The Vision (5 page)

else would be in on it. “I’m not joking. If I lose, I’ll pay up. Will you?”

“You’d risk your boat for a woman you think is crazy?” she asked. “You have to be

crazier than you think I am.”

He laughed. “Not really. I won’t lose.”

“We’ll see, won’t we?” she murmured.

“So it’s a bet?”

She noticed that Jack had made an appearance and was dragging another table over. She

realized that in a few minutes the tiki bar would be crowded, as the crews from both boats

all began to put in an appearance. In fact, she could see Lizzie and Zach approaching.

Bethany, Alex, Victor and Marshall would no doubt be over in another few minutes.

“People are coming,” she murmured.

He gripped her wrist where it lay on the table. “Is it a bet?”

“Yes,” she hissed quickly.

“One of us will have to lose,” he said, stating the obvious.

“It won’t be me,” she assured him. “But don’t worry. I’ll take excellent care of my boat.”

A touch of dry amusement entered his eyes, and he leaned close.

“Don’t you worry. I’ll take excellent care of you.”

The others were there before she had a chance to reply, and she rose to greet Elizabeth and Zach.

Maybe she was just being paranoid, but it seemed as if Elizabeth and Zach were looking

at her oddly. Then again, it might not be paranoia. She hadn’t been in great shape when

she had surfaced yesterday. But Elizabeth had sympathy in her eyes as well as the same

speculative look that Thor Thompson usually wore. “You doing all right? Everything

okay today?” Elizabeth asked, taking the chair her husband offered her and drawing it up

beside Genevieve’s.

“Fine. I’m really sorry I caused such a commotion yesterday.”

“Hey,” Elizabeth said. “I’ve had a few weird experiences in the water, too.”

“Lizzie ran into a head once,” Zach said.

“We were diving a small plane crash in the Everglades. It was pretty grisly.”

Genevieve nodded, staring across the table at Thor, who was smiling at Bethany.

Asshole.

“I’ve done some recovery in the Everglades, and it is brutal,” Genevieve said.

“The muck…you can’t see anything until it’s in your face—then, suddenly, you’ve found

a body part,” Elizabeth agreed. “But…well, you must have seen something. Maybe we’ll

find whatever it was in the next few days.”

“I hope so,” Genevieve said. She looked at Thor again, clenching her teeth. “I haven’t

worked rescue and recovery all that often, but we’ve gone up to the Glades a few times. I

don’t know what this was.” She waved a hand in the air. “It had to be someone’s idea of a

joke. A mannequin or something.” She didn’t believe it for an instant, but she was sick to

death of the topic.

“Hey, anybody want to head out for dinner?” Bethany asked as she and the others came

walking over.

“I was thinking about eating here,” Alex said. “We were planning a pretty early morning,

at least three dives. I’m going straight to soda water after this beer.”

“You?” Genevieve inquired skeptically.

“We should call it an early night,” Thor said. “We’re supposed to meet back out here on

the patio tomorrow at seven-thirty.”

“Seven-thirty?” Genevieve said. “I thought it was eight-thirty? All we have to do is get

up and walk out to the boats.”

“Our advisers are going to be here in the morning,” Marshall said. “Preston from the

Coast Guard and Professor Sheridan, from the university.”

“Oh?” Genevieve said.

“Thor got the call when we were out today. Sorry, I missed telling you,” Marshall said.

Had her own boss decided she was too far gone to receive information like everyone else? she wondered. Didn’t he want her in contact with the higher-ups?

“Great,” she said. “I guess we should call it an early night.” She started to rise, but

Marshall smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“I say we let the crew of The Seeker buy us dinner tonight.”

“Sure,” Elizabeth said cheerfully. “The hamburgers here are cheap enough. We’ll let you

guys buy us steaks after our first discovery.”

“I’ll go give Clint our order,” Thor said, rising. “Though what Marshall isn’t telling you

is that all our meals go on an expense account. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers? Any

vegetarians in the group?” He looked at Genevieve.

Of course, she thought. He already considered her a bit strange, so no doubt she must be a

vegetarian in his red-blooded, rough-and-ready, American-male world. She suddenly

wished she were a vegetarian, just so she could see the look on his face when she told

him.

She decided not to answer him. Instead, she rose determinedly. “I think I’ll skip dinner.

I’ll see you all at seven-thirty in the morning. Good night.”

Elizabeth looked at her in concern. “You really should have some dinner.”

“Yeah,” Bethany said, frowning.

Easier for you all to talk about me, if I just disappear, she thought, forcing a convivial

smile.

“I’ve got snacks in the bungalow,” she said. “Thanks.”

She left then. Thor, ordering the food from Clint, didn’t even glance her way.

The bungalows were set no more than twenty feet apart, but they managed to feel private.

They were nestled against a thin forest of sea grapes, pines and spindly oaks that shielded

them from the rush of Duval Street and beyond. A stretch of beach lay in front of some,

while the deeper water and the docks flanked others. The property wasn’t big; there were

only three piers, one with local boats and two for guests. She could see Jack’s ramshackle

fishing boat and Jay’s pleasure craft rocking gently at one pier, their work boats at

another, awaiting the morning.

She entered her bungalow and looked around, admiring the casual plan. Each unit offered

a refrigerator, microwave and wet bar, with a screen between the

parlor/kitchenette/sitting area and the bedroom.

She turned on the television, feeling restless and eager for the sound of a human voice.

Luckily, the television wouldn’t rib her the way her so-called friends had.

She had a package of breakfast bars by the sink and decided they would have to do for a

meal. She would be seen if she tried to leave their small resort, and she didn’t want

anyone to know she had just been seeking her own company—or company other than

theirs, anyway.

