Lingering Touch: The Summer Park Psychics, Book 3

by Cassandra Chandler

  The ghosts sometimes shimmered and flickered, winking in and out of sight. Finn felt the same, except if he blinked out even for a second, he wasn’t sure if he would come back.

  Michael was winning. He was pushing Finn out of his body. Finn could sense it. The more he fought, the more disconnected he became. He was getting to the point where all he could do was hold on. He wasn’t able to help anyone, not even himself.

  He was going to have to watch Michael kill Jazz.

  No. Goddammit, no! That wasn’t happening.

  “Finn,” she said.

  Michael had granted them this audience. As if he was some fucking benevolent being. He was a monster. Finn felt the darkness in Michael growing, a sense of sharing his body with something that wasn’t human anymore. Michael had moved beyond being a serial killer. His soul was twisting into something even worse.

  “Shut up and listen. This is all you’re going to get.”

  Every time he spoke, Michael’s voice was stronger in Finn’s mind. Every time, Finn felt smaller, more distant.

  “We covered a lot of ground,” Jazz said. “I’m glad we had a chance to fix things between us.”

  Finn was too. That was the only comfort he had to hold on to. Dammit, there had to be a way… He felt a pressure on what used to be his heart, a weight dragging him down that had nothing to do with the physical.

  Jazz stepped closer. She put her hands on his chest. Did she know that Finn couldn’t feel her? He only knew what she was doing because Michael was watching her every move.

  “We didn’t get a chance to cover everything, though. I want you to know, I never had a problem being seen with you. I wasn’t embarrassed that we were together. That isn’t why I never told anyone about us and asked you to keep us a secret.”

  “This should be good,” Michael thought. “Of course she was embarrassed to be seen with you. She’s above you.”

  “Shut up.”

  Jazz slid her hands up to Michael’s neck. Finn sensed Michael’s amusement.

  “Do you think she knows who she’s touching? Do you think it’s on purpose?”

  Michael was mocking him now, baiting him. Finn kept his attention on Jazz. She was up to something, he could tell. He just didn’t know what or how he could help her.

  “I felt like I was being punished when my father died. Every time I was really happy about someone in my life, every time I talked about it, they were taken from me.”

  “Oh look,” Michael thought. “It’s about to happen again.”

  “If I could find your face, I would punch it.”

  Michael chuckled.

  “That’s why I never talk about people I care about. Why I was so desperate for no one to know how much I loved you. I knew if people saw us together, I couldn’t hide it. I thought if Fate found out, you’d be taken from me. I talked up my father to all my friends at college, and he died right before I had planned to show him off. That wasn’t the first time something like that happened. And with you… I was so afraid, I didn’t even want anyone to know we were dating.”

  “Interesting. My gallery exhibit was set to open just before I died.”

  “Shut up, you sick fuck. This isn’t about you.”

  Michael laughed in his mind.

  Finn wanted to hear more of what she had to say. Having these answers, finally… It lifted a weight from him, made him stronger. He felt as if he was drifting toward her, like he could almost reach out and touch her.

  “The bar felt safe,” she said. “Like it was an oasis. Our little corner of the world where we could be together. I thought as long as we kept our relationship there, everything would be okay. It was the only place I believed I could let myself love you.”

  She ran her thumb over Michael’s lips, then back down to either side of his neck. She kept brushing her thumbs along his jaw. Finn’s spirit might not be in control, but his body sure as hell remembered her touch. He focused on what Michael must be feeling, willed himself to connect with the sensations.

  Finn could feel Michael suppressing a shudder, vague ripples of nausea flowing through him. He dropped his hands from her arms, as if he couldn’t stand to touch her. For whatever reason, Michael didn’t want to feel this.

  Finn was granted a little more space in his body. He prayed that Michael was distracted enough that he wouldn’t sense Finn slipping back in.

  “What does she think she’s doing?” Michael thought.

  Finn wasn’t sure. But he made himself ready.

  “I was afraid if I showed you off, I would lose you. But I hid you and lost you anyway. I understand now that I should have fought for you. I should have let everyone know, stood by your side proudly. I should have fought for you.”

  Finn needed to fight. That was what she needed, what she was warning him about. She was about to do something, and he needed to be ready to help her.

  “I’m so glad for everything we’ve shared through this, Finn. We have a second chance. To do things right. But we have to fight for it.”

  She grabbed the cord hanging around Michael’s neck with both hands and pulled. It snapped free. She dropped under his arms and leapt past him, running toward the shed.

  Michael was still reeling from Finn’s body reacting to Jazz’s touch. Finn felt himself connecting, fighting for control as he pushed his awareness along his body’s nerve-endings. It was enough to slow Michael down.

  “What are you doing?” Michael asked. “There’s nowhere for you to run. Nowhere to hide that I can’t find you.”

  Jazz was standing near the bonfire of Travis’s work. She bent down and picked up a can of lighter fluid, then shook it. She smiled as she stood.

  “I don’t plan to run.”

  “Foolish—”

  Michael’s thought cut off as Jazz lifted the pouch she had taken from him. His hand went to his chest. He felt around frantically, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, that she had taken it—had gotten the better of him.

