by Mayer, Dale
"Don't go in there chippy. It won't help, you know."
"Nothing will help," she grumbled as she brushed off her clothes, resolutely determined to get the meeting over with her temper intact.
When they arrived at the office, they found something entirely different than expected.
The mayor and Kevin – in full detective mode – were already in Rick's office. Their raised voices were too loud to be ignored.
"Sounds like fun," Alexis grimaced. She didn't need a full-blown confrontation.
As they approached, snippets of conversation were easily heard.
Rick's voice was the clearest. "She's the one who might pose a problem, damn it."
"She won't. We'll see to that," Kevin said easily. "We need your cooperation."
"What difference will that make?" A loud snort echoed down the hallway, followed by Rick's disgusted voice. "She's the one who won't cooperate."
Alexis looked over at Scott in concern. She had no doubt the female they'd mentioned was her. Scott raised his eyebrows, motioning her to the door first. "Shall we?"
With a comical look in his direction, she rapped loudly, interrupting the ongoing discourse on the other side.
"Who is it?" Rick's imperious boss voice made Alexis's hackles rise.
"It is 'she.'"
A moment of dead silence, while Scott rolled his eyes at her inappropriate humor.
The door opened abruptly. Kevin stood there.
"A job promotion…detective to usher, perhaps?" she murmured for his ears alone.
"Maybe you should take a lesson in subservience. It would be good for you." He motioned her inside.
"That'd be a waste of time," Scott quickly interjected, pushing Alexis none too gently further into the room and past Kevin. He turned to face his boss and said, "Hey, Rick. Are we disturbing you? I didn't know the mayor was in here with you two. We can come back tomorrow if that's a better time."
Rick glared at Alexis. "What's the point? She'd disturb me just as much tomorrow."
"Nice to know I leave such a lasting impression." Alexis couldn't stop the snappiness in her voice. Rick always brought out the worst in her.
Kevin said, "Enough. This is official business."
"Then it doesn't involve us. I thought Rick wanted to see me." She quickly stood up again, anxious to leave the men alone. "We can do this another time."
"Sit down." Kevin's voice brooked no argument.
Startled, Alexis obeyed, turning to face him.
But it was Rick who spoke. "Alexis, Detective Sutherland wants you to leave town."
Alexis froze. She narrowed her green eyes at Kevin, who stood there with his arms folded across his chest. He was waiting for her explosion. Well, she'd be damned if she'd give it to him.
"Why?" There, that was simple and adultlike.
"The power loss that you experienced last night was isolated to just your apartment."
"And…?"
"There's evidence to show that whoever staged that power outage was the same person involved in yesterday's double homicide."
Scott's indrawn breath had her reaching out to him. She offered him a tentative smile. "I said I'd had a bad night."
"But you weren't telling all, were you, lass?"
She rubbed his shoulder. "It would have upset you."
"That be the truth." Scott turned to Kevin. "You must think she's been targeted if you want her to leave town."
"But I can't leave town. I have a job and a paycheck to collect," she snapped. Those weren't the real reasons, but she'd be damned if she'd explain in front of Rick. Besides, they were not going to gang up on her.
"Which is why we're here." Kevin looked over at Rick and then the mayor. "Would you like to take it from here?"
"You are to go on fifty percent paid leave until this is over." Rick didn't want to continue, but at the sharp look from the mayor, he sighed in disgust and added, "Under duress, I promise your job will be here, waiting for you."
The look on his face was almost worth being in this position. He'd been forced to play this hand, and he didn't like it one bit. He'd like her gone for good.
"Thanks for the generous offer, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to refuse."
There was a tiny minute of shocked silence before everyone jumped on her.
"Like hell!" roared Kevin.
"Don't you being doing anything foolish here." Scott squeezed her shoulder.
Rick smirked. "I told you. She's the one that won't cooperate. She never does."
