The Touch (20 page)

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about me?”

He took it as a good sign that she didn’t sound
bothered by
the notion.  “It’s all part of the job, I’m a full service detective,” Gabriel teased
, wishing he had longer to spend with her but after that brief contact he let go
. 

Lexi followed him to the front door, waiting until he reached it before stopping him with a gloved hand to his arm.  “You have to let me touch some of Neil’s clothes.”

“Knock yourself out until the team gets here, they might end up sealing the closet after that.”  Though he doubted it.  There wasn’t likely to be much new evidence to turn up at the house on Neil’s disappearance, but you never knew.

“No, I mean the clothes he was wearing when he died,” she clarified.  “I should be able to pick up who put him in the trunk.”

Her eyes were bright and full of excitement and Gabriel hated to crush her plans
,
but what she was asking was impossible.  “
I can’t,
they’re
going to CSU to be processed.”

“Okay, what about afterwards then?”

Gabriel tried to think what his Captain would say if he knew he was even considering this.  “That would be sealed evidence then, kept in the evidence locker.”

A roll of the eyes was given.  “Do you want to find the killer or not?”

“You know I could get fired for something like th
at
.”  It was a statement, not a question.

“Yep,” she answered breezily and he couldn’t help but smile at her cheer in the face of his career suicide.

“I’ll think about it.”

Chapter
Twelve

Before the CSU could arrive, the TV cameras came, all eager to get a sound bite for the nightly news.  Allison did a fair job of keeping it together while she described the circumstances of Chloe’s disappearance, but didn’t comment much on Neil’s death
;
except to say that it was a difficult time.  Overall Lexi thought she did well.  Lord only knew
,
if it was her in front of the cameras, like as not she’d sound deranged talking about ghosts of dead children.  In fact, it took all of her self restraint to s
imply s
hake her head and say that she had nothing to add.  It was better t
hat way.  Lexi had no interest in being o
n the news; the fewer people who knew about her particular gift, the better. 

By the time the crime scene unit was done with Allison’s house, Lexi was ready for bed, but she hung around, unsure if her sister wanted company or not.   She found her sitting in Neil’s study, staring at the computer screen.  “Aren’t you going up to bed soon
,
Allie?  You look beat.”

“I’ll be up in a while,” she replied distractedly.  “I was contacted by this group that helps find missing children.  They want to build a web page for Chloe.  I think it sounds like a good idea, what do you think?”  Allison sat back to let Lexi get a better view of the screen.

“I think that sounds like a fantastic idea,” Lexi agreed readily, eyes quickly scanning the web page.  “What do they need to get it going?  Just some pictures?”

Allie nodded, “
A
nd they need some background on her kidnapping, a write up on her appearance and personality, anything that might help identify her if someone were to spot her out there.”

“Sounds good, is that what you’re working on?”

“No, I was just looking at some of these pages on other missing kids.  It’s so sad…  I can’t believe how many children disappear every day.  You hear about it on the news in passing
,
but for every single one of those kids out there is a whole family that’s been absolutely destroyed.”
Allison’s voice broke
,
and she swallowed, turning away from the monitor.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Lexi agreed, laying a hand on her shoulder.  “I still think th
ere’s a really good chance
they’ll find her though
,
Allie.  If she was…” frantically she searched for a word
that sounded less awful than dead
, “…
gone, I would know it.”

“You didn’t know Neil was dead.”

“Well actually…”

“Oh Lexi…” Allie’s eyes came up accusingly.  “Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

“You had so much to worry about
;
I didn’t want to make it worse. 
Plus
,
I wasn’t positive at the time.  I know now though, and I don’t get the same thing at all when I look for a connection with Chloe.”

“What did you get with Neil?”

“A whole lot of
nothingness;
like a dark void.  I might not be getting a good line on where Chloe is now, but I’m not getting that same void.  That’s gotta count for something, right?” Lexi gave her a hopeful look.

“I pray you’re right
.
”

A knock sounded at the front door and Lexi immediately thought it might be Gabriel, back to check on them for the night.  “I’ll get it,” she volunteered,
hopping up and pulling the door open without stopping to think about looking through the side window first.  So it was that the sight of her housemate caught her completely by surprise.  “Paul… what are you doing here?”

“Delivery service
,
” Paul held up a large duffel bag
,
as if that explained his presence on Allison’s doorstep.  “Maddie packed you a bag and I came to see how you’re doing.  I saw
you on the news, how are you holding up?
”

“Oh, that was sweet of you, come on in.”  Lexi stood back to let him into the house.  “We’re holding up okay, as well as can be expected I guess.”  She took the bag from his hands, unzipping it to take a look at the contents.  “Thanks Paul, this
is
really decent of you, it saves me a trip home and I don’t know how long Allie’s gonna need me to stay here with her.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Paul stepped up and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. 

Grateful for the gesture, Lexi leaned against him, soaking up his calming presence.  “Well I’m really glad
you did it
;
you’re a sight for sore eyes.”  Maybe it was because she was tired, but suddenly Lexi wasn’t in much of a hurry for him to leave.  Paul represented the quasi-normalcy of her life,
and she wanted that back in a big way. 

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” Paul pulled back to look down into her face.

“Ye
ah, it just gets a little eerie
here sometimes, especially at night, that’s all.”

“More of the ghosts?”

“That isn’t the half of it.”  Eager to tell him all she
’d learned about the woman who
lived there before and the ghost children, Lexi pulled him into the living room, giving him a brief rundown on the visions she’d had in the house.

“Wow, that’s um…” Paul looked as though he wasn’t quite sure what to say about it once she was done. 

