Visions in Death (In Death #19)(75)

But she appreciated the magic, and scanned the attachment. After highlighting the outlets inside or bordering her downtown perimeter, she spent the rest of her wait time writing her preliminary report.

She glanced up when the door opened.

"Dallas." Celina hurried out. Her eyes were swollen from a recent crying jag.

"Eve, why don't you come in." Mira gestured. "Celina, why don't you both come back in for a moment."

"I let you down." Celina closed a hand over Eve's arm as they walked toward Mira's office. "I let myself down."

"You didn't."

Eve sat, prepared to accept flowery tea, then sniffed like a hound when she smelled coffee.

"I knew you'd want it, and probably need it," Mira said as she offered a cup. "It's station house, but it's coffee."

"Thanks."

"I didn't check the media reports this morning. Thank you," Celina said to Mira, and took the tea. "I wanted to hear it from you. I've cried all over Dr. Mira and gotten the worst of it out. I won't break down again. But first, I want to tell you. I never even considered that he'd be out... that he'd hurt anyone last night. I was so damn tired, Dallas, and I wanted to get a good night's sleep before my appointment this morning. I just wanted to close everything out, so I took a couple of tranqs."

"That sort of thing block visions?"

"It can." Celina glanced toward Mira, got a nod. "The drug suppresses. I might have seen something, but I'd have been under so deep I wouldn't know. Hypnosis could bring it out. Just as it could lower the blocks on the others, so I would see in more detail. See what I hadn't allowed myself to see."

"Quite possibly," Mira confirmed. "Just as it can take a witness to an event back to the event, and bring more details, focus them in, through the practitioner's direction, to specifics. The things you see," she continued, "that you don't consciously recall."

"I get that," Eve said. "When can you do it?"

"We haven't done the physical exam as yet. If I don't find any problems, we could begin the sessions tomorrow."

"Sessions? Tomorrow?"

"It will almost certainly take more than one, Eve. And I prefer to wait twenty-four hours, to make certain the drugs are completely out of Celina's system, and that she's settled emotionally."

"Can't we start sooner? I'll meditate and cleanse. I'd like to start as soon as possible. I feel..."

"Responsible," Mira finished. "You feel responsible for the woman who was killed last night. But you're not."

"If she clears the physical, does the meditation thing, can you go sooner?"

Mira looked at Eve, sighed, then rose to check her calendar. "We could begin at four-thirty today. You may not get your answers, Eve. It depends on how receptive Celina is to the technique, and how much she actually saw and can bring back."

"Will you be here?" Celina asked her.

Don't depend on me, Eve wanted to say. Don't look at me as your anchor. "If I can. I've got a line I've got to follow, and a lot of routine to deal with on the latest victim."

"If you can."

"Anything I should know?" Mira came back to sit. "As applies to profile?"

"Close to the same pattern. It looks like this Annalisa Sommers was cutting through—"

She broke off as Celina's tea cup shattered on the floor.

" Annalisa?" She pressed her hands down as if to push herself from the chair, then simply fell back again. " Annalisa Sommers? Oh, dear God."

"You knew her."

"Maybe it's someone else, with the same name. Maybe it's... of course, it's not. This is why. This has to be why I'm linked to this." She stared down at the broken china. "I'm sorry."

"No, sit still. Don't worry." Mira crouched down, laid a comforting hand on Celina's knee before picking up the shattered pieces. "Was she your friend?"

"No. I mean, not really." She pressed her hands to her temples. "I knew her a little. I liked her. You had to like her, she was so bright and full of life." She dropped her hands, and her eyes went huge and dark. "Lucas. Oh, my God, Lucas. He must be out of his mind. Does he know?" She reached out, grabbed Eve's hand. "Does he know what happened?"

"I've talked to him."

"I didn't think it could get worse, but it can. It does when it's someone you know. Why would she be in the park?" She thumped a fisted hand on her leg. "Why would any woman go near a park now? After what's already happened?"

"Because people do what they do. How did you know her?" Eve asked.

"Through Lucas." She accepted the tissue Mira gave her, stared at them as if unaware tears were sliding down her cheeks. "Lucas and I were involved. We lived together for a long time."

"Right." Eve nodded. "He's your ex."

"My ex-lover, yes, but not my ex-friend. It wasn't a nasty breakup. We just drifted apart, and moved on. We cared about each other, very much, but we weren't in love anymore." Finally, she pressed the tissue to her eyes. "We've kept in touch. We even see each other now and again for lunch, for a drink."