Deadly Visions

by Aubrey Harper

  I tried to relax. I closed my eyes. And I begged the universe to show me the man’s killer.

  I was pulled back into the vision almost instantly, though this time it was a lot more vivid. I saw Peter Hill or whatever his real name was, and I saw the man with the gun. Then I saw the gun firing, the bullet going through Peter’s chest. He fell to the ground, much like Dax had in my previous vision.

  But instead of the vision fading, it continued. Until I saw who had fired the gun. I held my breath just as his face came into focus. If the universe stopped the vision right there, I’d be more than pissed. But it didn’t. The vision continued.

  I saw the killer’s face.

  Chapter 10

  “Who is it? Anyone you recognize?”

  “No. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before. But if I saw him again, I’m pretty sure I’d recognize him.”

  “Good, let’s go back to my room,” Dax said, leading the way.

  “Umm, why?” I asked.

  “Because I have some pictures to show you.”

  That was good enough for me.

  When we were back in the room, it took Dax a while to find the pictures he was talking about.

  “I knew where they were before you came over, and now that I put everything into one pile, it might take me a while to find it,” he said when he saw that I was growing impatient.

  “It’s okay. I guess I can wait a bit if it’ll help find Peter Hill’s killer. It’s a small price to pay, right?”

  I sat down on the chair and played on my phone while Dax took his sweet time.

  “Here they are,” he finally said.

  I put my phone away and looked at the pictures he gave me. They weren’t the highest quality since they were printed on paper, but they’d do.

  I looked through the photos until I caught a glance of a familiar face. I took a closer look. It definitely looked like the guy from my vision, but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure.

  “Do you have any better quality pictures of this guy?” I asked Dax.

  He quickly pulled out his laptop and found some more pictures. In one picture, the man looked exactly as I saw him. Down to the leather jacket and a goatee.

  “It’s definitely him,” I said. “He’s the one who killed Peter Hill in my vision.”

  “That’s Jordan Puccini, one of Delroy’s henchmen. Are you sure you saw him?”

  I nodded. “He was wearing the same leather jacket and everything. Why?”

  “Because then we’re in deeper trouble than we suspected. If Delroy knew about Peter Hill and his location, then he might know about the other witnesses as well.”

  “Other witnesses? There are more?”

  “Of course,” he said. “After Peter Hill came forward, we managed to turn a few more people against Delroy and now they’re all in danger. I’ll have to call my partner.”

  “You have a partner?” I said, a bit surprised.

  “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

  “I just thought you worked by yourself.”

  He looked around the messy room. “Whatever gave you that impression?”

  While he was on the phone with his partner, I looked over Jordan Puccini’s file.

  He served time for assault with a deadly weapon and theft as well. Suspected of murder, but could never be proven. I hoped that they’d get him this time. I knew my psychic visions wouldn’t hold up in court, but hopefully it would give Dax enough to go on to finally nail the guy. He seemed like a really nasty piece of work.

  “My partner is coming here tomorrow morning,” Dax said when he hung up the phone. “And then we’ll go to the next little town and see how the witnesses are faring there. Thankfully, we haven’t heard of any more murders. And I just ordered extra protection for the remaining witnesses.”

  “Good. But you should be careful. As long as this Jordan guy is out there, you’re in danger. That is if he’s the one that pulls the trigger. I only saw him in the vision pertaining to Peter Hill’s murder.”

  “But the shooter was definitely male in the vision you had of me?”

  I nodded.

  “Then that should narrow it down some, right?”

  “You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?”

  “Only a little,” he said and laughed.

  “Thank you for your help, Ms. Ranger. I’ll take your information under advisement and I’ll see if I can get a confession out of Puccini. Maybe I can tell him that someone saw him murder Peter Hill?”

  “Just don’t mention it was in a vision by a psychic, all right?”

  “I’ll try not to.”

  I drove myself home. My mom’s truck was waiting for me in the inn’s parking lot. Once I got home it was well past one o’clock in the morning.

  My mother was awake, though, by the TV.

  “Where were you? I was this close to calling in a missing persons,” my mom said, obviously upset.

  “I told you not to worry, didn’t I?”

  “So what happened?”

  I quickly told her about my little adventure with the FBI agent and the vision I had in the morgue/funeral home.

  “So it’s over?” She asked, hopeful.

  “They still have to catch the guy, but yes, I think so. Or at least I hope so. I can’t wait to get back to Chicago.”

  “You don’t want to spend some quality time with your family?”

  “Isn’t that what I’ve been doing these past few days?”

  “No, not really. You were preoccupied with your visions. Now that that’s settled, we should have a proper family dinner. It’ll give us a chance to get to know your friend Lily better as well.”

  “I don’t know, mom, I have a job waiting for me. I already called off more than my boss likes.”

  I went to my room, but before I did I checked on Lily. She was out like a log on Brad’s old bed.

  Once my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light as well. It felt so good to give myself over to the velvety darkness.

