Rare Find

by Dale Mayer

  Rare Find

  (Psychic Visions, Book 6 )

  When people need help or are injured, they call out for their friends and family. When an animal needs help or is injured, it calls out for…anyone…that can help them…

  One person hears them…

  Tabitha is determined to bury her aching heart in the service of her animals at Exotic Landscape. Until she’s yanked out of her cozy retreat to help someone in need…and she gets more than she bargained for.

  Detective Ronin Chandler understands secrets. He’s got a few of his own. But when the woman he loves gets into trouble – the kind that stretches even his belief system – he struggles to understand…and to help…before he loses her. Maybe forever.

  As the danger escalates, Tabitha and Ronin need to find out who they can trust…and who they can’t…and who wants them dead…before it’s too late.

  Dale Mayer

  Valley Publishing

  Copyright © 2014

  ISBN-13:9781927461860

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidences either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  Preview

  About Dale Mayer

  Chapter 1

  Saturday early afternoon

  "I hate to leave you right now," Ronin murmured against her hair. "You shouldn't be alone today, of all days."

  Tabitha Stoddard tilted her head and sniffled back the tears. She managed a watery smile. "There's no quick fix for this. I just need time. I'll reminisce about my grandfather today and that will help. Go to the station and speak with your detectives. You need to deal with the phone call." She took a deep bracing breath and added, "I'm fine."

  And she would be fine. It just might take awhile.

  He looked at her, doubt forcing his gaze to narrow and his lips to twist. She reached up and kissed him lightly. "Go."

  "I'll check in with you when I'm done."

  She nodded and watched as he walked back to his truck and drove out of Exotic Landscape's parking lot. She was grateful he'd been there for her grandfather's funeral that morning. His presence had made everything so much easier.

  Smiling, she turned and walked into the center. Her three-legged bull mastiff greeted her joyously. Even missing his back lower leg, he was one heck of a watch dog.

  Just like Ronin who was a protector, a cop, a strong man with strong morals and ethics. A good man. A man's man. And one she'd fallen in love with.

  Not that he knew it. They hadn't gotten to that stage yet. She'd planned to stay over at his place this weekend, but her grandfather's death had changed all that.

  With tears burning her eyes, Tabitha stared at the picture of her standing beside her grandfather that hung behind his desk. He'd been the mainstay of her life. He'd raised her, shared his passion with her, and although there had been little softness in him, he'd been there for her every step of the way.

  Unlike her father who was only there when it was convenient for him.

  She snatched up yet another tissue off the desk and blew her nose. How could there still be tears? She'd done nothing but cry bucketfuls for days. Heart hurting, she wandered into his old office. He'd lived sixty-seven years and should have had another twenty to go. The doctors said it was his heart.

  She didn't have a hard time believing that. As much as she loved her grandfather, she had no illusions that others would feel the same way. He'd had little heart for anyone else. He was hard. Cold. Unyielding, and unless you walked on four feet or were his granddaughter, he wouldn't give you the time of day. And that included his son and his brother, her uncle who had died when she was just a kid.

  But, despite his faults, she'd loved her grandfather.

  And the hole in her heart seemed too vast to ever heal.

  Tripod nudged her hip with his muzzle. She reached down and laid a comforting hand on his head. He'd been by her side since she'd found him in a back alley on one of her and her grandfather's rare trips into Seattle. Her grandfather had abhorred the city and the minions that scurried around in it. She, on the other hand, had craved it while she was a teen, but after spending time at a girlfriend's place, dead center in the chaos, she'd been only too grateful to return to her wooded acres…and her animals.

  She had lots of friends – of the female kind. And although she'd given it a good try, until Ronin she'd found little to commend two-legged males and risking deeper human relationships.

  She admired women like her friend, Shay Lassiter. Shay combined her daily work, a partner and her psychic abilities into something that worked for her.

  In Tabitha's case, she could do the work, no problem. The partner issue had so far escaped her best attempts, although she had high hopes with Ronin. That detective made her want all sorts of things in life that had eluded her. Like marriage. A family. It was fresh right now. Special. Just the thought of him made her toes wiggle and her heart sigh with happiness – and they hadn't even made it to bed yet.

