IT WAS past midnight when Jason gave up tossing and turning from side to side and threw back the covers on the perfectly comfortable king-size bed. He hated to admit it but he'd been having difficulties sleeping without Evelyn by his side.

Somewhere in the mansion, a huge mechanical clock was striking every quarter hour with a musical chime but, apart from that solacing sound, the mansion was completely still as the proverbial silence after the storm.

Evelyn had looked so exhausted ...