by John O'Riley
Jake laughed with mirth and shook his head no.
“You could model, too,” Mark suggested.
Josephine cocked a bemused brow. “I don’t think so.”
“You’re gorgeous. I think you’d do extremely well.”
Josephine turned her attention back to her grandson and cleared her throat as nervousness began to take hold.
“Jake, I’ve decided with how much energy I have and all things considered, I should go back to work. There’s a position open for a full-time psychometrist specialist,” Josephine said.
Jake’s smile dropped away as his expression reflected the utter shock her words elicited from him.
“I think that’s a great idea! You’d be a shoe-in,” Mark said with great enthusiasm.
“What do you mean by that?” Josephine regarded him with puzzlement.
“PD’s hardly ever get a six to work for them. They usually don’t tolerate the stress of picking up the psychic impressions of violent crime very well,” Mark explained.
“He’s right. You might want to think about another avenue to work in,” Jake suggested.
“I want to work in law enforcement and this is one of the safest positions,” Josephine said. “I’ve been doing part-time consulting work for you and Detective Whiney for years. I know I can handle the psychic energy from crime scenes.”
The kitchen timer rang to indicate the lasagna was ready. Josephine pulled it out of the oven and served everyone healthy portions. They gathered at the dining room table to eat and continue their conversation.
“If you can handle the work, I think you should go for it,” Jake said.
“I wanted to talk to you first before I did anything because I wasn’t sure how you would feel about working with me,” Josephine said.
“I think it would be great to see you more often.” Jake offered an encouraging smile before he took his first bite of the lasagna. “This is great.”
“It sure is. Thank you for including me,” Mark said.
“Any friend of Jake’s is a friend of mine.” Josephine threw him a gracious smile.
“I was wondering if you might want to go out for drinks sometime,” Mark said.
Josephine started at the obvious attempt for a date and wondered if this youngster was even past the age of consent yet. Even so, she couldn’t imagine ever feeling comfortable going steady with a guy fresh out of high school.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Exactly how old are you?” Josephine asked.
“I’m eighteen and a legal adult,” Mark said.
“But you aren’t old enough to drink,” Josephine pointed out.
“So?”
“How can we go out for drinks?”
“I was thinking coffee,” Mark said.
“I see.” Josephine mulled this over for several seconds then decided to throw in a compatibility test she had devised over the years. “How do you like your coffee?”
“With plenty of cream and sugar,” Mark replied.
“Do you prefer tea or coffee?”
“Coffee.”
“How do you drink your tea?” Josephine asked.
“Same as I do my coffee.”
“Do you like dogs and if so what’s your favorite kind?”
“I like dogs but I don’t really want a pet right now. I prefer small dogs, I guess,” Mark said.
Jake’s eyes twinkled with mirth as he observed his grandmother interrogating Mark. Jake already knew all about Josephine’s test for selecting a suitable match and that Mark had passed with flying colors. Josephine had told Jake on several occasions that no matter how unlikely the prospect, she would give a guy a chance if he answered her questions correctly. Josephine exchanged a meaningful look with Jake before turning back to level a forced smile at Mark.
“I think it would be nice to meet for coffee sometime,” Josephine said.
“That’s great! Let’s exchange phone numbers.” Mark whipped out his cell phone.
Josephine dug out her own cell which was a recent acquisition and swapped numbers with Mark. Josephine enjoyed herself as they continued to converse over their dinner. She didn’t return to her condo until late in the evening but had trouble going to sleep as doubts about leaving retirement plagued her mind. Josephine looked over the application and resumé that her friends had completed for her before turning it in the next morning. Josephine’s body tensed with nervousness as she drove home. She planned on changing out of her professional attire and into shorts and a blouse so she could go jogging at the beach but as soon as she reached her condo, Alice and Helen came over to visit. Obviously, Alice had been keeping a vigilant watch from her guest bedroom window which offered a perfect view of Josephine’s parking spot.
“How did it go?” Alice asked.
“A clerk took my application and told me they’d call me for an interview if my qualifications were a good fit,” Josephine said.
“The government runs very slowly. I heard it can take weeks or even months before they contact any applicants,” Helen said.
“I don’t know if my nerves can take that,” Josephine said.
“You just need to do something to fully occupy your mind,” Helen suggested. “I would go running with you but I’m afraid I’m out of shape.”
“I think we should work on some jinxes to use on Dale. We’ll break into his condo and set up some surprises for him.” Alice’s eyes gleamed with mischief.
“I think you should try to extend an apple branch to him. See if you can mend fences,” Helen said.
“Extend an olive branch,” Alice corrected.
Helen’s eyes lit up with enthusiasm. “That’s exactly what I think!”
“I think Helen’s right. I’m going to prepare some enchantments as a goodwill gesture. Or maybe I can just use something I’ve already made,” Josephine said. “What do men like and dislike?”
“They’re a bunch of pigs,” Alice said with a moody frown.
“They tend to be lazy,” Helen supplied with a helpful smile.
Josephine snapped her fingers and pointed at Helen with elation. “That’s exactly it! I’ll give him a couple of my cleaning enchantments. They’re advanced and do a thorough job.”
