New Revelations: Second Sight Book Two (6 page)

“So, what do you want?”

“Huh?”

“Well, now that you
believe
I’m a real psychic, what do you want from me? I’m assuming you didn’t travel
almost
an ho
ur away simply for my autograph…
” Declan was making her nervous and her usual defense when placed in uncomfortable situations was to let Snarky Kate come out to play.

“Well, aren’t you curious
about meeting other people like us
? Have you talked to other psychics?
Want to s
wap stories?”

“No actually. I kind of assumed I was one of a kind.
That’s what you want from me—t
o swap stories?” She knew the disbelief rang through her tone. “Not to mention, you checked me out, but how do I even know you’re
a legitimate psychic
? You could be an undercove
r reporter trying to prove
I’m a fake.”

Declan
nodded in assent. “True, I see your point. I just thought we could maybe help each other. It’s hard to come by another psychic and I’m curious to see what it’s been like for you.”

Mulling over his words, she suddenly felt a sliver of hope. What if Declan
was legit and she was able to use his visions
to
locate
Max? She wasn’t having any luck, but maybe he could tap into the boy’s mind.
He hadn’t elaborated on his own second sight, but if he found a wa
y to connect with Max before Kate
did, the boy could be back home with his parents in no time.

He
appeared to take
her silence as further dissention and took a business card and pen out of his jeans pocket.
He scribbled down his phone number.
“Look, I know this is a lot to take in. Why don’t you go home and check me out online?
” Declan suggested.
“
I’ve been involved in a lot
of cases over the years, so you
’ll see
I’m not trying to pull one over on you. When
you’re ready to talk again—
give me a call.
”
 

As Declan handed her the card, Kate
glance
d over
it
before shooting him a
tentative
look
. “What is it?” he questioned noticing her expression.

Kate
gestured to the front of the card which was a sub shop rewards car
d. “You have nine hoagie stamps—
that’s a big accomplishment. You only have one
more until you get a free sandwich
, you’re just gonna hand this over to me?”

Declan chuckled. “Well, you’ll just
have to give
it back to me when I see you again
.”
He kneeled down and picked his phone off the ground. After examining it and seemingly satisfied it wasn’t broken from the fall, he placed it in his pocket.

“You seem awfully confident that you’ll hear from me?”
She placed a hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side.

His
conceit
was irritating. “Well, once you get past all of my fan club websites,
you’ll realize I’m the answer to all of your problems
.”

Rolling h
er eyes, Kate
adjusted her purse
.
It was time for her to
leave and gather her thoughts.
“We’ll see about that. I may just end up keeping the card and treating myself to a free hoagie on your behalf.”

Declan smiled.
“Can I walk you to your car?”

“No thanks, if i
t’s all the same to you,” she said and tu
rned her body away from him. Kate
warned him, “And don’t ever follow me again.
I won’t hesitate the next time to use the mace.”

“Nice to meet you too, Kate,” he said with
an arrogant laugh. Kate
hoped this piece of work wouldn’t be the only one a
ble to help her gain control over her second sight. Something about Declan
seemed off and she didn’t buy his story that he sought her out only to connect with another psychic.

Turning on her heels, she spun around and headed away from Declan’s unsettling presence. Although she was trying to move forward after everything she had been through, her trust issues were still firmly ingrained into her persona. She had a very small circle of friends and family whom she let down her guard with.
Even Jared—
probably the most hone
st and open person she ever met—
had been on the receiving end of her mistrust in the weeks following their fateful
first
meeting.

Entering her car, she
pivoted
to see Declan watching her from the lot’s edge with a bemused
look
on his face. Something in his expression made her feel exposed and she had to restrain herself from las
hing out and giving him the finger
. Instead, Kate nodded curtly in his direction before pulling her car
out of the parking lot.

Who was this kid? The anticipation was killing her and she couldn’t wait to go home and t
ry to
uncover
as much about his background
as possible. Her emotions swirled as she raced through the streets. Part of her was
optimistic
that Declan was te
lling the truth and
they would
work
together to unearth Max’s location
. Howe
ver, her skeptical side couldn’t be silenced. It questioned Declan’s true motivations,
but she couldn’t fig
ure out what his angle
might
be. With any luck, investigating him as thoroughly would help her avoid opening up to someone who turned out to be bad news.

After she sifted through articl
e after article on Declan Brayde
n, Kate leaned b
ack
into
her desk chair and exhaled. With an enormous
backlo
g of missing persons cases
he’d been consulted on
, it was hard not to believe the psychic’s
legitimacy.
In newspaper interviews, he provided the reporters with his back story.
F
our years ago when Declan was eighteen, he’d been in a near fatal ski accident while vacationing in
Vermont
. Like Kate, he’d been in a coma before awaking with psychic p
owers. However, unlike Kate,
he craved the spotlight. Besides
a massive number of
television and radio appearances
over the years, there were
rumors of a potential six figure book deal headed his way.