  Sadly, that relief didn’t last long. The whole night, I tossed and turned, and a familiar vision kept replaying itself in my head. I saw Dax being shot and falling to the ground again and again. His killer’s face always out of sight.

  I woke up with a throbbing headache. I knew what that meant. The universe wasn’t done with me yet. I’d need to follow Dax wherever he went because his life was still in danger. He still needed my help.

  I took a quick shower and dressed for the day. By the time I got breakfast, Lily was slowly getting up as well, with a headache of her own, but for entirely different reasons.

  “You look miserable,” I told her.

  “Right back at you,” she said. She took a cup of coffee and sat across from me. “So how did your date with the hottie FBI agent go?”

  “It involved us going to the morgue. Super romantic, right?”

  I told her all about my little adventure.

  “So it’s over? We can go home?” She said, looking a bit disappointed.

  “That’s what I thought, but the universe has other ideas.” I told her about my restless night and the accompanying headache.

  “So what’s the plan? You want to follow him?”

  “He’s probably already gone. And we’d need to rent a car.” I sighed. “Why me? All I want to do is stay home and stay under the covers. Is that too much to ask?”

  “It is if you’re psychic, I guess,” she said. “But don’t worry. I’ll go with you. We could make it a girls’ trip kind of thing. It could actually be really fun!”

  “You do know we’re going to be driving into danger, right? This Jordan guy has already killed one person that we know of.”

  “You can be so dramatic. What could go wrong if there are like two FBI agents there? We’ll keep our distance, right?”

  “I can’t promise that. Though I would prefer it. It would certainly be easier than trying to explain to an FBI agent why I’m following him across state lines.”

  In that spirit, Lily an
d I got a ride from mom to the local inn. It was already eleven o’clock. I asked the person upfront if Dax was still there, but they informed us that he’d checked out that morning.

  “He’s already gone,” I said to Lily once we were back in the car.

  “Good,” my mother said. “I don’t want you to follow that FBI agent into danger.”

  “If it wasn’t for this incessant headache, I wouldn’t,” I said, and I wasn’t lying.

  “That’s why God created ibuprofen,” my mom said.

  “Amen to that, Mrs. Ranger,” Lily said.

  “Please call me Joy,” my mom said. That meant she liked Lily. I was glad they got along.

  “Is there a rent-a-car anywhere close to here?” I asked my mother.

  “Not that I know of. Why? Are you planning on driving to Chicago? I thought you hated driving.”

  “No, I’m still following Dax. I have to. Last night, when he was showing the file on that guy from my vision, I might have peeked at some of the other files as well. There’s a town in Pennsylvania listed as one of the witness hideouts. It’s the closest to here, so I’m pretty sure they’re on their way there as we speak.”

  “Your brother won’t like this one bit,” my mother said. “I don’t like this one bit.”

  “There’s a car rental a few miles from here,” Lily said, once she looked up from her phone. It was nice to know that she wasn’t just goofing off this whole time.

  “You won’t just leave, will you?” My mom asked as she drove us to the rental.

  “No, mom, of course not. I’ll say bye to Brad first. And I might just tell him what happened to that Peter Hill guy so he can stop wondering.”

  We rented a Mini Cooper because Lily thought it was cute. She wanted a garish yellow one, but I got to choose the color. A light shade of blue that was much more pleasing to the eye.

  Brad wasn’t happy to hear what I was doing.

  “I know you have to follow these visions, but there must be a better way?” He said over lunch.

  We were at home because Lily and I couldn’t stay for dinner. Brad took an extra-long lunch and mom closed her store for the duration.

  “If you have an idea, I’m all ears,” I said.

  We had the leftover pecan pie for dessert. It was just as delicious as when it was fresh.

  “Just be careful, all right?” Brad said. “And if you get into any trouble, just call.”

  “Thanks, bro, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said.

  “I’ll miss this,” Lily said. “You have such a nice little life here.”

  “You’re more than welcome to visit anytime you want,” my mom said.

  “Or you can just move back here, with Callie, of course,” Brad said.

  “Yeah, good luck with that,” I said.

  Once lunch was over, it was time to hit the road. Brad was already back at the police station. We rested a bit and petted the cat and watched some TV. Mom saw us off when we were finally ready. She made sure we wouldn’t be hungry by packing us some food and water.

  “The drive won’t be that long,” I said when I saw all the stuff she packed for us.

  “What if you break down in the middle of nowhere? And what if you can’t get reception? You’ll be thanking me then,” she said.

  “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” I said. “The headache is already starting to fade. The universe knows I’m following its instructions.”

  We were on the road then. It took several hours of driving for us to arrive to a quaint little town called Hidden Valley.

  “You’d think they’d try to be less obvious,” Lily said.

  “That’s law enforcement for you,” I said.

  There was a local inn/hotel that had a room available with double beds. Just perfect for Lily and me.

  “We can think of this as a vacation,” she said as she bounced on the bed. “So, do you think that FBI agent is staying here as well?”

  I hadn’t even thought of that. “It’s possible. Maybe I should have checked the parking lot for his car,” I said. “But I was so tired from the drive, it didn’t even cross my mind until now.”

