The Touch (26 page)

“Do you know where the bunny is?”  Maddie called out into the open air, but no response came.  “I guess we used up whatever mojo we had going on.  Did you want to try with something else or head for home?”

“We should probably just go home.  I’ve got to get up early tomorrow and help Allie get a line on a lawyer.  I don’t suppose you know anyone?”

“None that I’d recommend,” Maddie snorted, turning off the bedroom light as they left.  “But I’ll ask around tonight; someone might have an idea.  Or maybe Paul, he might know of one from work or something?”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Well whoever you call, you’d better not mention anything about the ghosty stuff, or they’ll order up a rubber room for you next to Allie’s cell.”

“Don’t worry, the last thing I’m gonna do is advertise what we found out here tonight.”  Lexi hesitated at the bottom of the stairs, looking up to where she’d first seen that flicker of movement.  “Thank you,” she called up softly to whoever was listening.

***

It turned out to be easier than she would have thought to find a lawyer for Allie.  Paul had a friend who had just set out his shingle and was eager for the chance at a high profile client.  One thing was certain, as soon as the news got a hold of the story it was bound to become the biggest thing running in town.  Though
Santa Cruz
was a decent sized city and had its share of deaths and even murders, the details of the case were interesting enough to hold the public’s eye.  Lexi had a few qualms about using a lawyer with limited trial experience, but she figured Allie could always decide if she wanted to keep him later.  For now it would be enough to get her through the arraignment.  Besides, what he lacked in experience, he made up for with charisma. 

Joshua Johnson, Attorney at Law, or JJ as Paul referred to him, had that polished thousand dollar smile that positively oozed charm and good breeding without coming across as phony.  He came from money and wasn’t afraid to show it, arriving at their house in a suit that cost more than Lexi made in a month, despite the late hour.  His handshake was firm and dry, and Lexi couldn’t help but be impressed by his sympathetic deference when he entered their home.

“Lexi, I’ve heard a lot about you.  I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”

He had?  Lexi flashed a look to Paul, wondering if he’d really spoken about her before, or if that was just his way of being polite?  She couldn’t remember Paul mentioning this guy before, but that wasn’t a huge deal.  “Thanks for coming so quickly, I really appreciate you taking this on with such short notice,” she replied.

“No, thank you for considering me,” he waved away her thanks.  “Just think of me as here to help take care of all the details.  We’ll get your sister released tomorrow and then we can start building our case.  Paul told me a little about what we’re facing and I’ve been following the story in the paper, so I’m familiar with the basics.”  He set his briefcase down on the coffee table and drew out a yellow legal pad.  “So what’s our angle?  Loving wife and mother snaps in the face of her husband’s infidelity and lashes out?  So traumatized by the episode that she blanks it out of her memory completely?”  JJ stretched out on the couch, pen in hand. 

“No, no, she didn’t do it!  Their case against her is shaky at best, all circumstantial.”  At least, she was fairly sure it was all circumstantial, since she didn’t know the details of what Gabriel had found, but Lexi knew that Allie was innocent, so it had to be. 

“Well, why don’t you fill me in on all the particulars, and please, don’t leave anything out.  Anything you tell me is strictly confidential, you understand.  I’ll get the whole skinny from your sister tomorrow, but the more I know, the sooner I can start building her defense.”  Lexi nodded, starting to tell him everything she knew from the beginning, leaving out everything that could possibly be considered supernatural.  When she was done talking, JJ cocked his head to one side with a penetrating look that made her squirm.  “I think you can do a little better than that.  What are you leaving out?”

Was this what it was like to be up on the witness stand?  Lexi hoped she would never be called up to testify, hating the feeling of being on the spot.  “I… am not sure what you mean,” she darted a look to Paul who hovered in the doorway to the kitchen. 

“Come on Lexi, you have to trust me with all of the details.  Now Paul has taken the liberty of speaking to me about your… special ability.  You have to tell me all about it, every shred of evidence that has proven your sister innocent.”

Lexi’s brows drew together into a single dark line and she noticed Paul slink out of the room out of the corner of her eye.  The last thing she wanted was to bring her gift into the limelight in such a public forum.  “I didn’t think we’d want to bring up something like that in a court of law.  Won’t they just laugh us out of there?”

“Are you kidding?  In a town like
Santa Cruz
, the jury will eat it up!”  JJ grinned, a gleam of avarice in his eyes.  “If all they’ve got is circumstantial evidence, the more doubt we can cast on their accusations the better.  It’ll be our job to cloud the issue, bring in as many counter suspicions as possible.  We don’t have to prove anything; just shake their faith that your sister is responsible for these crimes.”