“That’s perfect,” Alice agreed.
Josephine grabbed two of her small, thin wands programmed for cleaning with a small label wrapped around the handle to indicate their use. She placed them in a shiny, gold decorative box and went over to see Dale. As soon as Dale opened the door and realized who was paying him a visit, he slammed it shut in her face. Josephine scowled with irritation as her instincts screamed at her to shell out some payback.
“Dale, I just want to talk,” Josephine called out.
“What’s stopping you?” Dale’s sarcastic voice was muffled through the door.
“We can’t carry on a meaningful conversation like this,” Josephine said.
“I’m not going to invite a slut into my home.”
Josephine’s face flushed as righteous indignation swept through her. “I’m not a slut.”
“You don’t belong in a retirement community.”
“I’m older than you,” Josephine retorted.
“You have all the advantages of youth and shouldn’t get to use any retirement benefits.”
“I contributed to taxes and social security the same as you.” Josephine strove to keep calm as she began to harbor doubts about her goodwill mission.
“Why don’t you take your slutty ass and march it on out of here,” Dale said.
Josephine opened her second sight and examined the security enchantments and wards protecting Dale’s condo. It took her only a couple of moments to disarm everything. She made a sweeping gesture with her hand as she forced the door open with a potent burst of telekinesis. Dale gaped at Josephine with stunned disbelief for several seconds before he turned to flee. Josephine reached her hand out and used telekinesis to toss Dale across the room and pin his body against the wall. Josephine made a sweeping moti
on at the door to cause it to slam shut as she approached Dale. Her mind simmered with hostility and anger. Dale’s fearful gaze locked onto hers as he tried to pry himself away from the wall to escape. Josephine halted in front of him and frowned at him with reprisal.
“You’re making it very difficult to be nice to you,” Josephine said.
Dale’s mouth opened and closed several times in a comical fashion that almost made Josephine burst out in hysterical laughter. She bit her lower lip to keep the amusement at bay as she didn’t think it would help her cause.
“What do you want?” Dale asked.
“I want to call a truce. I don’t plan on jinxing you anymore if you stop pestering me,” Josephine said. “Don’t you think it would be nice to enjoy your retirement without looking over your shoulder all the time?”
“You don’t scare me,” Dale said with false bravado.
“I come with a peace offering.” Josephine held up a gift box which caused Dale to flinch with alarm. “It’s a powerful cleaning enchantment. I thought you might find it useful.”
Josephine released the telekinetic hold on Dale and he pushed away from the wall but didn’t try to flee. Dale regarded the box with obvious suspicion.
“How do I know you don’t have it jinxed?” he demanded.
“I’m trying to show you that I want to be a good neighbor,” Josephine said. “Do you think we can stop slinging spells at each other?”
“I’ll think about it,” Dale said.
“That’s all I ask.”
Josephine held out the gift box and Dale hesitated before accepting it. Josephine’s lips formed a strained smile.
“Thank you for giving this a chance, Dale,” she said.
“I’m still thinking.”
Josephine left Dale’s condo with mixed feelings. Mending fences could prove to be a prudent course of action; however, Josephine didn’t trust the old fart and seriously doubted he would stop hounding her. Early the next morning, on the drive to Siesta Key beach, Josephine thought she saw the same blue sedan tailing her for almost the entire trip. Josephine tensed with nervousness as she wondered if someone suspected she was illegally tapping into the vortex. When she turned into the parking lot, the blue sedan continued on down the road without slowing down. She heaved a sigh of relief and wondered when she would stop suffering from guilt and paranoia over shutting off her aequitas enchantment. Just because category six wizards were so powerful didn’t mean they should be banned from doing what everyone else could do.
Josephine reached out with her mind and linked with the vortex. Potent energy flooded through her mind and body. Josephine jogged along the shoreline in her bare feet, enjoying the feel of the soft crystalline sand against her skin. She took deep breaths of the salty air but never grew tired as long as she maintained her psychic connection with the vortex. Her body thrummed with pleasure and she savored the delightful sensation, wishing these moments would never end. A male figure heading her way came into view. Josephine’s temporarily enhanced psychic senses immediately recognized her friend, Gary Eslinger. He was medium-set, in his mid-thirties, with hazel eyes and brown wavy hair. Sometimes, Gary and Josephine went jogging together or he’d come over to visit but it had been a couple of weeks since she’d seen him. Gary was clad in just swim trunks and he looked preoccupied in spite of the rush obtained from the vortex. Like Josephine, he was a category six. There were only three of them who lived in the area.
“Gary, it’s been awhile. Mind if I join you?” Josephine asked.
“Sure.”
Josephine turned and ran beside him in silence for several moments.
“What have you been up to? Is everything okay?” Josephine said.
“I’m trying to figure things out,” Gary said.
Josephine could understand that. She’d helped the police catch a serial killer who was experimenting on his victims in an attempt to create an enchantment that would increase a wizard’s power to a category six. The killer happened to be Gary’s older brother and had succeeded in the enchantment with his latest victim who’d survived the brutal magic he’d inflicted on her. Josephine had caught him before he could enhance his own abilities.
