First Visions: Second Sight Book One

by Heather Topham Wood

  Chapter Eighteen

  Although it was almost two o’clock in the morning, Jared tossed in his bed wide awake. He had returned to his apartment after seeing Kate and now couldn’t stop thinking about her. He had surprised himself by going to the wedding to seek her out. Initially, after things ended with Nikki, he focused solely on work and checking out leads on Cori. However, reflections of Kate never drifted too far from his brain. He knew it would probably be for the best if he kept his distance. It seemed disrespectful to break up with Nikki one day and immediately jump into something with Kate. He also was reminded of how much he had hurt her and wasn’t sure if she would even want to give him a chance. Not only had he turned down her advances, but also destroyed her chance at anonymity in Franklin.

  Since he woke up that morning, he was miserable the entire day. All he wanted was to see her and tell her she had been on his mind persistently. Explain that what she had felt wasn’t one sided—that he had felt something from the moment she answered the door with that beaming smile. It was a marvel to Jared that Kate was one of those rare girls who seemed to have no clue how absolutely beautiful she was. If she gave him another chance, he planned to remedy that as soon as possible. Jared was exhausted and disillusioned over Cori’s abduction and he craved the comfort of being with her. All the reasons why he shouldn’t be with her didn’t seem to matter as much anymore. Without a second thought, he had sent her a text asking to see her. It seemed like an eternity before she replied about her being at a wedding at Cedar Brooks.

  Before he could talk himself out of it, Jared had hopped in his car and drove straight to the reception hall. When he laid eyes on her, it was difficult to think straight. She looked breathtaking and he was touched at her concern for Cori, a girl she had never met. Then, when they kissed, it was nothing like he’d experienced before. It was hard to contain his desire for her and he was glad he’d finally come to his senses. She was young and sweet and it wouldn’t be right to pressure her into taking things farther than she was comfortable with. He wanted to take his time with her and make certain they both enjoyed things. His aunt had instilled within him the importance of treating woman with respect and the lesson had stayed with him throughout his past relationships.

  After he returned home from the wedding, he had received a message from his aunt to give her a call as soon as he arrived home. She picked up on the first ring. “Jared, I’ve been waiting for you to call!”

  “It’s not too late? Don’t you country folk retire at like five in the afternoon?” he chided his Aunt Lizzie.

  “You sound cheerful, I’m guessing your reading was right, then,” she said with a hint of smugness in her tone.

  “Could you remind me again, which reading would that be?”

  His aunt called him almost on a regular basis to give him updates on his future. Although she wasn’t psychic, she owned a set of tarot cards and their revelations were like her religion. His open-mindedness had some boundaries and relying on card symbols to make major decisions about his life felt like a stretch. Most of the time, he humored her since most of the interpretations were vague enough where they could fit into any aspect of any person’s life. However, he never counted anything out absolutely and knew there were things in the world that defied explanation. Kate Edwards was further proof of this assertion.

  “I knew you weren’t paying attention!” she accused in mock indignant tones. “I’m going to have to convince William to get us Internet access and then I can email you with the revelations after I lay out the cards for you. You really need to think about getting your own set.”

  “Hmmm…kind of busy for that right now, Aunt Lizzie, but I’ll consider it.”

  “Does your new girlfriend read tarot cards?” she asked innocently.

  Jared stilled and asked, “What did you say?”

  “Well, I don’t know how serious you are yet, but I know it has to involve Kate for you to be in good spirits. When I talked to you a few days ago after your break-up with Nikki, you sounded positively dreadful. That’s when I dealt the cards on your behalf. The Queen of Wands came up and although I didn’t say so at the time, I knew it represented Kate. I’m sorry, but you know I never felt Nikki was the right one for you….”

