The Touch

by Lisa Olsen

  Lexi was looking at him like she’d asked him a question and he blinked, trying for the life of him to figure out what it must have been. “I’m sorry, what?” he asked finally.

  “I said, do you want to come up with me while I take a look at her room? Make sure I don’t disturb anything?”

  Gabriel knew he really should get going; there was plenty of work to be done to get the word out everywhere it needed to go about the abduction, but he had a few minutes. Besides, while he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe Lexi could really do everything she said she could, he had to admit, he was curious as hell to find out what she picked up from the little girl’s room. “Alright sure, I’ll come up and watch,” he allowed. “For a few minutes anyway.” Her answering smile made him feel like he’d made the right decision.

  It wasn’t strictly a crime scene since there was no sign that she’d been forcibly abducted, so there was no crime tape securing the room. The inventory that he’d glanced over indicated that none of her clothes were missing; all of her stuffed animals and toys were left behind. Letting Lexi take the lead, he stayed by the door, watching her examine the room.

  “I don’t know where to start. Her DS is still here, she never goes anywhere without that,” Lexi frowned, picking up the small red gamebox.

  “Maybe Neil was in a hurry, didn’t want Allison to know he was taking her?” Ryan supposed aloud. “Or maybe she didn’t think of it when he showed up out of the blue? Hell, maybe he promised to buy her one of the new 3-D ones?” There was no way of knowing until they found her.

  “Yeah maybe,” she sounded less than convinced and he propped himself up against the wall. “I guess I’ll start with this. It could take a while.”

  “Already making excuses, huh?” he grinned, unable to resist needling her just a little bit, she was so cute when she got indignant. But Lexi didn’t rise to the bait, other than to stick her tongue out at him and sit down on the side of the bed. Gabriel noticed that she only took off one glove and took a deep breath, just like she had with his card the day before. While she “looked” into the DS, he watched her expressive face process every little image that came into her mind, trying to guess at what she saw. It was with an almost guilty start that he blinked when her eyes popped open, having been caught watching her, but what else was he supposed to be doing? “Did you get anything?”

  “No, not really. Just a lot of her playing video games. I could have gone back farther, but I’m interested in more recent activity, don’t you think?”

  “Hey, you’re the expert at this, not me,” he waved off the question.

  “But you’re the detective. Shouldn’t I be focusing on more recent memories?” she asked, clearly looking for confirmation.

  “Yes, that sounds like our best bet for now,” he nodded. “You can always dig deeper later if nothing turns up.” Such a reasonable suggestion for such an unusual process… Gabriel still wasn’t sure how much he bought into it all. She’d been spot on with her description of his bedroom that she’d “seen” on his business card, but there could have been a rational explanation for that, couldn’t there?

  “I need something else she has a personal connection with. Something she isn’t so distracted by when she picks it up. I wonder…” she set down the videogame and picked up a brown stuffed bunny that had seen better days. “She used to love this thing, only I don’t know how much she cuddles with it anymore. But sometimes if it’s something they have a strong affinity for, I can get a link to them now.”

  “So, you’re saying you might be able to see where she is right now?” Gabriel fought hard to keep the skepticism from his voice.

  “That’s the idea,” she nodded, taking a deep breath. “Wish me luck.”

  Before he could even open his mouth to wish her anything, she closed her eyes again, hand grasping the matted fur of the stuffed animal’s belly. The same set of emotions crossed her face again, but this time a pucker of worry appeared on her smooth brow. While he watched, her breathing became erratic, brows knitting together.

  “It’s dark where she is…” Lexi murmured; eyes still tightly shut. “There are no windows, no real windows… but there are curtains. There’s a bed, an older brass bed and she’s on it, all alone.” Perhaps without even realizing it, her body started to mimic the pose she described, drawing her knees up to her chest, she huddled against the bed. “I don’t see Neil, or anybody else, but she’s scared. She’s worried that no one will ever come back and she’ll be trapped there forever,” she took a deep shuddering breath.

