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

She missed the last part, too startled by his first comment. "I don't have the Sight, whatever that is."

"Like hell you don't. Don't be trying to hide it. You've always had magical speakings with them little plants of yours." He did a sweep with his arm to encompass the whole of the gardens. "That's how you make this so glowing. Only someone with the Sight could accomplish all this."

Alexis flushed with warmth, followed immediately by icy fear that he might know more than she'd intended him to know. "No, you don't understand. I just practice some exercises I read in a couple of books. Anyone can do it."

"No way. I can't." He grinned. "But my gram sure could. That…and more. You probably see all their colors too, don't you? My gram could tell all kinds of things about her plants just by the colors she saw."

He was so matter of fact she could only stare at him in shock. She shook her head violently. "That's nuts!" She plunked down on the ground, her hand on her forehead. His words had shaken her very foundation.

A loud snort answered her. "That's your modern thinking interfering. Me…I have a healthy respect for the Sight."

That she had the Sight, or whatever he referred to, so didn't make sense. She was a gifted gardener.
That
she could see and accept. More than that?
Uh, uh.
Over the years, she'd had some indications that her abilities were out of the ordinary, but she really hadn't given it much thought. Her
skills
were a natural part of her world so why question them? Besides the Sight meant psychic stuff, premonitions, visions. Ghosts? Her world slowed.
The child in the ditch. Lissa.

Oh, Dear God.

She stared at the sky above, her mind blank, her heart pounding – but not in shock – more like after a revelation.

"What would make these skills suddenly change?" she asked, not really sure she wanted to hear the answer.

His clear gaze seared through her.

She shuddered at the sense of exposure. As if he could see what she could not.

"That's what yesterday was all about, wasn't it?" he asked.

Slightly afraid, she nodded – a tiny, barely perceptible movement – then said, in a small voice, "Maybe."

"Ah lassie… Scared yourself right and proper, didn't you?"

His words startled a crooked smile out of her. "I don't understand any of this. Life was pretty normal until I fell into the ditch, but now…the things I'm seeing… That's scary." She was confused and more than a little relieved to be able to talk about it with someone.

"What did you see?" Curious, Scott sat down on the grass beside her, close enough to be supportive and far enough away not to crowd her.

"I saw a little girl in a hallway. I think. I mean, I saw a little girl. Or I thought I saw a girl…but she wasn't real… It's like she was mist or something and in a hallway…in the ditch." She stopped, confused.

Scott nodded. Keeping his voice low and calm he said, "Start at the beginning and tell me what happened. Step by step."

Alexis checked around to make sure they were still alone. The sun was almost directly overhead. A few people walked around, or sat on benches, but they were down at the other end of the park.

She took a deep breath, and began to explain. She left nothing out. Her voice wobbled as she finished by telling him about her sister's visit.

"I thought I was having a breakdown, Scott. My God, Lissa was so clear. She was right there in front of me. She said my name." Shock and disbelief colored her voice.

"Ah, lassie." Scott pulled her into his comforting embrace, squeezing her tight before releasing her. "You should be joyous, not 'afeared."

What could she say to that? She studied his compassionate gaze. "Really? It's that simple to you?"

"Is
what
that simple?" A strong voice reached across the flowers to them.

Alexis pivoted.
Detective Sutherland.

What was it about this man that made her back straighten and her knees weaken at the same time?

"Hi, Scott. Alexis. I need to speak with the two of you. But first, who put that memorial together? It's within the crime scene." The detective's stern face towered above her.

"Oh." Alexis snapped to her feet, brushing the dirt of her pants. "I did. I'm sorry. I'd hoped it would be far enough out of the way for you, but deter vandalism because it was inside the tape."

The chiseled features eased. "The tape is there for a reason. We aren't done with the scene yet."

Alexis twisted around to look at the memorial in the distance. "I can move it outside, if you need me to."

Casting a quick glance at Scott, who now stood beside Alexis, he continued in a calmer voice. "Should you even be at work today? Most people would understand the need to take off a day or two after yesterday."

