The flowers themselves looked nice. She had chosen a lot of different kinds, but of course I couldn’t see any of the colors.
“Sorry you can’t see them like they are,” she said, pointing. “This one is purple, this one blue. And those over there are yellow.”
I barely remembered what any of those colors looked like, but I tried to sound interested.
“You know, I couldn’t stop thinking about Annabelle all day,” Kate said. “It really made me sad. She was so young. And then the part about nobody knowing what happened to her and thinking she just ran off. It really got to me. It’s just so awful.”
She picked up a rake and started going over the dirt, evening it out. The trees swayed in the wind, casting ominous shadows over the yard. Kate sat on her knees and started flipping the flowers out of the pots.
“Oh, by the way, Daniel was out on a shoot all day in Madras. But I left a message for him.”
“Good,” I said.
She wiped off her hands on her shirt.
“So I hear Ben is coming to your party.”
Damn. I had wanted to tell her about it, but Dr. Mortimer had already spilled his guts. He must have been excited and wanted Kate to be there too. I tried to get a read on her emotions.
“Yeah,” I said. “I was supposed to make him dinner when he was here, but ran out of time. I just wanted to make it up to him. It’s not for a while. Hope that’s okay.”
She was quiet for a minute.
“Of course. It’s nice, actually,” she said, digging a hole.
“Hey, when are we going back out to the range?” I asked.
“Let’s go soon. Good thinking. As busy as we are, we need to make time for it. It’s important.”
“Good. Okay, then,” I said, heading inside.
“See you in a bit,” she said, putting her music back in her ears.
CHAPTER 33
Kate called in the morning, catching me as I pulled into work.
“Abby, Daniel is in. He’s excited about it, actually. I didn’t even have to try and talk him into it. He says he has some new underwater photographic equipment he just got and wants to try it out. He’s going down there tonight, before the sun goes down. All the rafters will be off the river by then.”
It was great news. I was getting worried because if he wasn’t going to do it, we didn’t seem to have a Plan B.
“Can we come and watch?” I asked.
I had a soccer game, but I would skip it.
“Probably not,” Kate said. “It would be better if we weren’t around. If the police ever ask him what he was doing out there, he’s going to tell them he was just trying out his new camera gear. But if we’re there and they hear about it, it will complicate things.”
That made sense.
“Okay,” I said.
I couldn’t wait to hear the news. I figured when I saw Kate after soccer, she’d probably know if Daniel had found anything in the river.
That night, our undefeated record went up in flames as we lost to the Blue Angels 4-1.
“Damn it,” Jack said on the sidelines after the game. “All right, what say we start a new winning streak next game? On the plus side, we still have the best record in the league.”
He was doing his best to put a spin on it, but I could tell he was taking it hard.
When I walked inside the house later, Kate was at the table, smiling.
“He got something, Abby,” she said. “You were right. There’s a body down there. Right where you rafters take out.”
I took a breath. It was all real.
CHAPTER 34
When Kate got home Friday, she showed me copies of the pictures Daniel had taken and given to the police that morning.
I was nervous about looking at them, but she assured me it was okay.
“She’s wrapped up,” Kate said. “Like in plastic or something. But look, it’s the same shape and size of a body.”
I looked through the photos.
“Daniel says it’s lodged in pretty good down there between some rocks, but he’s confident that they’ll be able to get her out. At least she’s not under the rapids.”
I nodded.
We headed out on our way back to the shooting range for some more practice. As we drove through the desert, we didn’t say much.
There was a wait this time to get a spot, but it was worth it. Our aim was improving and that made Kate happy. She nailed the target, all her shots hitting either the chest or head. I had one good shot.
“Nice,” she said, pulling the target off the clip.
It had gone through the head.
“That’s what we’re talking about!”
When we got home I wrote Claire, telling her everything, and asking about Jesse. I told her I really just wanted to know, and told her to tell me the truth. I was starting to doubt that I had really seen him for all those months after my accident. I asked her if she thought I had made him up.
She answered back late Sunday night.
Abby,
That’s great news about Annabelle. You are very close.
I know with me, it took a while before I got better at seeing and hearing the spirits. I think it will be that way with you, too. You will hear the ghosts soon.
And don’t give up on Jesse. I sense that he’s close by. Of course, I could be wrong.
Claire
I was planning to be done with ghosts after we helped Annabelle, and her family knew the truth. But Claire’s message made me think that I was just beginning with all this.
I hoped what she was saying about Jesse was true. But I doubted it more and more as time passed. I wondered if Jesse had even been a ghost at all.
CHAPTER 35
“That’s great,” Kate said, talking on the phone and pacing back and forth in front of the TV, blocking my view.
She was on the phone with the photographer.
