The Bridge (Para-Earth Series) (33 page)

             
Alex was about to say something, but Roy put a big hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard. “And if you try to bullshit me, I’ll run your ass in for interfering with a police investigation, you got that!  And don’t give me that, I don’t know what you’re talking about look.  I found you at the bridge the night Wells died, not a mile away.  You supposedly went to help a mystery girl that no one’s found.  And you have no alibi for your whereabouts the night those teenagers drowned either…”

             
“Now just a minute…” Ronnie began.

             
Roy held up a hand, “Easy Rookie, this is common knowledge.  Even the D. A.’s office knows.  And the longer this investigation goes on, they may decide to start putting together a pretty good case against him.  Now, I don’t believe for a minute you’ve done anything Alex.  But we have to start coming up with eyewitnesses to prove it.”

             
“The D. A.’s in on this now?  Shit,” Ronnie muttered under her breath. 

             
“Exactly,” Roy nodded and turned back to Alex, “Now I’m going to ask you, one more time.  What have you found and how did you do it?”

             
“You wouldn’t believe me if told,” the young man replied honestly.

             
“Try me.”

             
Alex opened his mouth, stopped and shook his head, “I can’t…”

             
“You’re not leaving me with a lot of options,” Roy sighed and began fingering his handcuffs. 

             
That’s when Ronnie burst out, “He’s a psychic!”

             
The sounds of the men working down the hallway suddenly stopped.  Meanwhile, her boss/former partner stared at her. “What?”

             
“Alex is a psychic.  He can sense emotions, pick up on strong impressions from the past, and he sometimes has visions.”

             
The Chief of New Swindon’s Police Deparment looked at Alex and then back to his subordinate. 

             
“He hasn’t been doing any investigating, Roy; he IS psychic,” she insisted, “I’ve seen it.  I’ve felt it.  He’s the real thing.”

             
Roy shook his head and said quietly, “I can’t believe in that kind of thing, Veronica.” 

             
Alex knew it was rare for him to call his second-in-command by her first name like that.  It only happened when he was opening up to her on a personal level. 

             
Now Roy turned back to him and said stiffly, “Tomorrow morning, my office.  Show up and bring the truth and any evidence you have with you.  Now get out of here.”

             
Before Alex could say anything, Ronnie took him by the arm.  “Do as he says.  I’ll be home later.  We’ll talk then.”

             
Reluctantly he nodded and headed down the hidden stairwell.  All the while, he was painfully aware of the looks he was being given by the officers and firemen as he left.  They had all heard.

             
The question now was what could he do about it?  There was only one answer he could come up with.  As soon as he got outside, he made straight for his vehicle.   Unfortunately, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts, that he missed a rare site.

             
A white wolf was standing near one of the patrol cars watching him.  It even gave a little whine of concern as he got into his car and drove away.

              Back in Rachel’s room, a heated discussion was taking place.

             
“I can’t believe in that kind of thing, Ronnie.  You don’t see anyone holding classes about using psychics at the academy do you?” her old partner was saying.

             
“No, but I’ve met a few at law enforcement seminars,” she told him quietly. “And I even got to see one in action.  Do you remember Tom Parker?”

             
Roy nodded.  “Yeah, you were teamed up with him after I left the city to come here.   Didn’t he bring in a psychic to help try and find some businessman about ten years ago?  I heard she led him to a spot and came up empty.”

             
“It wasn’t empty twenty-four hours later.  The body was found in that exact spot,” Ronnie told him. 

             
“What?” he asked in disbelief. “How do you know that?”

             
“I was with him at the time,” she replied and proceeded to tell him all that she had witnessed firsthand. 

             
The victim’s car had been found abandoned in a train station parking lot. Unfortunately, the vehicle had been cleaned by the person or persons responsible for the man’s disappearance.  So there was very little to go on.  That was when Karen was called in.  She had been a friend of a friend who knew about Tom’s involvement with the case.  She was allowed to sit in the vehicle for several minutes with her eyes closed.  When she opened them again she told them of the things she’d seen.  Advertising signs, a gas station, a vegetable stand, a country road with a white railed fence running the length of it, and finally a dying tree near a body of water.

             
At first Tom and his new partner were disappointed.  Then one of the other officers assisting them said he had a vague idea where the road and tree might be. 

             
“So Tom, Karen, two officers and I got into a vehicle and headed out.  Tom had a list of the objects the woman had mentioned in her vision and was slowly ticking them off as we went.  This let us know when we were on the wrong road and needed to try a different route.  It took most of the afternoon, but we finally they found a road that looked promising.  The light was beginning to fade when we came across a large lake with a dying tree next to it.  As you know, we got out and found nothing.”  Ronnie paused a moment and took a deep breath.  She wasn’t sure how her old partner was going to take this next part of the story.

