Jared now understood why people dreaded Mondays. When the beginning of the week rolled around, their work separated him and Jody for nine long, grueling hours a day. Luckily, a few weeks ago, he’d been able to convince her to move in with him. Who am I kidding? I got down on my knees and begged her to share our living arrangements.
As usual, they were sitting at his favorite spot in the house. He faced her on the couch, and she faced him, their blue jean clad legs entangled somewhere in the middle. Jared had propped himself up on his side of the sofa, reading the paper on his tablet. Jody sat directly across from him, reading what she called an important, completely necessary piece of literature for women called The Mighty Highlander.
When her foot casually rubbed his thigh, he couldn’t contain his smile. Jody had no idea she did it, which made the tender gesture all the more special. Even unconsciously, they felt the need to reach out to each other in one way or another.
Looking over his tablet, Jared recognized that the current book had transported Jody off to some other world. All but swooning, she tightly clutched her shirt over her heart. Remembering the reaction this particular novel received when they were in the bookstore, left him chuckling under his breath. She’d literally fanned herself, blaming her flushed appearance on the romance and not the smut.
Every moment he’d spent with her proved to be precious. Even times like this when they wound up doing their separate things, they always ended up on this couch together. He’d promised himself never to take this feeling of togetherness for granted. Far too many empty years had passed him by, making him acutely aware of the importance of their relationship.
His gaze roamed up the wall behind her and landed on the portrait responsible for bringing them together. Solitude. They’d come so far since that first night. They were now so deeply ingrained in each other that if one of them were taken out of the equation, the other didn’t have a chance in hell of surviving. They’d quickly become each other’s lifeline.
During his investigations, he’d recently found himself in dangerous situations. Threats to his safety weren’t anything new or out of the ordinary by any means. But since Jody had become a part of his life, his approach to that aspect of his career had changed dramatically. Instead of going out on a case without thought and guns blazing, as had been the norm in the past, he now thought of Jody and backed away from the danger. The thrill-seeking cowboy in him had disappeared forever. With this extraordinary woman in the forefront of his mind, he preferred to choose a more practical approach to his work. Over the course of these last few months, she’d become too important to him to let her down by not being more careful and potentially not coming home to her. She’d become that little piece of sanity in his mind and the determining factor in many, if not all, of his decisions these days. He liked that fact very much.
Over the past few months, he’d witnessed firsthand how Jody’s gifts had grown since Fiona had come and gone from her life. The evolution she’d initially feared and spoken of early on in their union had finally made itself known. He thanked his lucky stars it hadn’t been truly tested yet. They simply weren’t ready. He knew in the back of his mind, though, it would only be a matter of time before the new ability became a factor in their lives.
Somehow, Jody had learned to embrace her ramped up spiritual gifts instead of fear them. She’d managed to come to terms with knowing something big would happen one day that would demand her participation. Accepting that fact without reservation, she’d told him time and time again, her fear was suppressed because of his offered help. ‘Together we can fight any battle and come out alive.’ Jared had replayed her words in his mind a thousand times, and they still carried both joy and terror. He wished he shared in her confidence.
Initially, her new gift had been so foreign she’d had to look it up to see what to call it. Psychometry. The word rolled through Jared’s mind. Ever since little Fiona had jumped into her body, she’d felt as though her empathic abilities had been heightened as well.
The empathic abilities didn’t surprise him in the least. To some degree, he believed they’d probably been there from the beginning and just hadn’t been as strong or well developed. Psychometry, on the other hand, totally wigged him out.
On more than one occasion, he’d feared for her safety when other people’s emotions snuck up on her and hijacked her body. She’d had to learn not to touch anything belonging to someone she didn’t know. Even something as inane as picking up a stranger’s accidentally dropped car keys had proven to be catastrophic. Depending on what was going on in the owner’s life, Jody would become overwrought with emotion. Many times, she wasn’t able to break the spell of being up close and personal in that person’s experiences. Those occurrences left her completely overwhelmed. When they found themselves out in public, he stayed close to her for the simple reason that she may need to be reined in.
As soon as she realized objects held in her hand provided her with the owner’s life story, he worried constantly. Psychometry couldn’t make the distinction between an innocent baby or someone who sported a more nefarious nature. The thought of her accidentally touching something which would unwillingly lure her into the life of a dangerous person, such as a criminal or serial killer, scared him shitless.
To get them both more comfortable with this new ability, Jared made sure they worked on conquering the mechanics of the psychometry together on a daily basis. Practice made perfect. They’d devised some exercises which facilitated not only reliability of the new gift but protection as well. When the time presented itself to act, he hoped it would be second nature for her to listen to his voice and use his strength. The only way to keep her safe would be for him to guide her through the process.
Through trial and error, they’d found the bookstore a great place to practice psychometry and used that method of exercise often. When she picked out books to read in this manner, she’d get a quick and safe insight into how accurate her impressions had been.
Sometimes they spent hours in the bookstore for her to choose just the right read, as she called it. Before entering the store, she would blindfold herself with a scarf. Jody wanted to touch the spines of the books, feel them without being influenced by the cover or blurb. Needless to say, the peculiarity of her actions ended up drawing the attention of other shoppers. While most people moved quickly out of the way, there were some that curiosity got the best of. That’s how they’d met Greta, an aging woman that dressed as if she belonged in the fifties and wore enough perfume to anesthetize an elephant.
