Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (99 page)

"What does he remember?"

"That's the thing, he can't quite
remember and he's getting really upset about it." She sniffled.
Then she frowned. What was that?

Brandt cleared his throat. "We don't
want him doing that. He'll remember better when he's calm
anyway."

"Well, I know that. But try telling
him that." Maisy caught a second sniffle halfway. She glared at the
grinning colonel. "I'm really worried about him,
Brandt."

"Tell him to relax about it, and if
he remembers anything to give me a call. I won't be able to stop by
today."

"I will." She hesitated. "Brandt,
don't forget to bring Sam by for lunch one day soon."

"I know. It won't likely be this week
though. Things are busy at work."

Voices sounded in the background.
Maisy widened her eyes. "Brandt, where are you?"

Silence.

"Why?" He cleared his
throat.

Another voice came through the phone,
faintly recognizable. Maisy strained her hearing. Something about
tea. Brandt and tea? She gasped. "Brandt, you're with Sam!" She
squealed in joy.

Brandt groaned, "Ouch, my ears. And
it's not what you think, Mom."

Maisy bounced on her chair. "I'm sure
it isn't, honey." She grinned at the colonel, her thumb in the air.
"When are you bringing her for lunch?"

"Not today."

The colonel poked Maisy. "Tell him I
want some advice."

She glanced over, frowning at him.
But the colonel kept nodding his head. She shrugged. "Brandt, I
don't know if this changes anything, the colonel says he wants your
advice on something. You know how he is. He'll worry himself into
another heart attack until he gets the information he
needs."

The colonel blustered at her side.
She grinned unrepentantly.

"Okay, I'll try to stop by later
today – alone. If I can't, I'll give him a call tonight or tomorrow
morning. I can't promise any more than that."

"Oh, that's wonderful dear. We both
appreciate you making the effort."

"I said ‘try.’ I may not make
it."

She smirked at the colonel, her
cohort in fun."No, no honey…we understand. Your job has to come
first over things like this. That's fine. It would be nice if you
brought Sam though."

After saying good-bye, Maisy hung up
the phone and turned to grin at her companion. "He said he'll try
to get here later this afternoon, or he'll call you later today."
She leaned forward slightly as she squeezed the phone to her chest.
"He spent the night with Sam."

The colonel nodded. "Good. We should
have a few hours to ourselves too."

She plumped her blue white hair and
smiled teasingly. "What did you have in mind?"

8:25 am, June
21

Br
andt found his mind wandering. After
what he'd witnessed last night, it amazed him that he could
function at all. Sam had been fully recovered this morning. He
checked his email, hoping for leads of some kind. He needed
progress. He already knew that the stone found in the bedroom of
the one victim was a diamond. So, the news broadcaster had gotten
it right. The police had nothing to go on – no semen or DNA was
ever present. The cold cases he'd collected under his project were
similar in that they also lacked forensic evidence. That alone made
him wonder if Sam's killer could be the same man he was
chasing.

It also reminded him that, according
to Sam, another woman lay dead, waiting to be found. It could be
days before this one was called in.

He tossed his pen on his desk and
glared at the stack of papers waiting his attention. Maybe he
should go and talk to the colonel instead. See if he could shake
some details loose.

Shutting down the multiple open tabs
on paranormal research on his desktop, he rubbed the bridge of his
nose. He'd hardly slept. He'd stayed and tried to doze on Sam's
couch until it was time to leave for the office. Now fatigue made
it hard for him to focus.

His cell phone rang, pulling him out
of his reverie.

"Hello." Brandt leaned forward,
reaching for a notepad and the pen. At the familiar voice, he
closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Hey Stefan, glad to hear from
you."

The thin voice on the other end
sounded tired but well. "How is she?"

"She's fine. Better than I am." That
was an understatement.

"Of course, she took a totally normal
trip into the psychic world, and you've just blown your mind.
Figures."

"I find I'm searching for an
explanation today. What I saw last night, I'm doubting now in the
morning."

"Also normal." Stefan sighed. "Your
rational mind refuses to accept what your heart already
knows."

"And what do I do about
it?"

Stefan laughed. "You ignore it. You
saw what you saw – now let it go." The irony in his voice was hard
to miss. "If you stay with her, it won't be the last time you get
to experience something on the wild side.

Brandt's mouth widened. "It's been a
little nuts already, I have to admit."

"She's an interesting
woman."

"Is that all you can say?
Interesting?"

"Absolutely." A heavy, amused pause
filled the air. "What would you call her?"

Brandt shifted uncomfortably on the
computer chair. He didn't know what to call her at this point.
Unfortunately, his friend had insider knowledge that gave him an
advantage. Brandt winced, knowing what was coming.

Warm laughter filled the air. "You
haven't figured it out, have you? Any woman that can twist you up
like this, is...well, definitely interesting."

"Stefan," he started hesitantly. "I
was way out of my element last night. She scared the hell out of
me."

Stefan paused. "I have never met
anyone with these abilities, so it's new for me, too. To have the
cuts and the blood is an interesting twist."

Wrinkles appeared in Brandt's
forehead with his confusion. "Why?"

"There is probably less than one
person in ten million with her abilities. Maybe even one in a
billion. Because of that, we don't know much about them. She has
more than one gift, by the way. She's incredibly talented. As she
learns control, these physical symptoms may change. Could disappear
entirely."

Brandt shook his head. "Well, the
whole thing left quite an impression."

