“About six months after Kesha left. Shortly before Dr. Fulton retired. And I don’t think it was related in any way.”
Geena looked at George, silently asking him if he had any more questions. He shook his head. Geena turned back to Thomas. “Thank you for your time, Mr. LeClerk. Here is my card. The number on the back is Detective Donovan’s cell. If you remember anything you think can help us, please give us a call. Sometimes it’s the small things that can crack a case wide-open.”
Thomas took the card and shoved it into the breast pocket of his scrubs. “Will do.” He hesitated for a moment. “Do you know if she had to suffer?”
They had already gotten up from their chairs, and George could feel Andi stiffening beside him. Something was definitely up.
“The autopsy report isn’t finished yet. I’m sorry, Mr. LeClerk.” Geena eyed the man like a hawk. Thomas shrugged, his gaze glued to his coffee mug again.
“I was just wondering. She was such a strong person. I can’t imagine she went down easily.”
“We’ll keep that in mind, Mr. LeClerk.” Geena turned toward the door. George followed before he was stopped short by Andi’s voice.
“Would it be okay if we took a look at your gardens? They seem lovely.”
Thomas looked at Andi as if he was seeing him for the first time. Given how silent his partner could be, it was easy to forget he was there.
“Of course. Though I don’t know about lovely at the moment. You should come back in two months when spring is really there. Anyway, turn left and follow the corridor to the very end. The door there should be open and lead you directly into the herb garden. From there, all other gardens are accessible. Take your time. In this weather, nobody is keen to go outside.”
“Thank you, Mr. LeClerk.” Andi nodded at the man before he turned to George.
They left the break room and strolled down the corridor with its green linoleum floor and the scent of lemon sanitizer hanging in the air. Really, just like a horror movie waiting to happen. Geena pointed to a door to her right.
“That’s my cue. I’ll find you boys outside.” She stopped in front of the bathroom and waved them to go on when they hesitated. “It’s fine. As I said, I’m a big girl. I can find you.”
Andi started walking immediately, which gave George a chance to throw Geena one more glance before she went through the door. She winked at him. Not knowing if she was just making fun of him or really trying to give him and Andi some space, George decided to let it go for the moment. He had to take his breaks where he could.
Andi was already ahead, in front of the door, opening it with an ominous creak. George jogged up to him, realizing almost instantly what was going on. Andi was buzzing, his lips vibrating, his gaze locked in the distance behind the fence surrounding the grounds of House Cusabo. The buzzing meant bees, which wasn’t so bad because social insects were easier to deal with than the rest. George put his hand on Andi’s shoulder, squeezing tight enough to feel his partner’s clavicle, which was way too prominent for George’s liking. Andi wasn’t eating as well as he needed to. It showed in the loss of body mass. The buzzing faltered for a moment, indicating Andi was still present enough to recognize George.
“What it is it, Andi?”
“Bzz, bzz, shrrt, close,bzz, so many,bzz, the smoke, tired,ssst.”
Andi started walking toward the low stone wall separating the gardens, as George had seen from Dr. Blackton’s office. They passed through what looked like a flower garden and an area with several greenhouses before they reached a part of the garden at the back of the original building. More than a dozen beehives stood there in a semicircle. While George took in the typical square shapes, he saw movement at the entrance of the two closest to them. A few bees were slowly coming outside, vibrating with their wings without taking flight. Andi stepped closer, his fingers outstretched. He wasn’t talking, not even really buzzing anymore. There was just this low droning tone coming from him which worried George a lot, especially when he realized the same tone was reverberating out of the hives.
More and more bees appeared at the entrance of the two hives, the hives next to them coming to life as well. Andi held out his hands to the narrow piece of wood that served as some kind of landing strip for the bees before they entered the hive. The first bee crawled onto his hand, followed quickly by her sisters. Before George had a chance to react, Andi’s hands were covered in bees. The droning tone was getting louder, thumping against George’s sternum, echoing through his rib cage. Not a single bee came close to him; they were all flocking to Andi, landing on his jacket, in his hair, and on his legs, swarming up his arms, giving George’s hand a wide berth, climbing up Andi’s neck toward his face. George immediately felt thrown back to the bunker and the way the arthropods in the death chamber had swarmed Andi’s body like the oversized pill bugs inThe Mummy.
Everything George knew about bees he had learned from Andi, so he was aware that panicking was not an option. The insects would pick up on it and get agitated themselves. With a strength he didn’t know he possessed, George forced his breathing to calm down. What helped was the fact that the bees still ignored him. They were completely fixated on Andi, which was good and bad. George tried to remember what they had learned in their meditation course. It was important to let his breathing flow naturally, until he was able to sync with Andi. His partner’s breathing was very slow, his mind deeply interwoven with the bees. Reaching him there would be difficult, because they hadn’t established a steady contact before Andi went down, and George had yet to learn to build it on his own. It was one of the things they had wanted to train for during their holidays.Thank you very much, Chief!
George closed his eyes, trusting Andi to keep the bees from him. He concentrated on the sound he felt in his chest, coming from the bees and rising through his fingertips where he touched Andi. It was a steady hum, soothing, lulling. And there it was, Andi’s breathing, almost drowned out before, and now he had found it like waves in his ears, as if he were standing on the beach. It took him a while to get in tune with it, forcing him to breathe in longer than was natural for him, then hold it for what seemed to be an insane amount of time before exhaling slowly and steadily so he could make it until Andi finally breathed in again. It was as their instructor at the course had said—nothing was more difficult than adapting to somebody else’s rhythm. When it finally happened, George wanted to do a happy dance but kept his cool. No way was he risking losing their synchronicity now that he finally had it.
The next task was to gently pry Andi from the grasp the bees had on him. “Andi? Can you hear me?”
“Ssst, bzz, getting warmer, they stole the honey,bzz, intruders, huge, blobs, they stole the honey, defend the nest, no, tired, smoke, smoke,ssst, protect the queen, the honey, hungry, they haven’t come in a while, big blob, smoke, smoke,bzz, they stole the honey!”
“Yes, Andi, that’s what beekeepers do. You remember? Humans? Like you are?”
“Human, blob, stealing, taking, the nest in danger,bzz, George, you’re here, don’t you see? The honey….”
“I’m sure they gave them some sugar water to compensate for the loss of the honey.”
“Not as good, not as nourishing, poor substitute.”
“Perhaps you can tell them not to take as much next time?” George figured it was worth a shot.
“I could. Because I can talk. I’m a blob. I can stop them. The honey will be safe.” Andi shook his head, and the bees started to retreat from his body. Those on his arms scurried back while those farther away, on his shoulders and in his hair, took flight back to the hive. They scrambled over each other to get back into their home. A quick glance at the other hives showed the bees there were retreating as well. After a few minutes, everything was quiet again; even the low drone that had vibrated through George’s body was gone. It felt strange, suddenly being without it.
He squeezed Andi’s collarbone. “Are you with me?”
