Chapter 6
Wednesday Morning …
“Excuse me,” asked the plaintive voice of the little boy.
Queenie stopped her words tumbling freely after the woman’s question on a second husband. Queenie looked at the little boy, smiled at him and said, “What’s the matter, little one?”
He pointed at the side of her desk. “Will he bite me?”
She leaned over to take a closer look, not sure what he was talking about, but still couldn’t see anything. She got up from her chair, walked around to crouch down in front of him, and, sure enough, there was the spider she’d been looking for. At least it looked like the same one.
With excitement surging through her belly, she shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s best not to touch him.”
The little boy looked like he really wanted to, but his mom tugged him backward. She smiled at Queenie and quickly rushed the little boy out of the tent. Queenie stared at the spider. A line of people still remained outside, but she didn’t want the spider to disappear. At the same time, she wasn’t sure she wanted to touch him either. But, if somebody else was going to hurt him, he had to be protected. He was Queenie’s only connection to that little boy.
The pinkish color around the spider was similar to the color she saw when her son was close by. Then she heard it. Her son’s laugh. She sent a big happy smile to the ethers.
As always, hearing his laugh brought a smile to her face. He’d always loved nature. Bugs, birds, any animals used to make him laugh. She’d take him to the park just to hear him chortle with joy.
She lifted the cover on the table and nudged the spider onto the tabletop. That was an improvement, but now anybody else coming in would see him right away. She walked around to where she normally sat and pulled out her lunch container. She’d brought some grapes with her. She took the lid off of the now-empty container and upended it over top of the spider. Then she gently lifted the cloth until she could turn over the container and set the lid on it just enough to deter the spider from climbing out, yet giving him an air supply.
Just then people entered her tent. She slid the container on the shelf beside her, whispering to the spider, “Sorry.”
Instantly an almost angry rumble echoed through her mind. She shot a surprised look at the spider and frowned, but several boys and girls already stood before her. It was a group of teens, maybe thirteen, fourteen years old. They were laughing and giggling. With a quick glance to see if her son’s pinkish-lavender energy was still around, Queenie straightened, smiled and prepared to deal with questions about boyfriends and girlfriends and schools. They were easy answers to give. Unless they were answers they didn’t want to hear.
It took about thirty minutes to get through all their questions, but they all cheerfully paid. One even left a large tip before they raced out, still laughing and giggling among themselves.
As soon as they were gone, she sighed in relief and turned to look at the spider. She lifted up the container, and, feeling guilty, lifted the lid ever-so-slightly to give him more air. The container glowed pink.
Her son’s gasp and light joyous laughter filled the room.
“I don’t want to do this,” she cried softly but could already sense her son was gone. He never spoke but he laughed all the time. The most joyous sound in the world.
Feeling like a fool, she said directly to the spider, “Sorry for doing this. But there weren’t many options. Do you have a message for me?”
Unfortunately there was no answer. She wanted so desperately for the spider to have some psychic speaking ability, yet why would it? Since her son liked spiders, she’d do her best to keep this one safe. She knew she was making a fool of herself. But desperate times called for desperate actions, and, if anything would assist her in relation to her son, she’d do it.
In the back of her mind, she had that weird sense of being watched. She got up, walked around the damn tent again, figuring out what she felt. Then she recognized the energy, … the weird crackling in the air. How did he do that? She frowned and called out, “Why are you here again?”
There was a shocked silence, and then the sense of being watched disappeared, and peaceful silence reigned again in her tent. She smirked. “I do know you’re there, asshole.”
Static crackled.
A building anger floated around her. It was such a weird feeling. She realized—belatedly—that pricking the Watcher’s temper wasn’t a smart move. She might have been a decent psychic herself, but she never fooled herself into believing she was the best.
A deadly menacing voice whispered through her. Good thing. And then the Watcher was gone.
Chills ran up and down her arms as she realized she might have made an enemy of the wrong person. In a muted voice she called out, “Sorry.”
But there was an emptiness, as if either he didn’t hear or he didn’t care. She suspected it was the latter. He was the kind of guy who, the minute you did something wrong, wiped you off the face of the planet to never be forgiven.
