by Dale Mayer
“The men had on black suits,” she said. “I noticed because they all looked good.”
He glanced over at Bruno and gave him a head shake. Bruno’s eyebrows shot up. She glanced from one man to the other. Sebastian watched, waiting for her to get the message.
“What are you saying?” she asked suspiciously.
“That table was empty,” he said. He held up his cell phone and showed her the picture of the table in question. “Here, right?”
She stabbed the image on his phone with her finger. “Yes, exactly there.”
He pointed out the date and time stamp of this photo taken earlier tonight, then nodded as he put away his phone. “That table was empty.”
“So who the hell were those people?” she asked in confusion. “What the hell is going on?”
Bruno patted her hand gently. “What’s going on is that you’re now seeing spirits. For whatever reason they’ve realized you can communicate with them. So now they’ll be all around you all the time.”
“No way do I want ghosts in my world.” She frowned at Sebastian, then spoke to Bruno again. “How will I ever know who’s real, of this world, or not? Those in the restaurant looked just like you and me. And how do I explain talking to air to everyone else?”
Bruno smiled. “The thing is, I doubt this is a sudden event or a new phenomenon. I think the spirits have been around you for a long time, my dear. Only now your conscious is letting you see what your subconscious has always known.”
*
Sebastian could see how stunned she was by this turn of events. But did she realize how very special this was? He wanted desperately to have proof that what she saw had really existed. Her buildings as drawn were certainly done in the style of that era; the architecture, the living conditions were all spot-on. He was fascinated by this insight into the world she had created. But not half as much as Bruno, who poured over the sketches in front of him as if they were gold, and he lived in Pompeii. If he saw these were eerily accurate—then they were.
Bruno sat back with a sigh and looked at Sebastian and said, “Thank you very much for contacting me. Have you shown these to Hunter?” He motioned to the entrance to the coffeehouse where Hunter approached from the street.
Sebastian gave Bruno a small nod. “Not yet. I’m trying to convince her to let me show people, but she wants to avoid having anyone know. I needed your expert opinion. Hence the need to show you. I’m hoping she’ll be fine with Hunter knowing too.”
“They are fascinating,” he said. “The question is, what to do from here?”
With raised eyebrows, Sebastian turned to Lacey and waited.
She shook her head, but then she said, “Okay. You can show Hunter.”
“Good, as he’s the other specialty I mentioned.”
Hunter walked in the front entrance. Sebastian waved to him. Within moments he’d joined them, shaking hands with Bruno and tossing Lacey a bright smile.
She responded with a reserved one of her own.
Interesting, Sebastian thought. Hunter usually charmed everyone.
“Hey, Bruno.” Hunter slid into the chair beside Bruno, his gaze falling on the sketches. “Wow, fascinating.”
He glanced over at Sebastian. “Is this her?”
Sebastian nodded. “Yes.”
“But you already knew that,” she said softly, studying the new arrival.
“I wondered,” Hunter corrected as he studied her face before shifting his gaze to the sketches.
“That’s a mild adjective,” Bruno muttered, his gaze once again locked on the pages before them. “Especially as Lacey here drew them.”
Hunter made a startled sound reaching for the drawings.
“I don’t even know what to do with this stuff.” Lacey’s voice showed the fatigue and the stress on her emotional senses. “I can’t believe you guys think this is for real.”
“Do you believe what you see?” Bruno asked pensively, his gaze drifting over her face as if searching for something.
“I know what I see,” she said with a wave of her hand in the direction of the excavation sites. “But how do I know what I see is valid?”
“Well, it’s valid in that you see it,” Hunter said. “What you’re really looking for is confirmation that what you’re seeing is what existed back in Pompeii’s grand times.”
Sebastian watched her nod slowly.
“Yes, that’s exactly what I want. Confirmation.”
“Your drawings appear to be as close a depiction as anybody could guess without having been there,” Bruno said. “Accurate as far as building, style, materials, etcetera. They all match the times.”
“The thing is, it’s like I was there,” she said. She leaned forward over the drawings. “Here is where she slept.” She pointed to a house, saying, “She shared that room with three sisters.”
“Who is she?”
“Linnea,” Lacey murmured.
Sebastian looked closely to see her eyes slightly glazed over. He glanced at Bruno, who stared in fascination.
Hunter went still, his gaze narrowed on her face. “What does Linnea do?”
“Helps her mother. She makes pots and delivers water to houses.”
“And foodstuffs?”
“Anything required.” Lacey’s voice came low, slow, in a tempered vein.
“Are you connected to Linnea?”
“Yes,” Lacey said. “The city is beautiful. It is her home.”
“What happened to you?” Sebastian asked, stilling Bruno’s hand from moving in front of Lacey’s eyes to see if she registered a change or looked any different.
“The volcano. There was just ash from one day to the next. Then fire blew into the sky, and dirt crumbled. Then hot liquid fire poured, and the skies rained upon us. We panicked and ran.”
“But it happened quickly?”
“Yes,” she murmured. “Very quickly.”
