Psychic Series Boxset: Books 1-3

by Lisa Freed

  What had I been thinking of before I had noticed his attention?

  I had been thinking of John. Well, and of telling John about my psychic abilities…and Victor had been in that memory as well. It had been my not so sexy encounter with Victor where his touch had caused me to barf all over that had prompted my talk with John. Had Mateo been reading my thoughts and was now privy to my past history with Victor?

  Did that matter? I mean, I guess Mateo already knew Victor and I had something going on and had a deeper friendship than most living people had with ghosts. He had bugged me before about that and I had shut him down. So, the jerk had read my mind while my defenses were down to get his answers! UGH!

  I grabbed a handful of chips shoving them in my mouth and chewing loudly, not caring about falling crumbs, while mentally I began to build Fort Knox in my head. Complete lockdown mode. I had obviously been too complaisant when it came to leaving my thoughts open for anyone who could take a peek or worse yet, a long stroll around inside. No more of that.

  My water bottle was almost empty and the thought of going down to the lobby to buy a few more deflated me. Briefly, I thought about just refilling it at the bathroom sink, they said not to drink the water in Mexico but what about Greece? I was not a frequent traveler so no clue. Google to the rescue!

  I grabbed my phone and asked my question. What popped up didn’t relieve my mind. Basically, sure you can drink the tap water in Athens but as a traveler that might not be the wisest. Bottled water was inexpensive but I felt lazy. The day, airplane travel, life, it was all kicking my tail. But it was the thought of having to throw countless dirty pieces of TP in the bin if I suffered stomach upset from the tap water that convinced me to not risk it and get my butt down to the hotel lobby.

  I slipped my feet into my sneakers since my sandals were still damp from the trek in the ocean and made my way to the elevator. When the doors slid open, I encountered the businessmen again, though they were all dressed casually now. Getting in, I turned my back to them, doing my best to ignore the heated looks of recognition boring into my back. Gee, a girl is caught picking her teeth once and it’s like the end of the world!

  The elevator made one more stop on its way down and a couple squeezed in which forced me back against the youngest businessman in the bunch. Stiffening, I tried not to let any of my body touch his but his breathing sounded loudly in my ears which in turn caused me to try to scrunch my body even further away.

  It was a relief when we reached the lobby and the doors slid open. The couple took longer than I thought necessary to make their way out of the door but I bolted for blessed freedom the moment I could politely squeeze around them. I found a soda machine around the corner from the lobby desk but not quite in the breakfast room.

  With four bottles of cool water and one Coke clutched in my arms, I made it back to my room without any further encounters with other people. If this trip had taught me anything it was that I was much more anti-social than I had previously believed. And I was completely fine with that!

  In the room, I chugged some water and tried calling John. Nothing. After leaving an overly cheerful message, I disconnected and sat staring at my phone, my shoulders slumped and mood dejected. Despite what I had just decided a few minutes ago I realized I wasn’t completely anti-social, I just missed my own inner circle of peeps. So, I hit the button for the rescue and felt an immediate rush of warmth and happiness when a live person answered.

  “Whisker Kisses, Sandy speaking, how may I help you?”

  “Sandy!”

  “Teresa! Hey girl, how’s Greece?” Her enthusiastic greeting cheered me and I almost didn’t notice how guarded her tone became. Almost.

  “Gorgeous, breathtaking, but not home,” I admitted, overjoyed to chat with someone from home and my regular life.

  “I hope you’re taking tons of pictures, I can’t wait to see them.”

  I thought of the pictures of Mateo I took yesterday, yeah, Sandy would definitely love to see those. But otherwise, I had been sadly lacking in the picture taking department. I would have to make up for that very soon.

  “Can’t wait to show them off. How is everyone?” I asked, listening carefully to pick up on anything that might be a clue to why Sandy’s normally bubbly voice held a note of reserve.

  “Fine, everything’s really going smoothly here.” Sandy paused as if debating about telling me something then rushed on. “The major kitten rush, I think, is over and we just had a huge TNR the other day for a colony in Delmar.”

