Chapter 41

 

Tarot

 

 

WHEN I OPENED the door, I was surprised to see Ava Rhodes standing on my doorstep. The moment our eyes met, I saw turmoil in hers and felt a rush of apprehension.

“Hey,” I said, eyeballing her purse. She held it close, like she was afraid to let it go, with her hand inside. “What’s up?”

“We need to talk. Can I come in?” she asked in a shaky voice.

I stood back, letting her in. As she stepped into the foyer, I felt an incredible urge to grab her handbag. One so strong that I couldn’t ignore it.

“Hey!” she hollered, as I yanked it from her and slammed the door shut. “Give me that back!”

I blocked her from leaving and opened up the purse. Inside I found a revolver. I pulled it out and looked at her.

“What in the hell were you planning on doing with this?” I snapped.

“It’s for protection,” she said, looking guilty as hell.

I checked the gun and noticed that it was loaded. “Why do you think you need protection from me?”

“I didn’t think anything like that,” she said, not looking in my eyes directly.

She lied.

“Sit down,” I ordered, nodding to the sofa.

Ava didn’t move.

“Sit down!” I snapped.

She flinched and then quickly did what I asked.

I pulled out her wallet and looked at her license. Her name was definitely Ava Rhodes and she lived in Miami, Florida. What I didn’t understand was why she was in my house with a loaded gun. I’d never met the woman before Hollywood had introduced us.

“You just called Peyton about looking at a house. I overheard her tell you that she was leaving to take Ruby to her dance class. So, you are obviously here to see me,” I deduced out loud, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

She didn’t say anything.

I sighed. “This has something to do with Blade, doesn’t it?”

Her eyes gave away that it did. “Blade?” she repeated, as if it was the first time she’d heard the name.

I began pacing back and forth in front of the sofa. “Yes. You’re here because of him.” I stopped. “Why?”

She bit her lower lip but remained quiet.

“Who is he to you?”

Her eyes filled with tears and she looked away.

“Ava, believe it or not, I want to help you,” I said, not seeing a killer, but a broken woman on my sofa. “Tell me, why are you here?”

Ava looked up at me again. “You killed him,” she said hoarsely. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she screamed at me, “He was my brother! The only blood relative who meant something to me… and you fucking killed him!”

I was stunned. I certainly hadn’t seen that coming. I’d thought that maybe the two had been dating or married, and that she was a grieving widow.

“He didn’t have a sister,” I replied.

“Yes, he did. Andrew Bordellini was my brother, you asshole. My half-brother.”

Still, my gut told me I was right. The man named Blade had no family. Nobody alive, at least.

“That man wasn’t your brother,” I said firmly.

Ava stood up. “He was. We had the same mother,” she said, tears continuing to stream down her cheeks. “A bad one at that. But we were blood-related.”

More information started coming at me out of nowhere. “Your mother just died,” I said, staring off ahead as visions flashed before my eyes. I could almost picture the woman. “She… had an addiction. But, she’s free of it now.”

Ava stared at me, her mouth open.

I looked at her again and smiled grimly. “I don’t know if Hollywood told you, but I’m psychic. I get these… visions. Recently, it’s been more than that. It’s like the dead are trying to send me messages.”

She looked at me like I was crazy.

“Your mother… she’s with us right now,” I said, sensing her presence in the room. Images began flipping through my brain, like an album of memories. I could see her mother doing drugs and drinking to the point of passing out. This was followed by a deep sadness that washed over me. “She’s sorry for what she put you through.”

“What?”

“She was weak. She felt so ashamed,” I said, as more images were shown to me. I saw Ava as a child, frightened and scared. Someone… a man… put his hands on her and forced her to…

Angry at what I knew had taken place, I shook my head to clear my mind of the sick images. It was horrible, but it also gave me an insight on the woman who’d come to shoot me.

“Ava,” I said softly. “You weren’t ever going to shoot me.”

She swiped at her tears but didn’t say anything.

“Andrew is dead,” I said as another spirit called my attention. “But, I didn’t kill him. In fact, the man named Blade, wasn’t your brother. He was actually… his murderer.”