Pi
cking up her phone, she
dialed Julie’s number. Julie answered on the first ring. “You’re not freaking out over what to wear tonight, are you?” she questioned in lieu of a greeting.

“No, I’ve been sidelined by a run-in with that scruffy guy I to
ld you about before
. Turns out that he’s also psychically blessed,” Kate explained as
she simultaneously stalked his Facebook page.

“Get out!” Julie squealed. Gaining her com
posure, she continued, “I mean…
this could be a good thing
, right?
”

“I guess so. He was sort of sketchy, but it probably would be good to know another psychic,” Kate replied.

“How was he sketchy? How did he intro
duce himself?”
Julie
asked
in a rush.

As Kate relayed
the story
, she
couldn’t help but faux gag
as she
concurrently
read the comments on Declan’s Facebook page. His cocksureness shone through by how self-congratulatory he was after helping others out (Who likes their own status updates?). People lavished praise on him and he ate it up.

Kate wondered
what Jared would make of him
.
She guessed he would have the same susp
icions and wonder why Declan would go to such lengths
to seek her out.
She may have to play do
wn the part about Declan following her around town
. Jared could end up insisting she take out a restraining order against him
and Kate wouldn’t get the chance to a
sk the psychic for assistance in
finding Max
.

After
Kate revealed his name, Julie logged on her computer to
check him out too.
A minute later, her friend’s
cackle erupted through the phone line.
“Holy shit! I think I need to tap into some psychic energy. Especially if being psychic involves attracting every hot guy in a fifty mile radius.
”

Kate faked a yawn.
“So not my type. Not to mention, I have Jared,” Kate subtlety reminded her.

Julie broke out into a fit of giggles. “Looking over his pictures, he does come off as a tool. When your
Facebook
profile is public, you just
don’t
put that many pictures of yourself
shirtless
at the beach. I would have loved to been there when you almost pepper sprayed him. It probably
shocked the hell out of him since he seems used to girls throwing themselves at him.”

Kate peered
at more pictures of Declan hamming it up for the camera with his arms wrapped around a different girl in almost every one. Her heart sank over the thought that this could be the only one who could help her.
On the other hand, sh
e didn’t want to ru
sh to judgment. Maybe deep down inside—
beneath t
he spray tan and bleached teeth—
was a psychic with a heart of gold who would do anything to help those who were lost
.

Julie
broke into her thoughts. “N
ot to
abruptly
change the subject, but I’m so excited for dinner tonight! I bet the guys are going to get on like a house on fire.”

More likely Gage would try to embarrass her and she’d threaten to set him on fire, but Kate decided to not burst Julie’s optimistic bubble. Instead she tried to change the subject. “What a strange expression, don’t you think? Who really wants to get on like a house on fire?”

“You sound nervous. Don’t be! We’re going to have so much fun!
” Julie enthu
sed and Kate could picture her friend
bouncing up and down with excitement. When Kate didn’t reply, Julie continued in a much more subdued tone, “
Plus, I made Gage
pledge on his Boy Scout
’
s honor that he’d be
on his best behavior. He’s only joking, you know? He
tortures you because you make yourself an easy target
.”

“You’re right,” Kate conceded.
“
I have to grow up if I’m going to be in a mature adult relationship with an older guy. I’ll try to refrain from throwing food if he promises to not make any fart jokes.”

“Not to cut
you off, but it’s getting late.
Time to get beautiful. We’l
l see you at the restaurant at seven
.
”
Kate hung up the phone
still distracted
.

After one last look at her
computer
screen
, she decided to file Declan for later. Instead of hashing things out with Jared tonight, she planned to have a fun night that did not
feature
obsessing over annoying psychics and missing kids.

***

When Kate
walked d
own the stairs hours later to greet
Jared, she couldn’t help, but take a moment to gawk at him. Her body never reacted to anyone the way it did to his. Instantly
,
her mouth became dry and butterflies exploded in her stomach.
Did he have to look that irresistible
after probably only ten minutes of preparation?
His ebony hair was still damp from the shower and his polo shirt looked new
without a single wrinkle in sight
. A small amount of stubble had grown on his chin and she wondered how it would feel later
against her mouth
when he kissed her.
T
wo hours of primping
guaranteed he’d feel a little breathless at the sight of her
as well
, she
thought taking
another minute to stare undetected at him
.