Blinded

by Teyla Branton

  “No way. Not worth it.”

  I couldn’t imagine it ever happening, either, but in my line of work, it might not be all that bad to have a mobster on speed dial.

  My line of work. I reached out to touch one of the toy horses on display. I knew it contained an imprint of a little girl receiving the horse from her grandmother, followed by fading imprints of the grandmother playing with it as a child and receiving the toy from her own grandmother. After those, there were only feelings of satisfaction that I imagined must have come from the original owner. Together, the imprints told a story of love, of family, of continuity.

  At this moment, however, it was simply a nice antique horse.

  I choked back a sob, biting my lip hard so the tears wouldn’t fall. My head pounded and I fought another bout of dizziness.

  “What’s this I’m hearing?” Tawnia emerged from behind one of the new shelves I’d installed last month to hold crockery, a dust rag in hand. Destiny was in a front-facing carrier strapped to her chest, and the baby held one of my antique toy soldiers. “You gave that monster your phone number?”

  Withdrawing from the toy horse, I shoved my hand in my pocket before she could see I was shaking. Or maybe my hand wasn’t shaking. Maybe that was the dizziness.

  “He’ll need to reach me. I can always change it.” I smiled at the baby. “Hi, sweetie, did you miss me?” Destiny held out her arms, begging for me to rescue her. I loved that baby.

  Tawnia ignored her daughter’s efforts to escape the carrier. “Look, I made an appointment at my doctor’s for you. He didn’t have any openings, but the nurse will look at your ears.”

  “I can’t afford it.”

  “You’re going anyway. I’ll pay.” Her eyes narrowed as she dared me to contradict her.

  Before I could respond, a tinkling of the electronic bell above my doorway signaled a customer. No, not a customer, but Shannon and Paige.

  My stomach flip-flopped to see Shannon. He strode purposefully across the room with sure, compact movements. Funny how just seeing him could still do that to me.

  I glanced at Peirce, but he shook his head.

  “I called him,” Tawnia said.

  “I was coming anyway.” Shannon slipped an arm around me. “No one there saw anything useful.”

  Jake didn’t seem outwardly bothered by Shannon’s show of affection, though I wished he would return to his own store. But maybe he figured he wasn’t needed there since Tawnia was in my shop cleaning instead of helping at his register as she often did during rushes.

  “How are you feeling?” Shannon added.

  “That depends on whether or not you brought my antiques.” Saying it helped keep me from weeping at the loss of my ability. Why had I never realized how much was hidden from the ordinary person? They had no clue—I’d had no clue. Until it was gone.

  Paige laughed. “I told you she’d say that, didn’t I?” She brought out my blue grocery bag from behind her back, obviously empty. “Well, someone had taken the music box from your bag, so that’s gone, but even though a woman tried to get someone to sell them to her, we got the two larger pieces. They’re in the truck, and we actually got them at a discount after what happened.”

  “My partner might have implied that they were evidence.” Shannon shook his head.

  If I had anything close to a best friend after my sister Tawnia and Jake, Paige was it. “Thanks,” I said, taking the bag. The loss of the music box hurt, but right now it would only serve as a reminder that I couldn’t read imprints.

  “So what did Russo want?” Shannon asked, telling me that Tawnia had filled him in on that score.

  I detailed the lunch and our conversation, with Jake and Peirce inserting comments every so often. I didn’t mention to Shannon that I couldn’t read imprints, and no one else did either, though Tawnia kept nodding her head significantly at him each time I looked her way.

  “I find it very interesting that this JoAnna Hamilton was at the estate sale,” Paige said, whipping out her phone. “I’ll get someone working on that angle right away. We need to talk to her as soon as possible.”

  “She has to be responsible,” Tawnia agreed. “I bet she’s heard about Autumn and knows she’ll be exposed when Autumn reads the contract.”

  Shannon frowned. “It could just as well be someone in Russo’s organization. They’d be much more likely to know about Autumn’s ability, and those people always have a lot to hide. If Russo had everyone involved in the contract handwrite a portion of it—including his own people—maybe it’s not the competition he’s actually testing.”

