Into the Abyss: A Psychic Visions Novel (Psychic Visions Series Book 10)

by Dale Mayer

There were other reasons. Good ones. Maybe, having lost credibility he didn’t have to die, but he was a loose cannon. No way could he be left to shoot his mouth off. No peace of mind in moving forward was everything.

  He should never have followed him back then. But this guy had seen something he shouldn’t, heard what he definitely shouldn’t have. However, his mind had broken, hell, it had fractured. Now he was more of a mess than ever.

  It was too dangerous to leave this guy alive. He’d planned to, figuring no one would believe anything he had to say. But over time he’d gotten more nervous and he hadn’t been able to leave it alone. Not now.

  They’d been buddies once. Until he himself had been drummed out of the military. He didn’t owe this guy anything now. Best he put him out of his misery for good.

  Anything was better than this slow, painful dying inch by inch.

  Honestly, the guy should thank him for easing his suffering.

  Chapter 9

  She bolted upright and stared out at her apartment. Her nerves were on edge, tension vibrated her long frame. She couldn’t see the danger. So what had woken her? She reached for her phone and checked the time. It was five-thirty in the morning.

  Solomon hopped up on the bed and butted her chin gently. His huge engine kicked in as soon as her hand stroked his back.

  As much as she could use a few extra hours she wasn’t going to get them. She spent another moment cuddling Solomon before she hopped to her feet to find she was fully dressed from the night before. It would be easy to spend the rest of the day in these clothes, but she avoided that when she could. She’d spent enough time on cases in which she never got to sleep or shower. She took several steps to the bathroom and stilled, awareness sliding over her system.

  She wasn’t alone.

  She spun and froze. Her breath gushed out. Damn it. Jericho was still here. Lying on her couch, sound asleep. Enviously she watched the rise and fall of his chest. She’d love to be sleeping too. But for her the night was over and the day had begun. Uncomfortable that he was still here but not sure what to do about it, her gaze swept through the kitchen and back around to her bedroom. Spinning back to the kitchen she realized one of her Chinese food containers was missing. She glared at the empty package in the garbage. Damn.

  She headed for the shower, stripped down, and stepped under the hot water as fast as she could. There she leaned her hands against the wall and just let the hot water hit her. The bruises and scratches from yesterday were starting to ache in a deeply painful way. Nothing she couldn’t handle, but it would be nice to get through a couple of days without getting banged up.

  She tilted her head back, letting the water pound down on her scalp. When done, she stepped out, wrapped up in a towel and brushed her short hair back. She wrung out as much moisture as she could and walked back out to her bedroom. She made a quick check and was reassured when she saw Jericho was still sleeping. She grabbed clean clothes and dressed quickly, her movements economical and fast. Everything in her world was about efficiency. It seemed the only way to catch these assholes.

  Mistakes would get her killed.

  If she wasted as much time as her coworkers nothing would ever get done.

  Dressed, bed made, dirty clothes tossed into the hamper, she headed for the miniature kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. She could’ve just grabbed one walking to the station, but she might need a cup before then. With the brew dripping she checked out the rest of her kitchen to see if there was anything for breakfast. There was a little bit of stale bread. She tossed it in the toaster. A suspicious package of sliced meat hit the garbage. The toast was done before the coffee. She sat down to eat leaving a piece of crust for Solomon to lick on the table beside her.

  Fueled, she walked to the front door and let herself out without saying a word to the sleeping man. It was better this way. She had no intention of keeping her roommate around, but at the moment she didn’t have the time or energy to kick him out. He figured he needed to be there to save her. Good luck with that. She wasn’t going to be anywhere close to the couch for the rest of the day. With a grin on her face she headed back to the station.

  On a good day it was a fifteen minute walk. In shitty weather, she could shave an extra five minutes by walking faster. The fact that the skies poured rain down on her head, well maybe she could shave off more than that. She could have driven. But the walk was good for her.