  Gabriel moved closer, kneeling beside the bed. “Just relax Lexi, can you tell me if she’s in a hotel room? Or is it more like a bedroom? Or a basement? You said it was dark,” he prompted.

  “I can’t tell… it could be a basement. There are ratty old curtains hung up on the walls, only drawings of the outside. Someone is singing…” her head tilted to one side, as if she was straining to hear, “they’re singing a nursery rhyme.”

  “Can you see who’s singing?”

  “No, it’s like they’re in there with her but I can’t see…Go away… she wants them to go away, they’re taunting her with the song.”

  “Who is, Lexi?” Gabriel’s voice was low and steady, trying to help ground her from whatever it was she was experiencing. “Who is singing to her?”

  Instead of replying, Lexi’s voice rose in a quavering soprano. “Take the keys and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up. Take the keys and lock her up, my fair lady…”

  It was enough to send a chill down his spine, and he wondered if he should try and shake her out of it or see what else she could see.

  “Leave her alone!” Her eyes popped open to stare sightlessly ahead, voice rising in terror.

  Gabriel grabbed hold of her shoulders. “Lexi? Snap out of it.” When she didn’t respond, he gave her a little shake. “Alexandra? Hey, come back to me now.” His relief was palpable when her eyes regained their focus and she let go of the stuffed animal. “Are you okay?” He searched her face carefully, heart twisting as she dissolved into tears.

  Lexi nestled her head against his neck, seeking comfort as the tears began to fall. “It was an awful, awful place. We’ve got to find her, Gabriel. Do whatever you have to do, but she’s not with Neil, she’s being held prisoner, I’m sure of it.”

  Wrapping his arms around her in a comforting embrace, Gabriel rubbed her back soothingly but didn’t respond right away. What was he supposed to do, go back to his boss and tell him she had a vision and just knew that Chloe was being held against her will? “Shhh, calm down now, we have to talk about this.”

  “What’s there to talk about? We know that Neil didn’t take her now; that changes everything.” She looked ready to jump up and race into action.

  “Lexi…” he tried for a diplomatic tone, knowing she probably wasn’t gonna have any of it. “We don’t know anything.”

  “But I saw her. I saw her in that room and she’s miserable. There’s no way in hell Neil would do that to her. He might be a bastard, but he wouldn’t lock her away like that.”

  “Do you know that for a fact?” Gabriel countered. “I know what you saw, but we don’t have any idea what the context was. How do you know for sure that’s where she is now? It could have been a nightmare, Lexi,” he said gently. “We are sitting on her bed, she probably sleeps with that bunny; it could have nothing at all to do with what happened to her.” That brought her up short and he was gratified to see she was at least considering what he had to say instead of running off all half cocked. “What do you think is more likely? That she’s being held in a dark room with no windows while people taunt her with nursery rhymes, or that her own father decided to skip town and take her with him?”

  “Kids.”

  “What?”

  “They were kids. Just like she said, there were ghosts of children taunting her in the house,” she said softly and he could see she was still pretty freaked out over what she’d seen.

  He had
to shake her out of it, get her back to the spunky girl he was coming to admire. “That’s an even stronger argument for a nightmare then. Maybe she’s been having bad dreams about ghosts because she thinks this place is haunted?”

  “I thought you said you believed in ghosts?”

  Gabriel let out a long sigh, picking up her gloved hand and covering it with his. “I do. I just don’t think it has anything to do with her disappearance unless it’s the reason why she ran away from home. Besides, if the house really is haunted, why would the ghosts be taunting her wherever she is now?”

  Lexi nodded slowly, and he thought he’d finally gotten through to her. “That’s a good point,” she agreed. “Maybe it really was a bad dream? I guess that explains how scary it all was.”

  “Do you want to try anything else?”

  “What?” she asked absently.

  “Did you want to try touching anything else in here? To get a… reading or whatever you call it?”