“You were trapped inside the house?”
“No, not there.” At this point Lacey’s expression changed, became more alert. More … herself. “She went to save her sister. Linnea struggled to free her.” Lacey gasped and choked with tears. “The liquid fire ran along the pathway just outside the house. Everything is so confused, … but she loved her sister so much …”
Sebastian nodded. “What about your life there? Were you happy?”
Lacey seemed to focus on a faraway spot before speaking. “I used to be.”
“And why weren’t you at the end?”
Lacey shook her head, turned toward Sebastian, a deep sadness on her face. “Her sister, … she’d been taken prisoner.” She spoke bitterly. “Linnea couldn’t stop it.”
Bruno nudged the diagrams toward Lacey. Hunter spread them apart. She studied them and pointed to the room that had no door.
“What was her fate?”
Lacey raised her head, her expression a painful anger. “She doesn’t know. She couldn’t find her sister.”
The men backed off on questioning about Linnea’s past.
“Why are you here now?”
Lacey stared at them, her gaze haunted, but she knew the answer to the last question. “She is trying to find her sister.”
Beside them, a waiter banged a platter of food down a little too heavily. Lacey gasped and collapsed against her chair. She looked around at the others, reached up to her temples and said, “All of a sudden, I’m not feeling so good.”
“Headache?” Sebastian asked helpfully.
She nodded. “I guess.” Her tone wasn’t clear, as if not understanding what had just happened.
Bruno nudged Sebastian’s arm, a question in his eyes.
Sebastian shook his head. He knew Bruno would understand this was hardly the time to bring up what had just happened. He told Bruno, “I’ll see if I can get scans of these for you.”
“I’d really like full-size copies if I could,” he said.
Lacey picked up her camera and said, “I can send you images of them. I’ll probably be draw
ing a lot over the next two weeks. I don’t know. It seems to feel that way somehow.”
“Feel?” Hunter asked in a neutral tone. “I’d like a copy too, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Sure.” She shrugged. “I can’t really explain it. I have felt odd the last two days, since arriving here.” She glanced around the room. “It’s the wrong lighting in here. If you don’t mind, I’ll take the sketches home, separate the pages from the book, lay them down and try to take good photographs of them.”
Bruno looked at her in delight. “I would absolutely love it. And, if you decide you don’t want these …” He tapped them.
“Not happening,” Sebastian said firmly. “They belong to the foundation.”
She shot him a look. “They do?”
He nodded. “They do. You created them for the bosses on working time.”
She frowned as if not sure she liked his answer.
But no way would he have her giving away these diagrams, creating a ton of interest on the site they were still working. It was way too dangerous. Better to keep this a secret until he knew more. He quickly closed the sketchbook and stood. “Bruno, I’ll contact you tomorrow. We’ll try to get the photographs for you by then.”
Hunter prepared to leave.
Bruno nodded, but his gaze was on the sketch pad in Sebastian’s arms. “Find a way to copy them,” he urged. “That information can’t get lost.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Sebastian would love to have photocopies, but it would require a large copier, map-size, and he didn’t know if the library here had one. He’d send out some inquiries to see who could possibly copy something so large. He held out a hand for Lacey. “Come on. Let’s get you home.” He nodded at Hunter, who rose as well.
“That’s a good idea,” she said. “I’m really tired now.” With his help she stood, swayed ever-so-slightly and both men watched in concern. She gave them a bright smile. “I’m fine. Not to worry.”
Sebastian held her hand, and the three of them walked through the coffee shop until they stood on the street.
“I’ll leave you two here.” Hunter raised his hand in farewell.
Calling out good night, Sebastian watched his friend slip away in the darkness. He’d catch up with him later. He really wanted to get Hunter’s take on Lacey and the craziness she was caught up in. But that would have to wait a little. She spoke again. He pulled his mind back to the present.
“Why didn’t you want to leave Bruno the originals?” she asked.
“Because they are special,” he said. “We’ll send him photographs.”
“That should be good enough,” she said. “I have to admit that I wouldn’t mind working on a couple of them a little more. I can see details that need to be added that I didn’t get a chance to the first time.”
“Later,” he said. “First, you need rest. Then we’ll work on fine-tuning some of your artwork. But we also have to work on the dig.”
She sighed. “So much to do and not enough time.”
He chuckled. “If you’re angling for a few more weeks here, I’ll see what I can do.”
She stopped in the street and stared at him in joy. “Really?”
“Really. As long as you can leave whatever it is you’ve left behind, I’ll see about keeping your contract here open or extend it for a few more weeks.”
She nodded. “I could do all kinds of diagrams then,” she said enthusiastically.
“And yet, it’s the photos we need first and foremost.”
“Of course. The story. And what a story it is,” she said almost dreamily.
“If you ever feel like you need to write it down, … maybe you should keep a voice recorder with you, to make note of the ideas that come to your mind.”
“That’s a great idea,” she said, “but I don’t have one.”
“I’ll get you one in the morning,” he promised.
