Garden of Sorrow (Book 4 of Psychic Visions, a paranormal romantic suspense) (33 page)

The police were idiots. What would it take for them to focus on his father? His dad didn't deserve to live after what he'd done to Daisy. It had taken a long time, but Charles believed punishment day had finally come.

His mom wouldn't understand. She didn't seem to be all there, even with the latest round of drugs – something else he could blame his father for. Rather than outright murdering her, he'd chosen to kill her slowly with medications.

At his car, Charles opened the front door and sat inside for a moment before starting the engine. Even as he smiled grimly in the rear view mirror, a shadow crossed his face.

He frowned. That shadow had been there for as long as he could remember. He didn't know when he first noticed it. Not that it mattered. The shadow wasn't separate and apart. It was part of him.

Maybe it was the weight of finding justice for his beloved sister all these years. Or maybe it was just another of his many drugs kicking in. Whatever. He didn't mind the shadow showing.

Shadows had dominated his life for the last decade on the inside. Longer even. Why not let them show where everyone else could see them too?

There'd been enough hiding going on.

It was time for the truth.

I
t was late. Most everyone would be asleep, lost to dreamland at this hour. Until evil slid in their back door.

Evil didn't rip through, announcing its presence. It slithered in. He should know – he'd perfected the process.

He circled the outside of the house first, keeping to the shadows. Then he approached the back door.

But he was particularly careful now. This was a cop's house after all. For a cop, his alarm system left much to be desired. Still, a crappy system made his job easier. Faster.

Moving stealthily, the intruder slid through the main floor, taking note of everything he'd need to finish this scenario. Like many plans hatched out of revenge, this one had taken on a life of its own. This meddling trio had shown more talent for causing trouble than he'd thought possible. Good thing, they didn't know everything.

And he intended to keep it that way.

***

Alexis had been fully prepared to spend another night at the station, but Kevin had been adamant. He'd already worked through one night – he couldn't go a second. As soon as he'd been able to, he hauled her out for a quick dinner, and then they'd headed home for an early night.

This time, he hadn't even shown her the spare bed. He'd gone for a shower and tumbled exhausted onto his own. She'd taken the initiative and climbed in beside him, following him into a deep slumber.

Until something woke her up. Something wrong.

A cold, clammy sweat covered her slim body. She looked over at the other side of the bed. She was alone.

"Shh, Alexis. I'm right here." His voice was pitched low and urgent.

Kevin stood next to the closed bedroom door, his bare chest gleaming in the pale moonlight. His every muscle tensed against an unseen foe. He'd pulled on jeans and held his handgun at his side.

She slid out from the crumpled blankets, pulling on underwear, pants and a t-shirt that she tugged down for some measure of warmth against the massive chill shaking her body.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Use your other senses," Kevin whispered back.

The minute she understood what he meant, she could feel him.

The bastard was close by.

"He's here." Kevin already knew, she realized. She opened her mind yet another sliver. She could almost feel the evil clawing at her throat. She swallowed convulsively. He was so strong.

A soft thud from the downstairs had Alexis staring fearfully at an equally grim Kevin. Their intruder had entered the kitchen. "
Shh.
Stay calm."

Keeping Alexis an arm's length behind him, he opened the bedroom door to creep into the hallway. Alexis stayed close. She had no intention of being left behind.

Cautiously they moved down the stairs. Alexis swore her ragged breathing could be heard from the next room. Another step caught a creaking stair. The loud sound pierced the silence, freezing them in place.

Alexis could sense the evil blackness swirling in place below her. Seconds later, she heard the slam of the back door and the fainter echoing sounds of running footsteps.

Kevin jumped the last few stairs and raced out into the night after him.

Alexis made her way to the couch and collapsed.

Never before had she felt such malevolence. She needed to put a face to it. In her heart, she knew Kevin wouldn't catch him, although he'd give it his all. She glanced at the clock, it was almost three in the morning. She closed her eyes, resting against the back of the couch.

It was then that she felt it.

Stefan's signature.

