Itsy-Bitsy Spider Read online

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw a cone over a woman walking across a street.”

  “That means death. That would be a hard way to jump back into the reality of that world.”

  “It so was,” she said. “I came home and screamed and railed at life, saying, if that’s what I’m supposed to see, I didn’t want anything to do with it.”

  “Did it help?”

  “It made me feel better, but it didn’t help with the visions. If anything, that break had the visions coming faster, clearer and more detailed.”

  “Oh.”

  She could hear his interest, almost a how can I use this type of thing interest. She shook her head. “And, no, it’s not something you can use.”

  “So you read minds now too?” he asked, but there was only mild astonishment, not any anger that she might have read his mind.

  “No. But I get intuitive feelings.”

  “Have you talked to Stefan again?”

  “Several times but not recently,” she said. “I haven’t exactly had time. Not with the amusement park last night, and you and your damn floating woman.”

  “Well, you might want to remember that floating woman,” he said. “The fact that we found her was huge. But, of course, it just brings up a ton more questions.”

  “I know, but I don’t have any more answers.” She thought about hanging up on him.

  He called out, “Wait.”

  She waited, wondering if he wasn’t a bit psychic himself.

  “Did you have breakfast?”

  “I just finished toast, and I’m having my second cup of coffee now. Why?”

  “I’d like to take you out for lunch,” he said quietly. “Just for old time’s sake.”

  She stared blindly across the parking lot. She hadn’t expected this. She’d been delighted to have him back as a friend again, particularly as it seemed right now she didn’t have anybody in her personal world, but she knew how dangerous it was to depend on him. “Where?” she asked cautiously.

  “How about Merinos?”

  One of her favorite restaurants. Her breath caught in the back of her throat as memories hit her. Memories of the two of them sitting down to candlelight dinners, being so into each other, getting their eat-in dinners to-go before rushing home to make love, often in the living room, often on the stairs. Every once in a while they made it to their bed.

  “They’ve changed their lunch menu,” he said in a persuasive tone. “I think you’d like it.”

  “I’m sure I would,” she said, faintly giving her head a hard shake. “What time?”

  “Twelve,” he said promptly. “I’ll pick you up.” And then he hung up.

  She laid her phone down slowly. “Is this a mistake?” she asked no one in particular. “Why does he want to go out to lunch with me?”

  Of course, after years of living the way she had, she’d also learned to be a whole lot less than trusting. She didn’t want to read his mind, and she certainly had no intention of accessing any visions about him. She didn’t want to see him with other women. … He’d been free; she’d been free too but not ready. Of course he’d had other relationships. No way he hadn’t. He was a very sexual animal. Then she’d been one too. But, after her son’s birth, she focused only on Reese. He’d been her miracle, pulling her back from the brink. She did everything for him and really had no time for a relationship. In the last few years at the amusement park, there had been a few gestures in that direction, but she’d shut them down. The men had been otherwise protective, as if realizing she needed that the most.

  But where did that leave her now?

  Her mind shifted to the men around her. They all worked at the amusement park. Most lived on the grounds as well. And what would happen to them now? She thought about it for a long moment and then picked up her phone, calling Betty.

  Betty answered, calling out, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  Queenie laughed. “Hey, we also have to thank the cop I brought with me. At least everyone should have gotten their money back by now.”

  “Yeah, we did, and Carlos is in jail. For fraud and God only knows how many other crimes.”

  “But what about the amusement park?” Queenie asked anxiously. “I was afraid it would shut down, and you guys would have no place to go.”

  “We have a meeting tomorrow afternoon. We’ll discuss what our options are,” Betty said. “Do you want to come?”

  “No, I think my time there is done,” Queenie said sadly. “I’m getting a new website, and I’ll start an online business with my psychic readings.”

  “Oh, my goodness. That’s perfect. Then you have better control over who you deal with. And, with your abilities, you should be able to filter out most of the nasties in the world.”

  Queenie chuckled. “That’s what I’m hoping.”

  “If you want to come, it’ll be at two o’clock,” Betty said. “No commitment, just come and see us. Maybe you’ll have some ideas about what we should do.”

  “We’ll see,” Queenie said. She hung up and went back to her laptop to check her emails. Found a couple from Nick. It took him a little longer to answer them than she’d thought it would. By the time she was done, she checked her watch. She only had an hour until Kirk arrived.

  Just as she considered cleaning house or doing something else, Stefan popped into her head. Or you could tell me the truth.

  She winced, walked back outside to the balcony and sat heavily in her chair. Tell you the truth about what?

  For now, the case that destroyed you.