  Even if she hadn’t been up for it in the middle of last night.

  Halfway there, she sensed the tendrils of energy.

  She slowed her steps, letting the feelers find her. She didn’t know who was looking… Her mother would be screaming at her to run by now. But she spent her life on the streets and there were a lot of people who knew her here. Not everyone hated her. Some even liked her.

  Much to her surprise.

  There was an alleyway up ahead she passed every morning. Tavika often stopped to say hi to Gordon, a homeless man. He was a vet with PSTD and couldn’t seem to fit into a normal life. Everything she’d seen about him said he was harmless though. As she crossed the alleyway she turned to look at him. It was early in the morning and he should be sleeping, but his bedroll appeared empty.

  She frowned. Instead of walking past she turned and walked deeper into the alleyway. Her nose wrinkled at the smell. She knew that odor. Gordon wasn’t old, in his late forties.

  But he wasn’t going to get a day older. She studied the man, her heart aching for a system that did so little for him. There was nothing anyone could do now either.

  She called dispatch. Putting her phone away, she straightened and looked around the alleyway. Often there were several of his friends huddled up close, but right now there was just Gordon. Had they left before or after their friend had died?

  With his jacket pulled up tight against his neck, he looked huddled against the cold. But the massive amount of blood under his head said he hadn’t taken very long to die. Pulling out her gloves she squatted down beside him and gently eased back the collar of his jacket.

  She studied the slash across his throat. A second man with a sliced throat? In twenty-four hours?

  That was too much of a coincidence. Staring at the empty alleyway, she considered the victimology of both males. Both men lived alone, vulnerable lifestyles, and were discards in society. One too old to be of use and pensioned off, the other too damaged to continue the good fight.

  Both physically weak, alone. Neither had put up a struggle.

  Gordon had been in prime physical shape at one time and fully capable of defending himself against an attack.

  She glanced back down at the lack of defensive wounds on his hands. Just because he had been able to at one time didn’t mean he was capable of doing so anymore. The bottle was his world now. There was a fine line between becoming drunk and being drunk in terms of motor control. Depending on his blood alcohol level, Gordon wouldn’t have been able to fight back at all.

  Because he was wearing a long sleeve shirt, she couldn’t tell if he’d been given a pressure syringe of drugs or not. And maybe it would have been easier to administer it on his neck before slashing it. Still, why waste the drugs? Gordon wouldn’t have offered much challenge.

  None of the three victims would have – particularly if drugged.

  On that note she tagged the coroner. She wanted Shelby on this. Calling her, knowing it was early but part of their lives, she waited for Shelby to pick up.

  “Tavika?”

  “Yeah, it’s me.”

  “What have you got?”

  “A second throat slashing. Another defenseless victim. This time a homeless vet.”

  There was silence for a moment as Shelby digested the new information.

  “Where?”

  Tavika gave her the address.

  “That’s only a couple of blocks from the station.”

  “It is. I was walking to work when I found him.”

  “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Shelby hung up.

&n
bsp; Thankfully, Shelby hadn’t asked about her detour to check on a homeless person. But then again, she probably already knew. Tavika looked down at the cup she’d brought with her. She often stopped by and filled up Gordon’s cup so it was there when he woke up. This morning, well, there was no point in leaving it behind.

  Gordon would no longer care. Hearing footsteps off to the side she turned to study the two cops arriving. Apparently her day was starting earlier than she expected.

  *

  Jericho heard the door close behind her. There was no point following her physically. He could keep track of her from here. At least for a little while. He lay back on the couch wishing there were a few more hours of sleep under his belt, but it wasn’t to be. He sat up, put on his shoes and walked to the coffee pot, smiling when he realized she’d left a little bit behind.

  He snagged that up then checked for more food and realized the kitchen was totally empty. Even the cat was looking at him, hovering protectively over his bowl of kibble.