“Oh, dear heart, have you injured yourself? Can I help you, child?”
Unaccustomed to dealing with little old women, Jared moved protectively to Jody’s side and answered to avoid any further attention. “That won’t be necessary, ma’am. We’ll just move out of your way and you can continue shopping.”
“Pfft.” An aged hand flew into the air. “Name’s Greta, son. I’m old enough already without being called ma’am. You’re sure a strapping young boy.”
Blindfold still in place, Jody’s laughter rang through the store while Jared couldn’t help but beam at the compliment.
Pulling the scarf down to her neck, Jody surprised Jared when she held her hand out to the old woman. He started to step forward but she winked at him to let him know she had the situation under control. Greta appeared to be at the very least ninety years old. Jared wasn’t sure if that would prove difficult for Jody and her gift or not.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Greta. I’m Jody and this is Jared.” Even at Jody’s petite height of five-foot, two inches, she had to bend down to the older woman. “He is strapping, and he’s all mine.”
Greta cupped her ear. “What’s that, dear? I’m a little hard of hearing.”
Jody straightened and wrapped her arm around Jared’s speaking loud enough to be heard throughout their aisle. “I said, I’m one lucky woman, Greta.”
The old woman nodded as a smile filled with sunshine lit her face. “S
o tell me, dear, what is it you are doing with a scarf around your eyes when you’re in a bookstore? I can’t for the life of me figure it out.”
Jared enjoyed watching the interaction between the two women. The old gal reminded him of his grandmother.
“Well, I’ll tell you, Greta. I’m an avid reader.”
“Amen, sister,” Greta acknowledged.
“But I get overwhelmed looking at all the book covers. Half the time, I end up purchasing a book I don’t want just because of the cover.”
Greta’s lips pursed together. “Yep. I’ve done the same thing myself more times than I can count.”
“This is probably going to sound odd, but I put the scarf on and touch the books. When I come to one that feels right, I hold it tight to my chest to decide if it’s a book I would enjoy.”
Greta perked up. “Well, bless your heart, child. I should have known! You have the gift of touch, too. Normally, I recognize those things right off in people. You poor thing. I know what a tribulation it can be. I’ll say a little prayer for you.” Greta’s unruly eyebrows met in the middle of her face. “I must admit, I’ve never thought of using my touch gift in a bookstore before. That’s brilliant!” The little old woman rested her cane on the shelf and opened her purse. She pulled a bright red scarf from her bag and held it out to Jared.
Not sure what to do, Jared grabbed the fine piece of silk. “Young man, I have a difficult time reaching above my head. Would you fashion the scarf around my eyes like your lovely wife’s was, please?”
Overlooking the wife remark, Jared knew full well, the fragile woman would stumble and felt obliged to confess his misgivings. “Greta, I don’t think it’s safe for you to walk around blindfolded.” She stopped him with a raised finger.
“Harry! Where are you, cupcake? I need you!” Greta’s booming voice moved Jared back a half step. “Go ahead and put the scarf on, dear. My Harry’s a little slow, but he’ll be here in no time at all.”
Just as Jared finished tying the scarf around Greta’s eyes, a man not much taller than her turned the corner. The coke bottle glasses he donned made his eyes look as big as saucers. He wore baby blue polyester pants that were cut like jeans and rode so high Jared couldn’t figure out how the family jewels weren’t crushed.
“Young man! Get your hands off of my woman!” Feeling as though minutes passed before the ancient man made it to Greta’s side, he was clearly prepared to defend his wife. The old geezer’s gumption impressed Jared.
Since being blindfolded, Greta’s hands were held out in front of her, one still grasping her cane. “Harry, stop that nonsense right this minute. This young woman taught me how to pick a book out by using my touch skills. Let’s scoot, old man. I’m excited to get started.”
Harry grabbed Greta’s arm and lead her off. “Take me to them big print books, sweetie.”
Jody pulled Jared into an embrace and giggled into his chest. “That’s going to be us in about sixty years, dear heart.”
Another training method which seemed to work in honing her skills had been bringing items home that belonged to his consenting employees. They’d recorded Jody’s responses and found that she’d been hitting an accuracy level of right around ninety-eight percent. Jared’s interaction with Jody when using this practice method was invaluable. They’d created a process in which Jared guided Jody through and helped her maintain a safe distance from the person’s emotions.
They did anything and everything that could possibly be done to give her an edge. Resulting, hopefully, in keeping Jody from getting lost in the tornado of someone else’s life when touching other people’s things. Unfortunately, because the ability had yet to be tested in a pivotal circumstance, Jared had remained nervous they’d be unprepared when the time did finally arrive. There were just too many variables they couldn’t possibly foresee.
This new gift of Jody’s wasn’t merely harmless images flashing through her mind when she touched an object. Along with seeing the owner’s life story as a movie, she’d feel the owner’s emotions as if they were her own. If that weren’t terrifying enough, she’d also feel that person’s physical pain which scared Jared to death.