  Lexi looked up at him and he was struck by how tired she appeared. There were faint blue smudges under her eyes and she was much paler than normal. Whatever it was she’d done, it had taken a lot out of her. With the streaks of blue in her hair, the silly t-shirt and the clunky boots, she looked a little like a girl playing dress up sitting on the child’s bed, rather than a grown woman, but the overall effect worked for her. “No, I think I’ll try again later. I need a little bit of a break,” she gave him a wan smile. “But you don’t have to stick around; I’ll call you if I come up with anything.”

  “You’re sure?” Gabriel hesitated, not wanting to leave when she was still so rattled, but he felt a little better at seeing her answering smile.

  “I’m sure I don’t need babysitting. You go on and get busy with that detectiving, and I’ll stay here with Allie.”

  Definitely more like the Lexi he knew. “Alright then, I’m gonna take off,” he rose from the bed, surprised when she came with him. He thought she might want to stay in there but she followed him back downstairs. “Ms. Travers?” Ryan called out, back to his usual formality in front of the others. “We’re going to get moving; you have my number if anything comes up, anything at all, no matter now small.”

  Allison nodded, checking her pocket for safekeeping. “I do. Lexi, are you leaving too?”

  “No, I don’t need to go anywhere. I thought I’d just stay here with you.”

  “No, I’ll be alright. I’m going to try and find some better pictures for the police and then I might take a nap. You can go on home,” Allison insisted.

  “Alright, if you’re sure…”

  “Yes, I just need to be alone right now,” Allie replied, and Gabriel shifted a little closer to the door, feeling like an intruder. If she started to cry again…

  “Okay, I’ll take off too then,” Lexi relented. “I can take a look through my stash of pictures too; see if I can get some good ones that I took last Easter.”

  “That’s a good idea; you can email them to me okay?” Allie smiled tiredly.

  “Alright, call me if you need anything. Or nothing,” Lexi gave her a hug and Gabriel took the opportunity to slip out the front door to catch up with Cooper who stood leaning against his car, smoking.

  “Any word yet on the neighborhood search?”

  “Not a peep,” Tim replied, blowing out a plume of smoke and crushing the cigarette on the heel of his shoe to save for later. “So, did your side trip up to the bedroom with your psychic pay off?”

  “Not really, she didn’t get a line on who has her.” Not that she was his psychic exactly.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Cooper sniggered.

  “Yeah Timmy, you caught me out. I always blow off an investigation to sneak off to a secluded bedroom with the hot sister for a little afternoon delight,” Gabriel replied, his voice thick with sarcasm.

  “I would…”

  “That’s why I’m the detective in charge and you will always be my lackey.” Gabriel’s fingers practically itched to hold a cigarette of his own, but he’d been good all day, he was hoping to at least last out until after dinner before he caved and had a smoke.

  “Hey, if you’re not going to partake, do you mind if I take a crack at her?” Cooper’s face turned hopeful.

  “Be my guest.” If he was any judge of character, Lexi would tell Tim to take a flying leap. If he was wrong… well then she probably wasn’t the kind of woman he would really be interested in after all.

  “Sweet… oh here she comes. Just go along with anything I say, okay?” Cooper gave a sly wink.

  Gabriel had no intention of doing any such thing, but he remained silent, trying to play it off like he wasn’t the least bit interested in their conversation.

  Lexi approached with a neutral smile on her face, addressing Gabriel directly. “Listen, I’m glad you two are still here. I was thinking, I have some good, recent pictures of Chloe that might be better for the TV. Is there somewhere I should send them?”

  Gabriel opened his mouth to reply, but Cooper snuck in between them, a cheesy grin on his face. “That would be to me. Why don’t I give you my email and that way we can stay in touch?”

  “Okay, sure,” Lexi looked from one man to the other.

  “Great,” Cooper pulled out his cellphone, “what’s your email and I’ll send you mine?”

  “Ah… okay,” Lexi looked up at Gabriel, whose face remained passive, giving Tim his shot. After just a little bit of hesitation, she gave him her email address. “Also, I was thinking, if you tell your Captain there’s a strong possibility she ran away, that might get him to go ahead with the Amber alert, right?”

