"Are you reading tonight?" Lucas asked.

"The carnival is open, I'm reading."

"You're tired. Go to bed early, get some sleep."

"I'm fine." She looked at her marked palm, where the imprint of the spider pendant remained, adding, "Dented a bit more, but fine."

"It's dangerous, Sam. You're a target."

"Not until Wednesday or Thursday."

Scowling, he said, "You're the one who warned me not to assume with this bastard. We can't assume he'll play by his own rules, remember? There's nothing to say he won't take someone today or tomorrow."

"Doesn't matter." She looked at him steadily. "All I can do is read. Play what's in front of me. If I'm one of his pawns, then sooner or later he'll show up to make his move."

Jaylene said, "What if you're his queen?"

For the first time, Samantha looked slightly disconcerted. "Chess isn't my game. I don't know enough about it to-"

Lucas said, "The most powerful piece on the board. The queen is the most powerful piece on the board."

She lifted her brows. "I doubt I'm that."

"He went to a lot of trouble to get you here," Lucas told her. "There's something Jay found out a bit earlier about that circus that got into the next town on your schedule ahead of you. Seems the owner was paid-what he thought was an incentive from someone in the town-to cancel their scheduled two weeks off and go to work instead. It was an offer he couldn't refuse." Lucas paused. "The first maneuver to alter the schedule of the Carnival After Dark. Now you explain how Golden was chosen as an alternate town."

"I told you. I had a dream."

"A vision. What was it, Sam?"

She shook her head slowly, silent.

"We need to know, dammit."

"All you need to know is that the dream brought us here. I suggested to Leo that Golden would be the perfect alternative. He igreed. We came here."

Jaylene frowned and said to Lucas, "So that wasn't something le controlled."

His gaze still locked with Samantha's, Lucas shook his head. 'Nothing was left to chance. Nothing. Sam and the carnival are lere because he wanted them to be. Aren't you, Sam?"

From the doorway, triumphantly, Wyatt Metcalf announced, He got paid. Leo Tedesco was paid ten thousand dollars to bring lis carnival to Golden."

Samantha glanced at the sheriff without changing expression, then returned her gaze to Lucas. "Sorry, I thought I mentioned that," she said calmly. "We're also here because Leo was paid what was termed a cash advance to set up in Golden. Bundle of cash and a registered letter, posted from here in town. Supposedly from an anonymous donor who wanted the carnival here for his kids. I'm sure the sheriff has a copy of the letter, or will soon."

Grim, Lucas said, "And none of that alerted you that something shady might be going on?"

"Matter of fact, it did. But, hey, ten grand. I play what's in front of me, remember?" She looked at the sheriff again, this time steadily. "It's not the first time something similar has happened, though the amount was… unusual. And before you start trying to figure out how to arrest Leo for the money, bear in mind that he'd already reported it in last quarter's income records as a cash advance. To the IRS. And sent a copy of the letter to document it. If he'd wanted to hide it, your people never would have found a trace of the money."

The dawning realization on Wyatt's face showed that he hadn't considered that, and his frustration was so obvious that Samantha actually felt a twinge of sympathy.

"Sorry," she said to him. "But as I keep trying to tell you, Leo and the carnival have nothing to do with this kidnapper and his schemes."

"I notice you didn't include yourself in that," Wyatt snapped.

"I seem to be in a different position. For whatever reason, the kidnapper appears to want me here."

Lucas said, "You could have made a different choice. Leo could have pocketed the money or reported it, and the carnival could have chosen another town."

"Yeah, well. There was that dream."

"Why the hell didn't you mention the money before now?"

"She wouldn't have mentioned it now if my people hadn't found it," Wyatt reminded him.

Staring at Samantha, Lucas said, "Well?"

With a shrug, she said coolly, "I had to give the sheriff something suspicious to find, didn't I?"

"Bullshit," Wyatt muttered.

"It kept you occupied and out of my hair, for a few hours at least," she informed him politely.

Lucas had a hunch it was more the former than the latter but didn't question her.

Wyatt sat down at the opposite end of the table from Jaylene, still scowling. To Lucas, he said, "We're two-thirds of the way through your list of kidnappings for the last eighteen months."

"And?" Lucas knew the answer already, but asked anyway.

"And… in about half the cases, the Carnival After Dark was sited within fifty miles of the kidnapping."

"Half."

"Yeah."

"What about the other half?"

"They were farther away, obviously." Wyatt met those steady blue eyes and grimaced. "A lot farther, in some cases. Nearly two hundred miles away, on average."

Samantha asked, "So will you please leave Leo and the rest alone now?"

"Including yourself this time?"

"No. As I believe I've told you before, I never expect impossible things."

"Smartest thing I've ever heard you say."

Lucas sighed. "Enough. Wyatt, stop wasting time on the carnival. And, Sam, if you don't tell me about that dream-"

But she was shaking her head. "Sorry. I saw a Welcome to Golden sign and knew I was supposed to be here. That's all you get, Luke. That's all that matters."

"Maybe," Jaylene said, "that's all we need." She was watching Lucas steadily. "For now."

He shook his head, but said, "That pendant. Wyatt, you don't recall seeing it when you checked out Lindsay's apartment after she was taken?"

"It wasn't there."

"Maybe you missed it."

Wyatt shook his head. "I didn't miss it. It wasn't there, trust me on that. I knew Lindsay was terrified of spiders, so I damned well would have noticed that thing on her nightstand."

To Samantha, Lucas said, "Is Caitlin back at the motel?"

"Yeah. We both thought it would be wise for her to wait for your okay before she started going through Lindsay's apartment. Because if he was there…"

"He might have left some evidence. If we're lucky. Wyatt, we'll need to canvass the building as well as search the apartment. You were there early afternoon on Thursday and didn't see the pendant; Caitlin found it on Sunday morning. Maybe somebody in the building noticed a stranger during that time."

"If we're lucky?" Wyatt shook his head. "Worth a shot, I guess."

Samantha looked at the clock on the wall and rose. "In the meantime, I have to go get ready to open my booth." She started around the table toward the door.

Before Lucas could protest, Wyatt said, "Conning people as usual, huh, Zarina?"

On any other day, at any other time, Samantha probably would have let the jibe pass without protest. But she was tired, her hand hurt, there was a lingering, unpleasant feeling that her head was stuffed with cotton, and she had just about reached the end of her patience with Wyatt Metcalf.

"What the hell is your problem?" she demanded, rounding on him. But before anyone could speak, she added, "On second thought, why don't I find out for myself?"

That was all the warning she gave before reaching out and grasping his shoulder. Hard.