  “Give that back!” he roared.

  She chucked it on the fire as he ran toward her. Tried to run, anyway. Finn managed to trip him.

  He felt Michael’s surprise, a wave of rage pummeling him, searing him. Finn screamed. He couldn’t stop himself. The pain was beyond anything he had ever experienced.

  But Michael’s attention was on him. It gave Jazz enough time to spray down the pouch with lighter fluid, soaking it. Flames crept up around it and the leather started to burn.

  “No!”

  Michael scrambled to his feet, heading for the fire. Jazz ran past him, not toward land but toward the water. Toward…

  Fuck. There were six full-grown alligators out there.

  Finn grabbed at his arms with his awareness, clawing at them, making the muscles of his physical body cramp. Michael curled into a ball, clutching them.

  “You have a choice, Finn.” Jazz was standing at the water’s edge. “Save the pouch, or save me.”

  Then she turned and walked into the water.

  “No way. No fucking way!”

  “The pouch!”

  Michael turned to the fire, fighting against Finn. More fireworks erupted in his body as they clashed. Finn visualized himself tackling Michael, taking him to the ground. He pushed all of his energy into that thought.

  They fell.

  “Yes!”

  Michael started to crawl. His hands dug into the sand, pulling them closer to the fire.

  “Dammit!”

  Finn could feel Michael’s spirit crowded against his own—his body overfull from both of their presences. And if he could feel Michael, he could touch him. Finn dug his elbow into Michael’s back. Michael screamed.

  Darkness suddenly engulfed Finn as his external senses cut out. He was standing in a pitch void, staring at a vaguely person-shaped form made of glowing blue energy.
He lifted his hands and saw that he was the same—only his energy was gold.

  He didn’t have time to notice more. Michael flew at him. Literally flew. He hit Finn in the middle, knocking him to the ground. Finn managed to grab Michael’s wrists and hold them, keeping him at a distance. Michael writhed and snapped at Finn, trying to bite him. The energy he was putting off became more frantic, more violent.

  Less human.

  It was also fading.

  Michael threw his head back and let out an inhuman screech, then vanished. Finn’s regular senses turned back on as if someone had flipped a switch. He felt himself sort of flood back into his body.

  He looked up and saw the pouch fully engulfed in flames. The fire started to die down, all the fuel consumed. Whatever had been in the pouch was destroyed.

  He lay on the ground for a moment, trying to get his bearings, to remember how his arms and legs worked. Then he heard Jazz scream.

  He jumped to his feet and bolted for the shoreline, leaping from the ground, body forming a perfect line as he dove into the water.

  Please, please…

  He couldn’t be too late.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Jazz hoped Finn was winning against Michael. She really, really hoped so.

  Her boots were full of water. At least they kept her from feeling the greenish stuff that she was walking through. Her skin was crawling. The water closed around her thighs, cooler than she expected.

  Any time, Finn.

  It was a gamble. A huge gamble. Being knocked out and drowned seemed a lot better than having half a dozen alligators rip her to shreds…while she drowned. The water was up to her waist. She didn’t hear Finn behind her.

  He would fight Michael off. She knew he would. But he had to feel that the danger was real.

  Shit, the danger is real.

  When the water had reached her ribs, she paused and looked around. She didn’t see any alligators on the surface. That didn’t seem like a good thing.

  Her heart was pounding and her breath coming fast. Passing out would also not be good. She tried to get herself to calm down, to keep herself from hyperventilating.

  Something brushed her leg.

  She screamed. The shrill sound echoed around her. She leapt back, water slowing her progress. She couldn’t run to shore. If Finn thought she was safe, he wouldn’t have as much incentive to fight Michael, to save her.

  Too much time had passed. What if Michael had won? What if he had already pulled the pouch—with whatever piece of him was inside of it—from the fire? They might have already lost.

  Something clamped around her chest.

  Shit! She was about to be eaten by alligators.

  What was she supposed to do? Go for the eyes. They would try to roll with her, to take her underwater and drown her. Except she was still upright. Upright and screaming at the top of her lungs.

  Her voice trailed off as she realized she didn’t feel any pain. She looked up over her shoulder. Finn was standing behind her, face scrunched up as he winced at her.

  “That was really loud,” he said.

  She spun herself around and grabbed his face, pulling his eyelids open. His irises were blue—pale blue, not bright. And they weren’t glowing.

  “Finn!”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He only half-heartedly kissed her back. That wasn’t normal. She pulled back and looked at him warily.

  “That is you, right?”

  “Yeah. But could we maybe get on shore before making out?”

  She nodded vigorously.

  He smiled as he turned and started toward dry land, pulling her along with him.

  “I fucking hate the outdoors,” she said.

  He laughed.

  As soon as they were on land, he wrapped his arms around her and held her against his chest. He buried his face in the nape of her neck.

  Smoothing down his hair, she held him too. She never wanted to let go. But they needed to.

  “Finn, we need to check on Travis.”

  She felt him suck in a breath, his body going stiff. Her stomach knotted with worry.

  Please let him be alive.

  Finn slowly released her, then nodded. He held her hand as they walked into the shed.

