“Don’t overanalyze,” she offered. “Just try to forget about it. This is over. You’ve earned a rest.”

I gave my head a slow shake. “Something tells me it isn’t.”

“Why?”

I let out a heavy sigh and pulled her closer as I struggled to find the words to express what I was feeling. “This wasn’t right… I mean, the way it all happened. The killer escalated far too quickly. From a victim who disappeared several months ago, to a sudden spree.”

“I’m sure the serial killer experts have an explanation for that.”

“You’re right, they probably do. But something still feels very wrong about it to me… And, that isn’t the only thing. Ben made a valid point back at the rest area. I just handed him an address for the killer, and here we are. We all know that isn’t how it happens. Everything usually comes to me in cryptic messages I have to decipher. That’s how communication across the veil works. It’s like a language barrier.”

“Maybe you’re just learning the language then,” she replied.

“Maybe…” I said. “But that’s not how it feels. It’s almost as if someone was translating for me.”

“Who?”

I sighed again. “That’s the problem. I have no idea. I feel like I should, but I just don’t…”

“Sir… Excuse me, sir…”

The voice drifted into my ears and floated around inside my skull like a distant whisper. It faintly registered, only in as much as I knew it was there, but nothing more. It seemed my misfiring neurons were still fixated on the endless loop of a perplexing memory that refused to be ignored.

“Maybe you’re just learning the language then,” she replied.

“Maybe…” I said. “But that’s not how it feels. It’s almost as if someone was translating for me.”