Deadly Visions

by Aubrey Harper

  “The inn,” Mike said. “Maybe we’ll run into each other there sometime.”

  I cringed at that implication, but Lily smiled from ear to ear.

  “Maybe,” she said.

  “Umm, maybe we should go,” I said. “You’ve had more than enough to drink, it seems,” I said to Lily.

  “I only had two drinks,” she complained.

  “You know you can’t handle your alcohol.”

  “Spring break forever!” She yelled as I dragged her out of the bar.

  I drove us back to the inn.

  “So, did he tell you anything about the latest potential victim?” Lily asked as soon as we were in our room.

  “Was that drunk thing all an act?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I like to have fun when I’m in a bar. Who cares if it’s because of the alcohol, right?”

  “He didn’t tell me anything. He pretty much told me to get lost, but you know that’s not an option.”

  “Headaches?” She said sympathetically.

  “Yeah, headaches. If I didn’t get those, we’d still be in Chicago.”

  “Or would we? I know I would, but what about you? Wasn’t it the headaches that led you to saving my treacherous ex?”

  “You’ve got a point there. I need to figure out who the target is so that we can anticipate the next attack.”

  “Don’t you think that between the FBI and the local cops, that they pretty much have that situation under control?”

  “Like they did back in Picking Hill?”

  “To be fair, they couldn’t have known that that witness would be killed. I mean, putting him in that small town was a pretty good cover. I wonder how that henchman found him?”

  “I wonder that, too. That’s why I’m not so sure they have things under control here. Though, for some reason, the universe only seems interested in Dax. Saving his life. I’m not getting any other visions, unless I seek them out that is.”

  “Maybe there’s a higher plan?” Lily offered. “Maybe some people aren’t supposed to die just yet, and those are the ones you get visions of?”

  “I guess that makes a sick kind of sense,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean that I have to like it.”

  “I have a bright idea,” Lily said, suddenly excited.

  “We’re in trouble now, aren’t we?”

  “No, it’s a brilliant idea. I promise. And no, it’s not the alcohol talking.”

  “Okay, so what’s this great idea you have?”

  “How about we find out what room the FBI agents are in and break in?”

  “Really? Breaking and entering? You must be drunk after all.”

  “If you want to get that name, I suggest you decide quickly what you want to do. They could be back any minute.”

  “Exactly, which is why I don’t want to do this at all. Plus, they’re federal agents. Do you know how much trouble we’d be in if we got caught?”

  “I’m willing to take that risk. Are you?”

  I paced back and forth in our room. I thought about what our next move should be, but I kept hitting a brick wall.

  “Fine,” I relented. “You distract the owner and I’ll get a look at her guestbook. Sound like a plan?”

  Lily nodded. “This is going to be so much fun!”

  Once we got to the front desk, Lily did her thing.

  “I have a question about something in my room. Can you help me?”

  “Can it wait?” The owner said. “My son should be in soon if anything needs to be fixed.”

  “It really is an emergency. I can’t figure out how the shower works.”

  I gave Lily a look. She gave me one of her own. Then I remembered what I should have been doing. I immediately went behind the desk and started looking for the guestbook.

  I only looked at the last page and I found a couple of names there. But there was no Dexter or Dax to even Mike. Did they rent rooms under aliases? Highly likely, especially if they were undercover.

  I took a quick picture with my phone and just then, the owner was coming back, with Lily right behind her.

  I quickly went back to where I was standing before.

  “All good?” I asked Lily.

  “Yeah, it was just a little stuck. Thank you so much, Mrs. Rover.”

  “No problem,” Mrs. Rover said and took her original position behind the desk back.

  Lily and I made it back to our room before I showed her my phone.

  “Interesting,” she said, looking at the list of names in the picture. “John Buckingham certainly sounds fake enough. It says here he’s in room eight. Shall we?”

  “But what if it’s not one of the FBI agents? What if we break into a regular person’s room?”

  “I guess we’ll just have to take that risk, now won’t we?”

  “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

  “Only if you keep complaining about it.”

  Lily was the expert at breaking and entering, so I let her take the lead. Once we were in front of room 8, she seemed less sure of herself.

  “It looks much easier on TV,” she said after trying to pick the lock with her nail file kit.

  “You don’t even know what you’re doing?” I whispered. “Are you for real?”

  “Do I look like a common thief?” She said, whispering right back.

  I sighed. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” I looked around nervously. “If someone hears us…”

  “Stop being such a drama queen and please be quiet. I need to concentrate.”

  I kept my mouth shut and played lookout while she did her thing. At one point, we had to pretend to be on our phones while another guest walked on by.

  Then Lily stayed on her phone.

  “What are you doing?” I asked her.

  “What does it look like? I’m googling how to break in.”

  After a minute or two, she seemed happy with what she found. “This should definitely work.”

  She jimmied the lock back and forth until it finally gave in and the door flew open.

  Lily had a triumphant smile on her face, but I quickly pushed her inside and closed the door behind us. The last thing I needed was for someone to catch us in the act.

