44: Book Three (13 page)

Nathaniel inched next to me, uncomfortably close.

He put his glass down and took out a few containers and spread them out on the table.

“It’s a simple picnic, but sometimes the simple things are the best,” he said softly.

“I’m not hungry,” I said, standing up. I walked over to the edge.

I could jump. I could end it all right here. But it wasn’t that high. I would probably just get wet and bloodied. Then I remembered what Jesse had said about using Nathaniel’s feelings to my advantage.

“Don’t,” Nathaniel said suddenly.

“Why not?” I shouted, pretending I was seriously thinking about it.

“It’s not who you are,” he said, his eyes darting around. “You would never do that. And it would be a shame, Abby, to end your life not being true to your nature. There’s nothing worse, trust me.”

I looked back down over the cliff. That much he was right about.

He stood up and walked toward me.

“I brought you here, Abby, to tell you that… I love you.”

I shivered, my body colder than on the day I died.

“Like I told you the other evening, I’ve loved only one other time in my life, and it was for such a brief period. I didn’t think I would get another chance.”

My head started pounding.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Abby. You mean too much to me. I won’t lose the woman I love twice.”

He took my hand and kissed it.

“Nathaniel,” I said. “I’m not in love with you.”

“No,” he said. “I know this. But you will be. I know this as well.”

He led me back over to the table and poured some more wine.

He handed me my glass.

“I am a committed man, Abby,” he said. “I’m dedicated, my work drives me. But to have love again, to have it with someone like you, I would throw it all aside to be with you.”

I sighed. I knew he wasn’t being honest.

“But not now,” I said. “You wouldn’t throw aside the last test now, would you?”

“I love you, Abby, and I want us to be together. And I am willing to leave all this behind someday soon.”

“Someday soon I’ll be dead,” I said.

“You won’t. You’ll see. And then you’ll love me. I’m going to marry you. I’ve waited a long time for you, Abby.”

I looked up into his eyes.

It was true. He was in love with me.

I raised the glass to my lips and slipped the corkscrew in my pocket, hoping he didn’t see me and that it wouldn’t be missed later.

CHAPTER 32

It was a long night. I was glad to be in the room with the door closed and away from Nathaniel. He had really flipped. The things he had told me churned violently in my mind, reminding me that there were a lot of reasons now that I needed to get off this island.

When it was quiet, I walked through the house, hoping to find the woman with the kind eyes. I looked out the windows at the guest house, and wondered if the researchers just slept out there. It seemed like they were rarely in the large house and as I thought about it, I realized that I had only seen the doctors inside when they had come to get me for the tests.

***

In the morning, I had an idea. I finished getting dressed and made my way downstairs.

Simon was in the kitchen, like I was hoping.

“Hey, Abby,” he said. He was at the counter, chopping garlic and parsley.

“Hey, Simon,” I said.

I pulled out a barstool and sat down across from him.

“What are you making?”

“I’m marinating a roast for dinner,” he said. “I was working late last night and didn’t get around to it, but whenever you marinade, if at all possible, try to do it the night before.”

“I’ll remember that.”

He looked around.

“So, did you have a good talk with your sister the other day?” he said softly. “I was happy when I heard that you got to talk to her.”

I nodded.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I miss her so much.”

He added a few different spices to the mixture.

“You guys are close, huh?” he said.

“Yeah,” I said. “We just have each other really. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Just a brother,” he said, smiling. “He drives me crazy, though. He’s an actor in Los Angeles and I only hear from him when he needs money.”

I wandered over to the cookbooks, browsing through them. I pulled down a Kathy Casey book. I opened it, skimming the recipes, trying to find one with some unusual ingredients.

Simon sealed up the roast in a plastic bag, put it in the refrigerator, and took off his apron.

“Sorry, Abby, I wish I could stay and cook with you today, but I have to get back to work. Have a great day. I hope you find something to make.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve always wanted to make a seafood dish like
bouillabaisse
or
paella
. But I would need fresh clams, maybe some mussels. Can we get those?”

“Sure,” he said. “We’ll get whatever you need. Leave a list for me tonight and I’ll have Jack pick everything up in the morning when he’s out.”

“That would be great,” I said, flipping through the book and hiding my eyes. “Thanks, Simon.”

He nodded and left through the back door.

I found a recipe and started writing down ingredients, even though I wouldn’t need anything.

Jack was leaving in the morning, and I would be right there with him.

CHAPTER 33

I had a plan. Now I just had to make it work.

I walked along the shore, the cold wind blowing back my hair. I made it down to the tip of the island again, hoping Jesse would find me. But he didn’t.

As I walked, I thought back on Kate. I missed her terribly and couldn’t wait to see her again. I began feeling like it was possible.

I suddenly remembered her job interview. She had been in New York when Jack kidnapped me. I had totally forgotten. I wondered if she had been offered the job. It almost didn’t matter though. If I lived through this, I was pretty sure Kate would stay with me in Bend for a long time. The only way she would leave was if I agreed to come along.

I turned back. The sun was hitting one of the farthest islands, lighting it up. The wind was in my face and birds floated in the air just past the shoreline.

After a while I sat in the sand, up from the water. It was a good place to study the boat, although I wasn’t sure what more I needed to learn. I knew what I had to do. First, I had to get on board without being noticed. Then I needed to find a place to hide. I felt confident I could do those things. The part that worried me the most was the timing. I couldn’t get on the boat too early. The more time I gave them to discover that I was missing, the longer the odds would grow against me.

I headed back to the house.

CHAPTER 34

I slowly walked into the library.

Nathaniel was in his chair, smiling.

“Abby,” he said. “Good evening.”