Alexis knew she had to stay. She hadn't had time to sort out how or why. And maybe she didn't want to look that deep. In ways she didn't know or understand, she had to be here. There was no other option.
"This would only be for a few days," the mayor said, speaking up for the first time. Alexis hadn't even seen him standing slightly behind Kevin. "I have every confidence in our police force. Detective Sutherland has always come through for us before. There's no reason to doubt that he won't this time, either."
Was he for real? Alexis couldn't believe the politically correct drivel that sprouted from his mouth. It's not that she didn't believe Kevin would do his best. But this murderer was something else.
Kevin spoke again. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, John." He smiled winningly at her. "Alexis, you must see how imperative it is that you remain safe and that we can focus on the investigation without the distraction of watching you every moment."
Her look of innocence fooled no one. "I have the utmost confidence in your abilities. I'm sure you can find a way to make that happen without sending me out of town." She nodded at the mayor. "I agree wholehearted that our city is safe under the watchful eye of Bradford's Police Force, especially Detective Sutherland."
"Shit!" Kevin looked at her, disgust on his face. "You're not going to cooperate, are you?"
Alexis took an inventory of the men's faces – only one gloated happily. Rick had been right about how she'd take the news, and he loved being right.
"Nope. I need to be here."
Both Kevin and Scott narrowed their eyes at her. It wasn't the time or place to ask questions.
To that end, Scott half lifted her out of her chair. "I'm going to take her to the pub and talk some sense into her."
Before Alexis realized it, she'd been ushered back out to Scott's truck. He never said a word until they were seated in their usual corner of the smoky room, and held big frothy mugs. "Now, what the hell is going on?"
Taking her time, Alexis explained the series of odd events that had precipitated staying at Kevin's last night.
"Not good news. Something's gone bad in this town, Alexis. I wish you'd listen to them and leave." Heavy wrinkles lined the burly Irishman's face. Scott cared sincerely about the people in his world. Alexis was one of those. "Please get out of town, Alexis."
"Scott, it isn't that bad yet."
Alexis didn't quite get the reaction she'd been hoping for.
He leaned closer until he was almost in her face. "Were you planning on waiting until it got right bad, then?" Sarcasm glinted in his eyes. "And how were you gonna know when that is? When you're dead, perhaps?"
His voice rose in a crescendo until he was almost shouting.
"All right. Shhh. You're attracting attention. Calm down, Scott." Gently, she stroked his shoulder. It took a few moments before the giant settled back down again.
"The thing is…" Alexis paused to try to collect her thoughts into a coherent pattern. "I don't know what to tell you, except…I have to stay." She studied his face. "Something's been bad here for a while, and it's just now rising to the surface. When it goes to hell, I'm supposed to be here."
"This be the Sight again?" Scott shook his head, stumped. "You can't be alone anymore. I can stay with you during working hours, but what about the rest of the day and night?"
"I could ask Kevin." Alexis looked down into her beer, wrinkling her nose. "But I don't want to have to depend on him to that extent."
"And I'm
thinking it's too late to worry about that now," Scott teased. "You've already made a choice. All that's left is to see how it works out for you."
Alexis frowned. What a great way to put it. And what would Kevin think of her decision?
***
Back at the office, Kevin spoke with two younger officers.
"I need you two to dig up everything we have on a serial killer that may have operated in this area close to thirty years ago. We suspect he targeted children that spent a lot of time in gardens. The cases were never solved, the murders stopped after a decade, and the killer never resurfaced. I want names of the victims, a list of suspects at the time, pictures…especially pictures of the victims if we can gather those. They would be in the cold case files." He shifted. "There're still a few people left on the force that might remember; pick their brains. I need everything and everything now. Before you go, what did you two find on Mandy and Kyle leading up to the murder?"
