Iris Johansen - Quicksand

Miguel shook his head. "Except maybe the way the lilies are growing in that T shape in the water."

"Are we sure this photo is the one Kistle left?" Montalvo asked.

"Oh, yes." He reached in his pocket and drew out a yellow Post-it note. "This was taped to it."

A child's blue satin hair ribbon.

Eve touched it gingerly. "Another one?" She tried to ignore the horror she felt staring at it. "This can't belong to her. He must have bought it at Target."

"It got his message across." Megan was gazing compulsively at the ribbon. "That's all he wanted to do."

"Why don't you touch it?" Joe asked. "Maybe it will tell you something."

"Leave her alone, Joe," Eve said.

Megan deliberately reached out and touched the ribbon. "It tells me that Kistle is a son of a bitch and that you're one cynical bastard. Back off."

Joe smiled. "What a shallow observation. You'll have to do better than that."

"I'll work on it." Her gaze shifted to Miguel. "What else? Can you ask this Bubba if he can remember any island that has that kind of floating foliage surrounding it?"

He nodded. "I'll get right on it." He looked at Montalvo. "This can be ugly. There are trees all over the place where a man could climb and be waiting for anyone passing in a boat below. Providing he doesn't object to cohabiting with coral snakes and other nasty, slimy creatures."

"I don't believe Kistle would care," Eve said. "He'd feel right at home with them. But where would he be able to stash Laura Ann?"

"That's the question," Joe said. "On this island? What about it, Dr. Blair? Do you have any thoughts on the subject?"

"I won't know until we get there. Maybe not then." She looked him in the eye. "No promises. When do we leave?"

"Dark. It will be safer." Joe turned to Miguel. "In the meantime, I want to go with you to see this Bubba Garfield and then go into the swamp and get the feel of it. Montalvo, you bring Eve, Megan, and Phillip Blair. I'll meet you at the dock at seven."

Miguel looked at Montalvo. "Colonel?"

Montalvo thought about it and then nodded slowly. "Go ahead. I don't need to get the feel of that swamp. One swamp is pretty much like another, and I practically lived in one while I was searching for my wife."

"I'm glad to have your permission." Joe got to his feet. "You've rented the motorboats, Miguel?"

Miguel nodded. "At the dock at the north entrance."

Joe headed for the door. "I'll see you at seven, Eve. Come on, Miguel."

Eve checked her watch after Joe and Miguel had left the coffee shop. "It's two thirty-five." It seemed a long time until seven. She turned to Megan. "What are you going to do?"

"Go have late lunch with Phillip. Then go to his room and try to rest." She finished her coffee and stood up. "And then try to keep myself from getting back in my car and heading back to Atlanta."

"You won't do that," Eve said.

"No, I probably won't." She moved toward the door. "Though your Joe Quinn is making it seem like Mecca right now." She glanced over her shoulder. "If you need a place to crash for a few hours, come up to Phillip's room."

"Thank you." Eve watched her leave before saying to Montalvo, "She's being more tolerant than I would. After all, I invited her and Joe is giving her a hard time."

"So did you. Quinn had to stand by and watch those other psychic publicity-seekers tear you apart. It must have been rough on him too. He's only trying to protect you by poking holes in her so-called powers."

"You're defending him. Does that mean you think he's right? You were there, Montalvo. You helped dig up that little boy."

"Is he right? I don't know. It was a weird thing that seemed to be happening to her. I don't know how she knew the boy was buried there." He shrugged. "And I've seen some strange things happen in the jungle. Did I really see them or did I only dream them?"

She looked away from him. "Dream? About what?"

"Comrades who had died beside me. My wife, Nalia. As a sane realist, I prefer to think they were dreams." He took a drink of his coffee. "The dreams of Nalia ended when I put her to rest. Maybe that's all she wanted. I miss those dreams."

"I can see how you would."

She could feel his gaze on her face. "Look at me, Eve."

She forced herself to meet his gaze.

"You too?" he asked softly.

She wouldn't talk to him about dreams of Bonnie if she couldn't talk about them to Joe. "I'm glad if you think your wife is at peace now."

He nodded. "But I'm not at peace. I'm alive and I have to find a life again."

"Well, you can't take mine. I have Joe."

He was silent a moment. "And does your Joe have 'dreams' of Bonnie?"

"How could he? He never knew her."

"Yet he's lived with you for a long time. It must seem as if he does."

She shook her head. "Someone told me once that's not the way it works. Your mind has to be totally open to be able to accept anything that… unusual."

"Really? Now who told you that?"

Bonnie.

She shrugged. "I don't remember."

"Megan? It would seem the kind of thing with which she'd be familiar."

"I don't remember."

"And what would trigger that openness? Sorrow? Desperation? Or maybe a psychic sensitivity like Megan's?"

"I don't want to talk about this any longer, Montalvo."

"I know. But it's interesting to find another bridge that we've gone over together. We seem to find new ones all the time, don't we?"

Yes, they did, and it was the last thing she wanted. "The only sensitivity we have to be concerned with is Megan's ability as a Listener." She finished her coffee and set down the cup. "And you're not even sure that she has that talent."

"I'm willing to be convinced. Quinn is not." He smiled. "Can't you see how compatible we are?"

"No. And I won't talk about it any longer."

"You should talk about it. Oh, not to give me any advantage. But I believe you've allowed yourself to feel a little guilty about feeling something for me." His smile faded. "We're trained to believe we should cling to one person only. Yet there are so many people who pass in and out of our lives. Good people, worthy people, interesting people. Most of them stay for a little while and then move on. Some of them find a place with us and, if we let them, they enrich us. Don't close yourself off from the rest of the world, Eve. If you find someone who can make you understand a little more, laugh every now and then, give you a new experience, then never feel guilty. You'll just have more to give back to those who are closest to you."

She didn't speak for a moment. "Good heavens, a philosopher. I wouldn't have thought it of you, Montalvo."

"I do think occasionally." He was smiling again. "I truly believe what I said, but I understand why Quinn is trying to keep you to himself. I'd do the same. Philosophy is all very well, but men tend to lean closer to the Neanderthal than Aristotle."

"And your philosophy also leans closer to polygamy than monogamy," she said dryly.

"Not really. I wasn't talking about sex. But it would be a miracle if you went through life and didn't find someone besides Quinn who attracted you. Maybe for only a moment or an hour. It's a natural chemical reaction and nothing to be ashamed of. Life is all a matter of choice. You have your code and you decide what to take and what to give. And the only way to lose is to close yourself away and ignore."

She couldn't look away from him. The moment was too intimate, dammit. She had thought she knew him well, but she was learning more every moment. He said they were alike, but he was a thousand times more open and accepting than she was. Perhaps she would not have withdrawn if Bonnie had lived, but her life was closed and she did ignore almost everything but her work. What would it be like to open her world and reach out to touch and feel and experience?