She’d met people like that. They usually had a lot of psychological problems and were often criminals. When she touched these characters’ lives—as she had done many times while working with the police—the energy was wrong, poisoned in some way. Touching the energy used to make her sick, as in almost vomiting sick.
She wasn’t doing the touching with the Watcher—he was. It was unpleasant to be in the reverse situation. And unnerving too but she hadn’t a clue how to change the status quo. Apparently he could check in on her at any time, yet she couldn’t even figure out who he was.
Some psychic she was.
Frowning, she wondered how much he could do. And how much could he get others to do? Which was a scarier thought.
She hadn’t heard back from Stefan, but then she hadn’t tried to contact him again either. She sat back down, staring at the spider trying unsuccessfully to crawl up the side of her plastic container. She felt bad. She upended the container and released him on the tabletop.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I know what it is to be a prisoner. Maybe not in the same way as you, but a prisoner of circumstances, a prisoner of everybody’s disbelief and mockery. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
When a tinkle of laughter whispered through her, she knew her son approved. She laughed, joy in her heart as she watched the spider. How she’d changed these last few years. She’d never have given this critter another thought before. Even at first sight, her instinctive reaction was to scream and back away. Not now.
Still not a fan, she was more accepting. Besides, she didn’t want to let her son down, and, if she hurt the spider, she’d disappoint Reese. That she didn’t want to do. That connection with Reese was everything to her.
The spider stared at her for the longest time; then it walked over to her crystal ball and raised a leg to touch it. Instantly inside her ball, which was just a prop, swirled a mist. She cried out in excitement, “It is you!”
The spider didn’t say anything, and no little boy’s voice rippled through her mind. But, in the midst of the white cloud, a little boy’s face shone bright. Tears came to her eyes, and her heart squeezed tight. It was Reese, her little boy. Even as her heart recognized him, her mind recognized the picture was one she had taken about a month before they’d both ended up in the hospital. It wasn’t a current picture; it wasn’t an updated picture. It was one from her memory banks. She shook herself free of the spell, anger curling inside her.
“I don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re doing it,” she said to the spider, an edge to her voice. “I know Reese is gone. If there’s another little boy out there who needs help, then show him to me, but don’t torment me,” she warned. “Does that other little boy need help? If he does, show me something useful …”
Maybe it was the tone of her voice, or maybe it was a complete coincidence, but the spider scurried around to the other side of her crystal ball. Instantly the inside of the globe cleared, and the image of her son disappeared.
Sadness filled her. Yet a warm energy surrounded her, making her feel better. Her son again. She got up and looked for the spider. But found no sign of him. Why had he come? What did he want? She sat back down, her hand instinctively reaching for the crystal ball and the image she wanted to connect with. Her fingers gently stroked the ball, the overwhelming pain of loss once again in her heart. She needed to protect herself even more. She’d learned a lot on her own but had more to learn. And with the Watcher playing with her, it needed to be fast.
That meant contacting Stefan. She closed her eyes, reaching for the door she’d closed the last time, and opened it. There was a door on the other side.
She snorted. “Of course there is. What did you expect? That he was open to everyone all the time?” She knocked on the door. Instantly it dissolved. On the other side was this glowing orb. And she smiled. Do you appear in any other form?
I don’t know, do I? he asked laconically.
Of course he’d answered her question with a question. Not wanting to go down that road, she said, That’s not why I’m here.
Why are you here then?
He’s watching me, she said baldly. He was just here a few minutes ago. She relayed the conversation they’d had. I pissed him off, but I didn’t mean to. I knew better. I wasn’t thinking. I was reacting.
Of course you were. But having somebody like that as an enemy is not cool, Stefan’s voice said quietly. Sit down for a moment.
She did as he asked and felt a weird sensation as if he’d crawled into her mind. She gasped as weird icy shards slipped in and out of her brain in her consciousness. Are you searching for him? she asked as she finally understood something of what he was doing.
Yes, he said. There was silence, and a few more slices of weird energy, and then he sighed and said, He’s very good. He hid his tracks.
She stared blankly around the tent. But he wasn’t inside my head, was he?
He put an anchor into your system, giving him a deep connection to you. It’s hard to say where that could have come from, Stefan explained. But, once inside your energy, with an anchor in place, he could access it anytime.
