Carrots: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  “Are you sure?”

  “It looks that way. I mean, since it was an injury to my head that brought it on, I guess it makes sense that an injury could make it stop. I just thought you should know.”

  “Do you think it could come back?”

  “I don’t have any idea.” I didn’t want to get his hopes up, especially when this could be my one way out.

  “Maybe all you need is some rest.

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, stay home and get better. If there’s anything you need, anything at all, just let me know and I’ll see that you get it.”

  I thanked him and disconnected, relieved I’d told him. He had taken it pretty well, unless he didn’t believe me. What would happen then? It didn’t matter, even if I got my powers back, there was no way I would ever tell him the truth.

  I checked the clock, knowing that once Chris got home, I would find out if my powers were really gone. It made me a little anxious, and I hoped I could deal with the answer. No matter what it was.

  Chapter 14

  I was sitting at the kitchen table when I heard the back door open and Chris walked in. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my pattering heart. This was it, the moment of truth.

  “Hi honey,” he said, coming into the kitchen. “What’s with the dark glasses?”

  I pulled them off and was surprised when he didn’t flinch. I thought I caught a flare of shock, and my hopes soared. Maybe my powers were coming back.

  “Wow, you’ve got the best black eyes I’ve ever seen.” Was that supposed to be a compliment?

  “It was either wear the glasses, or go into shock every time I passed a mirror. I went with the glasses.”

  “Makes sense to me.” He stared at the swath of hair across my forehead and pursed his lips like he was hiding a smile. “How’s the bump?”

  “I think the swelling’s gone down a little, but I’ve still got a bit of a headache.”

  “Maybe you’d better lie down.”

  “No, that’s okay. There’s something really important I need to tell you.” Despite my best efforts, I hadn’t been able to pick up any thoughts from Chris, and I decided that he needed to know I’d lost my powers. And if they came back? Well, I’d deal with that later.

  “What’s going on?” Chris took a chair across from me, his brows wrinkled in concern. I concentrated really hard, but still couldn’t sense anything. My heart plummeted.

  “After you clobbered me in the head yesterday, I haven’t been able to read minds. I think the ability I had to do that is gone.” Enormous relief flooded over Chris. Then it seemed like a wall came down, and I realized he’d been blocking his thoughts from me all this time. It wasn’t me at all, it was him! I managed to keep my mouth shut, but it was hard to hide my relief. Now I really had to play along.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yup. I haven’t been able to pick up a thing.” The lie came to me so easily it was almost scary. “I guess since a head injury caused it, being hit in the head again took it away. Does that make sense? I don’t know how else to explain it.”

  “Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Wow! This is great!”

  “Uh-huh.” I smiled, but he could tell it was half-hearted.

  “What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy about this?”

  “Sure. It’s the best thing that could have happened.”

  “But…” he prodded.

  “Well, I know I should be happy, and I think I am, but I’m also sad. I mean…it’s stupid to feel that way when it caused so many problems, but…I don’t know. It sort of made me special.”

  Chris shook his head and sighed. “Shelby, you don’t need something like that to make you special. You are one of a kind…believe me.”

  Did he mean that in a good way? Then it came…and I understood a little of what he felt for me. He thought I was sweet, yet headstrong, exasperating on one hand and completely loyal on the other. He loved the way I expressed myself, but I sometimes made him crazy. I had a zest for life that he’d never found with anyone else, and he’d be devastated without me.

  “You think so?”

  “Of course. You may miss it, but in the end it’s really the best thing that could have happened.”

  “I think you’re right,” I agreed. “After all I’ve put you through, I’m glad it’s gone.” This time it was easy to be enthusiastic, especially since I knew how much it meant to Chris. Did that make lying about it okay?

  “Well.” Chris smiled, suddenly in a better mood. “We’d better get started before it gets any later. Harris is coming over in about an hour, and I want to make sure you know what you’re going to tell him.”