It didn’t exactly sit right with her, but Lexi could see what he was going for.  Reluctantly she told him about what she’d been able to ‘see’, including the interaction with the ghosts just that night.  JJ’s pen flew across the pad, though she wasn’t able to read any of his cramped scrawl, so he could have been making notes on what a whack job she was for all she knew.  “And Maddie can corroborate this experience tonight?”

“Yeah, she was there,” Lexi nodded.

“And this Detective Ryan, he can attest to some of the goings on in the house as well?”

“He was there when I had the vision of Chloe in the dark room the first time and he saw the things left under the bed, yeah.  But I don’t think he’ll want to testify…”

“He won’t have a choice,” JJ smirked.  “We can bring him on as a hostile witness if we have to; we’ll see where this case leads to begin with.  We might not have to even bring up all of this, but it’s good information to have.  I think I’ve got enough to go on for tonight, thanks for talking to me, Lexi.”

“So, do you think you’ll be able to get Allie out on bail tomorrow?”  Lexi rose as he closed up the briefcase. 

“I don’t think it’ll be too hard, she’s a solid upstanding member of the community, she hasn’t made any preparations to leave so far and her daughter is still considered missing.  I think the judge will see things our way.”

“What are you going to say in court?”

“It’ll depend on what Allie says, of course.”

“Well, she’ll say the same thing that I did, that’s what happened.”

“Of course,” he smiled.  “But sometimes people change their stories when they see what evidence is stacked against them.  Once I have access to what the prosecution has on her, I’ll be able to make my recommendation,” he replied and Lexi got the suspicion that he wasn’t necessarily convinced of her innocence and intended to see if he could talk her into trying to work out a deal. 

“I understand,” Lexi nodded, walking him to the front door.  “Thanks again for coming on such short notice, I owe you one.”

“I’ll remember that,” his smile widened, eyes roaming over her body in a lingering way that made her wonder if he might be looking for more payment than she was comfortable giving.  But Lexi returned his smile, shutting the door behind him.  There was enough to worry about without borrowing trouble. 

***

At the courthouse before the arraignment started, Lexi kept her eyes peeled, searching for a chance to talk to Gabriel about what she’d turned up the night before at Allie’s place.  If there was one person she thought would receive the news with the same amount of excitement that she and Maddie felt, it was the handsome detective.  For a moment she thought he might not be there; after all, he’d done his job by bringing about her arrest, he wasn’t needed at the arraignment.  But she hoped that he’d put in an appearance to talk to the District Attorney like he’d promised. 

Lexi spotted him by a bank of payphones and tapped him on the shoulder.  

“Hey, I was just gonna try calling you but my cell phone didn’t charge last night,” he gave her a hesitant smile as if he wasn’t sure what ground they stood on.  

Lexi nodded, her voice low and urgent.  “I want to talk to you; I found out that Allie didn’t kill Neil and that Chloe is still alive.”

His eyes widened in surprise and he drew her away from the pay phones to a more secluded part of the hallway.  “What?  Why didn’t you call me?  What did you find out?”

Gratified to hear him willing to listen to her, she plunged ahead into the story.  “Maddie and I went to the house last night and…”

“Alone?”

“Yeah alone,” she nodded.  “Anyway we made contact with the ghost of the little girl who used to live there, she said…”

“Wait… Lexi… you know when I told you that I believed in ghosts, I meant that I believe they exist; not that they can actually talk to people.”

“Maddie heard the singing too, and she didn’t talk exactly, she signaled us,” Lexi talked fast, feeling like she was losing him.

“She signaled you,” he blinked.  “You know how crazy that sounds, right?”

Her eyes narrowed, “I’m not making this up, Maddie saw it too.  She flashed the lights, once for yes and twice for no.  If you don’t believe me let’s go out there right now.”

“So that’s your new evidence?  This conversation with the girl’s ghost?”

This wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped.  If she could just make him see…  “Well… yeah.  But we asked her point blank if she’d seen Neil killed and she said yes and it wasn’t Allie!”

“Lexi,” he pinched the bridge of his nose.  “You can’t expect me to go in front of a judge and say that they should throw out the charges because a flicker of lights in an old house told you the suspect was innocent.”

Her jaw set as she tried to tamp down the anger; he wasn’t even considering what she had to say.  Hell, maybe he’d already convicted Allie in his mind.  “I know Allie, I know without a shadow of a doubt that she would never in a million years do anything to harm her daughter.  If she killed Neil then where is Chloe?”

“I don't know, but I have to do my job, and my job deals with facts, not intangible suspicions.”

“Then do your job and find out what happened to her!”

