Missing (The Cass Lehman Series Book 3) (34 page)

Ed and Mum were both staring at me as I read. I sniffed and wiped away the fresh torrent of tears that had bathed my cheeks. I looked at Mum.

‘You were right.’

Mum took my hand and squeezed it. I tried to smile, though the effect was probably more alarming than reassuring.

‘Did she say anything else?’ Mum asked.

‘Yes. She told me to talk to you about my talent.’

Mum shook her head, confused. ‘Your talent? We talk about that all the time …’

‘No, this is different. I was talking to her about it just before she died. I think it’s gone.’

‘What do you mean gone?’

‘I mean it’s not working anymore. I’ve been in places where I should have had visions but I haven’t.’

‘Such as?’

‘The hospital, the ambulance, Mrs Jacobs’ house of horrors.’

‘I still think maybe it’s just that no one had died in those places,’ Ed said.

‘I might believe that no one had died in the ambulance, or that I got lucky in the hospital, but Mrs Jacobs’ house? We know she killed lots of people.’

‘Nine, ten if you count her husband. I still can’t believe she kept him trussed up like a turkey in the back of the freezer for all those years. I think poor Jonathan was just her patsy,’ Ed said.

‘Ten people and I didn’t get one vision.’

‘But your talent only works when they died violently. She said she was drugging them. They just went to sleep,’ Ed said.

‘Ed has a point.’ Mum looked at us closely. ‘But there is another possibility. Tell me, what was Gran’s reaction when you told her?’

‘She took my hands and smiled and told me to enjoy it,’ I said.

Mum threw her head back and laughed. The sound was so unexpected and so shocking I didn’t know how to react. My mouth fell open. I looked at Ed. His expression clearly said he thought Mum had lost the plot.

‘Cass, my love, I don’t think there’s any mystery at all,’ she said.

‘There’s not?’

‘No. There’s one small fact about our gifts that Gran and I probably never told you.’

‘What’s that?’

‘They go into hiding when we’re expecting.’

‘Expecting?’ The word tumbled from my mouth before my brain had processed it. Realisation hit me a few seconds later. I stared at Mum. She laughed again.

‘Congratulations! You and Ed will make wonderful parents.’

I turned and looked at Ed. His eyebrows were so far up his forehead they were threatening to join his hairline. He looked at me, then Mum, and then without warning he exploded out of his chair with a loud whoop that sent Shadow scampering and made me jump in my seat. He grabbed me and tugged me up out of my chair, wrapped me in his arms and hugged me so hard he forced the air out of my lungs with a whoosh.

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EPILOGUE

Cass rolled over and peered at the glowing numbers on her bedside clock. Her eyes widened in surprise. It was nearly 7am. She’d slept for ten hours straight. A rush of anxiety, coupled with the agony of rock hard breasts propelled her out of the bed. Ed mumbled something in his sleep then turned over and settled again.

She slipped her feet into her slippers and padded across the hallway into the closest room. Daylight was pushing its way around the outline of the blind, casting the room into a half-light she could easily see by. She crossed over to the wooden cot in the middle of the room and peered into it. Ella lay there, half uncovered, eyes wide open, peering up at her. In her mouth was a bright pink dummy, wiggling up and down as she gave it a work out.

‘Hello chicken,’ Cass crooned. ‘Are you hungry? Who gave you that dummy? Was it Nanna? She’s very naughty! She knows I don’t want you to have it.’

She picked up the baby and settled down into the rocking chair by the bed to give her a feed. She plucked the dummy out of the baby’s mouth and put it on a small side table.

Ed found them like that half an hour later.

‘Did she sleep through last night?’ he said, yawning.

‘I think she did. I came in and she was awake but not crying. She had her dummy.’

‘Maybe you should rethink the whole no-dummy thing.’

‘No, I don’t like them.’

‘That’s not what your mum tells me.’

‘And that’s exactly why I don’t want Ella to rely on one. I don’t want to go through what my mum went through with me. Mum must have given it to her during the night. Maybe she was fussing and Mum heard her. I’ll have to speak to her about it later.’

Cass lifted Ella up and handed her to Ed while she tucked herself back in. Ed stood there with the tiny baby over his shoulder, rubbing her back to bring up any wind. Cass felt a rush of affection for them both. She loved seeing Ed hold Ella, her tiny form clinging to his broad chest did funny things to her midsection.

‘You look very sexy with a baby on your shoulder,’ she said.

‘That’s just your hormones talking,’ he chuckled.

‘Hormones or not, why don’t you put her back in her cot for a little while now she’s fed and winded,’ Cass said, standing up and wrapping her arms around the two of them.

‘Sounds like a good offer to me,’ Ed said.

Cass let him go and he lowered Ella into the cot before turning back.

