Part 11 (1/2)

' Harrison,' Pen said in a low voice.

'He's been such a sweetheart through all this,' Joyce said.

'Pen,' he said. He looked and sounded somber. He took her hand and patted it. 'I'm so sorry.'

She pulled her hand from his grip.

Harrison turned to Melanie, shaking his head. He picked up her dangling hand and squeezed it. 'A terrible thing,' he said. 'Terrible.'

Joyce said, 'This is Melanie's friend, Dobie.'

'Bodie,' he corrected, and shook hands with Harrison.

The man had a firm grip. He was somewhat taller than Bodie, maybe six-two. He was slim, but he had muscles inside his polo s.h.i.+rt. Bodie squeezed the guy's hand a little harder than necessary. ' Harrison Donner. I'm Whit's law partner and an old friend of the family.'

The old friend of the family must've been pus.h.i.+ng thirty.

'Nice to meet you,' Bodie said, giving his voice some extra force.

The man had a calm, self-a.s.sured quality that wasn't arrogance, but almost.

I'm sure he's a great guy, Bodie thought. A real sport.

He no doubt belonged to the Mercedes outside, though a Porsche seemed more in character.

'Why doesn't everyone sit down and make themselves comfortable?' Joyce suggested. 'I'll get us some coffee.' She went out.

Harrison returned to his place on the sofa. Pen looked around the room until he was seated, then went to the far end of the sofa. Bodie sidestepped to a stuffed chair and sat down. Melanie sat on the carpet at his feet. She rested an arm on his knee. He stroked her arm.

'Have you been to the hospital?' Harrison asked.

'We were just there,' Pen said.

'Joyce and I were there through the operation. I think she's holding up quite well under the circ.u.mstances.'

Melanie's other hand covered Bodie's hand, pressed it gently, and stayed there.

'Were you at the accident?' Pen asked.

He shook his head. 'Joyce phoned me from the emergency room. She'd called you first, but you apparently weren't home and she got your answering machine. She needed someone to be with her.'

'So naturally she called you,' Melanie said.

'You weren't exactly available, young lady. Joyce did, in fact, put a call through to your number in Phoenix to no avail.'

'We were probably already on our way,' Bodie said.

Harrison looked puzzled.

Joyce came in carrying a silver tray. She set it on the table in front of Harrison and began to pour coffee into china cups. When they were full, she inquired about cream and sugar. No takers. She pa.s.sed out the cups. She was shaking enough to make them c.l.i.tter against their saucers.

Taking one for herself, she sat in a chair near Pen's end of the sofa - about as far from Harrison as the furniture would allow.

To Bodie, her choice of seats had a guilty look.

She obviously knew how it must appear to the sisters, finding her here with Harrison.

Bodie felt a little sorry for her.

Harrison resumed his puzzled expression. He directed it at Pen. 'Let me see whether I understand the sequence of events, here. Melanie and her friend were already en route to LA at the time Joyce attempted to call her. Therefore, you telephoned her with the news of the accident last night. So tell me, where have you been since then? You didn't phone? You didn't visit the hospital until this morning? Weren't you at all concerned about your father's condition?'

' Harrison, stop it,' Joyce said.

Pen looked grateful for the support. 'The thing is,' she said, 'I didn't get your message until this morning.' She frowned at Harrison. 'I don't even know why we're discussing this. All that really counts is Dad. I mean, Mel and I don't even know how he got hit.' To Joyce, she said, 'Were you with him?'

The woman nodded.

'We'll get to that in good time,' Harrison went on. 'I'd like to find out how Melanie learned about the accident if you didn't tell her last night.'

'Why are you so concerned about it?' Melanie asked. 'Let's just say that inconsistencies trouble me. I'm an attorney, after all. A good portion of my time is devoted to hunting them out. It's how one goes about discovering the truth.'

'You want the truth?'

Harrison nodded.

'I saw it happen.'

'Oh?'

'In a vision.'

'Let me get this straight. Are we talking ESP, telepathy, that sort of thing?'

'That's right,' Melanie said.

'And this vision of yours prompted you to make the trip?'

'She called here first,' Bodie jointed out. 'n.o.body was home.'

Harrison leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees and gazing at her. 'This is amazing,' he said. 'What time did you experience this vision?'

Melanie shrugged.

'About five till nine,' Bodie answered. 'That would be five till eight, Pacific time.'

Harrison arched an eyebrow and looked at Joyce. 'That's just when it happened,' Joyce confirmed. She was looking a trifle spooked.