  Despite the fact that he’d pretty much already decided on doing that, Gabriel was reluctant to let her think that he was inclined to agree. Especially because he knew that it was more to fuel her own theory about the vision she had and less about Chloe actually running away. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said finally, not wanting to get into an argument with her about it.

  “So, you’re not hanging out here tonight?” Cooper asked.

  “No, Allie wanted to be alone. Honestly, I think maybe she doesn’t want to have to stay strong any more and she didn’t want any of us to see her break down,” her eyes returned to Gabriel’s face and he gave her a sympathetic nod.

  “It’s probably for the best that she gets a little time to herself, I’m sure we’ll be in touch before too long.”

  “Okay, well I’m gonna take off…”

  “Hey before you leave,” Cooper interrupted, taking a step to block her progress. “Any chance you might give me a go with those magic fingers?”

  “Excuse me?” Her brows rose a fraction and Gabriel suppressed a groan over his choice of words.

  “You know, tell my fortune or whatever it is you do with them,” he grinned.

  For a moment it looked like she was going to refuse, but then she tugged off her right glove, keeping it handy in her left. “Alright, give me something personal of yours.”

  Cooper didn’t bat an eye, obviously already prepared for what it was he wanted her to touch. “This should work,” he replied, stepping closer to her and holding up the end of his tie.

  “Okay, now close your eyes, I must have absolute silence,” Lexi instructed him dramatically, eliciting a raised brow from Gabriel over the show of theatrics. She hadn’t done that with him before… After Tim’s eyes were closed, she dropped a quick wink at Gabriel, a brief smile curving her lips before she closed her own eyes, taking in a deep breath. Without realizing it, Gabriel breathed with Lexi, watching her intently as she picked up the tie. “I see you putting the tie on this morning, nice apartment by the way. Don’t they pay you guys enough to have real furniture? I thought I lived simple…” she muttered.

  “I have furniture,” Cooper frowned.

  “I said silence!” Lexi hissed and his mouth snapped shut, drawing an open grin from Gabriel at her tone.

  “And the last time you wore the tie before that…” Lexi’s face flushed scarl
et to the tips of her ears and she dropped the tie like a hot potato. “Whoa… TMI…” she gasped, taking a step backwards.

  “See anything you like?” Cooper grinned like the cat that ate the canary, prompting Gabriel to wonder, what the hell she’d seen?

  “Sorry, I’m not into that,” she shook her head, backing towards her car.

  “What?” Cooper’s hands came up in a supplicating gesture.

  Lexi fixed him with a dark look. “You know exactly what it was you wanted me to see. If you get your jollies playing mistress of pain that’s your business, but I have better things to do right now. Gabriel, I’ll talk to you later.” she stalked off to her car without a backwards glance.

  Gabriel watched her go, “Smooth, Timmy. Real smooth.”

  “What? She’s totally into me…” Cooper gave a half shrug. “I definitely made an impression, right?”

  “Oh yeah, you’re totally delusional,” he chuckled, watching her drive off in that ancient yellow VW bug. It was amazing an old car like that still ran. It sounded like it could use a tune up, but then again, what old car didn’t?

  “Are you sure you shouldn’t recuse yourself from the case?” Tim asked, drawing him from his reverie.

  “Why, because I dated the wife for a few weeks back in high school?” he scoffed. That was no reason not to stay on the case.

  “No, because you’re into the hot sister. Even if she is a total nutjob.”

  “She’s not a nutjob, Cooper.” Gabriel started to walk towards his car, growing tired of the conversation.

  “Hey, I’m not judging; a hot nutjob is still doable.”

  “Cooper…” Gabriel stopped with a heavy sigh, not even sure where he should begin.

  “See, I told you you’re into her,” his grin was a mile wide. “She is kind of a hottie, if you go for that granola crunching, hippie type.”