‘Do you think we should do this in front of her?’ he said.

‘I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know what ‘this’ is,’ Cass said, tipping her head up and grazing her lips against his.

‘Have I told you how much I love your new curves,’ Ed murmured.

‘My big boobs, you mean,’ Cass said wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down.

Cass closed her eyes and was drowning in the moment when Ed suddenly went rigid and pulled his head back.

‘What?’ Cass said. She looked up into his face. His eyes were wide with shock.

‘I think you should turn around.’

Cass dropped her arms and spun around. Her mouth dropped open.

‘Oh my God,’ she said.

‘Yep,’ Ed said. ‘I think we know what her gift is going to be.’

‘But she’s too young for her gift to be working yet.’

‘Apparently not.’

They stood there, staring. Floating through the air was the pink dummy, making its way slowly and slightly haphazardly from the side table to the baby waiting in the cot. After another minute it reached its destination. Ella opened her mouth and the dummy settled into place, resuming its rhythmic jiggling.

‘What’s that called?’ Ed said.

‘Telekinesis I think. I don’t think anyone in our family has ever had that before. Do you realise what this means?’ Cass said.

‘I don’t know what you think it means, but I think the whole “no you can’t have that” thing is going to be very interesting around here.’

A sound behind them broke into their thoughts.

‘Morning, how are we all this morning?’ Anita walked over and beamed at her granddaughter. ‘Hello beautiful’.

Anita turned and smiled at her daughter. ‘I see you changed your mind about the dummy, Cass.’

‘Mum, we need to talk.’

‘About the dummy thing? I told you, it’s up to you what you want to do but she looks so happy with it in her mouth!’

Ed looked from one of them to the other. ‘I think I’d better go and put the kettle on.’

If you enjoyed

Missing

Look out for more books
in the Cass Lehman Series
beginning with
Hindsight
.

For more information, please visit:

www.PanteraPress.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Where to start is always the question when I sit down to write this part of the book. There are so many people to thank. My family, as always, were endlessly patient and encouraging when I descended into the various moods that I’m sure grip most writers during the storytelling process. These moods include antisocial obsession during the creative stage, cranky frustration at the editing stage and euphoria coupled with an inability to talk about anything else at any and every stage.

I’m sure it’s not an easy thing to live with a writer. So thank you to my husband Peter for your patience, love and support, and for putting up with all the moods listed above and more. I’d also like to thank my Dad, Rod, who taught me to be determined, persistent and to work hard at the things that are important to me.

Love and kisses to my children, Emma and Liam - a cuddle from you makes everything better. In our family of creative women, Emma is the next in line and early signs point to her taking after her beautiful Grandma, Elizabeth.

Mum, you’re in my thoughts every day.

Thank you also to my sister-in-law Marlene, who is never short of an idea to prod me along, and my brother-in-law Allan, who mercilessly promotes my books to all his students. My niece
Kirsty also inspires me with her enthusiasm. She’s aiming to be the next writer in the family.

My friends have also been there for me, cheering and celebrating as I’ve passed each milestone along the way to finishing this book. Thank you, you know who you are. Thanks also to my friends at SA Crime Writers for your encouragement and feedback, and the current and former police officers who patiently answered my questions.

Now to the team at Pantera Press. It has been a big year for them, with some exciting changes in the team and with their new distribution partner, Bloomsbury. Many, many thanks to Ali, John and Martin Green. Your support and encouragement is invaluable and I thank my lucky stars that the fates brought us together. Thank you also to Susan Hando who promotes my work, Lucy Bell and James Read, the incredibly patient editorial team, Desanka Vukelich, who has the best eye in the business for typos, Graeme Jones for his clever typesetting and Luke Causby at Blue Cork for yet another brilliant cover design.

And last but not least, thanks to Cass, Ed, Phil, Dave, Gwen, Anita, Crackers and Sorenson for filling my waking (and non-waking) thoughts for the last five years. You’re like family to me and it’s with sadness that I say goodbye for now (but it’s time I started torturing a new group of characters).

With that in mind, I’ll finish with a quote that’s been attributed to the amazing Dr Seuss…

‘Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.’ Melanie Casey

MELANIE CASEY

Melanie Casey was born and lives in South Australia with her two young children and her husband.

After studying English Literature and Classical Studies, Melanie shifted to Law, and now works in government.

A chance meeting with a highschool English teacher in the supermarket made Melanie realise that she should be doing what she’d always loved, writing! Another period of study, this time at the Professional Writing School of Adelaide’s College of the Arts ensued, helping Melanie to acquire the skills she needed to put her plans into action.

Melanie Casey is author of
Hindsight, Craven
and
Missing
. All three are crime novels featuring reluctant psychic Cass Lehman and cynical Detective Ed Dyson.