  “But Hamilton obviously followed Autumn,” Paige countered. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

  My sister’s anxiety was growing with each point of discussion. Finally, she interrupted. “That’s all fine and good, but you know what? Autumn has to go see the nurse about her ears. Her appointment is in fifteen minutes. And someone will need to take her.”

  “My ears are fine.” I was still dizzy and nauseated, and my headache had returned in force, but I could hear well enough.

  Tawnia glared. “She might find something.”

  “I think you should go,” Shannon said. “I’ll take you.” He glanced at Paige, who nodded in agreement.

  “I’ll head over to the next estate sale while you drive her there,” Paige said. “Peirce and Delaney can drop me off at the station for my car. We can meet up after.”

  “I’ll get the department to pay since you were hurt on the job.” Shannon’s gaze shifted back to my sister. “Can you text me the address of the doctor’s office?”

  I knew they weren’t going to let up, and besides, I did want to know if there might be a physical reason for my inability to read imprints. A reason besides being wrapped up in a rug with a horrifying memory—and nearly burning to death.

  I handed Destiny the blue grocery bag, and she grinned as if I’d given her the most fascinating toy of the century. She loved magazines, too, but we had to be vigilant about her ripping off and swallowing tiny pieces.

  “Jake?” came a soft voice from the other side of the room.

  We all looked toward the adjoining doors of the Herb Shoppe to see Jazzy Storm waving at Jake. The teenager still had the blue hair she’d sported when we first met, but the attorney she now lived with had nixed the nose ring and bought her clothes that covered a bit more of her body. “A customer has a question about a new line of herbs. Thera sent me to get you. We’re kind of busy.”

  “Sure, thanks.” With a worried look at me, Jake hurried off.

  “Well, let’s go.” Shannon’s hand pressed against the small of my back.

  We were nearly to the door when Jazzy, who was still hovering near the doorway, came scooting over, her face drawn. “Uh, Autumn, before you go, could I talk to you for a minute?”

  I glanced toward the Herb Shoppe and saw that while they were busy, the line at the register wasn’t as long as she’d implied. “Sure.”

  “She has to go to the doctor right now,” Tawnia put in.

  I shrugged. “I have at least a minute.”

  “I promise it won’t take long.” Jazzy glanced at my sister and then at the police officers. “But could I talk to you alone?”

  What had the girl done now? The last time she’d pulled me aside, she’d been caught shoplifting CDs from the shop next door, and the owner had given her two days to pay for the music before he pressed charges.

  “Let’s go outside,” I said, ignoring the others, who were exchanging pointed glances. To Shannon, I added, “I’ll meet you at the truck.”

  “I guess we might as well unload your stuff then.” Shannon held up a hand to prevent Tawnia’s protest. “It’ll only take a few minutes. I promise, I’ll get her to your doctor’s on time.” He motioned to his partner and the other officers.

  Outside, the sun felt bright and clean and full after the emptiness of my suddenly imprint-free shop. The heat spread from my bare feet to my entire body. I waited until we
put a few yards of sidewalk behind us.

  “Okay, what’s up?”

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Jazzy said, “but it’s not me. It’s Claire.”

  This took me by surprise and my step faltered. “What’s going on?” Claire Philpot, the attorney who fostered Jazzy, was a poised, wealthy, accomplished woman, who seemed very much in control of her life.

  “She’s sad.” Jazzy scrunched a brow that was in desperate need of plucking, though it was hard to tell under the thick layer of makeup. “I mean, she tries not to show it and all, but I can tell. It’s something about her husband. I hear her crying sometimes. And I overheard her defending herself and her husband on at least two phone calls.”

  Claire’s husband had also been an attorney, but he’d died years ago of a heart attack. He’d been posthumously accused of misusing a client’s funds. Claire maintained his innocence, but the details of what really happened had never been uncovered. Paige told me once that Claire had looked into the matter at the time of her husband’s death, but she’d found no evidence to exonerate him.

