by Dale Mayer
He looked at her hesitantly. “You said you found him.”
Frozen, she looked at him. What could she say that wouldn’t make her sound crazy? She opted for the truth. “When I reawakened to my abilities, I found him. This faint lavender-hued energy and with laughter identical to my son’s laughter. And yesterday I’d have sworn it was Reese. Today I can’t explain any of it. Are these two different boys? I don’t know. I do know if I can’t handle it, if I lose my son all over again …”
The look in his eyes had her turning away. “I know I sound crazy.” Then she turned and poked his chest. “Finding the truth is your domain. If that is your son out there, somebody in that hospital lied. Somebody forged the death certificate and the cremation certificate, then walked out of that hospital with Reese in their arms. That’s not only criminal, it was vindictive and mean. But did they kidnap him to hurt me or because they wanted my beautiful son as their own?”
“I don’t know,” he said cautiously. “I will find out though.”
She nodded. “It takes a lot of hate to do something like that to someone.”
“If it’s Reese, and if he was stolen, there are a lot of reasons for it. You’re assuming you were targeted,” he said. “There is still me. What if somebody knew I was the father?”
Startled, she stared at him. “I hadn’t considered that.”
“So you admit it?”
“Admit what? You’re Reese’s father? Yes, you’re his father. I can’t believe you would suspect I’d had a relationship so soon after you walked away.” She shook her head. “I was so incapable of having another relationship after you left. No way you did not know.”
“I think I knew when I found out what happened at the hospital, but what could I say? I hid my grief under a blanket of denial.” His voice hardened. “I would have very much liked to have known about Reese before he was born. I only left because you pushed me away.”
“Except you stayed away,” she snapped. At the uncomfortable silence that followed, she added in a softer tone, “Well, that time has come and gone, but, if we find Reese, we can both have him back.”
He looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. “I’ll start delving into that.”
“Don’t start,” she said. “Get that damn investigation ended. That little boy is in danger. Whether he’s ours or someone else’s doesn’t matter. He needs our help.”
“I could use some assistance,” he said, holding out his hand.
Something much more significant than just asking for her help was in that extended hand. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she’d do anything to get her son back, and, if Kirk needed her hand, then she was all his.
She reached out and clasped his hand. “Just find him,” she urged. “And find the asshole who did this to us.”
He nodded. “As long as you remember it might not be Reese. I don’t want to raise too many alarms at this point. Not only does everybody think I’m much better off without you beside me, I don’t want them thinking I’ve gone down the same mental path you traveled all those years ago.”
“You mean, the one where I thought my son was alive, and yet all the rest of you were busy telling me how he was dead, and I needed to stop being so unbalanced about it?” she asked drily.
He had the grace to flush. But he gave a quick nod and said, “I still trust you. But I can’t guarantee, at the end of the day, that the little boy you’re talking about is our blood. Neither can I guarantee that whoever it is you were talking to was not a ghost.”
She smiled. “Haven’t you realized there are no guarantees in anything?”
*
“Spiders making a blanket,” David said to himself in wonder as he studied her world.
He really enjoyed this opening into her life. It had become a huge source of amusement for him. It had also helped develop his hobby further. It was almost too boring now. It was pretty easy to make anyone do what he wanted them to do. It used to be exciting and thrilling but not any longer. There was just something freeing about it all.
But watching her, seeing those spiders, that amazed him. It was like she’d gone into some sort of psychic trance. He’d watched her body jerk as she did something. Then he saw energy around her, but he couldn’t see what had happened.
“I’ll do some research on that spider thing,” he said, “because that’s beyond cool.”
It also amazed him that it was something she was involved in. Didn’t all women hate spiders?
“Obviously she’s different,” he said.
He sat back and thought about what her weird jerking meant.
“Was she getting visions from them? Were they healing her? What the hell’s going on there?”
The longer he thought about it, the more it bothered him. He wasn’t the kind of person to leave any rock unturned. And, as far as this woman—Queenie—was concerned, she was the first person he could actually communicate with. The first one he could talk to and brag to. His work was very stressful, but he was very good at it. But the reason he was good was because this hobby of his allowed him to connect to other people on a very different level. It put him back in control. And that was something so many people didn’t have anymore.
He returned to studying Queenie, but the curtains into her life were closed. He stared and tried to rip the curtains wide open. But instead they snapped shut again. Getting angry, he tried harder, but there was no help for it. She had erected some wall between them. And all it did was make him madder. He closed his eyes, reached out with his mind and firmly pulled the curtains back. And this time it gave. He crowed. “See? I’m a hell of a lot stronger than you are.”
And then he stared. Because, although his curtains had opened, she had closed curtains on her side. And he knew, even as he tried over and over again, that somehow she had found a way to block him out of her life.
