He deleted the message and started the engine.
“Break it off,” was how Steve greeted him when he walked into the motel room. “Stephanie Anne Ballard, age 27, single, originally from Milwaukee, attended Penn State University, majored in accounting. Currently employed at Caledonia Financial Services as an investments advisor.” He propped his ankles on the extra chair and set the paper on the table before continuing. “Casual dating to maintain your cover is fine. However, you don’t have the luxury of building personal relationships. Anyway, what do you think will happen to her life once you’re back in Cincy?”
Cincinnati. Chaz didn’t want to think about returning to the home office only because he didn’t want to think about leaving Stephanie. Not yet. But he knew he’d have to face the issue soon. Now that negotiations with Evan Moseley had started, how much longer could the assignment last? A few days? A month? Longer?
“Did you make a file on her?” he asked.
“There isn’t anything to put in a file. She’s not a threat,” the boss had to admit. “But that doesn’t mean she isn’t a distraction or won’t become a target.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“And if Moseley is already having you followed like I did?” An eyebrow rose challengingly. “You spent the entire evening with her, Chaz. And, if we find your attacker because of the information she provided, that’s an added reason for her to become noticeable. Drop her and let Moseley think she was a quick affair if he’s watching. Date some of those other women you meet. But don’t forget that someone already shot you—don’t put anyone else in danger.”
“I’ve already considered all of that. No one can tie that information back to Stephanie; she’s safe. But you’re right about her being a distraction. She makes me think about the life I’m missing. Eight years of undercover work is a long time: I’m thinking about getting out.” Chaz surprised even himself by those words. Working undercover had been his life for most of his law enforcement career.
Their eyes locked. Steve nodded. Such words weren’t unusual from an agent who’d been injured.
“Maybe it’s time,” he agreed. “But still—end this thing with Ms. Ballard. It’s only a suggestion, not a directive.”
“Was this the only reason you wanted to see me?”
“No.” He lifted a file from the table and tossed it onto the bed. His head shook side-to-side in disapproving frustration. “The rumors are right. The Chicago office caught news that Paul Watkins is moving out of Illinois. They suspect he’s headed this way—and he has a strong history of organizing gambling.” He paused to let that sink in. “We think he could also be connected to some of the Detroit business and that he might set up his main operations there. Let’s hope so. The Detroit office is better equipped to handle someone like him.”
“If we know so much about him, why hasn’t he been charged?” Chaz skimmed over the pages of suspected activity.
“Witnesses keep changing their stories. At least one has vanished.”
Their eyes locked again. So, this was the reason behind Steve’s comments about Stephanie.
“Thanks for the concern.” He meant that. “What are you planning to do about our case? If we use it to go after Watkins, I could be in Erie for another six months—and I’m hoping not to have to stay under that long. I’d like to nail Moseley and turn this back over to your people.” Steve was assigned to the FBI’s Erie office.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Good.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Oh my God,” Karen breathed after her friend had recounted what happened to the owner of the pool hall. She set her sleeping infant in the bassinette and crossed the room to sit on the same loveseat as Stephanie. “Are you all right? No wonder your energy has been so dark lately.” Stephanie knew that Karen was seeing her anxiety, her empathy, and the overwhelming desire to bring peace to whatever Chaz was going through.
“I’m not sure,” she shrugged. “This connection is something I’m not used to feeling.”
“And you waited until now to talk about it?” Stephanie couldn’t mistake the concern beneath the chiding. “I could have helped you to clear away some of the stress. You’ll be able to help Chaz a lot more easily and confidently if you aren’t weighed down by worrying.”
“I know.” She really didn’t have an explanation for not discussing Chaz’s incident with her best friend. Yes, he’d said that they shouldn’t be seen together at the pool hall, but she didn’t think that meant everything about him needed to be kept private.
“I’m going to fix some tea, and we’re going to fix your auras.” Karen stood and headed out of the room, the gauzy fabric of her flowered, ankle-length skirt floating around her. “Close your eyes and think of waterfalls cascading into a small lake surrounded by mist and tropical greenery.”
Stephanie knew too much about her friend’s abilities and methods to discount them or hesitate. She shook her arms, rolled her neck, slumped against the back of the short sofa, and tried to recall all the details of a painting that Karen had hung in their break room at work to inspire calm and comfort. She was just beginning to hear the dull roar of the moving water when she felt Karen touch her shoulder.
“Lavender and lemon balm,” she was saying. “Hold the cup with both hands, imagine the warmth spreading through your fingers and up your arms, and breathe in the aroma while the tea is getting cool enough to drink.”
Stephanie took the cup and did as she was told while Karen disappeared back into the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with a zipped sandwich bag half full of this special blend of teas and a plate of small, warm, lemon-rosemary cookies that Karen had undoubtedly mixed using refrigerated sugar cookie dough, lemon oil, and fresh chopped herbs from one of the many pots on the kitchen windowsills. She always found a way to be prepared.
“Keep sipping,” she instructed. “After you finish that cup, I want you to eat a couple of these cookies while I make you some more tea.”