Alexis shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm better off doing something constructive." She hesitated. "Have you identified her yet? I can't imagine what her family has gone through all these years." Alexis stuffed her hands into her pants pocket as she waited. Her insides trembled. She didn't know why his answer mattered so much, but it did.

Suspicion shone in his eyes as he stared her, his jaw firmly locked in place.

His instant shift from casual stance to hardened investigator had Alexis asking,
"What?"

"You called the skeleton a 'she.' What makes you so sure it is a little girl?"

Confusion clouded her mind. Good question, how had she known it was a little girl? Because she'd assumed it was the same child that she'd seen running in the ditch.

The men waited for her answer.

"I guessed," she answered lamely, not ready to share her bizarre vision with this man.

Skepticism washed over the detective's face but thankfully, he left it at that, at least for the moment.

Scott was a different story. He quirked his eyebrow at her, but she shook her head.

Kevin watched the silent exchange. Alexis could almost feel his mind cataloging her and Scott. Figuring who they were, their relationship, and if they were hiding anything. It was obvious this man missed little.

His body stance relaxed, in total opposition to the sharpness of his attention, and damned if her contrary hormones didn't find that attractive. What the hell was with that?

"Do I need to move the memorial? I just felt that the grave needed to be respected and marked." Her fists clenched deep inside her denim pockets. She wanted to wipe them dry on her jeans, but didn't want to arouse his suspicions any more than they already were.

"I'll see. There will be a crew here later today to map out the gardens to compare to aerial photographs." He glanced over at Scott and gestured to the spot above the ditch. "Scott, you've been here awhile… How long has this garden bed been here? Do you know?"

"Since forever, it seems. I can't give you an exact year, but I've been working on it for over twenty years."

Kevin nodded. "Right. And in that time, has any major work been done? Work that would have brought the skeleton to light if one had been here then?"

Both Alexis and Scott turned to study the bed. A beautiful blue spruce stood close to twelve feet tall in the center with weeping maples and begonias filling in the bulk of the area beneath. Bulbs flowered and went with the seasons, and annuals were planted each spring for bright cheerful color.

"Even if we dug it over, like we do in the fall, we wouldn't go that deep," Alexis said.

"Ay, that's true enough. But Cardinal Park was upgraded with this spruce and new perennials around twelve to fifteen years ago. I'll have to check the records." He paused, a frown twisting his face. But that spot where the body was found was part of this big bed here," he motioned to the spruce bed. "We moved all the smaller plants at this end of the bed last year when we were notified about this job with the pipes. There weren't many big plants, so we didn't need to go very deep. It wasn't a big area, and was fairly easy to shorten up to make way for the construction." He walked around the garden bed, studying the plants flourishing in the rich mulch. He pointed to the end where the grave sat. "And that spot had originally been put in about a decade…maybe even fifteen years or so ago."

"There will be pictures and plans on file," Alexis offered.

Kevin smiled. "Pictures and plans would help a lot. Help establish a timeline. Scott, send over anything you have and I'll add it to the file." He glanced at the large silver watch on his wrist. "I'm short on time. Make sure nothing else is disturbed in the crime scene. Don't be surprised if you come in one day to find your memorial has been moved. We need to have full access to the entire surface." He nodded to both of them and headed back over to the grave.

Alexis watched as he stood in front of the memorial for a long moment. Don't touch the plant, she pleaded in her heart. Instead, he pulled on thin rubber gloves and moved over to the open grave, where he sifted through the lightly packed dirt close to the surface. He filled several small vials, and then repeated the process from lower, inside the ditch. Back on top, he pulled out a notepad and started writing.

"Now what the hell is he doing?" she muttered. It shouldn't matter, but everything to do with this case affected her. She needed him to do his job and find out who this little girl was. It was important. She just didn't know why she felt it so strongly.

Finally, he must have finished, because he tucked his notebook back into his pocket.

With each sign that he'd soon be leaving, Alexis could feel her tension drain away. It had been years since any male had rattled her cage like this one did.

