He crossed back to her, more eager than shed ever seen him. When?
This afternoon, she answered with no hesitation. In her mind, shed seen the baby, seen one of the assisting nurses recording the time. 3:32.
3:32, he echoed like a man in a trance. He wasnt skeptical, he really wasnt, but he would have been less than human if he didnt ask, But two minutes ago, you said you didnt know.
She knew he wasnt challenging her. At times, this whole thing left her in awe herself.
Two minutes ago, I didnt. Like Ive told you, I have no control over this. Things come to me. Or they dont. All I can do is pass on the information when I get it. Eliza had made her peace with this, though there were times when it still proved frustrating to her. Im not much more than a conduit.
Youre a lot more than that. Cade squeezed her hand, grateful for her information and for the fact that worrying about McKayla would be behind him soon. As of yesterday, his wife was officially three weeks overdue. Thanks. And if you need any help with that he nodded at the computer monitor I can ask Chad if he has any extra
Thanks, but I dont think anyone else is going to be able to help, Cadenot yet, at any rate. Ive only got a vague picture of the little girl in my mind, and right now, Im the only one
who would even recognize her.
What we need is a good sketch artist as part of the firm, Cade commented, leaving. Well, dont tire yourself out, he warned. I dont like my operatives dead on their feet, and youre not going to help that little girls case any by turning into a zombie.
Zombie, freak. Youre a freak, thats what you are. Why the hell cant you be normal, like other little girls?
The voice echoed in her brain as loudly now as it had any one of the number of times her father had shouted those words at her. Theyd come from his own frustration over not being able to understand what was going on with his only child.
Hed been a simple man who understood simple things. His own daughter had seemed like something out of a science-fiction movie to him. He was incapable of bridging the gap that existed between them. After her mother died, that gap had only grown wider.
It had been hard on her father, she told herself nowas she had countless times before in an attempt to smother the hurt his words generatedhaving a daughter who was different, a daughter with the gift as her great-aunt called it.
Shed spent a good portion of her early years wishing the gift had been returnable. At the time, she would have given anything to be just like everyone else, just like the normal girls her father was forever pointing out to her as a goal to strive for. Being a seer, someone in touch with other peoples pasts and futures, and having those timelines indiscriminately mix with her own present without warning, was more of a curse to her than a gift.
It had certainly been a cross to bear that had made her fearfuluntil her mothers aunt, who had endured the same fears, the same trials, had taken her aside to explain the good that could be done with the power she had.
To ignore it is a sin, Eliza. You have to find a way to use it, to help people. Thats why the good Lord picked you. He knew you could do good with it. Dont disappoint Him, Eliza. And most of all, dont disappoint yourself.
So here she was, with little to no sleep, staring bleary-eyed at an endless series of photographs of childrens faces. Looking for one in particular. Trying to make sense out of her gift and find a reason why she was dreaming of a child she did not know.
It wasnt the first time, but that didnt make it any less frustrating, any less challenging.
Behind her, the door to her office closed softly. Eliza blinked, trying to refocus her eyes. Trying to see the girl shed been missing. The one she was certain was in the computer database somewhere. With a sigh, she reached for the coffee that had grown cold.
About to push away from the computer to take a breather, thinking she might need some distance before she continued the search, something compelled her to look at the next photograph on file.
Elizas mouth fell open.
Afraid to blink, to look away, she pressed a key to zoom in. There you are.
She had no idea why she was surprisednot when the feeling came, the one that led her to places she would never have thought of going. The feeling that went hand in hand with being clairvoyant. That forced her into peoples faces with bravado when she would much rather have retreated.
Her body at attention, Eliza moved her chair closer to the monitor. So, hello, she whispered to the little girl in the photograph. The little girl in her dream. Ive been looking for you.
The moment shed clicked on the file, seen the small, animated face, a sliver of the dream flashed through her minds eye, confirming the identification.
If she concentrated very intently, Eliza could almost swear she heard someone calling for the child. Bonnie.
An eagerness swept over Eliza, erasing her tiredness, erasing everything but the desire to find this child in real life, just the way she had on the Web site.