Would he have had to be with me physically?
No, not if he’s very good, Stefan said. He could have been originally but not necessarily. At a particular point in time, when your defenses were down, it would have been the easiest thing in the world to do. But you either allowed it or were completely out of it and didn’t notice. He paused for a long moment. Has there been such an instance?
She laughed, but it was a twisted, angry laugh. When I had a breakdown after a case blew up, absolutely. When I was sick with pneumonia, feverish and in a coma, undeniably. When I was beside myself with grief over the loss of my son, more so than ever.
In other words, there’s no end of opportunities for somebody to have done that.
If I had known that was even possible, I would have taken steps to protect myself. She was still shaking her head in disbelief. How is it that somebody could do this, and I didn’t know?
Often it’s a friend, or it could be a family member, and those are the best-case scenarios. It could just as easily be an enemy, Stefan said. We accept hooks from all kinds of people. But, in a case like this, it’s somebody who probably just wanted to touch base with you. Either loved your ability, appreciated it, admired it, respected it even, and wanted to be connected. It’s almost impossible to know at this point. His voice deepened, saddened. What we do is very lonely. And, if you don’t have a supportive group around you who understands you, you often end up at odds with society.
Yeah, that’s me. At odds with society, she said in a brittle tone. So many predators are out there in the physical form, yet I’ve never came across one in a psychic form.
Interesting, Stefan said. Because, for somebody who’s done the kind of work you did, it often attracts predators from the other side too.
There was silence for a moment as she thought about that. It’s never been an issue as far as I know.
How did you get started doing this?
It happened when I was quite young. I was eight when the little girl next door went missing. I tried to get the cops to listen to me, but they wouldn’t. And then I showed them where she was, and they found her. But then they turned their suspicions on me. It took a little longer for me to figure out that it was her uncle who had stolen her away. Once I got them to see that, and they confronted the uncle, he confessed. After that they listened to me a little more. If anything came to me during my teen years, I would call one of the two cops who had worked the original case. They usually gave me the benefit of the doubt, and most of the time I was able to help. Of course nobody is ever 100 percent, and that’s always a problem. I did a lot of work for years with them, but they didn’t always listen either, she said with a half laugh.
Nobody’s ever 100 percent, Stefan said. And getting the authorities to understand that we’re serious can also be a problem.
You’re not kidding. There was a puppy missing, and I was bound and determined to save its life, but I couldn’t see anything more than its immediate surroundings, so I didn’t know where it was. I kept calling them, telling them they had to help the puppy. I think I was about thirteen at the time.
Did you save the puppy? he asked, a note of amusement in his voice.
Oh, I did. They didn’t appreciate all the phone calls to get there, but we did rescue the puppy that’d fallen down a well.
He chuckled. What are you doing for defense now?
The usual stuff I read on the internet, she said calmly. White circle of protection. I do a cleansing before and a cleansing afterward.
Prayer? he asked curiously.
No, I can’t say I have believed in anything worth praying to in a long time. When you see what man does to man, it’s a little hard to believe somebody’s above, smiling benevolently down on us.
I believe that takes us back to free will, he said. Anything else?
No, she said, frowning. She bounced off her chair and paced her small tent. She knew her grace window of no customers coming would end soon. That’s why I’m asking for help.
But you’re not telling me the whole truth, are you?
She froze. What are you talking about?
He sighed. I can see a lot. Maybe more than you would like me to see. But the thing is, I can’t work with you if you won’t tell me the full truth. And he disappeared.
Shaking, she went back to her chair and sat down again. Outside she could hear voices coming closer, which meant she was about to get more clients. But it was the last thing she wanted.
It had felt so weird to have him inside her mind earlier, searching for information on this guy tracking her. What she really wanted was a way to stop the Watcher from gaining access—or finding her in any way. She wasn’t sure if she was looking for a defense system, per se. She was definitely looking to keep him out or to just hide from him so she could function, knowing he was around but unable to see her.
Just then Stefan’s mind spoke to hers. And once you do find a way to create a shield to hide yourself from him, you also can’t move out of the shield unless you drop it. It poses its own barriers and its own dangers. And he disappeared again.
