The Vision (34 page)

though, but first—” she looked past him, smiling at Brent “—what did Sheridan have to

say?”

“That there’s more to this than meets the eye, basically. Our Anne left letters in the box.

She was afraid of someone. And she was waiting for someone else to come and give her

assistance. It’s kind of convoluted. She goes on about some truth, but the truth is worse

than a lie. He’s only translated one of the letters so far.”

Genevieve smiled. “I have the truth,” she told them.

“Oh?” Thor said.

“Come on in and sit down,” she said.

“Any word of Audrey?” Brent asked.

Genevieve’s brilliant smile collapsed. “No.”

Adam, Nikki and Bethany were in the parlor. Someone had apparently just brewed tea.

“Want something?” Genevieve asked.

Thor’s stomach was growling, but he shook his head. Information first. “Give us what

you know,” he told her.

“Anne wasn’t desperately in love with Aldo. She despised him,” Genevieve announced.

“Oh?” Thor said skeptically.

Genevieve nodded. “I don’t know if you remember or not, but I’ve done a lot of reading

on the Marie Josephine. Some of the letters and memoirs were written by pirates who

sailed with Gasparilla, and they talked about his deep love for Anne. Remember there

was the suggestion that Gasparilla hated being scorned, that he might have killed Anne?

Well, he didn’t. He tried to save her. There was a mutiny on board the Marie Josephine.

Aldo—the supposed great love of Anne’s life—was the one who killed her. Gasparilla

was on his way to save her. He’d promised to do his best not to kill the crew and to see

that her father was safe. But he was too late. Aldo was the one who couldn’t bear the fact

Anne had scorned him. He murdered her. In the same way these women were murdered

now. He weighted her down and threw her overboard. Gasparilla was on his way. He

attacked the ship, found the crew dead and battled the mutineers. The Marie Josephine

was already breaking apart. Cannon fire did her in. Well, I’m speculating on some of this,

but I swear I’m right.”

Thor stared at her, frowning. “How do you know all this?”

“It was incredible,” Bethany breathed.

“What was incredible?” Thor asked.

“She went back. She lived it all as Anne,” Bethany said.

Thor felt his temper rising. This was ridiculous, so why did he feel…

Fear?

“What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded. He stared at Genevieve hard, then

turned his glare on Adam Harrison.

“Hypnosis,” Adam said evenly.

“What?” Thor exploded.

“Thor, stop it,” Genevieve said. “Please.”

“Hypnotism is a valuable tool,” Nikki said. “People have quit smoking with the help of

hypnosis. They’ve lost weight, made other important changes in their lives.”

Thor wasn’t appeased. “Go on.”

“I simply painted a picture of the day,” Adam said. “Then I asked Genevieve questions.”

“You should have heard her. It was like she was living it.” Bethany was so obviously still

under the spell of what she’d seen.

Smoke and mirrors. The power of suggestion. Maybe it was all a form of hypnotism.

He folded his arms over his chest. “Great. You think you know what happened on the

ship.”

“It makes sense,” Genevieve said. “And,” she pointed out, “it fits in with everything

Sheridan was telling you. Just wait,” she said stubbornly. “Wait until he’s read more of

the letters. You’ll find out I’m right.”

In this group, he wasn’t going to win so he simply ignored the topic and moved on.

“So Victor has been released. What about Audrey? Any word from the cops on the

identity of the corpse? Or from Marshall?”

Genevieve’s face fell. She shook her head. “Jack, Alex, Lizzie and Zach went out right

after you left. They were going to see if Audrey was out…if anyone ran into her, if she

said anything to anyone…anything at all.”

“You haven’t heard back from them?” Brent asked.

Genevieve shook her head. “But I can just call them.”

“No, they’d have called you if they’d discovered anything. Want to head out with me?”

he asked.

She frowned, her eyes indicating that she had company. “Where?”

“Miami,” he said. “We’re going to see if we can’t find out something about Marshall.”

