Page 10 of Immortal Unveiled

“Well, at first, I did my usual questioning, and then I examined the house, looked at everything that could give me an answer. Like in your mother’s case, the police suspected a burglary gone wrong. Nothing was stolen there either. And the wife insisted she saw the vortex. I was inclined to believe her.”

“Inclined?”

“Yes, I kept an open mind, until…”

“Until what?”

Now it was time for the blow. Manus leaned forward. “Don’t take this the wrong way. You believe what you’ve seen. And I believe that you believe it. It’s just, there’s a logical explanation for what you’ve seen. A technical one, actually.”

“What are you saying?” Her eyes narrowed by a fraction.

“It’s a rare occurrence, but when the weather conditions are just right, and the air conditioning is running in the house, a negative airflow can be created that will suck dust particles through a vent into the house and whirl them around. Because of the different pressure inside and outside the house, the particles are electrically charged and therefore create in effect a vortex that’s visible by the naked eye.”

Kim stared at him, her mouth slowly opening as if she wanted to say something, but no sound rolled over her lips. Her luscious red lips. So plump, so kissable.

Focus! Focus! Don’t lose your head. You’re not on a fucking date. This is a job.

“I mean,” Manus added, “it’s unusual, I admit that. And I was thrown myself at first, but I checked it out with a few professionals, you know, an air conditioning contractor and a meteorologist. And they both assured me that it’s possible. And then, of course, when the police finally found the burglar in that case, it all fell into place.”

“Did it?” Kim’s voice was stiff and cold. Not a good sign.

“Yeah, it all made sense. Just give the police a chance to do their investigation. You’ll see that it all has a normal explanation. I just don’t want you to fall down this rabbit hole and get lost in something that has no basis in reality.”

“You know what?” she asked, and he knew it wasn’t a question. He could tell from the pissed-off tone in Kim’s voice. She pushed the chair back and rose in one fluid movement. “How stupid do you think I am? An air conditioning system creating a vortex? I don’t know what kind of Kool-Aid you think you can dish up and what your motivation for this crap is, but let me tell you one thing: I know when somebody is full of shit, and you, buddy, are about to spill over. If this is how you get your kicks, then do it with somebody else. Jerk!”

She spun around.

“Kim, I’m not—”

But she’d already reached the door and swung it open. A moment later, she was gone.

Fuck!

This hadn’t gone at all how he’d expected. And on top of it, she’d called him a jerk. He had to correct that. Manus rose, pushing the chair back, when he heard suppressed chuckles coming from the table next to his.