She couldn't explain it. It seemed like he'd popped in and quickly left again, leaving a straggling trail. Though he was recovering, he'd tried to come to their assistance. But he hadn't quite succeeded – for reasons she didn't want to contemplate.

The impulse to call the hospital couldn't be ignored.

Several times the phone rang before someone with a harried voice answered.

"Hello, is Moira there?"

"No. Can I help you?"

"I'm wondering how Stefan Kronos from 207 is doing? I know it's an odd thing to call at this hour, but I woke up with him on my mind."

"His vitals were checked not quite an hour ago. There's still no change."

"Oh, uh, thank you." Alexis quickly hung up the phone. She didn't know if that was good news or bad.

"Who did you call?" Kevin walked through from the kitchen, breathing heavily from the exertion of the chase.

"The hospital." She looked around the room with her inner senses. The faint energy had dissipated. "I couldn't shake the idea that Stefan had been here or had tried to come." She shrugged in exasperation. "So I called the hospital. The nurse said there'd been no change."

Kevin closed his eyes and reached out mentally. Alexis watched, knowing exactly what he was doing. In this skill, he was more advanced than she.

"And?" she asked with raised eyebrows. "Could you feel him?"

"Yes," he answered quietly. "And no." She raised an eyebrow.

He explained further. "A mirror image of his energy, but not his energy as if it's only part of him." Kevin grimaced. "That's the only explanation I can think of for his energy pattern at this time."

"Didn't he say that to split his energy up like that it would make each strand weaker than if he'd stayed whole? And he's so weak as it is…" God, just listen to her. Sometimes this whole business was just too bizarre.

"Theoretically, yes." Kevin gazed in the direction of the moonbeams as they landed on the couch where Alexis sat. "Stefan seems to think that this is not only possible, but necessary in some difficult cases where we have to keep track of many problems at once. But it's taken a lot for him to develop the necessary skills."

Alexis heaved a sigh. "I can't even keep track of one thread." She studied Kevin. Damn, he looked good. There was an effervescent glow surrounding him. Instead of angering him, the nocturnal visitor had energized him. It made no sense. An intruder coming into his house should have pissed him off – only he looked grimly satisfied at this turn of events.

"Do you know how he got in?" Odd she felt so calm. The sense of evil had passed, leaving no lingering fear it would return. Instead, a sense of peace surrounded them. Definitely odd. "Why am I not more disturbed? Shouldn't I be scared, terrified even?" Her reaction bothered her a lot.

Kevin smiled down at her.

"What?"

"Look around you." His relaxed manner seemed almost amused. What did she not know?

"What?" Confused, she looked around carefully.

"Look again. This time, look with your inner eye." Now there was no mistaking his humor.

Immediately, colorful energy slid into her view, warm, protective, comforting,
safe
energy. Every window had been outlined in this protective alarm. All possible entrances had received the same treatment, with one exception – the back kitchen door.

"You did that on purpose." She turned to him in stunned understanding. "You left him an open door." Alexis couldn't believe what her mind was slowly realizing. "You expected him. Not only that…" She eyed the growing smile on his face. "You were waiting for him to show up!" By the end of her statement, she was almost shouting.

"Shhh."
Kevin ran his hands soothingly up and down her bare arms, as if trying to calm her.

She didn't feel like being appeased. Instead, she snapped to her feet and paced around the room. Kevin took her place on the couch.

"How dare you set this up and not tell me!" she snapped as she stormed around. "Why couldn't you have told me?" He opened his mouth to answer her, but she spoke right over his attempt. "I don't get it. If you were expecting him, why weren't you waiting for him?" She spun around and stalked back to stand by the window, hands on her hips. She was royally pissed off.

Kevin once again opened his mouth to speak, only to shake his head, his face lighting with laughter as she walked right over him. "You had the perfect opportunity and you slipped up. I just don't get it." Alexis collapsed on the couch beside him and glared at his grinning face suspiciously. "What are you grinning at?"

