First Visions (9 page)

For the most part, the timeframe of the
visions were seemingly random too. Yet, she sometimes wondered if
the memory was in the forefront of the person’s mind at the time
and that’s the reason she saw them when she did. She wished she
could conduct post-psychic surveys to learn more about her
gift.

Setting aside her inner revelry, she
concentrated on their conversation. “Of course, I’m annoyed Jared.
I know it’s your case, but she’s my sister. I think you’re going
completely in the wrong direction here. Anyone could provide a
vague description of a car.”

“
I disagree with you. I would never risk
your sister’s life if I wasn’t one hundred percent certain that
Kate could help.” He sounded earnest, but his tone seemed to put
Nikki off even more.

“
I don’t trust her. You told me to meet
her and decide for myself. This is what I decided. She’s stringing
us along because she’s after something,” she countered while
shaking her head at him. Picking up her plate, Nikki walked to the
kitchen sink.

Jared moved to stand behind her. “She already
insisted she didn’t want money. What could she possibly be
after?”

“
How can you be so dense? She’s after you,
Jared.”

Kate felt physically ill and hoped this
vision was coming to a close. Her least favorite memories were of
witnessing her parents fight over her. It was just as stomach
turning to watch Jared and his girlfriend do the same thing. At
times like this, she felt it was safe to assume whoever gave her
these abilities wanted to see her tormented.

He turned Nikki around and grabbed both her
hands in his. “It’s not like that…”

“
Jared, I know how girls operate. She was
sending some very strong and not subtle signals your way when we
went to her house. I don’t want you to discuss Cori’s case with her
anymore,” Nikki insisted and gave him a deadly glare. Although she
was petite, Nikki could definitely look tough when she wanted
to.

“
Please, I don’t want to fight. This is
the first time we’ve been alone all week. Everything I’m doing is
to get your sister back. You know how hard I had to fight to get
put on this case because of our personal relationship. I’m doing
this for you,” he promised and brushed a loose strand of hair away
from her face.

“
And you feel nothing for Kate? You’re
only using her for Cori’s benefit?” she demanded lifting her head
to meet his eyes. Nikki was even shorter than Kate. She hoped the
girl suffered a debilitating neck problem from having to always
gaze up at the towering Jared.

“
I wish you wouldn’t put it like that. I
don’t think that way about her—I love you. I feel sorry for her.
She’s had it rough and it’s obvious she could use a friend.” Damn,
Kate thought, he made her sound like such a pathetic loser.

“
Jared, I swear, you are so much like your
aunt. Feeling sorry for every forlorn creature on this earth,
trying to take in the strays,” Nikki said with a roll of her eyes.
Kate willed herself to wake up. She couldn’t imagine anything worse
than having Nikki and Jared tear her apart.

“
Enough, I’m serious.” His voice was stern
as he pressed his finger against her lips.

Seeming to relent, she gave him a smoldering
look and moved in for a kiss. Jared leaned into the kiss and
pressed her compact body against the counter.

It was revolting to watch his sensuous mouth
kiss someone who wasn’t Kate. Her flash of insane jealousy made her
understand how hard she was falling for him. As the kiss continued,
he began to move his hands up and down her body. Kate realized it
was indeed possible for this vision to be worse. Nikki sighed and
began to unbutton his shirt. He threw it off and began to kiss her
more passionately. He started to work on unzipping her dress.

Jared stepped out of his pants and stood in
his boxers. If Kate wasn’t completely horrified, she’d be turned
on. Every inch of him was sheer perfection. His body was hard and
muscular, but still lean enough where he didn’t look like one of
those muscle heads who juiced up then spent hours lifting at the
gym. She longed to touch him for herself and feel the rigid lines
of his chest and abs. Other guys she had dated paled next to him.
Jared looked much more like a man where they all had the bodies of
boys.

As attractive as she found him, she
definitely didn’t think she could handle seeing what was under
those boxers. Or even more traumatizing, being forced to watch
Nikki and him have sex in their kitchen. She rather claw her own
eyes out than witness that atrocity.