  “Listen for anything out of the ordinary, while I look for the names, okay?” I said.

  “Fine, have all the fun.”

  I looked around the room. I still wasn’t sure it even belonged to one of the FBI agents. There was only a single bed.

  “This doesn’t look like his room,” I said. “He’s a lot messier than this. This room is practically spotless.”

  Lily sighed. “Really? Now I have to break into another room?”

  I looked at the list of names on my phone.

  “They came in together, we know that much,” I said. “So it’s either Charlie Parker or Louis Bragman.”

  “Charlie Parker it is.”

  “Room 9.”

  We repeated our little break in routine until we were in room 9. I looked around the messy room, papers strewn about everywhere.

  “This is definitely the place,” I said.

  Chapter 12

  We closed the door behind us and went to work. Both Lily and I looked through the files, trying to find any clues as to who the next victim might be.

  “I just see a list of places,” Lily said, handing me the list I’d seen before. There were four places, including Picking Hill, listed there.

  “Maybe he’s not dumb enough to leave the names and places just strewn about his room?” I said.

  Lily raised an eyebrow. “If he’s leaving all this other stuff just strewn about, I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

  So we continued looking through the room. Opening drawers. We even found his FBI badge.

  “Here’s something that might be interesting,” Lily said, handing me a piece of paper.

  “It’s an address,” I said. “An address in Hidden Valley, Pennsylvania.” I took a picture with my phone just as we heard someo
ne outside the door.

  “Good night,” I heard Dax’s familiar voice say, presumably to his partner, Mike.

  “Crap, he’s gonna catch us in the act,” I whispered to Lily.

  She looked around the room. We were on the second floor, so going out the window was definitely not an option. Hiding in the closet also didn’t seem like a good option. It could barely fit one person.

  Lily pointed to the bathroom.

  Just as we headed for the bathroom, Dax was coming into the room.

  We closed the door behind us just in time.

  I gave Lily a look.

  She shrugged her shoulders.

  We could hear Dax moving around in the room. It sounded an awful lot like he was taking off his clothes.

  I hoped he was going to sleep.

  But then the bathroom door opened and Dax was in nothing but his underwear.

  I had to admit that he looked pretty good. He had a pretty well-defined six-pack. He definitely worked out.

  “What the hell is going on here?” He said, quickly grabbing his pants and covering himself.

  “You don’t have to do that on our count,” Lily joked.

  “I’m not joking around. What are you doing in my room?”

  “Lily and I thought…” I started to say but Lily cut me off.

  “We came here to find out who the next victim will be. If Callie is here to help, she needs to know everything.”

  Dax looked at me. “I thought I made it clear that you should leave town.”

  “Well, I’m not going to. I have to follow my visions, and my visions are leading me here. To you.”

  “Leave my room. I’ll get dressed and then we can talk, all right?”

  I nodded.

  “See you later,” Lily said as we headed out.

  “I can’t believe we got caught,” I said.

  “It wasn’t so bad,” Lily said. “Have you seen that body? It wasn’t bad at all.”

  “Be serious, Lily, for once in your life. If it had been that Mike guy, we definitely would have been arrested.”

  “I’m not so sure about that. I’m pretty sure I could have played him like you just played Dax.”

  “I didn’t play him. I told him the truth.”

  “To you.” She used my own words against me. “I see right through you, Callie.”

  “You have a dirty mind, Lily. I was just telling him the truth. The universe wants me to save him. It’s the only reason I’m here.”

  “He’s ready. His door is starting to open,” Lily said, pointing across the hallway.

  Dax got out and looked around suspiciously, then he quickly joined us and hurried us along.

  “Where exactly are we going?” Lily asked.

  “Somewhere private. Somewhere where my partner won’t catch us talking.”

  “To the bar?” She offered.

  “No. We’re going to a restaurant. I’m a bit hungry anyway.”

  He drove while Lily and I mostly kept quiet on the way there. It was clear that Dax had a lot on his mind because he kept tapping on the wheel.

  The restaurant he took us to was an Italian restaurant that looked like it belonged in Italy. The architecture of the building was different from the places around it.

  “They have the best wine,” Dax said.

  “You’ve been here before?” I asked him.

  “Of course. We check in with our witnesses from time to time. That’s why I was in Picking Hill in the first place.”

  Once we were settled, in the back and in a booth, and once our orders were on the way, Dax started to talk.

  “This is an FBI case,” he started by saying. “And anything I tell you must not be shared with anyone else. Understood?”

  We both nodded.

  “So who’s the witness?” I asked. “And why aren’t you guys looking out for them?”

  “Mike is actually in front of the witness’ house as we speak. I’m supposed to get some sleep and take over for him tomorrow.”

  “So when you said ‘good night’?”

  “I was on my phone,” he said. “Before that, when we were in the bar, the local PD was looking out for him.”

  “So it’s a him, huh?” I said.

  “I thought you would already know.”

