Freeze Frame

Kat went through the routine again. Hot tea. Meditation. Focus on the map on the computer.

This time the picture emerged a little more sharply and she could see the picture was a restaurant. On the water. People stood under the canopy but unlike the surroundings, they were too blurred to distinguish. A flash of black swept across her vision. A truck. No, a van.

The image stabilized, frozen across the plane of her vision. The Wright family, Mari, some strange men.

Then they were gone. Erased as if by a swipe of a cloth.

The first thing she felt was exhaustion from the effort. The second was the sense of a terrible evil. Something was very, very wrong.

Trying to control her panic, she grabbed her cell phone, checked once more to see if Mari had called, then dialed the number of her sister’s cell.

Still no answer.

She threw the phone onto the couch and flopped down next to it. What should she do? This was well past the time it should have taken them to arrive, get to the house where they were staying and settle in. What had happened in San Diego? Had they never even arrived in Hawaii?

She needed help from someone who could get answers for her. Mike D’Antoni’s name snapped into her brain at once. He had more resources than anyone she knew and could cut more corners. He was picking her up for breakfast but she couldn’t wait that long.

The clock in the kitchen read six forty-five. Too early to call?

The hell with it. She needed to talk to someone now.

Fishing the card he gave her out of her purse, she took a deep breath and punched in the cell numbers.

He answered after only two rings. “D’Antoni.”

“You don’t even sound like you were asleep,” she commented.

“Kat?”

“Yup. It’s me.” She swallowed hard, dredging up her courage. She knew she was really about to impose on him. On their relationship, which at the moment had no clear definition. “Sorry to call you so early but—”

“No, no. It’s all right. Fine. What do you need?”

Just like that. No questions. She took another long breath.

“I wouldn’t call you if I knew what else to do—”

“Kat,” he interrupted. “It’s all right. Just tell me what you need.”