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was that reality?
    It was the kind of question she’d asked herself dozens of times—and never been able to answer. Maybe someday.
    She returned the watch to its owner, knowing the audience was waiting for her to amaze them again. Quickly, she reached toward the tray, and her hand collided with a stainless steel ring that had a plastic sea horse at one end and a set of keys at the other. Instantly, her fingers began to burn, and she heard the sound of a woman screaming in terror.
    â€œNo,” she breathed, wondering if she’d spoken aloud.

CHAPTER
SIX
    ZACH WATCHED ANNA turn pale. When she swayed on her feet, he tensed, prepared to leap from his chair and charge up there to steady her. But before he could move, she straightened her shoulders and pulled her hand back from the tray, wiping it against the fabric of her skirt as though she were trying to clean it.
    Then her hand darted out again and quickly picked up an earring.
    She squeezed it in her fist. Then after long seconds she said, “Patty? This is your aunt’s earring, isn’t it?”
    A woman in the second row of tables moved in her seat. “Yes.”
    The conversation went on, with Anna telling the woman details of her life. He looked around, seeing the audience hanging on her words. They were fascinated with her. So was he.
    But he was interested in the other people there, too. The man who had introduced Anna was looking at her with a lot more than casual interest. Actually, for a moment he looked like he wanted to eat her alive. Then he straightened and turned away, as though he was aware that he’d better keep his emotions in check.
    Zach noted that Anna had grown more cautious about which objects she picked up. She stayed on stage for almost an hour, then passed the tray back to the audience, returning the items still there.
    She left the stage to thunderous applause. She’d turned the crowd from skeptics to believers. And Zach was among the converts.
    He started to stand, then sat down again, wondering what he’d intended to do. Charge into her dressing room and grab her hand?
    The image in his mind was very strong, but Zach forced himself to settle back in his chair and look relaxed while the band played a forty-minute set of calypso tunes mixed with disco. Some of the patrons danced to the loud music. Others left the club.
    Zach ordered another beer and leaned back, listening to the music and watching the action. Some of the dancers looked like married couples. Others were single men and women tourists who appeared to have hooked up at the bar. And some were men dancing with island women who had materialized out of the shadows. Probably Bertrand charged them a fee for coming in here. Maybe he even took a cut of any business they drummed up.
    Â 
    ANNA closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She needed fresh air, not the stale atmosphere of the club. But she didn’t want to go outside, so she paced back and forth in the tiny dressing room.
    A knock on the door made her jump.
    â€œYou all right?” Bertrand called.
    â€œYes. Fine.”
    â€œYou looked a little nervous.”
    â€œI’ve got an upset stomach,” she answered. That was the truth, but not because of anything she’d eaten.
    â€œYou need anything?”
    â€œI’ll take an antacid. I’ll be fine.”
    To her vast relief, the club owner went away. In the next second, she thought she could have used the distraction, because she was left with her fantasy—the place outside the world, where she’d met another man.
    No. Two men. There had been two of them, she reminded herself. The one holding her in his arms and the one in the distance, who had called her there.
    She might be making that part up, but she was pretty sure that he had broken her and the other guy apart and sent her hurtling back to the world. At least that’s what it seemed like.
    She wanted to know what it meant. At the same time,