Again, Stephanie did as she was told. Karen didn’t speak again until her friend had taken the second cup of tea and was inhaling the vapors.
“You need to relax, Steph, but you also need to purge some of the toxins that stress is making your body hold on to. Rosemary will help your blood to circulate them out.” She nodded at the improvement she was seeing in Stephanie’s colors. “Your feelings are very deep, but you shouldn’t let the blue overshadow the violet: you can’t be so afraid for his safety that you can’t connect to your intuition.”
Stephanie set the half-empty cup on the table and announced that she couldn’t drink any more. “Of course you’re right, Karen. But, I can still remember how I felt the night he got shot.” She shook her head and felt curls bounce softly against the side of her face. “I’m having a hard time getting past that.”
“Don’t try. Just accept that it’s a part of what has to happen between the two of you. And trust your instincts.” She studied her friend’s face and touched her hand before saying, “Whatever is going on is powerful. You’ll have to be grounded to control it.”
“I’ll probably be fine as long as he doesn’t get shot again.” Stephanie managed a small smile.
Karen thought about that before asking whether it was a robbery.
“No.” Stephanie’s brows wrinkled. Why hadn’t she thought about that? “The man ran away. He didn’t bother to check for a wallet.”
“You’re sure?”
Stephanie nodded. She had seen everything very clearly.
“Then, I wonder why he shot Chaz.”
“So do I.” She told her friend about the conversation where Chaz didn’t want anyone to know about her. “I think he’s trying to protect me. Whatever he’s worried about, it probably has nothing to do with billiards.” Stephanie didn’t like having to voice that idea. “Maybe a jealous boyfriend shot him,” she ventured.
“Maybe.” Karen supposed he could have a hidden love interest, someone he had wanted to protect by keepi
ng the relationship totally secret; the way he was claiming to protect Stephanie. It was possible, but that would mean she was wrong about him. That would mean she’d misread his auras. She hadn’t. Her particular gift was very reliable.
Stephanie’s gifts were even stronger, which is why Karen was a little confused as to why the other woman had gotten so off kilter. She glanced at the bag of herbs that she’d instructed her friend to make into a tea every morning and knew it would help. Already, the self-assuredness of her violet hues was returning.
“Enough about him.” Stephanie shook off all of the unanswered questions just as little Victor was stirring. She watched as his mother picked him up from the bassinette on the opposite side of the room and carried him toward her.
“You’re going to need to spend more time with him,” Karen informed as she placed her squirming green-wrapped bundle in her friend’s arms. “After all, you’re going to be his godmother.”
“Godmother? I don’t even go to church.” She adjusted the baby into a comfortable position. Tiny eyes stared up at her with mild curiosity beneath a slightly furrowed brow.
“That’s why I’m choosing you. A lot of people who go to church don’t take the time to know God. Vic and I want our son to believe that God is everywhere in the universe and in everyone and that he draws each of us in different ways. We want our son to know that whatever gifts he has are given by God. And he needs to be open-minded to, and confident about, whatever auras he’ll develop. You can help us do that better than anyone else we know.”
“Wow. I’m honored.” Stephanie lifted a tiny hand to her lips.
“You should be. Babies are an amazing responsibility. We trust you.” She smiled at the way her son stared into his godmother’s eyes and saw his mellowness calm her. “He trusts you, too.”
They spent the next hour changing, feeding, and cuddling the tiny person. Stephanie was fascinated, as always, with how he seemed to absorb the world around him and she wondered how much a baby could actually see and comprehend at such a young age. She looked into his eyes and thought he would probably have his mother’s sense of discernment. She softly touched a round cheek and hoped so.
“You and I haven’t gone out to celebrate all of your life-changing events,” she finally said to Karen. “How about lunch later this week?”
“Next week is better, and it should be dinner. That way little Victor can be at home with his dad.”
They talked about restaurants and laughed when each of them had funny stories to tell about one place or another. After finally settling on a pub that served the best fish and shrimp on their side of town, they turned to anecdotes from the wedding reception. By the time they ended the visit, both were looking forward to simply hanging out the way they used to.
~ ~ ~
Wednesday night the following week. Seven o’clock. The after-work crowd was gone and the early dinner group was thinning. Stephanie pulled into a parking spot beside Karen before the woman had a chance to get out of the car.
“Were you waiting long?”
“Nope, just got here. I left the house about fifteen minutes ago and my husband is already calling me.” She smiled and waved her cell phone. “Speaking of men, how’s Chaz?” They crossed the parking lot and went into the building.
“Better every day, or so he tells me. We’ve talked a few times, but I haven’t actually seen him since dinner last week.”
“Well, it can’t be easy for him to make time for you with the number of hours he spends at the pool hall.” Karen looked around for the hostess. “Oh, hell no.”
Stephanie’s gaze followed her friend’s to the bar. What they saw was Chaz—laughing with another woman, his right arm casually draped across the back of her bar stool, his fingers very close to that almost-bare back. She could tell from Karen’s stiffness that she’d instantly forgotten all about observing the fine hues beneath his auras to make sure her reaction was justified: Stephanie couldn’t imagine the situation being as simple as it appeared. She instinctively put a hand on Karen’s arm to stop what she knew was coming.
