by Dale Mayer
Now You See Her…
Book 8 of the Psychic Vision Series
Dale Mayer
Books in This Series:
Tuesday’s Child – FREE
Hide’n Go Seek
Maddy’s Floor
Garden of Sorrow
Knock, Knock…
Rare Find
Eyes to the Soul
Now You See Her
Psychic Visions 3in1
NOW YOU SEE HER…
Dale Mayer
Valley Publishing
Copyright © 2015
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1-928122-57-9
Kindle Edition
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Praise for Dale Mayer
I love to read Dale Mayer’s books… keeps me guessing…. I am getting good though trying to figure out who did it…. I am on my fourth book….
…Review left on Vampire in Deceit, book 4 of Family Blood Ties
Dale Mayer’s work is always outstanding and Haunted by Death is no exception.
…Review from Haunted by Death, book 2 of the By Death Series
This is a GREAT series that you don’t want to miss out on!
…Review from Broken Protocols Series
This is my favorite author I enjoy all her books and I can’t wait for more… her books are easy to get into and I love the storyline
…Review from Dangerous Designs, book 1 of the Design Series
Dale Mayer is a gifted writer who now has me hooked as a new fan. She characters are complex and she shares her knowledge of energy work clearly and simply. Makes for fascinating reading…
…Review from Rare Find, book 6 of Psychic Visions Series
Don’t underestimated Dale Mayer. Combination of JD Robb and Heather Graham. Paranormal suspense………
…Review left on Maddy’s Floor, book 3 of the Psychic Visions Series
Wow! I read a lot, and I can honestly say that there a few books that I have read that I will remember for years. This is one of those books. Thank you Dale for giving me the gift of this magnificent story. It was both heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time.
…Review left on Skin, book 1 of Broken and yet…Healing Series
Touched by Death is an outstanding novel by Dale Mayer. Unlike her usual novels that contain paranormal activity, this novel is sheer malevolent actions from ordinary humans.
…Review left on Touched by Death, book 1 of By Death Series
Dale’s books are spellbinding in more ways than one. She has a unique way with words. Her characters are fun and funny and loving. I love the way the story flows. Her characters all have personality. She takes you from suspense to love, then fear love and eternal love.
…Review left on Second Chances, book 1 of Second Chances… at Love Series
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Praise for Dale Mayer
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Author’s Note
About the Author
Also by Dale Mayer
Chapter 1
“Okay Tia. It’s now or never.”
“Never.” That was her vote. Besides, what was she saying? She always voted with her feet. Who needed to talk things over? It made no difference. She pushed the long strands of hair back off her face and stared out the window over the sink.
“You’re at a crossroads.” Simone stood up from the kitchen table and walked over to Tia. Her long arms reached out to grasp Tia’s crossed arms. “You can’t keep going like this.”
“Sure I can,” Tia muttered. “I always have.”
“But you’re not sixteen anymore. In fact, in the last decade you were supposed to have learned something,” Simone said in exasperation.
“And I have,” Tia replied, turning to face her. “But one thing that never changes is that instinct that says go. Run. Hide. It’s kept me alive all these years.”
Simone, a fine dusting of gray hair at her temples, nodded. “I understand. I’d always hoped something in your life would break and you’d be free of him.” Her tone turned sad. “In a different way than my Mandy is now free.”
Tia couldn’t help the wince. Mandy hadn’t survived childhood after being struck down with a rare cancer. “Never going to happen. Once he realized what I could do – I was done.”
“But you’ve been safe for a long time now. How did he find you? What changed?”
Tia turned to stare out the window again, the ageless sheers hanging cheerfully off to the side. What could she say? She had no idea what had changed. She was tired of this. More tired than she ever had been. She might have to take the one step she had avoided all these years. And accept the help from the one person who cared. Who’d offered to help years ago.
She had no real reason for not accepting Stefan Kronos’ help. She couldn’t even formulate an answer as to why she hadn’t accepted his offer – except an ingrained fear of not knowing who to trust and trusting the wrong person.
She liked to think she was capable of doing this without help. She was independent. Stiff-necked stubborn more likely. She could handle this. She’d been handling it since forever.
Until now.