  He made a noncommittal grunt. His aunt and Nikki’s family had only met a couple of times over the course of their relationship. When Nikki’s father had brought up the subject of religion upon their first meeting, they had all looked at his aunt like she was a mad woman when she declared herself a Wiccan. His aunt was shrewd and picked up on their judgments. From that point on, joint family gatherings were awkward enough to lead to Nikki and Jared typically spending holidays apart. For the first time ever, he actually looked forward to introducing a girl to his sole living family member.

  “It’s fine, Aunt Lizzie. Anyway, what does the Queen of Wands mean?”

  “It represents a woman who will become influential in your life. She’s stubborn and strong-willed, but also chaste, intuitive and kind. The kindness of the Queen of Wands should never be mistaken for weakness, though. She sits on a throne constructed from rocks and carved into the shape of lions.”

  Jared almost laughed and resolved to pay more attention to his aunt’s tarot card ramblings. Admittedly, most of the time he balanced his checkbook or read through his mail when she phoned about a reading. “Yes, I suppose that fits. The answer to your unspoken question is something did happen with Kate, but I’m not sure how to label it just yet. I’ll keep you posted though.”

  His aunt grew quiet. “Jared, you know I only want you to be happy. Without you, I would’ve never been able to survive losing my sister. I hope…things work out for everyone.”

  “You sound doubtful? What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Jared, the Tower came out too,” she said dramatically.

  He normally didn’t recall what each tarot card looked like, but he could visualize the Tower. If he remembered correctly, it featured a stone tower being struck by lightening and catching fire. Bodies were falling out of the tower and the figures were screaming. Oh fuck—that couldn’t be good, he thought, gritting his teeth. “What’s the interpretation?”

  “Typically, the Tower is a representation of chaos, crisis and hard times. It’s usually a warning of an upcoming catastrophe in the person’s life,” his aunt relayed with a hefty sigh.

  “It’s not always bad, right?”

  Jared had to admit his aunt was getting into his head a little bit. If the reading held any merit, he hoped the card wasn’t related to Cori. Although he was barely on speaking terms with Nikki, he still cared for her younger sister a great deal and didn’t believe he could stomach anything atrocious happening to her.

  “No,” she admitted softly. “It may be nothing to worry about. Some interpret the Tower as simply meaning a change or a renewal, which could apply to your love life.”

  “Well, if the Queen of Wands also came up in the deck that would probably make the most sense,” he reasoned.

  “I hope so,” she said and then added, “Jared, promise me you’ll be careful. If anything…unfortunate does happen, please come to me. We have plenty of room up here and you’ve been promising a visit for months now. Don’t let anything break you completely.” Reluctantly, he made the promise to her and they soon ended the call.

  His aunt’s forewarning of doom was another reason he couldn’t get to sleep. When Jared finally began to drift off, he was startled to hear his phone ring. He wondered if Kate was giving him a call after returning home from the wedding. A part of him was concerned she was having second thoughts about seeing him. It was difficult at times to get an accurate read on her due to her combativeness, which could be a barrier to knowing her true feelings. Yet their final kiss was scorching enough that he suspected neither of them would be too quick to put the brakes on anything developing between them.

  Although it would have to wait until Cori was found, Jared had already begun planning an amazing firs
t date for her. He knew the security guard at the local sculpture grounds and could get them onto the property after it had been closed to the public. He could pick up a sampling of food from the Italian restaurant she had mentioned wanting to try the day they went to the diner and they could eat amongst the statues. He had been there for work once when it was closed and it was pretty amazing to explore when no one else was around.

  Looking at his phone, he was surprised to see it was work. His apprehension grew as he thought about his aunt’s tarot reading and wished to god this wasn’t a call to inform him they had found Cori’s body. He picked up quickly. “Hello.”

  “Hi Jared, its Marc.” Jared recognized the voice of one of his supervisors from the detective bureau. “I have some bad news for you.”

  “What is it?” he demanded and tightened his grip around the receiver.

  “You know the girl you were working with on the Preston case? We got a call from her mother tonight. It looks as though she was abducted in front of her house.”

