The Lost Causes

by Jessica Koosed Etting

  “It happened too fast to be terrifying,” Sabrina replied honestly, though her heart rate still hadn’t returned to normal.

  “Did she say anything?” Patricia asked, glancing at the spot as if Lily was still right there, perhaps wishing she was the one with the ability to see her.

  “Yes. She said, ‘I know why they want it.’”

  “Want what? The serum?” Andrew asked her.

  “I don’t know,” Sabrina replied, suddenly a bit disappointed that she hadn’t been able to glean more information.

  “It’s definitely possible she was talking about the serum,” Patricia responded.

  “She said, ‘I know why they want it.’ Maybe she’s trying to tell us that more than one person did this to her,” Andrew suggested. “You did say that the DNA of multiple people was found here. Maybe that’s what she wanted us to know.”

  Sabrina brightened. Maybe she’d gotten more information than she realized. “That’s true.”

  “Or maybe she was referring to whoever was buying the serum from the murderer. She knows why they would want it,” Patricia added.

  “Wouldn’t it have been easier if she just told you who whacked her?” Justin asked. “Then we could solve this thing and be out of here. Case closed.”

  “Yeah, obviously, but … maybe she couldn’t say much more,” Sabrina said, remembering how Lily had fought to get the words out. “It was like talking was a huge struggle.” Thinking about it suddenly made her feel dizzy. Or maybe there wasn’t enough air in this cabin.

  “That makes sense,” Patricia agreed. “According to the mediums I’ve worked with through the FBI, it takes an abundant amount of energy for a spirit to bridge both sides. That one statement probably was all she could get out.”

  “If that was the only thing she could say, it must be important,” Andrew pointed out.

  “My thought exactly,” Patricia responded. Her eyes were glowing. “I think you all should take a look around the rest of the cabin. You don’t necessarily have full control of your abilities yet, which means that something could hit you at any time.”

  Was Patricia insinuating there might be a point where they could control their abilities? When Sabrina could seek out a ghost?

  “The safe where Lily kept the serum is in the closet in her bedroom,” Patricia continued. “That might be a good place to start.”

  While the others made a beeline back there, Sabrina slipped out the back door. The cool air instantly made her feel less dizzy, though her heart was still pounding erratically.

  She settled herself on the steps, experiencing the same feeling she used to have after riding a rollercoaster — nervous and scared while she was on it, but back in line to do it again the second the ride was over. Was she ready for this to be her reality? Rollercoasters were fun every once in a while. You wouldn’t want to ride one forever. Was seeing ghosts something she wanted to deal with all the time?

  And yet … the serum had given her a second chance. If she decided to take the antidote, would she be digging into her personal drug stash the second she got home?

  The door creaked open behind her. She knew it was Nash before she saw him.

  Get a hold of yourself, Sabrina.

  “Patricia wanted to make sure you hadn’t taken off,” he said shortly. “Nothing new to report, I assume?”

  “I just needed a minute.”

  Nash observed her clinically as he leaned against the stair railing. “Are you having second thoughts about this?”

  She looked up. “Not exactly … It’s more complicated than that.”

  “Situations only get complicated if you let them.”

  “You didn’t know me before.”

  “I don’t know you now.”

  She flinched at his blatant dismissal of her. She thought she saw a glimmer of regret behind his eyes, but when she searched for it again, his expression was back to inscrutable.

  Nash sat down next to her, and she could feel the heat radiating from his body. They stared silently at the empty space in front of them. There were no other cabins in sight. Z’s father had already demolished them to prepare for his luxury lakefront condominiums. All that was left standing now were the large clusters of fir trees.

  Nash finally spoke. “I imagine seeing these ghosts must be difficult for you.”

  Sabrina raised an eyebrow. “Are we pretending you’re a shrink again?”

  It seemed like that he wanted to hide it, but a small smile momentarily escaped his lips.

  “I didn’t even play with Ouija boards when I was younger,” Sabrina said.

  “Because they scared you?”

  “No, because I thought they were dumb.” If only Sabrina could tell her younger self she should practice with them. “And the truth is, people are a lot scarier than ghosts.”

  An undecipherable expression crossed his face, though he remained staring out to the woods in front of them.

  “I just wish Lily had said something a little less cryptic,” Sabrina added quietly, more to herself than to Nash.

  “Did your brother say anything to you?”

  “He told me to be careful.”

  He finally looked at her, his eyes on hers, and the intensity took her breath away, just like that first time she’d seen him at Sonic. She felt completely exposed, but the last thing she wanted was for him to look away.

  Nash said, “Your brother’s right. You should be careful.”

  Then the door opened and the rest of the group began to pile outside. Nash cleared his throat and abruptly stood, the moment between them dissolving.

  * * *

  Justin walked purposefully to the shed outside of Lily’s cabin. He, Z, Gabby and Andrew had already poked around Lily’s small bedroom to see if anything jumped out at them, the pressure rising as Patricia watched from the doorway. Gabby had touched a few small items — a bedside candle, a few shirts hanging in the closet — but nothing had given her a vision.

