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first
cousin."
    He shrugged.
"Am I supposed to know who he is?"
    "You do
in a way." Her fingers tightened on the stem of her glass. "You
watched his telecast this afternoon."
    " The Whole Story ?"
    "That
would be the one."
    "What the
hell? Is that why you sought me out?" His roar turned heads. "To get
a story for a televised rag?"
    Embarrassed by
the unwanted attention, she shrank into her seat. "No, of course not. I
told you why. That Skelly did the story on your daughter's disappearance was
coincidence." From his glare she didn't figure he believed her, but she
went on. "It was how I recognized her."
    He lowered his
voice. "I thought you were inside her. That you didn't see her. Or did
Cheryl conveniently look at herself in a mirror on the way out of our
house?"
    Keelin shook
her head. "I had no idea of what she looked like until a few hours ago.
The bracelet – the strands of leather with magical charms. I saw it on her
wrist in my dreams and then again on the studio monitor while I was waiting for
Skelly. That's how I put it together. I had no idea of who the girl in my head
was until that moment, I swear."
    Tyler appeared
to be bursting with accusations or questions – she didn't know which – but the
waiter delivering their meals held either off.
    Keelin didn't
have much success eating her pasta creation bursting with fresh, barely cooked
vegetables and judiciously sprinkled with herbs. Tyler, however, wolfed down
his rare steak like a man possessed. Tension sizzled along her nerves. Keelin
hated the feeling. Unlike her more easily inflamed sister Flanna, she wasn't
one to thrive on arguments and stress. If she had a choice, she would pick
herself up and walk away from the whole situation, never to look back.
    But she had no
choice. She had Cheryl Leighton to find.
    "Why are
you doing this?" Tyler suddenly asked.
    "A
fourteen year old girl is in trouble." And Keelin couldn't, wouldn't, turn
her back on the daughter, no matter how the father felt about her.
    "You said
something about personal reasons before."
    "Yes, I
did."
    "If you
want me to believe you, you'll have to tell me more. Be totally honest."
    Lies. All lies...
    Why did he do it? Why? Now that I know, everything is
ruined...
    Keelin's head
spun with the remembered fragments of her dreams. Cheryl had to have been
thinking of her father. Who else?
    Careful as to
how she framed her response, Keelin asked, "Have you always been so
honest? Would you reveal every detail of yourself to anyone who would ask? For
that fact, would you be completely truthful even with your own daughter?"
    She'd
definitely hit an open nerve. Tyler's complexion paled. His skin appeared
almost gray, Keelin thought, realizing she was far from happy for hitting her
mark. Her discomfort grew when his gaze meshed with hers and she recognized the
pain that went deeper than his eyes, perhaps all the way to his soul. She had
intimate knowledge of that kind of pain, and she respected its right to remain
private.
    Chagrined, she
said, "I'm sorry."
    Slowly, he
nodded. "But you had a point."
    "I wish
you could take me on faith."
    "Let's
say, I continue to give you the benefit of my doubt."
    "As long
as that means I don't have to do this on my own."
    He sat back
and stared. "I don't get you."
    "You
needn't."
    Keelin could tell
Tyler Leighton didn't particularly like puzzles, especially ones he couldn't
solve. She guessed he was a man who would pick away until he came up with a
solution. Hopefully, she wouldn't be around him long enough for him to lay her
open.
    "Let me
tell you about the dreams," she suggested.
    Keelin spent
the next quarter of an hour replaying them both to the best of her ability,
giving Tyler every visual detail she remembered. Holding back on Cheryl's
thoughts because she didn't want to sound accusatory. Because she didn't want
to sharpen his pain. Besides, whatever had happened between father and
daughter, he already knew. And it was none of her business. Tyler and Cheryl
would