New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (10 page)

“I do see that now, but I remember a few cases where I saw into the m
ind of someone who wasn’t a kid,
”
Kate responded.

“Besides kids, it’s easier
to see the thoughts of someone
who’s not mentally all there. That’s why I’m telling you to try to get into the abductor’s head. She sounds like a nutter which means you may be able to find out where she lives.”

Looking at her watch, she swore under her breath. “I have a shift today at the doctor’s office,” she explained and then continued, “Well, you probably already knew that,
stalker
.”

He laughed. “It’s fine. Take your sandwich with you and text me when you’re free again. We have a lot more to talk about.”

“Don’t you have a job or go to school? Why do you h
ave the time to come and hang out in
Franklin
every day
?” Her suspicions took over again as she fired question after question at him.

“Being
psychic is my job,” he deadpanned
. As she opened her mouth to speak, he put up his hand to stop her.
“Get to work—
I’ll
explain more
when I see you again.”

“Fine,” she said not able to keep the huffiness out of her voice. “Before then, please let me know if you see anything that could help Max.”

“Cross my heart,” Declan
replied and she snorted.
“If you have a tough time connecting with the woman, give me a call. I know a few tips on how to
block out everyone else and get into a target’s head.”

Kate
leaned forward and knew her hazel eyes were eager as she questioned, “Do you mean you can control your visions?
” Before he had a chance to reply, she implored,
“
Please tell me that’s a possibility.”

“It’s not a perfect science, but yes, I’ve found ways to usually see what I want to. That’s why I told you I could help you when we first met.
” She waited in anticipation as he took a long sip from his soda
.
“
I read in an interview you gave after Cori’s disappearance that you have no contro
l over your visions and
that’s
the reason you weren’t able to give her exact location.”

It was hard to digest how much Declan knew about her. It made it difficult to trust him and she
recognized that was
the reason
she was coming off as standoffish. There had to be other psychics around, probably even more experienced ones, so what was the reason he had such
an intense interest in her?
A
natural
curiosity was one thing, but going to the trouble to follow her and read past news stories about other cases she has been involved in was another. Despite her reservations, she was eager to learn as much as possible about what it meant to be psychic.

“Can you show me
how you control the visions
?”

“Sure, why don’t we meet the day after tomorrow?
Do you want to come by my place?” It was awkward to say, but
she wasn’t sure how keen she was
going alone to his ho
use. She was positive
Jared probably wouldn’t care, but
Kate was always
wary of
permitting
anyone new in
to
her life. He sens
ed her hesitation and continued,
“Would you feel more comfortable at your house?”

“If you don’t mind,” she said uncertainly. Her mothe
r was usually home and Kate
could give a heads up to her mom to act as chaperone. He hadn’t sent out any major signals that he was romantically interested in her, but
a nagging feeling led her to believe Declan had an
underlying motive for seeking her out.
After she thanked him for the sandwich, she
left the sub shop
to head t
o her part-time medical receptionist job. As Declan’s words
tumbled around
in her head,
she wished her
instincts were wrong and Declan’s
helpfulness was completely altruistic.

“Honey, I’m home!” Kate called
as she
entered Jared’s apartment
. He had texted he
r ten minutes earlier to explain that
he wo
uld be taking a shower and
he’d
leave the door unlocked for her. After first reading the text, she went into a panic thinking it was a possible invitation to join him.
However, considering she hadn’t shaved her legs that day, she wasn’t prepared to head down that road with him just yet.

As she went to throw her purse on the
white leather
couch, she felt alarmed when she noticed it wasn’t there. Confused,
she spun around in a half circle and
saw that the majority of the furniture was gone. This included his couch, love
seat
, end tables and kitchen table. All that remained was the
large screen
TV and a few folding chairs that she had never seen before
scattered around the living room
. Hearing
Jared in his bedroom, she yelled
out to him. “Jar, I think you better come out here! I think you’ve been robbed!”

Jared
strolled out of
his bedr
oom wearing only a pair of jeans
and a tight smile.
She felt slightly annoyed at the pang of lust that surfaced. He should be dr
essed in a snowsuit twenty-four hours a day
if he was planning to make her wait to be intimate.
Water glistening off his skin highlight
ing
his perfect
body
was not helping with libido control.

“I meant to warn you, but Nikki kind of blindsided me today. She called this morning to say she found an apartment and was picking
up her furniture. I was working non-stop
and I didn’t get a chance to let you know,” Jared explained
and stretched lazily
.

Kate rested her hands on her hips.
“So, she was here?”

“Yeah, she just left about half an hour ago.”

She took a deep breath for dr
amatic effect before speaking
. “Please tell me
,
Jared
,
that there’s an innocent reason you were taking a shower right after your ex left her former apartment.”

