Shattered: A Psychic Visions Novel (20 page)

He didn’t consider any of the group his friends now. They were all loners who’d been flung together due to circumstances. With the change of circumstances they were no longer together. In fact, they were no longer friends from that moment on. He hadn’t seen any of that old group in years.

It was part of his history. And that’s where he wanted it – and them – to stay.

H
annah studied Trevor’s
face. “Are you okay?” She poured coffee, walked back to the toaster, and brought over the golden colored bread, placing both slices on the table.

He snagged up one piece and buttered it. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.” In fact, he looked disturbed, discomforted. Almost ashamed.

“I’m fine,” he said shortly.

“No, you aren’t but you don’t want to talk about it.” She nodded. “Got it. Rule number one as a new wife. Don’t push for answers that husband doesn’t want to give.”

At that he laughed. Then he stood up and said, “Sorry, I don’t want to be so distant.” He reached for her and hugged her close. “Good morning, Mrs. Johnson. I’m just pondering some news I got yesterday that I’m not sure how to react to.”

“Bad news?”

“It’s never good news, is it?” He took up the same seat on the recliner she’d seen him in before. “A death of a beloved professor when I was in school has been determined to be murder. Someone in their wish to cause me – you – difficulties – has sent a tip to the police suggesting that I was involved and to take a closer look at me as a suspect.”

“And that would be my father?” She reached out for his hand. “I’m so sorry. He’s good at that. I warned you he thought nothing of crushing his opponent.”

“That’s all right.” He squeezed her hand gently then went back to buttering the toast. “Let him crush away. I didn’t kill the teacher, and I was cleared of that a long time ago.”

“Good, but you know the rumor causes as much damage as the truth.”

“Let’s not worry about me, how are you? We need to know everything in your head is going to be fine.”

She snorted. “How can it ever be that way? My head is a mess.”

“Dr. Maddy is waiting on the test results.” He smiled, reassuring at her. “Hopefully we’ll find out more soon.”

“Are we staying here for long?” she asked. “My father’s going to find us anyway, so we might as well go to your place.”

“I’m not so much trying to hide as to stay out of sight until the papers are filed. Besides Monday is your birthday. We need to do something special.” He flashed a smile at her then frowned. “I would like your permission to go through your financials and make sure you are free and clear. If there is any chance of your father using your money or needs it for some other reason…”

“As far as I know I have none,” she said honestly. “There is some money in my bank account and a set amount arrives every month.”

“So a trust.”

She nodded. “But it’s from my mother.”

“May I look into it?”

She studied this man who seemed to have no other interest in her but to help and wondered if he was safe to trust. And laughed. She’d trusted him with everything, including her life so far. Was money any different? “On one condition…”

He raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“You explain to me what you find,” she said honestly. “I get an allowance every month that has been sufficient to my needs, but that’s it. I don’t know if I have more, can get more…” She looked out the window, images of her home surfacing. “I don’t know anything for sure but some of my memories are returning – like my home.”

“Great,” he said. “Where did you used to live?”

“My mother’s old home on one of Father’s estates.” She studied him. “I presume that at least for a little while, we’ll need to be giving the impression of being happily married and therefore will live together.”

“I have a house a couple of blocks away from Maddy actually.” He grinned. “It’s not going to be close to the luxury you’re used to.”

“Luxury is lonely,” she said.

He nodded. “It can be. But it’s not that way for everyone.”

“Tell me about your house,” she said curiously. “Are you really into mowing lawns?”

“I’ve got no problem mowing lawns, walking a dog, fixing a leak under the kitchen sink.” He waved his hand. “I’m just a regular guy.”

“No.” She shook her head. “You are anything but a regular guy. Regular guys don’t step up and be heroes for strangers.” She picked up her coffee and took a sip. “And you certainly did that for me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said in a serious tone. “It’s the circumstances that make the regular guys step up. It’s only when the shit hits the fan that the need is to be a hero there.”

That made a sad kind of sense. “Let’s hope you’re not called to do this on a regular basis.”

“Amen to that.”

“What’s on tap today?”

“You’re going to stay here and rest.” He stood up and refilled his coffee cup. “I’m going to work from here for the morning.”

She nodded. “Good.” She got up and picked up her coffee cup. “I’ll do dishes.”

“I can help.”

“No.” She waved him off. “It’s the least I can do.

She waited until he headed into the living room, her mood reflective as she finished wiping the table. She’d woken up with her mind on overload, consumed with the stuff Dr. Maddy had spoken about. She wanted to do some research but she had no cell phone or laptop to use. She didn’t know what to do.

“Problems?” Trevor stood in the doorway, his gaze narrowed.

She realized she was staring out the window, lost.

With a reassuring smile, she shrugged. “I’m missing my laptop, and I wanted to research some of this energy stuff.”

“We’ll pick up my spare when we go to the office.

“Oh good. As long as it’s not a bother.”

He laughed and walked into the kitchen, pulling her into a warm hug. “Never.”

She rested against his chest, her arms looped around his waist. “You’re a nice man.”

“No, I’m not.”