As his hand found his way under the skirt of
Nikki’s dress, Kate focused all of her energy on getting the hell
out of there. She was never able to willingly leave a vision in the
past, but she was going to be damned if she didn’t try her freaking
hardest to get out of this nightmare. Nikki’s dress began to slip
off…

Kate gasped. She looked around and was
grateful to find herself in her bed. Sitting straight up, she tried
to calm her breathing. Her chest felt tight and she wondered if she
was having an anxiety attack. A gift? These visions sucked and this
only reaffirmed her belief. She rarely woke up happy from a vision.
Bad enough they were usually filled with violence, she now had to
be privy to the sex life of the guy she liked. Why couldn’t she
have a pleasant dream about her and Jared getting busy? Not a
vision of Nikki and Jared together. Blech.

What a dick Jared turned out to be too. He
felt
sorry
for her. He could take his sorry and shove it up
his ass. She was nobody’s charity case. She hadn’t expected him to
fall madly in love with her, but she foolishly thought they were
becoming friends.

He was using her? Well, screw him. She wasn’t
trying to locate Cori for him anyway. She was doing it for a little
girl who deserved to be home with her family. The more she thought
about it, the more she reasoned she should be thankful for the
vision. It had the ability to instantly crush her crush on
Jared.

She groaned when the clock read a little
after six in the morning. She knew she wouldn’t be getting back to
sleep and to be honest, the idea the vision could be continued
scared her shitless. She already felt the desire to wash her eyes
out with soap. If the couple went all the way, she’d probably have
to check herself into a psych ward. Throwing on her rattiest robe,
she headed downstairs.

***

“Oh god, what’s the matter?” Darlene Edwards
demanded as she strolled into the kitchen about an hour later.

A feast of epic proportions stood before her.
Platters of bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese, pancakes and
cinnamon rolls were all set out on the counter. Kate had borrowed
one of Darlene’s aprons and it covered a robe that she could’ve
sworn she told Kate to throw out ages ago. With her tawny hair
thrown haphazardly up in a bun, a few strands curled around the
nape of her neck, Kate was standing and mindlessly stirring
something on the stove while blasting her iPod. Darlene came up
behind her and removed the ear buds.

Kate jumped ten feet. “Give me some heads up,
Mom! I think you took a decade off my life.”

“Sorry, hon. I must have missed the memo
where we were running a mess hall,” she said and gestured to all of
the food in the kitchen. “Are we expecting company for breakfast
that I’m unaware of?”

Kate squirmed. “Guess I did get carried away.
Couldn’t sleep, figured I’d make the two of us a nice
breakfast.”

“Alright, tell me what’s going on. Last time
you cooked like this was when your dad left. I’m still trying to
lose the fifteen pounds I gained after a week of your obsessive
cooking.” Kate didn’t answer, Darlene pressed on. “Did you have a
vision? Was it Cori?”

“No, it wasn’t about Cori,” she said and
sighed. “Mom, I’m not trying to shut you out, especially after
we’ve been having these stellar Lifetime movie moments, but I
rather not talk about it.”

Her mother ruffled her hair softly. “No
problem, love. I’m here if you decide you want to talk about
anything though. Everything looks amazing, can’t wait to dig
in!”

Kate gave her a shaky smile and handed her a
plate. Removing the apron, Kate set it on the back of one of the
kitchen chairs. “Thanks, Mom. I promise I’ll clean everything up
too. I know you have your dinner with Gail tonight.”

“You can join us, you know. You don’t have to
hide out at the library,” her mother said while pouring syrup over
her pancakes.

Kate sat down across from her after piling a
little bit of everything on her plate. Darlene’s daughter had
always been a stress eater. Whenever Kate was feeling down, Darlene
guessed this one was due to a particularly harrowing vision, her
mood would be improved with a hearty meal.

“Thanks for the offer, Mom, but I’d rather be
anywhere else rather than watching you and Gail get plastered off
of cheap box wine,” she replied.

“Very funny,” she said sardonically and took
a bite of her pancakes. “Is Jared meeting you at the library to go
over the photographs of the cars?” she inquired while licking the
syrup off her lips. Kate didn’t cook often, but when she
did—everything tasted heavenly.

