Michael was sleepy, but could not let his eyes fall shut. If he would do it—even for a heartbeat—the nightmare might start all over again. Ribbons of silvery water would start wrinkling slowly over her temple and down into the crown of algae. A drip would start trickling through the braid, right down to the blood at its tip.
He bowed his head, praying that now, with the mystery solved at last, the fate of the dancer would stop haunting him and at the same time, stop reminding Ash of the incident. The rape. That, he thought, was the one topic that from now on, should never again come up between them. It should be forgotten. Buried.
For his sweetheart, would the past continue to be present? Would she ever be free of it?
It was time to turn off the simulation, but Michael waited a moment longer. He wondered, how would the scene look from a boat sailing off toward the fleeing horizon, one day when he and Ash are headed for a new voyage, a new adventure?
The white tail of Pacific Coast Highway would shrink into the distance. So would the cliffs, kneeling to kiss the silvery surf. And deep underwater, from the disappearing shore, would it still come—rippling faster and faster toward them—that whispering silence of Lace?
(Volume I of High-Tech Crime Solvers)
Haunted by discovering the body of a beautiful dancer, Michael re-constructs her murder in a virtual reality. Can he bring the mystery to life? Can he solve it in time, before the killer turns on the woman he loves, Ash?
"The great attention given to detail makes for a lush and vivid tale that comes to life. The world of virtual reality that Michael creates is fascinating to read about."
~B. Roscoe, Audible Listener
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