The senior of the two started. "We've compiled the information from the interviews of the neighbors yesterday. Apparently, there'd been nothing noticeable during the day, but neither had been seen after dinner. Kyle attended school then went to his friend's house after school. He stayed for dinner and then called his mom around 7:00 pm and convinced her to let him stay for a sleepover. The victim had put in a full day's work and apparently went home and stayed there. Her coworkers had nothing useful to add." As he finished, he looked over at his partner.
The younger man, Allen, picked up the story. "We did pick up several full and partial prints. We might get lucky."
Kevin grimaced. Not likely, but they could hope.
"The coroner's report isn't in yet, and so far, there's no news on the forensic material. We found several hair samples that might lead to something useful, but those will take time and still require something to match them to." Allen shrugged, as if to say, 'what can you do?'
The three men discussed their next steps before going their separate ways.
Alone again, Kevin watched the late afternoon sun wash his town in orange. His neck itched. That scared the hell out of him. Several minutes of searching the ether still gave no explanation as to the source of the itch…but he was sure the vibe came from the same killer they tried to track down. Kevin recognized the energy pattern. Closing his eyes again, he freed his mind to search. This time he sensed nothing.
He returned to the stack of paperwork on his desk. There was nothing else to do but wait.
CHAPTER 19
Alexis took a short break the next morning, wishing she had coffee to go with it. Instead, she sat down under a maple tree and worked on Stefan's lessons. First off was to see if she could reach out and touch Stefan. With little effort she could see him in her mind. She grinned. Then stopped and her smile fell away. She focused harder. But his energy was pale, almost translucent. She didn't like it. Stefan?
There was no answer. More worrisome was the absolute lack of movement in his form.
She pulled her phone out and located his number. "Hi, Kevin," Alexis couldn't believe the relief she felt at hearing his voice. She glanced around the park. Scott stood a short distance away speaking with another gardener. She lowered her voice.
"Something's wrong with Stefan. I can't reach him and I can barely feel him. His energy is weird. Off somehow." She quickly explained, adding, "I'm heading out there now."
"I'll meet you there."
By the time she'd explained the situation to Scott and made the drive to Stefan's house, Kevin already stood on the front step, knocking.
"Why don't you break in or something?" She waved her arms toward the windows.
He shot her a disgusted look. "Just because you're impatient doesn't give me the right to break in."
That did it. "Look, we know something is wrong. If the police don't have the right, how about caring friends?" Her hands rested on her hips defiantly.
"Calm down. I just got here. Stefan hasn't even had a chance to answer the bell." He watched as she headed around to the back of the house. "Hey, where are you going?" He followed quickly behind her. "Alexis, what are you doing? Alex?"
"I'm going to knock on the back door, of course. You stay there."
"Like hell."
Alexis ignored him. Several knocks on the back door produced no results. She peered through the darkened windows, searching for any sign of life within.
Then she tried the doorknob. It wasn't locked. Knowing she didn't have the right, she pushed it open anyway.
"Stefan!" She stepped into the silent house. "Stefan, it's Alexis. Are you home?"
Kevin came up behind her.
"Shit." Alexis spun around in fright. "You scared the crap out of me."
"Calm down. You're terrorizing yourself. Stand back." He stepped in front of her and entered the kitchen.
Alexis studied his movements as he stopped and surveyed the area. He sniffed the air cautiously before moving on. She followed slowly.
In the living room, Stefan lay on his hardwood floor, wrapped in his favorite wool blanket. He looked to be sleeping, except for his utter stillness. Was he even breathing? She reached toward him…
"Don't. Remember we can't touch him."
She looked at him, puzzled. "He needs help. How can we help if we can't touch him?" She watched, even more puzzled, as Kevin approached slowly, wafting his hands in an odd manner, almost stroking the space around where Stefan lay.
"What are you doing?" she whispered.
"Checking out his energy. Stefan is off in the ethers."
"But he's okay, isn't he?" Alexis approached from the side, yet stayed behind Kevin. She sank slowly to her knees beside Stefan. His energy seemed odd. "He's surrounded by pure white light," she whispered in reverence.
