Glass Eye: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective

Chapter 35

Sweat glues Zandra's flowing purple gown to her skin. It's only a minor distraction from the spots lighting up her vision. Her eyes will take some time getting back to normal. The blinding flashlight did its job and then some.

Only by memory does she find the storage shed outside her apartment. It's where the tenants dump their trash and recyclables into separate bins. She opens the wooden door to shuffle inside, but not before removing her shoes and hurling them toward the sidewalk leading down the street. She curls up beside the trash, struggling to catch her breath, and hopes the officers follow the shoes.

It works. Zandra hears one of them hustle down the sidewalk while the other minds her apartment until the fire crew shows up.

Zandra waits for the chaos of fire trucks and frightened tenants to fill the parking lot. Then she sheaths the lawnmower knife and walks out of the storage shed as calm as someone taking out the trash.

Staying well outside the glow of street lamps, Zandra picks her way through the dark yards, parks and cemeteries of Ellis Street toward downtown Stevens Point. Despite her ankle's protests, her bare feet muffle each step against the cool ground.

The pain stretches up into her leg by the time she reaches Sneak Peek. The front window is smashed into glass razors, and the interior is "all messed up," as Abby said. Looks like a bear wrestled a giant octopus inside.

Zandra's exhaustion trumps her rage. She bets the mob didn't find the secret room inside. It's small, but there's a blanket and a chair inside. She uses it to produce effects for séances, such as "spirits" entering and exiting the room in the darkness. College kids will do anything for a few bucks.

Zandra uses the lawnmower knife to snip strips from the bottom of her gown. Sitting on a nearby bench, she ties them thick around her feet.

The improvised shoes get her through the glass shards on the floor unscathed. Zandra reaches under her desk and flips a switch. The wall behind a large poster of an eye swings open on a silent hinge. A chair and a blanket wait for her, just as expected.

Zandra raids her desk for the bottled water, sanitizing wipes and snacks she keeps handy, then shuts herself inside the obscured room. A latch will allow her to exit later, but until then she makes herself comfortable. The water and food feel great going down, but it's the coolness of the wipes on her hands and face that bring her back to life.

Wrapped in the blanket, Zandra leans back in the chair and hopes she's not too tired to dream up an answer to this mess.