He paused. “Bonnie?”
“It’s possible.” Even probable. She could see the loving spirit of her Bonnie trying to arrange Eve’s life to suit herself. “Bonnie’s come to me in dreams before.”
“I know she has. From about a year after you lost her.”
Yes, Joe knew and accepted the fact that the ghost of Bonnie was still with Eve, which was a blessing beyond price. “It could be she just gave me a little push in Beth’s direction. Oh, I don’t know, dammit.” Her hand tightened on the phone. “But I was dreaming about Beth again when you called tonight. She was still running, but she was on the beach. There was a big house where she thought she’d be safe…”
“You’re sure it was Beth?”
“Yes, it was much clearer than the other dream. I know all this is weird as hell, Joe.”
“A little. But we’ve gone down that road before and survived. I trust you. If you believe it, then I’ll go along with you.”
“I believe it. Beth was thinking about someone named Billy. Billy had given her the security code to the house.” She was thinking. “So this Billy will know where we can find her. Someone at the hospital?”
“If I can get the password, I can check the personnel records on the computer without letting the staff know.”
“Which won’t be easy.”
“Not for us. But I know someone who might be able to get it for me.”
“If they can get into the personnel office.”
“That goes without saying. But if I can convince her to take the job, I’ll worry about access later. She can be stubborn as hell.”
“She?”
“Kendra Michaels.”
“A detective?”
“No. Yes. Sort of,” he said. “She kind of writes her own ticket.”
“But we need her?”
“We need her. She’s unique.”
“Then we’ll get her,” she said grimly. “I’m taking the next flight out.”
“I thought that would be your reaction. But take that flight to San Diego. That’s where she lives and works. I’ll meet you there.”
“San Diego,” she repeated. “I’ll let you know which flight. Bye, Joe.” She hung up and, a moment later, heard the ping as the photo Joe had promised her was transmitted. She accessed the photo of Beth Avery.
She felt a ripple of surprise.
“Vibrant,” Joe had called her. That was an understatement, the face of the girl in the photo was glowing and eager and so alive that it was like an electric shock. A thin, triangular face with full lips and brown eyes beneath winged dark brows. Her shoulder-length hair was also dark brown and wildly curly.
Like my Bonnie’s hair, she thought. Not red-brown, like her daughter’s tousled curls, but it looked to have the same shining texture and wild buoyancy. For some reason, she had not expected to see any family resemblance in Beth Avery. Eve still couldn’t think of Beth in that context. She saw no likeness to either Sandra or herself, but that cap of curly hair had given her a start.
And that vibrance and sheer love of life in Beth’s expression had touched … and angered her. No one who loved life that much should have it taken away from her.
Cool it. She was jumping to conclusions. She couldn’t be absolutely sure that Beth had been a victim of anything but a terrible accident. Because Eve had believed she’d shared the thoughts of that woman in those crazy dreams didn’t mean that those thoughts were sane and coherent.
Bullshit. Don’t back away now. There had to be some reason that she’d had that first dream of Beth. Some reason that Sandra had come to them with her confession about Beth at just this time. Life wasn’t always fair or kind, but she’d learned from Bonnie that there was an order to it that couldn’t be denied.
* * *
“I’M GLAD YOU LEARNED that much, Mama.”
Bonnie.
She was sitting in the rocking chair by the window, dressed, as usual, in her Bugs Bunny T-shirt, with her leg tucked beneath her. The moonbeams streaming through the window were touching her curly hair with light.
Eve felt a rush of pure love as she gazed at her. “Well, it’s about time you came around. I thought you’d abandoned me.”
“No, you didn’t. You know better.” Her smile lit her small face. “I told you that I wasn’t going to be around as often as I was before. You don’t need me as much now.”
“The hell I don’t. I always need you.”
“You love me, you don’t need me. You’re free of me now that you know where I am and who was to blame