Jared
laughed as if her suspicions were the craziest thing he ever heard. Coming up to her, he pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. “You have nothing to worry about. I didn’t want to be a sweaty mess for you after helping move all
of
the furniture.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your niceness is completely ridiculous sometimes. I would’ve totally let her move her own damn furniture.”

“Yes I know—
there’s no
love loss between the two of you. But I can’t be a dick to her simply because things didn’t work out.”

His words made total sense, but she continued to seethe. Jared and Nikki
had been
together for three years while
they’d
only dated a little more than a month. She couldn’t help but feel threatened over their history.
Nikki’s true colors seemed to come out towards the end of their relationship, but Kate fretted over the possibility that Jared may still think often about the
gorgeous
blonde.

“Did she mention me?”
Kate
asked evenly.

“Mention you?” he parroted her question back with a quizzical expression.

“Yes, you know
…
ask if we were together, curse our firstborn, that sort of thing?”

“No. To be honest, we didn’t talk that much. I asked about her family and she said everyone is doing well…”

She cut him off. “Did she say if Cori liked the fruit basket I sent?”

“No, she didn’t say.
”

Another reason Kate
disliked Nikki.
Sending fruits and choco
lates to Cori was the least Kate felt she
could do after everything that happened. She hadn’t received a thank you card or any acknowledgement of the gift from the Prestons. When she complained to Jared, he guessed that maybe they were trying to put th
e whole ordeal behind them and she
was too much of a reminder of the horrors Cori h
ad gone through. It had hurt Kate
to hear that. Because despite her horned sister, she would’ve liked to keep in contact with Cori.

“Well, what are
we going to do about this?” Kate
asked and gestured to the empty spaces around his apartment.

He
exhaled noisily
. “Luckily, the bedroom set was mine, so I still have something to sleep on
…”

“Well, thank goodness for that.” She knew she answered too heartily by the amused expression on his face. How did he keep his cool when she felt her emotions were all over the place every time she was in his presence?

Jared
smiled and continued, “But I’m not sure when I’m going to find time to furniture shop. My caseload has seemed to triple this week.”

“I’ll help you!
I’m Darlene Edwards’ daughter, so you know I would find furniture shopping to be fun!” she enthused.

“Do you know anything about furniture?
” he asked skeptically
.

“What’s there to know? You sit on it,” she retorted.

“Well, that’s enough expertise for me. Why don’t we plan to go the next Saturday or Sunday when we’re both off?”
Jared suggested.

Kate
agreed, but couldn’t help and think of what a guy move it was for him to put it off. If i
t was her apartment, she’d be on
the phone that night and ordering furnishings for next day delivery. Since sitting in front of the TV on a pair of folding chairs didn’t appeal to either of them, they decided to go for a walk to the nearby coffee shop.
Excusing himself, he went back into his bedroom to finish getting dressed. Jared reappeared after putting on a t-shirt and a pair of sneakers.

As they made their way down the street outside of his apartment, Jared held tightly onto her hand.
At least with all of the craziness going on around her, Jared felt
like something solid to keep her
grounded.
Kate
leaned into him as they walked and
marveled
in the happiness of the moment. Knowing it couldn’t last forever,
Kate
decided to tell him about Decla
n and their meeting together. Jared
was silent
as she summarized everything the psychic had revealed to
her.

He seemed intrigued over the idea that the type of visions depended on the pe
rson
. “I know it’s awkward
for you to talk about
, so I ne
ver brought it up. B
ut I’ve had a lot of questions about your visions.”

Kate felt her body tense as she wondered where Jar
ed’s line of
questioning
was heading
. Although most of her visions about him were
fantastic
, there were a few that would be uncomfortable to share. Afterwards, she’d wake up and feel guilty wh
en she saw a deeply personal moment
from his past. It felt as though she was unintentionally violating his privacy.
“Go ahead
,
shoot.”

“You’re brave saying that to a cop,” he joked trying to lighten the mood.
Jared had the uncanny ability to always pick up on how she was feeling.
Her posture relaxed as he asked, “Do you see inside my head? Or are you just witnessing my memories?”

“I’ve never known your thoughts during a vision. I’ve always been an outside observer,” she confessed.

His question was a relief. Kate
wouldn’t lie to him if Jared
asked her to describe all of the visions she had about him.
Still, it
would be an embarrassment if she had to divulge the frequency
with which
she had them.

Typically
, at least two or three of her visions
each week
would be about her new boyfriend.
Only a few short days ago, Kate
had a vision of the first time they met. It had been such a strange feeling to see herself in his memories. It felt like watching an old home movie and cringing over every
little thing said and done. Kate
understood her
good
fortune that Jared decided to give her a chance after their less than pleasant first meeting
.