She kept staring at him. “We’re not getting anywhere here,” he added quietly.

“Are you going to drive all the way to Miami and back today? It is kind of late. And what

about the dive?” Bethany asked.

“Sheridan doesn’t seem concerned about the dead women,” Thor admitted dryly. “But we

have to leave the area to the cops for another day. That’s assuming they’ll sanction us

going back down on Thursday. We’ll be back by tomorrow night.”

“Hey, Gen. I’m just leaving with these guys,” Bethany called, interrupting them. She

smiled assurance to Genevieve. “Don’t worry. I’m sticking to this group like chewed

gum on the bottom of a shoe.”

“Keep in touch,” Brent told Thor.

“Actually, we are getting somewhere,” Genevieve said as soon as everyone else was

gone. “And I want to get hold of Helen—that reporter who’s Father Bellamy’s main

squeeze. I want her to do a story about what happened on the ship.”

“We don’t know anything yet,” Thor reported.

“I’ll have her write it up as my theory,” Genevieve told him.

“You can call her from the car,” Thor said curtly. He was suddenly in a hurry to get out

of here.

He needed a little distance from all the insanity.

But could they really get away?

Or would they be followed?

By…? he taunted himself.

Ghosts.

He was back.

Audrey could hear his footsteps overhead.

From the noises, it sounded as if he were getting ready to take the boat out.

Oh, God!

It was time. If they went out to sea…

She could fight. Yes, now that she knew, she could fight.

And never win. Look where she was right now.

So this was it.

Tears sprang into her eyes again.

But then, very distantly, a phone began to ring. His cell.

She couldn’t hear his words, only that he had answered, and his tone was as blithe as if he

had a fish in his hold.

Then the noises stopped.

He had left the boat.

A reprieve?

The heat was terrible. She was sure her air was almost gone, although she kept trying to tell herself that oxygen was getting in to her somehow. The boards were wet beneath her.

The whole place stank of fish.

She was going to smother or roast before she could drown, she thought.

Then a prayer rushed into her heart. No, no, I didn’t mean it. I will survive. I will. Don’t let him come back…!

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Genevieve asked, settling into the passenger seat of

his car. “I mean…should we be gone right now?”

He set his hand on hers where it lay on her lap. “I know you’re worried sick about

Audrey, and with all that’s been going on, you have good reason. But everyone is out

looking for her. I don’t even begin to know where to start. It makes sense to take a trip to Miami. Marshall wasn’t checked into the hotel his call came from. When I met with him

to set up this dive, we met in Coconut Grove. There’s public dockage there. I thought we

would do some club-hopping on the beach tonight and rent a boat tomorrow. We can

search the yacht clubs, marinas and waterways for his boat.”

She nodded. “That’s very logical. But by now, haven’t the local police notified their

associates up there? Aren’t they on the lookout?”

“He’s probably not at a public marina,” Thor acknowledged. “But you can be certain law

enforcement in Miami-Dade isn’t seeing this as a serious situation. I’m not saying

anything negative about them, but they’ve got their hands full with local crime, and

they’re not going to be overly concerned with a grown man who may have disappeared of

his own volition.”

“You’re right,” she admitted, then looked at him. “So you have a plan. And here I was

thinking you just wanted to get the hell out of Key West,” she teased.

“That, too,” he admitted. “We’ll be gone twenty-four hours. Okay?”

She nodded.

“You feel all right?” he asked.

She laughed out loud. “Do you mean, am I slipping in and out of another lifetime? Do I

have a ghost on my lap?”

He grinned at her through the rearview mirror.

He also checked out his back seat.

It seemed they were alone.

He was starving, so they stopped in Plantation Key for dinner, then moved on.

There were no traffic problems on US1 that night, and by the time they reached Miami, it

was well past rush hour.

They checked into the Mayfair in Coconut Grove. Thor was in a hurry to go out, but Genevieve insisted that if they were hitting the clubs on South Beach, she had to shower

and change.

Thor wound up joining her in the shower. And then they wound up slick and soapy and

together.

