Free Web NovelChapter 242: Chapter 242 The Nightmare Returns
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The first night back from the trip, Nancy woke with a gasp.
Cold sweat soaked through her cotton pajama top. Her heart slammed against her ribs like it wanted to break out. The room was dark except for the soft glow of a crescent moon nightlight.
She wasn’t in the master bedroom tonight. She was in Orion’s room, curled up on his little twin bed with dinosaur sheets. He had asked her to stay after dinner. So she did. Simple as that.
The dream still clung to her like wet clothes.
This time, there was someone new in it.
Xander Wood. He showed up at her rushed wedding to Yardley. An old friend of Yardley’s. They used to work together for a while.
The reason Nancy remembered him so clearly was that he had flown in from out of state specifically for their wedding. Stayed for the whole weekend. Smiled a lot. Said all the right things.
But something about him never sat right with her.
In the dream, Xander stood across from her in a cold white hallway.
"Who told you to break up with him?" His voice was flat. Clinical. "You want your mother’s heart transplant to fall through?"
Dream-Nancy froze. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She felt small. Powerless. Trapped.
Nancy jerked awake so hard the bed frame creaked.
"Mommy?" Orion’s sleepy voice cut through the dark. "What’s wrong?"
Nancy blinked hard and forced her breathing to slow down. She turned her head. Orion was sitting up, rubbing his eyes with one tiny fist. His hair stuck up in three different directions. He looked like a messy little teddy bear.
"I’m okay, baby. Just a bad dream. I’m sorry I woke you."
Orion shook his head. "It’s okay. You don’t have to be sorry."
He scooted closer and wrapped his little arms around her waist. His head rested against her chest, right over her still-racing heart.
"If you hug me, you won’t have bad dreams anymore. That’s what Daddy says."
Nancy felt something crack open inside her chest. Warm. Aching. Good.
She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek to the top of his head. He smelled like baby shampoo and clean cotton. Like home. freёwebnovel.com
"Thank you, sweetheart," she whispered. "You’re right. I feel better already."
"Good." Orion let out a big yawn. "Night, Mommy."
"Goodnight, baby."
Within minutes, his breathing evened out. He was asleep again, completely relaxed in her arms. No worries. No nightmares. Just a little boy who trusted his mom to keep him safe.
Nancy stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling. Her mind was still racing.
This wasn’t just a random nightmare. The details were too sharp. Too specific.
Last time, she dreamed about breaking up with Yardley. She saw the text message. The threat about her mother’s treatment. It felt real then. It felt real now.
Now Xander was in the picture. And he was talking about a heart transplant.
Her uncle and aunt had always told her that her parents died in a car accident. Clean. Simple. Tragic but straightforward.
But if Xander was involved, maybe there was more to the story.
Maybe her mother had been sick before the accident. Maybe someone used that against her. Maybe the accident wasn’t an accident at all.
Nancy’s jaw tightened.
She needed answers. But she couldn’t ask Yardley. Not yet.
If she was wrong, she would look paranoid.
If she was right, she didn’t want to drag him into this until she had proof.
She waited until morning.
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The next morning, Nancy dropped Orion off at school.
Kiss on the head, lunchbox in hand, "Love you, be good." She watched him disappear through the doors and then pulled away.
She had somewhere to be.
Twenty minutes later she pulled into a strip mall and climbed the stairs above a dry cleaner.
A brass plaque read Mitchell & Associates, Private Investigations.
The office was small and a little messy. A water cooler in the corner. A dying plant on top of a filing cabinet.
Behind the desk sat a woman in her late fifties, reading glasses on, coffee mug in hand.
She looked up from her laptop and gave Nancy a slow look. Not rude. Just careful.
"Can I help you?"
Nancy sat down across from her. No small talk. No warming up.
"I need to hire you. I need to know what really happened to my parents."