  It was energy burn time. He walked back to the couch and lay down. He might as well be comfortable when he took this spirit walk. Within seconds, he stepped outside of the apartment and downstairs. When he made it to the front door the snap of the fresh morning air hit him. Unless there was an all-night coffeehouse around he wasn’t about to get anything sustainable soon.

  It was too early for most of the businesses to be open in this part of town. Maybe closer to the station he’d find a place. Something else to keep his eye out for.

  Jericho followed Tavika’s footsteps easily, seeing the waft of energy that floated behind her. She never made any attempt to hide her trails. Something he always did. Given the type of work she did such an oversight surprised him. Staying far enough behind that she wouldn’t know he was there, he watched her walk steadily toward the station.

  Just in case her sensitivity was ratcheted up, he kept his energy low and snug against his body. It was much harder for her to know if he was following. He wasn’t sure what her shield allowed her to do when she trailed energy. Keep unwanted hunters from finding her? Or a specific one from finding her? Did she think it made her invisible to everyone?

  Because as far as he could tell, it didn’t do anything but make her weak and keep her blind in many unexpected ways.

  They’d traveled only a few blocks when she stopped.

  He watched in amazement as multiple threads of energy reached out across the block for her. What the hell? He didn’t know if he should race forward or stay where he was. He couldn’t remember seeing this before.

  Unless it was in a fight where several people were trying to tear his body apart.

  Except there was no violence to this energy.

  And no energetic response from her. She’d stilled as if making a decision.

  He knew she’d been a beat cop for many years before making detective and that she’d been comfortable there, happy. But what he was actually seeing were people checking that she was okay. As if they respected her. Liked her. Maybe…missed her?

  More energies stretched out toward her from all directions. Instead of walking faster like most people would her footsteps slowed and she made her energy brighter, stronger, attracting those actual energies toward her.

  He wanted to yell at her, “Wait! Stop! Don’t do that?”

  But he didn’t. He raced closer. He’d never met anybody who would actually attract this. There was no malevolence that he could see, but that didn’t make them safe. Why welcome danger? Maybe she was on a suicide mission. Hoping one of these days somebody would take her out so she could join the rest of her family? It certainly wasn’t unheard of. Survivor’s guilt was very real, but for her this should have occurred a long time ago.

  It made no sense after this long. She could have committed suicide anytime had she wanted to. Then again that would have been an action on her part – whereas killed in the line of duty would be a different story.

  He frowned as she stopped at the end of an alleyway. Now what the hell was she doing?

  He thought he heard her call out something, but he couldn’t decipher the words. Then she disappeared into the alley, making his gut clench with fear.

  Jesus. Had she no common sense? When she didn’t return immediately he picked up his pace until he was close to the corner. He could see her energy milling at the entrance. It appeared normal, but was filled with sadness and grief.

  It was also mingled with a paler energy of death. Just as he was about to enter the alleyway to make sure she was okay two cops walked up and headed her way. They didn’t notice him. He grinned and slipped around the corner to see what was going on then stopped abruptly at the pile of rags bleeding red.

  Off to one side Tavika studied the crime scene, her professionalism plastered on tight. A defense mechanism to the horrors she saw on a daily basis.

  Yet, he could see the hurt. And for that he was sorry. She knew the victim. That was never easy. In front of the homeless guy was an empty takeout cup as if waiting for the rain to fill it. Considering how he’d died, Jericho had to wonder if the killer hadn’t placed it so it stood in plain view. Like a beggar’s cup waiting for something good to drop in. But instead, Death had dropped by.

  Jericho’s gaze went from the cup to the huge mug in Tavika’s hand. And he understood. This big tough cop was a bit of a softie. She’d brought coffee to dispense into the homeless guy’s cup.

  That was why she’d come to the alley. Not because she’d sensed death but because she knew he needed his coffee as much as Jericho did.

  Tavika wasn’t quite as heartless as she’d like the rest of the world to believe.

