Shattered: A Psychic Visions Novel (40 page)

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “When I realized that I’d been there, that he’d set me up…”

“Rich bitch…”

“Yeah, that’s what he said.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “Now that I know I was there, what he did, it’s like finding I was a whole different person back then. And that he was so much worse,” she cried out. “Why did he do that?”

Trevor crushed her against his chest. “I’m so sorry. Sticks was like that. He didn’t want to have anything to do with rich white people. That’s one of the reasons we were so surprised when he showed up with you. You weren’t his type.”

“Did he set me up right from the start? Plan this from the beginning?” She stared up at him. “Did he pick me as the gullible one?”

He winced. “Honestly, I can’t say.” But he could guess and yeah that would be Sticks all the way. “I’m sorry. He was hurting like the rest of us hurt.”

She shook her head violently. “No. He wasn’t. He loved that fire. Thrived on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if when you do find him you find he’s done this many times since.” She reached up to grab his shirt. “Trevor, you have to understand. He was
fascinated
by that fire.”

“Then we’ll take a closer look at other cases too,” Trevor reassured her.

“But why the teacher?”

Trevor sat back and considered the issue. “I might know why, but I don’t want to say anything for sure.”

She waited, her gaze quiet.

“It was Stones who had the affair with the one teacher. She lost the baby soon after. He leaned his head back, wondering at the dysfunctional people he’d met in that lifetime so long ago. “I think she may have gone after Mr. Niggard as well. Maybe he rebuffed her. Or maybe he suggested they get together and she rebuffed him. Either way something went wrong. Sticks would have done anything she asked.” He shook his head. “
If
he killed him. I have no doubt he set the fire. But that’s not the same thing as murder.”

“No, but we need to get to the bottom of it.”

She snuggled up against his chest, and it was as if he could hear her mind spin. “Now what are you worried about?”

“Do you think he’s the one that planted the blocks there?”

“I don’t know,” he said slowly. “I never felt any of that kind of power off of him. Was it possible? Sure. But why would he?”

“Maybe to stop me from remembering who was involved in setting the fire.”

“That’s about the only thing that does make sense,” he admitted. “But there has to be so much more.”

“Does there? I’ve always found things to be at the very core – simple.”

He shifted his position and let the pieces float around in his head. “Simple is right. It’s always about sex, money and power.”

“And one more,” she whispered. “A huge one.”

He opened his eyes to turn and look at her. “What’s that?”

“Love.”

*

He’d had enough.
When he thought he’d seen Boots’s face in his memories he’d known he’d crossed some kind of bullshit line. Was it his mental state or had these two gotten together and pulled off some kind of stupid magic he didn’t know about?

That possibility pissed him off.

No one beat him. He might not be the best, but he was the meanest and most underhanded in the game. What really got him was he didn’t know what game he was playing. He didn’t play games like this. At least not with opponents that fought back. He wasn’t about the game. He was about playing. Moving the world to do his bidding. Not about getting beaten. Or even challenged. There was a huge difference between a
challenge
to surmount and being challenged. One was fun. The other something to be avoided at all costs.

He loved his life.

He had no plans to change it. There was no fucking way he was going to let that little bitch do it for him.

She was done. Tonight.

He’d make sure of it. That she was married to the weak do-gooder wasn’t something she should be proud of. Losers, both of them.

He didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but he was putting a stop to it now. Like right now.

Who the hell did she thinks she was?

Walk into his memories, would they? Not twice.

Only he could do that kind of walking.

L
ove was everything.
Now that they had an idea of what had happened back then they just needed to figure out what was going on today. The past had jumped into the present. If they didn’t solve this – stop this – there wasn’t going to be a future. “We need to find out if my prints are on record. If anyone did anything to hide my involvement.”

“You weren’t
involved
,” he stressed. “You were set up.”

“I know that. What if my fingerprints from Stefan’s house match up to that crime?” She couldn’t bear to have to deal with this all over again down the road. “The comparison is bound to come up.”

“Even then you’d be questioned but not charged. Besides…” he grinned. “The fingerprints at Stefan’s are energy prints.”

“So bizarre.” Unbelievably so. It showed how much she still needed to learn. “I hate to think so, but I feel like my father might have stepped in and stopped the police from looking at me back then.”

“The only way they would have is if they knew you were there,” he said slowly.

“And why wouldn’t Sticks tell them if he’d gotten away with leaving no evidence of his own.”

