And he was learning to listen.
He was slow at it, but he was adapting. Somewhat. As he sat here on a bench in the shade, taking slow deep breaths, he felt the stirring on the inside. He hated that sense, that almost prowling sensation going on. As if something were inside, an animal reaching out, when he didn’t want it to.
It was one thing that it was uncontrollable physically, but to think that this was actually something that his body was consciously doing just drove him crazy. And it was a new sensation, something he hadn’t really expected to feel before, yet here it was once again, that weird sense of seeking answers. He tried to stop it, tried to still it, but instead it gained power and continued searching.
Simon didn’t know whether he was doing the searching or was responding to someone else who was calling out. Almost immediately he was once again flat-out running down the pathway. He swore because, as far as he knew, the victims were all dead, and the last thing he wanted was to relive the final moments of somebody else who’d already died.
It was at least a comfort, knowing that it was beyond him to do anything about it, because this was actually history. At least, he hoped it was. He watched as the same damn running path came through his vision again and again and again, following the trails up and down with the same exhilaration.
“Why are you showing me this?” he murmured.
He heard her calling out to her best friend, the two of them racing, with flat-out joy in every moment. A part of him wanted to say that at least she had been happy in her last moments, that she had thoroughly enjoyed life, and that this activity had made her feel so full of life that she would do almost anything to continue it. Running for him wasn’t the same way, but, for her,Robin, it was like a drug, and something she couldn’t do without. He wondered at that force, that drive. And still she ran and ran and ran. He waited, knowing what was coming, and, just as soonas the girlfriend moved forward ever-so-slightly, taking the lead, the branch came out of nowhere, and she went down hard.
Almost immediately the flash was gone again. He looked at his hands, still trembling, feeling the same adrenaline surge through his body as went through hers. He swore long, deep, and fluently for a couple heavy moments, until he felt his own tension release, slowly moving back down again to a level somewhat doable. Then he straightened up, walked around the building, and came face-to-face with his foreman, an odd look on his face. Simon smiled at him. “You ready?”
The other guy nodded immediately. “Yeah. Are you okay?”
Simon looked at him in surprise. “Yeah, I am. Why?”
“Well, you just took a moment in the shadows.”
“Too much heat or something I ate,” he replied, patting his stomach. “Not sure what it was. I just needed a few minutes to let everything settle.”
Understanding immediately crossed his foreman’s face. “Hey, I hear you there, especially when we don’t get regular meals, I used to bring my lunch, and then I stopped and started buying it. And you know what? Ever since I started buying food again, damn, I’ve had more upset stomachs than I can shake a stick at. But since the wife and I split up, it’s hard to make lunches anymore. I just don’t seem to have the willpower to give a shit, I guess.”
“I get it,” Simon replied.
“And I tend to do too much purchasing while I’m out because it’s convenient.”
“Exactly,” Simon repeated, “it’s convenient. But, with all those different foods, sometimes I wonder what’s actually in some of what I eat. The street food especially.”
“I don’t know if we can blame the street food for it,” the foreman argued cheerfully. “And you know it won’t stop usanyway. Plus, I keep antacids in my pocket,” he said, with half a smile.
“Smart,” Simon said, looking at the guy as he patted his pocket. “Maybe I should do the same.”
“You want a couple?”
“I’m fine now. I don’t know what it was, but it’s gone.”
“Good, because sometimes that can be a bitch, and it hangs around forever.”
“I know. I’ve had a couple bouts like that too. Anyway, let’s get down to work.” Just as Simon was ready to buckle down to discuss work, his phone buzzed. He looked down at the text coming in and winced because it was Kate, and her words were simple.
You okay?
He pondered that because it seemed that, as soon as he started getting messages or visions nowadays, she could almost sense that something was wrong with him.
He sent a quick response back.Yeah, I’m okay now. We’ll talk later.
And he put away his phone and got back down to business.
Chapter 8
Kate sat ather desk, running through all the information she had, setting up some timelines, when the front desk called.
“You’ve got a witness here,” Audrey told Kate in an excited voice.
“What are you talking about? Witness to what?”