Chapter 20
Megan was trying very hard not to think about what gossip might be flying around Moonstone Cove High School as she sat in her car, waiting on Drew Bisset to arrive at the police department’s vehicle impound.
The truck was parked inside a warehouse that sat on the edge of town between an agricultural chemical storage yard and a truck depot. The chain link was topped by coils of barbed wire, and a thick chain held the gate closed. Twin cameras pointed at the driveway; Megan tried to ignore them as Drew arrived and hopped out of his Jeep to unlock the gate.
Adam’s mom. Adam and Cami. Beth and Ethan. They were all on one campus, and even though Nico had said he’d have a talk with his children about keeping things to themselves, she had no idea how reliable that was. Beth? Beth reminded her a lot of Trina. She’d probably be fine. But Ethan?
God help her.
Her kids were gonna find out about her and Nico. And it wasn’t like they all hadn’t poked and prodded Megan to date again, but there was dating and then there was dating someone they knew. Who had kids they knew.
She covered her hands with her face. “Why is life so messy?”
Katherine asked, “What happened?”
Katherine had taken the afternoon off work so she could see if anything in the warehouse triggered a vision. Toni had stayed home. She was starting to have Braxton-Hicks contractions every afternoon. Val had left Sully at the hotel and joined them to “read” the truck.
“I maybe a little bit slept with Nico.”
“Wait, for the first time? I thought you guys were already a thing,” Val said from the back seat. “You definitely have that vibe.”
“No, I mean, we flirted a lot when we first met, but then I was working with him and he was a giant pain in the ass.”
“Probably because he was trying to remain professional,” Val said. “Men are weird.”
“That’s what he said!” Megan slapped her knee. “So I was kind of turned off. But not really because… sweet Lord, that man just does it for me. Even when he’s being an ass, I want to kiss him.”
Katherine said, “I would say your physical chemistry is quite potent.”
Drew waved at them from the gate and motioned them through. Megan started her car and pulled forward. “After our dinner last night, I stayed at his place and his kids weren’t home, so one thing led to another…”
“I love those kind of hookups,” Val said. “They always make me feel all spontaneous and sexy.”
Katherine smiled. “I never had that kind of… hookup. I’m a planner.”
Megan pulled next to a faded Chevy sedan and stopped the car. “But then his kids came home early this morning and maybe they caught us—we were not naked!” She saw Drew approaching in the rearview mirror and quickly blurted out the rest. “But they clearly got the idea and now those kids are at the same school as my kids and I am severely worried about them all keeping their mouths shut and Drew is here so we can’t talk about this anymore.”
The detective tapped on the window and Megan rolled it down.
“Yes?”
“Something more interesting than solving a murder going on?”
Katherine craned her neck around Megan. “Define interesting.”
“We’re done!” Megan put on her “everything’s fine” voice and opened the car door. “We’re good. Just discussing… Toni.”
“Toni?” Katherine asked.
“Yes, and her contractions,” Val said. “We were debating whether she’s going to end up delivering early. She’s only two weeks out at this point.”
Drew nodded. “Yeah, she could be anytime then. My wife was three weeks early with the girls, but they’re twins and twins are usually early, so we were expecting that.”
“And Toni could be early because she’s carrying Henry’s giant offspring. And we were discussing that,” Megan said. “Which was interesting.”
Drew looked from one innocent face to the next with an expression set between “sick of your bullshit” and “losing patience fast.”
“I don’t believe any of y’all,” he said. “Will you get out of the car and come do your psychic thing with this truck? Or should we just go home now?”
“Sure. Fine.”
“Of course.”
Detective Bisset had clearly not had enough coffee yet.
“Calling us liars…,” Val mumbled. “I’m doing you a favor here.”
“Let’s get one thing straight.” Drew turned and faced them. “Don’t pretend you’re doing me a favor. Your focus is on finding Nico and Henry’s grapevines. You would have no interest in this murder otherwise. So please stop acting like this is some public service and you’re being oh so generous with your time and attention.”
He turned to continue walking, but Megan put a hand on his arm, stopping him.
“What?” he said.
“You’re irritated with us, and I think it maybe has to do with us not being up front about our psychic abilities before now. And that’s understandable. We should have trusted you. But speaking for myself and Katherine—I can’t speak for Val—we really are still figuring all this stuff as we go.”
Katherine nodded. “That is very accurate.”
“I can barely move a beer bottle,” Megan said. “That trick I did last night? That’s like my most sophisticated thing. Moving a bottle or a glass. I can’t catch someone in midair or pick a lock or anything really cool. Maybe I’ll be able to someday. Hell, I’d love to fold a load of laundry with my brain. Or do the dishes. Wash the toilet. But so far I can kind of only use it as a blunt instrument. And blunt instruments have limited uses. Plus I haven’t even told my kids yet, so was I hesitant to tell you? Of course I was.”
Drew didn’t budge. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Katherine. “What about your visions?”
“My visions are so unpredictable that they’re nearly useless too.” Katherine looked disappointed. “I’m working on it, but they’re very in the moment. They happen more when my adrenaline is high, I do know that. But I’ve told you all the ones that had anything to do with crimes.” She frowned. “At least I think I have.”
Val stepped forward. “I don’t know you, but you seem like a decent detective. Even so, you have to admit that the police don’t have the best track record of listening to women with psychic abilities. You and I both know that. Cut these gals a little slack. It takes a while to get used to all this stuff.”
Drew seemed slightly mollified. “Fine.”
“Good,” Val said. “Now that we’re all friends again, can we go take a look at this truck? I’d like to get a read on it before I get any hungrier.”
Val got in the driver’s seat first. She put her ungloved hands on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. “Panic. He wasn’t expecting this. None of this is going like he expected. It’s gotten completely out of hand.”
Drew was standing near Val with his pen and notebook out. “Male driver. Did he plan it?”