  Slowly she told him about the four murdered women. And how she’d been so certain the last one was still alive that she’d motivated all the local policemen to look in one specific direction because she was absolutely positive the woman was being held there. The Handkerchief Killer wasn’t going to kill her before they got there. But I was wrong, she whispered. Finding no one, the cops had returned, and they were more than pissed. Only a few hours later the woman was delivered to their station’s doorstep—dead, her throat cut, her body still warm. They turned on me. Still, even under those conditions at that time, she’d given them enough information to go after the killer, and they had caught him. But they couldn’t get over their rage that they hadn’t been able to save the woman.

  And you think that’s your fault? Stefan asked thoughtfully.

  Yes. I was so sure of what I’d seen, she said tearfully. No way I wouldn’t do everything I could to save her.

  You’re not alone in making a mistake. Our abilities are not infallible. I wish they were. But we can only give our best guess at the time.

  I know. I knew that then too, she said. I have no excuse. But I was exhausted. I’d been running on this case and several others for days. I wasn’t sleeping. I was hungry, not eating. It was the accumulation of months and months of working for them over and over again as I tried to do my best for all these victims. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t see clearly on this one. Then, when I got a flash of insight, I figured that’s what had happened. Even now I don’t know.

  Don’t know if it was the wrong vision? Don’t know if you just interpreted it wrong?

  All of the above, she said sadly. And it’s too late to do anything about it. But it’s one of those cases I’ll never forget. It was also a major turning point in my life. I had a full-on breakdown right after that, and my life unraveled.

  It was not your fault. It was the killer’s fault and the killer only.

  She gave a broken laugh. That’s easy to say, but it’s not so easy to deal with every day.

  True enough.

  There was silence in her mind, but she knew he was still there, thinking. Is that what you wanted to know?

  That will do for now. You’re hiding other things, but I’m not sensing barriers to them.

  What do you mean by barriers?

  This Handkerchief Killer case. You have it all wrapped up in your mind, locked up under a very tight defense system. So I wasn’t sure
if it was something that, when you opened it, would explode and send you off the deep end.

  Meaning, like commit suicide or go off my rocker and kill someone?

  I’ve seen that much more often than you’d think, he said. Psychics are notoriously unstable. I had to know what was behind it.

  And the other areas?

  You have some interesting defense systems in place now. Which is why I’m curious about this other psychic who appears to see into your world and can get past your defenses.

  The thing is, I’ve learned to take some preventative measures, you know? Like the white light in the cleansing of my aura and all that stuff.

  All that stuff, he said with amusement, is very important. The fact that you have such an attitude means you don’t really understand how important it is.

  I was looking for something much more secure, something much more powerful, she said, searching for the right words but coming up blank. I guess I was looking for something foolproof.

  And, in our business, there is no such thing. Sometimes, when you are under attack, the best thing you can do is join it, he explained. Then you can follow it back to the source and get a perspective of who it is and what is involved.

  She listened in fascination. It never even occurred to me to do that with David.

  I know, and that’s an interesting thing. It’s almost as if you accepted his presence. As if maybe he’s been here either for a long time and you haven’t noticed, or, for some reason, you trust him.

  That makes no sense, she said, jumping to her feet, she went back inside and started pacing the living room. Why would I have trusted him?

  It’s hard to say. His voice was once again pensive. But generally we trust religious leaders and medical professionals and law enforcement and other such uniformed service people. Along with family and close friends. By that I mean, partners and the occasional best friend.

  She froze, staring out the front window. But her mind didn’t see the physical things. She was thinking of all the cops she’d had dealings with. I’ve dealt with a lot of law enforcement, she said. Many of them didn’t like me. But I can’t imagine any of them murdering this woman.

  Can you access that vision and see if his energy is there?

  She frowned and looked around. But, of course, Stefan wasn’t here. He was in her head. Her still-small living room stared back at her. What do you mean?

  If you sit quietly and think about the vision that was strong enough for you to contact Kirk in the first place, go a layer deeper and see if you can access energy surrounding that vision.

  But it would be my energy, she said in confusion. Because it’s my vision.

  He chuckled. Every time we do anything with another person, tidbits of our energy are left behind.

  Yes, I know that. That’s also sometimes why I get confused readings because I’m reading more than one person’s energy in the same space.

  Exactly, Stefan said triumphantly. And that could very well have been what happened when you saw that last woman in your last case.

  No, that makes no sense, she said. And you’re talking about different visions here. I can’t remember those visions now. But I do remember the lady in the lake.

  Okay, why is it so strong?

  Because I didn’t like the man who asked me the question in the amusement park.

  And why didn’t you like him?

  He was loud, bossy and arrogant, she snapped. Three qualities I can’t stand in a man.

  Stefan chuckled. Good reasons. But, when you saw that vision, how did it appear to you?

  She thought about it and said, All my visions show up in this window in a cloud.

  What color is the cloud?

  White.

  Was this cloud white?

