New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (28 page)

Pushing aside some
papers on the coffee table, Delaney
held out a photograph. Declan took it from her. “This is a picture of CJ taken about two months before my sister broke up with him. If you can’t get the information you need from her
, maybe he could shed some light on what happened to Melanie.”

Melanie sat next to a lean boy with chestnut hair on the very couch she sat on. His arm was slung haphazardly around her shoulders and Melanie had her signature megawatt smile for the camera. His coloring was light and a smattering of freckles dotted his nose. His long legs stretched out in front of him, hinting at his height. The boy looked innocent e
nough, but that didn’t count for much
. She’s seen enough
true crime shows
to know that the quiet and nice boys could easily turn out to be the ones hacking up people in their basement.

Kate took a mental inventory of the visions she had of Melanie over the course of the week. The more she thought about it, the more Kate considered the possibility that
Delane
y may be on to something. In Melanie’s
memories, it was as if CJ never existed. Even boys she had dated in middle school had walk on parts in Melanie’s recollections. Why would a year and a half relationship not even warrant a mention?

From Delaney’s description, Melanie and CJ’s relationship sounded tumultuous. Maybe the reason Melanie had never thought about the boy was because it wasn’t a happy time in her life. If Melanie was only remembering the best times of her life, perhaps CJ didn’t warrant a mention.
Another prospect
that crossed her mind was Melanie running away to escape CJ’s abuse.

Delaney picked up a piece of printer paper and pas
sed it to them. “This is taken off of
Brad Foster’s Facebook page. He goes to the gym where Melanie works and has been relentlessly hitting on her. If CJ doesn’t have anything to do with it, then I thought he may be another possibility.”

The man in the photo was short and muscular. He was wearing a tank top and s
pandex gym shorts. Kate loathed
that style of shorts and didn’t understand why anyone would possibly think they look good. Between his receding hairline and leathery tan skin, it was hard to identify his age. In any other situation, it would be comical to imagine this guy, most likely having a mid-life crisis, trying to score a date with the pretty gym instructor.

“What do you know about him?” Declan inquired
after they both had time to study the picture
.

Delaney sighed. “Not much. I’ve tried to get in touch with him and he consistently ignores me. I’ve sent several emails and called him twice since Melanie’s disappearance. He hasn’t responded in anyway. Melanie’s co
workers at the gym also tell me
he has stopped going since she went missing.”

“Sounds
shifty
,” Kate remarked as she nervously tapped her foot.
Brad was another unfamiliar face that Kate didn’t recall from Melanie’s visions. I
f he had a crush on Melanie, his behavior was certainly questionable. Why wouldn’t he cooperate
and do everything in his
power to assist in finding her?

“I though
t
so too. Unfortunately, refusing to talk to the bereaved sister of your missing fitness instructor isn’t a crime,” Delaney replied with her eyes downcast. “I hate to falsely accuse anyone, but I will do whatever it takes to get Melanie back home.”

“Can we keep these
?” Declan held up the photo
s
of Brad and CJ
.

Delaney nodded and seemed to make a conscious effort to hold back her tears
.
Her stra
nge bond with Melanie filled Kate
with a need to comfort the girl.
K
ate reached over and gripped Delaney’s
forearm. “We’re going to find your sister, no matter how long it takes.”

“Thank you,” she sobbed. “Do you need a place to stay for the night? I know it’s late and you have such a long drive ahead of you. You’re welcome to stay here
…
”

Declan interrupted her.
“No, we’ll be fine
—
I already booked a hotel room
.” Declan was the first to get to his feet.
“
Thanks for getting me the numbers for
Melanie’s friends and coworkers
earlier
.
I set up meetings with a few of them for tomorrow.
CJ even agreed to grab a coffee in the morning to talk.
We’
ll
see if anyone
could be hiding
something,” Declan said.

Kate almost swallowed her tongue. She knew that Declan purposely dropped this bombshell in front of Delaney. He expected her to not throw a conniption in front of the grieving
sister. She kept her mouth shut—
for the time-being. However, it would be a cold day in hell if he thought they were spending the night together in a hotel room.

Delaney gave K
ate a tight hug at the door. Kate
was
so surprised by the gesture and
it took her a minute to respond. She wrapped her arms around the girl and gave a reassuring squeeze.
When they moved apart, a
slight
smile appeared on Delaney’s face.

“It’s inc
redible, what you and Declan do,” Delaney said sincerely.
“
Your visions have been the only thing giving me hope that my sister will be back home soon and this nightmare will be over.”

“We’ll call you as
soon as we know something,” Kate
promised.
Delaney hugged Declan as well before going back into the apartment.

Kate
waited until Delaney closed the door
and she heard her retreating footsteps
before turning on Declan. “What the hell is going on?”

“What do you mean?” The innocent tone in his voice seemed to mock her.

She spoke through clenched teeth. “You booked a hotel room? And apparently we’re staying overnight to meet with Melanie’s friends tomorrow
including one of Delaney’s suspects
. When did you plan on making me aware of any of this?”

