New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (26 page)

“Absolutely not.”

Shocked, Kate turned to Jared. Her normally laid-back boyfriend
looked beyond pissed. Kate guessed she
could kiss those dreams of a detective agency goodbye. As she glanced at Declan, his full lips
were down turned
and he seemed surprised too at Jared’s outburst.

“Jared?” she questioned softly.

His gray eyes met hers, but he addressed Declan. “There is no way I’m le
tting Kate get
herself involved in something so
risky
. Both of you have no idea what could have happened to Melanie. If Kate goes there to help out on the case, she could make herself a target o
f whoever is responsible for Melanie’s
disappearance.”

“I guess it’s only
acceptable
when you drag Kate into a dangerous case and almost get her killed,” Declan replied with venom in his tone.

“Declan…” she hissed.

“What?” He turned to face her. “It’s the truth, isn’t it? He is the one who forced you into the
Preston
case to help find his
girlfriend’s
sister.
” Kate really wished everyone would stop referring to Cori as his girlfriend’s sister. It was beginning to get on her last nerve. Declan was getting himself worked up as he continued to denounce Jared. “
If
Billy Rizzo
had killed you that night, your blood would be on his hands.”

Jared stormed
across the room to face down Declan
.
Jared had a few inches on him but Declan seemed to be the type willing to fight dirty if the need arose.
“You know nothing about me or Kate. And if you think for one second I’m going to let you involve her in something that will hurt her,
you’re certifiable
.”

“
I would never hurt Kate. And we share something that you could never be a part of,” Declan
spat out.

Jared clenched his fist
and looked ready to knock Declan into next week
.
No way in hell was she letting the two of them bl
oody up her mother’s home
.
In an alarmed voice, she called, “
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind!”

The boys got out of each other’s faces and turned to stare at her. She was beginning to recognize their equal expressions of concern for her mental state.
Declan reacted first.
“Huh?

“It’s a quote from Gandhi
. I don’t know—
it was the first thing that popped into my head to get you two to stop fighting
. My translation is that beating each other to pulp won’t solve anything
,
”
she explained.

Declan looked skeptical. “You know quotes from Gandhi?”

“
Yes!” she replied haughtily.

In actuality, there was a TV show about him on the History Channel the weekend she had lost the remote.
Kate
ended up watching it because she was too lazy to get off the couch and change the channel. “Anyway, just cut it out.”

Turning to Jare
d, she looked at him beseechingly
. “I know you’re looking out for me,
but I have to go. What if we have a vision that could save
Melanie’s
life?
”

“I guess my opinion doesn’t matter,”
Jared said flatly.
His text alert sounded and he took his phone out of his pocket. With a frown, he scanned the message before looking back at her. “I have to go.”

He shouldered his way past Declan and headed towards the door. Kate followed at his heels. She clutched his arm as he reached his car. “Jared, please don’t go.”

“I have to get into work. Have a safe trip.” His voice was cold and detached. The electricity
between them from earlier had completely fizzled out.

Tears sprung to her eyes. She willed him to understand. “Jared, please don’t leave like this.”

“Kate, I can’t act like you taking off to another state with that prick
do
es
n’t
bother the hell out of me
,” he grumbled. His expression softened as he noticed her distressed demeanor. “
I know your heart is in the right place and you want to help Melanie.
But you have to think of your own safety too. Calling in an anonymous tip is a lot different than heading to the scene of a police investigation.”

“I don’t know what to say. I see Melanie co
nstantly—
every time I close my eyes. I feel this connection to her and I feel like I owe it to her to do everything in my power to get her back home
,” she said earnestly.

He sighed and grazed his lips against hers. “There doesn’t seem to be anything I can say that will change your mind. Only promise me that you’ll be careful.”

Kate hugged him, but opted
not to notice
his stiff form
.
She had faith that things would work out and they would recapture what had been taken away by Declan’s interruption. “I will be.
I’ll
give you a call when I get into
Chambersburg
.”

Jared nodded and entered his
BMW.
With a short wave, h
e pulled away from the curb. Kate
stood outside for several minutes before sulking back inside. She had almost forgotten Declan was still in the house. With a tense smile, he remarked, “I’m guessing I
didn’t just make a new
fan.”

“You didn’t have to provoke him. That comme
nt about us sharing something special was way out of line,
”
she barked at him. She used the back of her hand to wipe off a few stray tears on her cheeks.

Declan
wrapped his arm around her and gave a gentle
hug
. “Cheer up
. Everything will work out. We’ll save the girl and you’ll get the guy.” The way his eyes bore down on her, she understood that the guy he was talking about was not Jared.

S
he pushed him away
. “I’m going to get changed and grab a few things. We can leave in a few minutes.”