“Hello.”

I took my seat and he got up, going over to the bar.

“Just water tonight,” I said.

He filled a glass with ice and poured in water from a small bottle. He handed it to me.

“Thanks,” I said.

He sat down again.

“Before we begin I wanted to review our agreement regarding any future communications you might have with your sister,” he said.

I was relieved he wasn’t talking about his feelings for me, but the tone of his voice made me nervous. I worried that he had become suspicious of my reference to Claire.

“I would be more than happy to make it a habit, these phone calls,” he said. “But it is contingent on two points: first, that we continue these little chats and, just as important, that you for your part hold nothing back. I expect full disclosure, if you will.”

I put my glass down on the table and sat back.

“Full disclosure?”

“Yes,” he said. “You haven’t been completely honest in this room. And in order for me to allow you more phone time, you need to start telling me the whole truth.”

He had a sly smile on his face. I had no idea what he was talking about. There was clearly something he wasn’t telling me. Maybe he knew about my plans for the morning.

I looked over at him, but couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Come now,” he said. “Your face has grown very pale. No need. I am not angry with these new developments. Just the opposite.”

“I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about,” I said after a long pause. “I’m not sure you do either.”

He stood up and walked over to the cabinet against the wall, opening it up. Inside was a large television. I didn’t know what he wanted to show me, but it made me uneasy.  

“Please, come and sit over here. I wish to share a home movie we made. Or should I say, we tried to make. We had unusual technical difficulties for some reason. Maybe you can help us figure out why, Abby. I would like your opinion on this.”

I went over to the studded leather chair next to the TV and sat down. Nathaniel stared at me again before taking a seat.

“You see, I haven’t told you everything about this house, Abby. For instance, I haven’t mentioned that we have an extensive medical library on the premises. Or that there is a complex security system in place that not only keeps out intruders but can even track them through the use of body heat. Things that you probably would never know about, unless there was a reason.”

I reminded myself to breathe.

“Anyway, as part of the security system, we have some of these heat-sensitive cameras downstairs. In the basement.”

My heart pounded wildly. I knew now where he was going, what he had on me, and why he had said I wasn’t being honest.

“We store some expensive equipment down there and the cameras are for insurance purposes,” he said, dragging the moment out with pointless details. “They automatically start filming when their sensors are triggered.”

He finally clicked the button on the remote control.

“So imagine our surprise when we did our daily reviews of the tapes and found this.”

I stared with large eyes at the screen at the recording of me playing basketball.

With Jesse.

***

But as he played it, I saw that the video was a mess. Although I immediately recognized the scene, there were lines and snow covering the entire screen. The picture quality was terrible, as if someone had recorded a distant channel using rabbit ears and aluminum foil. The audio wasn’t much better, coming in and out. I could barely even tell what we were watching.

I sat back, relieved.

“Well, I admit the recording is not the best. There are some serious technical problems that we’ve never experienced before. It’s almost as if some sort of interference occurred. But what is clear, is that you are having quite the conversation with yourself.”

He turned up the volume. It was a very odd, one-sided conversation. I was talking and pausing and talking again. It was hard to make out most of what I said, but enough was there to realize something unusual was going on. At least Jesse’s voice hadn’t been captured.

“I guess I’m just a little lonely,” I said.

“That’s exactly what I thought. I said that to Jack, as a matter of fact. I was ready to dismiss the whole thing. And would have. But then I noticed the strangest thing.”

I stared at the screen.

It was only for a few seconds, but the recording was crystal clear in this section. I saw the basketball. Dribbling on its own and then flying through the air and into the basket.

“Swish,” Nathaniel said, smiling. “Nothing but net.”

I didn’t say anything.

“As you can understand, this certainly caught my attention,” he continued. “Although, I must confess, I didn’t know what to make of it at first.”

He rewound it and played it again.

I guessed the whole thing took just over a second. But it was impossible to deny. I was playing basketball with a ghost.

 “Let’s take another look, shall we?” he said. We watched it once more and then he got up and walked over to the TV.

“But I think I have figured it out. It looks to me that you are in fact playing basketball with someone. Someone we can’t see.”

I inhaled slowly.

“It has to be. Sure, it defies logic, but watch it again. The tape doesn’t lie. And you are talking to someone, Abby. Through the entire game.”

I didn’t know what to say. Jesse was caught on video, even if you couldn’t see him.

“I don’t think you’re alone here, Abby,” he said, pointing to the screen. “I think you’re with your old friend, Jesse. He was a basketball star back in the day, isn’t that right?”

It was a disaster. Nathaniel had found out what I had been trying to hide from him.

Jesse.

“I need to know more,” he said.

I stared over at the dark window.

“I am guessing that you started seeing him after your accident. Not only did your vision change, but you developed psychic abilities. You see spirits, don’t you? Ghosts, if you will. That’s what I think. And I bet Jesse here isn’t the only apparition that you see. You see others too, don’t you?”

He was smiling and happy and his energy circled quickly around him like water down a drain. He sat back down, pulling his chair up close and looking right at me.

“This is Jesse, isn’t that right?”

I shook my head.

“Remember what I said, Abby. Full disclosure. Surely you can’t deny what we have captured on this recording. I am sorry if this has startled you. But this is incredible. And so unexpected.”

I tried to think of something to say, but had nothing to offer.

“This is more than I ever dreamed possible. Not only have we brought you back from the dead, but you have bridged the two worlds. It’s phenomenal! This is an extraordinary scientific breakthrough. Absolutely extraordinary.”

He sat back in the chair, his hands manic, the excitement almost too much for him, waiting for me to respond. He was like a child waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said finally.