Until enough years had gone by and she’d let that hard edge of awareness dull down to something much more comfortable to wear. She slept at night again. Could stop and enjoy a cup of tea without seeing bad guys behind the bushes and villains in the woods.
She’d softened. Become more accepting. She’d become complacent.
She sighed and slowly rotated her head, trying to ease the tension. What she’d done was become stupid.
And that had to stop. Before
this asshole stopped her.
She knew what he wanted. Knew what he’d hoped to get from her. She couldn’t let him learn her energy techniques. She didn’t know if he could imitate them or not, but she didn’t dare let him try. The world was so not ready for that. She stared at the thin bracelet one of her fellow inmates had given her a long time ago. She’d kept it all these years as a reminder of how being a captive had defined who she was today. That she was in charge of who she was going to be from here on in. And of a memory of someone special now lost to her.
But as she stared down the long lean years of hiding, the years that had formed her early adulthood, the loneliness, the pain, she didn’t think she could go back to the person she’d been. She couldn’t go back to that lifestyle. She’d let that go when she finally found herself safe for the first time.
No…she couldn’t go back to that stage of her life, she wouldn’t. It wasn’t possible.
Neither was it required.
She reached for the phone.
Without giving the other person a chance to respond, she said, “Stefan, I need help.”
*
The dusk had settled, giving an odd light to the various pedestrians walking down the sidewalk. But there was no mistaking the woman across the street. There she was. Finally within his grasp. Tia. He smiled. Time had been a blessing in many ways. She was stunning. Good. And she wouldn’t recognize him. Too bad. She’d doted on him back then. Of course she didn’t know who he really was. She’d always called the boss The Bastard. And he was. But that boss was the old bastard. Now he was the New Bastard.
He grinned. He wasn’t really one of course. His family had very high connections. His birth was well documented. Maybe he deserved the name for other reasons. But his reasons had always been to benefit Tia and the others. To help them be the best they could be.
A homeless man, curled up on the newspaper in the corner, whimpered. The New Bastard turned to face the homeless man. “Leave. Now.”
The homeless man’s gaze widened. He opened his mouth as if to say something then snapped it shut. He nodded meekly. Grabbing up his sparse belongings, he scurried backward down the alley.
Run, little mouse, run.
The Bastard turned and stared across the street where Tia leaned so casually. As if there wasn’t a care in the world. His mood darkened. Bitch. Princess. All she’d put him through. All she’d cost him. He’d been searching for her for years. But finally, she’d come home. Well, it was time for her to pay up. They’d tried all sorts of things to make her do what they wanted her to do. Tried everything they could think of.
Kept her isolated at the end. But when he’d gone back for her…somehow she’d escaped.
Now look at her. She was so defiant. Independent. Stubborn. Always had been. Too bad for her. He needed something she had. And he was going to get it.
Tonight.
He fingered the small balls in his pocket as he watched her. He’d done everything he could to make her show her true self and she’d always resisted. Well, no more.
Several people walked by staring at her, but she ignored them.
Typical of her.
Still, she was hardly someone anyone could ignore. Not the way she stood out. With her chameleon abilities, she didn’t have to stand out right now. She could blend right in if she wanted to.
So she wanted to be seen.
Therefore, she was waiting for someone.
He’d have to wait. See who it was.
But energy vibrated through his fingers. Anger. Hate. He had a lot of reasons for not liking this stage of his life. Especially knowing the answer – the ability to fix all that had gone wrong – was right across the street.
Only he didn’t want to wait. He wanted action. Now.
He turned his head and stared back toward the alley. And smiled.
*
Tia, her leather jacket tugged up high on her neck, her long hair pulled into a high ponytail, leaned against the brick wall at the city park. She hadn’t been back in Portland in years, and this area was new to her. She wasn’t afraid but found it hard to settle comfortably into her surroundings. She didn’t fear the night or the others in the world, just the one man and the organization that pandered to his every whim. Combined they were a deadly force. One she’d like nothing to do with ever again.
As far as she could see, she was alone. A cop walked the other side of the street. A few single women scurried through the almost empty area. A couple of men strode confidently along. The profile of one caught her eye, but she couldn’t get a clear glimpse of him. She kept an eye on him but he walked past. She didn’t feel safe but neither did she sense imminent danger.
