The Vision (36 page)

tried to drown me,” Marshall said. “It almost succeeded.” He pointed a finger at

Genevieve. “It’s all your fault. Why the hell couldn’t you just leave me alone?”

Genevieve opened her mouth, but words wouldn’t come.

“Marshall, is this you talking—or the Scotch?” Thor asked.

“I didn’t start with the Scotch until I encountered whatever the hell is down there.”

“What was it?” Thor demanded.

“I don’t know,” Marshall said, staring at them defiantly. “I never saw it.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Thor said.

“You had no right just to disappear. I thought you were one of the best men in the Keys.”

“Once,” Marshall said, shuffling his feet.

“Please,” Genevieve said. “I don’t understand.”

Marshall stared at her, shook his head, winced. “There was something in the water. It

kept tugging at me. It dragged me under. Let me up, dragged me under again. There were

weird sounds, and…shit, you can’t smell in the water, but I could smell decay. It was

trying to kill me. I mean it. I’m not going back there…at least not for a long, long time.

Not until someone finds out what it is and kills it or…exorcises it or something. Don’t

you understand yet? It was trying to kill me. And you brought it on, Gen. You brought it

on when you went down and saw that…whatever.”

Thor stared at him, his eyes narrowed. “Don’t blame Genevieve,” he said. “Blame the

project, but don’t blame her.” He caught her hand. “Let’s go.”

“Let’s go?” she echoed questioningly.

“You heard him. He’s not coming back. And we have to go back. Just one word of

advice, Marshall—lay off the Scotch. You feel like you can handle things again, you

know where we’ll be. Genevieve, let’s go.”

They returned to their rented boat. Thor had tied on to Marshall’s with so much haste

he’d caused some minor damage to the hull, which they would have to pay for.

Either he didn’t notice or he didn’t care.

He was obviously struggling to obey the speed limit as they headed back down the river.

He stared straight ahead. She went to stand by him.

“He’s really terrified,” she murmured. She had worked with Marshall forever. She was

angry, disappointed, hurt. But she still found herself defending the man who had been her

boss—confident, professional, assured—for so many years. “And honestly, this isn’t like

Marshall. I’ve seen him face a million threats and I’ve never seen him cave like this.”

Thor didn’t look at her for a moment, but when he did, he smiled ruefully. “I don’t care what a guy looks like. Or a woman, for that matter. We all have some point deep in our

psyche where we can be afraid. In Marshall’s case…who the hell knows what went on?

But it isn’t your fault. You didn’t cause any of this.” He hesitated, staring straight ahead again. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” he said. Yet, the words were like a line in a script, like something he had said over and over that no longer held any conviction. “But if there

were ghosts out there…” He shook his head. “I’ll start over. I don’t think anything

intended to harm Marshall. Whatever happened, it just touched that raw edge deep inside

where any human being can be vulnerable.” He fell silent again for a second, then offered

her another smile. “Hell. We found him. He’s alive and well. We’ll just tell the others

that. That he felt he needed some personal time. That’s kind of the truth.”

“What if something down there did try to kill him?”

“I don’t believe it,” Thor said simply. “I do believe a flesh-and-blood murderer is out

there, and because of that, we need to be…not afraid, but wary. I believe that…that there

are questions that have to be answered.”

She stood next to him, not replying at first. Then she said. “We’ve found Marshall. Now

we have to find Audrey.”

He was quiet. She knew he was thinking they might never find Audrey, and that, if they

did, she might already be dead.

They made Genevieve’s house before dark.

As they pulled into her driveway, Thor turned on his cell, which immediately began to

ring.

“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.” It was Sheridan, and he

sounded irritated.

“Driving,” Thor said flatly. “What do you want?”

“I read another one of the letters, and it’s too damn close to what that reporter rushed

ahead and insinuated in the paper. If you’ve been on to something that you haven’t been

sharing, you are entirely outside your contractual bounds.”