  Jared fought the urge to vomit as Marc relayed the information he had. Kate went to the convenience store about three hours earlier after dropping her mother off at their home. Darlene had grown anxious when, after forty-five minutes, Kate had yet to return. She was shocked when she looked outside and saw Kate’s car parked out front. After stumbling upon her cell phone and purse on the sidewalk, Darlene had immediately phoned the police to report her missing. Patrol officers were dispatched to the scene and detectives were on their way to the Edwards’ home.

  Jared could barely remember getting dressed and driving to Kate’s house. It was like he was on auto-pilot and couldn’t even form a single coherent thought. How could this happen? Why would someone take her? Whoever it was, he swore he would kill the person with his bare hands if they laid a single finger on her.

  He noticed the flashing lights of the patrol cars as soon as he turned on Kate’s street. Jumping out of the car, he nodded to a few of the officers working the scene. Although it was the middle of the night, the entire front of the Edwards’ house was illuminated.

  Before heading over to speak to the sergeant on the scene, he approached Darlene Edwards. She was still dressed in her wedding attire and had mascara tracks down both cheeks. An officer was standing with her on the front porch and seemed to be trying to comfort the trembling woman. The man was trying to coerce her inside, but Darlene refused.

  Jared addressed the officer. “I’m a friend of the family. I’ll be able to sit with her for a bit.” The patrolman nodded and walked away from the two of them and headed towards the evidence technicians working near Kate’s car.

  Darlene met his eyes and began to sob. “Oh god, Jared, this can’t be happening.”

  Jared reached over and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her. I promise you.” Jared knew he wasn’t in the position to be making guarantees to the distraught woman, but he would do everything in his power to get Kate back. It wasn’t in his nature to sit idly by—his connection to Kate was too strong and he wouldn’t trust anyone but himself to do the best possible job to find her. “What happened?”

  “I don’t know,” Darlene cried and then wiped at her eyes with a tissue she was clutching. “Kate said she was hungry after the wedding and went to grab a snack and a coffee. I knew it was late and I should’ve never let her go alone…”

  Jared interjected. “There was no way you could’ve known this would happen.”

  Darlene shook her head. “It was getting late and I was about to call her. Something told me to look out front. I saw her car and almost passed out from shock. Everything in her purse was strewn all over the sidewalk and her coffee cup was spilt on the ground. I called the police right away. I’m trying to figure out why this happened. I’m thinking maybe she was familiar with the person.”

  Jared looked at her with unconcealed astonishment. “Why would you think that?”

  “Her behavior was really off tonight. We went to her cousin’s wedding and she disappeared for over an hour. She was being very dodgy about where she’d been and I’m good at sensing when Kate is keeping something from me. Do you think it could be related?” Darlene asked him innocently, not sensing Jared’s discomfort.

  Although it was a necessary to divulge his encounter with Kate, it was definitely unpleasant to admit to her mother. Things were pretty heated for awhile there—he hoped there wasn’t evidence left behind of their encounter on his face or neck.

  “I actually have an explanation for that…I came to the wedding to talk to Kate,” he admitted softly.

  “You did?” Darlene couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.

  “I wanted to smooth things over with Kate. I know things were bad the last time I saw her and I came to apologize and talk,” he said lamely. Darlene shot him a look that assured him she knew more than talking had been on his mind.

  However, her expression softened and he suspected she wasn’t angry with him. His connection had not only been immediate with Kate, but her mother as well. It had meant a lot to him when she sought him out at the police station and helped encourage Kate to volunteer her services for the case. Plus, her maternal bond with Kate was one of the strongest he had ever witnessed. He couldn’t help but feel drawn to her since his own mother was a phantom in his head that seemed to fade more and more every day. He could no longer recall what she smelled like or the exact sound of her voice.

  “To be honest, it’s a relief you were the one she was with. Then who did take her?”

  “Unfortunately, I think whoever has Cori probably took Kate, too,” he sighed.