"He's incredibly powerful." Kevin looked back at her. "He's been practicing that new technique of his, but didn't give me many details. Now I wish he had."
"What can we do?"
"Watch over him." Kevin got up and took a step back. "At least that's all for now."
Alexis didn't like the sound of that. She preferred action to inaction any day. Besides, this didn't feel right. Using her inner eye as she'd been taught, she looked over Stefan's prone body. His energy, although white, was faint and pale. It did not brim with a vital life force.
"Something's wrong. His energy is very low. His silver cord is pale and thin, almost non-existent."
"You can see that?" Astonished, Kevin crouched back down to take another look.
"Yes. He's not loose in the ethers. He's lost, period." Alexis followed the wispy trail as far as she could see but it dissipated a few feet away from Stefan's body. She lay down on the floor beside Stefan. Apart, but close enough to touch him if she needed to. "How and why, I have no clue."
"What are you doing?" asked Kevin warily.
"I'm going after him," Alexis said simply and closed her eyes.
"Do you know what you're doing?"
"I think so."
Her comment received only a snort and a caution. "Be careful."
That made her smile. "Always."
This time, she had a trail to follow. Blocking out everything else, she zeroed in on Stefan's faint signature. It went on forever, traveling through a permanent light fog. She continued moving faster and faster until she could no longer tell how far she'd gone.
Had she become as lost as Stefan?
Finally, the thread thickened ever so slightly. With that concrete improvement, she increased her speed. The miles whipped past. There had to be another way to do this. This passage seemed endless.
On the heels of that thought, she reached a huge solid wall. Solid? Here? How could anything be solid, yet cold to the touch?
Alexis carefully explored the obstacle. She still had much to learn. But this just didn't make sense. Could it be a blind to confuse her?
It vanished. Just as quickly, another took its place. Stefan had to be on the other side, but was he the one putting up the barriers – to keep her out? Or could
there be someone else trying to keep Stefan in there? Either way, it wasn't going to work.
What could she do? Stefan's energy! She needed to focus on him. Wrapping Stefan's lifeline in love, she warmed his energy with her own. Using the same methods she'd perfected over the years with her plants, Alexis surrounded his cord with bright green energy.
She could sense the difference immediately – again she was surprised by the ease of that accomplishment. Nothing in this area worked the way she thought it would. As the surrounding energy continued to warm, so too did the air. The fog lightened and slowly lifted, allowing Alexis to see where she was.
Stefan stood in front of her. Pale, tired, and too insubstantial to be considered healthy, but he was smiling. Alexis grinned back in relief.
"Can we go home now?" she asked.
"Almost."
"Almost?" she asked, astonished.
"Yes, I came here for a reason and I'm not quite done. You have to go home." He looked behind her. "Now."
At that, a heavy shove snapped a surprised Alexis backward and pushed her right out of the psychic field. And back into her physical body.
Alexis sat up in Stefan's living room, moaning as the room spun around. This could take some getting used to.
"Alex?" Kevin squatted beside her. "Are you okay?"
She was dazed, but looked up at him, nodding slowly. "I think, so. I just need a minute."
"Take your time."
Alexis could hear the relief in his voice. Poor Kevin. She hadn't exactly considered him when she'd plunged in after Stefan. Kevin's large hand cupped her elbow to support her as she attempted to rise.
"Easy, easy." He led her over to the couch.
"I'm okay." She collapsed onto the forest-green leather. "I found Stefan."
"And?" Kevin asked sharply. "What's he doing?"
"He didn't explain. He said he wasn't finished. He shoved me back, saying I had to leave." Alexis looked around Stefan's living room. "So here I am."
"Good." Kevin walked out of the room.
"What are you doing?" Alexis called after him.
"Making tea."
Of course, they'd all picked up the habit. It made sense, in a way. She had to admit a cup of tea would be welcome. They needed to stay up and wait for Stefan to return.