“We’ve given you everything we found,” Thor said.

“You have to get back down there,” Sheridan said.

“As soon as I have police clearance.”

Sheridan let out an irritated snort. “Can they cordon off the ocean? There was no reason

for the dive to stop.”

“A corpse is a good enough reason for me, Professor. Is there anything else?”

“Can you get over here immediately?” he demanded.

Thor maintained his temper, grimacing at Genevieve as she arched a brow at him. “I’ll run by. I’ll check with the police first and see if they need more time.”

“More time? It’s an ocean, for God’s sake.”

Sheridan was probably right; Thor was simply in the mood to buck him.

“Are you off to see Sheridan?” Genevieve asked after he’d hung up.

“You want to come?”

“No,” she said emphatically.

“I won’t be long,” he told her.

“Just go now, and then you can get back fast. I’m going to call Bethany, find out what

everyone is up to, see if they’re meeting later for dinner.”

“I’ll go in with you first.”

“It’s okay—I threw everyone out and locked the house,” she reminded him.

“I’ll go in with you first,” he repeated.

She smiled.

They went through the same routine they had followed the first time. Thor didn’t really

believe anyone was lurking inside, ready to assault Genevieve, but he had a feeling that

something was brewing and it was getting closer and closer to an explosion.

Her house, as he had expected, was empty.

“Sure you don’t want to just come with me?” he asked.

“We went through the house, and I’ll be fine,” she assured him.

“Don’t go off without me,” he commanded.

She shook her head. “I won’t. I’ll be waiting.”

She walked him back to the door, smiling. He wasn’t sure why, but he hesitated. He felt

as if his breath locked in his throat. He wanted to hold her, to refuse to leave her. He drew her into his arms instead and kissed her tenderly. When he eased his hold, she whispered,

“What was that for?”

For the fact that I love you…

But he didn’t say the words. He wasn’t sure he’d ever before felt the way he did about

her now. He had cared about women before, been deeply involved several times.

But he’d never been in love, never felt as he did now.

“Nothing. I’m going to get moving. Get this over with. It’s been a long day, but you’re right. I’d like to have dinner with the others, find out if anything they found out puts a

new light on things. At least we can tell everyone Marshall’s alive and well. In fact, you

might as well get started on that right now. We probably should have called earlier. I was

just so…”

“Mad?”

“Yes. And…hell, never mind. I can’t explain it. I’ll hurry.”

He didn’t need to explain. He knew she understood. He lifted a hand to her as he walked

away and slid behind the wheel once again.

She smiled and waved.

He turned the key in the ignition, then he almost turned the car back off. Something was

nagging at him, but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

Reluctantly, he drove away.

Genevieve watched Thor go, wondering why she had actually been anxious for him to

leave.

She locked herself inside, lowering her head pensively.

She knew why.

She was going to try to summon her ghost, and he wouldn’t understand.

How to go about it?

She should call Adam Harrison, she thought. She should call him and the others

immediately, just as she had told Thor she was going to.

But she was feeling the same sense of urgency that had plagued her all day. Yes, they had

found Marshall, and Marshall was okay.

And Audrey, she somehow knew, was not.

Her heart was pounding as she went to the sofa and sat, closing her eyes and doing

nothing but concentrating, trying to find out if it was possible to communicate with the

dead, with the woman who had sought her out.

Please, don’t let Audrey be dead already, she prayed silently.

She leaned back and closed her eyes.

Tried to relax. To clear her mind.

Easier said than done.

And so she let her thoughts free.

Help me. Please. You said to beware, but of what?

Or of whom?

Please, don’t let me be responsible for Audrey’s death. You can help me.

Please…

At the police station, the desk sergeant spoke to Thor, then asked him to wait while he

made a call.

Jay was apparently out on the street somewhere. Detective Suarez walked out to speak

with Thor instead.

“The sergeant said you’ve spoken with Marshall Miro,” Suarez said.