A cough at the doorway of her tent brought her back to her surroundings as a young man walked inside nervously. He looked at her and gave her a boyish grin. “I understand you’re really good at what you do,” he said.
She smiled up at him, loving that innocence and hope in his eyes. “And where did you hear that?” she teased.
He flushed. “A girl I know came in to see you.”
Queenie settled back and smiled. She held out her hand and said, “Place your hand on mine and ask me your questions.”
He did so and talked about engineering, a big program he wanted to get into, and he didn’t know how to make it happen.
She could certainly see him as an engineer. What she couldn’t see was if he was getting into that particular program. “You’re certainly doing engineering work,” she said, frowning. “Are you studying right now in that field?”
He shook his head. “But I have been accepted into the engineering school here locally.”
“But that’s not what you’re asking about, right? Because you will be doing engineering.”
He nodded. “That’s what I would expect to do. But there’s a specialty program afterward I want to go into.”
She smiled. “You know the future is always open and available to you, right? And that you shouldn’t be looking too far down the road. Do the best you can do today.”
He nodded. “I was hoping you could tell me if it was worth doing.”
Well, that was easy enough. She could certainly put him at ease there. “It’s absolutely worth doing,” she said gently. “I see you doing engineering work at a very high level for a long time.”
His face lit up. He tossed ten dollars on the table and raced from the tent. She chuckled. It was always nice when she had something good to say in her message. She put the money away and sat back.
There was a weird sound in the tent, almost like a cackle, almost like a laugh. She looked around. “Stefan?”
Oh, no, not Stefan, although I’d be interested in knowing who that is, the Watcher said. Why didn’t you tell the young man about the rest of the message?
She frowned, icicles sliding up and down her back. Who are you? she demanded. She got up and raced out of the tent, looking around all its sides, but nobody was there. She stepped back inside. Who are you? she repeated.
Doesn’t matter who I am. That’s not important. You’re important because I can see into your world. I never knew I could do that, he said thoughtfully. I’ll count this as a success.
What’s nice about it? she cried out. You’re a Peeping Tom into somebody else’s mind.
Not likely, he snorted. But you see? We’re connected. I’ve never been connected to anybody before like this. It’s fun.
Her world was just full of wonderful human beings. Not. What do you mean about the rest of the message? she asked curiously. I told him what I saw.
There was a snort in the air around her. Then you didn’t look deep enough, he said. The kid ends up dying from an engineering accident. A crane explodes on a site, and he gets taken out.
She stared into the blankness. I didn’t see that, she cried out. I often don’t see that far down the road.
You could. You’re too scared though. You only want to give people the pretty messages. I’m not interested in pretty messages. I like the ugly ones. And he disappeared.
Immediately she called to Stefan, Did you hear that?
No, I didn’t hear that came the exasperated voice. And could you at least knock? I have a life too, you know.
She winced. Look. I’m sorry, but that asshole was just here. I gave a message to a young boy, and the Watcher came afterward, asking why I didn’t give the boy the full message. She relayed the other bit of conversation. I didn’t recognize him.
You’re obviously linked if he could see what you were seeing when you touched that young man, Stefan said. Hmm.
“Hmm? What does hmm mean?” she yelled out loud, ready to shriek in frustration. This has never happened before.
Once you head down this path, it doesn’t matter if it’s happened before or not, Stefan said. Every day is something new in my world.
She walked around to the table and laid her hands on top, trembling like a leaf. I can’t keep doing this, she said brokenly. I already feel like I’m coming apart at the seams.
Well, buck up, Stefan said in a snappy voice. There’re things you need to learn.
You think? she grumbled. Remember? I’m the one who came to you for help.
And I said I wouldn’t deal with you unless you were honest with me.
“What the hell are you talking about?” she hollered out loud. “I’ve told you everything I know.”
Not really. You didn’t tell me about the case that blew up in your face, did you?
Instantly her mind shut down. That was a terrible time. I can’t go there again. She shook her head. That hurts too much.
If you can’t tell me, I can’t work with you came Stefan’s steadfast response. And then he disappeared.
She stared out of the tent, wondering how her world had gotten so stupidly crazy and what the hell she would do about it.
*
Maddy, you there?
For you, Stefan, always came Maddy’s laughing voice. I do have another patient in a few minutes. What’s up?
