Page 127 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

“Cream? Sugar?” She held the pot up in his direction.

“A little milk or cream.”

Jules nodded as she slid the pot onto the burner and strode to the fridge. After dumping a splash of cream into both their cups, she carried them to the island, slid one closer to Dante, and then settled on the stool across from him.

He pulled his cup to him. “So, can you tell me?—”

She held up a finger and he closed his mouth, giving her a minute to take a few sips before she set the mug down. “Okay, shoot.” She grimaced. “I mean, go ahead and ask.”

“Can you tell me exactly what you saw last night? Why do you think this guy was on your property?”

“Actually, I don’t.”

His fingers tightened around the mug. “In your email you said he’d come to your place.” Heat drifted through his chest. Had this all been some ploy to drag him over here? Payback for last night, maybe? Not that he wouldn’t deserve it, but still…

“I know. I’m sorry. That’s the part I’m feeling foolish about. At first, I did think he was here.”

“Why?”

“Because I saw him.”

Dante shifted a bit on the stool. “Jules…”

She held up a hand. “I’m aware I sound crazy. But I woke up in the night and clearly saw his face in my window. It disappeared right away, though, and once I calmed down, I realized what I’d seen was likely a hypnopomic hallucination.”

That didn’t help. She was seeing hallucinations? The woman was becoming less and less reliable as a witness.

“Before you say anything, look it up. It’s a thing.”

He studied her a moment before reaching for the personal phone in his other shirt pocket. “Say it again.”

“Hypnopomic hallucination.”

Dante typed that into the search engine. The description that came up—images that weren’t hallucinations, exactly, but the remnants of a dream—eased his mind. “Does this have anything to do with the aphantasia?”

“I think so. I mean, I believe anyone can experience these hallucinations, but those aphants who, like me, can actually visualize in our dreams—even though we can’t when we’re awake—typically have vivid ones. I’m unable to picture them after they disappear, but I do know I’ve experienced those hallucinations occasionally. It makes sense that, after what I witnessed, I could have had a nightmare intense enough to cause one, right?”

Dante set his phone on the counter. “It does make sense, yes. Do you truly believe that was what happened?”

“I do. So, I’m sorry you had to come all the way over here for nothing.” Jules took a sip of coffee. “Actually, not completely nothing. In the few seconds before the image disappeared, I did note that the man had a longish face with a pointy chin.”

“Okay. That’s good.” A very faint, shimmering picture started to form in Dante’s mind. He lasered in on it, trying to bring it into sharper focus. That ability was one he had always taken for granted. What would it be like to never be able to visualize an image in your mind? “Do you see anything at all when you close your eyes?”

Holding the mug in front of her chest, Jules tapped a pink-painted fingernail on the rim. “Just black and gray, mostly. Sometimes I’ll see a bit of drifting color. Purple, for some reason.Maybe because it’s my favorite. Or maybe that’s why it’s my favorite.”

Huh. Dante lifted his mug—beige with dark brown triangles on it—to his mouth and took a drink. The coffee was rich and nutty, and he inhaled the aroma as he took another sip. “You know, while I’m sure you’re right about what you saw, as long as I’m here it wouldn’t hurt to take a look around.”

“Sure.” Jules lifted her mug and pointed to it. “Can I just…?”

“Of course.” Dante enjoyed his last few drops before carrying his mug to the dishwasher. After setting it on the top rack, he turned to her.

Jules had slid around on the stool to face him. She tipped up her mug to drain the last few drops before handing it to him. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He set the mug next to his and closed the door. “Is there any chance that, if the guy was actually here, he could have been inside the house at any point?”

She shook her head. “I doubt it. I came out here right after and didn’t really fall back asleep, so I would have heard something.”

“All right then.” Dante started for the door. “I’ll take a quick look around outside.”