A Dangerous Widow (A Dangerous Series) (4 page)

CHAPTER TWO

When we had finished our lunch and said
goodbye to Patrizia, we stepped out into the bright sunshine where teems of
people bustled past us on the busy sidewalk.
 
The warm air felt heavenly.
 
I was wearing dark skinny jeans, a white
tank top, black heels—and for the first time in months, no jacket.

“You took a cab here, didn’t you?” Laura
said.

“You know I did.”

“With all of your money, why don’t you have
a driver?”

“Because it’s a waste of money.”

“I swear to God that it’s the second coming
of Jackie O when it comes to you.”

“I hire a driver for special events.”

“Forever the frugal girl from Vermont!
 
All right—we go to my car.
 
I texted Rob ten minutes ago and there
he is.
 
So, come on—this drive
and this psychic are on me.
 
Let’s
have some fun.”

“A limo?” I said as we stepped into the
street.
 
The driver remained behind
the wheel as we hurried into the backseat, likely so he could step on it and prevent
the inevitable blaring of horns.
 
“Really?
 
All of this for a
psychic?”

“You know this is how I roll, Stone—so
own it.
 
And I’m telling you, Rhoda
is going to blow your mind with the powers of the universe.”

I closed the door behind me and the
limousine lurched forward.
 
“I had
no idea that you were such a hippie.”

“Hippie?
 
What kind of hippie pays her toxes?”

“Her what?”

“My toxes.”

“What in the hell is that?”

She placed her hand on my arm.
 
“Botox, lovey.
 
Two days ago, Dr. McGill filled my face
with it.
 
I’m good to go for the
next three months.”
 
She winked at
me.
 
“Let’s just hope that Jack
approves.”
 

“Let’s just hope that you can continue to
wink.”

*
 
*
 
*

When we arrived at the storefront on
Christopher Street, I looked out the window and up at the neon sign that was
lit up in bright purple:
 
‘Psychic
Readings by Rhoda.’

I turned to Laura.
 
“I’m so sorry that it’s come to this for
you…”

“Oh, just hush.
 
It came to this years ago for me, when I
first started seeing her.
 
I never
told you about it because I knew that you’d just make fun of it.”
 
She leaned toward the driver.
 
“We’ll let ourselves out, Rob.
 
I’ll text you just before we’re ready to
leave.”

“You’ve got it, Ms. Sanders.”

Laura looked at me.
 
“Let’s do this shit!”

We stepped onto the sidewalk, and Laura took
me by the hand, and led me inside a dimly lit space that naturally smelled of
patchouli.
 
Of course it did.

Ahead of us was a massive brass gong, which
Laura approached and walloped with a thickly padded, ancient-looking stick of
some sort.
 
The sound that echoed
from it was so loud, it reverberated throughout the small space—and also
through me.

“You have to do that to call her,” Laura
said.

“Do you?” I said with an arched brow.
 
“How professional…”

“You and I both know that this gong is just
a show for the tourists.
 
Rhoda’s a
smart businesswoman.
 
You’ll
see.
 
And I’m telling you—she’s
good.”

“Laura?
 
Is that you?” a woman’s throaty voice boomed beyond the drawn red velvet
curtains that hung just beyond the gong.

“That would be me!
 
And I have my best friend with me.
 
You know, the one I’ve told you
absolutely nothing about.”

When Laura said that, the curtains parted to
reveal a robust, happy-looking woman somewhere in her early thirties.
 
And talk about a presence.
 
Rhoda Burns had bright red hair pulled
away from her forehead with the help of a black kerchief, zero makeup on her
full face, and a smile that was genuine and filled with
excitement—apparently to see Laura.

“You look fab,” she said to Laura.

“So do you.”

Rhoda was wearing a colorful, flowery skirt
and a bright orange top that barely contained her massive breasts.
 
She picked up the sides of her skirt and
curtsied in front of Laura.
 
“This
old thing?” she said.
 
“Bought it at
Goodwill.
 
Fifty cents, two years
old—and I still love it.”

Laura lowered her voice.
 
“Do you know who owned it?”

“Unfortunately, I do,” she said.
 
“Dead, I’m afraid.
 
Cancer.
 
But her energy is good, and through her
clothes alone, her spirit continues to live on.”

Oh, my God.
 
Seriously, Laura?

“Rhoda, this is my best friend, Kate,” Laura
said.

“No last names!” Rhoda cut in.
 
“We have a deal here, one to be
honored.
 
I’m going to make Kate a
believer yet!”

“It’s nice to meet you, Rhoda,” I said as I
stepped forward and extended my hand.
 
“Laura has been raving about you.”

When I spoke, something in Rhoda’s
expression shifted.
 
She looked at
me for a moment before she brushed my hand aside, enveloped me in a hug, and
said in my ear, “You poor, dear girl.
 
I’m so very, very sorry.”

A chill ran through me.
 
“Sorry for what?”

“We’ll discuss it later,” she said, looking
shaken.
 
“And soon, with the help of
someone from your past, the three of us will get to the bottom of it.
 
Let me tend to Laura first, and then you
and I will talk.”