She chuckled. “Are you always this nice to your employees?”
“The ones who will potentially create something fantastic for the foundation? Absolutely.” He linked his arm with hers again, helping her cross the street. “If you need to sleep in longer tomorrow morning, you can, you know? You don’t have to start so early.”
“No. Spending as much time with you as I am is already making the others talk. If I get special privileges, like sleeping in late, that’ll just make the situation worse.”
“Do you think people resent you?” He hadn’t considered that, but people were still people all over the world. And, if he showed favoritism to one over the others, he could see how there might be some disgruntlement among them.
“No, I don’t think so,” she said. “But you never really know, and I don’t want to start anything. If I’m only here for a couple weeks—or a month maybe—whatever disturbance I might cause will be just a ruffle in the wind at summer’s end. However, if I’m staying longer, then it might potentially cause bigger trouble.”
“I think your sunshiny disposition will make some of even the hardest and grumpiest of the team happy to hear you’re extending your stay.”
At that she set off in peals of laughter. “Oh, I wish. It would be nice if everybody was optimistic instead of pessimistic, that they’d smile instead of frown, say good things instead of nasty things about each other,” she said impulsively. “The world would be a much happier place.”
“Happier, yes,” he said. “But I’m not sure so much sunshine makes everybody happy. Some people thrive on drama. Some people need strife and stress in order to surmount difficulties and to come up with incredible inventions.”
“I guess,” she said. “I’m the glue in between everybody that keeps the relationships all working.”
“We need people like that too,” he said. They approached the apartment building. He opened the main door. She stepped inside and froze. As he walked to the elevators, he turned, and she wasn’t following him. A look of fear, almost terror, was on her face.
He moved to her side. “What’s the matter?” he whispered.
She stared at him, her eyes huge, massive.
He gave her a little shake. “Lacey. Talk to me. What’s the matter?”
She shook her head, her mouth opened, then closed. And then, as if released from some unseen grip, she took a shuddering breath and relaxed. “I don’t know what that was. But, for just a moment, it was like an icy terror ripped through me.” She grabbed his hand. “What’s happening to me? Maybe I should go home. Maybe I should just forget about whatever’s going on here and go home.”
“No,” he said firmly. “No panicking at the first sign of a problem.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “This is hardly the first sign, is it?”
He took a deep breath and grabbed hold of his control. “You’re fine. I suspect it was just a bit of a headache or something.” Inside he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on here. He brushed her hair off her forehead and asked, “How is the head?”
She closed her eyes and whispered, “It’s better, I think. But I don’t like all this scary stuff.”
He wrapped his arms gently around her and hugged her close. “Easy. It’ll be calmer in a few days.”
She pushed back and glared at him.
He wanted to chuckle. She was such a fascinating mix of temper and sunshine. Thunderclouds and storm warnings, and then the clouds would part and that beautiful smile would break free again.
“How can you say that? What does a few days from now have to do with what’s going on?”
“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs to bed.”
“You’re not answering me,” she said resentfully. But she let him tug her into the elevator. “I hope I don’t feel that again. Something literally stopped me in my tracks, and it terrified me.”
“I saw that,” he said. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and cradled her gently. “Stay calm. Stay focused. Whatever this is, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
And just like that, once again her resistance crumb
led. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” he said. “I will help you get to the bottom of this. I promise.”
She sighed. “I hope so. I’m wondering if you are the cause of it.”
Startled, he reared back to look down at her. “Really?”
She shrugged. “Well, it seems like it started when you came along.”
“Hardly,” he said. “You were hit by that vehicle before I ever got here.”
“No,” she countered. “I’d met you already at the site. I got hit later that evening.”
Chapter 10
Too much was going on in Lacey’s world right now. She knew she’d never sleep. But, when she woke up the next morning, she had slept, like a log. All of the events of the previous day seemed like a dream. She had none of the pictures with her to confirm whether it had happened or not, but she did have her camera.
She jumped out of bed bright and early and walked over to her camera, sat down, flipping through the photos. They were the ones she’d taken yesterday. And, sure enough, she could still see all the buildings as she’d drawn them. She sat, amazed, cross-legged on her bed as she went through them.
“That’s a pretty happy smile on your face.” Chana yawned and rolled over. “It’s way too early to be up.”
“I don’t know why I’m awake,” Lacey said. “But I feel quite energized.”
“Good for you,” Chana grumbled. “Wake me in another half hour.”
Lacey made a mental note of the time, realizing it was just minutes past six o’clock. She kept looking through her photographs. When she looked up the next time, it was almost six-thirty. “Chana, are you awake?”
Chana mumbled, but that was all.
Lacey put down her camera, got up and gave her cousin a good shake on the shoulder. “It’s six-thirty. Time to get up.”
Lacey unpacked her camera cord, connecting the cable to her laptop, and proceeded to download as many of the photos as she could before they had to leave. She should have set this up last night before she went out, but she had forgotten. She dressed and headed to the kitchen to put on coffee. She heard only light murmurs from the other people in the apartment.
