Knock, knock...

by Dale Mayer

  "Does he have any medical issues? Does he take any medication?"

  "No, not at all. He's very healthy. I don't think he's on any medications except for his cholesterol, maybe." Gerard walked beside Roman as they returned to their vehicles at the office building where Shay worked. "I think he's healthier than I am."

  "Good. As long as we don't have to be concerned with that aspect." He held the sleek Audi’s door open for his grandfather.

  "Not that I know of. Then again, given our age, we don't often find out what's wrong until it's too late."

  Roman looked around at the busy street. What could he say to that? His grandfather was right.

  As the older man buckled up his seat belt, he said to Roman, "And now that you know there's something between you and Shay, do you really want to miss out on the opportunity? I gotta tell you that even if it only lasts for a short time, it could be the romance of a lifetime." He smiled reminiscently. "And I for one, have no regrets answering that call."

  With that he drove off, leaving Roman standing and staring behind him.

  He didn't want to have any regrets at that age either. But he still wasn't any closer to getting to know Shay better, spending time with her, finding out what made her tick and getting her into his bed. He was even further from having her in his life on a long-term basis.

  And if he failed in that endeavor, then he was afraid that he would have regrets.

  And he didn't want that.

  Shay had to stay safe. And he'd done what he could to help that along. He'd made inquiries about a new security system for her. She'd okay the installation. He'd set up his program on her computer and let it run. If there'd been any signs of a hacker, he'd find it. In the meantime, he'd ensure the security on her system was operating at peak performance to make sure no one else got in.

  Damned if he was going to lose her when he'd finally found her.

  ***

  Monday afternoon…

  Shay walked into her apartment several hours later, feeling disoriented and out of touch. Tension ran through her muscles. She'd checked every one of Pappy's frequent haunts. She’d returned to his place to see if he'd come home, and she had been on the phone incessantly looking for him. She'd called everyone she knew in his circle of friends. She couldn't leave it alone.

  It was as if he'd just vanished.

  Something had to have happened to him. And as much as she hated the thought, someone was likely to have caused that. He was eighty years old and that just added to the problem and her fears. His car was also missing. And that led to her next step.

  She picked up her phone and called her favorite detective.

  "Ronin. I'm glad I could reach you."

  "Shay, what's the matter?"

  "It's my grandfather." Quickly she explained.

  "But it's only been what...? Four or five hours since you last spoke to him?"

  She winced. "I know. It's too early to file a report as a missing person, but he's not a young man any longer. For all I know, he's had a heart attack in his car, and is parked somewhere on the street."

  "What type of car is he driving?"

  Relieved, she gave him the license plate number and the description of the car.

  "I'll let everyone know to keep an eye out for the vehicle and I’ll also give them a description of your grandfather. Now does he have any health issues? Is he a diabetic and in need of medicine at a particular time?"

  Groaning at how little she knew, Shay ran through the information that she did have. "He doesn't get forgetful, at least I haven’t noticed that. He's very sharp mentally. He has sustained a personal loss last week, but he's not suicidal. He doesn't have diabetes, but he has a slight heart condition and high cholesterol – nothing too bad and nothing more than anyone else his age. But I can't stress enough how unlike him this is. With evening coming, he should be home safe and sound. He also always has a nap in the afternoon. At the time he usually lies down, he wasn't at home. I know because I was there, and he wasn't."

  "But he could have slept in his car. You know, just pulled off to the side of the road and laid his head back."

  "It's possible," she said doubtfully, "but that’s not like him."

  His calm voiced suggested, "Still not out of the line of possibility."

  "True. But with all the other coincidences I can't help but wonder if someone hasn't kidnapped him or worse." She hesitated. "I know it's too early to panic, but––"

  "But you're worried." His voice turned businesslike. "Good enough, I'll see what I can do."

  He hung up, and Shay dialed Stefan. She'd tried him several times since the reading of the will, but so far he hadn’t answered telepathically. But then, when he wanted the world to go away, he was good at making that happen.

  Maybe he was home now.

  She waited while the phone rang and rang. Finally, just when she was about to hang up, she heard his tired voice. "Stefan?"

  "Who'd you expect," he grumbled, "Santa Claus?"

  She winced. "Sorry. Not a good day, huh."

  "No. I'm working with the police on another case in Seattle." He sighed. "People are dropping like flies. For no reason except someone is having a damn killing fest."

  "Ouch. Kinda like my life feels right now. Sorry, I know you’re busy."

  "Sometimes it gets pretty crazy." His tone changed, eased. "What's up, Shay?"

  "It's Pappy. He's disappeared and I can't find him." Stated like that, it shook even her.

  "What have you done to find him?"

  Shay gave him quick description of her afternoon.