  When Patricia suggested they might have more luck outside, Justin welcomed the change of scenery. It was better than poking around some dead lady’s bedroom like a perv. He’d immediately zeroed in on the small shed twenty yards away from the house. Maybe he’d be able to find something in there that no one else had seen yet. Even though Justin hadn’t decided about taking the antidote, seeing the others in action definitely tapped into his competitive streak. He didn’t want to be the only one without some sort of discovery today.

  As he opened the door to the shed, though, he saw that the only thing there was fishing equipment. Tons of it. He’d never seen a chick who was so into fishing before. Could it be a clue of some sort?

  “Look at all this stuff,” he said. “Maybe Lily told her fishing buddies about the serum and one of them took it.”

  “That was her father’s equipment,” Nash countered. “From what we’ve learned, Lily had never been fishing around here.”

  Yeah, most of the fishing equipment was dirty and rusted. Justin’s big clue was a bust. Gabby glided up next to him and peeked inside the shed, picking up one of the fishing rods. She must not have been able to get a vision from it, though, because she quickly put it back.

  Her hair was down today, not in the ponytail she usually wore. It made her look even hotter.

  Then Z snorted.

  “Did you hear something, Z?” Patricia asked eagerly.

  “Yeah. Someone here thinks Gabby looks even hotter when she wears her hair like that.”

  Justin flushed. He’d completely forgotten about Z’s ability. Not cool. He wanted to shoot her a back-off look, but he didn’t want to give himself away.

  “Anything of relevance, Z?” Nash asked.

  “Nope.”

  “This thing looks like it could be a weapon,” Justin said, holding up a strange contraption resembling a large measuring tape
with four chains attached to the bottom. He didn’t really think it was relevant — he just wanted to distract everyone from Z’s announcement.

  “That’s a lure catcher,” Andrew said. “You slip it on to your fishing line and the chains snag the ends of the fishing lure.”

  “Of course you’re a fishing geek,” Justin said and tossed the contraption back in the shed.

  “I’m not,” Andrew said. “But my uncle loves it. He talks about it all the time and I always tune it out … But I guess I can access things in my brain now that never registered before. How awesome is that?”

  “That is pretty awesome, Andrew,” Gabby said, smiling up at him.

  Justin could no longer hold back a massive eye roll. Was Andrew actually impressing Gabby with his fishing Wikipedia crap?

  “You picked a pretty good lab partner, huh, Gabby?” Andrew said, cocky as hell.

  Was Andrew going to spend the whole time in science class hitting on Gabby? Justin wondered. He probably had a bunch of dumb pickup lines about the periodic table or whatever. Would Gabby ever be into Andrew? No way.

  “And now someone thinks Andrew is annoying,” Z reported.

  “I’ll take credit for that one,” Justin said. He was going to have to watch his thoughts around this girl.

  Andrew was standing at the top of the steps, probably so he could be above everyone else who wasn’t as smart as he was, Justin thought. If he didn’t shut up, Justin was going to shove that antidote down his throat to make him stop.

  “I’m not scared of you anymore, Justin,” Andrew replied, puffing his chest out. “Everybody knows brain beats brawn every time.”

  Justin thought he heard a few chuckles, but he couldn’t tell who was responsible. His annoyance at Andrew quickly bubbled into rage as he stared him down.

  Then Andrew yelped.

  The top step had suddenly collapsed under his feet. He clawed at the banister, managing to jump down the four remaining steps and hit the ground just in time. The entire set of steps were completely obliterated, as if a cyclone had ripped them apart, leaving pieces of broken wood lying in piles where they had stood.

  “Holy crap, I just did that,” Justin whispered.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Gabby looked back and forth between Justin and what used to be the porch steps until about ten seconds earlier. How had he done that much damage without touching anything?

  Justin unclenched his fists, looking surprised himself. Gabby knew he was famous for his temper. He was going to have to get it under control because sending people flying across rooms and demolishing porches was going to look awfully conspicuous after a while.

  A glint of light near Andrew caught Gabby’s eye. Something in the dirt where the steps once stood. “What is that?” she asked, walking toward it.

  Andrew looked down at his feet and picked up a delicate rose-gold bracelet. As he handed it to Gabby, she felt a flutter of nerves in her stomach. The same ones she used to feel right before she skated onto the ice for a competition. It was that panicky anticipation that comes with wondering whether, with everyone watching, you’re going to be able to deliver something you know you can do when you’re alone.

  She fingered the thin links, her anxiety growing, until her eyelids suddenly began to shut as if two magnets were between them …

  A blond woman in her early twenties tapped her bright red nails on the check-in counter of a motel, the rose-gold bracelet on her wrist. Her skin had an orange hue, like someone who had spent too much time on a tanning bed.

  “Welcome to the Belvedere Inn. Do you have a room preference?” the front desk clerk asked, not bothering to hide her boredom. The name tag drooping off her shirt read, LORRAINE.

  “Whatever you got that’s nice. And clean,” the woman answered as she shook out her hair from a tight ponytail. She leaned forward, her ample cleavage exposed. “I’m meeting this guy. Not really my type, but he seems different from the other guys who come in and hit on me while they order. Usually they’re all sleazeballs, you know?”