Munching an oat-and-honey granola bar, she stared at the television, then started flicking the channel changer. Nothing drew her attention. The sound of laughter filtered to her

from the bar area, and she found herself annoyed that they all seemed to be getting along

so well. She’d been disturbed enough that her own friends were making fun of her. The

Thor Thompson thing was more than she could stomach. The man was arrogant beyond

belief.

She threw herself on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She had to make the first discovery now.

The bet was ridiculous. Totally immature. She should just tell him in the morning that it

was off. Except that she was the one who had started it.

Eventually the exertion of the day began to take its toll. She left the television on for

company but changed into an oversize T, turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep.

At first she could still hear the sounds of conversation and laughter, just as annoying as

before.

But she needed rest. Last night she had slept at last but not long enough. At least today,

she hadn’t seen a thing in the water except fish and coral.

The world was well, she told herself.

A little voice crept in. Bull!

At last she drifted to sleep.

In her dreams, she was diving again. The sound of her breath through the regulator was

soothing. The water was clear. Tangs and clown fish darted by. A very large grouper, a

good six feet, hovered by the reef. The sun struck the water, the rays arrowing down.

Anemones wafted with the current.

And then…

She saw the woman. Hair drifting in golden streams. Head bowed, arms lifted in the easy

current. White fabric drifting against the length of her body Feet tied to the weight that

held her down.

Her head lifted. Her eyes opened. Her mouth worked. No sound came, but her eyes

pleaded, filled with an infinite sadness.

Then, from behind her, they rose….

Skeletal forms with decaying flesh cloaking their bones. Skeletal forms brandishing

knives and swords, bodies rotting, clothing streaming from them in oddly colorful tatters.

They marched. Marched across the seabed, sightless eye sockets staring at Genevieve,

bony jaws locked with determination.

She was frozen at first, unable to move.

She had discovered something, she realized. Something she wasn’t meant to know.

And now…

The sound of her breathing stopped.

The army of skeletons was almost upon her. She turned to swim away, only to discover

that she was surrounded. There was no escape.

A rotted arm in a tattered jacket reached out for her. Suddenly skeletal arms were rising

all around her, bony fingers nearly touching her flesh.

She sensed the girl’s soundless warning. Beware…

She could almost smell the overwhelming scent of decay.

Rotting flesh. A breath away…

It was impossible, she told herself. Impossible to be smelling death and decay beneath the

surface, breathing through a regulator.

She awoke, jerking bolt upright in the bed, filled with dread and panic. She forced herself

to breathe deeply. It was a dream, only a dream. Inhale, exhale.

She gritted her teeth. Ridiculous. She wasn’t like this!

She felt thirsty, anxious for a glass of water, for something tangible. Tea. She could make

tea. Maybe it was close enough to morning that she could just stay awake.

The television was still on. Paid programming. Some buff guy talking about his new

cardio machine. She could see him past the screen dividing the room.

She let him keep talking. She liked the voice, and the light cast by the television.

Actually, she needed more light. She turned on the bedside lamp.

It was only when she stood that she realized she was wet. And salty. As if she’d really

been in the sea. Swallowing hard, she rushed into the bathroom, turning on the main

lights on her way. She started to splash her face with cold water, then looked into the

mirror of the medicine cabinet above the sink.

Her heart thudded; her breathing ceased.

There was seaweed in her hair.

3

T he strangest clattering noise was going on, as if someone was throwing pots and pans—

or as if chains were being furiously shaken.

Marshall Miro was aware of the sound, deep in the fog of sleep. He twisted and turned.

He almost awoke. The sound was unsettling. It reminded him of…

What?

Something…unpleasant.

He fought the sensation and the noise. His body clock informed him it was too early to wake up.

So he didn’t.

Jack Payne was vaguely aware of a noise. It fit right in with the video game he was

playing in his dreams. The game was called Kick-Ass Karena, and kick-ass it was.

Gorgeous animated women battled one another and the player for supremacy. And when

a guy won, it was all his: the booze, the women and the victory, hot or ruthless.

The sound just seemed to be part of the game.

Victor heard a noise and woke up with a start. For several seconds, he just sat up in bed

wondering what the hell had woken him up.

He heard nothing. Nothing at all.

Groaning, he lay back down and prayed for a little more shut-eye.

Jay Gonzalez never quite made it up. The noise seemed to be coming from a distance. He

wanted to get up. Wanted to stop it. But there were times when he fell asleep with the

lights or the television on, then wanted them off but couldn’t quite rouse himself enough

to do it.

He didn’t even open his eyes, despite the fact that the sound disturbed him deeply. It

brought to mind things that were…uncomfortable. Painful. It touched memories that….

That he wished would remain lost.

Ignore it, he told himself. Sleep.

The sound would be gone by morning.

Thor bolted up. What in God’s name was going on?

He slid his legs over the side of the bed. He didn’t turn on a light, having learned it was

better to cloak oneself in darkness to check whatever might be going on in the light.

Barefoot, he walked softly to the door of his bungalow and looked out.

A benign moon fell over the sand, water and nearby cottages. It was a serene picture. A

semitropical night in paradise, all as it should be.

So where the hell had the noise come from?

Looking at the next bungalow, he saw that it was alive with light. It was Genevieve’s

bungalow, he was certain. Okay, so she liked things bright. Couldn’t hang her for that.

Not that he wanted to hang her. Just…

Why the hell couldn’t the woman be normal?

He started, suddenly certain he had heard a scream.

Or not.

It almost seemed as if the sound had come from inside his own head. He studied the

cottage next to his own. If anything was wrong…

Swearing, he strode toward her lighted window.

Genevieve stared at her reflection in the mirror, all but paralyzed.

Okay, this was frightening. A dream was one thing. Hopping out of bed to plunge into the

water in the middle of the night was another. What the hell was happening to her?

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a hurried knocking at her door. She