BURNING INTUITION (Intuition Series Book 2)

by Makenzi Fisk

  What the fuck is going on? Is this place haunted by a freakin’ ghost? Are those bitches witches? Prickles run up my backbone and I feel cold. This is like that movie where the guy gets ripped to bloody shreds by a poltergeist.

  Who haunts me? I’ll torch this whole goddamn place. I reach into my pocket for my lighter. The one I stole from the gas station to finish Barb. My hand shakes when I realize that it’s the same. This is exactly the same as the lighter I took from my mother’s purse that day. The day she fell…

  Just say it.

  I shake my head. She left me.

  You did it.

  Eyes squeezed tight, I shout the words. “I killed her!”

  Spit flecks my lips with the force of my words. I pushed her fat ass into the swamp and smashed the life from her skull. She’ll stay in her mucky grave until the end of time.

  Or will she? I turn slowly, ever so slowly to look behind me. Everything is the same as it was a minute ago. There are no chairs floating in the air, no rattling chains. I snort through my nose. My mother’s ghost is not here. I adjust the weight of the beer bottles tucked into my elbow and jut out my jaw.

  On the fence outside the window, two crows squawk. Their beaks point right at me. Everyone knows what that means.

  I stare at my mother’s lighter in my trembling hand. Is this what remorse feels like? Or fear? Whatever it is, I’m not used to it, and I don’t like it. I imagine my breath steams in the suddenly icy air. Claws scratch against wood somewhere inside the walls and my backbone stiffens.

  Fuck this. I’m getting the hell out.

  I drop the lighter back into my pocket and reach for my knife. The counter is empty but I run my hand across it anyway. I swear to God I put it there. Before I opened the fridge. I’m positive. Do ghosts steal knives? What about the Tasmanian Devil? Was that even real?

  Right on cue, there’s an eerie thump inside the cabinet. I ain’t looking in there again. From the drawer, I grab a paring knife and slide it into my sleeve.

  My grandfather would never have approved of this cheap piece of crap. He would have said, If you’re gonna use a knife, use a good one. One with a tang that goes all the way through the handle. Well, he’s not here right now is he? He left me too…

  Say it. Say it Say it!

  He didn’t leave me. I poisoned him. Is he dead? Are they both haunting me?

  Holy shit! Is this what it feels like to go insane?

  Knife in my sleeve, arm wrapped around my precious beer, I back toward the door. One foot behind the other I shove it open with my ass. I’m not taking my eyes off this freakin’ kitchen. If something comes for me, I wanna see it.

  I jump when the door slams shut behind me and the crows take flight. Their black wings create air currents and a single tainted feather falls to the ground at my feet.

  I sprint for the car as if the Tasmanian Devil himself is on my tail.

  CHAPTER 29

  “Did you forget to lock the door?” Arms full of electronic equipment, Erin toed the back door. With no resistance, it thudded open. She frowned her annoyance at Allie. “You were the last one out…”

  “I locked it. You have me trained.” Beside her, Allie laid her boxes down and stepped back. “Something happened.”

  “So, the dog did pee on my sandals while we were out?”

  “No, it’s not the dog,” Allie whispered.

  “Rachel.” Erin stalked into the kitchen and slid her armload to the table. Beside an overturned chair, the cat peered up at her. “Is that your innocent face?” She righted the chair and it yawed to the left.

  The cat mewed and settled to her haunches. She twitched smug whiskers, claiming the tiles in front of the cabinet. She was hunkered down for the long haul. Erin cracked the door open behind the cat. The peanut butter was still there, the box of cereal on its side. She narrowed her eyes.

  “I’m not buying it. What else have you done?” One glance down the hallway confirmed Erin’s suspicion. She splashed through a pool of water coming from the bathroom. “Rachel! How did you…?” Medicine bottles bobbed in the sink. She plunged her hand through ice-cold water to clear the drain. “Damn feline…” she muttered through gritted teeth.

  Across the hall, the office door yawned open. Erin went rigid. Allie kept that door closed. It was a habit, and everyone in the house respected it as business space. Unless Rachel had grown opposable thumbs, she couldn’t be responsible.

