“I’m not dreaming—”
“You are. And you are forgetting the havoc you can cause if you upset the natural order.” His features grew harder. “There are birds. All around. They foretell great evil. You will remain here and do whatever is necessary to complete your assignment and keep that evil at bay. Most importantly, you’ll not let that evil take on a life that will create only agony in what should be gentle and natural crossings. You know that. I know you know that. Ah, Caer! I’m trying to make this as easy as possible for you.”
She sat silently staring at him. She hated having a heart. It was just an organ, she knew. An organ of the human body. Hearts didn’t really break. Emotion lay in the soul. In the essence that made a man a man, that raised human beings above the other creatures sharing the earth.
He reached into his pocket and handed her a slip.
“Back to regular business…this one is yours.”
She looked at the paper he had handed her. Then she stared at him with pure horror in her eyes.
“No!”
“Aye, my dear. And don’t look so stunned. What did you think? No one lives forever.”
“You’re a monster,” she told him.
He smiled sadly. “No, I’m not, and you know it.” He gripped her hand and stared at her seriously. “I am counting on you. And when the time comes and evil must be bested, I know you’ll remember that it cannot be set free in this world or the next.”
She looked at the paper in her hand and asked him dully, “When?”
“Now.”
Zach had left the house early, grabbing coffee and a scone and taking them with him. He drove to the wharf, arriving so early that the office wasn’t even open yet. He was glad. He boarded the same boat he had taken the day before, gunned the motor and navigated out of the channel, then let the throttle go.
The day was colder than the one that had preceded it. He felt the bite of the wind, the spray like needles against his face, but he hardened himself against the elements. He planned to start digging again, and to spend the day at it.
He drew close to Cow Cay, dropped anchor and waded in. There were two boats anchored nearby, both small motorboats. Both the cops Morrissey had hired must be there; the night man had probably stayed on chatting to the day man. He didn’t really need someone here while he was working, but it wasn’t such a bad idea, either. If the treasure were here, whoever had killed for it might well return, and it surely wouldn’t hurt having a man to watch his back.
He stripped off the waders and headed for Banshee Rock.
Before he could reach it, a young man in jeans and a rough-weather jacket came rushing toward him.
His face was white.
“I can’t find him. I’ve looked everywhere, and I can’t find him.”
“Who? You can’t find who? And who are you?”
The man regained his composure. He couldn’t have been more than twenty-five; beneath the huge jacket, he was slim. He had tawny hair that topped a somewhat bony face.
“I’m Phil Stowe. Officer Phil Stowe. Detective Morrissey hired me to come out here for the O’Rileys. I was supposed to relieve the guy who was here last night—Gary Swipes—but he isn’t here. I’ve looked everywhere. But that’s his boat. It’s as if he just vanished.”
“Men don’t just vanish,” Zach said.
Stowe suddenly backed away. “Who are you?”
“Zachary Flynn. I’m working for the O’Rileys, too, and I’m an old family friend, as well.”
Phil seemed to relax. “I swear, he has vanished. There’s no sign of him anywhere.”
Hell, Zach thought. First Eddie Ray had vanished.
And now a man Zach hadn’t known, but who had been hired on his say-so, had also disappeared.
He started past the young policeman and headed for Banshee Rock.
As he walked around it, he saw the bird.
Dead. Talons curled, one eye wide open.
Wide open and blood-covered. As a matter of fact, the bird’s entire body was covered in blood.
He hunkered down to study it.
Stowe had followed him. “It’s just a dead bird,” the young policeman said. “I found it, but no sign of Gary.”
Zach rose. “There’s a sign of Gary all right,” he told him. “That isn’t the bird’s blood. I’m willing to bet it belonged to Gary Swipes.”
Phil Stowe was fumbling in his pocket. “I’ll…I’ll call this in.”
“Yeah, do it. Right away. Let’s get Morrissey out here. Tell him to bring the crime scene team, too.”
Stowe kept staring at him. “It’s a bird. Just a dead bird,” he said.
“There’s going to be a dead man somewhere, too,” Zach told him. “Tell them to get out here as soon as they can.”
Bridey knew the time had come.
She had known for a while now that it was coming, and she wasn’t afraid.