The Presence Part 21

"Where on earth is Toni?" David fretted, setting down a plate of broccoli, then running his fingers absently through his dark hair.

"On her way, I'm certain," Bruce a.s.sured him.

"I think we'll really have to start without her," Gina murmured. "It will all grow cold."

"I think I should go up," David said.

Kevin set a hand on his arm and nodded. "You should."

"They'll just take longer, chatting up there together," Thayer warned as David started out.

"David is very dear to her," Gina said, finis.h.i.+ng with the last gla.s.s, surveying the table, seeming pleased. "If she's at all upset.. .well, David is close to her."

"We're all close to her!" Ryan protested, staring at his wife.

"Yes, dear. But David and she...just let David handle it," Gina said. "Inspector Chamberlain, we're so pleased that you could stay!" she added, smiling at Robert as he walked in.

"Not to mention, grateful for your help," Ryan said. "Especially when the fact that we've been fleeced can hardly mean much in comparison to the plethora of bodies to be found about."

"Aplethora! Ryan!" Gina said, horrified by his choice of words.

"I'm sorry. I mean, bodies...in the forest. Ancient, new.... Sorry!" Ryan said again.

Robert waved a hand in the air. "Actually, I won't be handling your problem myself--we have people who specialize in computer fraud and international crime. And you needn't be grateful to me in any capacity. Enforcing the law is my work, in no matter what capacity. We'll get your case into the right hands, which, admittedly, are not my own. The supper smells delicious."

"Thank you!" Kevin said, beaming.

"Actually, he's the meat wizard," Ryan protested. "Potatoes and broccoli are creations perfected by my lovely wife," Ryan informed him.

"To everyone involved in the effort, it looks--and smells--quite divine," Robert said. He flashed a glance at Bruce, indicating that he considered his household of Americans quite an amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Robert, we put you here, opposite the laird of the castle!" Gina said, trying for a light note.

The group a.s.sembled, minus David and Toni for the time being. Kevin cleared his throat. "Shall we say grace?" he asked, looking at Thayer for guidance.

Thayer offered an amused smile. "If you wish."

"Um.. .sure," Ryan murmured. He lowered his head, but his eyes were open as he looked around.

They were a fairly spiritual group, Bruce thought, decent folk, but not necessarily the ones in the front of the church every Sunday morning. Like Thayer, he was slightly amused, and yet he admired the group for trying to gage me proper etiquette for a Scottish Sunday meal.

But no one spoke.

Kevin looked around, apparently a bit panicked, since it had been his idea.

"Um.. .is it proper for the laird of the castle to speak?" he inquired.

"I think it would be quite proper for the American cook," Bruce said.

"Ah," Kevin agreed. "Okay. Dear Lord, thank you for this meal, for the generosity and kindness of our host and for the help of our host's friends. We're aware that there is famine and real tragedy in the world--like the poor old soul found in the forest this time, and those other girls--but please, oh, Lord, help us in our endeavors, as well. We really meant all the best. We love Scotland! We mean to help--"

"Amen!" Gina cut in firmly, glaring at Kevin.

Robert simply laughed out loud. "A lovely grace, Kevin," he said. "But don't you have the same one in the States that we have here? Simply quicker. 'G.o.d is great, G.o.d is good, thank you G.o.d, for this food. Let's eat.'?"

Kevin flushed as the rest of them laughed.

"Let me pa.s.s the meat!" Gina said quickly.

Toni had just set the hair dryer down when she heard the knock at her door and David's voice. "Toni?"

She opened the door. "Hey, I'm sorry. I've taken too long, huh?"

"Kid, you can take all night if you want. I came up to make sure that you were all right. The concern about a hot meal doesn't really compare to the discovery of bones in the forest," he a.s.sured her sympathetically.

"I keep saying this, though no one seems to believe me, but I'm all right," she said. "It's just..."

"Just what?" he asked gently.

She walked on into the room and sat on the side of the bed. He joined her, slipping an arm around her shoulders.

"Are you still envisioning a longhead Scotsman with a b.l.o.o.d.y sword?" he asked.

She shook her head quickly, but then flashed him a glance.

"David," she murmured.

"Talk to me," he said. "That's why I'm here. Look, you're a good actress. You have everyone else convinced that you're relieved because it wasn't that missing girl, turned up dead. But I know you, and I know you're upset about those bones."

"She's dead," Toni murmured.

"What?"

She looked at his handsome, caring face and shook her head. "Nothing."

"Toni! Please, you know I never repeat a word you say to me."

"But do I know that you won't have me committed to an asylum?" she asked.

"Never," he a.s.sured her.

She inhaled deeply. "David, I could have sworn that I saw Bruce go into the forest."

David frowned. "Toni, he did leave the castle very early."

She nodded. "So I've been told. And I know travel here can take some time, but still..."