I just need to check in with reality, Stefan said. I’ve another young psychic who is incredibly powerful that’s hooked into a killer—or at least we think he’s a killer. I’m not sure I can even work with her.
For you to say you can’t work with her says a lot, Maddy said. But it would be very sad if we lost one. We can’t help them all, I know. If they come to us, you know we’re bound and determined to do the best we can.
I know. I know. Stefan groaned. He didn’t know how he felt about Queenie. There was something desperate about her energy. He couldn’t see beyond the layers of it because, although he’d gone searching through her mind, looking for information on this killer, she had so many steel trap doors that she kept locked that he didn’t understand what was going on. She had defense mechanisms she had no idea she had put into place. Yet she was asking him to help her build more, as if she didn’t know about the ones she did have. But that a killer was getting through to her was something very strange. She obviously was open on some level. And this killer had stepped in and was using her.
He explained what he understood. I know it sounds bizarre, and I wish there was something I could do to help her.
Send her some healing energy, Maddy said. Obviously she’s stressed out to the max. Something’s bothering her tremendously. Her energy is fractured, and a lot of stuff is going on in her world, so of course she’s struggling.
I’m trying to give her energy. It gets rebuffed.
What? Maddy said. In what way?
Like an umbrella is around her all the way to the ground, and she’s locked inside this sealed egg. And yet she’s the one asking me for help setting up a defense system, something to keep this asshole away from her.
She doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing?
No, I don’t think she does. She’s in protective mode, hanging on by a thread. I’ve done a lot of research into her since she first contacted me. Apparently she’s very gifted, and the police had no problem using her until she broke apart at the seams. There was one case, the Handkerchief Killer, involving several women. Some of her information was wrong, and the last woman they tried to save … died. Queenie had a breakdown shortly afterward.
That’s not all that unusual unfortunately, Maddy said sadly. We’re not perfect.
I know. I know that, Stefan said. There’s just something about her …
What do you want from me? Maddy asked.
I don’t know, Stefan said, shaking his head. I really don’t know. She also mentioned something about a spider.
Well, that’s a new one, Maddy said. Maybe you should be talking to Tabitha and her animal connection then.
Stefan groaned. I think Tabitha is more than ready for me to stay away for a bit after we had that owl case she was heavily involved with. She needs time to just be Tabitha.
Tabitha’s like the rest of us. She steps up to serve when called, Maddy said gently. I can send this Queenie some healing energy, but, if she has bounced back your energy, then I doubt she would accept any of mine.
I wonder, Stefan said thoughtfully. We might have to get a little tricky.
Maddy chuckled. That’s always a dangerous thing with you. I could do some spirit work with her. But again, if I have an unwilling person, it’s takes a lot of my energy to deal with them.
I don’t know if she’d be unwilling if she knew what was happening, Stefan said. This guy got to her somewhere. She was hospitalized with a major illness at some point. I wonder what it would take to get her in to see you.
On her side or my side? Maddy said drily. I’m booked up for weeks and weeks.
Right. I’m sorry, Stefan said. Things are getting so much more involved these days. We have more and more people working with us and for us, but we’re also finding more and more people we need to work with.
I had a patient in this morning, Maddy said. His wife said she was at the amusement park, and they spoke to Queenie, and that’s how they got to me. Drew had mentioned it the night before. Anyway I had a cancellation, and, for whatever reason, one of my girls let them come in.
We know that often happens for the right reason.
Yes, but it was definitely the name Queenie, Maddy said thoughtfully. I’ll call the patient’s wife back and ask her to clarify.
Or you could take a spirit walk and check the energy to see if it came from that source, Stefan said. It’s not like you’re in your body all the time these days.
I’m out so much these days, Drew is afraid I’m not coming back, Maddy said with a bright laugh. But you’re right. I can check it out.
What did the patient present?
It’s an interesting case, Dr. Maddy said. The little girl, Kirsten, got to me. She said she spoke to the fortune-teller who said I could help. The thing is, I do believe I can help. It’s just I don’t have any beds. Dr. Maddy sighed heavily. I’m overwhelmed with patients between Maddy’s Floor, the children’s hospital, and then I’ve got two more hospitals going up across England.
And all that traveling takes its toll too.
