“And it doesn’t hurt people?”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t seem to. But like I said, the South American documents were lost, if they ever really existed.”
She was still wondering what had happened to them in the Overlook room. One moment, she’d been shaking hands with the man. In the next, they’d been kissing in a way that could only lead to bed. “You don’t think they did exist?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Why would anyone lie about something such as that?”
He eyed her a long moment. “A love bug,” he reminded her. “You’ve got to admit the idea is pretty funny.”
Intriguing, anyway. She couldn’t help but smile back, even though his presence threatened everything she’d hoped to accomplish in Bliss this week. “Are you saying scientists have a sense of humor?”
“Only if the jokes involve dreaded diseases,” he assured her.
He was filling a last tube. “If the bug’s in the water, and that’s the cause of the town shutting down in the past,” he continued, “and if the increase in births is true, after those periods, then it follows that there would be rashes of death, as well. If the bug had long-term lethal effects, that is. And there’s no such documentation in town records.”
“That’s a relief.”
Being with him wasn’t, however. She could only hope the night passed uneventfully. With him next door, she couldn’t trust herself. In the morning, he’d be gone, though, and then she could concentrate on finding the recipe book. On the way to this area of the spring, he’d insisted on stopping at the sheriff’s office.
Still, she’d reasoned, she was bound to run into Studs Underwood eventually, and she did want to see if he’d made any progress. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to have a man in tow for her inevitable showdown with Studs. She hadn’t seen him since a visit three years ago, but she wasn’t about to con herself into thinking the man had changed.
“That figures,” Rex had said dryly when they’d found a sign on the door, indicating Studs was out.
“It’s a small town,” she’d offered. “The police station’s not exactly teeming with employees. There’s a woman who’s here when Studs is out, but it looks as if she ran out for coffee or a snack.” She’d debated telling Rex of her past association with the sheriff, but had refrained. “Is it really that important that you talk to him?”
“It’s protocol,” Rex had returned. As he’d stared at the door, considering his next move, he’d explained the CDC’s rules regarding contacting local law enforcement officers before conducting tests in an area.
“Maybe he’s at Pappy Pass’s,” she’d suggested.
Since Pappy’s was on the way, they’d driven there next, only to find Studs hadn’t bothered to question him yet. Pappy had been sitting on his front porch, smoking a cob pipe and reading a hunting magazine, and he’d looked surprised to see her.
“Hello,” he’d said, eyeing her with seeming approval. “Why, Ariel, you look…good.”
As much as she hated how he’d implied that she’d once looked bad, she’d thanked him. After all, she really had blazed down Bliss Run Road at least a thousand times, looking like the worst kind of tramp. Even now, she cringed when she thought of the tight shirts she’d worn. She’d gone braless, too, so the outlines of her ample breasts had been there for all the world to see.
When questioned, Pappy had said Hammerhead’s red bandanna was missing, so it might be the one found at the crime scene. “But that’s a long way for him to roam, Ariel,” Pappy had pointed out.
And it was. Besides, if the truth be told, Hammerhead seemed happiest curled at his master’s feet, and the few times Ariel had seen the mutt, he’d been sleeping in the back of Pappy’s pickup. He wasn’t exactly frisky, and Mountain Drive was a hike, both from Pappy’s and town. “Maybe he was in a car with Jeb?”
“I thought about that,” Pappy had said, “but Jeb swore he didn’t take the book. I was in town when I heard about the break-in, so I asked him. You know how kids…”
She’d nodded. Ever since she could remember, kids had dared each other to visit Terror House at night. Ariel knew people wanted to get their hands on recipes for the love teas, too. Some thought there were secret teas in the book never made available to the public by the Anderson women. And, well…about that much, they were right. So, heaven only knew what somebody was home-brewing today.
“You might try talking to Jeb yourself, Ariel.”
“Maybe I will. Thanks for asking him, Pappy,” she’d returned, wondering if he really had. Not that Pappy was the type to lie. His reputation around town was every bit as good as hers was bad. Still, he loved his grandson, and if he suspected any wrongdoing on his part, he might cover for him.
Sliding the last tube into the tray, Rex stood. “I’m going to run these up to the lab and grab some slides. I forgot to bring them down. I’ll be right back. Mind waiting?”
She shook her head, then watched him walk to the end of the dock and uphill, his long legs easily making a path to the road. He really was a fine specimen of a man, and just watching him made her throat tighten, especially since she could still feel his hot mouth on hers.
Driving would have calmed her nerves and made her feel more in control, which was why she’d suggested they take her car, but as it had turned out, he’d flown into Charleston, picked up a mobile lab unit in a hangar there—it was the big, black RV she’d seen in the lot—then he’d driven to Bliss. Apparently, such vehicles were kept all over the country, for use by the CDC and military.
Now her nerves still felt jittery. It didn’t help that they were standing on a dock near Panty Point, the town’s best-known make-out spot. On the opposite side of the spring, she could see the teahouse, and to the left, she could see the town. Definitely, Panty Point was the most isolated spot around. Though, she’d expected to see kids at least, exploring the bike trails that snaked across the rocky terrain and strip of muddy beach.
She watched sunlight dappling the magical waters. For a moment, she almost felt at peace, despite how Rex was unsettling her. The spring always calmed her. Maybe it was the only thing on earth that really could. Trees rocketed toward the sky, and the hills were vivid with color from the wildflowers. For all the pain it had brought her, she’d always felt Bliss was the center of the earth. Just like the spring, Ariel had come from it, and the town—for better or worse—was her source.
Nothing had ever made her feel so grounded. Except maybe Rex’s kiss. Her knees had weakened when he’d kissed her, her skin had burned, but she’d felt grounded, too, even as her mind had floated far above the room. She’d been flying yet solid on her feet. The kiss had felt so right, like part of her homecoming.
While they’d kissed, the weight of the past had been lifted, and she’d forgotten how she’d felt growing up, teased by kids who thought her family was weird. Adults, too. She’d forgotten how she used to beg her mother for information about her father, how her mother would only say she’d had an affair that hadn’t worked out. She and the man had never been married, leaving Ariel with the impression that he’d been a visitor who’d skipped out, leaving town quickly, and that the rejection had deeply wounded her mother.
Later, in adolescence, she’d quit asking her mother about him. What man would want a child