"Did you ask Bruce?"

"He was in Edinburgh. With his friend."

"And you trust in that, of course."

"There's something about him that.. .yes, I trust him."

"Then...?"

"David, I think I'm seeing things again." Her words suddenly started to pour from her. "This afternoon.. .if it wasn't Bruce, then it was the man that I invented, that Bruce from centuries ago. Or else, someone who dresses up like him and has access to a big black horse. Or else, I'm going crazy."

"Toni," he said slowly, "you're not going crazy. Well rule that out right off the bat. When you came in tonight, you said something about it being a trick of the light. Isn't that possible?"

"I suppose," she murmured.

"But you don't believe it."

She shook her head. "There's more."

"Go on."

She shook her head. "When I was taking a bath.. .David, it was suddenly as if I was her."

"Toni, you're losing me. Her--who?" He shook his head. "The long gone Annalise?"

"No. And that's what one would have thought. I mean, after everything else I made up that turned out to be true, I should have been imagining what it had been like for Annalise. But no, it was suddenly as if I were.. .the missing girl."

"Annie O'Hara?" he said with surprise.

She nodded gravely.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was as if I was where she had been, as if I could follow her thoughts the night she was taken. And killed, I could see outside a pub where she was drinking. She was even weighing in her mind what she was about to do. And then a car came up, and she was pleased and excited, because it wasn't some creepy old man about to pick her up."

"Did you see him?" David asked sharply.

"No." Toni shook her head. "No, I didn't. I--I was distracted. I don't know if I would have seen the fellow or not."

He sighed, rubbing her shoulders. "Toni, you do know that the mind can do bizarre things--especially under the stress of suggestion?"

"Yes, I know. Oh, G.o.d, David! Don't you think I'm looking for every possible rational reason for what I'm thinking, feeling.. .doing?"

"Toni, please don't go getting all paranoid. Honestly, think about it. Everything happening here is very suggestive. And hey, maybe there is some idiot in the village who hates Bruce MacNiall and is trying to get the man into some serious trouble by dressing up like him."

"You think someone else might have a big black horse?" she queried.

He smiled. "I sure as h.e.l.l think that s possible. They breed horses all around here. And big hairy coos!" he added, trying to get her to smile.

She did smile, but the effort faded quickly.

"Ah, Toni!"

"I'm still.. .scared. Well, not exactly scared, but worried. Unnerved, I guess."

"Toni! You found a body, the human remains of someone. That's pretty traumatic."

She shook her head. "No, you don't understand. Yes, if s horrible and disturbing, and I think I've had the reaction most people would--out-and-out pain and sympathy for the poor girl. And I also feel that distance most people would. Whoever she was, she died years and years ago. But it's this connection I feel to Annie O'Hara that's so unnerving! I don't know how to explain it."

"Still, it's natural that you would feel for another soul, and that your mind might play tricks," David said.

"David, I told you about the things that happened when I was a child. I had pushed it all back--so far back!--for years. It's terrifying to see these things."

He was silent for a minute. "Toni, don't say this to anyone else."

"They'll see that I'm locked up, right?"

He didn't smile or even reply right away. "No, that s not what I mean. It's just...you shouldn't say things like this to anyone else. It could get out."

"I don't intend to! I didn't even intend to say anything to you. But if you're not worried about them all thinking that I'm crazy, what are you worried about?"

He hesitated. "Toni, you might have stumbled upon old bones, but there is a very real killer out there. He's probably a psychotic and far away, but people talk."

"So?"

He exhaled and looked straight at her. "Toni, people like wild stories. Newspapers will pick up anything. And whether they think you're a crazy, headline hunting American or not, they could print something. Most people will think you're nutty. But there is a killer out there, and if you scare him, make him think that you can see things others can't, then you could be considered a real threat."

She stared at him, slowly understanding just what he was saying.

"A threat, Toni! Do you understand? You could put yourself in danger!"

She shook her head at first, in denial, then she felt the dulls snaking down her spine.

"Don't worry," she whispered after a moment. "Trust me, I won't say a word to anyone, anyone at all. As I said, I didn't even mean to talk to you."

"But I love you, and I'm your best friend," he reminded her. "Well, Gina likes to claim that she is, but we both know ifs me," he teased.

Toni laughed. "You're both the best friends in the world," she a.s.sured him.

"You can talk to me whenever you're feeling frantic, and I promise, I'll never make you think that you're crazy. I'll always be around when you need me," he said, giving her another hug.

"Thanks!" she whispered, and hugged him back fiercely. "Okay, I'll give it to you this time. You're the best friend in the world!"

"I'm the best friend, but Laird Bruce is still the hottest guy around, huh?" he teased.

She felt a flood of color soar to her cheeks.

"Hey! I have hit on something there, haven't I?"

"We'd best get downstairs," she said.