Her name was Belle D'Elise, a 38-foot Catamaran that Jean and Céline had named after their daughter Elise even before the sale was final. If this was their normal sailing tour it would take approximately five hours, but this was a special sunset charter cruise from San Miguel de Cozumel to Passion Island. Ten passengers, two crew, one dog, all bound for Isla Pasion, just ten minutes away from the main island, and, as the advertisement for the event said, a unique experience, highlighting an explosion of flavors and textures of the highest quality in each of its foods, wrapping itself in the freshness and innovation of the Mayan culture with the Gourmet touch, that through the years has been prospering, without losing sight of its origins and the incredible seasoning of its dishes through time.

"Have any of you visited Isla Pasion before?" Céline asked in accented English.

She wasted no time giving Aric a look as he began to raise his hand, only to lower it under her withering gaze.

"Anybody else?"

She wasn't surprised to see no hands raised. She and her husband Jean had been at this for many years, and she knew a tourist when she saw one, and none of the nine people that Aric had brought with him had the look, aside from that borderline euphoric look that they wore as they looked at the sunset, and the water surrounding them on their way to a well catered night's festivities. It wasn't the first time Aric had brought people on board with him, people who had arrived in Mexico, and onto Cozumel, free from the impediment of air travel, passports, visas, or any of the other things that normal visitors required. But this was by far the largest group he had ever brought, and it was clear that they were celebrating something special, though the way they spoke in hushed tones when she was nearby told her that the less she knew about that special something, the better off she would be.

"Je suis sûr que c'est Annelie Bodin," Jean said to Céline in their native Québécois tongue as he kept glancing at the woman in the turquoise two piece. {That's Annelie Bodin. I'm sure of it.}

"Il nous l'aurait dit, n'est-ce pas?" Céline answered after she stole a glance at the woman who, she had to admit, did look like the world famous actress, but only if the actress spent the last six months in the gym getting ready for her new action-adventure film. It took a moment longer for Céline to notice where her husband kept directing his eyes. {He would have told us, wouldn't he?}

"Oh pour l'amour de baise arrêter de regarder son cul." {Oh for fuck sake, stop staring at her ass.}

It required a bit more attention to detail on the part of the couple during the short cruise, mostly because of the size of the man who finally resigned himself to being restricted to the rear of the vessel.

"Jesus, would you fucking sit down? You're going to sink us all," Jessica said to Luke.

"Don't they make these for regular-sized people?"

"This one is made for regular-sized people, not someone who's the size of a Winnebago," Trish said before nine-year-old Elise stopped in front of her.

"C'est votre petit ami?" Elise asked Trish as she indicated the very large man Trish had been speaking to. {Is he your boyfriend?}

"Non, c'est le copain de Jessica," Trish replied as she nodded at Jessica. {No, he's Jessica's boyfriend.}

Elise looked at Jessica for a moment before her eyes returned to Trish.

"Elle ne le traite pas de façon très gentille." {She doesn't treat him very nice.}

Trish looked from the young girl to her best friend.

"That's the way she treats everybody," Trish said as she smiled.

"What the...what are the two of you talking about?" Jessica asked after censoring herself.

"Nothing," Trish answered as Céline smiled nearby while she kept her hands on the wheel, and her eyes on the island they were approaching.

Jessica's question was preceded by a moment of silence.

"Are we there yet?"

Aric could have just put them down a short walk from the torches and tables, and the men and women that would be preparing and serving the food for the evening, but he wanted them to arrive in a more normal manner, and for Rita to meet Céline and Jean and Elise and enjoy a trip on the vessel that shared a name with the youngster.

"Still renting Paul's condo?" Rita asked as they walked up the beach while she looked at the sand in front of her feet. The sun was disappearing quickly, and it would soon be only torchlight illuminating this section of the island, though there were more of those than Rita could count quickly, and they were positioned perfectly to provide a warm light over a wide area.