  “So what are we waiting for?” Lily said, looking full of energy. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

  I sighed but I went outside with her anyway. I checked the parking lot for Dax’s car but didn’t spot it.

  “It’s not here,” I said.

  “Maybe he’s out on the town?” Lily offered.

  “Yeah, now we have to figure out exactly where.”

  Chapter 11

  Naturally, per Lily’s instructions, the local bar was the first place we checked. And Dax’s car was actually there.

  “How did you know?” I asked her. “You might just be a little psychic yourself.”

  “Where else would you go if you were stuck in a small town like this and you didn’t really know anybody?”

  “Fair point.”

  The bar was packed, especially since it was only five thirty in the afternoon.

  “Good luck finding him in this mess,” Lily said. “Let’s find the bartender first.”

  “You’re in the mood for more drinks? Even after last night?”

  “What happened last night?”

  “Umm, you kind of got drunk.”

  “That wasn’t me drunk. That was me buzzed. Now let’s go before any of the locals try to ask us out.”

  “And here I thought you’d be the one hitting on them.”

  Thankfully, the bartender was a middle-aged man, so it gave me a temporary reprieve from watching Lily flirt with the guy.

  I got myself a regular old coke, while Lily added rum to hers. I still wasn’t ready for another alcoholic beverage. And besides, my psychic headache had just dissipated as soon as we crossed the town line into Hidden Valley. I wasn’t about to trade one headache for another.

  I looked around the bar, seeing if I could spot Dax anywhere.

  “Why is it so busy at this time of day?” Lily shouted at the bartender. It was hard to be heard over all the chatter and the music. Not to mention the sports game on the TV.

  “It’s drink one, get one free night,” he said.

  “That explains it,” Lily said to me. “Looks like you can get another coke for free, so drink up.” She certainly downed her rum and coke pretty quick.

  The bartender gave her a free refill like promised, and that made her happier than usual.

  “So, do you know who this witness is? Their name?” She whispered in my ear.

  I shook my head. “I only saw a list of towns. I’m just glad it wasn’t some random list that had nothing to do with the witnesses.”

  I looked around the bar but I still couldn’t spot Dax.

  “Maybe it’s someone with the same car?” Lily offered.

  “Or maybe he’s in the john,” I said.

  Lily laughed. “You’re not actually thinking of going in there to check it out, are you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t like you when you drink.”

  “And here I thought you loved me when I drank,” Lily said, a faux frown on her face.

  “And who may you ladies be?” Said a guy with a military buzz cut blond hair. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but he carried himself like he owned the room.

  “Look, man, we’re really not looking to be hit on right now,” I said.

  “Then what are you doing in a bar?” He said.

  “I’m up for a dance,” Lily said. “Sorry, Callie. A girl’s gotta have some fun.”

  “What’s your name?” Lily asked him as they went onto the very small and not-to-mention crowded dance floor.

  “Mike. Yours?”

  “Lily.”

  As they disappeared into the crowd, I nursed my coke. The bartender got me a refill even before I finished mine.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled absent-mindedly.

  “Am I seeing this right?” A familiar voice said.

  It was Dax, of course, finally.

>   “What are you doing here?” He asked.

  “I’m following a vision, what else?” I quickly told him about my headache and how it completely disappeared as soon as I arrived in Hidden Valley.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he whispered. “It’s dangerous.” He looked around nervously. “I’m serious,” he had to add.

  “I’m pretty sure I know that better than anyone,” I said. “So, have you found that guy?”

  “He hasn’t made an appearance yet,” he said, “but pretty soon, he will. I don’t want you anywhere near here when he does.”

  “I’m not the one in danger here, remember?”

  “How could I forget? We have this under control.”

  “We?”

  “Yeah, my partner is here as well.”

  “Don’t tell me he’s blond and his name is Mike,” I said.

  “Did you have a vision about him as well?”

  “No, it was just a guess. He’s dancing with Lily as we speak.”

  “You brought your friend along as well. Really?”

  “She insisted. So when are you going to tell me who you’re protecting in this town? Maybe I can help.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “I can’t help if you keep me in the dark, and remember, your life is still in danger.”

  “I can take care of myself,” he said. “Go home, Callie. Back to Picking Hill or Chicago, I don’t care. You just can’t stay here.”

  “Who died and made you sheriff?”

  “This isn’t a joke. There are some really dangerous people on their way here. Probably. If your vision was right, that is.”

  “My visions are never wrong. They might happen differently than I anticipated, but in the end, they’re always correct.”

  “What are you two on about? Do you guys know each other?” Mike, Dax’s partner, asked when he and Lily came over. They completely surprised both Dax and me.

  “No, no,” Dax was quick to say. “She was just asking for directions out of town.”

  “Really?” Lily said. “Because I thought we were staying for at least a couple of days. See, as I told your friend Mike here, Callie and I are on a little girls’ field trip through the US of A. We just booked a room at the inn, in fact. Where are you guys staying?”