  “I told you, most of the visions I get are of you. I only saw that Peter Hill guy dying because I touched something connected to him, or as in that last time, his actual corpse.” I still cringed when I thought of it. “So, before this witness becomes a corpse as well, I have to know who he is. Maybe if I meet him, I’ll get some psychic impressions.”

  “Unless Jordan Puccini isn’t coming after this witness after all. Maybe he’s on his way to one of the other towns,” Dax said, taking a sip of his wine.

  “Are the other witnesses under surveillance as well?”

  Dax nodded in the affirmative. “That’s what Mike and I were doing in the bar. We got a tip that someone matching Jordan Puccini’s description was seen there, but it turned out to be another guy. Thankfully.” Then he looked at me. “You really aren’t sensing anything?”

  “I thought you didn’t even believe in my gift,” I said.

  “Well, let’s just say that I’m trying to keep an open mind. If it will stop another person from dying, I’m willing to take a chance.”

  “So who is it?” Lily asked.

  “I’m not telling you that just yet,” Dax said. “I looked into Callie here, but I haven’t looked into you yet.”

  “Are you for real?” Lily said.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. If she checks out, and I’m her best friend, shouldn’t that be enough?”

  “Sorry, but a lot of supposedly good people have been bought for money by this Delroy guy. I’m not taking any chances. Until then, you guys should stay clear and please don’t break into my room again. It won’t end well for you.”

  “Is that a threat?” Lily said.

  “It’s a promise,” he said. And then our food arrived. “Now let’s enjoy our meal and go our separate ways. By tomorrow, I should know if I can trust both of you. Deal?”

  Lily didn’t look happy, but the food they served us did look delicious, so we couldn’t just storm out. Especially since Dax was paying anyway.

  “I want to make one thing clear,” Lily said. “I’m staying for the food, not for the company.”

  The next day, just as promised, Dax knocked on our door.

  “Ready to hit the road?” He asked.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.

  “Can I come along or am I still not trustworthy?” Lily said.

  “Your background check came back fine. We didn’t find any connection to Delroy, so you’re good to go as well.”

  “Thanks,” she said sarcastically.

  I gave Lily a look.

  “What?” She asked, defensive as always.

  “We broke into his room, remember? We should be lucky we’re not locked up right now,” I whispered.

  “I can hear you,” Dax said. Then he turned around and gave Lily a look. “You should listen to your friend here. She knows what she’s talking about.”

  Lily rolled her eyes.

  “You guys will have to take your own car. You should keep your distance, at least until Mike drives away. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” Lily said, obviously holding back her real feelings.

  “We have to look at this from his perspective. How would you feel if two strangers broke into your room and you were an FBI agent trying to keep witnesses alive on top of that?” I said to Lily as we got into our car.

  “I guess I can understand it, but he didn’t have to be so upfront about it.”

  “And here I thought you preferred upfront.”

  “Fine, he’s not wrong. But I still don’t like him. He’s all yours, Callie.”

  I laughed. “Thanks, Lily, that means a lot.”

 
I kept my distance. I parked by the side of the road and we kept our heads down when Mike was driving past us.

  We joined Dax in his car once Mike was gone. Both Lily and I got into the back seat just in case we needed to duck our heads again.

  “So how long are we going to be here?” I asked Dax. “Does this guy have a job?”

  “Yeah, he works at the local car shop. He should be going to work soon enough.”

  “When are you introducing us?” I asked.

  “I’m not,” he said.

  “See? I told you, he’s been lying to us this whole time,” Lily said.

  “Hold your horses,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. “I’ll send Callie in as a customer. If she gets any psychic impressions, all the better, but I’m not going to spook the guy by showing up out of nowhere.”

  “So he doesn’t even know you guys are here?” I asked.

  “He knows. But all he knows is that we’re keeping an eye on him. He knows that Jordan Puccini or someone of his ilk might be after him.”

  “If there was a hit man out for me, I’d want to be in a safe house or something,” Lily said.

  “We offered but he declined. You see, his family is here with him as well. He didn’t want to disrupt any of their lives.”

  “I’m pretty sure his death would disrupt their lives plenty,” Lily said.

  We observed a man coming out of a townhouse. He said goodbye to what looked like his wife and their young daughter.

  “Here we go,” Dax said, ready to follow the car.

  “Who’s going to keep watch over his family?” I asked.

  Dax pointed out a car a few parking spaces ahead of us. “That’s local PD.”

  He checked in with the local cop on his cell phone. Once everything checked out, we were ready to follow the witness to his workplace.

  “What’s his name, anyway?” I asked.

  “I can only tell you the name he’s going by now. Beau Smith.”

  Once we were in front of the body shop, it was time for me to do my thing. Lily and I had driven there and now Lily waited in the car. She refused to join Dax in his car when I wasn’t there.

  “Good luck,” Lily said.

  “Let’s hope I won’t need it,” I said right back.

  I spotted Beau Smith as soon as I entered the body shop. Another man tried to get my attention but I went straight to Beau.