  “Right.” I was a little nervous about spoiling his good mood, but maybe he’d take it better now that he thought my powers were gone. “Let’s see…I guess it all started when I had lunch with Kate. She was so into you, and looking at me like I was nothing. When I ‘heard’ her thinking about how Uncle Joey had put her through college and law school, I couldn’t help but…well actually…I told her to stay away from you, or I’d tell everyone about Uncle Joey. At the time, I had no idea who Uncle Joey was, or I wouldn’t have said anything.”

  Chris was trying not to let anything I say bother him. It was water under the bridge, and there was nothing he could do about it now. “Go on,” he prodded, unconsciously clenching his hands.

  “That night when my car got rammed by that crazy bank robber, it was Ramos who killed him before he killed me. You met him yesterday, the one with the Kevlar vest?”

  “Yeah, yeah, go on.” Chris didn’t like Ramos.

  “Anyway, after Ramos shot the bank robber, he would have disappeared, except that Kate had called Uncle Joey and complained that I knew about him. So Uncle Joey made Ramos bring me to him so he could find out who had leaked the information. After he threatened to kill me, or you and the kids, I finally told him that I could read minds.”

  “You told him that?” He was appalled, realizing the position that put me in.

  “It was the only way to keep him from killing me. Anyway, you can imagine how he took it. He made me go to all his meetings and listen to people’s thoughts and then tell him what they were really thinking.” As upset as Chris was, I didn’t think he needed to know how I helped Ramos break into Hodges house and take all his jewels, so I left that part out.

  “After Johnny was murdered, things got a little tense. Especially after Uncle Joey’s car got blown up.”

  “Who planted the bomb in his car?” Chris wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  “That was Hodges. He was mad because Ramos had taken the jewels that Hodges had actually stolen from himself, and he wanted them back. Anyway, I saw Kate and Walter at the funeral and I picked up something about Stephen Cohen from them.” I didn’t think he needed to know that I ‘saw’ Uncle Joey kill him. That would be bad.

  “When I stopped by your office yesterday and you weren’t there, I thought that since I was already there, I might as well check Kate’s files for anything on Stephen Cohen. I was in her office when you both came back from court, and hid under her desk. That’s when I heard her talk you into going out to lunch with her. That kind of made me mad, so I took the file. I knew Uncle Joey would want to see it, and I thought if he wanted it bad enough, he would let me go.”

  “Then…how come you came to the restaurant?”

  “I wasn’t planning on going to the restaurant. I was just going to walk past it. But once I got there, I had to peek in. Then you saw me, and I had to come over and talk to you. It would have been rude not to.”

  Chris was rolling his eyes. “Did you have the file then?”

  “Um…yes. I know I shouldn’t have said anything about Stephen Cohen, but I was so mad.”

  Even though Chris had decided not to get angry, he was having a hard time. At least he didn’t have to worry about shielding his thoughts from me. “So what did you do next?”

 
; “I went to Uncle Joey and made a deal with him. He said if I gave him the file, I wouldn’t have to work for him anymore. It would have worked too, except for Kate. When I went down to the parking garage to get the file out of my car, Kate and Walter grabbed me. They taped me up and took me to an interrogation room in the basement. They wanted to know where the file was, so I told them I put it in your office. Kate left to get it, and Walter left to make a phone call. That’s when Ramos came in to free me and Walter shot him. Only he wasn’t dead because of the bullet-proof vest.”

  “I gathered that much.” Chris didn’t like it that Ramos had anything to do with me, even if he’d saved my life. In fact, he wondered just what was going on with Ramos. How much time had I spent with him anyhow? The guy seemed to know me pretty well. And he called me “Babe” yesterday. He didn’t like that at all.

  “Anyway, Walter took me to Uncle Joey’s office where you found me.”

  “But why did Kate have the file, and what did Uncle…I mean Manetto have to do with it?”