  Her grandfather's old desk caught her gaze – scarred, with broken drawers and bolts for handles, it was decrepit. As she stared she realized that somewhere along the way the desk had lost its leg and he'd propped it up with whatever was handy – in this case, several bricks. Typical. He'd insisted on keeping it, saying that as long as he could keep using it, it wasn't really broken – was it?

  Unfortunately, the rest of his office was full of the same and most of it would need to go to the dump after she'd gone through it.

  She randomly opened drawers, wondering at the collection of aged papers inside. Dennis – her mostly absent father – had already gone through the desk looking for documents he'd need to settle her grandfather's estate. He even took her grandfather's old ornate box – the one she'd seen many times over the years, but had never looked inside.

  Grandfather had told her it contained private papers, hence her father taking it. He'd likely hand it over to Eric, his assistant, or his partner Germaine, instead of dealing with it himself. Tabitha was fine with that. Easier on her.

  She cast a final glance around the messy room.

  Her grandfather's true legacy lay outside the main buildings in the acres long ago turned into an animal reserve. And though it was expensive to run, her grandfather never shortchanged the animals' needs. He'd go without a meal rather than see his beloved pets do the same.

  She'd learned that lesson well. As she stared down at the ripp
ed jeans she'd changed into after the funeral, she realized she might have learned it a little too well. There was money, but only enough to cover the necessities. There were always more animals in need than resources at hand.

  In spite of the poor relationship her grandfather had with his son, Exotic Landscape wouldn't have achieved this size or capacity without her father's donations. Guilt money. Then Shay's Foundation money had taken the place to the next level.

  Sniffling, she wiped her eyes and turned too fast. Her head pounded and the room swayed around her.

  Damn. When would the hurting stop?

  She lost time as she sat in the office and let the pain roll.

  Her phone rang. She sniffled, until call display showed it was Ronin. Her flagging energy lifted. He always did that to her.

  "Hey." She walked over to the window to stare out into the late afternoon sun as she spoke into the phone. "How did it go? Are you done?"

  "Yeah, it was probably a waste of time," he said humorlessly. "But I had to check it out. Sorry about having to leave."

  "Not an issue," she said tiredly. "It's the job."

  "It is," he agreed, "but it's still difficult when being a cop interferes with my personal life. Especially at times like this."

  Traffic noises from his phone blocked out everything else for a few seconds. Abruptly, he added, "I'll still be a few hours. Do you want me to stop by afterwards?"

  Her heart screamed yes, but...she could also use some time alone. She hated feeling so raw. Vulnerable. But grief did that to her. "I'll be fine." She rubbed her eyes again. "The next couple of days will be tough, but I will get through them."

  "That doesn't mean you have to get through them alone. And those headaches are nothing to ignore," he said brusquely. "I'll stop by when I'm done here. Gotta go."

  Tabitha stared down at her phone. That was the story of her life. The men all had to go – one way or the other. And yet Ronin kept coming back.

  As if in response to her mood, her headache started dancing a rumba on her brain. It had to be stress as well as grief. Yeah, that was so possible. She didn't have to look far to find places where her world was off-kilter.

  Besides her grandfather's death, there had been a rash of destructive incidents at Exotic Landscape. They had been irritating, costly and left her feeling as if she was under attack. She had no idea by whom. Or why. Or if any of the events were even related. They were mostly little things, like bags of dog food missing and some of the grain walking off. Break-ins at the clinic side of the main offices. Rocks through the window. Her grandfather had ignored a lot of it, but then he'd been in a whole different space this last year.

  She had nothing anyone could want, and not enough of what the animals needed. She didn't need to be throwing money away fixing doors and windows and replacing stolen property.

  Plus her budget had been shot with the new staff she'd been forced to hire. Not that the break-ins were the impetus behind those new hires; the real reason had been her long slow recovery in hospital after a psychic attack over a month ago. Her friend Shay had been the target. Tabitha was just a casualty. But that episode had changed her life. These incidents at the center had just helped to cement the decision to bring on more staff to ease her load.