  “Really? That’s awesome! How many do you think we trapped?” I asked while wondering who had set the trap, neuter, and release in motion. It hadn’t been planned before I left and that was just, I did a few seconds of thinking back and finger counting, wow, four days ago! How was it only four days ago? It felt like I had been in Greece over a week already.

  I tuned back in as Sandy went on about the several Manx and polydactyl cats that they had captured.

  “Very cool. All feral? Any go-to-fosters?”

  “There were maybe five,” Sandy paused and I could hear her fingers clicking over the keyboard. “Actually six, four under a year and the other two over five years old. Those we think used to be house cats but no chips.”

  “Glad we got them. Any other rescue involved or was Whisker Kisses the only one?”

  “Just us. Hey, why are we talking shop? How’s Lance doing?”

  “Ummm…well…” I stalled. I’m a terrible liar yet no way did I want to admit the truth, that I had no clue how Lance was because I hadn’t found him yet. Finally, I settled for my version of the truth. “He’s off exploring Greece.”

  “Okay…” Sandy drew out the word.

  “Yup, well I should let you go, Sandy. I’ll check back in soon.”

  “Everything is just fine here, T, you do what you need to do,” Sandy responded, sounding very unlike her normal perky, excitable self. Then she disconnected.

  Was she off? Or was it all squarely me? Ugh! I paced, taking my hair out of a ponytail and putting it back up in a half bun. Instead of the call calming me down, I found myself more wired. Nothing on this trip had gone as planned, I was no closer to locating Lance and Victor than I had been when I was still back home in Delaware. The only thing this trip had gotten me was more stress, a crush on a fellow psychic, and an awesome piece of yellow Greek sea glass. None of those things were worth the stress though.

  I jumped in a hot shower to relax and then sacked out on the bed to watch TV until bedtime, willing some inner peace to take over. Around ten, I called it a night, turning off the TV and going to sleep.

  My phone vibrating woke me up more than the quiet ringtone. Licking my dry lips as my sleep-heavy eyes peered at the phone’s bright display I discovered two things. I had only been asleep less than an hour and my sister Megan was calling. Megan almost never called unless she wanted something, or somehow, she knew I was up to something and she had to impart some older sister wisdom upon me. Megan claimed she didn’t have any psychic ability but sometimes her timing was just a tad too good, so I believed she wasn’t being truly honest with me.

  “Hello,” I croaked into the phone which continued to buzz in my hand. I then hit talk and tried again, “Hello?”

  “Teresa! It’s Mom and Dad!” Megan’s high-pitched voice filled with panic jabbed at my eardrum. But it was the mention of our parents that instantly woke me all the way up.

  Anything dealing with them was bad news. Two overage hippies that didn’t have an unselfish bone in their bodies. Taking barely any responsibility for raising their two daughters, Megan and I were mostly left to ourselves with Aunt Prudy and the next-door neighbors, the Tinmans, stepping in to help. As far as Fredrick and Catherine were concerned, they were awesome parents and gave Megan and I a wonderful upbringing.

  I, myself, hadn’t seen them in years. Yet despite their hands-off approach to parenting, they were still my dad and mom so my heart seized up a little. “Megan, what’s wrong? Has someth
ing happened?” My hand gripped the phone tighter as I sat up in bed, pulling my knees toward my chest.

  “Yes!” Megan snapped. “They want to come for a visit! To see Amber!” She let out a wild laugh. “Why now? They have never met her and she’s almost five. Remember how they sent those crappy baby clothes when she was born? And claimed it was from when I was a baby but they still had the tags on them from the Goodwill?”

  “Oh yeah,” I muttered, I did have a vague memory of that. My fingers loosened on the phone and I swung out of bed turning on a light. “Look sometimes people make better grandparents than parents. You could be surprised.”

  “Now you sound just like Dan!” Megan’s voice rose and crackled with emotion.