“I can understand that but you shouldn’t isolate yourself,” Josephine advised.
“Maybe I’ll come over this weekend,” Gary said.
“I look forward to it.”
“It’s strange,” Gary said.
“What is?”
“I’m feeling hunted like someone’s following me around.”
Josephine’s stomach clenched with anxiety. “Have you seen anyone?”
“Not really.”
“You don’t sound so sure of that.”
“My mind’s just playing tricks on me. I think it’s a side-effect of Dan’s mind control and memory suppression hexes he did on me all those years,” Gary said.
“You don’t have to worry anymore. Your brother is safely locked away now where he belongs,” Josephine said in a reassuring tone.
“I know but my mind is still healing. Alice said it could take a long time to recover after all those years of damage.”
“She’s willing to help speed up the healing process. I’ve helped her create some mentis curatio enchantments just for you,” Josephine said.
“She told me but I have a hard time trusting anyone,” Gary said.
A shiver of apprehension tingled along Josephine’s spine when her gaze flicked to the parking lot and she saw the same blue sedan that had followed her parked near her car. Josephine took advantage of her heightened senses to probe at the stranger. A powerful and seamless shield kept her from accessing the mind of the stalker.
“Gary, try to see if you can sense who’s driving that car. I’m sure he followed me here.” Josephine pointed at the parking lot.
The car turned and raced out of the area. Josephine lost her hold on the intruder and turned to face Gary.
“Did you get anything?” Josephine shot him a hopeful look.
“Nothing.”
“Damn!” Josephine exclaimed with fervor. “Only a category five or six could hold out against us like that which means it’s probably an enforcer.”
Gary’s eyes conveyed a sense of dread. “We’re under investigation. I wonder why they didn’t arrest us since we were caught red-handed linking with the vortex here.”
“You’re right. It must be someone else. We should probably report this to the police except that we’ll be assigned enforcers to protect us.”
“We won’t be able to risk connecting with the Siesta Key vortex anymore if that happens.”
Josephine mulled over their situation as anxiety clawed in her gut.
Chapter 3
Josephine, Alice, and Helen were gathered at Josephine’s dining room table playing rummy and enjoying coffee. Josephine shifted in her chair with nervousness and found it difficult to focus on the game.
“I’m getting too old for this kind of stress,” Josephine grumbled.
“I think you made a good decision not going to the police,” Alice said. “You can’t afford to have enforcers hanging out at your condo with what you’ve been doing.”
“I suppose I could do an ignotus spell to get rid of any trace psychometric energy,” Josephine said.
“You work in the investigative world. When criminals try to wipe out those energies, it’s impossible to completely remove them. You’re always able to read enough to see who it is. No one ever gets away with anything,” Alice said.
“You’re right. I just hate to think that someone out there might be stalking me.”
“What’s the worse that can happen?” Alice said in a reasonable tone.
“They may kidnap me while I’m sleeping and experiment on me to try to figure out how to create more category sixes.” Josephine’s brown eyes conveyed her terror.
“You’ve created the most powerful wards on your condo that I’ve ever seen. No one will be able to break in. The only thing you have to worry about
is being caught unexpected while you’re out shopping or jogging at the beach,” Alice pointed out.
Josephine nodded her head in agreement. “You’re right. Whenever I leave my apartment, I should just make sure to wear plenty of protection amulets and be ready to activate half of them at a moment’s notice.”
“Exactly! There’s no way anyone’s getting their hands on you.”
“And what about Gary?” Helen regarded her two friends with grave concern. “He’s just a boy. He’s vulnerable.”
Alice threw Helen a disgusted look. “For heaven’s sakes, he’s a grown man in his thirties and he would be locked up for deactivating his aequitas enchantment and linking with the power vortex at the beach just like Josephine.”
“Category sixes are better at performing ignotus spells. I think they should do it and tell the police so that an enforcer can protect them,” Helen said.
Josephine leveled a serious look at her friend. “I wish I could do that but for right now, it’s too great a risk. My freedom is too important to me. I’m sure we’ll both be safe. If it will make you feel better, I’ll have Gary stay with me.”
“That’s a great idea,” Helen said with approval. “It would make things a lot less risky.”
“All right, I’ll call him later and let him know the plan,” Josephine said.
Alice picked up the entire discard pile so she could play four aces and four kings which caused Josephine to cry out with indignation. Alice shot Josephine a smug grin and played four queens. Josephine smacked the table with frustration and cried out with annoyance. Alice still didn’t discard. Josephine narrowed her eyes at Alice who continued to smirk.
“There’s no way you can possibly have anything else to play,” Josephine said.
Alice waited several seconds before playing four jacks and discarding her last card which ended the game. Josephine squealed with outrage and slapped her cards down on the table.
“I can’t believe this!” Josephine wailed.
“I win again,” Alice said.
Helen took her defeat with typical grace. Losing didn’t seem to bother her most of the time. Josephine flinched when her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and placed it on the table.