“Yeah, it sounds odd all right, ‘specially when ya’ consider what he plans to do to ‘er in this ritual thing.” There was a lengthy pause at his end. I could almost see him trying to form his words. “So listen, Row. About that whole hocus-pocus thing last night. What did’ya mean when ya’ said ya’ don’t know if he’s better than you or not?”
“I meant exactly that. I don’t know.”
“But I thought you were some kinda Master Witch or somethin’,” he appealed. “Like a Black Belt of Witch stuff. Ya’know what I mean?”
“There’s no such thing, Ben. The Craft is a continual learning process.”
“That still doesn’t tell me why ya’ think he’s better’n you.”
“Something happened during that vision that took me by surprise. I’ve never experienced anything like it before, and to be honest, it bothered me quite a bit.”
“Wanna talk about it? After everything I’ve seen lately, I’m willin’ ta’ listen.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath and let it puff out my cheeks as I exhaled. “But you might not want to hear it. If I’m right, I could be the reason he knew we were coming.”
“How so?”
“Well,” I continued, “you understand that when I’ve had these visions at the crime scenes, they were recreations of the recent past, right?”
“Yeah, go on.”
“That’s the kind of vision I had at Roger’s house but with a major exception. He talked to me.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“In the vision,” I explained, “Roger spoke directly to me. He told me that I hadn’t been there to save Ariel Tanner, and there was no way I’d be able to save The One. He looked right at me. Called me by name.”
There was a long pause at the other end of the line as he mulled over my latest revelations. “So lemme get this straight…” His words were measured carefully. “Ya’think that when you had that vision, you like went back in time or somethin’? And he saw ya’ there and knew you were comin’?”
“No, not at all,” I corrected. “I had a vision of something that happened in the recent past. I think Roger knew we were close because of me. Because of the energies I’ve been giving off.”
“So, what about this bit where he was talkin’ to ya’? I still don’t get it. Where does that fit in?”
“I think that since he knew we would be coming, and he knew that I would be there, in a sense, he was waiting for me. He insinuated himself into the vision.”
“You mean he was there?!” Ben’s voice became instantly more animated.
“Not in the physical sense,” I expressed, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was nearby.”
“Shit! That’s all I needed to hear.” The animation in his voice was replaced by calm dejection. “So the fact that you think he somehow got ‘imself into your vision is what’s got ya’ thinkin’ you somehow tipped him off.”
“That’s my theory.”
“Well, don’t let the ice princess hear that,” he expressed, referring to Special Agent Mandalay. “She’s still givin’ me a royal pain in the ass about your involvement in this case. She doesn’t need any more ammunition.”
“How are you two getting along today?” I queried out of a mild curiosity.
“Like oil and water. Ya didn’t expect any different did’ya?” he admitted.
“You know, Ben, she’s just doing her job. You took a lot of convincing about The Craft as I recall.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he conceded. “I just don’t have time for it right now… What? Hold on a sec…” I heard him stave off a muted voice in the background. “Listen, I gotta go. You’ll call me if you have another vision or somethin’?”
“You’ll be the first.”
“Okay. I’ll check back in with ya’ as soon as we know somethin’. Later.”
“Bye.”
I lied. Sort of.
If anything relevant came into my mind via any means, conscious thought or ethereal vision, I would certainly call Ben immediately. However, I had carefully avoided telling him about my most recent dream. If my theory about Roger entering my vision was correct, then I was firmly convinced that he had entered my nightmare as well. It was my belief that he was responsible for the bizarre secondary sequence. He was trying to frighten me, and that was the chink in his armor. He was just as unsure about me as I was about him.
I didn’t tell Ben about it. I hadn’t even told Felicity the entire story. I was the only one that knew because it was something I was going to have to face on my own.
CHAPTER 25
I expected Ben to have someone watching Roger’s house, and I had no idea whatsoever how I was going to handle the situation; therefore, I was somewhat surprised when the neighborhood seemed devoid of surveillance. Of course, that was just how it appeared on the surface.
The digital clock on the in-dash stereo had just flicked over to seven P.M. when I pulled down the Overmoor side street. Felicity had called me earlier to say the photo shoot was running late and that she probably wouldn’t be home until after nine. I didn’t tell her as much, but I was actually glad she’d be out late. I was certain that had she been present, she would have done everything in her power to talk me out of what I was about to do.
She can be very persuasive.
After a couple of slow passes through the subdivision, I rolled my truck to a stop behind the evergreen hedgerow we had used for cover the night before and switched off the engine. I waited in silence, my view of the house slightly obscured, and fought to gather the courage I desperately needed.
I had come here for a purpose. Roger had invaded both my vision and my nightmare. In the vision, he had demonstrated his overconfidence by taunting me and issuing a challenge. In my nightmare, he hedged his bet, playing on my fears in order to frighten me away. It might have worked had it not been for three haunting words-“Why, Rowan, why?” In every nightmare, Ariel Tanner appeared before me and asked that question. I had come to fear that most of all each time I drifted off to sleep, simply because I didn’t have the answer. I couldn’t tell her, “Why.” I couldn’t even tell myself because I wasn’t even sure what she was asking. As nonsensical as it seemed, something deep inside kept telling me that if this little girl died, it would be my fault. My fault because I hadn’t tried hard enough to find the answer to “Why?”
I was so deeply lost in my thoughts that my heart skipped a full beat when I heard the sudden tapping on my window. I snapped back from my distant stare with a startled jump and quickly turned. Carl Deckert was standing outside my window, hand raised as he prepared to rap his knuckles on the glass once again.
“Hey. How’s it going?” I asked with a smile as I rolled the window downward.
“Okay, if you like sitting around watching an empty house while a lonely old lady talks your ear off,” he replied. “If you don’t mind my asking, what’re you doin’ here?”
His answer told me why I hadn’t spotted the surveillance. They must have set up shop in the house across the street. The one whose occupant Roger had thought of as the “nosy old bitch.”
“Ben asked me to come out here and have another look at the place,” I spoke quickly, hoping he wouldn’t see through to the truth. “He wanted me to see if I could pick up anything else that might help.”
“Why didn’t he come with you?” he asked suspiciously.
I said the first thing that popped into my mind, and it actually sounded pretty good. “He said something about keeping that FBI agent busy, so she wouldn’t get in the way.”
“Yeah, those two are a piece of work,” he grunted. “She was there waiting for him this morning. They still hadn’t stopped chewing on each other when I left. I guess he probably just forgot to tell me you were coming.”
“Could be,” I said aloud, while inside my head I was saying, “Don’t call him. Don’t call him.”
He grinned and nodded, “Yeah, that’s probably it. Hell, this guy’s not gonna show up here anyway. You want me to go in with you?”
I breathed an inner sigh of relief. “No. That’s okay. I’ll be all right by myself.”
Detective Deckert gave me a slight shrug as I climbed out of the truck’s cab and shut the door. “Suit yourself.