  “Allie!” she called out. “Stay where you are. I think someone—”

  “Lily.”

  The mere word reverberated all the way to Erin’s clenched jaw. She crept to the office and peeked around the frame. The computer monitor twisted in its cables off the edge of the desk raised the hair on the back of her forearms. Add that to the overturned chair behind the desk. There had been a struggle.

  She straightened the monitor and backed out the door. What about the bedrooms? The shredded comforter was crumpled on the bed she shared with Allie. Pillows were slashed and stuffing spewed like dandelion fluff.

  Her stomach plummeted at the sight of her notebook, half its pages torn out and shredded. She exhaled. It had taken years to modify her neat high school handwriting into the indecipherable scrawl of a police officer. It was the next best thing to locking things up, and it saved time.

  The cat had gleefully greeted her in the kitchen, but she hadn’t yet found the puppy. He was so young and vulnerable. Did Lily…?

  “Allie, where’s the dog?” Erin’s voice rose to panic.

  The silence from the kitchen was deafening. Two at a time, she vaulted the stairs to check Ciara’s room. It was in its normal state of disarray and she couldn’t tell if it was better or worse than when she’d last been up here. But there was no dog.

  “Allie!” She tore down the stairs and into the kitchen.

  Feet splayed wide, Allie lay flat on her stomach with her head inside the bottom cabinet. Tucked beside her, Rachel’s fluffy tail swished with delight.

  “What are you doing?” Erin squatted behind her. “Is he in there?”

  “Well, sort of.” Allie wiggled out enough to let her see, and aimed the LED light from her cell phone at the back of the cabinet. “He’s in the wall. Stuck.” A shiny black eye and one oversize ear peeped through a jagged cutout in the drywall. Vigorous thrumming on metal pipes suggested the dog happily wagged his tail.

  “How did you find him in there? Did he bark?”

  “Rachel told me.”

  “The cat talks to you?” Erin had witnessed Allie’s intuitive ability first-hand so many times that this didn’t seem outside the realm of possibility.

  “No, silly.” Allie’s nose crinkled in amusement. “I just meant that she showed me with her body language.”

  “Oh.” It was not some sort of magic after all.

  “You saw her when we came in, didn’t you? Rachel was trying to tell us to look in the cabinet.” Allie pointed to the square of tiles the cat had been guarding. Was there really a method to the cat’s mischief? “It was obvious, wasn’t it?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Erin fibbed. The whole truth was that she’d been blind-sided by the break-in and the flood of water in the hall. She’d missed it.

  “And his energy is in there.” Allie shrugged.

  “Maybe you’re not such a bad kitty.” Erin stroked Rachel’s head and the cat chirped. “Did you hide your little brother in the hole?”

  Rachel twitched her tail into Erin’s face, the tickling hair less annoying than usual.

  “Rachel, you’re an angel.” Allie slid out and gathered the cat in her arms.

  “More like a ninja. That cat knows the inside of that wall like the back of her lonely front paw.”

  “I wonder how the dog got wedged between the drywall and the abandoned ductwork.” Allie scraped out shreds of twisted aluminum foil. “It smells fishy in here.”

  “Remember the great fish caper? I told you these two critters are in cahoots.” Erin pursed her lips to keep from grinning. Sh
e retrieved each shred of foil with her fingertips and placed them in the trash.

  “Aw come on, Honey. He must have been scared and followed her to hide.”

  “Look, there’s blood.” Erin pointed to the overturned cereal box. “And human finger marks. I think it’s Lily’s blood, not the dog’s.” She poked at it with the tip of her truck key until it slid onto the floor. She brushed it to the side. “Good boy. Did you get a piece of her?”

  “Do you really think he bit Lily?” Allie’s eyebrows shot up. “He’s just a puppy.”

  “He’s young but he’s got canine instincts. If he felt threatened, he might have tried to protect himself.”

  “Such a tough guy.” Allie slowly shook her head. “He’s a dog after my own heart. If only he wasn’t—”

  “Zapping your nervous system every time you touched him?” Erin tilted her head.

