New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (27 page)

“Did you notice any constant
s when you had the
visions
?
” she inquired.
“
Anything you were doing that could have brought them on?”

Declan
nodded. “I guess you could say that my emotions were heightened at the time. I wasn’t in
the same relaxed state like when I have
most of my visions. It happened twice after I…” He gave her an uncertain look before continuing. “Well, I guess I should tell you t
hat I used to do a lot of drugs—
especially after my accident. I’m clean now, but I used to try all kinds of nasty stuff. I have seen omens when I’ve been high.”

“Then mayb
e they were just hallucinations,
”
Kate countered.

For some reason, she was having a tough time accepting the idea that Declan could see the future and she couldn’t. It made her question her abilities and wonder at the reason she had yet to harness this power.

“Good point,” he replied
with sarcasm
, “except for the fact that the visions came
true
.”

“I’ve been psychic for over two years now
.
In all that time, I’ve only seen people’s memories of the past. It
’s one of the reasons I find it hard to believe you’re not full of it.”

Declan shrugged. “Maybe it’s just your blasé personality.”

“If my personality sucks so much, stop hitting on me,” she retorted.

“Touché, little Kit Kat
, touché,” he laughed. “If you saw what I did in the vision, you would understand why I can’t get the thought of us together out of my head.”

“You only want me because
I’m taken.” Kate shifted in her seat and gave Declan a tight smile.
“
If the chase ended, you wouldn’t be interested. Besides, aren’t you seeing Trish?”

“
Nah, she was getting way too clingy. She scared off this girl Sarah I was also seeing.
Trish sent her a threatening email
sayin
g she would ruin her life if Sarah
didn’t stop sleeping with me,” he explained 

“Lord, you’re a walking
PSA
for safe sex,” she groaned.

“Don’t worr
y, Kat
e,” he said with a cocky grin. “The moment you say the word, they’re all gone.”

“God
help me.”

They
arrived in
Chambersburg
ahead of schedule. When they pulled into town, Declan had called Melanie’s sister to see where she wanted to meet. Delaney was with her parents and giving an interview to a newspaper reporter about her sister’s disappearance. She would let them know once the interview was over and they could come by the apartment she shared with Melanie. Deciding to kill some time, they headed to a burger place for dinner.

Trying to save calories, she skipped the fries with her cheeseburger. However, she swiped a few off of Declan’s plate while he went to the condiments bar. She also snuck a look at her phone to see if Jared had called. Nothing yet. Before she could send him another text, Declan returned to the table.
Kate slid the cell phone into her purse and took a bite of her burger.

“You surprised me today,”
Declan
admitted
. “I thought you would be more freaked out about the drug thing.
”

She chewed thoughtfully, hoping to bide herself some time to reply. “
Well, you know, I figured I’d respect your boundaries and not bad
ger you with questions about it,” Kate said pointedly.

She hoped this gave Declan the message that she didn’t appreciate him always crossing the line when it came to her life. As an afterthought, she said,
“Anyway, it d
oesn’t really matter now
if you’re clean
.”

He leaned back in his chair and stared at her openly. She squirmed in her chair. “You’re a terrible liar.
You must have already known about my past. Did you have the detective r
un a background check on me?” Declan mistook her silence for affirmation
. “I wouldn’t be mad if that’s the case. I did follow you around for a week.”

“No, I didn’t have Jared look into you.” Although she was definitely going to do that now and shuddered at the thought of what could pop up on his criminal record. “It’s sort of awkward to admit…”

Declan
didn’t let her finish. With a knowing smile, he stated, “You’ve had visions about me.”

“Nothing like yours, I assure you,” she replied haughtily. “But I did see some things about your past that helped me understand you better.”

“What did you see?”

“It only happened once…” she stopped and wished she could somehow avoid this conversation. It was always awkward when she had to admit having insider knowledge due to a visio
n. She was never sure about
how
the person would react to find
ing
out she saw something
private
about them. This thought reminded her of when she told Jared about her vision of his parents.
It had meant so mu
ch to him and he had expressed amazement
over her power
s. Kate
had feared he would’ve
been repulsed. It was only one of the many reasons she had fallen hard for him.

Kate turned her attention back to Declan. “The vision
was a fight between you and your mother. She threw you out of the house after the accident,” she explained. His frown prompted her to ramble on. “I
mean you can be a douche, but she did treat you pretty harsh. It seems like you were able to turn things around for yourself. That’s great.”

He laughed heartily at her disc
omfort.
“You can stop acting like a weirdo
—I’m not bothered
that you had a vision about me.
I’d be surprised if you didn’t—
considering how much time we’ve spent together. Besides, I have visions about you all the time.”

She al
most spit out her food. Oh god, Kate thought silently,
was this
how
it felt like to be on the other side? She didn’t even want to know what memo
ries Declan had seen. She was an unconventional person, so there were plenty of humiliating memories that could pop up in his mind
. Now
Kate
understood why people would feel strange around her when she mentioned her second sight.
Everyone had something to hide. The only one who freely invited her into his head before was Jared.

