“Morris, I don’t know what you mean, but let’s talk. If you are talking about Orelia being dangerous, then I’m with you pal.”

“No, Shhh,” he replied, holding a finger to his lips, glancing around as if he expected a wild animal to spring from the trees and tear him to pieces.

“Listen buddy, okay, you need to calm down. Whatever’s happening, together we might figure it out, right?”

William took another step forward, but he didn’t like the way Morris’ eyes flickered back and forth from him to the river to the trees. He tried to put a smile on his face to say you can trust me, while reaching out with the intention of placing a hand upon the terrified man’s shoulder.

But Morris extended his palms, indicating he should stay back, as if he was contagious.

“Calm down? Impossible, because…”

What happened next played out in slow motion, even in his memories later. William always pondered that to be within inches and to have failed was crazy bad luck or timing, or maybe just stubborn destiny. He might as well have been a mile away, for the good it did in preventing what followed.

William’s hands briefly connected with Morris’ body and he’d thought, good, now I’ve got him. His ex-agent though, at the exact same time, moved several steps back. It felt as if William’s touch had, instead of saving him, put terrible things into motion.

In his frantic frame of mind, instead of giving in to William’s offer and suggestion of calming down, Morris took one step back too many and missed the bank’s edge. This misstep was enough to topple Morris backward, his arms flailing in the air like helicopter blades.

William reacted, rushing forward to grab hold of one of those helicopter arms. His mind blank except for the one thought that he must save Morris. He couldn’t lose his only chance to discover the truth. Not this way. Not when he’d finally found a possible ally. But nothing would stop Morris from falling. His foot was already off the edge and he was gone into the river below.

William heard a giant splash in the darkness and made it to the edge in time to see Morris already dragged several yards along by the strong current. Even then he thought there was a chance he might be okay, until he saw his head duck under the surface and his arms splash madly about him. That’s when he understood Morris couldn’t swim. And neither could he.

This left him with no alternative but to watch helplessly as his only chance of discovering more answers had been dragged away fighting for his life. If it wasn’t such a terrible tragedy, he may have found humor in the thought his amateur, aborted homicide might have ended in a perfect murder.

33

Accepting no for an answer was not Greg’s way. When Nem said “I’ll think about it” to his marriage proposal, he simply kept on asking.