lizabeth pulled into the driveway of the Santiago home and parked next to the single car garage. As soon as she cracked open the car door, she was hit by a wave of evening heat. The town was furnace-hot this time of year, the ground as hard as pavement except for the irrigated agricultural land that provided most of the jobs in the area.

She glanced at her surroundings, at the perfectly spaced walnut trees in the orchard behind this section of the farm, the endless rows of cotton stretching for miles along the road. The heat worked miracles on produce, but it was hell on the people forced to endure it five months out of the year.

Ignoring the perspiration beginning to dampen the back of her neck, she started toward the narrow cement walkway leading to the small, yellow stucco house.

Maria had called her at home, which she had never done before. Elizabeth was careful of the people she gave her home number to, but in the two years she had been working with Raul, somehow Maria and her brother had become people she particularly cared about, and she was determined to help them.

She thought of the young woman's frantic phone call.

"I am sorry to bother you at home," Maria had said, an edge of panic in her voice, "but I did not know what else to do."

"It's all right, Maria. What is it? What's happened?"

"It is Raul. He called me as he usually does on Friday and I mentioned that Miguel was going to be working all night. He asked me if I was afraid to stay alone and I told him I was. I wish I had lied, but he would have known if I did. He said he was coming over to stay with me until Miguel got home. I tried to talk him out of it, but he would not listen. He is on his way here now."

Elizabeth sighed into the receiver. Leaving the youth farm would have dire consequences for Raul. "Once he gets there, just keep him there. I'll be over as quickly as I can."

Elizabeth hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and car keys, and headed out the door. If Raul was caught AWOL from Teen Vision, he'd be sent back to juvenile hall. Neither Maria nor Elizabeth wanted that to happen.

She was out of the car and walking up the sidewalk when a dark brown Jeep Cherokee pulled up next to her car. Her mouth thinned as Zachary Harcourt got out and closed the driver-side door. Annoyance warred with a funny little tug in the pit of her stomach.

He caught up with her at the bottom of the front porch steps. "I gather we're both here for the same reason."

"I suppose so. Raul?"

He nodded.

"I'm not sure he's here yet. I take it he's not at the farm."

"He was earlier. Turned up missing just after supper."

She glanced in that direction, but the youth farm was too far away to see. "Maria called to tell me he was coming. I was afraid if he left he'd get caught."

"Sam's closing his eyes to this for the moment. But I've got to get Raul back before Sam's patience wears out. Let's go see if he's in there."

Elizabeth didn't move. "There's no need for you to trouble yourself. If he's there, I can bring him out to the farm."

"Sorry. This is my problem as much as yours. Let's go."

He didn't give her time to argue, just started up the steps of the little front porch and she fell in beside him. She wanted him to leave, to tell him he didn't need to interrupt his evening with Lisa, but like it or not, he had a point. Raul was missing from Teen Vision and that made it Zach's problem as well as her own.

He firmly rapped on the door and a few seconds later, Maria pulled it open. Her eyes widened when she saw a man she didn't know standing next to Elizabeth.

"It's all right," Elizabeth said. "This is Zachary Harcourt. He's come to take Raul back to the farm."

Maria looked around, uncertain if she should admit her brother was inside.

"Raul isn't in trouble," Zach told her. "Not yet. That's why I'm here—to make sure he gets back before he is."

Maria opened the door and stepped out of their way. "He is here."

Zach waited for Elizabeth to go in ahead of him and as soon as she walked into the living room, she spotted Raul on the sofa. He shot to his feet the moment he saw them, and Elizabeth recognized the belligerent look on his face. She had seen it before and seeing it now did not bode well for Raul.

"My sister is frightened. I am not leaving her alone in this house."

Zach spoke before she had the chance. "If you don't go back with me tonight, Raul, they'll return you to juvenile detention. You can't protect your sister while you're locked up in there."

The boy's black eyes darted from Zach to Elizabeth and she could read the turmoil there. "I have to stay. She is my sister and she is afraid."

"You cannot stay!" Maria practically shouted. "This is the chance you have been waiting for. You must go back before it is too late!"

Raul just shook his head.

Elizabeth glanced between the two siblings, focused her attention on the brother. "It's all right, Raul. I'll stay with Maria." As the words spilled out, it occurred to her that perhaps it was a good idea. When nothing happened in the house tonight, maybe the girl would concede the possibility that her ghost might not exist and return to her sessions with Dr. James. "If it's all right with Maria."

"You do not need to stay," Maria said. "I am fine here by myself."

"Your brother is afraid you'll be frightened. If I'm here, you won't be."