  On top of that, keeping her off balance, was the fact that nothing had been quite right since she'd been a victim of a psychic attack. She felt as if people looked at her differently. She could certainly not explain to her employees what had happened to her. She had a few friends that understood, but as for everyone else, she could hardly tell them she left her body and hid in the ethers to save herself from the attack, now could she?

  Without warning, familiar pain slammed into her head, followed by a ripping sensation crawling through her brain. She bent over, grabbing the edge of the desk for support.

  Several painful gasps later, she managed to take an easier breath. Christ. The attacks were getting worse. Another long moment later she managed a tiny step. When that worked, she took a second. As a test, she straightened, and when that was fine, she tossed her long braid back. Good, her head no longer felt like it was splitting in half. Whatever had been there – it was gone.

  A ripple of relief slid down her spine.

  Stefan Kronos, her scarily skilled psychic friend and mentor, spoke to her telepathically. The headaches are troubling.

  And yet what am I to do, she answered just as softly, her heart warming at Stefan's caring voice inside her head. His visits were always a surprise, and always welcome. They also came from his heart. He cared and that was special. I can hardly ask a doctor.

  He changed topic. How are the nightmares?

  Better. Still the same nameless faceless boogie man, but the nightmares come less often. I sleep deeply once I get there, but I wake up troubled.

  Hmmm. With that, he left her mind without warning. He was good at that.

  Out of habit, she sent out a wide sweeping wave of healing energy throughout the building as she turned to leave. Instantly a sense of loss, of grief, bounced back at her along with a sense of finality. Energies from the staff, the animals, maybe even the building itself seemed to be adjusting to the loss of her grandfather.

  It would take a long time before the energy changed to a loving reminiscence without the pain of loss.

  She was reaching for her purse and keys she'd dropped on her grandfather's desk when something brutal stabbed into her head again. Her knees buckled and a scream ripped through her mind. The sound carried so much rage ...and fear...and pain...

  It wasn't her pain or fear.

  But it felt like it was hers.

  She groaned, trying not to collapse under the encroaching blanket of emotional darkness. She bent over and gasped for air.

  Another bolt of pain ripped through her, forcing her to the floor. She cried out and arched her back as the next slicing pain whipped along her spine.

  Then it was gone.

  As in completely gone. Just like that.

  She slowly sat back on her heels and clasped her arms around her ribs, gasping for air. She didn't know what the hell was happening, but Christ...it was bad.

  And this had to stop. She couldn't deal with it. The pain was too much.

  Tripod whined at her side. He dropped his massive head on her shoulders, his hot breath washing across her cheek.

  "I'm okay, boy."

  A slight film coated her skin and she shivered more from shock that anything else. Her t-shirt stuck to her and a chill walked over her back, raising the hairs on her arm. Standing was not an option. She was scared another bolt of pain would drop her. After a long moment, she slowly struggled to her feet, steadying herself against Tripod's huge body. A clammy chill and an overriding fatigue rushed though her.

  She wanted a hot shower and a hot drink. The place was empty at this hour. She had night staff and security guards, but they wouldn't likely see her right now. She was so grateful that she didn't have far to walk, that her house was only five minutes through the trees.

  Walking as gently as if she were recovering from a back injury, she made it down the short path without incident. After unlocking her front door, she entered her sanctuary. Tango's voice rumbled at her from the back. Her baby tiger was no longer a baby anything. In fact, he was an old man. But he was still her baby – or maybe it was the other way around as he'd adopted her decades ago. He hated it whenever she left. But it was hard to run a business with a tiger interrupting your world. She also didn't want the public in on Tango's rather dominant presence in her life. It was better to work from home much of the time.

  Being scolded by a tiger was wearying but she'd miss it when his time came. He'd been depressed since her grandfather's passing. She hoped Tango stayed around for months so that she could grieve for one of the dearest males in her life, her grandfather, before having to grieve for another.

  Tripod walked over to sit at the entrance to the kitchen. Almost as big as Tango physically, she'd never seen any dog, especially a
three-legged one, eat like he did.