Cause Of Fear. Robert Ross

      

      NO ESCAPE

      Linda heads up in the elevator. She leans against the back wall, watching the little red numbers tick upward. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12…

      And then the elevator jerks and stops.

      “What the—” Linda says, pressing her floor number, 18, again. The elevator doesn’t budge.

      She punches her floor number again once, then twice, then a frantic machine-gun assault.

      And the elevator door suddenly slides open.

      Linda screams.

      It’s a raging inferno. Her building’s on fire. She can see nothing but flames, and their heat singes her face. The fire makes a roaring sound, and it appears ready to lunge at her, cooking her instantly within the oven of the elevator. In desperation she reaches out and hits the close-door button. The elevator doors mercifully slide shut.

      She hears the gears shudder back to life. But instead of beginning to climb again, the elevator starts to drop. Good, she thinks instinctively. Get me down to the ground so I can get out. Away from the fire!

      But the elevator isn’t descending floor by floor. It’s going far faster than it should be.

      “No,” Linda gasps. “Oh, dear God, no!”

      The elevator drops and begins to plunge…

      Books by Robert Ross

      WHERE DARKNESS LIVES

      DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES

      CAUSE OF FEAR

      Published by Pinnacle Books

      CAUSE OF FEAR

      ROBERT ROSS

      PINNACLE BOOKS

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

      For Diana

      CONTENTS

      PROLOGUE

      CHAPTER 1

      CHAPTER 2

      CHAPTER 3

      CHAPTER 4

      CHAPTER 5

      CHAPTER 6

      CHAPTER 7

      CHAPTER 8

      CHAPTER 9

      CHAPTER 10

      CHAPTER 11

      CHAPTER 12

      CHAPTER 13

      CHAPTER 14

      CHAPTER 15

      EPILOGUE

      AUTHOR’S NOTE

      PROLOGUE

      Linda Leigh suddenly knows what it feels like to be burned alive.

      She awakes to flames. Her room is already consumed, the acrid stink of burning rubber and synthetic fabrics assaulting her more savagely than even the blazing heat. Linda screams for her life, but knows no one will hear her. The fire’s roar is like that of a living creature, an angry beast intent on death, louder than any cry for help she could try to make.

      Only her bed remains untouched by the flames. She pulls her sheets up around her as if they could protect her from the encroaching cataclysm. She watches in horror as her bureau collapses into white-hot embers, her television set melts like butter, her curtains catch fire and explode.

      Linda screams again. Only this time her scream feels artificial, as if she weren’t really screaming at all. She stares out into the flames that dance in seemingly sadistic glee, teasing her with their plumage of orange and gold.

      There’s something out there, she thinks. Something in the flames.

      Even in her terror, she tries to see what it is.

      The shape is dark and shifting, but it is there. Is it a person—the person who set this fire?

      Linda pulls back further behind her sheets as the fire begins to lick her bedposts. She struggles to see. What is out there?

      Something large. Something enormous. Something dark, lurking behind the flames.

      Come, it says.

      Linda gasps. It’s speaking to her, but not with words. With thoughts. Whatever it is, it is communicating with her through her mind.

      Come join me, it calls.

      “Who—who are you?”

      The heat is stronger now, bearing in on her. The fire seems emboldened, invigorated, by the exchange of words. It surges forward, and Linda shrieks.

      Feel the warmth of the flames.

      “Help me!” Linda screams.

      Feel the warmth, the inviting heat…

      “Who are you?” she shouts again.

      Come join me, Linda.

      Linda begins to cry.

      Join me in the flames.

      “No,” she whimpers.

      It is only painful for a moment, and then there is bliss. Such bliss…

      “No,” Linda says again.

      The fire roars in anger now, furious at her refusal. Malevolent sparks hop onto her blankets like little imps, determined to take her. She swats at them, trying to put them out, as if such action mattered when her room was already a living hell.

      She feels the presence in the flames more strongly now. It looms in toward her, a giant shape—not human. No, not human at all. Some kind of creature. Enormous—with arms, or tentacles, or wings—spreading out as if to claim her. It is so close now she can hear its breathing. A shadow passes over her bed.

      You cannot fight me, it tells her. Go ahead. Touch the beauty of my flames. See how they dance? Aren’t they exquisite?

      Her sheets have caught fire now. The conflagration is upon her.

      Linda screams.

      Join me, the thing in the flames says again.

      And just before the fire devours her, Linda sees its face: huge and overpowering, awesome and terrible, with burning eyes and a forked tongue.

      Linda screams again.

      CHAPTER 1

      “What a dream I had last night,” she tells Megan. “I woke up in the morning and my sheets were drenched.”

      Linda reaches for a towel to wrap around herself as they step into the sauna. The heat momentarily troubles her, taking her back to the dream.

      “I dreamed I was burning to death. It was hideous. Worst dream I’ve ever had in my life.”

      “I told you to go slow on those margaritas at the party,” Megan chides. “Birthday or not, sweetie, you ought to know your limit.”

      “I only had two,” Linda tells her. She leans back against the cedar wall, letting the dry heat fill her lungs. “I would never drink too much in front of Geoff. I need to prove I’m a fit mother, after all.”

      “Were you surprised when he gave you the ring?” Megan grabs her hand. “Let me see it again. What a rock!”

      “You bet I was surprised,” Linda says, the diamond sparkling on her ring finger. “What a birthday present, huh? I can’t believe how lucky I am!”

      Little