on his spaghetti. Lead the way, Griffin.”
Griffin said, “We’ll meet you at Jenny’s house—it’s 201 Cedar Lane. I think Carson and I will walk, enjoy the evening now that we’re out of the slammer.”
“You convicts are all the same,” Kraus said, and grinned at him. “See you shortly. Ah, thanks for the change of pace, Griffin. You know this story will make the rounds.”
28
* * *
There was next to no traffic when Griffin and Carson stepped out of the station. The evening had cooled down and the trees rustled with a light breeze. Gaffer’s Ridge was closing down for the night. They walked a moment in silence before Griffin said, his voice light, “It’s been quite a day for both of us, especially you. Here I was, tired from a hard case and walking around town to avoid taking a nap after Jenny fed me lunch. I was thinking of nothing more than what kind of furniture to buy for my new condo in Washington, when suddenly your voice was yelling in my head. I wanted to talk with you about your gift. When it came to you, that sort of thing.”
Carson stopped, turned to face him. “So this was why you wanted to walk. You wanted to see if I was all right with all that happened. Between us. In our brains.”
He nodded, kicked a pebble from the path.
She sighed. “It’s all so very weird. And no, it wasn’t new to me.”
“Tell me how it came about.”
“I was in a bad car accident when I was seventeen, left me in a coma for a week. When I was finally swimming back to the surface, I heard someone speaking. The voice sounded distant, and it sounded somehow odd. I came to discover she wasn’t speaking to me. She was thinking about dinner and what she’d make and how her louse ex-husband was picking up her daughter at eight o’clock. I couldn’t believe it. It was a nurse. When I opened my eyes to see her, I said, ‘Why is your ex-husband a louse?’ I thought she’d faint, then I guess she decided she’d said it out loud. It’s happened only a few times, and it’s always unexpected. I’ve never been able to make it happen. I remember when I was walking down Madison in New York next to a man in a business suit. I heard all about his presentation to his boss that morning and how he’d nailed it. I couldn’t help it. When I passed him, I smiled big and congratulated him on impressing his boss. He gave me a weird look and nearly broke into a run to get away from me. The last time it happened, one day last year, I was walking toward Fiftieth and Fifth to shop a sale at Saks. I ran into this young man, a complete stranger, like Rafer Bodine. And his thoughts were as loud as Rafer’s. He was insanely happy. He’d just gotten married and all he could think about was his bride. He was very graphic about it. I remember I simply stopped and stared at him. I don’t think he ever noticed me. He continued on his way, nearly skipping he was so happy. I told my mom each time it happened. Bless her, she hugged me, whispered against my ear, ‘Another amazing part of you, Carson. Enjoy it, use it, appreciate it, and don’t let it worry you.’
“Then there was Rafer, hearing him thinking about the three kidnapped girls.” She sighed. “I’ve studied this gift you and I have. Do you know, I haven’t found a single medical explanation. Sure, there are gazillions of references to people getting the ‘sight’ after a head trauma, but nothing you’d call legitimate research. Now, how about you?”
He said, “The first time I was maybe fifteen. I heard my mother’s thoughts. I’d just walked in from school, real quiet. I wanted to surprise her, give her a little scare, when her voice sounded in my head, ‘I know you want to scare me into gray hair, Griffin, but not this time. I’ve got a bone to pick with you.’ ”
She laughed. “What was the bone?”
“I honestly don’t remember, but I bet Mom would. I guess this gift, or whatever you want to call it, I inherited from her. She knew it, but she never spoke of it to me. I like that your mom talked about it with you.
“And like you, I can never predict when there’ll be somebody knocking on