As she made her way upstairs, Kate felt herself drowning in regrets. She didn’t want to leave town while there was tension with Jared. Not to mention, Declan was becoming more aggressive about his clai
m on her. Although a part of her wanted to run back downstairs to tell Declan she wouldn’t go—she couldn’t do that to Melanie. Kate had a strong sense that this trip would lead her to discovering the truth behind Melanie’s disappearance.

“You’re turning into a psycho stalker chick.” Declan
gestured to her phone which Kate
had checked approximately a hundred times since they left
Franklin
for
Chambersburg
. She had sen
t Jared an apology text and
tried his cell twice. She had received radio silence in return. The pragmatic side of her understood he probably just needed time to cool off. However,
her needy side wanted him to call her back this instant and work things out.

“It certainly sounds like he’s been working a lot.” Kate didn’t miss t
he forced casualness in Declan’s
tone.

She glanced over at him as the setting sun partially hid his features in shadow. “Yes, he has. With our crazy schedules, I haven’t been able to see him as much as I wanted to.
”

“Hmm…that’s interesting,” he murmured.

“If you have a point, I suggest you get to it,” she replied.

“Can I speak freely?”

“I’ll allow it
.”

“Well…I’m
surprised
you’re not more concerned
he’s not seeing someone else.” He shrugged at her shocked expression. “I’m not saying for sure that is what’
s going on. B
ut look at it from an outsider’s perspective
for a minute
. He’s working long hours and not answering the phone when you call.
He left his girlfriend not too long ago for another girl, but they
still talk as friends. You have to admit, it
seems suspicious.”

“You need to shut up or I’m getting
out of this car right now,” Kate
hissed.

“Sorry to offend you. You’re my friend and I just don’t want to see you end up being played for a fool
.” Declan
reached across the console and took her hand.
“I know I come across as a big tool at times, but that’
s only because it’s hard for me to confide in anyone
.”

She felt vaguely nauseous. What he had said about Jared couldn’t be true. Could it? She knew Jared talked to Nikki from time to time. Although it irked her that Nikki called him, she
didn’t want to make a big issue out of it
. Jared was that nice of a guy—
it seemed to make sense he would remain on good terms with his exes. Had she put blinders
on
and didn’t see what was right in front of her?

Glancing down at Declan’s hand entwined in hers, she shook her
fingers
free.
It felt dirty to hold his hand while fighting with her boyfriend. Kate couldn’t let Declan
get in her head
and plant fantastical notions
. Her emotions were too raw from her fight with Jared and she may end up seeking solace in the wrong place.

When she talked to Jare
d again, they could work everything out. Declan had made it clear from the beginning he had wanted something more. If she continued to allow him to create a wedge between h
er and Jared, she could lose the best thing that ever happened to her
.

Wordlessly, she studied Declan
as he drove.
As much as she felt turmoil over
his part in the discord with Jared, i
t would be a lie to de
ny that she felt nothing for Declan
. He was the only other psychic she knew and
she was extremely grateful for his help with her gift. Plus, there was the f
act he was easy on the eyes. Kate
couldn’t pretend he wasn’t physically attractive.
The bevy of women to darken his door weren’t showing up for his sparkling personality. He had a dark sensuality that was undeniably alluring. His eyes were warm as he looked at her and she blushed as if he could read her mind.

Clearing
her throat, Kate began,
“Can you tell me more about the future visions?”

The side of his mouth turned up. “What do you want to know?”

“How many have you had? What have they been like?
Did they all come t
rue?” She relentlessly questioned him.

“It hasn’t happened often. Maybe a dozen times,” he answered. He shot an infuriating cocky grin her way. “Not all of the visions have taken place yet. But I have a feeling they will soon.”

Kate
hoped he noticed her eye roll.
“Moving on
...” Kate trailed off. Instead of looking at Declan, she
watched
the trees lining the highway.
“
Why do you think you have them? Have you tried to change the outcome?”

“
You can’t fight
destiny
,” he said and gave her a meaningful look.

“Declan,” she admonished, “what if you were given this ability to try and change the future?”

“Look, I did have a premonition about my uncle having a heart attack,” he said tightly. “I told him to get checked out. His response was to call me a weird little jerk-off and to go get bent. He died of a massive coronary three weeks later.”

“Wow
Declan
. That’s horrible
. I don’t know what to say,” she said softly.

“The truth of it is we will probably never know wh
y we were given these abilities,” he shrugged.
“People have near death experiences
everyday. Why were we
the ones
selected to have visions? And when I see the future, am I supposed to try to fix things?
” he questioned rhetorically with a shake of his head.
“
Or maybe it’s just a big
cosmic joke and I have to
let fate run its course.
”

Kate
prayed
that wasn’t true. It made her especially thankful
she had never experienced a premonition. It terrified her to think
she could see something painful happenin
g to someone she loved and be
powerless to do anything about it. With any luck, she would never develop the
ability to predict the future. Well,
that wasn’t entirely true. A
flash of
Jared saying that he loved her would be most welcomed.