The detective walked toward the parking lot, but instead of going to his car, he strode down a path that looped through the trees.

She relaxed. In the distance dark clouds gathered. Rain threatened.

"What's going on now?" Scott asked.

"I hardly know how to explain it." How could she explain? "It's like the little girl is real. Trying to say something to me…through me. Only I don't know what she wants me to say." She cast a glance his way. "Scott, what if I'm losing my mind?"

"Why? Because the dead are speaking to you? They only do that when they have something important to say. They aren't going to leave you alone until you give them voice." He shrugged, helpless to offer more comfort. "Maybe you should go study up on it?"

Alexis nodded. "I can do that easily enough. The Internet is full of information." She silently wondered if she should do more…like book an appointment with her doctor.

"Internet, now that's bad stuff. How can all that information float around in the air?" The huge man looked around uncertainly, as if words and pictures from the Internet were going to jump out of thin air and attack him. "That can't be good for you."

Alexis snorted. "Listen to you. It's okay for dead people to be speaking inside my head, but it's not okay to send data through cables or fiber optics. Yeah, that makes sense."

"Don't you go being disrespectful of the Sight. It'll get you if you do," he warned.

"Get me how?" This new worry stopped her cold. She rubbed her arms, brushing the first summer rain drops off her bare skin. She always carried rain gear in her car, but didn't bother to go after it. The horizon showed bright blue. This could just be a short squall.

"No way to know. Mostly, it's demanding that you listen – or else." Scott studied her face.

"Like I need more to worry about." She changed the subject. "What do you think about the detective?"

He looked sideways at her. "In what way?"

At his teasing tone her face warmed. "Do you think he's a good cop? You obviously know him, so what's he like?" she asked, exasperated.

"Oh, is that what you mean?" he drawled. He nodded as if he believed her, but his cheeky grin said otherwise. She rolled her eyes at him. He shook his head. "He's a good man. Driven. Stands for the victims and their families, and bulldogs through to see they get justice. Doesn't think much of politics, politicians, or any superior for that matter. Made himself a few enemies because of that. A loner, too, just like you. He doesn't talk much about his past." Scott thought about it for a moment. "Come to think of it, rumors have it he's a bit odd himself."

"Odd how?"

"He gets things done. No one questions him too much, because they like the results."

That could mean anything. Not that it mattered to her. She didn't want to know the detective's methods, or his secrets, for that matter. He meant nothing to her and that was how she wanted to keep it.

"The energy around you two fair crackles. Be a shame to waste it fighting."

"What?" She rounded on him, caught his grin, and smacked him on his shoulder. She held her hand up to stave off any more comments. "Don't even go there. I've got enough problems to deal with, thank you."

"Can't ignore it, though. Almost made me want to offer me van for a couple of hours."

He couldn't go unpunished for that one. She raised her hand and smacked him lightly on his shoulder again.

A great shout of laughter was her reward.

"You damn well better be joking," she muttered.

"About the van? Maybe. About the crackling of energy going on around you two? No way."

Alexis shot him a dirty look. "He pisses me off."

"That's passion, too."

"Not the kind that matters." She definitely needed to change this subject. Once Scott got going on her non-existent love life there'd be no stopping him.

"There's only one kind. How you use it is what matters."

Alexis turned and strode back to the gardens, her face warming in irritation. "Don't hold your breath. It won't happen."

"Never say never, Alexis." Scott's voice floated behind her.

"Like hell," she muttered to herself. "Not in a million years."

***

"Not in a million years, huh?" Kevin didn't know if he was amused or miffed at her offhand rejection. He'd taken a circular path and had ended up close enough to hear their conversation. Standing under a huge spruce tree, he'd stopped to watch Scott and Alexis. They were an odd pair. Yet an obviously strong bond held the two together. Interesting. Bonds like that usually developed over a seriously long time, or through shared hardship. According to his records, Alexis had worked for the city for just under five years. Scott, on the other hand, had been here for close to twenty.