  “I think it involves a lawsuit.” Jazzy looked up at me, her blue eyes earnest. “Can you help her?”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want my help. I am, after all, a little . . . uh, strange. If she wants my help, she knows where I work. I do owe her a favor.” Claire had helped me out on the same case that had introduced me to Russo. I actually owed her two favors now, the second for taking in Jazzy, though I wouldn’t admit as much to the girl.

  “She won’t ask for help,” Jazzy protested. “She thinks she can do everything alone, and she doesn’t like to air her business.”

  “Exactly my point.” I rubbed the pounding in my right temple. Behind us, Shannon and Peirce entered my shop, hefting the rolltop desk, while Paige and Delaney carried the mirror.

  I stopped walking, not wanting to add any more steps that I’d have to retrace to Shannon’s truck later. “Claire’s a bright woman and a great attorney. If she really needs me, she’ll make the decision to ask for help.”

  Jazzy’s words rushed on. “I think if you talked to her, she’d ask a lot sooner. I’ve told her tons about you and what you do. At first she didn’t believe, but she already liked you from the other times you’ve met, and you have a way of getting people to talk to you. You know, like I talked to you about my mother and my grandfather . . . the drinking . . . and what they did to me. Why I ran away.”

  “Okay, I’ll make it a point to talk to Claire.” Not that I could help with my ability gone, but it wasn’t like the tough, self-centered Jazzy to be so concerned—and that meant something probably was going on with her benefactor.

  The tenseness in Jazzy’s face relaxed. “Thanks so much.” She glanced behind us at the door to the Herb Shoppe. “Well, I’d better get back inside. See you later.”

  A slow whistle drew my attention. “Want a ride?” Shannon and his blue truck had pulled up in the street next to the car parked between us at the curb. Traffic diverted around him, some honking their horns.

  I waved him forward to an empty parking space. “That was fast,” I said, opening the door and climbing inside.

  “Your sister is kind of insistent.”

  “She doesn’t like being late for anything. I don’t see what the big deal is since they’ll make us wait fifteen minutes once we get there anyway.”

  Shannon laughed. “It’s because of people like you that they schedule patients early.”

  “The old chicken or the egg argument. Which came first? Who cares? Anyway, I don’t even want to go to the doctor. Or the nurse.” There was a note in my voice that said I was lying, but Shannon didn’t call me on it. Neither did he pull out into traffic.

  He took my hand in his warm one, the slight roughness of his skin sending a shiver of awareness through my veins. “What’s going on?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean what’s going on with you? There’s something, isn’t there?”

  Once, I would have scoffed and told him to mind his own business, but I couldn’t exactly do that now that we were dating. Except I didn’t want Shannon to know about the imprints just yet. I didn’t want him to exclude me from the job or to coddle me. Keeping it from him was silly, given that Peirce Elvey would likely mention it at some point, but I would do it anyway. For now. At the same time, his knowing there was something wrong, despite all the time we’d been separated in the past five months, meant that our relationship was as strong as ever.

  I moved into his arms. “Nothing this won’t solve.” I wasn’t good at prevarication, but I was good at distraction. I kissed him, and he lost no time in kissing me back. Even the fact that I’d been blinded, that I wasn’t all there, didn’t seem to matter for that moment. His arms tightened around me and our kiss deepened. It was the kind of kiss women dream about. The kind that reaches to the tips of your fingers and toes. That sends fire licking down your skin and makes you understand why people get married and stay married. That feeling didn’t come along with just anyone.

  A banging on the half-open truck window startled both of us. We looked over to see Tawnia, with Destiny still hanging in her carrier. “You’ve got only seven minutes now. Can’t you do that later?”

  Chuckling, Shannon put the truck into gear. I waved at Destiny as we drove away.

  We were late enough to the appointment that we only had to wait five minutes before the nurse saw us. “So what happened?” she asked. To her credit, she barely glanced at my bare feet.