When touching an object, she would become lost inside those experiences as if she were a part of that particular event. Sometimes he could pull her back easily and help guide her through what she was seeing. But other times, generally revolving around more traumatic events, she went so deep into a trancelike state that he had difficulty bringing her out of the vision.
Lost in his never-ending doubts, Jared jumped when Jody suddenly sprang off the couch and started pacing. She tightly clutched the book to her chest and continued to read. It quickly became apparent that the author’s adventure had clearly captured Jody’s imagination.
During the time they’d shared with each other, he’d learned that an inventive author could have her so involved in the characters and storyline, she’d be compelled to move around as she read. Her subconscious felt the need to help the characters out of whatever mess they had been written into.
Considering how worked up she seemed to be getting, the author of The Mighty Highlander must have done a good job putting the brazen Highlander hunk and his sassy trollop through the ringer.
Jody’s breathing quickened. She stood in the middle of the room, one hand held the book, the other covered her mouth. Her shocked expression spoke volumes as her eyes grew to the size of saucers and filled with tears. “No,” she cried out animatedly. “No! No! No!” As a sign of her dismay, her head shook with such force whipping those beautiful blonde tresses through the air. The Highlander characters had obviously started to misbehave.
He shifted his weight and got comfortable for the show. His little monkey made everything personal, including a trashy novel.
She held the book at arm’s length, never taking her eyes from the page. “What the hell?” she gushed with pure disgust over the character’s traitorous actions. “That can’t be! You better pull your head out of your ass right now, Aileen, or you’re going to get him killed!” As if the hussy, Aileen, were standing next to her, Jody’s hand shot out for emphasis. “Stupid bitch!”
Jody’s reaction to the misbehaving characters had Jared grinning from ear to ear. He knew for a fact that the Highlander had already established himself as a particularly amorous fellow. He’d even been the grateful recipient of some of the brazen Scotsman’s more outlandish sexual escapades which Jody had enjoyed sharing with him. That being said, the possibility of makeup sex would be coming quite soon in the book. That’s good for me. His grin grew to a full-blown smile.
****
Nathan and Special Agent Jursic jumped from the car and ran into the park. Men from two other vehicles followed their lead. Nathan had been working closely with the FBI on the protective duty detail for Lincoln Spurl and his family. Spurl was a prominent businessman and one of the richest men in the world. There had been recent credible chatter about kidnapping one of their family members for ransom.
Spurl’s daughter, Margaret, had died just a few short months ago. That left the old man, Lincoln, and his wife, Jessie, to care for their granddaughter, Mikala. Starting even before his daughter’s death, Spurl had fought a long legal battle to get Mikala’s biological dad out of the picture.
The lowlife ex-husband had abused the old man’s daughter. The bastard only wanted custody of his granddaughter for the money he would receive from the family on a monthly basis. The ex-husband didn’t care anymore for his own child than he had for Margaret, his wife. They were his income, his paycheck, and nothing more. Spurl had put an end to the loser’s meal ticket and made a dangerous enemy in the process.
The powerful man had contacted Nathan for security purposes six months ago, requesting special guard duty for his family. Now one of his best men, Kane Welter, the granddaughter’s assigned bodyguard, had missed his call-in time and wasn’t answering his phone. Nathan had promptly located him with the GPS set up for all of his bodyguards. Tracking
devices were mandatory for all personnel. In the event something happened to them, and they were out of reach for any length of time, they could be quickly reached.
Sirens could be heard in the distance as the men ran into the park. Dammit! Local cops tended to get pissy when other people moved in to try to take control of a crime scene. Nathan thanked his lucky stars he’d brought a cavalry of feds with him to take the lead should the need arise.
They spotted a group of people gathered around a tree and headed in that direction. As the other agents flashed their badges and tried to move the gawkers aside, Nathan and Jursic were finally able to break through the crowd. They were greeted by an empty stroller and a random bystander frantically doing CPR on Kane.
Nathan bent down and felt for a pulse. Nothing. He was gone. Doing his best to control his panic, he thanked the woman who’d worked so hard to save Kane. To get the good samaritan out of his way as fast as possible, he directed her to speak with the on-scene FBI agents.
Jursic disconnected the call with Mr. Spurl. “The nanny got sick and didn’t come with Kane and the girl to the park. We have people looking for her.” Reviewing the murder/kidnap scene to get a quick snapshot of what had happened, Nathan looked first to the empty stroller and then back at Kane’s body. Jursic knelt beside the corpse to inspect the bodyguard’s wound.
A course of action quickly formed in Nathan’s mind. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, the little girl’s life had been put in grave danger. It didn’t matter if the deed had been done by the kid’s estranged father, the nanny or someone else. Whoever had taken her had no compunction about killing to get to the child.
Nathan needed to act fast. He didn’t care what Jursic and the others thought of him. He’d do what needed to be done to get Mikala back.
Leaning back on his heels, he started urgently speaking to the void above the bodyguard’s corpse. “Kane, I don’t know if you’re still here, but if you can hear me, I need you to come with me. I’m going to talk to someone who should be able to see you and hear you.”
Troubled Spirits Page 20
