“They become more than they ever could have been as individuals,” he finished for her. “I mean, my being here is proof of that.”
“Yes.”
Her thoughts switched back to Mr. Smith. “The bastard. He must be a psychopath. But why the hell is he so interested in the children from the clinic?”
“Think about it. If we have powers like that, we’re like a walking weapon. For good or evil.”
“He talked about couples who died when he threw them together.”
“But the way he put it, I got the impression that there are other couples who got together and developed their powers like that detective he mentioned and the woman who was the fiancée of a drug dealer. Didn’t he say they got away from him?”
Travis nodded slowly. “You’re saying there are other people like us?”
She laughed. “We’ll not exactly like us. I think we have something nobody else has.”
CHAPTERNINE
Gabe Bowman looked at the addresses Miss Wilder had given him. They were both in St. Stephens, about an hour and a half away. He wanted to begin the investigation. Maybe Carson’s house was a logical place to start.
He drove through the flat countryside where corn and soybean fields had once been. There was still some agriculture, but it was now interspersed with shopping centers and townhouse developments, which were the hallmarks of modern life.
Carson’s old clapboard house, sitting on a street that dead-ended at a wide creek, wasn’t one of them. It had probably been built early in the last century, long before the Bay Bridge made the Eastern Shore more accessible to vacationers and those seeking a slower lifestyle.
The creek thwarted Gabe’s plans. He had intended to drive past as though he were looking for another address. But when the water stopped him, he was forced to turn around. As he backed out of a driveway, he spotted a man sitting in a car across the street and several houses down from Carson’s place. Gabe kept going, but he knew the guy had taken note of him. It could have been curiosity at seeing a car on this seldom-traveled byway, but Gabe suspected that someone was staking out the house.
Interesting and disturbing. When he’d talked to Miss Wilder, he’d thought that there was going to be an innocuous explanation for Carson’s disappearance. Now he wondered if he’d been too quick to make assumptions. What if someone had killed or kidnapped Carson and wanted to make sure nobody found out about it?
Gabe had planned to check out the house and then head for the dock where Carson’s boat was moored. Now he decided he’d better take a more circumspect approach to his assignment. At the corner, he turned right and drove several blocks while deciding on how to proceed.
He didn’t think it was a coincidence that someone appeared to be watching the house. If he drove to the boat dock and encountered a similar situation, that might decide his next move. But one thing he did know, he was going to be a damn sight more cautious from now on.
* * *
Olivia looked out the window,surprised to see how light it was. Their conversation had so absorbed her that she’d lost track of time. She didn’t realize how much the night’s activities had drained her until she stood up and had to reach for the bedpost to steady herself.
Travis was instantly by her side, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m feeling a little dizzy. I think I’d better have something to eat.”
“Right.”
She gave him a long look, realizing she could see him quite clearly now. Their connection had changed him. He looked...
Like a living man?
His silent thought flashed into her mind, and some of the heady sense of accomplishment she’d been feeling drained away.
Don’t forget how all this started,he cautioned.
Right—with his reaching out to her after he’d been murdered, because she knew for sure now what had happened to him.
Feeling as though someone had landed a solid blow in the middle of her chest, she made a quick trip to the bathroom. After using the facilities, she pulled on fresh underwear, sweatpants, and a loose T-shirt. When she looked around for Travis, she didn’t see him. Had he withdrawn to recharge or something? Or was he giving her some space again? She decided not to call out to him as she headed downstairs.
In the kitchen, she began looking through the refrigerator. She supposed most people had special foods they ate for breakfast. She preferred leftovers. She’d brought home a creamed potato-and-sausage soup a few days earlier. Now she pulled it out, ladled some into a mug, and set it in the microwave. While it heated, she retrieved a caramel-flavored coffee pod and inserted it into the machine. The microwave had just signaled that the soup was done when the doorbell rang.
After hearing about Travis’s horrendous encounter with Mr. Smith, she couldn’t help tensing. But when she peered out the front window, she saw a FedEx driver standing at the door. She’d been expecting a shipment of some acrylic paint, and this must be it.
When she opened the door, the guy said, “I need a signature.”