  This was so completely unlike my sister, which told me very clearly how unnerved this all made her. “So, when are they coming?” I asked, trying to tread lightly.

  “Tomorrow! And they want you to come for dinner.” Megan gave another of those high, unhappy laughs. “Isn’t that just like them? First, they tell me they are coming, then start inviting themselves and other people over for dinner. We had plans.”

  I began pacing the room, my eyes looking out the balcony doors at the night and all the glowing lights. “Then tell them that.”

  “I tried! They said they could keep themselves occupied until we got home! Like I would trust them in my house alone.” Megan snorted an unladylike burst that almost caused me to giggle despite the situation. “Okay, so you’ll need to be here around five or so.”

  “Oh,” I breathed. Whoops! Guess I had forgotten to inform a few key people about my impromptu trip. “About that, I’m not going to be able to make it…”

  Megan cut me off. “Oh, no, you don’t! If I have to deal with them, you’re going to be right there suffering alongside me. T, you know what they’re like! Dan doesn’t get it, how can he? Having never met them? I need you here, please.”

  That please tore at me. I stared hard out the patio door at the lights until they blurred in front of my eyes. “Megan, I’m so sorry. I’m sort of out of the country.”

  “What do you mean sort of?! Where are you?” Megan’s voice became like ice, brittle and dangerous. She had assumed her big sister/mom authority.

  “Greece,” it came out as a whisper.

  Megan laughed. “For a moment there I thought you said Greece.”

  “I did.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?! Why are you in Greece?”

  Blinking, I looked away from the door, walking back over to the bed to sit down against the headboard. “It’s a long story. Lance is here and...”

  Megan cut me off again. “Lance? I thought you two broke up? Quite a romantic make-up trip.”

  I frowned. How swiftly my sister had changed her tune. Definite proof that she liked Lance, or at least approved of him. Must be his real grown-up and responsible job as a lawyer that convinced her. My eyes rolled hard. She hadn’t seen him drunk.

  “Not quite, but…Hey, I’m sorry about Mom and Dad. Good luck with them tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, well, somehow, I’ll make it through, though I might need a vacation after it!” She laughed, but it was her old, familiar polite Megan-laugh, not the half-crazed one from earlier so I relaxed. “Give my best to Lance and when you get back, we’ll have to get together. I know Amber would love seeing him again.”

  Guilt-trip!

  We rang off and after that, I couldn’t go immediately back to sleep. I had known Megan liked Lance, he was attractive, a lawyer, seemed stable, all the things my big sister approved of. Even the crew at Whisker Kisses had seemed to give me their blessing for getting back with Lance. And this was after they had gotten upset over my time with Lance getting in the way of helping with the rescue.

  Did I want that? He had been rather pushy about his goals, marriage, kids, the whole enchilada…then there had been the unexpected news of those two ex-wives. And I couldn’t forget about the mystery perfume on his bed. And the out of control drinking that he had toned down in front of me but had started to slip again toward the end.

  Nope. I had broken it off for good reasons, best to leave it alone. Besides, who was to say he even wanted me back? He might be perfectly content with our ex-status and being only neighbors again.

  I picked up one of the pillows and gave it a few forceful punches before settling down against it. Me not wanting him was fine and dandy but the idea of him not crying over the loss of me rather ticked me off.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  My sour mood of last night carried over into the morning and it was no surprise that Mateo immediately noticed it when I joined him down in the hotel lobby the next morning.

  After stomping off the empty elevator, I saw Mateo standing near the windows glancing out as he waiting for me. His hair was gelled up in that silly messy pompadour again. I know that wasn’t the proper term for it but it reminded me of a picture I had seen of Elvis Presley before with that huge poof of hair. Mateo’s looked like what Elvis’s hair would have if he had been caught in a wind turbine. The sad thing was Mateo obviously thought his looked good. I preferred it in a more natural state, or just brushed back. He wore another brightly colored polo shirt, this time, lime green and dark black dress slacks. Other than the hair he made an impressive figure.