"You. You're priceless. You won't even give me a chance to speak." He reached over and pulled her into his lap. "Now listen." His large hand slipped around to coax her head against his chest. Gently, he caressed her hair. "Let's see if I can explain. First off, you were never in any danger."

He ignored the half buried snort of disgust and continued. "Our bedrooms had a similar alarm. So he couldn't have snuck anywhere without waking us. Next, if I could have caught him tonight, I would have. I did try," he reminded her. "But that isn't the reason why I left the kitchen door accessible. Obviously, it gave him a way in. 'But into what?' you may well ask." He waggled his eyebrows in a hilarious Groucho Marx imitation, startling a surprise giggle out of her. He explained further. "Into a video camera, which, with any luck, took his picture."

God, she must be tired, because it took her a minute to realize what he said.

"Oh my God! You set
him
up! Oh my God." Alexis couldn't contain herself. She bounced up and tugged him into the kitchen.

Kevin went to work immediately. Standing on a chair he attempted to retrieve the camera. Alexis waited anxiously, feeling positively wired.

"Can we check it now?" Alexis hopped from one foot to the next in excitement.

"No." The camera proved to be difficult to extract, tucked away as it was, inside the glass panel at the top of the cupboard. It took several intricate maneuvers to release it from its hidey-hole. Once safely down, Kevin looked from the camera to Alexis. "How do you feel about spending the rest of the night at the station?"

"Let's go."

A little later, Alexis looked seriously at Kevin as they whipped through the deserted streets. "Will I ever have a normal life again?"

Kevin smiled at her. "Nope, never."

Minutes later, they walked into the quiet precinct office. Several officers looked up in surprise. A couple made light comments. Alexis tolerated their well-meaning teasing – apparently, it went along with the job. Besides, the group seemed to be a fun-loving bunch. If this kind of teasing helped relieve the depression and tension that plagued their jobs, so be it.

Once inside, Kevin turned on his computer and downloaded the images while Alexis watched. He fast-forwarded to the time frame they wanted.

Alexis waited breathlessly.

Kevin slowed the film down to when they should have arrived home. It would get interesting soon. They'd gone to bed soon after.

There.

Someone was coming in the back door. There wasn't much light shining in the room, and that made it hard to see anything but shadows.

"Got him!"

Alexis couldn't see what though. Impatiently, she waited and watched as Kevin cut and cropped, lightened then darkened the background as he brought the figure forward. Once again, he cropped and enlarged just the head this time.

"Oh my God. It's Charles!"

Or was it?

She'd have trouble recognizing this Charles in daylight as well as in the darkness of night. He was positively horrifying. His features seemed distorted by dark grooves and hollows.

Alexis sat back in shock.

Kevin stayed equally quiet beside her.

Still staring at the picture, she nudged his shoulder. "What's wrong with this picture?"

"Everything and nothing. It's Charles, but not the one I know. It's like his evil twin."

"Or is it just a side he doesn't show in public? Does he have a split personality?" Both were possible. Medical science dealt with these questions all the time…although their answers were still inconclusive. "It would explain a lot."

"True, but I'm not sure if that's what's going on."

Alexis sat down beside him, focusing on him and his words instead of the disturbing picture in front of him. "What are you talking about?"

"Look here." He pointed with his finger to the cloudy haze around the image's head. "This is odd." He leaned closer, using the mouse to point it out on the screen. "A weird light is surrounding his head."

"Couldn't that just be an effect from all the cropping and enlargements though?" Alexis studied the haze uneasily. She hoped it was. Anything else would be bad.

"No, I don't think so." Kevin studied it intently before adding, "But I'll have to check with our specialists."

"What difference does a cloudy area make?"

Kevin stood up as he answered, "All the difference in the world." With the disk in hand, he walked out of his office, leaving Alexis behind to wonder what had just happened.

***

Alexis sat across from the three policemen, ready to scream. They were having such a good time teasing her. Unfortunately, they hadn't brought her enough coffee yet, so she wasn't handling it well. In truth, she wasn't handling it at all. She'd woken up sore, stiff, grumpy, craving caffeine – and alone.