  "You say he was at the lawyers', but you couldn't find Pappy's energy leaving the rooms? And he still wasn't there?"

  "No. But several people said they'd seen him leave."

  "Odd."

  "That's why I went back up and took another look at the energy. There was nothing to show he'd gone down the elevator or the stairwell. But he wasn't still in either lawyers' offices."

  "That you could see."

  "True enough." She thought about that. "I don't want to sound paranoid, but is it possible for someone to have hidden Pappy's presence from me there? I can't see any other explanation. I was thinking about Tabitha's attacker, wondering if they could, through hooks, hide their energy? Maybe do the same with Pappy. And if so, why? And that makes me really worried."

  "More likely they’re extending the energy of the person beside them enough for them to hide behind...maybe? Like grabbing a corner of their aura and tugging it around them, as if wrapping themselves in a blanket. Such a thing would be new...again, but as you know, it's always possible to do the impossible. Of course is they can hide in someone's aura, they might be able to hide a person in their aura as well. And we won't know the extent of a person's capabilities until we see them."

  Damn.

  "Still," Stefan continued, "What could possibly be the purpose behind hiding their presence in your grandfather's aura? You inherited all that financial headache, he didn't."

  She laughed. The first lightness of the day filled her soul. "Thank you for seeing Bernice's actions for what they are. I gather you heard me screaming earlier?"

  "I didn't have a choice," he said, humor to his voice. "It's because of that I had to shut you down this afternoon. I needed to stay focused on this other problem."

  "Understandable. And sorry for transmitting so loudly."

  He sighed. "You want me to go looking for him, don't you?"

  She hated to ask yet more of him, but.... "I'm not the tracker you are," she said apologetically. "And as I haven't been able to find him my way...I wondered if you could drop in and see where he is?"

  "Okay then, while I take a look, you revisit the scene at the reading of the will. If Pappy has been kidnapped, look to the people who lost out today. Chances are they'd have the biggest reason to do something like this."

  Stefan rang off, leaving Shay staring in shock at the phone. He was right.

  Why hadn't she thought of that? Be
cause she'd done her damnedest to forget that whole nightmare of being named beneficiary. How could Bernice not even mention that disaster waiting for Shay?

  She crossed to her rocking chair and sat down. Now that she'd gotten hold of Stefan and he was off looking for Pappy, relaxation was easier to achieve. She took her mind back to that morning, to her grandfather’s call and her dash to the meeting where the lawyers read the will. She popped into her own energy at the doorway where everyone had collected – and stopped to look around.

  The room was more full than she remembered. Then again, she'd slipped into the closest vacant seat and hadn't had much chance to look around. There had to be at least two-dozen people. Most of them she didn't know at all. There were five women that she could count, maybe more. All up in the front. She recognized Grace, Bernice's assistant, and a younger woman at her side – probably Grace's daughter.

  The men she hardly recognized. There was Bernice's driver on the right-hand side and a man that Shay had seen around Bernice's big house. He'd handled most of the household and gardening stuff for her. Their presence made sense. The other men…well she wasn't so sure.

  With the meeting started, and from her vantage point, she walked as far forward as she could to see their faces. Then she watched as the final, shocking announcement was made. Grace only nodded, as if she'd expected the news. The same for the two men she'd recognized. Bernice might have already told them her plans. They'd been with her a long time. They were trusted friends.

  People in the other rows showed shock, dismay. Some seethed with anger. But at the same time, she saw that no one recognized Shay in the back row. No one turned to point a finger at her. To them, Shay had been just a name. Not a recognizable target.

  Good thing.

  Still, outside of the anger and threats to contest the will in court, and any number of profanities flung at the lawyer in the front and center, she didn't see anything deceptive.

  But because Pappy was missing, she looked deeper.

  Hating to do it, she checked out Grace first. No subterfuge there. Grace was mourning the loss of a good friend. She was happy with the thought of all the money coming her way, and she would share that with her daughter.

  Shay checked out the daughter. She'd come to support her mother. Was touched at actions and was horrified at the actions of those around her. So far…nice and normal.

  Nothing untoward or suspicious.

  In fact, the daughter had whispered to Grace, "Poor Shay. That's not going to be easy."

  Shay checked out the men next. The first one was touched at his inheritance, but damn if he wasn't grieving the loss of a loved one. Bernice had this fifty-year-old man on the lover's string too. The second man appeared to have a longstanding friendship with Bernice, but it was not loverlike. He was also happy with the money. He'd have liked more, but that's because he wanted to go to Vegas and spend most of it.

  Sighing, Shay moved to the next row. There, a bitter unfairness permeated the air.

  Fucking bitch.

  How dare she?

  Good thing she's dead, or I'd have killed her myself. This from a distant relative that had hoped to inherit enough to avoid bankruptcy.