As Darlene watched her daughter’s face turn
bright red, she had a powerful instinct she had stumbled upon the
reason behind the impromptu breakfast buffet. Kate’s attraction for
the detective had been written clear on her face from the day they
first met. Darlene had obviously been wary of it when she found out
he had a girlfriend. Her daughter could put up a tough façade, but
she was well aware of Kate’s fragility. A broken heart from the
dashing detective would be especially unwelcome at a time when Kate
was using her psychic capabilities to connect with an abducted
girl.

“I guess so. I hope the car leads the cops to
Cori. I’m ready for her to be home and for things to go back to
normal,” Kate answered with practiced nonchalance.

“Normal is overrated.”

“Says the woman with a psychic for a
daughter.”

“Anyway, what are your plans before hitting
the books? Up for some shopping?”

“For what?”

“Well, your cousin’s wedding is next weekend.
Do you have a dress?” she inquired.

Kate’s surprised expression hinted she had
forgotten about Jessica’s upcoming nuptials. “Damn, I do need a
dress. Ugh, I wish we didn’t have to go. Who gets married at her
age? She’s only a year older than me. Is she knocked up or
something?”

“Katie, be nice! Jessica and Abe were high
school sweethearts. They waited until after their college
graduation to get married. It’ll be fun and I’m excited to try out
the food at Cedar Brooks. I hear they’re using a new caterer. It’s
in town too and you have a built-in designated driver,” she
explained as an unveiled attempt to sell the wedding to Kate.

“Fine, I’ll go. Plus, dress shopping would be
a good distraction. I’ll shop for something to wear out tomorrow
night too. Going to be painting the town red with Julie,” she
stated.

“Sounds fun! Things are going to change for
you, hon. I can feel it. You no longer have to hide from the world.
Go out and experience life, especially while you’re young,” she
urged.

“I know you’re right, Mom. I really am going
to try harder,” Kate promised and stood up to give her a kiss on
the cheek. “I’m going to get dressed and then we’ll go give that
credit card of yours a workout.”

Hours later, Kate sat typing away at her
laptop in the library. Shopping with her mother had actually turned
out to be a lot of fun and diverted her attention away from
dwelling on the previous night’s vision. She had not only found an
amazing gown for the wedding, but also a killer dress for her night
out tomorrow. Her mother had approved of the formal dress, but had
frowned at the other getup. The black asymmetrical dress hugged her
curves and featured a metallic overlay design. She bought some
bangles to accessorize the sleeveless arm and a new pair of
earrings. Her mother complained about the length, but refrained
herself from asking what corner Kate planned to be working the next
night. She knew the outfit reeked of desperation, but she was that
determined to rid Jared from her brain.

The idea she may have another vision of him
freaked her out. She knew her version of the nine circles of hell
would be to have to watch him and Nikki get it on over and over
again. No one should have to be exposed to that kind of torture. Of
course, she lamented, this would be the type of vision she’d have.
She couldn’t have lucked out and simply saw him solo in the
shower.

She was relieved he had yet to call or text
her. It was close to five in the afternoon and she was hoping he
may turn out to be a no show. It would make her freaking year if he
found Cori and no longer needed her assistance on the case. In the
meantime, she had no clue how to act in front of him. Her emotions
were transparent most of the time and she was sure her discomfort
would be obvious. Shaking her head, she decided to return her
concentration back to her paper on James Joyce.

About half an hour later, a cough startled
her. She looked up and saw Jared in front of her with the smile
that usually instantaneously melted her. He was changed out of his
standard shirt and tie uniform and wore a short-sleeved blue polo
shirt and a pair of jeans. His ebony hair was damp and she briefly
thought back to her wish for a shower vision. Thankfully, the image
of him and Nikki quickly pushed it away and she was repulsed by him
once again.

He held a stack of papers in his hands.
“Sorry if I sneaked up on you. You looked really intent on what you
were doing.”

“Yeah, I guess I was…” She shrugged without
finishing her sentence and he took a seat uninvited in the chair
across from her. Without hesitation, she prompted. “Are those the
pictures of the cars?”