Part 21 (2/2)
”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.
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