  “I hear ya,” Lorraine said, perking up. “I got two kids by one of those sleazeballs. Room 304 is open. I just need a credit card to hold.”

  The woman smoothed down her polyester black miniskirt. “Yeah, sure.” She smiled, though her eyes remained cold, her sharp nose casting a harshness over her entire face. “But don’t charge it. This guy is definitely going to pay. You should’ve seen the tip he gave me tonight.”

  She grabbed her phone off the counter and clicked on it before dropping it into a large black leather purse. As she fished around for her wallet, a silver glint caught Gabby’s eye. It took her a second to realize it was a gun.

  Gabby’s eyes snapped open as the vision ended.

  Feeling a little woozy, she tripped over the rubble from the stairs. She was surprised to find Justin by her side, catching her right before she face-planted into the dirt.

  “Are you okay?” His arm remained around her waist as she caught her balance.

  “Yeah,” she answered, still shaken from her vision. “Thank you.”

  “What did you see, Gabby?” Patricia asked.

  “Almost as soon as I touched the bracelet, I went into this vision where I could see a woman wearing it.” The words tumbled out quickly. She was nervous that her memory would evaporate if she didn’t get it all out, the way a dream did soon after you first woke up.

  “Lily?” Patricia asked expectantly.

  “No, definitely not. She was much younger. She was checking in to a motel. The Belvedere Inn. And she was getting a room so she could, um …” Gabby fidgeted. “So she could … meet someone. A man. To … you know …”

  “Bone?” Z asked, saving Gabby the embarrassment of having to spell it out.

  “I think so.” Gabby paused. “But she had a gun in her purse.”

  The whole group went silent. Even Nash seemed electrified by this new development.

  “What else can you tell us?” Patricia asked.

  “I think she worked at a restaurant. Maybe as a waitress or a bartender or something. She said most guys who come in are sleazeballs, but this guy she was meeting was different. She didn’t say the name of the restaurant, though.”

  “It’s most likely close to the motel,” Nash suggested.

  Another thing struck Gabby. “I saw the date on her phone when she clicked it. September 8.”

  Patricia and Nash exchanged a look.

  “September 8 was just two days before Lily was killed and the serum was taken,” Nash said. “That means the bracelet got here within a day or two of the murder, if not that day.”

  Gabby looked up at him in surprise. “Do you think the woman that I saw is the person who took the serum?”

  “What if she stole it and was racing out of here so fast that the bracelet slipped off her wrist on the way out?” Andrew speculated. “Fell between the steps before she even noticed it was gone. And even if she did realize she’d lost it under there, she couldn’t get to it easily. She probably figured no one would ever see it.”

  “Those are all possibilities,” Nash said. “But even if this woman has nothing to do with the serum or the murder, this bracelet still places her here at Lily’s cabin within the time frame of the murder, and that’s important. She’s the only person we’ve found who had any kind of contact with Lily in the days before she died.”

  “This is exactly why I brought you here,” Patricia said excitedly. “I knew you would find something in one hour that no one else could find in a month.”

  Gabby was still afraid, but something else was making her heart thump. Excitement. And it wasn’t just her own. She could see it on the others’ faces, too.

  “This is probably a good time to discuss one last matter,” Patricia continued. “Is there anyone who would like to bow out now and take that antidote? Because this is your chance.
”

  Gabby had forgotten all about the antidote. When Patricia had first mentioned it at Cytology, Gabby was positive she wanted it. How could she not? She’d just learned that two FBI agents had drugged her without her knowledge and left her with an ability that she still didn’t understand. But now her feelings had shifted. She was exhilarated by the vision she’d just had and the possibility that she had changed the entire course of the investigation. And if she was injected with the antidote, wouldn’t it mean her OCD would come back?

  She looked around the circle at the others. Maybe they were thinking the same thing, because not a single one of them raised a hand.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The rain beat on the windshield as Z turned in to the subdivision where Gabby lived, trying to avoid skidding. Since they’d left the cabin, it had begun to storm and now it was pouring so hard that Gabby could barely see a few feet ahead.

  “It’s the one at the end of the block,” Gabby said, pointing to a split-level house almost identical to all the others on the street.

  Z pulled her Range Rover into the driveway.

  “I guess I’ll … see you soon?” Gabby said tentatively. After what they had all just gone through together, Gabby couldn’t help feeling a connection to Z, but it had been a long time since she’d really had a friend.

  “Yup,” Z answered, then gave Gabby a serious look. “And you’re right. You definitely got us the biggest lead of the day.”

  “I didn’t say —”

  “I eavesdropped on your brain.” She gave Gabby an expectant look.

  Gabby had had that thought in the car, but it didn’t sound nearly as conceited in her head as it sounded coming out of Z’s mouth. Gabby had just been proud of herself that she found something useful for the case.

  “It wasn’t on purpose,” Z backtracked, seeing the look on Gabby’s face. “I just can’t really control this thing yet. But seriously, it was a great lead. Whatever you like to do to celebrate, you should go do it tonight.”

  “Homework?” Gabby said, half smiling.