  All these thoughts circled with the anger and disbelief. So much hatred. But in a way, the emotions were all normal. Many of these people had come expecting, hoping, for so much more. They'd been told to come, after all, so they had a right to their disappointment. And they hadn't even gotten a mention.

  Typical Bernice. Do things her own way and to hell with the others.

  She switched to studying the dark red, swirling anger on the left. Wow. Now these three were pissed. She studied their faces, hoping to recognize them in the future. She didn't even know them. She studied the energy that bled from their chakras. The majority bled from the first and third chakras.

  Those two chakras covered money, survival, and all the basics in life. These people were also afraid. They needed the money. They had debts, big ones, borrowed from unsavory people, and fear wrapped around the hooks into their chakras. Other people's hooks. She winced at the rate of bleeding from that chakra. And the stream pulsed with fear.

  How desperate were these people? Enough to come after her? Had they known ahead of time? Could they have snatched Pappy? Were they planning to hold him hostage until she paid a ransom? And she would. In a heartbeat.

  She tried to take a breath, but the pain and fear made it difficult. And she knew better.

  She closed her eyes and sent a bolt of white energy down her spine and deep into Mother Earth. Then she sent the energy straight up and out of her own crown chakra into the sky. Instantly her world righted itself, balanced itself. Stabilized. Her chest eased, and she could breathe again.

  From her new perspective, she could study the streams that twisted and seethed throughout the room.

  One man, a little further back, bled from the heart chakra. But it was his anger that caught her attention. He'd had a relationship with Bernice, and he'd felt he deserved something from her death.

  Deserved. But he hadn't caused Bernice's death.

  Still, it had been a few minutes now, and she didn't see anything new, just had garnered a deeper insight into the greed of mankind. What she hadn't seen, was any sign of Pappy's energy here. She could do one more thing.

  She carried on into the lawyer's office where she had seen his energy right after the reading of the will. Standing in her own memory with the wisps of Pappy right in front of her, Shay couldn't resist.

  She took a deep breath and jumped into her Pappy's energy. Opening her eyes, she surveyed the location. Pappy was speaking with his lawyer, not Bernice's.

  The conversation moved on around her. Dimly, Shay felt the emotion running through Pappy over the discussion he was having with the lawyer. The discussion was intense, but neither man appeared upset. In fact, they seemed to be hammering out the details of something.

  Pappy's business. Not hers. Always mindful of personal boundaries and ethics in a position that gave her greater awareness than she would be privy to in any other way, she tuned out of the conversation and studied the energy pouring off the lawyer. He appeared concerned, yet caring. His heart chakra was engaged, so he cared about Pappy and understood what the man wanted to do. Good.

  She studied his chakras more closely and realized the lawyer had issues in the very root of the first chakra. She sighed as she understood what the problem was. His energy snaked forward and around Pappy, sliding out the doorway toward the receptionist, where it hooked into her first and fourth chakra. The lawyer was having an affair with her. And she was in love with him. As Shay studied the chakras involved, she realized there was no joy to be had there. She was in love, or believed herself to be, and he was only in lust. She saw that he'd had affairs with the last three women who'd sat in her chair.

  Damn. And he was married. With kids.

  The receptionist's energy wrapped around the lawyer's body, and there was just way too much of it sitting on the desk. It made Shay shudder, and she forcibly tried to put it out of her mind. Yet again, she found herself in a situation where she didn't really want to see this stuff – unfortunately people left traces of every action, including a hump and bump on the desk.

  Her opinion of the lawyer dropped several notches. He might care about Pappy's wishes, but he sure as hell didn't take his business sense into his personal life.

  Too bad. Now he had an icky look to him. She was afraid she would even have trouble shaking his hand. He wasn't her lawyer, thank heavens. She'd have a hard time if he were. She'd like to think morals and ethics were a personality trait and not a business asset, to only be used in one area of a person's life. Still, he wasn't embezzling funds – that she could see. Or attacking vulnerable old men.

  She shuddered again and stretched as far away from Pappy's energy as she could for a better view of the rest of the office. She didn't have a very far leash in this case, but she had enough to stand at the doorway and study the other occupa
nts.

  On the other side of the room, Bernice's lawyer was on the phone. The energy drifting around the partially open doorway told Shay that he was trying to change an appointment he'd made with his wife. Good enough. All in all, the energy she saw was normal people stuff. Nothing excessive or dangerous.

  Nothing more negative than she’d find in any group of normal people.

  She watched as Pappy stopped to say hello to the lawyers' office receptionist. Her energy was warm and caring, same as the lawyer's. Interesting. Still Pappy was a loveable soul. Shay hadn't really expected anything else. He walked out to the hallway and pulled out his phone. She heard his phone call to her.