It’s gotten better now, Dr. Maddy said, because I can do most of my work from here.
Can you work on this man from there?
That’s possible. I told him I’d have to run some tests, and they’ve gone home for the moment. I needed to think about what I could do. She gave a light laugh. I’ll do the same with Queenie.
Stefan disconnected the call, which was mentally anyway, and turned to see his beloved sitting beside him with a tea service waiting.
She smiled and said, “You can’t save everyone. Remember that. Tell me about this Queenie.”
“The trouble is, she’s too much like I used to be,” Stefan said with a sad smile. “I can’t ignore her. Otherwise I’m ignoring who and what I was.”
“Tell me more,” she said, leaning forward. She reached out a hand instinctively.
He reached back. As soon as their fingers connected, his own energy became centered and grounded, like it always did. He lifted his gaze and smiled deep into her eyes. “Have I told you lately I love you?”
She kissed his fingers and whispered, “Just this morning.”
But her gaze was twinkling, and then he remembered just how he had said he loved her. He chuckled and said, “Well, I still mean it.”
*
Dr. Maddy sat in her chair, a folder in front of her, wondering at the turn of events. Brian Callahan was the patient who had come in to see her. She had his medical records. They hadn’t been able to pinpoint the bleeding, and he was getting more and more fatigued. The doctors would stop it, and it would start again. They’d run X-rays; they’d done MRIs, and they hadn’t found anything. But she had a better idea of things that could go on at an energy level.
He’d gone home, and she had the address. On a spirit-walker system, she could certainly hop over to his house and take a look at him, but she’d rather have him in a more controlled environment.
She placed his file off to the side, but her fingers thrummed atop it, and she kept looking back at it. Finally she snatched up the folder and called Brian himself. “Mr. Callahan, I have a bed in one of my day-patient rooms here. Can you come in tomorrow so I can run some tests?”
Brian was tired. But there was excitement in his voice as he agreed.
Smiling, she closed the folder and stuck it off to the side. At the same time, Queenie just wouldn’t leave Maddy alone. She would talk to the couple when they got here in the morning. Maybe that would help clarify her thoughts.
She looked up as Gemma walked in.
“Dr. McIntosh from the children’s hospital has a problem with a young boy. He wants to know if you have a bed available.”
“How serious is it?”
“The doctor says seven out of ten.”
Maddy’s eyebrows rose. “In that case, we have the bed. Call Sherry down at the children’s hospital, have her take a look at the beds and see if we have room available now or if we need to make room for this little boy and get him transferred immediately.” She looked at her watch. “I’m due to be there in about an hour. Is he already at the main hospital?”
“The doctor did mention that, if you had a bed, he could get him there within the next hour.”
Maddy sighed, stood and grabbed her purse. “Make it happen.” And she turned and walked out.
She had just enough time to pick up a coffee, something to eat—a little more than a salad, according to her beloved Drew who was constantly on the lookout for her, saying she wasn’t eating enough. As she took the elevator down, she assessed her form; it was long and lean. She was in fighting form still but maybe a little on the skinny side. That was a little disconcerting. She had bouts where she overworked herself but managed to keep on a little bit more weight than she currently had.
With that thought in mind, she picked up several muffins at the coffee shop and a lovely sandwich that looked to be full of vegetables. With those packed up, she caught a cab to the children’s hospital. That was much faster and easier than trying to drive.
Once there, she walked inside to her office and sat down. She brought up her computer records to see what was happening with the kids on the ward while she ate. Not ten minutes later Dr. McIntosh walked in, a big smile on his face.
“I really appreciate you doing this,” he said. “I’ve brought Timmy. He’s the little boy whose case we can’t figure out. We thought he’d been bitten by a snake or something, but there’s no sign of any venom. Yet he’s comatose, and we can’t get him back up again.”
She stared at him, her mouth full of food. She chewed and swallowed before asking him, “What did all the test results show?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing in the blood. Nothing in the urine. We’ve run MRIs, and we did every test imaginable. We can’t come up with anything. He’s like the walking dead.”
Interested in spite of herself, she polished off her sandwich, unwrapped the muffin, snagged her coffee and said, “Show me.”