  He must have felt my presence because he turned, a smile of welcome on his face that quickly slipped away to a half-frown. Before I had even reached him, he asked, “What’s wrong? Have you heard from Victor?”

  Stopping next to him I gave myself a mental shake trying to lighten the funk pulling me down. “No, not that, just things back home.”

  “Let’s go eat,” he said, his dark eyes running over me taking in my bright red dress with small daisies all over it.

  I wanted to dress and feel pretty today. When putting it on I had tried to convince myself it wasn’t for Mateo, but I couldn’t deny I hoped the brief flash of heat in his eyes did indeed mean he liked what he saw.

  We entered the dining area, our table from yesterday already taken, so we sat at one near the back instead. After filling our plates and sitting down to eat, I felt Mateo’s eyes on me constantly. Idly, I wondered if he was trying to read my thoughts. My mini Fort Knox was strong and I didn’t feel any taps or attempts to break in. I couldn’t help the smug little smile that quirked at my lips. I drank some orange juice to hide it from him.

  “It’s good to see your mood improving. There were black tinges all in your aura this morning, impending storm clouds. I was half afraid of getting zapped,” he joked.

  “Yikes, that bad? It’s really nothing. My sister called, our parents are visiting her today and she’s dreading it.” I really didn’t want to dwell on it and switched things around. “What about your family? Are they local to Athens?”

  Mateo took a large bite of a croissant, taking an extraordinarily long time to chew it and then wiping at his lips with the linen napkin. My eyes followed the napkin’s progress across his full lower lip with something akin to hunger.

  He seemed very reluctant to answer my question and though I wondered why, I didn’t want to push. “If you’re not comfortable…” I started.

  His tight shoulders noticeably sagged. “It’s not you, it’s the subject matter. My parents kicked me out of the house at a young age. Not that I fully blame them. I was a wild child, things always happening, I took advantage of my skills.”

  “Really?” I leaned forward, my elbows coming up on either side of my plate while I rested my chin upon my interlocking fingers. “I didn’t realize my abilities for a long time. They were never something I could have fun with. Seeing ghosts isn’t that entertaining when they just want to complain.”

  “Hmmm…I imagine not,” Mateo commented, his eyes cast down at the coffee mug he had clenched in his right hand. “Sadly, I would touch things and decide to keep them. Petty thief really, but so embarrassing for my parents when they found my stash of their friends’ belongings and then they had to return them.” He looked u
p, a wry grin on his face. “They wanted to know why I wanted them, but then didn’t understand it. I was a feel-good junkie. All those items had feelings and memories attached to them and I would just soak it all in.”

  “Is this what this is about?” I asked, gesturing to myself and then him.

  “Kinda,” he admitted, setting his coffee down. “Firstly, meeting another psychic is such a rush. Especially one with your aura.”

  What was so special about my aura?! Aunt Prudy had gone on about it while relaying how she knew I had abilities the moment she met me because of my purple aura. I tried not to frown as Mateo continued on, seemingly unaware of my puzzled inner thoughts.

  “Secondly, you’re cute.” A faint rush of color came to his honey brown cheeks.

  And I was a sucker for men that blushed, part of the reason I was here, Lance’s charming pink cheeks.

  “And thirdly, helping you is one of the things I do. I help people, it’s part of my nature.” He grinned, the blush gone, but a wicked twinkle made his dark brown eyes sparkle. “It’s part of yours too.”

  He had me there. I was still trying to process the cute remark and come back with something sultry, flirty, and sophisticated when my phone went off. It was too early in the morning to be my sister again unless she had a rough night too. When I pulled my phone out of my purse the display said unavailable. Funny, part of me knew I had to answer it, yet another part said screw it and tell Mateo how hot you think he is and see where you end up. The day was free and I had a queen-sized bed upstairs.

  But I didn’t listen to that wild, wicked voice and answered the phone after a brief glance at Mateo, who made a funny head bobbing motion at me that I took for acceptance. “Hello?”