Chapter 16

“Karen, what’s the matter?” Her father dashed into the room and grabbed her. “Stop it, stop screaming.” He shook her, then pulled her into his arms and held her until she became quiet. “Now then, what’s the matter?”

“Are you sick, Karen?” Her mother stood by, clutching both hands together tightly. “Did you have a bad dream?”

Did she have a bad dream? Mom, if you only knew. “I—I—dreamed about someone dying. I did that before. And someone died. Dr. McArthur is dead. He was in a car wreck.”

“What do you mean, Karen? How could you know this? Were you watching television, or listening to the radio? How do you know someone is dead?”

I dreamed it. I saw it. “I just know, Dad. Listen to me. Call the police. Tell them it was on that steep hill—oh, I don’t know the name of the road. A steep hill near where Dr. McArthur lives. Ask for Captain Martin. He’ll know what to do.”

“How can I—”

“Just do it, Dad. Take my word for it. Call the police.”

Karen pulled her robe tighter and sank into a chair in front of the fireplace. There was no fire, just gray, lifeless ashes. She stared at the black hole where fire belonged and waited.

She couldn’t say how long, but Captain Martin finally appeared in the living room. He slumped onto the couch opposite her. “Karen, are you all right?”

“Why shouldn’t she be all right?” Karen’s father said, his voice barely controlled. “What’s this all about? What’s going on with my little girl?”

“We don’t know, sir,” Martin said, his voice appealing to her father not to get huffy about it. “I’d like to talk to Karen. You can stay here if you like, but don’t interrupt us, if you don’t mind.”

“I mind, but I’ll try. And you can bet your badge I’m going to stay here.” Her father perched on the arm of her chair. It made Karen uncomfortable to have him there. She wasn’t used to his acting like a father.

“Karen, we found the professor’s car. He went off Lydecker’s Hill, crashed his car over the embankment there.”

“Is he—is he—?”

“Yes, he’s dead. Killed instantly, I would guess. I left the investigation to the highway patrol. I’ll piece it together later. Did you have a dream?”

“Yes, I saw it. It was awful. He was going downhill, out of control, backward. It was something he feared. He had dreamed about it before, but woke up before—before—Then he got the car stopped and the dream never returned. Before tonight.”

“How do you know he’d had this dream before?”

“He told us.”

“Who all knew it?”

“The class. He told us in class.”

“So every person in your class knew this. Tell me the whole dream, Karen. Every detail.”

She didn’t want to think about it again, but she recited the events, trying not to think about them, just tell it. When she had finished, the phone rang.

“It’s for you, Captain Martin.” Her mother held out the receiver of the kitchen wall phone.

When Martin returned he reported to Karen. “That was McArthur’s wife. She said he woke her up talking in his sleep. He kept saying, ‘I can’t sleep. I’ve got to go to sleep. I’ll have to take something.’ He got out of bed, pulled on his coat and said, ‘I’ve got to buy some sleeping pills so I can sleep.’ Then he left.”

“He woke up saying he couldn’t sleep?”

“Yes. Mrs. McArthur said neither of them had ever taken sleeping pills. Both are sound sleepers who fall asleep easily. She was confused by her husband’s actions.”

“Why didn’t she stop him?”

“I think she was too shocked, and before she could do anything, he was gone.”

“And now he won’t be coming back.”

“That’s right.” Martin sat staring at the same dead fire that Karen was watching. Her father finally spoke.

“Would you like some coffee, Martin?”

“Please. I feel as if I haven’t slept in weeks.”

“I tried not to go to sleep, Captain Martin. I tried, but I was so tired. If I hadn’t fallen asleep, gone into deep sleep—”

“You didn’t cause this by sleeping, Karen. Listen, I’ve explored every angle of this. I called a friend in New York who sometimes works with psychics. He thinks you’re tuning in to these—these deaths in some way. He says we should think of the air being full of radio waves. You tune in to some of those waves and what you pick up on is what you’re calling a dream.”

“I’m asleep.”

“Okay, let’s call it a dream, but it’s like a vision. You ‘see’ something that’s happening.”

“That didn’t really happen. I mean, the car wreck did, but Alysia wasn’t swimming with killer whales. She wasn’t Queen of the Whales. She didn’t—”

“Okay, I don’t know how it works. Oh, what the hell, I don’t even know what I’m trying to explain to you. It doesn’t make a bit of sense to me. I think I’m going to ask the department to fly him out here. He can tell you. All we really know is that people are getting killed and you seem to know about it beforehand.”

“Or while it’s happening.” She shuddered. Grabbing an afghan, she wrapped it around her. Her father appeared with a tray of hot drinks, coffee for Captain Martin, cocoa for her. She grasped the hot cup gratefully. “Thanks, Dad. Captain Martin, you don’t still think I’m doing this, killing these—?”

“How could you? Look at you. You’ve obviously been here all night. Did you talk to Dr. McArthur?”

“Yes, I had tea with him yesterday after school. I told him everything. He was interested, but I didn’t get any feeling that he knew any of what I was telling him before. He was going to try to make sense of it, too. I guess—I guess this rules him out as a suspect, doesn’t it?”

“I wonder if your talking to him—Who knew you were talking to McArthur yesterday? Who knows you told him everything that happened so far in this case?”

Karen shook her head. “My mother. I borrowed her car. My brother, Kerr. He met me in town and we went to the grocery afterwards. I didn’t go to school. So none of the other kids knew. At least, I don’t think they did. Dr. McArthur may have told someone. His secretary knew. Maybe he told the class. He said they were all upset and all they could talk about was the—the deaths.”

“Where’s your brother? Can I talk to him? Was he in class? Maybe he’ll remember something.”

“Mom, go get Kerr. Where is he? Surely he didn’t sleep through all this?”

Karen’s mother had been sitting, watching, listening, but not saying a word. She headed for the stairs. Kerr and Karen had bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom was at the back of the house on the first floor. Maybe Kerr was still asleep.

Her mom hurried right back. “He’s not there.”

Where was Kerr, and when had he left? Had he come into the room and heard all the fuss, then left? She remembered her father had come to her, which only now surprised her. Had Kerr seen her father holding her while she cried? Had he seen that she was the center of attention, got mad, and left?

Sometimes when they were little, if Karen was getting attention, Kerr would throw a temper tantrum. He couldn’t stand to be left out. He’d been acting so silly lately, she wouldn’t put it past him to throw one now.

“I’ll tell him you want to talk to him, Captain Martin. He can tell you what happened at school yesterday. He’s good at remembering details.”

“Where are you going to be today, Karen?” Captain Martin stood up to leave. “Are you going to school?”

“I don’t think I can. Why do you want to know?”

“You might be in danger.”

She stared at him. “I’m not. You still think I have something to do with all these deaths, don’t you, Captain Martin? You said you didn’t think I was doing this, but you don’t believe it.”

“You know too much, Karen. You know things are going to happen.”

“I don’t know in advance. I never knew any of this in advance of its happening. I’d have stopped it. I’d have told you, or someone. I’d have warned them.” She was practically yelling at him. He stared at her, but didn’t try to stop her or calm her down.

She crumpled into a heap at the foot of the stairs. I’m losing my mind, I have to be. Oh, Kerr, where are you? I need you. Why did you leave when I need you? You’re my only friend now. Come and help me!