Instead of replying
to Declan
,
she felt the urge to call her boyfriend
again.
She stopped when
Decl
an placed his hand over the top of hers
. “Kate,” he addressed her softly. His dark eyes were serious. “I get that you’re upset about Jared, but I have a good feeling about today. We’ll find Melanie and we’ll be cel
ebrating later when we’re $25,000
richer.”

Kate ignored Declan’s reference to the reward money and instead thought about Melanie’s family and how much they must be missing the girl.
Temporarily, she had to stop obsessing over her fight with Jared. If he stayed in her head, she would never have a vision about Melanie. She made an oath to concentrate on Melanie alone for now and deal with everything else later.

Melanie and
Delaney
Pirola
’s apartment was not difficult to find.
It was strange, but it felt as if she w
ere
visiting an old friend. The sisters’ apartment had popped up so many times
in her past visions, she had the layout memorized.
The apartment featured two bedrooms, a full bathroom, eat-in kitchen and oversized living room. The sisters had been roommates for the past three years since both moved out of their parents’ house across town. The apartment
was
the site of so many happy times—
she imagined it must be very painful for Delaney to continue to stay there without her sister.

Delaney bared little resemblance to the happy and smiling girl from her sister’s memories. Her hollow eyes
stared past the psychics
as she greeted them at the door.
A
ghostly
smile looked more like a grimace as she thanked them for making the long trek out
to
Chambersburg
. Previously healthy
blonde
hair was limp against her shoulders and the normally immaculate dresser looked like she simply grabbed whatever was on top of the laundry basket.
The sweatshirt was frayed at the edges and the yoga pants
were old and
discolored from frequent washes. Delan
ey worked as a bartender and had not returned to the restaurant
since Melanie went missing.

Kate’s heart sank as she took in further evidence of Delaney’s despair. Fast food containers littered the counters along with stacks of missing person flyers.
Melanie’s door was firmly shut and Kate didn’t dare ask to peek inside.
She picked up one of the flyers
and took in Melanie’s familiar image. Delaney cleared off a spot on the couch and gestured for them to both sit.

She addressed Kate first. “Declan has told me everything you saw. All of those memories…they really happened. My parents aren’t buying it, but I want you to know that I believe with every ounce of my being that you saw into my sister’s mind.”

“Thank you,” Kate whispered.

Tears sprung to her eyes and when she felt Declan take her hand, she did not pull away.
Kate wasn’t overly surprised over Delaney’s pronouncement that her parents weren’t believers in the paranormal. Melanie’s memories of her parents had been joyous, but Kate had the sense that they were more rigid than Melanie let on. It could prevent them from relying on psychics to bring home their beloved daughter.

Delaney twirled a strand of her hair and bobbed her head back and forth between them.
“Can I ask you both a question?”

“Of course,” Kate responded.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that Declan has
told me each memory that you and
he
have seen. After talking to him, I realized that none o
f the memories included CJ. Has Melanie thought about him at all?” Delaney’s
anxiety was visible as she bounced her leg up and down and nervously chewed her thumbnail.

“CJ?” Kate questioned and glanced sideways
at Declan. Declan shook his head.
K
ate continued, “No,
the name isn’t familiar. W
ho is he?”

“It
’s Melanie’s ex-boyfriend,” Delaney explained.
“
They were together for a year and a half and broke up a few months ago. I just find it strange that someone she was with for so long has never
appeared to you.”

Declan leaned his body forward as he addressed Delaney.
“Yes, I
now
remember talking to you about the ex-boyfriend. He has an alibi for the day she went missing, right?”

Delaney bit her lip hard. Kate wondered if the girl had drawn blood.
“He does. But I find it sketchy. This girl comes out of nowhere and says they’ve been dating for weeks and she was with him the entire day and night of Melanie’s disappearance. Melanie told me he was still calling her, begging her to take him back. I know my sister and even though she never said so…
”
Delaney
looked like it physically pained her to speak. “
CJ had gotten
violent
with her before.”

“Did you tell the police this?” Kate questioned.
The thought of someone hitting sweet Melanie left a sour taste in her mouth.
It reminded her of Max and how he had been another innocent victim of a violent person.

“Yes, but I only have my gut feeling that he’s involved in some way. I don’t have any proof that he took her or had been hitting her. With his alibi checking out and his willingnes
s to help look for Melanie, he
seem
s
to
have
tak
en himself off the suspect list,
”
Delaney said with malice. Delaney typically had Melanie’s same charming and even temperament. If she despised CJ this much, it certainly
made him
suspicious
.

Delaney
looked at both of them with pleading eyes. “Listen, I don’t get why Melanie isn’t thinking about wha
t happened to her. But Melanie has been missing for ten days. Declan told me you don’t see visions from people who died—which makes me guess that someone has her incapacitated. My sister would never just leave—no matter how bad things got.”