  Interesting. He walked closer to the man, his gaze taking in the pool of blood under the body, already mostly dried. He could see the dog tags showing inside the jacket and he sighed. This was yet another war vet who found it impossible to assimilate back into society after returning from active duty.

  Jericho studied the rest of the crime scene, but there wasn’t much to see except other faded energies of times past, likely from the dead man’s friends. Maybe their instincts had been better, and they’d chosen a different sleeping place for last night.

  Moving off to the side, he turned to study Tavika, wondering how long she’d be here. He was going to need food and coffee soon. Neither of which he could get here.

  What he couldn’t see was the killer’s energy. Not now. So he hadn’t been here anytime in the last four hours.

  He might be good, but he couldn’t see energy that had dissipated to nothing. There were some who could, but he wasn’t one of them. Some he couldn’t see at all – he’d yet to see the Ghost’s energy. But whether that was because it was impossible to read or he hadn’t come across it early enough he didn’t know.

  As he raised his gaze, he found Tavika looking straight at him, her eyes wide with shock. Then she understood. And gasped in horror. He wanted to howl at her expression. Served her right for taking most of the coffee.

  She went to say something and then stopped.

  He grinned at her. What could she say that wouldn’t sound foolish?

  Just then one of the cops stepped forward and walked right through him.

  Chapter 10

  Tavika froze.

  “Detective? Excuse me, Detective Bantrell?”

  Finally the policeman’s voice penetrated her mind. She tore her eyes away from the grinning vision in front of her to study the cop. “Sorry, I was distracted.”

  Like hell she was. Spilling a coffee was a distraction, as was seeing someone you knew.

  Seeing someone walk through another person – one she’d thought was real – that was a hell of a lot more than a distraction. Forcibly, she tuned into what the cop was telling her.

  “We’re going to canvas the neighborhood.”

  She looked down at Gordon and said, “He was murdered after four p.m. yesterday afternoon. So focus your questions after that time frame.” She glanced up at him. “You have to wait for the coroner
for a closer time of death.”

  Behind the policeman Mark and Lawrence strolled toward them.

  “And how can you know he died after four p.m.?” Mark laughed. “What, are you psychic?”

  She shot him a dirty look, knowing his comment had more to do with Jericho’s visit at the office but answered good-naturedly. “Like hell. I saw Gordon around four p.m. yesterday. He was here with a couple of his friends.”

  “Then you can run down those friends to confirm when they left him.” Mark grinned at her. “Better you than me. I know how much you love spending your time on the street.”

  It was always better to ignore Mark. But still, she would have to see if she could find Gordon’s buddies. They’d talk to her. She wasn’t sure they would to Mark. He didn’t speak their language and was trying to move up higher in the ranks.

  “I’ll follow up on it in a little bit.” She glanced at her watch. Most of the homeless would be sleeping. Some got up early, but this was a bit too soon for even them.

  “This case is tailored to you,” Mark said with a laugh. He slapped her on the shoulders and said, “However, there have been a couple of other calls coming in.” His grin flashed. “Only our prize detective hasn’t been answering her phone.”

  “Shit.” She pulled her phone out and realized she had the wrong one in her hand. That was Travis’s phone. She pocketed it quickly and grabbed her other one. There were several messages. With a note of humor threaded through her voice, she said, “I love how my pocket turns this damn thing off.”

  “If you got yourself one of the new ones it wouldn’t do that easily.” Mark lifted his phone in front of her face. “You can’t keep going with those cheap phones you always kill. Get yourself a brand new one, it will last a whole lot better than the others. Time to join the new age of technology.”

  She ignored him like she always did. Mark was okay. He was a good twenty years older than she and could eventually end up being her boss. That might suck. She doubted he’d get that far though. Not that he didn’t have ambition, because he did, but he lacked work ethic. Then again she wasn’t sure how many of the people above her had it either. There were more corrupt politicians in the police department than she’d like. It wasn’t something she was proud of.