“You were in shock and ice-cold. On the way back to the dock, he held you in his arms to warm you.”
“Damn.”
“Megan, you were unconscious. According to what you told me, this particular gift doesn’t usually work unless you’re fully aware and in a high emotional state.”
“Usually. I don’t have that much experience with it. I just don’t know. But I told you, I could hear those murdered children even while I was in a coma. That means every part of my mind was still keyed up and functioning. Maybe that facilitation effect was functioning too.”
“If it was working, then maybe Joe and I are immune.”
“God, I hope so. Your Joe isn’t behaving differently?”
“No. He’s working on a case now. I talked to him on the phone a few hours ago.” Eve tried to smother the sudden flash of anxiety that made her hand tighten on the phone. “Okay, he was a little . . . stiff with Jane when she first came. Maybe a little emotional with me. But he’s been through a hell of a lot in the past few days. I’m not willing to ascribe a slight difference in behavior to your voodoo.”
“Would he talk to you if he had a problem that was off the normalcy scope?”
“He talks to me.” But Joe was the ultimate realist. Would he even admit to himself that he was experiencing something neither real nor acceptable to him? And he hadn’t been able to talk to her this morning about what was troubling him.
“But you’re not sure,” Megan said shrewdly. “Not in this case. I don’t blame you. I don’t blame him. None of the usual rules apply. You question your sanity. That’s the first reaction. After that, I imagine it’s up to the individual.”
“Megan.” Eve had to say it. “I believe that you heard those dead children. It was very difficult for me to come to that conclusion. As you said, it breaks all the rules. But I can’t believe in this facilitation business. I know you do, and I respect you, but I think you must be mistaken.”
“You said that very diplomatically,” Megan said. “It’s only what I expected.” She was silent a moment. “We’ve become friends, Eve. I hoped you might trust me in this. It’s lonely carrying this by myself.”
“We are friends. Friends don’t always agree.”
“That’s true.” She added, “But friends also protect each other, and I have to keep trying to do that. I have to protect you, and I have to protect Joe Quinn.” Her voice vibrated with intensity. “Even if I had no personal feelings for you, I have a responsibility. I won’t let either of you be destroyed by something I did, something I am. Promise me that you’ll keep an eye out for anything out of the normal?”
“Of course.”
“And promise you’ll call me. Don’t keep it to yourself.”
“I’ll call you.”
“Good. I know that was hard for you. You prefer to keep things to yourself.”
“And you don’t?”
“Sure. We have a good deal in common. Maybe that’s why I feel so close to you. Good-bye, Eve.” She hung up.
Yes, and that was why she felt close to Megan, Eve thought as she hung up. They both had a past that cast shadows on their present and had fought through nightmare pain. She hadn’t wanted to tell Megan that she doubted her. Megan was her friend, and that friendship was a rare and special thing in Eve’s life. She led a very solitary existence except for Joe, and, of course, Jane. Megan had almost exploded into her life while they were searching for the remains of a little boy, and they had formed bonds that would be hard to break.
Eve went out on the porch and down the steps to the lake path. Why was she fighting Megan so hard in this? Megan had shown her bizarre and chilling things that had rocked her to her core. Yet Eve found she couldn’t take that final step and swallow all that business about her touch releasing latent psychic gifts. She had rejected it almost instinctively. She should have at least—
________
“You were afraid, Mama.”
Bonnie.
She glanced at the tall pine tree beneath which Bonnie was sitting cross-legged. Same Bugs Bunny T-shirt, her mop of red curls was shining in the sunlight, and her smile was warm and bright. Eve felt a rush of love so intense that she couldn’t speak for a moment. “And how do you know that?” she asked lightly. “There aren’t many things that I’m afraid of, Bonnie.”
“Because you’re not afraid of being hurt or dying. Because you think you’d be happier with me.” She shook her head. “But I keep telling you that can’t happen. We will be together but not for a long time. You have to stay and take care of Joe and Jane. They need you.”
“Lecture number fifty-six.”
Bonnie chuckled. “More than that. You just don’t listen, Mama.”
“You’re either a ghost or a dream. Why should I listen?”
“Because you love me. Because you know I’m right.”
Yes, she loved her. From the moment she had given birth to her, Bonnie had been the center of her life. When her little girl had been taken from her, she had thought her life was over. Then these dreams of Bonnie had begun to come to Eve about a year after she had disappeared. Dream or spirit? During those first years, telling herself these appearances were only dreams was a safety net and kept her certain of her own sanity. Nowadays, she didn’t really care whether her daughter was a dream or a ghost. She was real to her, she was here. “You always think you’re right, young lady.”
