Suddenly Psychic (Glimmer Lake #1)(28)

“Agreed.” Robin quickly grabbed more paper towels and managed to salvage a plastic bag from under the wastebasket. She and Monica quickly cleaned the floor, hid all the towels and puke bags in the bag, and hurried out of the morgue, dragging Val between them.

“Where should we throw this away?” Robin held Val around the waist, the plastic bag in the other hand.

They had made it through the twisting corridors and were starting to pass nurses and other hospital employees in the hallway.

“We’ll find a dumpster,” Monica said quietly. “Oh shit.”

“Wha—? Oh shit. Val, look sicker and keep walking.”

Sully Wescott was walking through the double glass doors and into the lobby just as the three of them were entering the lobby from the hallway. Robin could see the moment Sully caught sight of them. His eyes widened, then narrowed.

Robin kept her eyes forward. “Monica, wave. Don’t talk. Keep walking.”

“Got it.”

Robin’s hands were full of the plastic bag, and she had one hand around Val, who looked near to death. If they were lucky, Sully would assume Val had the flu and they’d had to rush her to the hospital or something.

“Is he coming over?”

“He’s debating.”

“Keep walking. Quick. But don’t look like you’re being quick.”

They made it through the lobby and out into the chilled night air. Val took a deep breath as if she were coming up for air, then straightened. “Where’s the car?”

“This way.” Monica steered the three of them through the parking lot and toward the minivan.

Robin threw the plastic bag in the back while Monica helped Val into the passenger seat, and then she started the car.

Within minutes, Robin, Val, and Monica were driving through the deserted streets of downtown Bridger City. They stopped at a filling station near the highway and dumped the plastic bag in the trash behind the dark store; then they got back in the minivan and turned toward home.

As soon as the van was pointed east, Monica turned to Val. “Okay, what did you see?”

“Him,” Val said, looking over her shoulder to Robin in the back seat. “Your ghost. The one in your visions, Monica. Mystery Man is the bones in that body bag.”





Chapter 10





“Tell us.” Monica kept her eyes on the road, but her voice was low and intense. “What did you see when you touched the chains?”

“He was someplace underground. Like… it looked like a cabin, but I knew it was underground. A cave maybe? Something like that? But there were lamps and there were books and I saw a bed—more like a cot, I guess. And I saw him. His feet were chained to a big post, and he was desperately trying to get out.”

Robin got her sketchbook out and tried to draw what Val was describing. “The chains were around his feet? What was he wearing?”

“Yes. He was sitting down, and they were around his feet. He was wearing… ordinary clothes. Jeans. A flannel shirt. Normal stuff.”

Jeans and a flannel shirt was the de facto uniform of eighty percent of the men they knew. Jeans and a flannel shirt would not narrow down when the man died.

“What about his hair?”

“It looked like what you drew in the picture. His forehead was bleeding. I could see that through his hair. Someone had hit him on the head.”

Monica said, “Probably so they could chain him up.”

Robin talked as she sketched. “Tell me more about the post.”

“It was wood. Thick. Square. You know what?” Val’s eyes went wide. “I think he was in a mine shaft. That’s what it looked like. It was in the middle of the room. It looked like one of those supports in a mine shaft.”

“Lots of old mine shafts around here,” Monica said. “Remember when we lived in that house on Cypress Loop? We had to warn the boys to stay out of them all the time.”

“Cypress Loop isn’t all that far from where we went into the lake,” Robin said. “Val, was he saying anything? Was he shouting for help?”

Val shook her head. “No. Not a word. He was alone.” Her voice got smaller. “He was so scared.”

“But he was trying to get free?”

“Yes. His hands were bleeding, but he didn’t have anything. Didn’t have any tools. He reached for something I think, but he couldn’t reach it. It was just a flash, but I got the feeling…”

“What?” The highway ended, and Monica took the turnoff toward Glimmer Lake.

“I heard a noise. There was a smell maybe. I’m not sure, but I think it was water.” Her eyes were haunted. “He was afraid of the water. The water was coming, and he knew he was going to drown.”

Robin tried to remain impassive as she finished her sketch. She’d pictured what Val was telling her and tried to translate it onto the page.

She passed the notebook up to Val. “How close am I?”

Val ran her fingers over the page. “Pretty close.”

“Could you see anything more of the room?” Robin asked. “Did I miss anything?”

“Do you think it matters?” Monica asked. “Isn’t it obvious what happened to Mystery Man?”

Robin knew in her gut, but she felt sick saying it. “Someone chained him up in an old mine shaft, and he drowned when they flooded the canyon. That’s why he was at the bottom of the lake.”