Well, she might have won this one. But no way in hell would she win the next one. He’d make damn sure of that.
*
Stefan, did you find anything more about the poisoner? Maddy asked.
Isn’t that a question for you? he said humorously.
You were going to talk to Kirk about it.
Things have blown up in Kirk’s world. I haven’t had a chance to mention the poison to him, Stefan admitted. And I should have, but I didn’t even think of it.
Tell me, she demanded.
He quickly updated Dr. Maddy.
Maddy gave a soft cluck of sympathy. I don’t think there could be any nightmare more horrifying for a mother.
I did try to reinforce her umbrella. She’s letting me add energy to it. But I haven’t been able to get through. And that’s why I’m trying to figure out just what this guy does to see into her world, whether she likes it or not.
It’s got to be somebody close to her, Maddy insisted. You know as well as I do that somebody with that ability is generally a close friend or lover.
Unless it’s one of the people she’s helped, remember? Stefan said. She’s dealt with hundreds and hundreds of people in the last few years alone. And that’s saying something. But any one of them could have used that as an entranceway into her space. As she’s getting flashes of insight into their world, they could have opened a door into hers.
But to keep something like that open, to keep the connection so strong, Maddy said, takes more than just a passing touch.
Stefan nodded. We haven’t figured it all out yet, but we will.
Of course you will, Dr. Maddy said, chuckling. But how about we get to it before all hell breaks loose, and people end up dead or dying?
Stefan’s voice was light, but an undercurrent of worry was beneath it. I think it’s already too late. I think this guy is not only a killer but has been doing this for a very long time.
Then we need to catch him, don’t we? Maddy said lightly. After all, it’s what we do.
At that, Stefan could only nod. As much as it wasn’t what he had planned to do with his life, it was what he’d ended up
doing. And when the world gave you a job to do, you stepped up, and you did the best you could. In this case, he was scared it wouldn’t be enough.
Chapter 15
Sunday, Afternoon …
They walked into the meeting about the amusement park ten minutes late. Queenie was tired, yet energized. And, as much as she wanted to look for the little boy, she felt she needed to be here for her friends. She was greeted with a round of cheers, and, when they saw Kirk, there were even more cheers. Kirk and Queenie automatically stepped to the front of the crowd, where Kirk gave them an update on Carlos.
“He’s being held for fraud, embezzlement and we’re looking into the multiple B&Es,” Kirk said. “Chances are he won’t be back anytime soon.”
“Can we talk to him?” Brutus asked. “We don’t know anything about his agreement with the amusement park.”
Kirk nodded. “It’s possible you might be allowed to see him. We could take one or two of you, but that would be about all.”
Everybody turned to Brutus. He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded. “I think it should be me and Queenie.”
There was a murmur from the crowd as they all agreed.
Queenie shrugged. “I don’t think Carlos will be happy to see me,” she warned. “That might make him very uncooperative.”
“But you’re the one who blew this all up in his face, and you might have a solution to our problem.”
She shook her head. “I’m not at all sure I understand what the problem is.”
“We don’t want the amusement park to close.” Jimbo’s voice was loud and rumbled across the crowd.
She studied him. “Then run it yourselves. I’m sure there’s paperwork in his office as to an agreement. Talk to the person who owns the property and see what kind of a deal they might make.”
There was head nodding and a round of clapping. She held up a hand. “This still isn’t for me to do though. I’m not staying. I’m setting up my own business with a nice website, the whole works. But I will help you guys any way I can.”
“The first place to start would be to find the paperwork in his office,” Kirk said. “Carlos would have had a lease on the land, and that’s what you’re looking for. Find out when it renews, what the payments are due, and then get your rides and booths back up and running.”
“But what about payments of the lease and other expenses, plus the profits? How do we split that?”
Kirk suggested they hire a business consultant to make sure they had an agreement everybody was happy with. “You don’t have to get fancy. You don’t have to keep paying somebody to do that for you. You just have to find a way that’s fair. Something like, a certain amount of money goes into a pot to run the machinery and to pay for the lease, and a certain amount of money goes to payroll. You set aside money for regular maintenance. But, other than that, you should be pulling your regular wages and enough money to keep the place going. Because if it isn’t working like that, then what the hell has Carlos been doing for these last few years, and who’s been paying the bills?”
Betty spoke up. “I don’t know what arrangement the property owners might want, but if they give us even a year’s trial, I think we can make a good deal out of this.”
“I have no doubt you can,” Queenie said warmly. “You’re very business oriented too. Maybe you should take over the books, make them transparent so everybody can come in at any time and ask you just what the expenditures are. If you’ve got them online, then you can put them in a cloud storage to make sure everyone buying into this program sees what they need to see. Stop this secretive stuff. I don’t know all the crap that Carlos pulled on us,” Queenie said. “But, if you’re upfront and honest, I think you can all make a really good go of it.”