  “Yes, that.” Allie squeezed back in beside Erin. “How in the world do you suppose he got wedged in there?” She shone her light inside and one beady black eye glinted at them.

  “I imagine his tail sticking out when the cat cruelly shoved him in from behind.” Erin dodged a swipe from Allie.

  “Well, he’s not too distressed but we need to get him out.” Allie opened the drawer and poised her fingers above it. “I don’t suppose Ciara would be impressed if I used her bread knife on the wall.”

  “Would she even notice?” One more bent or abused household item didn’t seem a big deal.

  Allie withdrew her hand and closed the drawer.

  Erin got to her feet. “I’ll look for something in the shed.” She halted at the sight of the cat tending to a new spot in front of the refrigerator. There were no more pets to be found, so what in the world was that wacky feline doing now? She opened her mouth to tell Allie and closed it. She was no kitty whisperer. If the cat was trying to tell them something, Allie would figure it out. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Fifteen minutes and a few scraped knuckles later, they had enlarged the hole using hedge clippers and a small pruning saw. Erin coaxed the excited dog from his hiding place and snuggled him into her chest. As she stroked his hair, her fingers explored for injuries. “You sure have a way of getting yourself into fixes you can’t get out of.”

  “You might consider naming him Murphy. As in Murphy’s Law.”

  “Do you look like a Murphy?” Erin held up the dog. His big ears drooped. “He doesn’t like it.”

  “Who’s talking to animals now?” Allie playfully prodded Erin’s shoulder and immediately jerked back. “Wow, I almost forgot about that shock. He doesn’t look like much, but he’s got powerful energy.”

  “I wish I could see the world as you do, if only for a moment.”

  “No, you don’t.” Allie turned away.

  “I guess I’d better report this break and enter.” Erin set the puppy down and found her cell phone. As in all big cities, the call went directly into the hold queue. She put it on speaker and busied herself examining the bottom cupboard.

  Ciara stored little in here. She placed the two jars of peanut butter up onto the counter. She squinted at the smear on the bloodied cereal box. Was that the hint of a ridge pattern? It sure looked like it. From her introductory forensics course she couldn’t quite tell if it would be enough for an identification but she could pick out a half dozen points right away. A closer inspection might reveal more. How many points did it take to make a criminal identification in Canada?

  She put down the box. Why bother? Lily’s prints weren’t in the system.

  Winnipeg was a big city. Would they send a forensics officer to a break and enter where nothing was stolen and damage was minimal? In a city sometimes known as murder capital of Canada, they might not have the resources.

  * * *

  Allie kept perfectly still while the dog sniffed around her foot. Could she do it? Was she strong enough? Hand quivering, she reached toward his plaster-dusted muzzle. Energy lapped at her like waves in the ocean. I’ll be burnt to ashes. “It’s like trying to touch the sun.” She dropped her hand.

  “Maybe I can help. Let’s do what we did before. I’ll be the buffer in the electrical circuit.” Erin slid the phone out of the way. “Are you ready?”

  She hesitated and finally nodded back.

  Erin scooped the pup into her lap and covered her girlfriend’s hand with her own.

  Allie jolted upright and stared at the dog. He peered back with iridescent eyes. His fur emanated a radiant glow that intensified the longer she looked at him. Her foster mom had always reminded her to breathe.

  She inhaled.

  Exhaled.

  Just as she’d learned to block out mental intrusions as a child, she melded emotion with thought. Her mind cleared and her muscles relaxed. Like sunshine through a prism, the glow separated into rainbow colors and encircled the three of them. Pure light surrounded them as a single unit. The very air shimmered. Her body was weightless. She squeezed Erin’s fingers, not so much for comfort as to keep her feet tethered to the earth.

  Allie turned her face to the door. Lily had entered through there. Energy, dark and oily, permeated the house as she explored, ransacked, raged. Her trail lingered like smoke, clung to the spot where they now sat. A dark shadow accompanied the girl, like a separate entity. Was it a disembodied conscience? If so, it was blackened to its core.