"Sometimes. I have to sneak Tyler in, and I don't like to do that too often. It puts Norma in a difficult position when she cleans and there's dog fur everywhere."

"Jesus, I just remembered; he lives on Long Island. They were fucking with those canisters at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I wonder how close Paul was?"

They had stuck to meaningless topics of conversation since the New York Contingent had arrived. Sharon was the only one making the trip from Chicago, not that it made any difference in travel time; she had even started off in the same time zone, whereas everyone else had gained an hour going from Eastern to Central time.

But other topics were still going through Rita's mind. She had no way of knowing that she was sharing one of those topics with Beth and Jessica though, for obvious reasons, she would not have been surprised if she had known.

"People are starting to get sick," James Becker had told her an hour before she had left her office.

Rita's heart had dropped into her stomach as he was speaking the words, and her reaction was similar to what Jess and Beth experienced when Ben Anderson's voice was playing on Jessica's phone speaker.

"They're starting to see people getting sick in the quarantined population that was evacuated from the blast area."

"Fuck me," Jessica said.

"That stuff is really deadly," Beth said as calmly as she could, "they need to be careful."

"They know. The information you dug up will help, but somebody from the CDC is talking to Dr. Snow right now. She's flying to San Diego ASAP."

"I'm not sure whether that should make me feel better," Beth said, "I don't like her being that close."

"If anyone knows how to protect themselves it's her. I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks," Jessica said before ending the call just as Beth was texting Caitlin.

be careful. Let me know when you're wheels down.

Beth didn't get a reply, but she hadn't expected to, not if Caitlin was packing, and getting ready to head west to deal with a cocktail of toxic death.

To say that Rita and Aric hadn't talked about it was technically true, but only technically. She had sent it to him in a flood of information right after she had ended the call with the Chief of Detectives.

We don't know what it is yet, but if they're infected with weaponized influenza, they're gonna start dying really quick, she said finally.

I can do something about that if you want me to, he had answered. She could sense his hesitation when he offered. His love was like a flood as it poured out of him, as was his pain. The guilt he felt was a more subtle thing, like a dull throbbing ache. She could feel him pulling back as he offered, sort of a mental shiver, as if the temperature of the air had suddenly dropped five degrees.

If it gets to that stage we can both help, she answered, you're gonna have to teach me sooner or later.

It was like opening an old wound for him, Rita knew that; and the only way she knew to make it less painful for him was to be with him as he went through it.

You're not on your own anymore. Remember that. You don't have to carry the weight of the world all by yourself. You never did.

She felt his throat get tight, and his eyes become damp, before he clamped down on their connection; locking his pain away again. It wasn't exactly like a door slamming closed; it was just that Rita hadn't expected it. There had been a time that he would have shared it with her, but not anymore. When she finally felt him open up again it was brief.

see you tonight.

Elise was sound asleep in one of the cabins, a stuffed, miniature version of Tyler (that she had also named Tyler) on the pillow next to her. The real Tyler was also asleep behind the chair where Rita sat. Everyone was gorged, and the catering staff was beginning to pack up their equipment and the leftover food. Aric had moved his chair closer to the water and was playing his guitar. Jessica and Luke had wandered off somewhere earlier and were still gone. Trish and Sharon were talking to Abby and Sax, and from the reaction of the two detectives Beth thought the topic of conversation was the incident at Navy Pier.

"We should do this more often," Julia said to her best friend, "it's nice to make friends. They're a nice group of people."

"Making friends is nice," Beth agreed as her eyes went back to the man playing guitar, "but the potential for mass death and destruction that brought us together, not so much."

"True."

Rita had been watching the two friends from where she sat, and she knew why Beth kept looking over at Aric. She could hear the music coming from his guitar, though she wasn't familiar with the song. He had only just started to learn how to play when they had met, and it was obvious that he had kept at it.

