Seer
Protector
A Federal Paranormal Unit Story
Roxanne Witherell
Seer Protector
Federal Paranormal Unit
Copyright 2020 Roxanne Witherell
Published by MT Worlds Press, Inc.
Winter Springs, FL 32708
http://mtworldspress.com
Cover art by: Glowing Moon Cover Designs
Edited by: Liz Wilks
Formatting by Celtic Formatting
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
http://mtworldspress.com
Ciara Carter has the gift of Retrocognition, to see the history of an object by touching it. In spite of, this gift comes with a cost.
She’s had this sight as far back as she can remember. Life wasn’t easy for Ciara. She was called many names, from crazy to lunatic. Having a thick skin helped block the accusations and move forward. However, when bodies of missing women began to turn up around town, she needed someone to listen to her. She wanted to help put a stop to the murders.
That’s where FBI’s Federal Paranormal Unit member Heath Cooper came in. As an elite member of the Badass Badger Taskforce, it was his specialty to sniff out these murders before their next target became a victim. He’ll soon realize he was in for more than he anticipated, starting with a woman who knew too much not to be involved.
Ciara must trust Heath to protect her innocence. Heath will need her help to solve the crimes. The only problem? The moment he met Ciara he knew she was his mate, and now she’s become the top named suspect of the murders.
Can the two find the real murderer before it’s too late?
Dedication Page
For all the wonderful readers out there, you keep me going. I want to thank each one of you for your support. This is truly a wonderful adventure that wouldn’t be possible without readers to share my stories with. There’s so much more to share with you.
Acknowledgement
I want to send out a special thanks to Milly Taiden for creating the wonderful Federal Paranormal Unit World. I look forward to writing many more books in the FPU world.
I also want to thank Flo and Mechteld for your input on character names.
Chapter One
Ciara watched the clock as it neared five o’clock. Absently, she flipped through the channels on the television. It was almost time to leave, and she still had to go to the store before heading home. Three women had gone missing within the last week, so she didn’t want to be out too late going to the store. The stop wouldn’t be necessary, had she not finished off the last of the milk in her coffee this morning. The news declared they made an identification of the woman they found the previous day. She set down the remote and listened to the news as she got her stuff together. This was the second woman they found. Ciara hoped that the third would be found alive.
A picture of the identified woman flashed across the screen. She didn’t want to hear anymore, so she turned the television off. These disappearances and murders have been haunting her dreams for the last three nights. Her visions didn’t always come from touching things. Sometimes, a simple news cast could trigger flashes. She thought about going to the sheriff with her visions, but the sheriff never listened to her. She wasn’t sure how much help it would be, but it couldn’t hurt. She held back, knowing that Sheriff Logan didn’t believe in psychics. The last case she tried to help with, he threatened to lock her up.
Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she left her candle shop. She pulled the door closed and locked up. It was still light out, so she had plenty of time to make it to the store and home before dark. The parking lot was empty except for her Honda CR-V. With a quick look around, she darted out to her vehicle. It was silly to think someone would be hiding, waiting to grab her when she wasn’t looking. The women that had gone missing were all last seen at local bars. Still, she locked the doors when she got into her CR-V.
The grocery store was on her way home. She pulled into the semi-packed parking lot and parked as close to the doors as she could. It still had her parked halfway across the lot. On the way to the store, she saw a cart rolling with the wind, nearly crashing into a car near the return.
“Why is it so hard for people to put these in the return?” She huffed and headed to the cart.
If it had rolled into her CR-V, she would be pissed. The moment her hands wrapped around the handle of the cart, her vision blurred. When her vision cleared, she was still in the parking lot. It wasn’t her pushing the cart though, it was a tall redhead. Her hair came passed her shoulders as her curls blew across her face with the wind. On her way to put the cart away, she passed a dark van. A chill ran along the woman’s arm. Before she could put the cart into the return, arms wrapped around her and yanked her back. The woman screamed and tried unsuccessfully to break free from his hold. A sharp, pinching pain stung her neck. The woman’s vision blurred as she was pulled into the van she had just passed. Her leg scrapped along the door frame, scratching her calf. She could barely even whimper from the sharp scratch. The world went black when she was dropped down onto the carpeted van floor.
“Shit!” Ciara let go of the cart. She canvassed around for the dark color van but didn’t see one in the parking lot.
A bead of sweat dripped from her forehead. With her palm, she wiped the sweat off. It was a strong vision, like a movie reel rather than the flashes she had been getting. Her shaking hand reached into her pocket and grasped her cell phone. All the missing women had been taken at bars. The sheriff probably didn’t know about this one yet. By the clearness of the vision, it had to have happened recently. The longer time passes, the shorter and fuzzier the visions become.