“Settle
down,” Declan commanded in a low rumble.
“
Before your boyfriend comes after me with his gun, let me start off by sayin
g I booked two hotel rooms.” Kate followed him as he took long strides through the hallways of
the apartment building. “As far as staying over, I didn’t realize it was a big deal. We’re going to make a lot of money when we find Melanie. In the meantime,
we have to put in as much t
ime as possible to find out
what could’ve happened to her.”

“This isn’t a
bout the freaking money, Declan,” Kate swore under her breath. “I told you from the beginning that I only want to do this to help people. Melanie is important to me and she needs our help.”

“You’re getting too
attached
, Kate,” Declan admonished.
“
Think of being psychic like any other job. You help the people you come in contact with and then you
move on
.
You get on with your life—regardless of the outcome
. Otherwise you’re going to make yourself crazy.”

“Don’t tell me how to f
eel,
”
Kate countered.

“I’m right Kate
and you know it
. What if you were a doctor? Would you cry each time you had to give someone a bad diagnosis? Go to the funeral for every patient who died?
” he demanded
.

Staggering down the front steps of the apartment building, she whirled on him. “I’m not in the moo
d for a lecture. You should’ve
let me in on your plans before we left
.
Now I have to make a very awkward call to both my mom and my boyfriend.”

Her fury had the effect of negating his self-righteous attitude. Using a gentler tone, he begged,
“
Kate, don’t be mad. It’s true
, I should have let you know, but I figured you
’d
realized we may end up staying over.
” When she didn’t answer, Declan suggested,
“
Why don’t we check out the town before we head back to the hotel and try to have a vision of CJ
and Brad
?”

Kate crossed her arms across her chest and used her hands to rub at her arms. She felt a chill despite the mild temperature.
“I’m really tired. It was a long drive
and the meeting with Delaney completely drained me. Can you just take me to the hotel?”

“Sure, we can work there and see if we’ll be able to get a clue about what kind o
f people
we’re dealing with,” Declan remarked as they entered the Hummer.
“
Delaney seemed
pretty sure that CJ isn’t the grieving boyfriend he’s pretending to be
. Brad sounds like he can’t take a hint when a girl’s not interested
.” He gunned the engine and peeled out of the parking lot.

Kate shook her head. “
Declan, I just want to be alone for a little while.”

She picked up her phone and dialed Jared
without waiting for Declan’s rebuttal
. Her heart sank as his phone went directly to voicemail. “Hi, it’s me. It turns out I’ll be staying her
e
for the night.” She paused and shot a deadly look at Declan before continuing. “I really hope you’re not purposely ignoring my calls. Please call me so we can talk.
”

After she hung up, Kate c
alled her mom. Her mom had her on the phone for the entire drive
to the hotel
and badgered her with a string of queries. The thought of Kate even in the same hotel as Declan made her mother threaten to text her with all the local
addresses to
pharmacies that ca
rried emergency contraception. Declan laughed heartily as he overheard her reassure her mom that the only way her mouth was going anywhere near Declan’s was if he collapsed and required CPR. Even then it was doubtful
, she thought growing
irritated
all over again at
his
deception
.

After checking in
at the hotel, Declan walked Kate
to the door of her room.
He lingered for a minute as if he was waiting for an invitation. She stared at him coldly.

“I’m right next door if you have a vision and need me.” He rested his hand against the door frame and gave her a lazy grin. “Or if
you have any other needs you’d like me to help you out with.”

“Unless I feel the need to punch someone in the face, you probably won’t be hearing from me,” she retorted.

He moved to the adjacent door and st
uck the key card in. Sending Kate
a wink, he then went inside. She entered her hotel room and closed the heavy door behind her. She leaned against it and closed her eyes.
Her head felt heavy
and
she wondered how a great day had
turned to complete shit
so quickly. As if
Jared wasn’t furious enough about her going to
Chambersburg
, he would freak out—with good reason—
if he knew she was meeting with possible kidnapping suspects the next day.
Why didn’t she just have
the word
“
d
umbass
”
tattooed to her forehead?

Kate replayed the conversations with Declan in her head
. Was he right about her
becoming too emotional over this
case?
Was this the reason she was ignoring all of the warning bells going off in her head? Kate hadn’t been aware of the danger while investigating Cori’s abduction. Now that she understood the risks, it was foolish of her to make her presence known to men who could be involved in a violent crime.
Kate
had to wonder if Jared was correct
in telling her she shouldn’t come to this town.

In one
way or another,
Kate
personally invested herself in the lives of each person she had a vision of.
She had to admit Melanie
was more than just a client to her. In her head, they had an unreciprocated friendship.
Declan had warned her about getting too close and she had repeatedly ignored him.

The hotel bed
was
piled with fluffy blankets and pillows
looking way too
inviting
to Kate
. She collapsed onto the bed and stared
at the plaster on th
e ceiling. Her mind and body were both
exhausted. The only thing she wanted was to escape into sleep for a few short hours.
Not dream of Melanie, Max, Cori or anyone else. For once, she would love to just escape into her own dreams.