Slick, soapy, and flesh to flesh, steam rising all around them. They were alone. In a

massive marbled bathroom. With a huge king-size bed just beyond.

The bed wound up damp and just a bit slick, as well. Thor found himself wondering what

it was about one particular woman that could make the rest of the world fade away. Sex,

yes. The rise of excitement created by something so small as a smile, a touch…

A body, slick and soapy.

And still…

It was her. Everything about her. Her eyes, her smile. The shape of her face. The way her

fingers felt against his. Little things he knew she would do. The way the palm of her hand

felt against his buttocks, the way her lips felt on his, the way she teased with just the tip of her tongue…

The heat that exuded from her body, the very scent of her so unique…

Later, as he lay looking at the ceiling, he knew he was in love with her. Thor would

accept anything in the world if…

But…ghosts?

There seemed to be none around them that night. Her fingers played across his chest for a

moment as they lay there, just breathing, hearts slowing. “It’s a good thing that prime

time at the clubs is in the middle of the night,” she murmured.

He leapt up. “Shower first—don’t come in,” he warned.

She laughed. But she waited dutifully until he was out. Then she rushed in.

She really had her virtues—beyond beauty, sensuality, diving ability and her smile. She

could get ready faster than any woman he had ever met.

“All right, we’re out of here,” he said.

He was amazed to discover he had fun. He was pretty sure, despite the fact that he might

have been recognized a time or two, that they were admitted to every club without

hesitation—despite occasionally lengthy lines—because of the way Genevieve looked

and smiled.

At first, and well past midnight, it seemed they were on nothing more than a club-

hopping tour. They danced. They paid exorbitant prices for drinks. He became best

friends with lots of cocktail waitresses, while Genevieve flirted with bartenders,

describing Marshall and asking if they’d seen him anywhere. Several knew him, but no

one had seen him recently.

They found out nothing useful. Thor’s frustration must have shown, because Genevieve slipped her arm around him and said, “Hey, it was a good idea. We did find out most of

the bartenders know him, so if he had been there…”

They wandered into a little place on Washington, a piano bar.

It was much quieter than the places they had been. The pianist was good, the audience

sedate.

He and Genevieve took seats at a small table toward the back. They ordered coffee,

despite the fact that they would be heading back to the hotel soon to sleep. Hell, he

needed to stay awake enough to find their way back.

“There has to be an explanation for his disappearance. He’s not a prostitute—hell, he’s

not even an attractive woman,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Do you think he really called the police?” Genevieve asked worriedly. “You don’t think

that he was…I don’t know, abducted for a different reason, and someone faked the call?”

“I don’t know what to think,” he admitted.

She was folding and unfolding her napkin. “I’m worried about Marshall, but…I’m even

more worried about Audrey. She is an attractive young woman.”

She stared straight at him then. “I’m worried, too,” he admitted.

She smiled wanly, placing her hand on his. “Still worried about me?” she asked, and he

knew she was referring to her sanity.

He didn’t have a chance to reply. A soft female voice broke in on them.

“Gen? Genevieve Wallace?”

He turned as Genevieve looked up. They had been approached by a couple who had

apparently been leaving but stopped at the sight of Genevieve, who frowned, before her

face lit up in a smile.

“Kathy!” She grinned at Thor, who rose quickly as Genevieve introduced her friend.

“Kathleen O’Malley, Thor Thompson. Thor, Kathy and I went to school together. She’s

an escaped Conch. And George.” She rose, too, kissing the man on the cheek. “George

Ryder,” she said in a rush, remembering she was doing the introductions. “George also

went to school with me.”

Kathy laughed. She was tiny, with blond ringlets. George was taller, and very lean. He

shook Thor’s hand. “You’re the diver, right? I’ve seen you in magazines.”

Thor nodded. “Can you stay a minute? I’ll draw up a few chairs.”

“Yes, thanks,” Kathy said. “Oh, we’re both Ryders now. George and I got married four