  She frowned as she thought about it. No, it wasn’t. She shook her head. No, it must have been. I think I only ever see white.

  But you don’t really know, do you?

  She tossed her hands up in frustration and plunged herself down on the couch. You’re making me doubt myself.

  The next time you get a vision, I want you to look at it in detail. Not just feeling that emotion but I want you to look at the vision. I want you to frame it so you can see where and how it’s presented.

  I don’t generally get that much time, she said slowly. The visions come. I get the answers to the questions. Simple.

  You need to draw it out, so you have a little longer to look. Do the visions disappear right away?

  She thought about it, then shrugged. I honestly don’t know.

  Well then, you need to practice, he said. I have to leave. I want you to practice on that vision, see if you can pick up the energy of the killer left behind.

  But she was in the water, she protested. How can I possibly see that kind of thing? And now that she’s been found, I might not see the vision again.

  You might, and you might not. Try, because you’re not talking about forensic evidence here, he said quietly. You’re looking for psychic energy. And with that he disappeared.

  She sat for a long moment, feeling dazed. It had never occurred to her that anybody could track energy backward nor had it occurred to her to look at how her visions were framed. But both were damn good ideas.

  She got up, walked to her notepad and wrote down what Stefan had told her.

  So what are you going to do with your life now?

  The Watcher, … David, … had he heard her talking to Stefan? She wondered if the voice was in her head or in the room. So you are visiting me telepathically, David? she asked, trying to play dumb. Or talking to the room at large?

  Is that how you’re hearing me? David asked with interest. You’re the only person I can talk to, you know? It’s really unique. I’m quite fascinated by the whole process. Delight was in his voice, almost glee.

  She sat back and nodded. You’re the first person I’ve ever met who could talk to me this way too.

  But you don’t talk to me, per se, he said. You respond to me, but you don’t reach out and call me.

  I don’t know how, she exclaimed. Why don’t you teach me?

  He chuckled. No, that’s not happening, he said in a patronizing tone. I’ve worked too hard to get here.

  She thought about that and then shrugged and moved back to writing on her notepad.

  You didn’t answer the question, he said.

  That’s because I don’t know what I’m going to do now, she said in a brisk tone, trying to ignore him. The more she succeeded, the more she sensed his frustration. As she wrote, she thought about Stefan and what he’d told her. So she wrote down frustration, patronizing, won’t give information.

  You’ll figure it out, I’m sure. Otherwise there’s got to be some other little five buck jobs somewhere.

  Her back stiffened at that, but she refused to rise to David’s baiting. I’m sure I’ll get a job somehow.

  Sure you will.

  What kind of work do you do?

  I work in a … Then he stopped. Oh, no you don’t. And he disappeared.

  She sat back and blew a loose strand of hair off her face. “So he can be caught out,” she said thoughtfully.

  She thought about the energy it had taken for him to talk to her in this way. Stefan had said something about following David backward, but she couldn’t even see the energy to follow, so how did that work?

  Shrugging, she returned to writing down her notes, putting down the time and the date, realizing she probably needed to keep track of this guy. She certainly needed to stop him from coming into her world, saying and seeing whatever he wanted. That would be the first thing she’d get Stefan to teach her. And she knew instinctively Stefan would say something about the energy around David, but she hadn’t seen any. Just that weird feeling of being watched.

  Frustrated, she got up. She had time to change before Kirk arrived. She rushed to put on prettier clothes, added a touch of makeup for the first time in a long time, then walked out her front door.

  Sure en
ough, Kirk was walking along the sidewalk.

  He stopped and smiled at her. “Ready?”

  She nodded. “I’m ready.”

  He looked at her carefully. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, aiming for a bright cheerful smile.

  He shook his head. “Don’t even try to lie. You’ve forgotten that never worked on me. Spiders? Kids? The perv watching you?”

  “You could let it work on you just once.” She sent him a resentful smile. “And not spiders or little boys. And the Watcher’s name is David.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “What? He told you his name?”

  “It was weird. I heard someone calling him. I asked him about it. Then today I called him by that name, and he answered. Maybe he’s letting me believe that’s his name. And, no, before you ask, I didn’t get a last name or anything else helpful.”

  He chuckled, holding out his arm. “As long as you tell me if you do.”

  “Deal. And why are you being so nice to me?” She tucked her hand through the crook of his elbow, and they walked to his car. She was loving the easy camaraderie between them.

  “I care,” he said simply. “We have a lot of history, and we’re different people now, but I’m happy we reconnected.”

  “Really?”

  He stopped and looked at her. “Yeah, really. I missed you.”

  Her eyes searched his face. “You ignored our connection for a long time,” she said. “So what’s changed now?”

  He looked at her, his lips kicking up in the corners. “You. You’ve changed.”

  *

  The shock on her face made Kirk chuckle.