  There was suddenly not enough air. Her lungs burned. She squeezed her eyes shut.

  Gasp!

  She fought panic, struggled to keep hold of Erin’s hand. The dog whined softly.

  Somewhere outside herself were fragments of sound. Erin’s voice. It was too far away to understand, but the message came through loud and clear. I’m here. Right beside you.

  Colors swirled, broke apart, melded together once more.

  Breathe. Concentrate.

  Her thoughts snapped into sharp focus. Emotions separated from actions. Allie saw with clarity. Lily had come in while they were gone. She had a knife, a lighter, and a plan to wreak revenge on the police officer who’d come after her. She desperately wanted to kill.

  She’d been angry, confused, vengeful, afraid. Afraid? Lily had left before destroying the house because she was afraid. Of what? The puppy had bitten her, the cat had tormented her, but that was not the source of her fear. She had been haunted by thoughts of her grandfather. Thoughts of her mother.

  The sound of Lily’s panicked voice still echoed against the walls. I killed her.

  Two black crows witnessed her confession. When she bolted out the door, they took their knowledge to the skies.

  Allie opened her eyes, stroked the dog on her lap.

  Erin’s face was pinched, worried.

  She smiled and released the death grip she’d held. Erin’s hand must feel—

  Wait! The dog? The dog. On her lap. She glanced down and froze.

  She filled her lungs. Exhaled. She wanted to inspect her hands to see if her fingers had been burned to stubs, but she knew. Somehow, everything was fine.

  “When did this happen?” She jutted her chin at the dog, curled contentedly between her crossed legs. “How?” She hadn’t even been aware of him.

  “Uh, I couldn’t hold him.” Erin scratched her eyebrow. “He started whining when your breathing changed and wiggled right out of my arms. Once he was in your lap he settled down. You’ve been petting him with your free hand for a while.”

  “Really?” The mental change from panic to clarity. That was the dog. They’d connected. She’d been right. It was powerful. Her heart plummeted when she remembered Lily. Now she understood why thoughts of her had intruded every time she’d tried to focus on the disappearance of her mother. The girl’s energy was intertwined because she’d been responsible.

  “Lily killed her mother.” Allie whispered.

  “What?” Erin sat upright.

  “I can’t explain how I know. Not in a way that wouldn’t sound completely insane. I’m convinced that Lily murdered her own mother.”

>   “Holy moly.”

  “She’s been drinking alcohol. She hasn’t been sleeping. She’s not thinking clearly and she wants to kill.”

  “What happened in here?”

  “She came to destroy the house but the pets distracted her. One minute they were there, the next they weren’t.”

  “Ha. Rachel.” Erin chuffed.

  “She got confused and then afraid her mother was out to get her. Well, the ghost of her mother.”

  “I swear to God I’ll never malign that cat again.” Erin crossed her finger over her heart.

  “Lily ran out of here like she was being chased by demons.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t think that will keep her down for long. She’s relentless. If she can’t get at me, she’ll go after someone else. We need to find that person before she hatches a plan.”

  “I feel that too.” Allie gingerly set the dog on the floor. He wagged his tail and circled her. “I also feel that the dog and I have been able to connect.”

  “You called a truce? He agrees not to incinerate you and you agree to give him attention?” Erin paused. “I’m glad you came to terms. I was concerned.”

  “I’ll always miss Fiona,” Allie said hastily, “but I might be ready for a new dog.”

  Erin scowled at the cell phone on the floor. Its screen no longer glowed but the tinny musical sound coming from the speaker confirmed that she was still on hold. “I think there’s an online report form we can fill out.” She picked up the phone and disconnected the call.

  Out of habit, Allie inched her toes away as the dog trooped past to join the cat. Whiskers almost touching, the animals stared together at the dark space under the fridge.

  “This is definitely animal body language. Are you not seeing this?” Erin rocked up to her feet. “Are they trying to tell us something?”

  So wrapped up in herself, it took Allie a second to reorient to the world outside her mind. “They are. Let’s move the fridge.”