Lexi
didn’t know
what she’d been expecting, but his obvious trouble
believing
her ghost tales rubbed her the wrong way.  After years of
knowing
what she could see with her hands, he chose now to balk?  Maybe she’d been spoiled by Gabriel’s easy acceptance, but she’d expected more from her long term friend.  “It’s freaky, that’s what it is.  But I don’t know what it has to do with Chloe’s disappearance,
if anything,
”
s
he saved him from having to answer more. 

“It does sound… freaky,” Paul nodded, worry lines appearing on his forehead.  “Maybe you shouldn’t stay here tonight?”

“Not you too…” a roll of the eyes was given.  “It’s
a little spooky
, but it’s not like the visions can hurt me.”

“No, but this might not be the best environment for you to be in right now.”

“This is where my sister is and she needs my help,” Lexi’s chin came up in determination.  “So this is where I’m staying
,
until she says otherwise.”

“Alright then, I’m staying here with you.”

“What?”  That took her by surprise.

“The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.  With someone targeting this family
,
you two shouldn’
t be here all by yourselves.”

“
What about work?
”

“
I can still go to work tomorrow, but I’ll be here in case anything happens tonight.
”

“I’ve got the only spare bedroom.”  Was he suggesting that they should share?

“I’ll sleep on the couch, it’ll be fine.  Unless your sister expressly forbids me from spending the night here, I’m staying.  End of story.”  His arms crossed with an air of finality.

“Okay, okay.  This is a new side to you Paul, I’m not sure I like it,” she teased, catching up his hand and tugging him towards the study where Allie still sat in front of the computer monitor.  “Allie, you remember Paul, don’t you?”

“Sure, hello Paul,” Allison replied, barely looking away from the screen.

Lexi’s brows twitched together
;
it wasn’t like her sister to be so distracted around company, she must be more tired than she’d thought.  “We were thinking he might spend the night to make sure we’re safe tonight, what do you think?”

“Fine, whatever you want.”  This time Allie didn’t look away from the computer at all.

“Okay then… I’ll just get him set up on the roof… we’ll see you
later…”
Lexi threw it out
there
,
but Allie didn’t seem to notice at all.

“Thanks Allison, I’ll try to be as unobtrusive as possible,” Paul smiled politely, frowning when she gave a distracted wave but didn’t look away. 

Lexi pulled him out of the room, waiting until they were
out of earshot before she spoke;
not that Allie would have noticed
,
by the looks of it.  “She’s kind of out of it right now.”

“You think?” Paul smirked.  “It’s fine, she’s got a lot going on, I’ll just set myself up on the couch, unless you feel like sharing tonight?”

A tight smile appeared on her lips, “It’s only a full size bed…
”
a
little more sharing than
she was
comfortable with
.

“Suit yourself,” he replied equably. 

“I’ll go get you some blankets and pillows and stuff.”

Paul caught her wrist before she could move off.  “I could sleep on the floor in the guest room, in case you need me.”

“I’ll be fine,” Lexi insisted, tugging her hand gently free
, a ribbon of panic slicing through her as the glove started to come off
.
  Quickly
,
she pulled it back on before any harm came of it. 
“
I’ll be right back with your blankets.”

***

The night passed without event. 
T
here were no fevered dreams, and no apparitions
, of the sisterly or ghostly variety
,
haunting her sleep. 
Once again
,
there was no sign of Allie in the morning
.  T
hough as she came down the stairs
,
Lexi was greeted by the smell of fresh coffee
,
and Paul already up and dressed in the kitchen. 

“How’d you sleep?”
h
e asked, sliding over a mug of coffee, just how she liked it.

“Pretty good.  I should ask you the same thing though, how comfortable was the couch last night?”  The coffee was just what she needed, the rich aroma doing as much to revive her as the brew itself. 

“The couch was comfortable enough…” he hesitated and Lexi got the distinct impression there was more he didn’t feel like telling her.

“But?”

“But I didn’t sleep great, no.  It was probably from being in a strange
environment;
I just couldn’t seem to settle down for the night until late.”

“You didn’t?”

“No, but I thought you might have been up too, someone was doing a lot of pacing.”

“It wasn’t
me
;
I was out like a light.  It must have been
Allie;
I know she hasn’t been sleeping well.
  Her bed
room is over the living room
.
”

“
That makes sense.  I even thought I heard…” his eyes traveled to the ceiling.  “This old place has more than its share of creaks and groans though, just like our house.”
 

“You thought you heard what?”

“I… don’t know, it was muffled.  Maybe she was watching a home video of Chloe upstairs?
”

“About what time was this?”
  It was entirely possible it had been her sister up and around
,
but somehow she thought there was something more para than normal behind the sounds. 

“It was late, after two for sure, maybe later.
 
Why, is that important?”  Not privy to her thoughts, Paul was confused by her line of questioning. 

“I don’t know.  What would you say if I told you I thought thos
e were ghosts you heard
last night?”

“I’d say… drink your coffee before it gets cold, I’ve got to get home to shower and change before work,” Paul pressed a kiss to her temple before draining his cup and setting it in the sink. 

Trying not to let
his
response
bother her, Lexi nodded, dropping it for now.  “Okay, thanks for staying, but as you can see
,
we were just fine here
last night.”  If he was tired,
he only had himself to blame for insisting to sleep on the couch.   
             

“Yeah I know, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

That seemed to be the motto of the day.  Everyone was tiptoeing around, wanting to be safe but there was no safety for Chloe.  Lexi drifted through the day trying to keep busy.  She helped Allie write up the bio for Chloe’s web page, selecting the pictures that would both show what she looked like, but also a little of her character; the better to help get her spotted out there.