His laughed rumbled up against her ear, making her grin. “Yes, you are.” She tilted her head back to look up at him. “You’re really a teddy bear inside.”

“Shh. Don’t tell my enemies that.” He grinned and dropped a kiss on her nose. “And you, wife, are a distraction when I need to work.”

“I think I like that,” she said seriously. But she dropped her arms and stepped back. “Can I help?”

He frowned, refilled the empty coffee cup sitting on the counter. “Sure. It’s your life I’m looking into. Let’s see if you can cut the work in half.”

He walked to the doorway and stopped, turned back and held out a hand. “Coming?”

“Absolutely.”

*

In the living
room, he pulled the second chair up closer and sat down. The coffee table held his laptop open. “Okay, let’s start with your bank account. Do you know what bank and what accounts you have?”

She frowned. “I should, shouldn’t I?”

“It would help,” he said cheerfully. “But I can get all kinds of information without it.” He started to click through the laptop and quickly brought up the file he’d started on her. He had gathered a lot so far. But there was a lot missing.

His laptop beeped, heralding a new email. From one of his assistants. “Oh good. Here’s the list of financials you currently hold.” He opened up the file and his eyebrows shot up at the six-page document. “I guess this would be tough to memorize.”

“Does that mean I have money and it’s not all my father’s?”

Trevor laughed. “I’ll say. But most appears to be locked up. You have an investment portfolio with one firm. You have property…” his voice fell off. He shook his head. “Honey, you are
very
rich. We need to set up an appointment with your financial advisor and see how this is all supposed to work.”

“Does that mean I can get a new laptop?” She leaned forward to look at the pages up on the screen, but it didn’t make any sense. “More than that I feel kind of helpless without a phone,” she admitted.

“Understood.” He clicked on the bank accounts and came to the log in information. He glanced over at her. “Any chance you know your password?”

The combination flowed easily from her lips, surprising them both. He quickly typed in the password and brought up her accounts. And whistled. “Okay, so you can have pretty much anything you want. But to start with, you need new bank cards.” He started a list of things they had to do. After he finally slowed down he looked at her, and asked, “How are you feeling?” He tapped the list. “This could take hours. No, it
will
take hours. But we need to get a start on it.”

“Actually I feel really good. The head aches a little but that’s all.”

“Maddy did a lot of work on you, so we have to let the healing continue.” He added, “She also mentioned that there could be other side effects as she’d started to open up the blockages in your system.”

Hannah nodded. “Are we supposed to see her again today?”

“No. Only if we have problems.” He clicked through several pages of a Google search and sucked in his breath.

There was an odd silence.

She motioned to the screen. “What are those?”

“Old images of you and your family.” He clicked on it and twisted the screen slightly so she could see the pictures. “Anything there that’s unusual? Familiar?”

“How would I know?” she asked. “The whole thing is bizarre. But…” she leaned forward. “Who is that?”

“Isn’t that you?”

Hannah pulled back. “Maybe, but if so, it’s seriously old.”

“Did you have any other family?”

“I have no idea. I know there were a few aunts and uncles, maybe a cousin or two, but beyond that I have no idea.”

“So we’ll do some checking on that as well.”

He clicked several other links and sure enough her father had his own page on Wikipedia. “Not that this is a definitive resource, but according to this…”

“I had a brother and a sister.”

As shocks went, this one was a doozy. He studied her face carefully. “You didn’t know?”

She shook her head. “No, I didn’t know. Does it say what happened to them?”

“Only that they died close to thirty years ago.”

Her face paled.

“That’s a shock?”

“A big one,” she snapped. She got up and paced the room restlessly. “I wonder why I didn’t know. My mother never mentioned them to me. Why was it kept from me?”

“Probably because your father figured you were too delicate.”

“He must have hated me. Both my siblings die and he’s left with the weak one. I know he wanted sons and to have lost the one he had?” She shook her head. “It helps to understand him better.”

“Does it?”

“Sure. He was cold and emotionless to me and always afraid that something would happen. Apparently with good cause. He’d already lost two children. Since I was weak, he must have thought I had one foot in the grave already.”

Trevor wasn’t so sure about that, but any excuse that helped her live with this would work for him. “It also says your mother was his second wife.”

“Really?” She stared at him. “I feel like I have no idea who I am in all of this.”

“The children he lost were with his first wife. And…” he read further. “His first wife was killed in a car accident that claimed the lives of the kids too.”

“Oh my God.” She appeared speechless at that point. “He lost all three at once.”

Trevor found himself feeling pity for the man for the first time. Maybe Hannah was right and that after losing his first family, he was afraid he’d lose his second daughter too. Like he had lost his second wife. That always brought up questions. Lose one wife, sad but possible, but to lose two…now if a third disappeared…that bore looking into further.

He made another note on his list. Then quickly sent his assistant an email to find out more details on the deaths. He didn’t want to suspect Hannah’s father of killing his two wives, but he had seen too many shitty men to ignore the possibility. He wondered at how insular her life had been that even Wikipedia knew more about her family than she did.

“I’m not sure what happened to me,” she whispered, her hand going to her head. “Bring that article back up, please.”

He clicked the laptop over to let her see the page and the article on her father.