“Way to freak her out, Rhoda,” Laura said in
an uneasy voice.

“I didn’t mean to.”
 

But as Rhoda Burns looked even deeper into
my eyes, it was impossible not to see the horror reflected back at me.

*
 
*
 
*

Thirty minutes later, when Laura emerged
from beyond the red curtain, she appeared at once pleased, distracted, and ill
at ease.

“Looks like Jack’s getting another date,”
she said.

“Well, that’s great,” I said as Rhoda also
came through the curtain.
 
“Maybe
he’s the one.
 
I want that for you,
sweetie.”

“Kate,” she said in a concerned voice.

“It’s fine,” I reassured her as I stood up
from the chair I was sitting in.
 
“Let’s just say that Rhoda here has
piqued my curiosity.”

“Are you sure that you want to go through
with this?” Rhoda asked.

“With a reading, if that’s what this
is?
 
Sure.”

“Kate, I need to warn you that it’s going to
be much more than that.”

“Then let’s see what that is.”

She glanced over at Laura.
 
“You might want to have your friend with
you.”

“Sure,” I said.
 
“There isn’t much she doesn’t know about
me, anyway.”

“There’s plenty she doesn’t know,” Rhoda
said.
 
“But nothing to be
embarrassed about.
 
I take privacy
seriously, but in this case, I think you should bring her in with you.
 
For support.”

For support?
 
My skepticism was running so high at
this point, I just went with it.
 
This would take thirty minutes out of my day.
 
Laura would be happy that I went along
for the ride.
 
And then, she and I
could go and do something productive—like shopping.

“Then let’s do this.”

Rhoda held the curtain open for us, Laura
and I stepped inside, and Rhoda followed suit.
 
All of us sat down.

“I know that you’re just going through the
motions with me, Kate,” Rhoda said.
 
“And I get that.
 
Because if
I weren’t me, I’d be just as dismissive.”

Had I offended her?
 
That’s not what I intended at all, and
suddenly I felt horrible.
 
“I’m
sorry if I’ve been glib,” I said.
 
“It’s
just that I’ve never believed in anything like this.
 
If I’ve offended you—and I think I
have—I’m terribly sorry, Rhoda.
 
That wasn’t my intent.
 
I
apologize.”

“You haven’t offended me—this happens
all the time, Kate.
 
Trust me.
 
It’s always this way, particularly when someone
who’s been seeing me for awhile decides to bring one of their friends along for
a reading.
 
Reluctance is
involved.
 
Lots of eye rolling.
 
Humor.
 
Tolerance.
 
All of it.
 
So, to get off on the right foot, I need
to build trust between us, because we’re going to need a lot of that going
forward.
 
May I make some
observations about you and your life?”

I got comfortable in my chair, and crossed
my legs at the knee.
 
“Of course.”

“In order for you to believe in me and
whatever the hell this is that God has saddled me with—this ability to
see things that nobody should ever be able to see—I’m going to start off
soft, and then I’ll hit a bit harder.
 
Are you OK with that?”

“I am.”

She leaned back in her chair and simply
looked at me for a moment.
 
“Your
wall might be up, but it’s not up that high,” she said almost to herself.

“Sorry?”

She waved a hand in front of her face.
 
“Nothing.
 
Let’s start with something I’m certain
you haven’t shared with Laura.”

“How can you be certain that I haven’t
shared it with Laura?”

“Because it happened so long ago, and it’s
inconsequential to you now—as it should be, I suppose.
 
And also because I already know that you
haven’t shared it with her.
 
But
right now, it’s flowing through you and straight into me.”

“What’s flowing?”

“Just so we’re clear, I see things,” she
said.
 
“Most of the things I see are
spot-on, some of them come close, and a few are a complete miss.
 
I’m not perfect when it comes to
explaining what I see.
 
Names, for
instance—I’m terrible when it comes to them.
 
Usually a letter or two off—you
know, like Diane or Diana.
 
That
kind of thing.
 
But situations?
 
Defining moments in one’s life?
 
Oh, I’m good when it comes to them.
 
For instance, you were born a preemie.
 
For six weeks, it was touch and go.
 
But you’re a survivor, Kate.
 
You always have been, and you pulled
through.
 
You went on to live.”

That was such a random fact about my life.
 
I furrowed my brow at her.
 
“How could you know that?”

She shrugged at me.
 
“I’ve already told you—I don’t
know.”

“But that was thirty-five years ago, and
obviously it’s nothing that I remember happening.
 
I just remember the stories my parents
told me as I grew up.”

“I know that this can be unnerving,” Rhoda
said.
 
“We don’t need to go on, but
I do think that we should—for a specific reason.”

“What reason?”

“We’re going to build toward that
reason.
 
First, it’s all about
trust.
 
Shall I go on?”

“Yes,” I said, more forcefully than I should
have.
 
The way I said it sounded to
me like a dare.
 
But she’d shaken me
with the truth of my birth.
 
How
could she have known about any of that?
 
I’d never shared it with Laura—why would I?
 
So, I had to wonder what would come
next.