Jessica stiffened. “What does he know?”
“That I’m a freak.”
“You told him?”
“He figured it out for himself. He’s very comfortable with it. Not like you. Poor Jessica . . .”
“Poor Mellie.”
“No, I’m learning. . . . It’s not like I thought. There’s so much more going on with Cassie. I had a weird feeling she’s hiding something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know, but things may not be what I thought. And she’s so lonely, Jessica. It hurts me that she’s so lonely.”
“You said Donny was lonely.”
“Not like this.”
“Weren’t you lonely when you were in your forest?”
“No, I had you, I knew you were there. Maybe out of sight, but you never left me.”
“Cassie has people who love her.”
“But she’s afraid to let them in. She’s afraid if she lets anyone into her tunnel, the monsters will get in.” Her grip tightened. “The monsters are terrible, terrible creatures. We can’t let them in.”
“Cassie can’t let them in.”
Melissa tried to smile. “I did it again? The monsters frighten me as much as they do her, and it kind of throws me back.”
“We have to get Cassie to let us in so we can bring her back.”
Melissa nodded. “It’s just that . . .”
“The monsters?”
“Think of your worst childhood nightmare and multiply it a hundred times and you’ll realize how Cassie feels.” She closed her eyes. “Good night, Jessica. I don’t want to talk anymore. Go hash this out with Travis. He’s probably listening at the door. I’ll see you in the morning.” She heard a chuckle from the other side of the door and called, “Good night, Travis. You did very well tonight.”
“Eavesdropping is exceptionally rude,” Jessica told Travis.
“She didn’t mind.”
“But I did. If I’d wanted you in the room, I’d have invited you.”
“And if I’d waited for invitations in my line of work, I’d be a pauper. You don’t gather information by standing politely to one side. I wanted to know what was happening with Melissa, so I listened.” He took her elbow. “Come on. I’ll make you coffee.”
“I don’t want coffee.” She bit her lip. “I want to talk about Mellie. I’m sure what’s happening is only temporary. She’s not really . . .”
“You want me to promise I won’t call the local funny farm and tell them to bring the straitjacket for your sister?”
“There’s nothing wrong with her.”
“I believe that.” He looked at her. “Do you?”
“Of course I do.” She rubbed her temple. “I’m not taking this very well. This psychic stuff’s not my cup of tea.”
“Then let me handle it.”
“The hell I will. Mellie’s my sister. All I want from you is for you to not hurt her.”
“That sounds very familiar,” he murmured. “You two aren’t as different as I first thought. Never fear. I’m not going to use anything I hear in this house to hurt Melissa.”
She gazed at him suspiciously.
“Why should I? It’s nothing to me.”
She nodded slowly. “That’s right, none of us is important to you.”
“I can’t let you be important.” He smiled. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t admire you both. I think I’m even starting to like you.”
“Amazing.”
“Yes, it is. So can I make you coffee? We can both use it, and since I’m going to be around, we might as well call a truce.”
She stared at him without speaking. His principles were questionable and he was different from anyone she’d ever known. There was a blunt honesty about him she found oddly comforting. “You have truces only when there’s war. If you keep helping Cassie, there’s no war.” She started down the stairs. “One cup of coffee.”
Go to sleep, Melissa told herself. It was all right now. Cassie had drifted off.
It had gone better than the last time. After Travis had come, she had been able to step out of Cassie and see her with a little detachment. Not much, but she’d take anything she could get.
And Cassie had been forced to recognize Melissa as a separate entity, which was real progress. But the impression of something that wasn’t quite right, that wasn’t as it seemed to be, still bothered her.
And what was Cassie searching for?
Together we’ll find it.
She should have asked Cassie what she was trying to find. The chance had slid right past her because it had been such a struggle to leave.