“Thanks for calling, Daniel. And thanks again for all your help. I owe you big time.”
I put down my bowl of cereal on the coffee table.
“The sheriff’s department is sending out the divers tomorrow morning. They looked at the video footage and the photos and agreed that something is down there.”
“That’s awesome,” I said.
I got up and gave her a high five.
“Daniel said that they’re very interested. Of course, they think it’s one of those other people missing here in Bend the last few years. But it doesn’t matter. As long as they get her out of the river, our job is done.”
“That was sure great that your friend helped out like that,” I said.
Kate agreed.
“They’ll close the river for the search,” she said. “At least for the morning.”
She grabbed her phone and called someone as she picked up her purse and headed out the door. I said goodbye, but I didn’t know if she heard me.
I finished getting ready and went to work. When I got to the office, Amber and Ty were there.
“Hi,” she said. “We were talking about the news we just heard. They’re closing off the river tomorrow.”
“Really?” I said, pretending to be surprised.
“Yeah,” Ty said.
“I’m hoping it won’t be for the entire day,” she said. “I really need the money.”
“I hear that,” he said.
“Did they say why?” I asked.
“Nope,” Amber said. “It’s got to be something big, though.”
“It’s gotta be a body search,” Ty said. “They did that once in Montana. Found a guy in the Flathead who had fallen in two years before, and 25 miles upriver. He was lodged in among some submerged trees, but they were able to finally pull him out. What was left of him anyway.”
“Eew,” Amber said. “Good story, Ty.”
We got our gear and headed out to the van.
The currents were swift and stronger on the first few runs, reminding me of the last time I saw Annabelle on the river. But I was ready this time and d
id a good job steering us through the whitewater. We stayed facing forward.
When we got back to the office at the end of the day, the manager reminded us that there would be no work in the morning. They would be calling us with an update sometime before noon.
CHAPTER 36
When I got home, I was surprised to see Dr. Mortimer’s car out front parked next to Kate’s. It made me happy, until I realized that something must have happened.
I opened the door cautiously.
“Hey,” I said.
They were both sitting at the dining room table. He stood up and smiled.
“Abby,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for you. Good news.”
I looked over at Kate. She was smiling too. I felt strange, like I had interrupted something.
“Hey,” she said.
“Something about Annabelle?” I asked.
“Annabelle?” Dr. Mortimer said.
“Go ahead and tell her, Ben,” she said.
He looked at me, his eyes dancing with excitement.
“It’s Nathaniel. We got him. We know exactly where he is.”
“Oh, my God, really?” I said, smiling ear to ear. “That’s incredible.”
“Let’s sit down,” Kate said.
We sat at the table and Dr. Mortimer told me the agency had found Nathaniel working in a Kenyan refugee camp.
“Look, I even have some pictures they faxed over. These were taken just a few days ago.”
“I’ve seen it already, Abby. It’s him, if you don’t want to look.”
“No, I want to,” I said.
Dr. Mortimer handed me the photos.
“I was so excited. I rushed here right away. I wanted you two to know.”
I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I looked through the photos and then at Kate.
“Wow,” I said, taking another breath. “It really is him.”
It was hard to believe, but there he was. Nathaniel Mortimer looked the same as the last time I’d seen him when we confronted him about the murders in Bend. His long, black hair was still carefully slicked back in a neat ponytail. In the first two pictures he wore a doctor’s coat and was treating patients. In the last one, he was standing in front of a tent, staring out.
That was the one that shot chills down the back of my neck. That look. It was the same exact look he had when we spoke in Dr. Mortimer’s house. In the picture, he looked like a killer. Arrogant and aloof.
“I still don’t understand what he’s doing there,” Kate said. “It just isn’t like him.”
“I don’t either,” Dr. Mortimer said. “But I’ll find out.”
I didn’t really care. It felt good to know with certainty that he was far away. I hoped that it brought a little peace of mind to Kate too.
“So now what?” I asked.
“Now we work on building a case,” he said. “The agency investigators already have all the files of the four murders here in Bend. They’re going over everything.”
He sat back in the chair, waiting for a reaction from Kate.
“I never did think the police department here tried very hard,” she said. “I think those files must have something in them. Something that they overlooked.”
“I know it’s just the beginning, but I’m seeing this through to the end. Until Nathaniel has been brought to justice.”
“That’s great news,” I said, handing back the papers.
Kate stood up.
“Thank you, Ben,” she said. “Really. It means a lot.”
“Hopefully it will mean more as we progress. But if anything, I hope that both you and Abby can rest a little easier,” he said.
“I’ve got to get to work,” he said, collecting his things.
We said goodbye.
Dr. Mortimer had done well.