*
“How interesting. I can connect to Queenie, but she can’t connect to me.” The Watcher chuckled to himself. “This stuff is fascinating. Who knew I could be so strong and so good at something nobody else does?”
He hadn’t even begun to test the limits of his abilities yet. He’d always been a good manipulator when he was younger. He loved making people do what they didn’t want to do. As a young child, he’d been a bully. As an older child, he’d become a master manipulator.
Once he’d learned the psychology behind all this stuff, it was so easy to get people to do what he wanted them to do. He understood what buttons to push, what pressure to apply, what leverage to use, and they always buckled. Even the big tough guys buckled. He thought that was pretty funny.
But this, this was something else again. He’d only found out by accident years ago. He was pretty sure that’s when he’d first connected with this woman. Who the hell called themselves Queenie anyway? If she was queenly, maybe. But that would imply she had an arrogance and a presence. Instead, this woman was a basket case. She was two steps from being homeless, worked in an amusement park, ate the most god-awful food and was turning psychic tricks in a bloody circus tent for five bucks.
He laughed, got up, and poured himself an espresso. The espresso machine had been a gift from somebody who hadn’t wanted to gift it. He laughed. “Best gift ever.”
He took his cup out to the deck and surveyed the pool area. He frowned at the long grass. Surely the lawn care company should have been here yesterday. But he had strict instructions. He didn’t want to be bothered on Wednesdays. That was one of his days for strategy. He was big on strategy. He had a job, like everybody else, but he was wondering how quickly he could ditch that too.
“Definitely a strategy day.” He turned and walked back to his big whiteboard. He had a list of names he was working with. Some would be a little harder work than others, and some would be nothing more than practice runs. None of these cases would benefit him in any monetary way, so he would need to find a couple cases that would. It was the only way he could ditch his day job.
There was Brendan, one of his earlier victims. He put a little checkmark beside his name. There was the dead woman in the lake. With that mention, he put a straight line through her name. He considered that one of his best successes. Bonnie’s case had gone off like a dream. Hardly any work at all. It was all about finding the right victim. Timmy was an interesting case too. He’d been easy to sicken, … almost too easy. But how long before someone figured it out?
He looked at the next name on his list and brooded. “I don’t know if I’m ready to talk to you yet.” He considered that one of the most important things about being a strategist: understanding his own weakness. To allow ego to interfere in his job would get him caught.
“Although how anybody will catch me, I don’t know.” He let out a belly laugh, walked over and turned on his stereo system. Every good strategist needed a symphony orchestra to accompany them.
As the beautiful sounds of Mozart filled the room, he picked a name on his board and walked to his computer to start researching. Who knew what he would find? But the chase was almost as good as the end result.
*
Kirk walked into the office late. He updated his notes on the case of the missing mother at the lake. And he checked his messages to find already several emails from the sheriff. He frowned. “Sheriff, you are in early.” He read the messages, then picked up his phone and called him. “I just read your emails.”
“Yeah, we’re up with the birds here.” The sheriff chuckled. “It’s only you city folk who get up after the best part of the day is gone already.”
Privately Kirk agreed. But he wasn’t willing to argue about it. “Still no sign of an accident along the road into town?”
“No. We’ve got vehicles up there, a couple deputies walking the area, looking to see if anybody ran off the road and into a ravine,” the sheriff said. “We’ve gone back to the address, checked out the house and walked the property again, and we’ve looked along the edge of the lake. She had a dock, and we checked out all along there but didn’t find a body floating in the water. By now it’s possible she already sank.”
“Is that the most likely scenario, do you think?”
“Except for the vehicle, yes,” the sheriff said. “That’s what I’m concerned about. That would put her behind the wheel, and most likely a medical emergency took her off the road somewhere. But, so far, we haven’t found out where.”
“I spoke to the daughter,” Kirk said. “She’s going to run to the shelter and pick up the dogs. Apparently her mom never went anywhere without them.”
“That would take us back to it being a drowning. But then what happened to the vehicle?” the sheriff wondered aloud. “I do like a good puzzle, but not when there’s a bad ending on the table.”
“How big is the lake we’re talking about?”
