CHAPTER 1
Two days ago, I returned home from my vacation to New York City—the city that never sleeps. While there, I’d been threatened, shot at, and kidnapped, so I didn’t get much sleep either. In fact, I still hadn’t recovered.
What was that saying? It’s never a good thing when you need a vacation from your vacation. That was me in a nutshell. My arm ached from a knife wound resulting in twenty-two stitches, but at least it was healing. I couldn’t say that about my state of mind. Those jitters I’d been experiencing, along with the nightmares that haunted my waking hours, hinted that it was time to talk to someone.
Good thing that was already on my agenda. It happened to be a condition of my return to my paid consulting job for the police department. After I’d killed someone—in self-defense—talking to a counselor was standard procedure if I wanted to keep my job.
I knew putting it off would give me a chance to have a much-needed break. But, after the horrible nightmare I’d had last night, I was ready to make the appointment.
Naturally, I put a call through to my partner on the police force, Detective Drew Harris, aka Dimples. I’d missed him and his dimples, and I knew it would do me good to talk to someone who was naturally upbeat and positive.
In fact, Dimples had been there from the beginning, when I got shot in the head at the grocery store during a robbery, and I’d gained my mind-reading ability. With so much going on recently, I hadn’t seen a lot of him, so I looked forward to catching up.
“Shelby!” he answered. “Are you back?”
“Yes I am. How’s it going?”
“Good. Everything’s good. I heard about your investigation in New York. Let me tell you, Chief Winder was real happy that you solved the case for his friend. He was even bragging you up.”
“I’ll bet.” Chief Winder had basically coerced me into helping the NYPD while I’d been on vacation in New York. His friend, Chief Wallace, had a difficult murder case that he’d needed my special help to solve.
Unfortunately, it had nearly gotten me killed. That’s what had given me the nightmares. Well… maybe not just that… having a hit put out on me by a vengeful mob boss was the main reason for my jitters, but, in the end, it was all tied together anyway.
“You’ll have to tell me all about it the next time you come in,” Dimples said. “When do you think that will be?”
“Uh… that’s partly why I’m calling. I need to set up an appointment for counseling. It’s a condition of returning to work.”
“That’s right,” he said, sounding distracted. I heard papers shuffling in the background before he spoke again. “So… you should do that, and maybe give yourself a few weeks before you come back to work. No need to hurry right back, you know?”
The back of my neck tingled. That didn’t sound like the detective I knew. He usually begged me to come in any time I would. “Why? Is something going on?”
“What? No. Not a thing. Just normal stuff. I mean… sure, there’s plenty of work to do, but we’re okay without you for now. I mean… after everything that happened to you in New York, I’m sure you could use a break, right? So you should take your time. There’s no need to hurry back.”
Now I knew something was up. “Okay. Cut the crap. What’s happened?”
Dimples let out a big sigh. “Fine. I guess you were bound to find out sooner or later.”
“Find out what?” My heart skipped a beat. This sounded bad, and I worried that I’d start twitching uncontrollably if he didn’t spit it out. “Do I have to come down there?”
“No. No… sorry. Let me explain. A few weeks ago, a child wandered off from a playground up near the woods. Searchers did everything they could to find her, but came up empty. Daylight was running out, so the little girl’s grandmother brought in an outside expert to help. Within a few hours, the expert told them where to look, and the child was found, safe and sound.”
“Okay… so what does that have to do with anything?”
“Well… that’s the weird part. This expert person… well… she claims to be a psychic, and that’s how she found the little girl. So… since you’ve been gone… and you need to be cleared to work again, she’s uh… kind of taken your place.”
My mind went blank. Of all the things I’d thought he’d say… that was not one of them.
“Shelby? You there?”
“What the hell? Are you serious? Is this some kind of a joke?”
Dimples sighed. “I wish it were. But now that you know, maybe it’s a good thing. You can come in and tell me if she’s the real deal. I have my suspicions about her… but… after knowing you, I guess it’s easier for everyone in the precinct to believe her. I mean… I’m not sold, but she’s got something going on.”
Dimples knew my secret that I could actually read minds. I’d told everyone else in the department that I had premonitions… a psychic ability. Now he was telling me there was another psychic helping the police?
“Okay… but… I don’t get it. First you don’t want me to come in, then you do. So which is it? Is she there now… like on a daily basis?”
“Uh… well… kind of. We got a phone call this morning from a bus driver who stopped for a woman sitting on a bench. When she didn’t move, he realized that she had blood all over her. He thought she was dead, so he called nine-one-one.
“It turned out she wasn’t hurt, but she also wasn’t talking. They took her to the hospital, and she’s been there ever since. The verdict is that she has amnesia. The doctors think it was brought on by whatever she witnessed. The chief called Willow in to see if she could get a reading on the woman. So she’s here helping with the case.”
“Willow? Her name’s Willow?” I shook my head. “Is she some kind of flower child or something?”
“Uh… I don’t know. But if you came in, you’d figure it out pretty fast, right? It’s been kind of strange with her here doing all the stuff you normally do. I have to say, I don’t relate to her very well. She’s nothing like you.”
“So she seems suspicious?” Was that what he meant? Now I couldn’t wait to go in and find out what the heck was going on. Then what he’d said clicked. “Wait a minute… you’re working with her? Like… she’s your partner?” Pain tightened my chest. Had I been replaced?
“Oh… no. Well… not exactly. No one’s been assigned to work with her, but I’m the one who caught the case, so… in a way, I’m working with her. But it’s not at all how you and I work together.”
“Uh-huh.” Now there was no question about it. If she was messing with my partner, she was dead meat. “Listen, I’ll call Leslie Gilman and see if she’s got my counseling approved. If she does, I’ll set up a time and come down. I can meet this Willow person while I’m there.”
“That sounds great.” From the relief in his voice, I knew he meant it. After the shock, it warmed my heart. I told him I’d let him know when I was coming in, and we disconnected.