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.Why would anyone connect her with Ken Safton? In fact, once the coroner’s report came in, they’d know she couldn’t have committed the murder.The paleness of Safton’s body and the coagulated blood would tell them he’d been killed some time in the night.Jill imagined the lab technicians questioning one another about the skeleton, wondering why Safton had shot at the thing.And wondering about the mysterious woman who had rushed from his office this morning, only to disappear.Disappear.That’s what she had to do.A breeze blew off the water, chilling her.Who was she escaping from? The police? Or some dark, powerful force that thought nothing of killing one of its own to keep its secrets?But she couldn’t just take off.She’d have to give Virginia some kind of excuse—“family problems,” she’d say—she’d have to go somewhere that would help continue her search for Ryan.And though she didn’t like the idea of returning to the paper, she knew there was only one way she would find out where to go: she had to talk to Patrick, as she had planned earlier, to find out what Deliah’s last assignment had been.Jill sat for a few more minutes, convincing herself that the police had no doubt left by now.Then, determined, she got up and went to her car.When she arrived at the newspaper, Patrick was busy at his typewriter, plunking away with one hand while eating a bagel with cream cheese with the other.When he saw Jill, he put it down and made a welcoming noise.“Hello,” he cried after swallowing the mouthful.“What a nice surprise.Come to thank me for the column I wrote on the gala?”“It was wonderful,” Jill said.Patrick stood up and cleared a pile of Scientific Americans from a chair.“Sit down, Jill,” he said.“You look a little pale.Is it that cold out? You want some coffee or hot chocolate? I’ve always got water boiling, and those envelopes—”Jill shook her head.“No, thanks,” she said.“So, what can I do for you?”“Patrick, I need a favor,” Jill asked.“You know I was the last person with Deliah Provost, don’t you?”Patrick nodded, looking sad.“Poor woman,” he said.“I never thought much of her column.All that horoscope and stargazing stuff is balderdash when you consider the wonders of real science.But she was a decent person and didn’t deserve to die like that.I always wondered what you were doing with her, Jill.You don’t seem the superstitious type.”“Not at all,” Jill insisted.“But Deliah said something to me the night of the gala that made it necessary to meet with her.”“What was that?”Jill sighed deeply.She hadn’t told Virginia the truth because she didn’t want her friend to get hurt.And she didn’t want Patrick involved in this, either.But Patrick was an intelligent, strong person who could take care of himself.And without him, she might never find her son.So she told him the whole story.Most of the story, anyway, with the part about Ken Safton deftly removed.“Meeting with Craig Dylan convinced me my son is alive,” she said.“But I don’t know where to go from here.”Patrick whistled.“I never would have guessed,” he said.“You always seemed so cheerful.It must have been horrid for you, losing your son like that and having no one to share the grief with.”“When I came here from Michigan,” Jill said, “I had made up my mind to get on with my life.And I was doing fine until Deliah came along.”“So, how can I help?” Patrick said.Jill leaned forward, her hands opened out as if the theory she had was something she could offer physically.“My son was a telepath,” Jill said.“Now, I know you don’t believe in that sort of thing, but it’s true, I swear.I figured that the only way Deliah could have gotten a message from him was if she’d been near him.So I was wondering: can you find out if she took any trips before she died? If I knew the last place she visited, I could look there for my son.”Patrick rubbed his lower lip with his index finger for a few moments, taking this all in.“It’s amazing,” he said.“Can you help?”He shrugged, standing.“I can sure try.Wait here a second, Jill.I’ll see what I can dig up.”After he left, Jill picked up a two-year-old copy of Scientific American and thumbed through it while she was waiting.Patrick was back within ten minutes.“It was easy,” he said.“Deliah has a sister in Albuquerque, New Mexico.She went to visit her last month and came home the night before the gala.”“New Mexico,” Jill cried.“That’s right,” Patrick said.“If Deliah was in contact with Ryan just before the gala, maybe it was there.”Jill stood up.“Then I have to go there.”Patrick reached out quickly and took hold of her arm.“Whoa! Do you have any idea what a trip to New Mexico is going to cost you, especially with such late notice?”“I know,” Jill said.“But we’re talking about my son.”“Who may not even be there,” Patrick said.“Are you going to spend hundreds of dollars each time you have even the slightest clue as to Ryan’s where-abouts?”Jill looked annoyed.“Then what do you expect me to do?” she asked.“Sit around and wait while my baby is in the hands of murderers?”“At least look into it further,” Patrick said.“What was that detective’s name? Dylan? Call him and ask if there’s any chance Ryan was taken to New Mexico.”“He won’t talk to me,” Jill said.“His wife made it very clear I wasn’t to bother them again.And after what happened at his house that day, watching him freak out like that, I could never call him.No, Patrick.If Deliah was in Albuquerque before the gala, then that is where my son contacted her.I’m going.” She stood up, zipping up her jacket.“Patrick, thank you for your help,” she said.“Wish me luck?”Patrick sighed.“There’s no arguing with you,” he stated matter-of-factly.“If I can, I’ll be on a flight tomorrow morning,” Jill answered.Patrick smiled and shook his head.Then he opened his arms and gave Jill a bear hug.“Maybe you’ll be buying an extra ticket,” he said.“A child’s, one way back to New York.”Jill hugged him back.God, how she prayed he was right!23IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING KATE’S FIRST SESSION WITH Dr.Tavillo, Laura did not make any new appearances.The parapsychologist suggested that, perhaps, she was too frightened to do so after coming so close the other day.“And she saw you in unfamiliar surroundings,” Alec pointed out during a phone conversation.“I think our next session would be best held in your home, where Laura will feel safe [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]