             
“But, twenty-four hours later, a patrol car passing that same spot saw a vehicle parked near the tree.  The officer saw two figures dumping a body into the water.  He called for backup and nailed them.  Tom and I were part of the backup.”

             
“Dear God,” Roy murmured. 

             
“Now, I asked Karen about this afterwards and she told me that one problem with visions was that they were disjointed and in no particular order.  And that included time-frame.”

             
Now her boss was shaking his head. “Unbelievable.  Was any of this in the report?”

             
She nodded, “I’ve got a copy of it back at the station.  Tom wanted me to have it so he had someone who could tell him it really happened.”

             
“I want to see it when we get back,” Roy told her and looked down the hallway.

             
Following his gaze, Ronnie saw the forensics team had just arrived and realized it was probably a good idea not to get in their way. “Let’s get back to the station,” she said finally, “I’ll drive.”

             
“Thanks,” replied her boss absently.  Obviously he needed time to digest the story he’d just heard.  As far as she was concerned if it helped him to believe her about Alex being psychic, then it was worth it.  

Lives interrupted

              Alex headed straight to JT’s after leaving Graham Manor.  He had just finished making a call to the Mathesons to ask for their help, which they assured him would be on the way within the hour. 

             
As he put the phone away, Jill placed a drink in front of him saying, “One virgin Cuba Libre.  Now go easy on those, you don’t have a designated driver.”

             
He gave her a look and said, “What I need right now is a designated alibi.”

             
“Now why would you need one of those?” said a familiar voice, at his elbow.  Turning he saw the missing groundskeeper eyeing him curiously.

             
“JASON!” he exclaimed and with delight, “I’m not dreaming again, am I?”

             
“If you’re dreaming about him, I may have to have a word with your girlfriend,” teased Jill, handing a beer to the older man. “You haven’t been around lately, Jason.  Is everything all right?” she asked.

             
“I was called away,” the old Seneca replied cryptically.  Then he turned to Alex, “And I do not have much time.  What has happened that you need an alibi?”

             
Without hesitating Alex quickly told him everything that had happened since they parted on the bridge.  Jason’s expression became very grave as he listened.  Finally he said, “I have to go back to what’s left of my home first.  Then I’ll get in touch with Chief Peterson and tell them what I can.  While I didn’t see all that transpired, I saw enough to help remove the suspicions from you.”

             
“What did you see?” Alex asked, as his friend stood up.

             
“I saw you with the White Lady.”

             
Alex shook his head, “She wasn’t a ghost, Jason.  That girl was real.  I put my jacket around her.”

             
Jill chimed in, “I’ve read stories where people have picked up a girl hitchhiking.  They put her in their car, put a blanket around her, and give her a cup of coffee.  Then they’d drive to the address she gave them and find she’s disappeared from their backseat.  And when they go to the door to ask about her, they’re told the girl died like thirty years ago.  It seems her spirit keeps trying to come home.”

             
“But this girl was wearing modern clothing.  The White Lady died in the 1700’s,” Alex pointed out.

             
The girl shrugged and wandered off to serve another customer.

             
He turned back to Jason, “In fact I was taking her to your place when…”

             
“You heard her baby’s cry,” the man interjected. “The child she seeks but cannot reach.  Something keeps them apart.  And it will continue to do so, until another brings them together.”

             
“The child of the White Lady, you mean.”

             
“Exactly,” Jason nodded and headed out the door.

             
It took Alex a moment to follow.  “Hey wait, I wanted to ask you about…” his voice trailed off as he reached the sidewalk.  The old Seneca was nowhere in sight.

              Back at the station, Veronica was sitting behind her desk while Roy sat across from her reading the report they had discussed earlier.  Every so often he would shake his head or mutter under his breath.  She didn’t say anything, for fear of losing whatever ground she might be gaining with her boss.  He was a skeptic, she knew.  But if she could manage to get him to at least consider the possibility, it might make things easier.

             
At that moment the door to her office opened and Ryan stepped in.  “Sorry Sarge, but I heard the Chief was in here with you.”

             
“Has something happened?” asked Roy.

             
The young man shook his head, “I was just wondering if anyone got a chance to follow up on what we talked about yesterday?”

             
Ronnie shot a questioning look at their boss, who sighed and said, “Your partner here went to the Morgue yesterday with his younger brother Charlie.  It was his brother’s first time back since Dr. Wells died.  They had a very unusual experience while they were there.”

             
“That’s an understatement,” Ryan nodded and proceeded to tell Veronica what happened.

             
When he’d finished, she turned to their boss and asked, “Did anyone get a chance to check it out?”