“He might have chosen to have done so in another way. And waited to see if the cops ferreted out the truth. When it was deemed an accident…” he stopped and frowned. “Wait…”

“Yeah, I’m on the same train of thought. How could this be an accident if I saw him pour gasoline and light it with a match?” She snorted. “The cops would have figured that out fast enough.” She slumped back. “My father made this all go away. He’s the only one powerful enough in this group of us to have done that. And added to his belief that I was unstable and had to be watched all the time.”

“Why?” Trevor stared at her. “Your prints were never corroborated.”

She closed her eyes and groaned as her intuition flashed to the surface. “I know. Oh dear God, I know.”

He waited. She opened her eyes. “I saw a flash in my mind. I didn’t get it at the time. I didn’t even think about it but what if someone – Stones – or someone else – took pictures of me standing there holding the can in front of the fire. And used it to blackmail my father?”

“His ticket to a better life.” Trevor threw his head back and groaned in dismay. “And I thought he figured he was moving up
into
a rich girl’s family, but instead he was looking to score
off
the rich bitch. Jesus.”

*

He was sorry
for using that insult again. But it was how Sticks had referred to Hannah – no, Candy – when he was with the gang. Trevor hadn’t thought anything of it. They’d all talked up around the gang. It was what they did. Big egos on braggarts.

The information rumbled through his head. “I wonder if your father is planning on dropping any of these bombshells on us at the meeting tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” she whispered. “God I feel like such a fool. I thought I’d pulled one over on my father, and instead I’d been a gullible naïve fool once again in trouble that he had to fix.”

“Shh, take it easy,” he whispered against her hair. “Nothing is easy growing up and neither of us are proud of who we were back then, but it’s what we do with our lives now that matters. We have to do the best we can going forward.”

He believed that and worked every day to make it happen.

But did she?

Her body trembled in his arms, reminding him how much she’d had to adjust to in the last few days.

And how well she’d done.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep again?” he asked, hugging her close, his hands easing up and down her spine. He wasn’t tired but they had a big day tomorrow and they both needed to be rested up.

She shook her head violently. “No, I don’t think so.”

“That nightmare really unnerved you, didn’t it?”

“Yes. More than that, it’s Sticks’s betrayal. He wanted me to take the fall. To ruin my life.”

“Yeah, that was Sticks.”

“Then why were you there?” she cried. “He was a horrible person.”

Trevor was lost for words. How to explain back then that he’d have done anything to fit in. To not be a loser. To have someone like him. His self-esteem had been non-existent. He’d been suicidal at one point.

“Sorry,” she whispered, her hand stroking his chest. “I’m just in shock. It was a horrible awareness, of seeing Sticks’ true character.”

“Likely why the block.”

Her head burrowed deeper against his chest but he heard her low, “Yes, but did he do it?” She frowned. “Or did I,” she said slowly. “So as to avoid facing my – his – actions.”

“Sorry, sweetheart. There is a lot hitting you at once.”

She didn’t answer. Then what could she say? He groaned and tucked her up close. All he could do now was ease her stress and hold her close.

He let his eyes drift closed and relaxed. Surely this would come to a head soon. The meeting at the offices could bring more out in the open tomorrow.

As he lay there, he heard something that chilled him to his soul.

The crackle of flames.

Outside. Jesus.

“Move!” Trevor bolted out of bed and shook her awake. “Now.” When she rolled over to look at him, he pulled her up from the bed. “The house is on fire.”

She bolted up, comprehension lighting the depths of her eyes. Smoke billowed into the room. She coughed and scrambled to her feet.

Stefan,
he screamed.
We need the fire department here now. And the cops. Someone has lit the house on fire.

There wasn’t any discussion. Stefan appeared and disappeared from his mind as Trevor bolted into his clothes and dragged Hannah behind him. He raced out of the room, Hannah’s arm in a tight grip as he pulled her with him. They raced down the stairs and bolted out the kitchen door. In the distance the welcome sounds of sirens were already on their way. He loved this telepathic highway. It was beyond fast.

The neighbors called out to him, “Anyone still inside?”

“No, we’re the only ones,” he called over as the fire engines raced toward them. The trucks arrived at the house at the same time as the neighbors reached them.

Immediately they were all pushed back out of the danger zone as the firemen went to work. From where he stood, he saw the smoke coming from the garage area.

Not the front. Thank God. He’d hate for Kali to lose the house because she’d helped him and Hannah. But he couldn’t see any flames.

Although the amount of smoke made up for it.

The police arrived. They were immediately pushed further back out of the way.

Trevor knew it was a good thing they’d gotten what sleep they could.

There’d be no more shut eye for them tonight.

Still they were safe. That was the only thing that mattered – and now putting a stop to this shit.

Enough was enough.