"Monsters?"

"She sees them as monsters. They have eyes but no faces."

"The attackers at Vasaro wore ski masks."

Melissa nodded. "That would account for it."

"Tell me what it's like."

"Terror. Sorrow. We're in a long, dark tunnel and we were happy there, but the monsters have found a way to get in. They're chasing us and we know they'll catch us if we don't find…"

"Find what?"

"I don't know. Her thinking is all garbled by the fear. Whatever it is she's looking for, she can't find it. And there's only one other way to escape them."

"The hell there is. She can come back to us."

"We don't see that as an option."

"Half the time you say her and half the time you say we. You're not joined to her any longer, are you?"

Melissa shook her head. "But the link was very strong and so is the memory. I'll try not to-You're looking at me as if I'm crazy."

"Why should I accuse you of being nuts? I'm the doctor and I'm the one who's accepting all this as if it were perfectly normal."

"No, you're not. You're taking everything with a grain of salt and trying to find a reasonable explanation for it. It's not your nature to do anything else." She smiled. "Right?"

"I care about you." Jessica reached over and covered Mellie's hand with her own." It scares me that you might-"

"The only thing you should be scared about is if we can't stop what's happening to Cassie…and me. I'm not nuts. I'm just riding that tornado and hoping something will make it go away." She squeezed Jessica's hand. "Toward the end, after Travis came, I was feeling stronger and I began to think instead of feel. Maybe if I can gain some control, I'll be able to stop the tornado."

"God, I hope so."

"But I have to have Michael Travis, Jessica. I'm not strong enough to fight for Cassie by myself. He has to stand between."

"You're talking as if he's some kind of medium."

"I don't know why he's able to help Cassie. You brought him to Cassie because I told you to find something to break the flow. It worked. He worked. We may be able to do without him later but not now. Get him, Jessica."

"Oh, I got him. It wasn't difficult. He finds the situation very interesting and he's bored at the moment." She made a face. "But he's not going to be easy to handle."

"I could tell." She got to her feet. "Now I need to go for a run before I hit the books." She brushed a kiss across Jessica's forehead. "Poor Jessica. I know it's hard for you. But everything will be okay."

Melissa was treating her as if she were a child. Well, she felt as confused as a child. Everything Melissa had said was out of her realm of belief, yet she had no option but to go along with her. "Just one more question. What would have happened to you if I hadn't brought Travis last night?"

She didn't speak for a moment. "I don't know. I'm not sure how it works. But I don't think I could have broken free at the end."

"The end?"

She moved quickly toward the door. "If Cassie had died, she would have taken me with her."

Melissa knocked on the door of the gatehouse. "The sun is shining and all's right with the world. Come out and play, Michael Travis."

Travis threw open the door. "I beg your pardon?"

"In case you don't recognize me as the rag of a woman you saw in my bedroom last night, I'm Melissa Riley."

"Oh, I recognize you."

"Then go change and come out and run with me. You usually run about this time, don't you?"

"Yes."

"I'll wait." She came into the house and dropped onto the sofa. "This is a nice place. Jessica and I used to play here when we were kids. Hurry, will you? I have to get back and study."

He smiled. " I'll try not to keep you waiting." He disappeared into the bedroom.

Mellie glanced around. Open laptop on the dining table, books piled on the coffee table. But other than that, he was very neat. It was what she'd expected. Everything organized.

She leaned forward and checked out the book titles. She smiled. Smart. Very smart.

She moved to the window and looked up at the manor. How many times had he stood here and stared at the lights in Cassie's window?

"Ready." He came out of the bedroom wearing shorts and an Oxford University T-shirt. "Unless you've changed your mind, Ms. Riley?"

He didn't know what to think of her. That was okay. It put her one step ahead. "No way. And call me Melissa or Mellie like Jessica does." She jumped to her feet and trotted outside. The sun struck her face like a blessing, and she stopped and closed her eyes. "Isn't it beautiful today? And smell that grass. I love mornings after a rain. It just sort of…fills me until I overflow."

"Your cup runneth over?"

"Yep." Her eyes flicked open and she jumped down the steps. "Race you to the pond in back of the house."

She beat him by four yards. She leaned against the willow tree and tried to get her breath. "Did you let me win?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You're in good shape and I've seen you run."

"You're in pretty good shape yourself."

She chuckled. "From another man I'd take that as a pass."

"Why not from me?"

"Because you're not interested in sex at the moment. You're wondering what the hell I'm up to."

"Am I going to find out?"

She nodded. "When I get my breath." She sank down on the ground. "What do you think I'm up to?"

"I'm supposed to talk until you get your breath?"

"Good guess."

"Let's see." He dropped down a few feet away. " It's difficult to assess motivations, since I've never met you before. From what I've observed at a distance, you and your sister seem very close. Did she send you with a message?"

"Jessica delivers her own messages. I deliver mine."

"And what is your message?"

She stared him directly in the eyes. "Don't you dare do anything to hurt my sister."

His brows lifted." I have no intention of harming her."

"I believe you. However, action doesn't always follow intent. It gets sidetracked when personal gain becomes involved. You don't care anything about Jessica. I doubt if you care about Cassie. It's hard to tell."

"Is it? But you must know I helped her last night."

"No one knows better." She paused. "As I think you're aware."

He looked at her inquiringly.

"You had three books on parapsychology on the coffee table. One I left when I came down for a visit. I read it in the gatehouse because I didn't want Jessica to see it around the manor. I've never read the other two. Where did you get them in the middle of the night?"

"I sent one of the Secret Service men at the gate to an all-night bookstore in D.C. They were very obliging as long as I didn't leave the property. I spent several hours scanning them." He smiled. "And since I didn't get any sleep, I wasn't going to take my visual morning run."

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?"

"Heaven forbid. You have enough problems."

Her gaze narrowed on his face. "Then I assume you found what you wanted in those books?"

"I overheard what you told your sister in the bedroom last night. That was enough to pique my interest. So I hit the Internet and then hunkered down with a few books."

"And you found out I was a freak."

"But not the only one. Not even the first one."

"What?"

"Did you think you were the only case who came back with a little baggage on the side? Professor Hans Dedrick discovered four cases similar to your own. One in Greece, one in Switzerland, and two in China."

"Dedrick?"

"Trauma, Memory, and the Way Back. It was written in 1999. You didn't read it?"

She shook her head in bewilderment. "And I even combed through the libraries trying to find something, anything…"

"It was published by a university press in Great Britain. As you've noted, I'm an expert at retrieving information. I'll let you borrow it if you like."