  “Stephen Cohen was Kate’s father and she thought Uncle Joey had something to do with his death. All the information in the file pointed in that direction. She wanted Uncle Joey to go to jail, but Walter had other plans. He’s the one who killed Johnny, and he was also planning to kill Uncle Joey and pin it on Kate. She had a great motive with the whole revenge thing. Then he was going to take over Uncle Joey’s operation.”

  “And while all this was going on, Hodges showed up to get his jewels back?” Chris was thinking this sounded more incredible by the moment.

  “Yeah. That’s when Kate realized Walter was going to double-cross her, and she decided to help Hodges if he’d take her with him.” I kind of left out the part where I hinted that I could read minds.

  “Is that where she is? I can’t believe Manetto would let them get away.”

  “I know, but I think he let her go on purpose.”

  “Why?”

  “He told me he wanted to find her himself,” I explained.

  “You talked to him?”

  “Yeah…he called today, right after you did. He wants me to tell the police that I was doing some office work when Walter came in with a gun and threatened me. Kind of like being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He wants me to tell the police Walter confessed to Johnny’s murder and was threatening to kill both of us.”

  Chris took a deep breath, thinking it over. “I didn’t think I’d ever agree with Manetto, but I think that’s what you should do. If it was anyone but him, I’d say to tell it all, but who knows what he might do. It’s better if you’re perceived as an innocent bystander in all of this.” He mulled it over then said, “You also need to tell Uncle Joey that you’ve lost your mind-reading abilities. I don’t want you involved with him anymore.”

  “I already did. Sort of…I mean when he called, I told him I couldn’t pick anything up. It seemed like he was hoping it would come back.”

  “Do you think it might?” he asked.

  “I doubt it, but how should I know?” If I outright denied it, he might think I was lying, and I needed to be as convincing as possible.

  “Look Shelby. Even if these powers come back, which I sincerely hope they don’t, you have to make Uncle Joey think they’re lost for good.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not stupid.” He could see he’d hurt my feelings.

  “I didn’t mean that you were. It’s just that this is a big deal. I mean, look what’s happened. Look at this mess. Your involvement with Uncle Joey and that Ramos guy is…is…terrible. He had complete control over your life, and I don’t think for one minute, he ever meant to let you go, even with all that bargaining you did. Then there’s the rest of it. I mean, look at you. Your face is all black and blue. You’ve been shot at and practically run down. The truth of it is…you’re lucky you didn’t get killed.” He was starting to get angry. He knew it wasn’t my fault, but he wasn’t sure I was completely blameless.

  “I know.” I agreed, wanting to calm him. “But we can work this out. Just tell me what I should tell the police.”

  We worked for several minutes on my story. Both of us thought it would be best to leave Kate and Stephen Cohen out of it, and just go with the basics. Then Chris questioned me as if he were a detective. “When they come, I want them to see your eyes and forehead, so make sure you take off your sunglasses, and comb your hair back.”

  “Okay.” I thought that wasn’t so smart, since he was the one who had caused my injuries, but he seemed to have forgotten that part. “You want them to take pity on me, right?”

  Chris nodded. “Yeah, they’ll definitely be more sympathetic when they see how you look today.”

  He didn’t have to sound so enthusiastic did he? Besides, Dimples knew that my injury was Chris’ fault. “I hope so,” I said instead, wanting to be agreeable.

  It wasn’t long before Dimples arrived with Detective Williams. As they entered, I took off my dark glasses, and was amply rewarded with the barely concealed expressions of horror on their faces.

  It kind of made me feel bad, since I wasn’t used to having people cringe when they looked at me. The hurt must have shown in my face because Dimples blurted out, “Those are like…the best black eyes I’ve ever seen.”

  “Um…thanks, I guess.”

  “Are you feeling better today?” he asked.

  “Lots. I just look bad. How long do bruises like this last anyway?”

  “Just a week…or two, tops.” He really thought it would take four when they were that bad, but he didn’t want to depress me, especially when I looked like… “Well, shall we get started?”

