How can an old lady just vanish in her own hometown? And why? Police ask a reclusive psychic and her reformed young assistant to unearth clues through visions and investigation. They must ask themselves what in the woman's past needed silencing...
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DeeDee wasn't asleep, but felt sure that she wasn't awake either. She was trapped somewhere in the middle. Grabbing the limp bed sheets, she tugged them under her chin. Behind her eyelids, she saw flashes. Electrical storms firing through her synapses. Nora, she breathed in her restlessness.
Then it was dark. Over her shoulder she caught sight of a fading crescent moon above the treetops. Thin light. She spun. Branches poked and slapped her face leaving stinging cuts and scratches. With trembling hands, DeeDee forced them aside, but they sprang back at her. She edged her tired feet forward. Where was the child? Why was Nora alone? Her toe bumped a huge log lying across the meandering path through the woods, so she sat. DeeDee lay her heavy head into her palms as starbursts once again blazed through her head. Sweat prickled her brow. She swiped at it. When the wave passed, DeeDee hauled the balmy air into her lungs and raised her eyes. No signposts. She was surrounded by solemn trunks. A chaos of limbs and leaves shivering in the night air. Which way to go?
Snap. DeeDee spun her head. A surge of dizziness swept over her, but she focused to her left. Nothing but trees and darkness. There was something out there. DeeDee sensed she wasn't alone. Was that a crunching sound? It was easy to get bushed out here, she could see. The log felt hard under her derriere. Time to move on.
A rustle to her right made DeeDee shift her gaze as she clambered to her feet. Give me a minute, she thought, realizing that the night was closing in on her vision. Darkness created a tunnel, narrowing as the next cascade of fireworks ignited her mind. She clutched her head. Doubled over. Her stomach lurched as she strained to keep her balance. She failed, tumbling forward onto hands and knees on the loamy ground. Pain shot through her right knee. A stick? A rock? A long moan slid from her lips although it sounds as if it came from someone else. She tried to control her stomach. The heaving subsided. Breathe, she told herself. She licked her parched lips and lifted her head. As she sidled into a sitting position, attempting to fold up her legs, she felt warm air flare on her cheeks. A sour smell attacked her senses. DeeDee flung open her eyes to face...a ghost? Wait, ghosts don't have bad breath. A long cascade of thunder rolled at her from half a world away.
The young man was parchment pale with white hair and luminous grey eyes. He reached up and touched DeeDee's cheek with quivering fingertips. Sh..., he said. He drew a finger to his own chalky lips. As he rose and helped DeeDee to her feet, she noticed he wore robes of various shades –
ivory, grey and white, leaving the impression that a disciple had materialized in the woods after 2000 years. He leaned on a tall, slender staff. This was no villain, she thought. What have I to fear?
Rolling on her side, DeeDee fell into a deep, untroubled sleep, letting the comfort of the woods wash over her.
*
As JC and Melissa were led across the pavement and along the nearest dusty side road to the edge of the forest, they were followed at a distance by the dancing flashlight beams of the officers. JC noticed they kept their speculations to whispers in the background. Her senses buzzed like mosquitoes. Thunder was getting louder. Getting closer. The hand that held Murch's had totally numbed out. She glanced at her sister, who was looking drawn. Please don't faint.I can't carry you, she thought.
