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.She did so, checked the details, and passed out business cards to a couple of hotel people who might send her some future business.Out in the parking lot a small crowd had gathered around a Jeep and Sam immediately saw a woman down on the ground.It was Charlie, the one who’d helped with the doors earlier.She veered over to see what was wrong.Charlie was sitting up, rubbing at her head and conversing with one of the women who appeared to be a doctor.She fidgeted, wanting to stand up, so Sam extended a hand to help her.Immediately, a surge of energy flowed down Sam’s arm.Charlie felt it—Sam could tell.But she didn’t say anything.The group began to disperse and Charlie caught up with her on the way back to the Subaru.“How did you do that?” she asked.“I had a bump on the back of my head and now it’s hardly there.”Sam thought of what Zoe said about how much better her aching legs felt after she’d touched them.And what Darryl said about not broadcasting this.whatever it is.“I guess it’s just a healing touch,” she said.“I’m glad you’re okay.”She got into the car and waved at Charlie as she drove off.Now she had something else to worry about.How would she continue to answer questions like this?Chapter 20The drive back to Taos went by in a blur.Sam basically had to make her mind a blank, except for watching the other traffic, in order not to go completely nuts.She couldn’t let herself dwell on the fact that she was now probably a felon for breaking into Bart’s house and taking the envelope.And she couldn’t begin to fathom what was going on with this whole ‘healing touch’ ability that she now seemed to possess, mainly on the days she handled the strange wooden box.All she wanted to do was bake and sell beautiful pastries to make people’s lives a little happier.She didn’t want to deal with a lot of mysterious stuff in her life.She approached Taos in the middle of the town’s little rush hour.Since Zoe’s house was on her way home, it would be the perfect time to trade cars, if she was back from her own errands.Sam pulled into the drive that led to the back of the property, noting a couple of guest cars parked in the front.She could see Zoe, alone, through the lighted kitchen window so she tapped once and walked in, holding up her car keys.“Hey there, you’re back,” Zoe said.They exchanged a few tidbits of catch-up news: she had two couples for the night but they’d walked down to the plaza for dinner at one of the nearby restaurants.“Oh, I meant to ask you,” Zoe said.“What on earth were you doing with deathcamas in your truck?”“What?” Death something?She held up a slack plastic grocery bag.“This was in your truck.I’ll admit that I peeked.”The plant that Sam had found at the Anderson place.Cantone’s place.“I was going to ask if you knew what it is.It’s a peculiar shade of green.”“It’s poisonous.Highly toxic to livestock and it grows wild around here.”“I found it at one of the houses I cleaned this week.” Might as well admit the strange phenomena.“When I finished cleaning I saw residue of green all over the kitchen.”Zoe raised an eyebrow.“This is not something that should be in anyone’s kitchen.It can kill you.Not that a person would normally eat it.According to the books, it’s very unpalatable, and it would take multiple doses.But cows and sheep sometimes get into it in grazing pasture.The results aren’t pretty—vomiting, frothing, convulsions.”“Whoa.” A chill coursed through Sam.“I better take this to the sheriff.”“If you found it inside a house where a man died, yes, I’d do that.”Sam picked up the bag gingerly.Driving the two blocks to her house she couldn’t shake the creepy feeling as Zoe’s words came back to her.Her dashboard clock told her it was 6:31 when she pulled into her driveway.There was no way she could meet Beau’s mother in her current state, so she rushed inside, washed up and put on her favorite orange-gold top that Zoe claimed brought out the amber in her eyes.Kelly approved, Sam could tell.Ever since their little come-to-Jesus talk the other night, her daughter’s sullenness had gone away.They headed north of town, following Beau’s directions, and passed through El Prado watching for the turn.A winding lane took them to the fenced twenty acres he’d described.Sam slowed, looking for the log pillars and carved lintel that comprised the entry [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]