  “Sure.” I was real glad he hadn’t finished that thought. I launched into the story Chris and I had gone over. Everything was going smoothly until he asked about Stephen Cohen. I realized it was something I had neglected to tell Chris, but I couldn’t play dumb and act like I’d never told Dimples about him.

  “Remember?” Dimples prompted. “He’s the one you told me about. You thought he was connected to Johnny’s death.”

  “Oh, right.” I nodded. Chris closed his eyes. He wondered if there was anything else I had forgotten to tell him.

  “Well,” Dimples continued. “I looked up the case, but I didn’t find a connection. Did you?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I found out when Walter was threatening us. It turns out Walter is related to the man convicted of murdering Stephen Cohen. He was Walter’s uncle.”

  “Oh.” Dimples was surprised, but didn’t know how that could possibly make a difference.

  “So there was a connection,” I reminded him. “I just don’t know what it means.”

  Chris wondered what game I was playing, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

  “Oh yeah, okay.” Dimples figured it was one of my premonitions that hadn’t panned out. He also realized there was more to my story that I wasn’t telling, but when it involved Joey “The Knife” Manetto, he didn’t blame me for being careful. “Well, I guess we’re done here. If I need anything else, I’ll let you know.”

  “What about Walter? How is he doing?” I asked.

  “Umm…well, actually, he died during the night. That’s why it’s important that we have your testimony as an eye witness.” Dimples was thinking that it wouldn’t surprise him if someone had helped Walter along, but that was one can of worms he didn’t want to touch.

  “Oh.” I was a little stunned that Walter was dead. “So now it’s a case of self-defense?”

  “Yes. We’re going to continue our investigation, but with his death and your account, along with the others involved, it doesn’t look like we’ll be pressing charges against anyone.”

  I nodded, my shoulders sagging with relief.

  They left right after that, and it wasn’t long before Chris decided he needed to get back to work as well. I walked out to his car with him, and realized my brand new, beautiful car wasn’t there. “I thought you were going to bring my car back.”

  “Uncle
Joey’s having it delivered after he gets it fixed.”

  “Oh no! What happened?”

  “He didn’t say, but if I were to guess, I’d say someone broke into your car to find a certain file you left in the trunk.”

  “Oh, that. Right. What about my purse?”

  “It’s on the counter. I brought it in when I came home.” Before I could ask him how he got it, he explained. “A runner from Thrasher Development brought it over to my office this morning.” He leaned down to kiss me, but hesitated. I was so black and blue that he wasn’t sure it was all right.

  “It’s okay to kiss me. My lips aren’t bruised.” He immediately grew suspicious. Had I just read his mind? “Well? What are you waiting for?”

  “So, you really can’t hear my thoughts?”

  I sighed so he’d know I thought he was being foolish. “Honey, if I could, I promise I would tell you. If you’ll think about it, you’d realize that a person can tell what someone is thinking without hearing their thoughts. Like now, you’re probably wishing you would have just kissed me and left, right?”

  “No, actually, I wasn’t.” He was relieved and feeling optimistic. “I was thinking that once this is all cleared up, I’d like to spend some time away. You know. Just the two of us.”

  I smiled. “That sounds great to me.” He kissed me then, and it felt pretty good. It even steamed up my dark glasses. After he left I went inside, feeling lucky to be alive. Maybe things were going to work out after all. With my ‘powers’ gone, Chris was acting more like his old self.

  My head started to ache, and I got out an icepack, anxious for the swelling to go down. I was a little worried about keeping my secret safe. Now that I had lied about it, there was no turning back. I’d never considered myself a very good actor, but now I didn’t have a choice. It was something I was going to have to get good at.

  I was relaxing on the couch when the doorbell rang, and my first thought was to ignore it. Since I hadn’t figured out a good story for my face, I didn’t want anyone to see me like this, but when it rang again, I pulled the hair across my forehead, slipped on my dark glasses and answered it anyway.