“Not huge,” the sheriff said. “But too big to dredge and would take a big slice of our budget if divers have to search the whole thing. It is full throughout summer. It’s a popular swimming spot. If she drowned, unfortunately we’ll probably get a phone call when somebody finds the body.”
“On the other hand, that’s also a good thing because then it’s closure for the family.”
“True enough. So is the daughter coming up here then?”
Kirk frowned. “I didn’t ask her. But maybe she should.” He checked his watch. “I imagine she’s already gone to get the dogs though. She didn’t have a vehicle and was trying to borrow one, I think, or get a friend to drive her up.”
“Then I imagine she’ll head to her mother’s house too. I wouldn’t mind her talking to a deputy while she’s up there, to see if anything’s missing.”
“I’ll send her an email or try calling her phone, and let her know that’s what you would like. And here’s her phone number.” He read off the number and gave her name to the sheriff.
“Good enough. We can call her too, if she comes into range.”
“Right.” Kirk ended the call, then quickly called the daughter. By luck she answered.
“A friend is driving me up,” she explained.
“Good enough. The sheriff wants you to meet at deputy at your mother’s house to see if anything’s missing, in case there was a burglary or if she packed a suitcase or something.” He heard the daughter catch her breath.
Weakly, she said, “That is probably a good idea, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.”
“No, but it needs to be done. He also wants to get a little more information from you, if he can. They’re checking the highway right now to see if a vehicle might have run off the road. That would be one of the most viable reasons neither your mother nor her car are around.”
“Right. Maybe I’ll call you when I get to the house,” she said hopefully.
Understanding that she needed this connection to him right now, he agreed.
When he hung up, he entered his notes into the case and then shut down the file. There wasn’t anything he could do from here, and, as much as he wouldn’t mind taking a run out there, the sheriff was already working the area. If it ended up being foul play, that was a different story. Kirk could always take a look at the evidence himself. There was nothing like being at the scene to see how much damage was done and what forensic evidence might be available to collect. The sheriff wouldn’t have access to the teams Kirk had at his disposal.
Thinking about that, he called the sheriff back. “Did anybody see signs of blood? Any furniture overturned? Anything along that line?”
“I don’t believe so,” the sheriff said. “My deputies are looking on the road still. I can give them a call and confirm, but they didn’t mention it.”
“If there is, I might take a trip and have a look myself.”
“If you got any free time, then fly at it. Most of the time all I ever hear is how you guys are too busy to visit.”
Kirk chuckled. “And I do have cases stacked up high on the side, but that doesn’t mean her case is any less important.”
“Glad to hear that,” the sheriff said. “If you decide to come, stop on by.” This time it was the sheriff who hung up.
Kirk got up and walked over to the coffeemaker, just down the hall. Several officers were hanging around. They made way for him so he could grab a cup. He filled it to the brim, and, as he left, one of the guys asked if he’d seen Queenie again.
“Nope, I haven’t. Any reason why you’re asking?” He didn’t even bother turning around, just kept on walking.
The one guy said, “Wouldn’t mind her assistance.”
The others just laughed. “Queenie was good while she had it, but then she lost it, remember?”
One of the guys hushed the other one up. But Kirk had heard it all before. Even worse, his sister would just repeat their same warning. She’d hated Queenie. And never gave him a reason why. But then, as Queenie would have said, she was a bitch. His sister kept telling him for years to drop her. And he hadn’t listened. Once they broke up, she did nothing but crow about how right she’d been the whole time.
He hated to say it, but Queenie was right. His sister was a bitch.
“She doesn’t do that anymore.” The men were still chuckling as Kirk left them behind.
The trouble was, if Queenie didn’t do it anymore, then she wouldn’t have emailed him. Why she’d emailed him, he didn’t know. But it certainly put him in a tough spot. Although it might have led to something, it wouldn’t be something easy to close.
Back at his desk he sorted through the three big cases there, multiple rapes where they suspected it was one guy. Another was a rash of break-ins that were getting more and more violent. That one really concerned him. There were no rapes, attacks or murders associated with the break-ins, but the perp was escalating. He had killed the dog in the last house, and he had interrupted the young couple making out on the couch. He’d taken off, but there was a good chance that the next time he wouldn’t. When anything like this escalated, things just got ugly. Which was what worried him about Queenie—this was bad and would only get uglier.