Cheers broke out again.
*
Kirk was amazed and delighted with the way everybody stood up and cheered Queenie on. As they walked out over an hour later, he said, “You’ve really created a family for yourself there, haven’t you?”
She chuckled. “It was a rough couple years. I was a bit of an orphan at the time I joined in. They were the ones who welcomed me into their homes. I have a lot to be grateful for.”
“Are you still leaving?”
She nodded. “Oh, yes. My time here is done.” She laughed. “Listen to me. I sound like some odd-ball psychic reader.”
“And is it your abilities telling you that you’re done here?”
She shook her head. “I almost never get any information about myself. You know that.”
“I always wondered about that. Because there certainly is a lot you could benefit from with your own skills. What kind of a curse is it that you can help others but not yourself?”
She chuckled. “I often wondered that myself.”
“You’re stuck on doing your website?”
At his phrasing, she turned to look at him. “I’m not stuck on it. I think it’s a way forward.”
He stayed quiet, a little perturbed at the idea of somebody with her talents selling herself on a website, but then it was the way of the world today. “At least it might help get the word out so you can charge decently,” he muttered.
“I should have been charging the police department the whole time,” she said. “At least then I would have had a job, and I would have had something of my own when you left.”
He winced. “I didn’t fully leave, you know?”
“Yes, you did,” she said smoothly. “Mentally, emotionally and physically. That means you left.”
“Not energetically.”
She turned to look at him. “So you’re aware of that tunnel between us?”
“Of course. We talked about it before.”
“Until you closed the doors on your end.”
“I did that a lot anyway. Sometimes, when you’re having a hard time, or when you’re on a case, I would get this really weird buzz in my head. I had to mentally close the door in order to keep doing what I was doing.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “So how do you think it felt to know that door was permanently closed?”
“I didn’t say anything was permanent,” he protested.
“No, maybe not,” she said, “but, at the same time, you never opened it again.”
“I tried,” he admitted. “But every time I did, it didn’t seem to make any difference.”
She stayed quiet for a long moment. “I guess it would depend on when you tried,” she said. “After Reese was born, I kept the door locked.”
He gave a groan. “Of course you did. Anything to keep me away from my son.”
“You’d moved on,” she said. “My life had changed. I couldn’t give you what you wanted anymore, and I had what I wanted, which was my son.”
He could feel the same anger boil up inside him. “He was my son too.”
“He was,” she said smoothly. “And, when we get him back, we can both spend some time with him.”
“Or you’ll try to take him away from me again. And remember, we can’t know for sure who this little boy is,” he snapped. “You’re making me crazy.”
“I never moved anywhere,” she said. “I’m still in the same part of town.”
“I paid the lease on the house for the rest of that year.”
“But you moved out with all your furniture.”
“No, I didn’t.” He stopped at the car and turned to look at her. “I left everything. I just took my personal belongings.”
She frowned. “What do you mean, you paid the lease? I was told I had until the end of the month. It was the twenty-fifth as it was. I had days to vacate.”
He stared at her. “No, I paid for the rest of that year.” He frowned, trying to figure out what could have gone wrong. “It’s been a long time,” he admitted. “I’m pretty damn sure I gave you six months with a paid roof over your head.”
“Well, I got a letter in the mailbox the next day, saying I had less than a week to get out.”
He shook his head slowly. “That’s n
ot right.”
“That’s what I said at the time too.” She gave an angry laugh. “I found out about a couple months after we split up that I was pregnant. And that’s when I realized I’d been working for the police department and for you for all those years with no money to my name. How much of our money should have been mine?”
He stared at her in surprise. “What money?”
She frowned. “You had a savings account. I didn’t.”
He nodded. “And I left you half of it.”
She stared at him, completely blindsided apparently.
“Did you even try to access the bank account?”
She nodded. “Of course I did.”
“I left you twenty grand in there. I figured you walked away with it, not wanting anything more to do with me,” he cried out. “How do you think I felt when I came back to the house only to find you’d moved out right away? And when I went to access the bank account, it had been changed. I figured you had the money, but I didn’t know why you were living the way you were living. I really didn’t know how you were living until I saw you at the hospital.”
“I was living the way I was living because I didn’t have access to any money, much less twenty grand. And I was told to get out of the apartment within five days of your leaving.” She couldn’t keep the shock off her face or out of her voice. Just the thought of what that money could have done for her and Reese …
He shook his head. “Something is definitely wrong. And, if you didn’t take that money, where is it?”
She stared at him. “Who handled your banking?”
He shoved his fists into his pockets. “I did. You know that.”
“Not all the time. When we were buried on a case, or if you had to go away, which was often, you got other people to take care of some things. Your family, for instance.”
“Sure, my family sometimes might have had access. But I haven’t let them have access in a long time.”