Maria swallowed, glanced nervously toward the open bedroom door. "I called my friend, Isabel, but she was…expecting company tonight. I shouldn't have told Raul."

"It isn't a problem for me to stay, Maria. Really."

Raul stared at her and all his bravado deflated like a pinpricked balloon. "You would stay?"

"I think it's a good idea, don't you?" She managed a smile. "Maybe I'll see Maria's ghost."

Maria looked up at her and hope sparked in her jet-black eyes. "Sí, maybe you will see her. Then you will not think I am crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy and neither does Dr. James." She caught herself before she launched into another fruitless discussion about anxiety. "But if I happen to see your ghost, of course it would make a difference."

Maria turned to Zach. "Do you believe in ghosts?"

The edge of his mouth faintly curved. "I suppose I would if I saw one."

Very diplomatic, Elizabeth thought with a trace of humor. Maybe he really did have the finesse it took to make a good lawyer.

"Maybe Ms. Conners will see one tonight," Maria said.

His mouth curved even more. Such a sexy mouth. Something warm and completely unwanted slid into the pit of her stomach.

"Perhaps she will." Zach looked over at Raul. "I think it's time for us to go."

The boy hung his head and nodded.

"Go get in the car. I'll be right there."

"I am sorry for the trouble I caused."

"It's all right. You were trying to take care of your family. I can understand that. We just need to work things out so that you won't have to do it again." Raul headed for the door, and Zach cast a meaningful glance at Elizabeth. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

She would rather he just left, but he had work to do just as she did. By the time she joined him on the porch, Raul was sitting in the passenger side of the Jeep. Zach reached over and closed the front door behind her. His arm brushed hers, and a little tremor of awareness went through her.

"You need to get Maria to tell her husband what's going on. Once he understands what's happening, they can work it out so she's not alone."

"I've tried. She won't do it. He's not exactly the understanding type, if you know what I mean. He's ten years older, one of those macho types. Maria doesn't think he'll believe her and it'll only make him mad at her."

"Then you're going to have to do it. It isn't fair to Raul to carry this burden by himself. At any rate, I don't know what other choice you have—aside from staying over every time her husband goes out of town."

"Fortunately, that doesn't happen very often. But you're right. He ought to be told." She turned, trying to think of a way to approach Miguel, and felt Zach's hand on her arm, turning her to face him.

"About this afternoon…I was wrong. I should have been more honest. I apologize for what happened."

Her mouth tightened. She drew her arm away, trying to ignore the heat of his fingers that remained. "Doesn't matter. Like you said, it was only lunch."

"Yeah, only lunch."

She started to turn away, but Zach's deep voice stopped her.

"It's over with Lisa. I'm not going to see her anymore."

"Why not?"

"Let's just say she's not my type."

She took hold of the doorknob.

"I just wanted you to know," Zach said.

Elizabeth turned the knob and pushed open the door. "Well, now I know." She walked inside and closed the door.

* * *

Zach drove Raul back to Teen Vision.

"Thanks, Zach." Raul cracked open his door as Zach turned off the engine in the parking lot. "I really appreciate what you did for me tonight."

"Sam did it, not me. But I'll tell you, Raul, those breaks come few and far between. Don't expect another one."

He nodded. "Do you…think you might talk to your brother about the house?"

That was a joke. Like talking to Carson would do an ounce of good. "Let's just see how Ms. Conners does in the house tonight. Maybe she can help Maria figure out what's going on." If anything really was, which he sincerely doubted.

Still, with the crazy stuff that happened in the world today, anything seemed possible.

"I like Ms. Conners."

A memory of her standing next to him on the porch sent a ripple of heat into his groin. It was crazy. Every time he saw her, his attraction to her grew. "So do I."

Unfortunately, she's never been too keen on me.

"I hope she sees the ghost."

Zach grinned. "So do I." He could imagine the look on Liz Conner's face if there actually was a ghost.

"You'd better get going," he said. "Sam is already worried enough." Which was true, though Zach had phoned as soon as they'd gotten in the car to tell Sam he was bringing Raul back to the farm.

Raul nodded and climbed out of the car. "See you tomorrow."

"I'll be here." Zach restarted the engine. "I'll expect to see you, hammer in hand."

Raul smiled for the first time that night. Then his smile slowly faded and Zach figured his earlier concern for his sister had returned.

Maybe Liz's being there would help. Zach hoped so.

Though he didn't think it likely she would see Maria's ghost.

* * *

"I'll sleep in here on the couch," Elizabeth said to Maria, who, now that Elizabeth had agreed to stay, worried that the accommodations wouldn't be good enough. Earlier, Maria had insisted on fixing her something to eat, which was fine by Elizabeth, who discovered she was ravenously hungry. She hadn't finished her meal with Zach at The Ranch House and been too busy to get anything since.

