I wasn’t sure how much longer I could play this game. I knew her muteness was intentional, and in my mind it was a foregone conclusion she would win this staring contest hands down. She was just as stubborn as my wife, which was of no surprise. If genetics played any part whatsoever in such things, she had inherited the family trait honestly. Besides, she also had insanity in her corner, even if it was by proxy. However, even with those almost insurmountable odds stacked against me, I waited, all the while my brain wrestling with my tongue in order to keep it still.
What seemed to be another solid five minutes passed before my grey matter was finally down for the count and I gave in. I slowly shifted in my seat then cleared my throat and said, “You win, Annalise. I’m here, just like you wanted.”
She remained silent and her expressionless stare never left my face.
I waited while several heartbeats thumped out a nervous cadence in my chest. I had questions I desperately wanted to ask, but I knew it was too soon. If I didn’t allow her to open up at her own pace, I’d never learn what I needed to know. And if I showed my cards now, I was fairly certain I would lose any chance of ever finding the answers.
“You’re the one who wanted to talk to me,” I offered. “Remember?”
No change. Not even a flinch. If it weren’t for the intensity of her stare, I would have started wondering if she was even conscious. Of course, I really had no idea exactly who was sitting across the table from me. The body ostensibly belonged to Annalise Devereaux, but for the most part she had relinquished it long ago. Who actually inhabited the flesh and blood shell at this particular moment was anyone’s guess. I had my suspicions that the steadfast gaze was pure Miranda, but I really couldn’t be sure just yet.
Time continued to drag, and the pain inside my skull kept gnawing away at what little patience I still had intact. After another half dozen minutes or so, I purposefully shifted my gaze to the corrections officer in the corner. I was a half second from opening my mouth to tell him I was ready to give up and leave when Annalise’s voice broke the quietude.
I had expected that when she finally spoke, it was likely to be no more than a frail whisper, but what I heard now was far from it. Her comment was direct, and her voice was strong, calm, and even, as she said, “I really do not understand what it is she sees in you.”
CHAPTER 3
The caustic observation certainly wasn’t everything I had hoped for out of this meeting. However, depending on your perspective, hope and expectation can be two completely different things. To be honest, since I hadn’t expected much at all, this was better than nothing. At the very least she was speaking instead of simply staring, and the subtext of her comment was purposely blatant.
I cleared my throat once again, shifted forward in my seat, and then nodded. “Actually, I’ve been asking myself that very question for several years now.”
“I sincerely doubt it,” she replied.
It didn’t matter to me that she was being adversarial. In my mind, the fact that she responded at all was enough to push the dialogue forward. If she wanted to argue, I was willing to oblige.
“And why is that?”
“So you want to play psychologist, I see.”
I shook my head. “No. As I recall, you’re the one with the psych degree, not me. I’m just asking a question.”
She launched an exasperated sigh into the air between us. “Fine, I will play along. I say I doubt it because you are pretending to assume the she I am referring to is your wife.”
“I see,” I answered with a slight nod.
My headache was still raging, not that I’d imagined it would magically subside just because she began to talk. However, the return of the prickling gooseflesh as my skin tightened in a physiological response to her comment had definitely not been on my list of expectations-especially since my stomach was still slowly working its way through the expanded edition of the Handbook Of Knots.
Apparently, this was going to be even harder on me than I thought. I took a moment to bolster my psychic defenses, but I feared I was already too late. Preternatural attacks were like flood waters-once they broke through there was precious little that could stop them, and I had no doubt that I was already bobbing in a dangerous current.
After a short pause I asked, “So, I take it you’re talking about someone else then?”
“Of course. You know full well that I am.”
She was correct, I did know, but I wasn’t going to let on to that just yet. I wanted her to believe she was the one in control of the conversation. Unfortunately, what I wanted really didn’t matter all that much because she actually did have the upper hand, whether I cared to admit it or not.
“Could’ve fooled me…” I said, purposely furrowing my brow. “Care to fill me in, or am I just supposed to make another assumption?”
She cocked her head and gave me a pitying glare. “You are nowhere near as clever as I expected you to be. What happened to the man who tracked me all the way to New Orleans?”
“Which one of you?” I asked. “As I recall I tracked you both.”
“You tell me.”
“I suppose it doesn’t really matter, does it? After all, where one of you goes, so goes the other.”
“For now,” she said.
“Yeah… Okay…” I replied. “So anyway, to answer your question, I’m reasonably sure I’m sitting right here.”
“I am not so certain that is true.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Your pathetic attempt to make me believe you do not know of whom I speak.”
“Maybe I’m just dense.”
“I doubt it.”
I shrugged. “Then maybe you set the bar too high.”
“Do not try to make this about me.”
“Isn’t it though?” I asked. “About you, I mean? You’re the one in control here.”
“No, no, no…” she muttered, shaking her head. “That was clumsy. Ham handed. You are playing this game all wrong.” She lifted her hands above the table as far as the chain on the cuffs would allow. “Besides, if I was the one in control, then you would be wearing these and crawling on the floor at my feet where you belong.”
“Point taken,” I said as I nodded. “But, even though you’re the one who is physically restrained, by the same token you’re in command of the situation. After all, you wanted me here and I showed up. No questions.”
“Do you really think I do not know that you have been trying to arrange this meeting yourself? We both know you wanted it even more than I. And, we also both know you have questions.”
“Okay, you got me. I have questions. But don’t we all? At least I haven’t asked them.”
“Yet,” she spat.
“True.”
“But you want to.”
I shrugged again. “Would you expect any less?”
“I thought we had established that you are already far less than I had expected?”
“Because I don’t know who you’re talking about?”
She shook her head, only slightly, but still enough to be perceptible. “You know exactly who I am talking about. What makes you dim is your belief that you can play stupid with me and that I will buy into it.”
“Maybe I’m not playing.”
“Do not continue to insult my intelligence. Do you really think you can fool me? I know everything you are thinking.”
I steepled my index fingers then tapped them lightly against my pursed lips as I feigned introspection. After a
