HORATIO PULLED HIS MOTORCYCLE to a stop next to Michelle’s truck. The woman had turned off the main road and parked under some trees down near the river. She wasn’t in the truck and Horatio followed a dirt path down to the water where he found her sitting on a fallen tree that extended partially over the water. She didn’t acknowledge his presence as he sat down on the other part of the tree that was still firmly on land.
“Nice evening,” he said as he tossed a pebble into the fast-moving York, which was carrying debris from an earlier thunderstorm down to the Chesapeake Bay.
She was silent for some minutes, just staring at the water until Horatio started to fear she might jump in.
Her first words definitely got his attention. “I cleaned my truck out once. I did it for Sean.”
“Why?”
“Because I liked him and he’d been going through a bad time.”
“Was it hard, cleaning out the truck?”
“Far harder than it should have been. Everything in there seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. But it’s just a truck, right?” She swiveled around on her backside until she was facing him. “It’s just a truck,” she said again.
“Truck, bedroom, lifestyle. I can imagine it was very hard.”
“I couldn’t keep it clean. I tried. Well, I didn’t really try. I just couldn’t do it. Within a day I put everything back.”
“Sean says your racing scull is pristine. You could eat off the hull, he claims.”
She smiled. “He would say that. Although he’s not exactly without his quirks. Have you ever seen anyone so neat and orderly? I mean, come on.”
She snapped off a small branch from the fallen tree and tossed it in the water. As she watched it sail away she said, “I don’t know why I changed, Horatio. I really don’t. I don’t even remember changing to tell the truth, but with so many people claiming I did, I guess I have to accept it.”
“Okay. That’s a good admission. A very positive step, Michelle. Yet when I mentioned the rose hedge you reacted to that. Why?”
She’d visibly shuddered again when he’d said it. Another few minutes of silence went by. Michelle stared at the tree trunk she was sitting on; Horatio’s gaze was directly on her. He didn’t say anything, fearful he might ruin the possibility of the first real breakthrough since he’d started seeing her. His patience was amply rewarded.
She said, “Can you be afraid of something and you don’t even know what it is?”
“Yes. It can be buried so deeply within your mind that all you can register is the fear without realizing what the source of that fear is. Repression into the subconscious of past events that were beyond someone’s ability to deal with at the time is the brain’s fail-safe mechanism to protect us. We simply block it out.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. But it’s akin to water in the basement that you try to fix by patching here and there. Eventually the damage becomes so severe that the entire foundation of the house is threatened as the water starts to seep into unexpected places, places you can’t even see until the damage is done.”
“So I’m a rotting house?”
“And I’m the best house fixer you’re ever going to run across.”
“But if I can’t even remember why I’m so scared, how can you help me?”
“There’s a tried-and-true method: hypnosis.”
Michelle shook her head. “I don’t believe in that crap. No one can hypnotize me.”
“Usually the people who are certain they can’t be are the easiest to do it to.”
“But you have to want to be hypnotized, right?”
“That certainly helps. But you want to get better, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you about this stuff if I didn’t. I haven’t spoken to anyone about this, ever!”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Will you let me hypnotize you?”
“I don’t like losing control, Horatio. And what if I tell you something that I can’t handle? What if it’s that bad?”
“That’s why I went to all those schools and have all the certificates on my wall. I’m the professional. Just let me do my job. That’s all I’m asking.”
“That’s asking a lot. Maybe too much,” she added bluntly.
“Will you at least think about it?”
She rose, nimbly walked down the trunk and hopped to the ground next to him. As Michelle passed him she called over her shoulder, “I’ll think about it.”
Horatio looked after her in exasperation. “Where are you going now?”
“I’ve got Viggie duty.”
CHAPTER 54
SEAN LUCKED OUT BECAUSE VALERIE was sitting at the same table as the night before. And like that time she was sending another would-be pickup artist on his way.
Valerie was dressed less provocatively this time, in slacks and a cashmere sweater. Her hair was pulled back in a French braid and her lipstick was muted.
When she saw Sean headed toward her Valerie quickly glanced the other way. When he sat down across from her, she still didn’t look at him.
“I see you’re still very popular here,” he said. “And I can see you don’t get the concept of a brush-off very well.”
“Tonight’s a new venture.”
“Not from where I’m sitting.”
“Would you like to grab some dinner?”
“Do I have to call the bouncer to get rid of you?”
“Let me think about that one while you decide where you’d like to eat.”
She almost smiled. He was quick to pick up on it. “Okay, that’s a tiny little crack, but I’ll take what I can get.”
“And why would you think I would want to have dinner with you?”
“Okay, now that I have your full attention, I’ll tell you.” He paused and said, “I just want someone to talk to. Traveling around by yourself gets really old really fast. I’m not looking for anything other than good conversation over a nice bottle of wine. And we can split the check, no favors owed on either side.”
“And you’re assuming I can provide this good conversation? And that I like wine?”
“The conversation I think is a given. My stupid and shallow radar is pretty damn good. It hasn’t made a peep since I met you. As for the wine, I’m flexible, but I passed a place down the street from here that has a Cabernet on the list I’ve been dying to try.”
“You know your way around grapes?”
“I used to collect wine.”
“Used to?”
“Yeah, until somebody blew up my house and my wine cellar.” Sean rose from the table. “Shall we?”
Sitting at a corner overlooking the street and sharing the bottle of
Cabernet, Sean once more glanced at Valerie’s wedding ring. He did so in such a way that she could hardly miss it.
“You’re wondering why I’m having dinner with you while I happen to be a married woman?” she said.
“I was thinking if I was your husband I wouldn’t let you go to bars by yourself.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“My worry would be that you might just take a fancy to one of those gentlemen.”
“And you think I’ve taken a fancy to you?”
“I think you’re wondering if I’m really sincere, or just another creep waiting to make his move.”
“And which one are you?”