  Travis was lying right where he had fallen. A small puddle of blood surrounded his head. Finn knelt down, his hand shaking as he pressed his fingers against Travis’s neck. After a few seconds, Finn let out a huge breath.

  “He has a pulse. It’s thready, but there. I don’t think we should move him. We should try to get a signal and call the EMTs and police.”

  Finn stood and grabbed his phone from the table. He put his hand on her waist and pulled her against him as they walked outside.

  Her mind was whirling. Their part of it was done. But what about Rachel? Was she okay? And Elsa? Jazz hadn’t spoken to her best friend since…she couldn’t remember.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket. The water hadn’t reached quite that high on her body. Finn was busy messing with his own phone.

  “I have a signal,” he said.

  Jazz looked at her phone and saw one as well. She dialed Rachel’s number frantically, pressing the speaker button. The moment the call picked up, she half yelled, “Are you guys okay?”

  Rachel’s voice came over the line. “We’re fine. What about you two?”

  “We’re okay.” Jazz stifled a laugh. She was so relieved.

  Garrett’s voice was rough and actually cracked over the words as he spoke. “Finn, you SOB. What the hell did you get my friend Jazz mixed up in?”

  She felt Finn’s grip on her side tighten and nestled against him.

  “Are you crying?” Finn teased.

  “Shut up.”

  “Oh, I am never going to shut up about this.”

  Finn kissed the top of Jazz’s head. She rolled her eyes.

  “Ugh, bromance.”

  “I think it’s adorable.” Rachel laughed.

  Finn’s grip on Jazz tightened again. She looked over at him and saw his eyes glistening with tears. He was talking to his sister for the first time. Of course he was overwhelmed with emotion.

  “Finn, you okay?” Garrett asked.

  “Yeah, man. Yeah.” Finn’s voice was rough.

  “Wait a minute. Now are you crying?” Garrett said.

  Finn smiled at Jazz. “You’ll never prove anything.”

  Jazz laughed. “Don’t worry, Garrett. I’ll get some pictures.”

  That would have to wait. Finn had other immediate plans. He shoved his phone in his pocket and tilted Jazz’s face to his, claiming her lips for a deep kiss. The warmth of his mouth, the softness of his skin against hers…she let herself get lost in the feel of him for a moment. But only for a moment.

  She kept one arm around his neck when she pulled back, and left their foreheads pressed together.

  “Look, we’ve got a mess to clean up here,” Jazz said.

  Garrett laughed. “Funny, I was about to say the same thing.”

  “Ours is going to take a while. We need to call the Clearview police—”

  “Already texted them,” Finn said. “They’re on the way.”

  Jazz leaned back, one eyebrow arched and a scowl on her face. How the hell had he managed that? She knew she was off her game, but to not even notice…

  “When did you text them?” Her voice had more bite than she intended, which riled him up, of course.

  “As soon as you called Rachel! I didn’t want them to check our phone records and see that we called our friends before them when—”

  “Enough!”

  Jazz shook her head. They had to work on their dynamic. It would take time. Time that they now had.

  “We can explain all that later,” she said. “Botto
m line is, you two need to call Elsa and Dante and give them the all-clear. We are all clear, right?”

  “Yes,” Rachel said. “Michael is gone—for good this time.”

  Jazz felt Finn relax a bit. She was relieved to hear it as well. Jazz would be sure to ask Rachel exactly how she had managed that.

  “Thank you,” Finn said.

  “We couldn’t have done it without you,” Rachel said. “We make a good team.”

  Jazz covered her mouth to stop a choking sob from coming out. Finn fairly crushed her against his chest. She couldn’t wait to tell Rachel about her new family.

  They had to tell Tommy first. He would be so happy. They’d have to break it to him easily, ask questions to be certain. But Jazz was already sure. Psychic powers or no, she could feel it.

  Rachel just went on, oblivious to Jazz and Finn’s reactions. They must have been doing a good job hiding them.

  A dull whirring noise was approaching. Jazz looked out at the swamp. It was coming from the water.

  “I’ll text you after I call Elsa to let you know they’re okay,” Rachel said. “But I’m sure they are. We let them know what they needed to do to protect themselves and it sounds like we were all keeping Michael pretty busy.”

  The whirring increased. It was an airboat. Jazz relaxed another iota as she saw the reassuring symbol for the police on the boat’s side.

  “Okay,” she said. “The cops are pulling up.”

  “Is that an airboat?” Garrett asked.

  “Yeah,” Jazz said. “We better go. But we’re headed your way as soon as we’re done. And I’m bringing guests, so clean up.”

  “Guests?”

  Rachel didn’t seem all that keen on company, but she would handle it. Especially the company Jazz was bringing.

  “Deal with—”

  Shit. No. Jazz was done dismissing people’s emotions—including her own. She took a deep breath and said, “I know you can handle it.” Then she ended the call.

  “What are we going to tell them?” Finn nodded toward the airboat.

  “The truth. At least, as much of it as they can believe. We were investigating Michael Angelo’s case, trying to ID his other victims. We came across a possible accomplice, found evidence that he was considering a crime, but were abducted before we could tell anybody.”