“911, what’s your emergency?” the operator asked.
“I need to report a kidnapping.” Ciara moved the cart off to the side so no one else would touch it until the authorities got there.
She explained what happened without mentioning her visions. After the operator assured her an officer was on the way, she hung up. There was no sense in getting her groceries yet, since there was no telling how long they would be. While she waited for them to get there, she leaned against the warm metal of the cart return. Less than ten minutes later, the sheriff deputy showed up. There was a patrol unit along with an unmarked car pulling into the lot. Ciara recognized the unmarked car as Sheriff Logan’s. She groaned to herself with the thought of trying to work with the man.
With both members of the force standing in front of her, she explained what she saw. She knew Sheriff Logan didn’t believe her as he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. She had gotten that look plenty of times when she tried to tell someone about her visions. Seemed like the only ones that believed her in this town were the women that came into the shop begging to have their palms read. It wasn’t like she carried around a crystal ball or read the lines in people’s palms. Instead, she would hold their hand and see if anything came forth. Sometimes she was successful, and other times, she drew a blank. She’d give a few readings in the back of her candle shop but not everyone knew about it. The sheriff would try to run her out of Eutaw Hills if he knew.
“Take her down to the station to get a statement,” Sheriff Logan told the deputy.
“
Are you going to look into this?” she asked the sheriff.
“There’s not much to go on,” he stated as he peered around the lot.
“I’m telling you there’s another woman missing,” she declared.
“And we will handle it. Go to the station and make a statement.” Sheriff Logan turned away from her.
“Sir, we should follow up on this, just in case,” the deputy stated to the sheriff in a low voice, but Ciara was still able to hear him.
“I’ll take care of it. Go with her,” he ordered and walked away.
“You heard him.” The deputy took her arm and led her back to her car. “Follow me out.”
The sheriff’s department was further in town, away from her house. She didn’t want to be out late, but she owed it to the woman to help in any way she could. Thirty minutes later, she was allowed to leave the station after making her statement. On her way home, she stopped back by the store. The sheriff’s car was still there but she didn’t see him outside. The parking lot wasn’t as packed as earlier, and she was able to park a few spots away from the door.
She grabbed a cart from inside the door and started her rounds down the aisles. After grabbing milk, ice cream, and a few other various groceries, she headed toward check out. When she rounded the corner, her cart was forced to a stop by Sheriff Logan.
“What are you doing back here?” His voice was full of annoyance.
She pointed to her cart as if it wasn’t obvious. “Shopping, the same reason I came here to begin with. Did you check the cameras? I know there’s at least one camera in the parking lot.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing?” He crossed his arms and glared down at her. “There’s two cameras outside and neither of them showed anybody getting kidnapped.”
“What about the woman? Did you see a redhead in a purple tank top and shorts? Maybe you should look further back. I don’t know what time it happened,” Ciara suggested.
“Look, I saw a woman that fit your description, but she appeared fine. There’s nothing to indicate that anything nefarious happened here,” he informed her. “You should just go home.”
“That’s what I was trying to do. If you’ll excuse me, my ice cream is starting to melt.” She pushed the cart passed him.
He may not believe her, but she knew it happened. Just because the cameras didn’t see it didn’t mean it didn’t happen. She prayed she was wrong, but she knew her vision was spot on.
Chapter Two
Heath Cooper walked into the Federal Paranormal Unit division office expecting to see his partner already there. Most days, she beat him into the office and greeted him with a grin. He glanced around the office but didn’t see her.
“Has Heather made it in yet?” he asked Agent Gunner as he was walking through the office.
“Nah, I haven’t seen her,” the young agent replied. “I wonder where she is. She’s never late.”
“I told her that last Moonmist was a bad idea.”
“You two went to Heads N’ Tails last night without telling me? I thought we were closer than that.” Gunner frowned.
“I’m still not sure you’re old enough to get in.” Heath laughed.
“Come on, you’ve seen my file.” His baby face went against what his file said.
“Maybe next time,” Heath said as he made his way to his desk.
“Hey, Heather! Did you hear that?” Gunner hurried passed him. “Heath said I can go with you next time to Heads N’ Tails.”
Heather quickly stuck her hand out, connecting with Gunner’s forehead. Abruptly, he stopped in his tracks and Heath laughed.
“You are too fucking cheerful this morning.” She pulled her shades down with one finger and glared at him. “Not a word.” Gunner nodded and Heather removed her hand from his forehead. “I need coffee, the stronger the better.”
Heath grinned as she passed by, knowing she was nursing a hangover. She flipped him off and tossed her leather jacket on the back of her chair on her way to the break room for coffee. The phone on his desk began to ring and he heard Heather groan.
“Agent Cooper,” he answered.