After a delicious dinner of leftover chile verde, homemade tortillas and Spanish rice—and an agreement that from now on Maria should call her Elizabeth—they retired to the living room to settle in for the night.

"You could take the bed," Maria said, "but I do not have an extra pair of clean sheets."

"The couch is fine. It actually looks pretty comfortable."

Maria studied the brown, overstuffed sofa and bit her lip. "There are two bedrooms but the other one is empty. We are saving to buy a crib for the baby, but we don't have enough money yet. I have a very nice quilt that belonged to my mother. I will put it over the sofa. And you can borrow one of my nightgowns."

Elizabeth changed out of the khaki pants and sleeveless yellow blouse she'd been wearing when Maria had phoned, into the ankle-length pink nylon nightgown the younger woman loaned her. They were about the same height so the length wasn't a problem, and it wasn't so sheer her modesty was at stake.

"It is too tight for me right now," Maria said a bit shyly. "But soon I will be able to wear it again."

"I know you must be excited with the baby so close."

"Sí. I cannot wait to have a child of my own. That is why I am so afraid. The ghost…she said they will kill my baby if I stay."

Elizabeth walked over and lightly touched Maria's shoulder. The young woman had also changed into a nightgown, her feet bare beneath the hem, which fluttered in the current of air coming from the room air conditioner in the window. There was only one unit in the house. Even with the machine running full-blast, the house was on the warm side of comfortable.

Certainly it couldn't account for the awful chill Maria had mentioned.

"You mustn't worry, Maria. Everything's going to be fine." They sat down on the sofa together and Maria used the TV tuner to flip through the few channels they received on the little thirteen-inch TV sitting on a table against the wall.

"Not much on," Elizabeth said. "It's getting late, anyway. Why don't we just go to bed?"

Maria yawned and nodded. "That is a good idea." She turned toward the bedroom and started walking but her steps slowed as she approached the open door.

Sensing the young woman's nervousness, Elizabeth walked up beside her and peered into the room. "I've got an idea. There's a comfortable-looking chair in the corner. I'm not really sleepy yet. Why don't I sit in here for a while, until you fall asleep? Maybe I'll see the ghost."

Not much chance of that, but her presence would probably put the girl at ease enough to sleep.

"Oh, sí, that is a very good idea. Perhaps she will come. You are sure you would not mind?"

"Not at all."

Maria yawned again as she slid between the sheets. In the thin stream of moonlight slanting in through the window, Elizabeth noticed how exhausted the young woman looked. The shadows beneath her eyes seemed even more pronounced, the hollows in her cheeks sunken a little deeper. Maria closed her eyes and it didn't take long until she was deeply asleep.

Sitting in the chair, Elizabeth waited a while, not wanting to wake her, feeling a little bit groggy herself. She rested her head against the upholstered back and didn't realize she had fallen asleep until an odd sound penetrated her conscious.

It was an eerie sort of creaking, probably just the house settling a little, she figured. It came a second time, more distinctly than before, and her heart kicked up. Footsteps on the floor in the living room! Her pulse increased another notch. Someone was in the house!

The door leading into the living room stood open. Easing out of her chair, she crept silently in that direction, wishing she had some sort of weapon. She flattened herself against the wall, then eased forward until she could peer into the other room. There was no lamp on, but enough light seeped in through the break in the curtains to see that no one was there.

Her heart was clattering, slamming against her ribs. Maybe whoever it was had gone into the kitchen or other bedroom. She thought of waking Maria, but she was beginning to think she had only imagined the sound. Still, she needed to know for sure.

As quietly as possible, she checked the little bathroom next to the bedroom, then made her way into the living room, crossed to the second bedroom, and opened the door. Again, the room appeared empty. She checked the closet. Nothing. Then she went into the kitchen.

The back door was locked. The front door as well. There wasn't a soul in the house. No one but her and Maria. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was only her imagination.

Amazing what the power of suggestion could do!

Feeling like a fool, she decided it was time she actually went to bed and started toward the sofa in the living room. She had taken only a couple of steps when the wind began to howl, the oddest sort of low, pain-filled moaning she had ever heard. It seeped beneath the door, seemed to slither over the windowsill. Goose bumps rose on her skin and a chill slid down her spine.

Taking a breath to slow her heartbeat, determined not to make a fool of herself again, she walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains. The night was dark, just a sliver of moon, and not a leaf on the chinaberry tree in the yard was moving. Not a branch, not a flower in the beds beside the front porch.

She opened the front door and looked out. The hot, dry night air crept into the living room, but there wasn't a hint of breeze to propel it.

