“If things go sideways…” she said softly, unable to express her feelings. For all his bluster and irritation, she knew he cared about her.
“Yeah, I know, Cait. Do your daddy proud.
Her gaze lingered on the cruiser, and she smiled wistfully. “Take care of the officers for me?”
“Calling them as soon as I hang up.”
She ended the call, checked her watch, and then stepped out from the shadows.
Avery Lewis stood in the center of the foyer as she entered. Did he ever sleep?
“You’re up late,” she said, drawing as near as she dared. She kept her expression relaxed, hoping she didn’t betray she knew exactly what he was.
“Didn’t figure I’d see you here again after what happened earlier.” His brows wrinkled. “You have a death wish or something?”
“Mr. Lewis, I think you’ll understand if I couldn’t sleep thinking about it. I lost someone today. Someone I cared about.”
His expression didn’t change. No sly hint of satisfaction at the grief she suffered. No hint of curiosity about what she was doing there now.
“The lieutenant has the third floor blocked,” he said. “No elevators. No stairwell access. It’s all locked up tight.”
An officer strode toward them, a hand lifted in greeting. “I have that key to the elevator, Ms. O’Connell.”
She offered a slight smile to the manager and patted her basket. “I’m assembling a little altar. The LT gave his approval. Since no one’s stirring, no one will be disturbed. I won’t be long.”
His eyes narrowed. “You be careful up there, miss.”
“Thanks for your concern,” she murmured, then stepped past him, not liking the fact she had to walk away while he glared daggers at her back.
The officer stepped to the elevators and inserted a key into the control panel. The doors slid open on one car.
“Guard the doors,” she said, her gaze slipping to the foyer. “No one goes up after me. No matter what anyone might hear.”
Although his eyes glittered with curiosity, he gave her a nod. “Yes, ma’am. The LT said to give you whatever you needed but to stay back.”
“That was good advice.”
He shook his head, his steady gaze reflecting doubt. “Strange goings-on up there, ma’am. You be careful.”
She gave him a faint smile and stepped into the car. The doors slid shut. Reaching across to the panel, she hit the button for the third floor.
The car shimmied and then began its ascent, the hum of gears accompanying the slow trip upward.
She gauged the timing and hit the stop switch a second before the doors would have opened on the third floor.
Bending, she placed the basket on the floor. She pulled the watch from her jeans pocket and stared down at the gleaming glass face as a tiny golden hand ticked through the seconds. Twelve hours were reflected on the face. If the charged watch worked, she would only have the opportunity to change something that had happened within the past twelve hours. She couldn’t rewind time any longer than that to save any other victims. Madame Xavier and Sylvia were lost forever.
A pang of regret went through her, and she slid it to one side of her mind.
The gold housing warmed in her hand, seeming to pulse. Pulling down the neck of her shirt, she placed the glass face against her chest, right above her heart.
Cait cleared her mind, concentrating on taking slow, even breaths. She thought about what she hoped to achieve, running through the sequence, then forming images of Sam in his crisp dress shirt, his eyes alert and questioning, his body standing straight and tall. Fully alive.
Then she rewound, in her mind, the moments before his death, and played them forward, dreaming of catching him when he came through the vortex to the other side. Her arms surrounding him, cushioning him as they fell together to the hotel room floor. “I need only a minute, maybe two,” she whispered. “Grant me this wish, and I will embrace everything I am. I’ll practice… I’ll pray.”
The watch warmed and then seemed to vibrate. The ticking grew louder and slowed, matching the rhythm of her heartbeats. For another moment, she simply stood, letting the sound fill her chest. Letting peace seep into her body to quiet her thoughts.
She placed the watch on the floor beside the basket and took out the brass bowl, poured small chunks of charcoal into the bottom, and doused them with lighter fluid. With the strike of a match she lit the coals, fanning them with a hand. Smoke billowed up, emitting a sharp smell, but then died away. The coals glowed. She unstoppered the first vial and sprinkled the ingredients she’d ground together at Morin’s, listening to them crackle and pop atop the hot coals as a sweet-scented smoke arose. She hoped like hell the smoke filling the elevator car didn’t trigger a fire alarm but pushed aside that worry to concentrate again.
A moment of doubt made her hesitate.
Cait bent and picked up the pocket watch and clicked the button at the side of the face to pop up the glass. She touched a delicate hand and moved it counterclockwise until the time reflected the moment of Sam’s death, then she moved it again to two minutes before.
She clipped the glass shut, shoved it into her pocket, and reached into the basket again, this time for the bottled water. With several shakes, she doused the coals. Again, she lifted the basket.
Cait straightened in front of the doors and closed her eyes, saying a quick prayer for all to go well. “Please, please let this work,” she whispered, then flicked the stop switch. The doors whooshed open.
Her heart stopped, then thudded hard against her chest at the sight of wine-and-gold paisley wallpaper, dark red carpet, and shiny brass plates on the room doors opposite the elevator.
Relief rushed through her. She stepped out.
“I wondered if you’d figure out a way. What a clever girl.”
Alarmed, Cait’s gaze whipped toward Eddie Bradley, who leaned a shoulder on a nearby wall.
The doors began to slide closed. He reached to clap his hand against the doors to hold them open. “Are you sure you want these doors to close? You might not make it back.”
“Your master killed Sam.”
His eyelids flickered. His stare grew solemn. “I’m sorry for that.”
“I won’t kill you if you help me. There’s no time for discussion.”
His mouth twitched. “What do you want me to do?”
“Exactly what you’re doing now. Keep those doors open until I get back. Shouldn’t take me long.”
“You’d trust me to do this for you?”
She rounded on him and glared. “You don’t know what I’m capable of. Have no clue how far I’d go to hunt you down. I’ll spare nothing if you betray me. I’ll show not one single ounce of remorse.”
Eddie’s lips twisted in a snarl. “He found me trolling for a new meal in his bar downstairs. He said he had