  “I was near some gunshots without earplugs,” I said. That much was true, and she didn’t need to know the rest. If I told her about the explosion, she’d likely send me to the hospital to check for a concussion, since the doctor was booked. No way could I afford that.

  “Do your ears feel full? Is there a ringing sound?”

  “No. Well, maybe a little ringing. Mostly I’m dizzy and nauseated. Less now than before. I ate something so maybe that helped.”

  “What about a headache?”

  I nodded.

  “But you hear just fine?”

  “Yes.”

  “Any other symptoms?”

  “No.” I couldn’t exactly tell her that I could no longer read imprints.

  She typed a few details on a small computer and then began examining my ears. “Does this hurt?” she asked several times. Each time I said no.

  Eventually, she sat down and looked at me. “I can’t find anything wrong with your ears, or indication of another problem. I’m not sure why you have a headache or the nausea. It may be that you need rest, but it could be totally unrelated to the noise. My recommendation is that you see your doctor. Maybe even an ear, nose, and throat specialist, especially if your ear begins to feel full or congested. When there’s no sign of ear damage or infection, sometimes that can indicate something more serious. Without further examination and tests, which I’m not qualified to do, I can only tell you that your eardrums are not broken and there appears to be no reason for the symptoms you’re experiencing. However, it may be that your body is reacting to some trauma, and in a couple of days it’ll clear up on its own.” She repeated her recommendation to make an appointment with the doctor on my way out, and also gave us a list of warning signs that should send me to the emergency room.

  I didn’t make an appointment.

  “That was a waste of time,” I said as we headed for the truck.

  “Well, you do have symptoms.” Shannon opened the door for me.

  “I was in an explosion, so a headache is natural. Like everyone keeps saying, I probably just need to rest.” I had no idea about the nausea, which had come back in full force after leaving the examination room. As Shannon shut the door, I laid my head against the seat. I didn’t typically take over-the-counter headache medicines, preferring more natural means, but I was probably going to cave in. My sister would be proud.

  Shannon drove me back to my shop, and I didn’t protest. Though I wanted to go with him to the second est
ate sale, I was far more interested in learning more about JoAnna Hamilton. I knew Paige wouldn’t be able to pass along any information about her soon, so that left the Internet. Besides, if I went with Shannon, I might lose my lunch. In fact, if I moved too much at all, I might lose it.

  “Peirce is going to be outside your shop,” he said as he pulled up to the curb. “With Russo and that Hamilton lady mixed up in this, we can’t risk someone taking a second stab at you.”

  “Aw, don’t make him stay out there. It’s hot out.”

  “It’s only May. He’ll be fine.”

  “You’re going to cost me my one friend on the force.”

  “I thought you and Paige were tight.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  He caught my hand. “I’ll come back when I’m off work. We have a dinner date, remember?”

  “Call me first. I’d better see how I feel.” There were two of him now.

  He snorted. “Take something for that headache, would you? Do you need me to walk you in?”

  “No. Definitely not.” To prove it to him, I jumped out of the truck. I held my posture straight until he drove away.

  It was then I noticed the police car parked across the wide street outside Smokey’s, and several cars down from that sat a black BMW that sported a few noticeable dings. I’d seen the car before, and I was pretty sure I recognized the scrawny blond figure hunched over the wheel: Ace, a former police officer turned private detective, a man Russo had hired in the past. I was glad Shannon hadn’t seen him because the two men didn’t get along. Ace, whose last name I’d never learned, hadn’t been around much since almost dying in our last encounter with Russo. I’d even wondered if he’d left the business. Apparently not.

  And apparently Russo wasn’t the trusting sort.

  I wondered if the old lady had a representative out there somewhere as well, and what that person might be willing to do to follow orders.

  Sighing, I walked into my store. Limped, really, though it wasn’t my leg or foot that hurt so much as my entire body. Inside Autumn’s Antiques, I still felt no buzzing of imprints. Only a ringing in my ears that I couldn’t completely attribute to the electronic bell above my door.