Elizabeth closed the door with an unsteady hand and turned the lock, securing the place once more. The moaning had stopped. But the eerie feeling it left in the house remained. The air conditioner hummed quietly in the living room window. She turned back toward the bedroom, walked the short distance to the door.

Maria was still asleep, lying on her back in the middle of the bed, the plain white sheet drawn up beneath her chin. It was comfortable where Elizabeth stood, but the minute she stepped through the door of the bedroom, she felt a chill so cold, so viciously freezing, her breath caught in her lungs. She gasped, began to breathe faster, trying to get enough air. She moistened her lips, which were freezing cold and rapidly turning numb.

Dear God, what was happening?

She started to shiver, wrapped her arms around herself as her gaze frantically scanned the room, looking for some explanation. She turned toward the bed, saw Maria moving restlessly beneath the sheet, curled now into a ball against the icy chill, her eyes twitching beneath her quivering eyelids.

Elizabeth tried to control the fear gnawing at her insides, bit down on her trembling lip as her teeth began to chatter. Her heartbeat roared. She tried to tell herself that no one was there in the house and she was safe. But something unexplainable was happening. Something frightening.

And she was afraid.

For the first time, she understood why Maria had been so frightened. Understood that this wasn't just happening in the young woman's mind.

The chill moved away from the bed, away from where she stood shaking next to the nightstand, but it seemed to Elizabeth that the cold remained there in the room, hovering like an invisible force somewhere near the corner.

A fresh rush of fear slid through her. She thought again of waking Maria, but she couldn't seem to make herself move.

Then she noticed the smell. Thick and heavy. Sickeningly sweet. A cloying odor that only vaguely mimicked the scent of roses. It felt sticky on her skin, sticky in her throat as she breathed in the fetid air. Her chest squeezed, clamped down, and suffocating feeling overwhelmed her.

Her gaze shot to the bed. Maria had awakened. She was lying there on her back, her eyes wide-open, a trembling hand at her throat as she stared at Elizabeth in terror. She made a whimpering sound, and it was the catalyst Elizabeth needed to force herself to move.

The instant she did, she felt the change. The air began to thin and she could breathe more easily. The temperature in the bedroom slowly began to return to normal. The smell disappeared as if it had never been there, leaving only the faintest trace of rose perfume. By the time she reached the bed, even that had faded.

"Maria! Maria are you all right?"

The girl's eyes filled with tears. "Did…did you see her?"

"No. I didn't see anything, but—"

"She was here. I know she was."

"Maria," she said gently, sitting down beside her on the bed. "Something happened here tonight. I heard the noises. I felt the chill. Something is going on and I admit it was frightening, but I don't believe it has anything to do with a ghost."

"I tell you she was here."

"Did you see her?" she asked gently.

"No. I have only seen her once. But I could feel her. She was here. She came again to warn me."

Elizabeth managed a smile. "I'm glad I was here tonight. Now I understand your fears and I think at least part of what is happening is real. We just need to find out what's going on."

Maria looked up at her, her face pale in a faint ray of moonlight streaming in through the part in the curtains. "What do you mean?"

Elizabeth reached over and turned on the lamp beside the bed. The soft glow dispelled the last remnants of whatever had been in the room.

"You live on a farm. There are animals and plants all around you. They use fertilizers in the soil and spray the air with chemicals and pesticides. Perhaps something was done to the house. Maybe they put something in the ground before the house was built. I'll speak to Mr. Harcourt, see if he knows what it might be. We'll figure this out, Maria. It'll just take a little time."

"I want to move away. I don't want to stay here."

"We'll work this out, I promise. In the meantime, I'm going to speak to Miguel."

Her eyes flew wide and she opened her mouth to protest.

"I won't mention the ghost. I'll just tell him what happened while I was here tonight. I'll tell him you're frightened and that I was frightened, too. I'll ask him to make sure you aren't left here alone at night."

"If there is something wrong with the house, why does it not happen in the daytime?"

Good question. "Maybe it does, but in the daytime, you're too busy to notice. Does this happen every night or just once in a while?"

"Just once in a while. But each night I am afraid it will happen again."

"But it doesn't happen when Miguel is here?"

"Sometimes he is here, but he does not wake up."

"Well, maybe he's just too tired to notice." Elizabeth released a breath into the now quiet house. "I suppose we should try to get some sleep."

Maria nodded. "Sí, I guess we should." She stared at the rumpled white sheets on the bed. "Only I am no longer sleepy."

Elizabeth followed her gaze, thinking of the frightening things that had happened in the room. "Neither am I. Why don't we see what's on TV?"