His eyes narrowed angrily, “What do you want me to do Lexi?  I can’t pull it out of thin air.  Even you can’t find where she is.  All you get is that ghost stuff about a bunch of other kidnapped kids.  Give me a solid lead and I’ll pursue it.  I can’t go chasing after ghosts.”

“Then let me touch the body.”

“What?”

“Let me touch Neil’s body and I’ll tell you who did it.”

“That’s out of the question,” Gabriel started to walk away from her and Lexi pursued him doggedly.

“You don’t believe I can do it?”

“It has nothing to do with what I personally do or don’t believe, there are so many things wrong with that suggestion I don’t know where to start.”

Frustration rose in Lexi, so thick she thought she might choke on it.  “You want it to be Allie so you can be done with this investigation and move on,” she spat out.

Gabriel stopped in his tracks, pivoting to fix her with a glowering stare.  “So that’s what you think of me, after all the time we’ve spent together?”

“Why else are you being so stubborn?” she retorted, too angry to think much about whether she actually believed the words she was saying.

His hand came up to point accusingly at her.  “You are so… not who I thought you were.”  Gabriel gave up and turned around to walk away.

“Same to you,” Lexi called after him, not knowing who she was angrier with, him or herself for caring what he thought about her.

Chapter Sixteen

Allie was waiting for her inside of the courtroom and Lexi took up a seat in the row directly behind her so they could talk.  JJ stood talking to the Assistant District Attorney, chatting amiably as if they knew each other.  “Where did you get this guy?”  Allie asked, watching with growing dismay as the two men laughed aloud over a private joke.

“He’s a friend of Paul’s.  Don’t worry, he’s good,” Lexi replied with more confidence than she felt.  “And you can always pick out your own lawyer after today if you don’t like him.  He said he thinks you have a really good shot at being released on bail though,” she gave Allie’s shoulder a squeeze.

“Good, I need to get home as soon as possible.”  There were dark circles under Allison’s eyes and she looked bone weary.

“Did you sleep at all last night?”

A shake of the head was given.  “I couldn’t, every time I closed my eyes I kept seeing Chloe’s face.  I need to get home, that’s where I belong.”

“Try not to worry Allie, we’ll have you home in no time and you can take a nice hot shower and get some rest.”  Lexi hoped she would be proven right; her sister looked like she might fall apart if she had to spend the next few weeks in custody awaiting trial. 

The court proceedings were pretty cut and dried, none of the drama she’d seen on Court TV before.  There were no reporters or even extra witnesses in the courtroom, save herself and Gabriel who sat behind the
ADA
, resolutely refraining from looking in her direction.  A stab of guilt went through Lexi for how she’d spoken to him.  She didn’t really think he’d railroad Allie just to be done with the case.  She’d just been lashing out in anger and unfortunately he was the one in the line of fire.  Lexi was so busy thinking about how to approach him again to straighten things out that she tuned out the list of charges that were read.  When Allie stood to face the judge, it brought her attention back to the matter at hand.

“Not guilty, your Honor,” Allie spoke in a clear voice.

“Fine, then this case will go to trial,” the judge didn’t seem surprised by her protestation of innocence, and looked down to check his schedule.  “We’ll set the pre-trial hearing and jury selection for… June seventh.”  That left at least three weeks for Allie to decide if she wanted to keep JJ as her attorney and come up with a strategy.  Or three weeks for her to go nuts if they kept her locked up.  As if the judge had read her mind, he addressed that very thing.  “Bail is to be set for one hundred thousand dollars, is that agreeable to the prosecution?”

“It is, your Honor,” the
ADA
nodded, his manner indicating that he found it to be a suitable amount.

“Counsel for the defense?”

“Your Honor, we appreciate your setting bail, but ask you to consider that the accused is a long standing member of the community, who has posed no flight risk to date.  She has cooperated fully in the investigation thus far, and we remind your Honor that in addition to the charges brought against her, Mrs. Travers is also dealing with a missing child and would prefer to remain in her home to help coordinate efforts for the search.  I respectfully submit that such a high bail would almost certainly pose a financial hardship for Mrs. Travers, since all insurance monies will be held until the resolution of the trial and Mrs. Travers is not currently employed outside of the home.” 

“Does the prosecution have a rebuttal?” 

“No, your Honor,” the
ADA
shook his head without further comment, to Lexi’s surprise.

“Very well, bail will be set for fifty thousand dollars and I expect to see you in my courtroom in three weeks time, young lady.”

If Allie felt any annoyance at being addressed as ‘young lady’ by the judge, she gave no sign of it.  “Yes your Honor, thank you,” she nodded soberly. 