That spidey sense of hers was not accurate in all situations and she hadn’t figured out why, but the thought that the predator might have a new tool to help knock her spidey sense out of commission had kept her senses turned on and humming in the background – for years.
Now…such a different life.
Her ribs ached, the old faded scars quivering with long submerged memories of life before her escape. She’d survived those long years, barely. And only because of Simone.
Simone hadn’t been able to turn Tia away.
Thank God.
From such things great friendships were born.
She owed Simone her life. And her very sanity. She’d seen things when working on Tia that no one had ever seen. That no one would ever know or suspect were possible. And she’d kept quiet, protecting her.
Tia knew that damn asshole still wanted her, still searched for her to take her back to his lab. Rat that he was.
And she’d do a lot to avoid his cage.
A couple strolled by, holding hands, heads together wrapped up in an aura of new love. Behind them, slower and not as wrapped up, was an older couple strolling by, still holding hands after decades of marriage, still in love.
The thought made her smile. Then she remembered where she was and why. How anyone could stay innocent of the evil in the world she had no idea.
Still, like a movie on the big screen, it was a nice bit of fantasy.
The sky was eerie in the moonlight with the clouds drifting in and out. She thought she recognized a man across the street. As he stepped into the lamplight, she realized it was a stranger.
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She’d promised Simone she’d return to her house at ten if her meeting didn’t happen.
Stefan had better show. She needed him.
The street light across the road flickered.
She tensed.
And closed her eyes. She reached out with her spidey sense to see what was disturbing the energy of the lamp.
And found…nothing.
She frowned. It could have just been a flicker in the power grid from the city center. Dirty power being an issue in many cities. But here? Not so much. At least it hadn’t been a problem ten years ago. She’d left soon after and was surprised at the sprawling mess the city had become. Either it had grown or her memories had shrunk. Either way it wasn’t great.
She’d become a small town girl. There, she could be who she wanted to be and ditch the personas she had to create every time she picked up and started over.
And if she told herself that often enough she might believe it, because in truth it sucked. You had to remember the lies that were the flavor of the week and over time the lies grew and had to be built upon until you started to believe some of them yourself. After all there wasn’t much of a choice once you started down that path.
It was also lonely. She always had to play a part. She could never be herself. Only with Simone. But it was dangerous to stay close to her. And she’d do anything to keep her safe. She was the only person in Tia’s life who cared about her.
At least until she’d ended up at Land’s Edge, a small town close to the Canadian border. She’d figured that if she was found there, she might be able to slip across the border and get lost in the northern wilderness. Instead, she’d found a
place to call home. At least temporarily.
It was a place of misfits. Travelers. People who’d arrived in the town and ended up staying, putting down roots. Probably thinking along the same lines she had.
Tia had parents somewhere, but when her talents had shown up they had taken her from doctor to doctor to “fix” her.
Only there’d never been anything wrong, nothing to “fix.”
Her parents had taken a hard line and their actions at that point forever divided her from them. Her baby brother had arrived soon after. Her parents, wanting the taint to stay contained with her, isolated her from him while they tried to deal with Tia’s problems.
Of course the problem never was resolved so she never got a chance to get to know her little brother. A decade younger than her, she wouldn’t be surprised if her parents had erased her existence from his memory. An easy thing to do in one so young. Especially after they put her in that program.
She shifted restlessly as the evening cooled down. The bricks were uncomfortable on her back. She deliberately removed some of the energy from her shoulder blades, minimizing their ability to scream in pain.
The lights flickered again.
Shit.
She tensed and slid a little further down the wall. Deeper into the shadows.
He’d found her.
No, she argued silently. He couldn’t have. No one knew. Just Stefan, and he’d never tell. Not the Stefan she’d heard so much about. He had almost a cult-like following. People loved him.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t accidentally tell someone.
Maybe his phone line was bugged.
Maybe his own security had been breached.
All things were possible.
But not likely.
She closed her eyes as pain suddenly slammed into her heart. There was only one other person who’d known where she was coming and when.
Simone.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Had something happened to her? She slid her cell phone out of her pocket, and shielding the light from the screen, she checked for messages.
There was one from Simone. Someone broke in tonight. Run.
The hair on her skin rose up straight and her breath caught up in her chest.