Bonnie - Iris Johansen [30]
Bonnie shook her head. “What do you expect? I’m kind of new here.” She smiled. “I know it seems a long time since I left you, but it was really only the blink of an eye.”
Bonnie always sounded so adult when she came to Eve. It was one of the reasons why Eve had had problems for years believing that she was anything but a dream. In spite of the fact that Bonnie had scoffed at her and told her that she shouldn’t expect her to be the same seven-year-old child when she had crossed over. “Blink of an eye. Don’t tell me that. It’s been an eternity,” she said unsteadily. “And I want it over. Catherine almost died. She shouldn’t have been caught up in this nightmare. It’s not fair. If someone has to die, it should be me.”
“Not you, Mama. We can’t be together yet.” She sighed. “How many times have I told you that everything has its time?”
“I don’t care what you told me.” She paused. “And you’ve been saying that we’re reaching the end, that’s what you told Joe when he was in that coma. He didn’t imagine that, did he?”
“No, it’s the truth.” Her luminous smile lit her face. “And I had to give him some reason to come back. It’s very difficult turning anyone around when they’ve gone that far. But I was betting that if he knew that you’d soon need him, I could do it.”
“I thought you meant that you were talking about … I was wondering if the end you were talking about was—”
“Dying?” Her smiled faded. “It could be, but I don’t know if that’s coming. I only know that the path is leading somewhere now, and we all have to walk it.”
“And it’s making you sad. You scared me when I saw you before.”
“I was scared, too. I didn’t want it to happen, but I couldn’t stop it.”
“Jacobs’s killing?”
She didn’t answer. “I have to leave you now, Mama. I only came because I knew that you were worried about me.”
“Don’t you dare go away.” Her voice was unsteady. “You’ve told me before that you can’t tell me about the person who killed you, that it’s lost in darkness. But I think that’s changing, isn’t it? Tell me who did it.”
“It is changing. I don’t believe I was meant to know everything before. It’s as if I’ve been moving back and forth on two levels, and neither of them is clear. One has to be with you here and the other one is somewhere else with…” She shook her head. “It’s gone. Once I leave one level, it’s forgotten, yet something lingers, and I know I’ll be going back. I’ve been wondering if the reason there’s no recollection is that it’s a kind of trade-off for letting me come to you. That I’m not allowed to have everything. But lately I’ve been getting glimpses, memories, and I think maybe the two levels are coming together.”
“That’s confusing as hell.”
Bonnie smiled. “I’m sorry, Mama. It’s confusing for me, too. I just have to trust that it’s how it should be. Everything else seems to have a wonderful order.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem very orderly to me. All I want to know is one thing. Ted Danner. Was it Ted Danner?”
Bonnie didn’t speak for a moment. “I don’t … I’ve been getting glimpses of him. He has something to do with…” She shook her head. “I get a little wisp, but then it goes away.” Her face was grave. “But there’s so much anger and darkness in him. I think that’s part of the reason that he won’t come clear. But he’s part of that other level, and he’s coming closer and closer to you. You have to be careful with him. Watch him.”
“Closer and closer. Oh, yes, he was pretty close to Catherine today. He almost killed her.”
“Watch him,” Bonnie repeated. “The levels are coming together. There’s some reason why I have to know now. Some reason why you and my father have to know.”
“Gallo?”
“He’s my father, Mama. Of course he has to know. And he’s not like Joe. I’m having trouble leading him. He’s too alone. He’s hurting too much. You may have to help me.”
“Me? You have more influence on him than I do, Bonnie. You have more influence on all of us. All we want to know is how to find the man who killed you.”
“I’ll do what I can.” She gazed out over the bayou. “The darkness is getting