Ian parked the truck and escorted Aislinn toward the Square. She was met with nothing but familiar faces. Jean, Ruby, Cruz, Tango, Flip, and Baptiste were seated beneath the massive shade of the tree, drinking water and iced tea, laughing.
“Well, hey there,” smiled Jean. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, we have some more supplies for Mama Irene.”
“Hey, darlin’!” she called from her perch. Aislinn laughed, waving at the old woman.
“I’ll take it up to her,” smiled Baptiste.
“Code’s got some possible leads on our guy Snow. Not his real name, obviously,” said Ian.
“Yeah, the guys went by his apartment, and he was a real piece of work. We’re hoping he doesn’t cause any bullshit, but we doubt that will happen,” said Jean.
“Speak of the devil,” whispered Aislinn, nodding toward the man walking toward them.
“Well, well, well, we have some new faces,” he said, smiling. He reached out a hand for Aislinn, and they all held their breath, wondering if she would accept. A simple touch might be too much for her.
She stared at his hand, then at the others. Leaning toward Jean, she whispered to him.
“Catch me if I fall,” she said quietly. She reached for his hand, shaking it, and felt the cold, bloodless death that was so familiar to her. Violence, beatings, death, whippings, fire, chaos. It surrounded her, drowning her, suffocating her.
“Aislinn!” said Jean, catching her as she fell.
“What the fuck did you do?” growled Cruz, kneeling next to the young woman.
“Nothing! I just shook her hand,” he said, backing away. He practically ran toward the gates of the park, never looking back.
“Aislinn,” said Cruz. “Look at me, honey. Are you alright?”
“I-I saw it. I felt it, but it was different. Death. Horrible, horrible deaths. Hundreds of them.”
“How was it different?” asked Jean.
“It wasn’t him. It didn’t feel as though it belonged to him, but he was guilty, just the same.”
“You’re not making sense, sweetie,” said Cruz.
“I know,” she said, rubbing her temples. “It was intense, but I could tell it was in the past. He wasn’t responsible for the deaths, but they were his, all the same. I need to touch him again.”
“Not in this lifetime,” said Cruz, helping her to stand.
“I’m telling you, it’s the only way to find out the truth. I need to shake his hand again.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Absolutely not!” yelled Kane. “You are not going to touch that man again. You’re likely to have headaches for days now.”
“Kane, you know that the pond alleviates the headaches. I don’t suffer from them at all since we’ve come here. I need to hold his hand for a longer period of time in order to see those visions more clearly.”
“Aislinn, as much as we appreciate your help,” said Ghost, “we can’t allow you to place yourself in danger.”
“I’m not in danger. I just need to touch him, hold his hand for longer than a few seconds.”
“I’m not sure he’d be willing to do that,” said Jean. “You scared the shit out of him, and us.”
“I didn’t mean to scare anyone,” she said. “There must be some way for me to get near him without anyone really paying attention. I could just grip his forearm and would probably get the visions I need to see things more clearly. Just a few moments is all I need.”
“I don’t mean to piss anyone off,” said Sly, “but there’s a charity masquerade ball this Saturday night. She’d be undercover, or at least under mask. He wouldn’t know who she was.”