Practice makes perfect, Rita thought as she listened to the music when another thought popped into her head. She took a moment to quiet her mind before she reached out to the woman who had left her atomic blond wig at home.

go talk to him, Rita said as the lines on her arms and hands began to glow faintly. Tyler lifted his head only long enough to confirm that the familiar sensation of pulsating energy he was feeling was coming from Rita.

Beth had been looking at Aric when the voice spoke in her head, and for a split second she thought it was Alice talking to her. But it felt, and sounded, different. And she suddenly realized who had sent that message to her; the only person that knew who she wanted to talk to, and why.

Rita was looking right at her as she turned around to look behind her; looking right at her and motioning with her head to Aric.

ask him, Rita said again.

"What is it?" Julia asked.

Beth was still looking at Rita but turned towards her friend.

"God, is it her?" Julia asked, "is it Alice?"

"No, not this time," Beth said just before leaning forward and hugging her friend, "not this time."

She stood up and walked calmly towards the ridiculously attractive man in the light blue linen shirt and dark blue shorts. Aric looked up at her as she approached. He smiled as she sat next to him but kept playing.

"That's really nice. What is it?"

"Strawberry Guavas. Jim West wrote it. The style is called slack key guitar because you loosen some of the strings."

"It's beautiful. Really captures tonight's vibe."

"That it does," he answered as he continued to smile at her while his fingers caressed the strings, "I don't want you to think I was eavesdropping, but I heard Rita talking to you."

Beth felt the blood rush to her face even though it had been a very simple conversation.

"She's just starting to learn how to initiate those on her own, and she broadcasts a bit, but I'm also sensitive to it. I apologize."

Beth's face still felt hot, and her pulse was elevated.

"Not your fault. Everyone that was in Ekaterina's house and saw what happened knows she crossed a line. I guess she's not crossing back."

"There is no way back. She knew that when she made her choice. Anyway, there was something on your mind."

The words seemed to be stuck in her throat and she was only able to force out one of them.

"Yes."

He finally stopped playing, setting his guitar back into its case and closing the lid.

"Let's walk a bit," he said as he stood up and offered her his hand.

Beth reached up and took it. She could feel his strength even though he kept his grip light as he helped her to her feet. His fingers were rough, which didn't surprise her; she knew that was a by-product of finger-picking any stringed instrument. What did surprise her was how her body was reacting as she stood close to him. It wasn't just that he was so fucking gorgeous, or how his eyes were catching the light from the torches before shining it back at her. The smile that had greeted her when she stopped next to him was still mostly present as he looked down at her. His skin was perfect, his tan combining with the torchlight to give him almost a golden sheen, though some of that could have been the coconut lotion he used, the aroma of which was filling her nostrils. Her entire body felt like it was throbbing, keeping tempo with her pulse, which was still elevated as her body became saturated with Dopamine.

what the fuck is happening? she thought to herself, never expecting for him to respond.

it's just a physiological reaction. Perfectly normal.

She stopped in her tracks when his voice echoed in her head while she looked up at him, her mouth open in surprise.

"You still have a residual connection, courtesy of Rita. It'll be gone in a minute," he said as he tugged on her hand to get her to start walking again.

"A connection to what?"

"The universe. I know it sounds trite when I say it, but it's true. The universe has a natural frequency. It's 432 hertz. That's what you feel now; you and I are in sync with the universe."

It was overwhelming. She was about to burst into tears out of pure joy. She had never felt this way and she had no idea how to deal with it.

A sense of calmness began to settle over her. The joy was still there, but it wasn't overwhelming her any longer.

Breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Just breathe.

Her heart rate began to slow, but she still felt the connection. He was in her head, and she knew somehow that she was in his.

"This is you, isn't it?"

"Just until you regain your control. It can be intense the first time you feel it."

Beth began to feel more like herself, but she could still feel it. It was like the two of them were floating in the ocean, clinging to each other as the gentle waves moved them up and down together.

They were still walking slowly, their feet leaving prints in the damp sand. She felt them slip apart finally, and she was alone in her head again. Almost alone.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked gently.