hare is associated with fertility and speed. If a hare crossed your
path, it was considered unlucky because witches turned themselves
into hares.”

“I thought it was cats.” Tula frowned.
“Still, we’re getting somewhere. Witches and Yin, eh?”

Cassie sighed, but failed to see how any of
it helped. She had expected Tula to make some sense of the
miscellaneous jumble of information she had uncovered.

“The Teutons believe Eostre, the goddess of
Spring and fertility, created the rabbit, and in gratitude, the
rabbit laid colored eggs each year for her spring festival. The
Egyptians saw the rabbit as a sign defining being.”

“Well the egg bit explains your Easter
customs, but a symbol of being? That’s more interesting.” Tula
stared off into space and tapped her pendant.

The bell at the front rang, and Tula pushed
back her chair. “I’ll be back — don’t go away.” She hurried off,
her orange printed skirt swirling, to seat her new customers.

Cassie poured another cup of tea. Nothing she
had learned brought her any nearer to understanding the dream
rabbit. Instead, the more she discovered, the more puzzled she
grew. According to Tula she had the key, but she had no idea what
it unlocked or how to use it. She studied her tea as if somehow
that brown liquid held the knowledge she so desperately wanted.

By the time Tula returned some fifteen
minutes later with a fresh pot of Tula’s Special, Cassie had
finished her sandwich and her tea. She pushed her empty cup over to
Tula.

Tula poured them each a cup of the steaming,
fresh tea. “I’m sorry that took so long. Now tell me, did you learn
anything else?”

Focusing on her notes again, Cassie sorted
through them. “More of the same. The Hebrews thought rabbits
unclean. Others were more mixed. Rabbits or hares were considered
ambivalent, amoral, or moral, take your choice. Catholic monks
raised rabbits because they could eat them during Lent because they
weren’t regarded as meat.” She sighed as she shoved the cards back
into to her purse. “No help at all.”

“Don’t be too hasty. You’ve mentioned several
things that fit your dreams. Those bits about auguries, Yin, and
witches hang together. I remember you said the rabbit was
evil.”

Cassie nodded. “I thought so. I also sensed
intense hatred.”

“Then the moral ambivalence might fit too.”
Tula tapped her chin, her eyes thoughtful. “Yes, amoral sounds just
like your rabbit.”

“Don’t call it my rabbit. It’s not my rabbit.
It’s Ian McLeod’s rabbit.”

“All right, Cassie, Ian McLeod’s rabbit. I
suspect you may be getting a better picture of the person or thing
the rabbit represents than you realize.”

“How? An augury for what, of what?”

Tula sighed. “I can’t tell you. I don’t have
enough information. The answer may lie in Ian McLeod’s background.
You’ll have to learn more about him.”

“That’s a big help.” Cassie snorted. “After
today, he’ll never want to see me again. Let somebody else deal
with the rabbit. I’ve done all I can for Ian McLeod. He’s on his
own.”

Tula smiled. “Perhaps, perhaps not.”

Reaching down, Cassie picked up her bag.
“I’ve got the late shift today, so I’d better get going. Thanks for
letting me dump on you.”

“That’s what friends are for. Don’t be too
quick to give up. I’m sure the answer will come to you.”

“I’d much rather it went to someone else. I
just want to be left alone. Well, I have to run.” Cassie picked up
her check, and they both rose.

At the cash register, Tula gave Cassie her
change, a thoughtful look on her face. She lifted the sun pendant
from her neck and placed it over Cassie’s head, positioning the
disk in the center of her chest. “I want you to wear this. Light
banishes darkness.”

“Tula,” Cassie gasped, “it’s yours. I don’t
ever remember seeing you without it.” She stared down at the
pendant and then up at her friend.

The unexpected gift pleased, yet also worried
Cassie. Worried her, because the gift implied Tula felt she had
something to fear. That her friend trusted her with something that
had always been such a part of Tula herself amazed Cassie. She
clutched the hard disc as she gazed up at her friend.

Tula patted Cassie’s shoulder. “Right now you
need it more than I do. Please, it will make me feel better if you
wear it. And don’t go out without it, you hear?”

Cassie laughed. “Yes, Mother, I hear.”

Tula smiled back. “We’ll lick this rabbit
yet. May your day be bright, and may you walk in light.”

“With this, I’m sure to,” Cassie
responded.

When she reached the door, she turned and
waved, her left hand clutching Tula’s pendant. Tula grinned and
waved back.

* * * *

Ian had picked Sharon up from her office at
seven, and now they sat in the small dining room of the Adams
Tavern enjoying their before dinner drinks. He sipped his usual
single malt whiskey and leaned back, savoring the smoky flavor of
the amber liquid. He set the glass down.

“This had been one hell of a day. A crazy
woman invaded my office to tell me a rabbit is trying to kill
me.”

“A rabbit?” Sharon stared at him, her hazel
eyes wide.

Ian nodded, keeping his face straight. “She
dreams about me.”

Sharon stiffened as she twined her fingers
around the stem of her martini glass. “I’m not sure I like that.
What kind of a woman was she?”

“Oh the mousy sort, kind of short with long
hair, that sort.”