The judge nodded back, giving the gavel a perfunctory tap.  “Court is adjourned; see the clerk to arrange for payment.”

“Fifty thousand dollars,” Allie blanched.

“Don’t worry, you only have to come up with ten percent, I’ve already got a bail bondsman lined up to cover the rest,” JJ smiled reassuringly. 

Good job JJ
…
Lexi looked at him with a new respect, he’d handled himself well.

“So what happens next, can I take my sister home?”

“It’s just a matter of paperwork now.  You have the five thousand, I’m assuming?”

Allie nodded, “Yes, we should have that much in savings, but I don’t have any of my bank account information with me.”

“Leave the details to me, power of attorney is good for some things at least,” JJ grinned.  “We’ll have you out of here in an hour or so Mrs. Travers, but for now you’ll have to go back into the holding cell.”

“Thank you Mr. Johnson, for all of your help,” Allie gave him a grateful smile. 

“Not at all, just doing what you pay me for.  Now if you’ll excuse me ladies… I’ll go and see to those arrangements.”

“Thanks JJ,” Lexi smiled.

“Oh, there is one more thing I’d like to discuss with you, Miss Morgan,” the attorney added, drawing her aside.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Lexi asked, a pucker of worry appearing on her forehead. 

“Have dinner with me tonight.”

“Dinner?” she blinked, the invitation catching her completely off guard. 

“Yeah, with me tonight,” he smiled engagingly.  “Sort of a celebration dinner, what do you say?”

It was almost worth it to say yes just to see what it was that Paul had told him about her, but Lexi wasn’t sure it was such a good idea.  “I don’t know…”

“Are you seeing anyone right now?”

Her eyes darted to where Gabriel stood talking to the bailiff, who was about to approach Allison with handcuffs to take her back into custody.  The detective’s gaze only brushed over her once, before he turned studiously away, his back stiffening perceptibly.   “Well, not exactly.”  She didn’t know what she had with Gabriel at the moment, but she was hoping it was fixable.

“So tonight then?  Say six o’clock?”  His confidence made her smile, but the reservations held firmly in place.

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea.  I want to be there for Allie tonight, and plus it might be kinda weird, the two of us having dinner with you defending her.”

“There’s no conflict of interest as far as the law is concerned,” he shrugged.  “Come on Lexi, I’m not asking you to move in with me, just a little harmless dinner.  We can even talk about your sister’s case if that makes you feel better.”

That smile was hard to resist but Lexi shook her head, “No I don’t think so JJ, it’s just not a good time, but thanks for asking.”  She didn’t want to appear completely ungrateful for the invitation.  After all, how often was it that a wealthy, good looking man who knew all about her little idiosyncrasies invited her out to dinner?  Paul didn’t count; they’d started out as friends first and foremost.  And Gabriel… it hurt too much to think about her ruined chances with Gabriel for the moment.

“Alright,” he replied equably, “but if you change your mind, you have my card.  Feel free to give me a call; I have a feeling you’re definitely a fun date.”

Not quite sure how to take that, Lexi smiled and nodded, leaving the court room to go out and wait for Allie to be released.  It was more like two hours before they walked out of there, but a deep sense of relief overwrote any annoyance for time wasted in bureaucratic red tape. 

The house was still and quiet when they got back to Allie’s place, no sign of any ghostly hauntings or that oppressive feeling that she was being watched when Lexi crossed the threshold.  “How about you go on up and take a hot bath, I’ll make you something to eat and some tea?  Or would you rather take a nap to start with?”

“I think I’m too tired to sleep,” Allie smiled wanly.  “The bath sounds heavenly though, and I’d love a cup of coffee with something light to eat.”

“Peanut butter and jelly toast?” 

“Sounds perfect,” her smile grew a little brighter.  “Thanks Lexi, for believing in me.”

“What are sisters for?” Lexi smiled warmly, watching her climb the stairs before heading for the kitchen.  She could use a cup of coffee herself, it had been a long day and it was barely early afternoon.  Something comforting like peanut butter sounded good to her too and she found some sourdough bread to pop into the toaster while she got the coffee pot going.  Familiar now with where everything was, she moved with ease through the kitchen, fixing her lunch first.  There was no sense in toasting Allie’s food until she heard the tub start to drain and the big tub was still filling from the sound of it, but she would offer the cup of coffee while her sister soaked. 

