Chapter 16

The old Agency building seemed even creepier than usual when I entered it. Trust me, the last thing I wanted to do was go back there, but it was the only place I knew to look for Hunter. Besides, it was all empty now. The cops had come in and confiscated all the lab stuff. The only thing they'd left in tact was the third floor—which apparently was still Hunter's domain.

I made my way through the first floor until I came to the stairwell. This building really wasn't much different than the old one—the one Derek and I destroyed. The first floor was still a maze of hallways that you could easily get lost in.

The stupid place lacked one thing: an elevator. Sighing, I climbed the stairs to the third floor. The only thing that I could see was a door that I assumed led to Hunter's office. I knocked tentatively, wondering for what had to be the hundredth time if I really wanted to do this.

There was a long pause, then I heard a faint, "Come in."

Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door. Hunter was sitting at his desk, surrounded by boxes and papers. He looked up at me curiously. "Mrs. De Silva, I presume."

I turned kind of red. The only person who's ever called me that was Derek, and that was only one time. "Er, it's just Suze."

Hunter nodded, smiling slightly. "Of course." He motioned around the room. "You'll have to excuse the mess," he said. "I was... ah... searching for something before, and I haven't had the chance to clean up yet." He sat down in his chair. "I'd offer you a seat, but..."

"That's okay," I said hurriedly. "I'm not staying long." Hunter looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to say why I was there. I took a deep breath. "Look, it's about Jesse."

"I thought it might be," he said dryly.

"Look, I know you didn't have anything to do with what happened to him, and you guys looked kind of chummy that day in court—"

"Chummy isn't quite the word for it, but we've grown on each other somewhat."

I nodded. "Right. But, anyway, Jesse's been different since... well, you know, and even though he's gotten better, he still has that sad, haunted look to him, and I know he thinks about what happened a lot... I was wondering if you could help him."

Hunter looked at me for a long moment, tapping his fingers together idly. "How do you propose I do that? I'm not a psychiatrist, you know."

I took another deep breath. "I know. But, look, I saw what you did in the courtroom, and I don't know how you did it, but you'd have to be pretty powerful."

He smiled a little sadly. "You have no idea."

"So, I figure that if you could control an entire courtroom, you could probably control one ghost, right?"

"What exactly is it that you want me to do?" he asked gently, although I could see from the look on his face that he knew exactly what I was going to ask him.

"Can you make him forget?" I blurted. "Can you make him forget what happened the last two years? I mean, right from when he made that stupid deal with Paul?"

"Is that what you want?"

I shook my head, looking away. "I don't know. But it's the best I can think to do." I sighed heavily. "Will you do it?"

He was silent for a long time. Finally, he said, "Bring him here when you're ready, and I'll do it." When I glanced back at him he looked sad and solemn. "Just be sure you know what you're doing."

"Thank you," I murmured, then walked as fast I could out of there.

"Susannah?" Jesse looked up at me when I came into my room after my meeting with Hunter. He got up from the window seat and gave me a quick kiss. I felt like crying. I know that I was probably doing the best thing—the only thing I could think to do—and we'd both probably be happier in the end, but I still felt like crap for it.

Jesse pulled back and frowned down at me. "Susannah, are you all right?"

I laid my head on his chest sighing. I nodded, muttering something about feeling a little stressed. It wasn't exactly a lie, anyway.

I felt him kiss the top of my head. "It will be all right," he promised.

I hoped that he was right, and that I wasn't going to regret my decision. But for days after that, when I'd look at Jesse and still see that sad look in his eyes—a look that didn't go away, no matter how hard I tried to help him—I knew I didn't have a choice.

Which is why I was standing in Hunter's office again about a week after our first meeting. Apparently he'd cleaned up a little, because there wasn't nearly as much stuff lying around. But he was still sitting at his desk, the frail old man guise effectively hiding all the power I knew he had. It was kind of strange to think about, really.

Hunter smiled a greeting at me. "Hello, Susannah." He didn't call me Suze. Looking back on it later, I thought it would have sounded strange for some reason to hear him call me that. And I guess he called me Susannah because that's what Jesse always called me. "Have you decided?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I want you to do it." I said it quickly so I wouldn't have time to change my mind.

"You do understand what all this will mean, don't you?" he asked. When I nodded again, he sighed. "All right. Call him, then."

"Jesse," I called, my voice sounding oddly distant, like I was hearing someone else say it from far away.

And then he was there. Jesse materialized in front of me. He looked first at me, then at Hunter, and then back again. He frowned. "What's going on?" he demanded. He caught sight of my guilty look, and his face etched with concern. "Susannah?"

I shot a glance at Hunter. He looked at Jesse. "Perhaps you should sit down, de Silva." Jesse complied, then Hunter turned back to me. "You might want to wait outside," he said gently.

I didn't need to be told twice. Almost before Hunter had finished his sentence, I was out the door. I shut it behind me and slid down against the wall. Oh, God, I thought. What had I done?

Jesse watched Susannah hurry out of the room. He felt his dread building. What was going on? He looked back at Hunter.

The old man sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Your wife loves you, you know, de Silva."

"Of course I know that," Jesse said. "What is going on here?"

"It's important that you keep that in mind. You are very lucky to have someone who loves you as much as she does." Closing his eyes, Hunter rubbed his temples. "This will take a few moments. Some things go faster than others, you must understand." Before Jesse could ask him what he meant, Hunter opened his eyes, leaning forward. "You will forget everything that has happened in the past two years," he commanded. "Everything from the moment Derek Ashley came to see you."

Almost immediately, Jesse felt the memories fading away. One by one the memories dissolved into nothing, leaving behind only a strange sense that something was missing. And in the midst of the fading memories, Jesse realized what Susannah had done. What she'd done in order to save him from himself. He wanted so badly to reach out to her, hold her, thank her...

And then those thoughts faded away, too.

After what seemed like forever, Hunter finally opened the door to his office. "You can come in now." His voice sounded weird, strained almost.

I stood shakily and followed him into the room. Jesse was standing there, looking confused. When he caught sight of me, his expression softened. "Susannah, what happened?" He looked around, frowning. "Where are we?"

I took his hand, fighting back the tears. "Come on, Jesse. Let's go home." I tugged on his hand, and we stepped toward the door. I turned and looked back at Hunter. "Thank you," I said softly.

He just shrugged, looking at Jesse. "Goodbye, Mr. de Silva," was the only thing that came out of his mouth.

Jesse looked at him. He had this look, like he was trying to figure something out. I closed my eyes. "Should I know you?" he asked Hunter.

I opened my eyes in time to see Hunter smile a little. "No. No, you shouldn't," was all he said.

I felt horrible the whole way home and for a few days afterward. Jesse looked like he wanted to talk to me about what happened, but he left me alone anyway. I think some part of him knew that it was better if he just didn't ask.

I'd get over my guilt soon enough, I knew. I'd always feel sort of bad about it, but it'd get better, I knew.

As it turned out, Jesse had his own way of remedying my poor mood.

A/N: One more chapter... And the next one, I must warn you, has... ah... certain things in it that married people tend to do that Suze and Jesse haven't done in a while... (Don't laugh at me just because I can't say the word. Lol) Not all of it, though, so if you don't want to read that part, there's still a little bit of other stuff you need to read before it's over.