Quinn

“Joe.”

“Sorry.” He lifted the pressure, and the car slowed. “You’re right, we don’t want to go off the road into the bayou. Hell, I can’t even see the side of road in this muck.”

“Then just crawl along. I allowed extra time when I told Catherine we’d be there in forty minutes.” She glanced out the thick white nothingness beyond the window. Every now and then, she’d catch a glimpse of the twisted branch of a tree jutting out of the bayou, but almost immediately it was gone. “But I wish this fog would go away. It’s really eerie.”

“You think so?” Joe shook his head. “I was thinking it was kind of… comforting.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. Why?”

“I don’t know.” He thought about it. “Or maybe I do. Before I came out of that coma, it was like this. It was like a soft blanket of fog that I was traveling through. Only it was dark and glowing, not this white mist. But I knew where I was and where I was going, and I wasn’t afraid. The fog around me felt warm and it somehow…” He searched for words. “… filled my heart. I could occasionally see something jutting out of the fog, but nothing was clear. Except you, Eve. ” He added simply, “And Bonnie.”

Her throat was suddenly tight. “And there’s nothing frightening about either one of us.” She reached out, and her hand clasped his on the steering wheel. “Because we love you.” She laughed shakily. “But I don’t believe that this particular fog is warm and comforting. And I’ll definitely disagree if you end up by dumping us in the bayou. I don’t care for either swamps or bayous. It makes me remember-” She inhaled sharply, her body stiffening.

His gaze flew to her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I saw something.” She turned in the seat, her gaze on the fog-shrouded bayou. “Someone.”

“A fisherman?” Joe asked. “Those would be the only people I’d think might be out in weather like this. Was he in a boat?”

“No. Maybe. I only caught a glimpse-” But that glimpse had startled her. “And it wasn’t a man. Or I guess it could have been, but I got the impression- Pull over, Joe!” Her gaze was fixed on the bayou just ahead. “Now.”

“Why?” He was frowning as he pulled over to the side of the road. “You think there’s someone in trouble?”

“No,” she whispered. “Not any longer.” She hopped out of the car and ran to the edge of the road, her gaze fixed on the billowing mist hovering over the water. “She’s not in trouble. That’s all over.” Her eyes were straining to catch another glimpse of that small figure moving slowly through the fog. No, she had vanished as quickly as she had come.

“It’s Bonnie. But why is she here? And why didn’t she come closer? This isn’t like her. She’s acting as if she’s-” A ghost, a spirit, a mystery from the mist. Not like her Bonnie. Her daughter had always been so real when she came to her that Eve had felt as if she could reach out and touch her, hug her.

“Bonnie?” Joe had come to stand beside her, his gaze on Eve’s face. “Are you sure? We were just talking about her. You could have been thinking about Bonnie and it translated thought into-”

“Imagining that I saw her?” Eve finished. “No, I did see her. That first glimpse could have been imagination, but then I saw her again as we rounded that curve. She was right there before me. I saw her face.” She gestured at the bayou. “She was there, Joe. You didn’t see her?”

He shook his head. “Not this time, Eve.”

She shook her head in frustration. “I tell you, she was there. ”

“I’m not questioning you about anything concerning Bonnie,” he said gently. “I’m far beyond that, Eve. If you say you saw her, then she was here. I’m only saying that I didn’t see her. I’ve no idea how all this works. It’s new to me. Maybe she didn’t want me to see her this time. Maybe she only wanted you. You saw her for years and years before she ever deigned to pay me a visit.”

“But I never saw her like this before. It… scared me.”

“Why?”

“She wasn’t… herself.” How to explain it to him when she was bewildered, too. “She was always happy when she came to me. I was the one who was anxious and worried and full of guilt. She’d laugh at me and tease me and tell me that everything was all right with her. That I shouldn’t fret so much about finding her and bringing her home.”

“And that’s a wonderful thing.”

“But she wasn’t like that when I saw her a few moments ago.” She repeated, “She scared me.”

Joe put his hand on her arm and pulled her close. “You said that before. Why? What was different?”

“She was sad. Her face was so sad. Bonnie was never sad.” She could feel the tears sting her eyes. “Or if she was, she never let me know. Did she hide it, Joe? Did she hide it so that I wouldn’t be unhappy?” She swallowed hard. “And what is she doing here, dammit? First, you’re talking about that death fog you went through. Then I see Bonnie, and she’s not my Bonnie. Is she trying to tell me something?”

“If she was, then she’d come right out and say it, wouldn’t she?”

“No, she can be enigmatic as hell.”

He smiled. “That sounds very human and very special.”

“Yes.” Bonnie had always been special, and she had remained special even after that monster had taken everything else from her. Her gaze searched the bayou, but she saw nothing but mist. She could feel nothing. She turned away. “She’s gone.” She moved back toward the car. “And you’re probably thinking I’m acting as neurotic as hell.”

“No.” He got into the car and stared thoughtfully out at the bayou. “It’s not neurotic to be upset about a change in someone you love. And you love Bonnie with all your heart. The whole thing is very strange. I’ve just been trying to piece together the puzzle.”

“That’s like you,” she said as she fastened her seat belt. Joe’s mind was always delving and striving to make logic out of chaos. And most of the time, he was able to do it. “When you come up with something, let me know.”

He started the car. “I’m working on it. Bonnie appeared to you and wanted you to know she was unhappy about something.”

“Maybe she’s always been unhappy. She’s dead, dammit.”

“But you have to balance the experience of years against this one episode. That would mean that there was something unusual happening to change that balance.” He paused. “Something to do with Gallo?”

“If he didn’t kill her, why would she be sad?” She shook her head and smiled with an effort. “Only you would analyze ectoplasm and try to make it rational.”

“Would Bonnie like you referring to her as ectoplasm?”

“Yes, she’d probably giggle.”

“You said that without even thinking. So it doesn’t seem to me that you have to worry about this one case of melancholy.”

She nodded, and this time the smile was genuine. “Not as long as I have you to set me straight.”

“No problem.” He was gazing straight ahead. “But as you said, this is unusual. We should probably be looking out for ‘unusual.’”

“Why?” She tilted her head. “I assume you’re not just being cryptic?”

He didn’t look at her. “No, I’m just remembering what Bonnie told me, that we were coming to the end. Ends aren’t always happy, Eve.”

She was silent for a long moment. “You’ve been telling me that for years in one way or another. Sometimes, I resented it. Sometimes, I was grateful. But you’ve been preparing me for this, haven’t you?”

“I’ve been preparing both of us for it. I knew the first time I met you that we were going to have to be strong to face what life had dealt us. And the end may be the hardest part of all. It’s been a long time coming.”

“That’s what I thought. I tried and tried again, and nothing came of it. I couldn’t find Bonnie. I couldn’t find the monster who killed her.” She whispered, “And I couldn’t see why. I thought if there was a God, then He should help me find my little girl. She was so wonderful. Everyone loved her. God must have loved her, too.” She turned her head and gazed out at the thick mist flowing by the window. No Bonnie in that mist. She had come and gone. But she was near…

“But lately I’ve wondered if there’s a reason that I had to wait. I don’t think I was ready. You’re right, whatever