“Don’t do anything.” Stephanie caught the glint in her companion’s eyes. Karen was certainly bold enough to walk right over and insert herself, and Stephanie by proximity, into the man’s outing.
The hostess appeared and asked whether they preferred a table or a booth. Then, the menu-waving college student led them right through the drinking area to get to the rear dining room, making the temptation almost too great. Stephanie forced a laugh and linked her arm tightly through Karen’s to keep her from veering off course, but not before she caught the slight change in Chaz’s expression that let her know he’d seen them.
Not two minutes later, she received a text message from him: PLEASE TRUST ME. She responded with: I DO and turned her attention back to the menu.
“Stop brooding and order the stuffed prawns,” she told her friend.
“How can you be so calm when he hasn’t made time to see you? That doesn’t look like a business meeting, so if he can make social time for her, then he could do the same for you. This is crap, and you know it.” She leaned back and studied Stephanie. “This would be one of those times when it’s reasonable for your auras to be a little disturbed—but look at you. You’re as unaffected as if we hadn’t seen him. Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
Stephanie folded her hands on top of the table and explained. “You were right to tell me to accept what’s going on between us. So, I did a lot of thinking.
“About six weeks passed between our blind date and your wedding. Nearly two more weeks passed before I saw that his getting shot was more than just a bad dream. But a couple of days later, we met for drinks, and then he came for dinner at my apartment. I know what we feel when we’re together, Karen.” She paused as the black-clad waitress appeared to take their orders and then waited for the woman to disappear. “We talk almost every day and we’re growing close. I don’t know why he’s with her, but he wants me to trust him so I will.” She shrugged and managed a calm smile. “Besides, you’re the one who told me to drink herbal tea, stay grounded, and trust my instincts. I do: he’s a good man, Karen.”
“Okay,” she capitulated. “But can I at least accidentally hit him with a billiard ball the next time we visit his fine establishment?”
“Not until he’s completely recovered from his injury.”
“That takes the fun out of it.” She pouted before laughing. Typical Karen—foul moods never settled on her for very long. It simply wasn’t in her nature to stay angry.
The rest of the evening was relaxed. The women sipped non-alcoholic drinks while they laughed from the appetizers through the dessert. Then they fought over the check and left the server a hefty tip for putting up with them.
“Be careful on the way home,” Stephanie was saying before movement beyond Karen caught her attention. Karen turned to see what had distracted her friend.
“Oh. Wow.”
Chaz had gotten out of a car and was walking toward them. Karen managed a smile and a warm greeting that he returned. Then she quickly clicked the unlock button on her car’s remote, hugged Stephanie and slid behind the steering wheel.
“Why are you here?” Stephanie asked after a final wave at the departing vehicle.
“I didn’t want you to think I went home with her.”
“So you’ve been sitting in your car for almost two hours?” She couldn’t keep from laughing even as he stood so close that they were nearly touching and she could smell his cologne. “I said that I trust you.”
“Just wanted to make sure you didn’t have any doubts.” His fingers twitched to touch her even though he knew that wasn’t a good idea.
“I don’t.” Her eyes never left his as she shrugged and asked, “Now what?”
No answer, just a lost look in his eyes and a shrug of his own.
“I have to go,” he admitted after a while.
“Okay.”
“Do me a favor?” he asked whi
le stepping backwards. “Miss me.”
Stephanie gave a lighthearted laugh. “I already do.”
“Good.”
He watched her get into her car and lock the doors before walking to his vehicle and pulling out his cell phone. A moment later, hers rang.
“Talk to me until you get home,” his voice requested. So she did.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Stephanie didn’t have to wait a full week to see Chaz again. They went to an afternoon movie on Sunday and then for a walk. The following Friday evening, they spent hours playing scrabble at her kitchen table.
“That is not a word,” he protested when she found a way to use a Q and Y together in a way that covered a double word space.
“You know it is. You just don’t want me to beat you.” She calculated the score and held the paper in front of his face: 115 to 117. “I’m going to catch you.”
He grabbed the paper and the pencil and began erasing her points. They were both laughing as she snatched the pad from him.
“Now who’s cheating?”
“The score isn’t important anyway,” he dismissed.
“No? Only because you have crappy letters and I’m making a major comeback.” She put the score pad behind her and shook the empty tiles bag over the board. “See—you’re stuck with what you have. Your turn.”
Chaz stared at her, a smile on his face and tenderness in his eyes. She loved the way he looked at her and knew that his feelings were growing right along with hers. Stephanie folded her hands and stared back. It was another déjà vu moment. He couldn’t possibly have understood how much confidence her psychic gifts gave her when it came to their relationship. Everything was on the right track—whatever that was.
Then she leaned across the table and kissed him. He always seemed so amazed.
Chaz passed on his turn, Stephanie took the lead with a 6-point word, and the game was over. She’d won. She jumped up and did the Snoopy dance around the kitchen. But, as he had said, the score really wasn’t important. Spending time together was all that mattered.
Premonitions: Dream Catcher Series ~ Book 1 Page 4