CHAPTER 37
After Dr. Mortimer left, it took a while for us to stop talking about Nathaniel. Kate was happy that he had been found. But I wondered if that would be enough for her, if she would be able to forgive Dr. Mortimer so they could get back together.
I told her what the rafting company had told us, that the river would be closed in the morning.
“I doubt it will be for just for the morning,” she said. “That entire area will be a crime scene.”
She got up and put on your shoes.
“I’ve got to go back in for a little while,” she said. “I spent most of my day arguing with Colin and didn’t get much else done. But I won’t be late.”
“Okay. Have a good night,” I said.
I checked my email. There was only one message in the inbox, from Jack reminding the team that tomorrow night’s game was going to be tough and that we should meet half an hour early for extra practice.
As I watched a taped Barcelona soccer game, my thoughts drifted to Nathaniel. It was strange how things had turned out. I was sure he must be still working on his experiments. And even though I was relieved to know where he was, I still couldn’t figure out why I didn’t have any more visions of him murdering people.
More things I didn’t understand. It seemed lately that I had a lot of those.
It took a long time before I finally fell asleep.
And then it wasn’t for long.
CHAPTER 38
It was the noise that woke me first.
I thought it was coming from outside and jumped up, stumbling out of bed over to the window. I looked out but saw nothing. Just trees blowing and moonbeams and dancing shadows. Maybe it had been a cat, or a car passing by. I looked over at the clock. It was almost two in the morning.
And then I saw her, rising up out of the floor.
My heart pounded in terror as she stood in the corner of my bedroom. She still had that deathly serious expression and the pale, scarred face. And those intense eyes.
She stood there, somber. I started shaking uncontrollably, backing up against the far wall. What did she want from me? I was doing everything I could. The divers were going out in the morning and her body would be found. There was nothing else for me to do.
I wanted to say those things to her, but the words wouldn’t come out. I could feel my eyes watering up, my breath growing shallow. I just wanted her to leave me alone.
And then she suddenly disappeared. I fell backwards into wall and slid down on the floor, trying to breathe.
CHAPTER 39
I drove out to the river early the next morning. The road to the take-out was closed and full of all sorts of official cars, so I went up to the next parking area. There was a trail along the river and I only had to walk about a mile or so before I saw a small crowd at the take-out down below.
I climbed up the hillside a little so I was off the path, just in case anybody was patrolling. Then I called Kate.
“So you have a good view up there?” she asked.
She had gotten access to the dive and was down there right next to the river.
“Yeah, I can see everything.”
“The divers are suiting up. They’ll be going in soon.”
“Good,” I said.
“I’ll call back in a bit,” she said.
About half an hour later, I watched as two divers in wet suits headed out into the water. They climbed into a small raft with one other person, and rowed to the middle of the river. Then they went in.
I sat down in a pile of dead pine needles and thought about Annabelle. I knew they would find her. I hoped it would bring her some peace. I hoped that she could move on.
In about 10 minutes, the divers came back up. Kate called a short time later.
“They found it,” she said. “But like Daniel said, it’s hard to get to. It’ll probably take a while. You might as well go home. I’ll call you with updates.”
“I think I’ll stick around,” I said.
I wanted to stay. And be here for her. Kate was quiet for a moment.
“Sometimes it’s just hard to believe all of this is real,” she said.
“I know what you mean.”
And then she came up.
Kate called and told me they had her, in case I couldn’t see. And that she was still wrapped up, just like the pictures had shown.
I watched as they brought her over to the shore and laid her up on the bank.
After eight years, Annabelle Harrison was finally out of the water.
CHAPTER 40
Kate was right. They ended up closing the river for the entire day and we were told not to come in to work. Ty called me right after I found out and asked if I wanted to go on the hike up to Green Lakes.
“Come on, it’s a totally unexpected day off. Look, I’ll invite Amber and Jake along if that would make you feel better.”
But I still said no. I told him I wasn’t feeling well, which was kind of true. I had barely slept the last few nights and felt exhausted. I was looking forward to a long nap.
Ty seemed okay about it, but I could tell he was a little disappointed.
“All right, call me if you change your mind.”
I slept for most of the afternoon. When I got up, I saw that Kate had called. She left a message saying that they brought the body to the medical examiner’s office and that she was working late, writing up the story. I called her back to check in.
“Nope, nothing else,” she said. “But it’s buzzing around here. It’s going to be a big story. I won’t be home until late.”
We said goodbye and I went and checked my email. There were no messages from Claire.
I decided to go to the park to clear my head. I was still confused. As much as I liked Claire, I wasn’t any closer to finding Jesse. It was getting harder and harder to quiet the doubts that were running frantic in my head, doubts that were haunting me more than Annabelle had. That voice that whispered that Jesse was gone forever.
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