“That’s right. He’s taking some personal time. He’s docked up on the Miami River. I’m

assuming the property belongs to a friend, or maybe he owns it himself.”

“Well, there you go. Your friend and co-worker is fine.”

“Yes. I’m much more worried about Audrey.”

Suarez made a ticking sound of impatience. “She’s probably off somewhere having fun,

too. But I’ll keep my eyes open. You know, your friend Victor was the last one seen with

that hooker.”

Thor discovered he disliked Suarez. The “hooker”—even if they didn’t have an identity

on her—deserved more in the way of respect.

“You questioned him,” he commented.

“Yeah, and I would have held him. But the shop owner refused to press charges.” He let

out a strange sound of disgust. “These people—” he waved a hand, indicating exactly

who, Thor wasn’t sure “—they’re like a closed group.”

“You’re not from here, I take it,” Thor murmured.

“Nope, not me. I’ve lived all over,” Suarez said.

Thor was glad he didn’t specify a place; he would have hated to harbor a grudge against a

certain area just because of Suarez.

“Yep, your friend’s back out on the streets, so I’d beware,” Suarez went on.

Beware.

“I work with the man,” Thor said. “And you have no evidence against him, right?”

Suarez shrugged. “All I know is, this kind of thing has gone on before down here. That suggests the perp is someone who’s been around for a while, and that fits your friend.”

“That fits a lot of people here,” Thor said coolly. Hell, even if he thought beyond a doubt

that Victor was guilty, he would have defended him against this guy.

“I came in to tell you we’re going back in the water tomorrow,” Thor said.

Suarez shrugged. “Try not to dig up any more bodies, huh?”

Was he trying to be humorous?

“Good evening, Detective,” Thor said.

More irritated than he had been already, he set out to see Sheridan.

Please…

She could sense it, smell the sea. Something different around her. Maybe just a charge in

the air at first, a surge of energy…of electricity.

Help me, please.

The feeling that someone else was with her began to grow. She took a deep breath, then

another. She wasn’t going to be afraid. She was going to make this work. She was going

to stay with the ghost until…

She nearly rocketed off the sofa when she heard a hammering against her door.

The electricity was gone. There was no longer any sense of the sea, or of anything but

emptiness surrounding her.

She swore, rising.

The hammering continued as she walked across the room to the door. She looked out

through the peephole and saw Victor.

“Calm down,” she told him, throwing open the door.

He swept past her, ignoring her words.

“Those fucking detectives grilled me as if I were Ted Fucking Bundy!” he exploded at

her.

“Victor, you can’t blame them. It’s their job.”

“They don’t have a real suspect. That’s why they’re going after me. I’ll sue. This is

harassment.”

“Come on, Victor, they let you out,” she said.

“You!” he accused her.

“Me?”

“You just had to call Jay and tell him you and I put that mannequin in the garbage.”

“Victor, I had to. He would have spent hours investigating—”

“As if they’re not spending hours investigating right now, trying to prove I stole the damn

thing,” he interrupted.

“Victor, do you want a drink? A soda or something?”

“Genevieve, I’m telling you, you don’t know what it was like.”

“Victor, I’m sorry, but quit acting like a two-yearold.”

“A two-year-old? You didn’t have to go through that.”

He was pacing so angrily that she kept her distance from him. She had to remind herself

that she’d known him all her life.

“Women!” he exploded next. He pointed a finger at her. “Always trouble—always

teasing, and the next thing you know, they want money!”

“Come on, Victor. You’re not the first guy to be taken in by a prostitute. And how can

you still be angry? The poor woman is dead.”

He was still pacing, acting as if he hadn’t even heard her.

“Victor, stop it! I’m sorry, but under the circumstances, I did the right thing.”

Suddenly she found herself sorry she hadn’t gone with Thor.

How long before he returned?

A while, she thought, amazed to realize how nervous she felt.

It was suddenly as if Victor read her mind.