"Does it change the way you view
her?" Stefan’s voice reeked with curiosity but not
surprise.

Brandt shifted uncomfortably. "I'd
like to say no, but I'm not sure that I can."

Heavy silence filled the phone
line.

"Take some time and think about this.
Particularly take some time to think about this from Sam's point of
view."

"I know." Brandt rubbed a hand down
her face. "God, her life must be hell."

"That's probably all she has known.
Consider the amount of in-depth knowledge she's gleaned about the
dark side of humanity. Take into account the amount of disbelief
and mockery she's faced, and then consider how different she is
from others. None of that is going to bring her hugs in this world.
Kicks, however, are free."

Stefan was right. "She's spent some
time in a psych ward. Just under four months."

Stefan's voice was tinged with
weariness. "Haven't we all. It's society's answer for the unknown.
If she is fully functioning at this stage of her life, she's
learned to adapt, to cope, and to hide. All three are required to
survive."

"And she's all alone."

"Easy to understand, isn't it? You're
wondering why you haven't high-tailed it for the hills
yourself."

Brandt couldn't argue that point. He
didn't know what the hell he felt about Sam now. She required a
little more acceptance and understanding than he had yet to be
asked for in a relationship. He was sure he could give that –
eventually, should he choose. That was the problem – he just hadn't
worked it out in his head yet.

Stefan read his mind. "If you care at
all, watch what you say and do right now. She's spent a lifetime
under suspicion and receiving disapproval. If you want to be
accepted by her, she needs to know that you can handle her gifts."
Stefan coughed a couple of times. "If you decide that you can't
handle them then don't let her know right away. The worst thing you
can do today is to walk away. You'd be reinforcing what she's had a
lifetime to learn – she's unacceptable in the eyes of the rest of
the world."

"But that's not true," Brandt
protested.

"Maybe not, but you'd have a hard
time convincing her of that." Stefan tried again. "Look to her
history. It's all there. Fear, distrust, hatred even. There's no
acceptance handed out for people like her and me."

"You're different."

"No. No, I'm not. It took you time to
trust me as it took me time to trust you. This is the same position
you're in with Sam – learning to trust. Remember – it takes
time."

Brandt was silent. "Can someone
really live a life like hers?"

"She is." Bald and clear, there was
no arguing with the logic.

"What if I can't?" There it was – the
secret fear. The fear that had kept him awake all night as he lay
on his couch as she lay opposite on hers. That sat stewing in his
mind all morning, keeping him from focusing on his job. What if he
couldn't accept Sam, couldn't accept the life she led?

Stefan's heavy sigh came through the
phone. "If you can't, you can't. It would surprise me though. I've
certainly pushed the envelope of your beliefs – so what's different
this time?"

"This time I find I'm searching for
an anchor, a point of reference. Something to help me place what I
witnessed into my belief system, my reality."

"That is exactly how you felt the
first time I spoke to you about a killer on one of your cases. I
even told you something similar at the time."

Brandt vaguely remembered that time
in his life. "Was I that bad?"

"Absolutely. You might also remember something you've said to
me in the past. You told me that you'd never married because you
couldn't see anyone accepting your life. Now you're thinking about
rejecting her because you can't accept
her
life."

"I'm not rejecting her..." And he
wasn't. He was rejecting her gift. God he was an ass. But Stefan
continued to talk.

"Good. Think about this. See how you
feel about it all tomorrow. Call me if you need to
talk."

Stefan hung up after that, leaving
Brandt alone with his thoughts. Brandt had seen a lot of things in
his life. Police work often demanded finding a way through lies and
deceit to arrive at the truth. In this case, the truth stared him
in the face. He could no longer doubt what he'd seen. It had just
taken some time to accept. That something impossible, something
that broke all the laws of life as he knew them – had happened –
whether he like it or not.

8:45 am

Not working a normal nine to five,
Monday to Friday job made for a great week, but damn it, she hated
to work on weekends.

Peering into the mirror, Sam curled
her lip. It's a good thing Brandt had left early this morning. She
resembled the homeless woman everyone thought she was. Her hair
hung lank around her shoulders. If there were any highlights then
they were hidden in the shadows. Pulling a brush through hair she
didn't have time to wash, she ran.

She was ten minutes late.

Two other staff members worked at
opening the front office while Sam started feeding the animals. It
must have been a busy day yesterday. There were several new animals
and Sam's heart bled for each and every one. It took hours to make
them comfortable. The hospital was short-handed. Twice, she was
called away to help the front staff, once with an unruly canine,
and the second time with a tomcat that wasn't interested in having
his wayward ways changed.

Working with the animals out front,
helped Sam to see other aspects of the business. Working with the
injured animals in the cages gave her a lopsided view. She loved
seeing them before they ended up in her care.

"Good morning, Sam."

Lost in thought, she spun around,
almost falling to the floor from her crouching position. "Good
morning, Dr. Wascott."

"How is Soldier doing?"

A big grin split her face. The vet
stopped, a stunned expression emblazoned on his normally peaceful
face.

"Soldier is doing wonderfully. He's
walking around more and slowly gaining strength. He had his last
medicine this morning, and he should be fine now."

The doctor moved his head from side
to side. "Honestly, Sam, I don't think I've ever seen you this
happy. I'm glad the dog is bringing some life into your
world."

Heat bloomed on her cheeks as she
realized she'd been babbling. "Sorry," she muttered.