Getting down a pair of mugs, Lexi yelped when she spilled hot coffee onto the counter, splashing her white cotton gloves in the process.  Luckily the gloves protected her from the worst of the temperature, and she plunged them under the cool tap water to soothe the sting.  Peeling them off to check the extent of the damage, she was gratified to find her fingers just a little red, no sign of blistering or permanent damage.  The gloves weren’t so lucky and would need a date with the bleach bottle to ever look the same again, but that was a common occurrence.  Lexi had a dozen identical pairs of the gloves and had long ago stopped worrying about them getting stained or torn in the normal course of the day. 

Without thinking much about it, she picked up the coffee pot to set it aside to clean up the mess on the counter, the vision striking her hard and fast through her unprotected hand. 

Neil lay on the kitchen floor
,
curled up in the fetal position, clutching his stomach.  His face etched with pain
, breaths came in uneven gasps as his eyes lost their focus. 
 

She stood over him, the coffee pot in her right hand, waiting.  It wouldn’t be long now, and she would be safe.  Safe to take care of her daughter as she saw fit and the
suino
would never interfere in her plans again.  Why didn’t he die faster?  She’d used enough poison to kill an entire colony of
vermin
, masking the taste with a combination of sugar and alcohol, knowing he’d never turn down an alcoholic beverage.  It was a shame really, he was a handsome man.  Not as handsome as her Jack, but handsome nonetheless.

Neil’s hand stretched out towards her, an unintelligible gurgle bubbling from his lips.  It wouldn’t be long now and she could get back to her daughter.   

Lexi dropped the coffee pot with a clatter to the counter, the strong tempered glass surviving the short fall but sending up another splash of coffee.  Where the hell had that come from?  It was impossible to tell who’d been standing over him, except that she was a woman and she seemed vaguely familiar, as though Lexi had been in her head before, just not well enough to recognize her.  Unfortunately that didn’t exactly help identify the woman who’d killed Neil in his own home. 

The water shut off from up above, reminding her that Allie was upstairs relaxing in a hot bath.  Lexi was a hundred percent sure it wasn’t her sister’s point of view she’d experienced from her vision; she’d been inside her sister’s memories enough times that she was intimately familiar with her internal monologue.  No, the woman who poisoned Neil was definitely someone else.  But how to find out who?  If she searched deeper into the coffee pot, she might find more memories from the killer’s point of view; but if she could find something else that Neil had touched…

Her eyes lit upon the ground, and Lexi knelt on the tile floor, her bare hands outstretching slowly as she braced herself for what she would see.  After the initial rush of disconnected images, the first thing she found was Allie scrubbing the floor, nothing in her thought patterns to give any indication that it was any different from any other cleaning job in her life.  Lexi stayed within the memory long enough to reacquaint herself with Allie’s thought patterns, satisfying any lingering doubt that it hadn’t been her sister’s thoughts shared from the killer’s mind.

Taking a deep breath she pared back the vision to the next layer, searching for the memory of Neil dying on the floor. 

Hurts so bad… Christ, it hurt to breathe, hurt to talk, hurt with his eyes
open
or shut; Neil lay cast adrift in an ocean of pain, too impotent to do anything bu
t
try and hold as still as possible.  Why did she do it?  If she was going to take Chloe and leave anyway, why poison him?  The question ran through his mind over and over, and his eyes opened again to fix on his wife’s lovely face that held no anger or even satisfaction as he lay dying.  Allie stood staring down at him with a curiously detached expression on her face, coffee pot gripped firmly in her right hand… just standing there.  Why didn’t she say anything? 

“Allie…” he tried to speak, but it came out as more of a croak than a recognizable word.  He didn’t deserve this.  Sure
,
he’d fucked up with Monica and it hadn’t been the first time
,
but Allie always let him make it up to her in the past.  Why this?  Why now?  “I take it back,” Neil tried again,
though
nothing but a rattle came from his throat.  But then the pain started
to
ease up and hope f
lared in his chest.  Maybe she
just wanted him to suffer for a bit?  That was it!  Allie would never kill him, she didn’t have a violent bone in her body, that had to be it… the pain was getting easier to deal with and he smiled, feeling tears of relief rolling down his cheeks.  Weird… his hands were numb… maybe that was from the way he was lying on the floor?  His toes too, but it wasn’t bad, it felt like he was floating.  Whatever she’d drugged him with
,
it was some good shit once you got past the rough stuff.   Maybe they could start over… maybe… a wave of panic surged out of nowhere and he tried to speak again but his tongue felt thick and heavy in his mouth.  Neil tried to swallow but couldn’t manage even that.  Were his eyes open or closed?  Why couldn’t he see anything?  Allie’s face loomed in front of his then an
d relief swept through him
.  Allie would help him; she always took care of him.  There was no tenderness in her face as she looked down at him, only a gleam of satisfaction as her hand stretched towards his eyes and he sank into darkness.