“Cooper, I’m sending you a file.” Agent Brock told him. “FBI received it early this morning and sent it straight to us.”
“What’s special about the case?” Heath asked, knowing there had to be a paranormal connection somehow.
“Three women have been murdered and there may be a fourth missing,” he explained.
“That’s not good, but what makes it our case?”
“The coroner is puzzled on the cause of death. FBI think it looks like something for our department. My team is working on a case right now. Take Agent Rockfell with you. Report back to me when you have something. Director Normandy won’t be in until late tomorrow.”
“No problem, we’ll leave as soon as we get the report.”
As he hung up, his computer beeped with an incoming file. He pulled it up and printed two copies, one for him and one for Heather. Gunner grabbed the papers from the printer and brought them over to him.
“I can go with you if you need the help.” Gunner placed the papers down on Heath’s desk.
The empath in Heath knew the young man was eager to help, but his eagerness could also get him killed out in the field.
“You stay here. We may need your computer skills, and you have more resources here,” Heath suggested and put the papers into two separate folders.
“I never get to go out into the field,” Gunner complained. “It’s just a basement full of technology, no action.
“That’s because I, like anyone else, can kick your ass in a second.” Heather came out of the break room with a large cup of coffee.
“Hey, I went through the academy just like everyone else.” He turned to her.
“Yeah, but your combat skills are lacking.” She leaned up against Heath’s desk and took a sip of her coffee. “I’ll show you a thing or two later.”
“Not today you won’t,” Heath told her and stood up. “We’ve got a case. Eutaw Hills is only a few hours from here. You can nurse your hangover on the way.”
“Oh, I plan to.” She grabbed her go bag from under her desk and took the folder from Heath. Pulling her jacket on, she followed Heath.
“We can spar when you get back,” Gunner said as they were heading toward the door.
“You mean I can kick your ass when we get back. Sure thing, I love wiping the floor with little guys like you.” She laughed as Heath held open the door for her.
“Hey!” Gunner protested as they left.
“You shouldn’t be so mean to him,” Heath suggested.
“He needs his skin thickened.” She shrugged. “He won’t get far thinking it’s all sunshine and daisies. He needs to toughen up or else he won’t make it long.”
“So, you’re doing this to help him?”
“Exactly.” She opened the door to his standard issued SUV. “Don’t get me wrong, I like the kid. I just don’t want to see him get hurt.”
Heath knew she was being sincere. They both had lost friends in the line of duty. It’s how they came to work together. He lost his last partner while hunting a tiger fugitive. Darren broke protocol and separated from Heath during a search. Heath found him too late. Darren had already bled out from the slashes across his throat.
“He’ll be good before he goes into the field,” Heath commented as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“No matter how long it takes,” Heather commented as she laid her head back and opened the file, holding it up to block the sunlight from her face.
“That’s the part that’s going to kill him. Hopefully, we can give him something to do to pass the time.” Heath got onto the interstate heading south. “What’s the file say?”
“Looks like they have a serial killer on their hands. So far, three women have been murdered. Each found a few days after they went missing. The third body was found early this morning.”
“When was the first one taken?” he asked
, weaving through interstate traffic.
She flipped through the pages and stopped on the first sheet. “Last Thursday, she left AJ’s bar that night and never made it home. Her body was found under a bridge Sunday. She was thrown out like a bag of garbage.” She flashed a photo his way, but he couldn’t look at it while he was driving. “Looks like she was tortured, and she has this strange burn on her chest.”
“What about the others?” He would be looking at the file more in depth once they got there, but it was good to have a rundown before he talked to the local sheriff.
“The second was last seen on Saturday night.”
“Let me guess, leaving a bar?” he asked, trying to establish a pattern.
“Yeah, though it wasn’t the same bar as the first victim,” Heather commented.
“No, that would be too easy. When was she found?” he asked.
“Let’s see.” She turned the page over. “She was found Wednesday by a dumpster at the local trash dump. By the looks of it, she was killed the same way. I don’t see any similarities in the two women other than they were both last seen at a bar.”
“Maybe that’s where he’s meeting them,” Heath suggested. They’d need to get video feed from each bar to see if the same person shows up on any of them.
“The day before victim two was found, another woman went missing. This time, she was last seen at a bar and grill. It’s more of a restaurant than a bar. She was found early this morning in an alley leaning up against a dumpster.”
“Curious, each time a woman went missing, a body would be found the next day. He’s replacing them before he discards them. Another went missing yesterday?”
“Now, that’s a strange part. The only thing this report says is that a woman said that a woman was taken from a grocery store, but she didn’t actually see anything. I don’t even see a statement from the woman. Just a complaint sheet filled out by Sheriff Logan. Guess they didn’t bother with a formal statement.”
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