Free The Ghost Pattern by Leslie Wolfe Page A

She wished Steve were here; he’d know what to say and do to help Blake. She was going to have to do her best, and hope her best was good enough.
    “Blake,” she spoke softly, “such a loss can be devastating, I understand. And I am here for you. Why don’t we go to Tom’s, get you a hot cup of soup, and help you get some rest?”
    His eyes shot her a glare filled with disappointment.
    “Not you too! Not after everything we’ve been through together, Alex! Do you think I lost my mind? Is that it?”
    She shrugged a little, involuntarily, and felt her cheeks catch fire. “Blake, I—”
    “No, I’m still sane, Alex, and I am appealing to that fantastic brain of yours! You who found a ten-billion dollar, money-laundering scheme hidden so deep inside my bank’s business systems that no one else had managed to find it before. I am pleading with my friend, Alex Hoffmann, the best investigator I have ever met, to just hear my case for a minute. Can you do that for me? Give me one minute of unbiased attention?” Blake’s pleading voice reached a higher pitch, while he still struggled to stifle heavy sobs. “Do you still trust me that much?”
    She considered his words, embarrassed she’d jumped to conclusions and dismissed Blake so quickly. She shouldn’t have made that error in judgment; she knew better.
    She managed to look at Blake, unable to hide her embarrassment. “I am so sorry, Blake, please forgive me. Can we please start over?”
    He let out a pained, long sigh. “Don’t apologize. I sometimes think I’m crazy, too. But believe me, she isn’t dead. She can’t be. Oh, God…”
    “OK, let’s talk. I am all ears. Why do you think she’s not dead? The authorities confirmed the plane went down over the Pacific.”
    “I’d feel it…I know I would,” Blake said quietly, looking Alex in the eye with an unspoken plea to believe him, to trust his call. “And…and I had a dream right about the time her plane went missing.”
    “A dream?” Alex couldn’t hide the doubt in her voice.
    “Yes, a dream, and I know just how this sounds. But Adeline and I are very close; we’re what people refer to as soul mates. We’ve always had our ways to feel each other’s pain, stress, or fear.”
    She didn’t dismiss the thought so easily the second time. Although the science behind it was blurry to say the least, there were numerous documented cases of such mental connections existing between closely connected human beings, able to transcend thousands of miles.
    She decided to believe that was a possibility in Blake and Adeline’s case. Steve would have been a great asset to her right now…damn it! And Blake wouldn’t move from the damn tarmac. No way could she get him to Steve. She refocused her attention.
    “What was the dream about? Was she saying anything to you?”
    “She said she loved me, and then…” Blake almost choked, “well, I don’t know how to describe it, but the message was that I shouldn’t let her go. I shouldn’t give up.”
    “OK, good enough for me,” Alex replied, her usual analytical self taking over. “What do you think I could do, that the authorities aren’t doing already?”
    “Believe,” Blake replied. “Believe that it’s possible that plane didn’t crash into the Pacific. During the past 48 hours, I’ve been traveling like crazy, speaking with everyone. Airlines, the FAA, no one would even listen to me. It doesn’t matter who I am, or how much money I’m willing to spend. No one even wants to hear me out; they all dismiss me and recommend some shrink or another, after expressing countless regrets.”
    She blushed again and looked at the tarmac for a minute, trying to hide it, disappointed with herself at how narrow-minded she’d been about the whole thing. She’d done the exact same thing the airlines had done. In her mind, she had wished she had a shrink present to help Blake. Must be the early hour to blame for her atypical shortsighted logic. Forget