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The noise in my head was deafening. I felt as if I were flying through dense clouds with thunder crashing all around me. I held my hands over my ears trying to lessen the cacophony, but it wouldn’t go away. Then I thought maybe I was under water and waves were crashing over my skull, dragging me down. I opened my mouth so the water could drown me, but instead felt fresh air enter it. The thunder stopped and I felt almost peaceful, flying through space. Then the crashing started again. An insistent banging that made my head throb. And then human sounds. Someone calling me—a cabin attendant?—her voice penetrating the fog and thunder in my head.
“Breezy!”
I groaned.
“Thank God!”
I felt cool, small hands on my neck.
“Ella?” I croaked and forced my eyes open.
Through gummy, half-open eyes I saw Kat standing over me. I blinked and my nightstand came into view. I was in bed, fully dressed. Why was Kat there? Every part of my body hurt. I forced the wheels in my brain to start turning and slowly it came back to me. What I’d tried, and apparently failed, to do.
My stomach suddenly roiled and despite the fog and pounding in my head, I stumbled upright and lurched to the bathroom. I was barely inside before my insides hurled themselves forward from every orifice in my body.
After I was done, I sat back against the cool tile on the floor. An empty pill bottle was lying under the sink and when I picked it up to see why I was still alive and in reasonable shape, it turned out that the pills I’d emptied down my gullet the night before were Vitamin C. My throbbing head and upset stomach were just a particularly bad hangover from my friend, Johnny Walker, combined with too much ascorbic acid.
The enticing aroma of strong coffee wafted through the door. I staggered out of the bathroom. Kat stood before me, mug in hand.
“Sit down,” she said, grimly. “Drink it.”
I did as I was told. “Why are you here?” I asked her.
“If you believe in divine intervention, I’m here because apparently, I’m your guardian angel. But if you’re asking why I came here, it’s because I had a sudden ‘aha’ moment and wanted to share it with you.”
Whatever it was, I needed a moment before I heard it. My head ached, and my heart too. “How did you get in?’
“When you didn’t answer the door, I fetched a condo board member who had keys to all the apartments. He wanted to come in with me, but I told him it was fine, I’d handle it. I had a suspicion you might have done something stupid.” She glared at me.
“How did you know I was home? I could have been staying overnight somewhere,” I said, sipping the strong coffee which tasted as bitter as I felt.
“Your car’s in its parking spot, and the light and TV were on in the living room.”
“I’ll remember to extinguish the lights and move the car next time I try to kill myself.”
“Don’t joke about that.” Kat’s tone was sharp. She watched as I sipped the coffee, feeling its power rip to my head. I drained the mug and she went into the kitchen to refill it.
“Did you hear anything more from Gordy?”
Kat smiled, a big grin that lit up her whole face and made her freckles almost pop out of her skin. “She’s coming home tomorrow. I can’t wait. Sammy’s been staying with his other mom, but I miss him almost as much as I miss Gordy.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’m ready. What’s the big ‘aha’?”
“Remember the other day when you and I were trying to talk at the café, and that woman came over and insisted on telling me how the hypnosis wasn’t working anymore?”
I could barely remember my name, but I nodded.
“Don’t you see? That’s it!”
“My head’s hurting and I can barely think. Do me a favor and spell it out.” I took a big gulp of coffee. What an idiot I’d been last night. There was nothing in the world a good cup of coffee couldn’t cure.
“I got to thinking about how easily the hypnotist had changed that woman so completely. One minute she couldn’t get enough dessert and the next, she turned her head away. Don’t you remember how we were blown away by him? If he could make that woman dislike cake, he could probably make a group of people get up and leave! What if he told Larry, Amber, Ella and who knows who else to leave, and they went because they’re all in a trance?”
Suddenly I jolted awake faster than a comet speeding through space.
“Were they all at the fundraiser?”
“I’m pretty sure they were. That was one of the biggest fundraisers of the year. Almost everyone I knew was there. I remember Larry doing that ridiculous dance the guy made them do. And wasn’t Dustin volunteering that night?”
“He was.” I banged my coffee mug so hard on the table some of it spilled. “He helped Ella when she had a dizzy spell.”
“Ella was sick that night?”
“She was fine when we got there. But halfway through she left the auditorium. When I went out to see what was up, she looked terrible. Her skin was a very peculiar shade of green. I thought she must have food poisoning, but she said no, she was just feeling off. Dustin was doing security on the door and came over to ask if he could help. She said she was fine and by the time we walked home she was back to her usual self, speeding ahead of me as if nothing had happened.”
Kat was staring at me as I talked. “The hypnotist must have said something or done something! Maybe that’s why she felt sick.”
“But she wasn’t one of the ones who were involved with his act.”
“Some people are very susceptible to hypnosis. Maybe he hypnotized Ella and the others without their knowledge.”
“But why would that make them leave?”
“I don’t know. Has Ella said anything about the guy or the evening since then?”
I tried to think. My head was still pounding but something in the back of my mind was trying to make its way forward.
“Distracted,” I blurted out.
Kat raised her eyebrows.
“Ella’s been distracted the last few weeks. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I remember wondering what was going on. She’s been on her laptop outside office hours, which is totally unusual for her. And we fought...well never mind about that. That fundraiser was about a month ago, right?”
Kat nodded. “And you think something about Ella changed after that?”
“I do. But I don’t see how it can be connected to him. And I don’t see how it could be connected to the others, either. If he somehow signaled to them that they should leave, why would it take them a month to do it?”
“I don’t know. On the other hand, the fact that everyone left the same weekend can’t be a coincidence. Remember I told you about the Red Hat lady? I bet she was there too. There was a whole contingent of red and purple in the room. Didn’t that guy even make some comment about the hats?”
I tried to remember, but my memory wasn’t that great at the best of times, and I certainly wasn’t going to remember what he said to a group with whom I had no connection.
“We should tell your detective and let her look into it.”
I snorted. “She’ll blow us off. She already thinks Ella left me for a guy. She’s never going to buy this story.”
“Never say never. Get dressed. We’re going down to the station.”