First Visions: Second Sight Book One

Chapter Four

"Is your brain leaking, Jared? I thought I told you to forget about that girl."

Nikki pulled him out of the kitchen and into the hallway of her parents' house. He had just finished explaining to her and the rest of her family about a psychic helping out on the case. Cori's mother, Jennifer, was barely coherent, but said she was willing to try anything to get her little girl home. Her father, Jacob, seemed dubious and wondered if he should announce a large cash reward for Cori's safe return. Nikki had merely sat there while he talked about Kate's vision and shot him daggers across the room.

"Babe, I wouldn't hang my hopes on this girl if I didn't think she was legit. And I definitely wouldn't give your parents false hope. I think you need to trust me where Kate Edwards is concerned," he said softly.

Nikki let out an exasperated sigh and cast her eyes heavenward. "Jared, I try to be understanding about your quirks. I really do. I totally appreciate how things were living with your aunt when you were young. You explained it to me and it's no wonder some of her bat shit crazy tendencies affected you..."

He cut her off, "I never said Aunt Lizzie was bat shit crazy."

"Ok, well I guess it was implied. Anyway, I've heard about this type of stuff happening. A girl from a wealthy family goes missing and all the con artists come out of the woodwork. I don't know what this girl's angle is, but I'm sure she has an agenda."

While clasping his hands tightly, Nikki gave him a pleading smile. "I love that you're doing everything you can to find my sister. It means the world to me. But I think your efforts should be more focused on finding a witness or some sort of clue he may have left behind."

"Of course, we're doing that. Unfortunately, it's almost like your sister vanished into thin air. No one saw a suspicious car parked by the house and your neighbors didn't hear anything. We still have a lot of interviews lined up and I'm hopeful someone saw something. If nothing turns up, would it really be harmful to try and use a psychic?"

Her doubtful countenance gave him an idea. "I know. Why don't I introduce the two of you? Then, you can judge for yourself and realize she's not after your family's money." He pushed back a strand of her hair and gave her his most charming smile. Nikki could be opinionated and stubborn, but he knew how much her sister meant to her. She would want to find her any way possible.

She rolled her eyes and waited a long minute before finally answering him. "You know I can never say no to you. I'll meet her, but don't be surprised if my predictions about her being useless come true."

She reached for him and they both relaxed into a warm hug. Kissing the top of her head, he questioned whether it would be a good idea after all for Kate and Nikki to meet. Kate was skittish enough about working on another abduction case. He hoped being faced with Nikki's skepticism wouldn't scare her off. There were also his concerns about the slight pang he'd been feeling while around Kate. He'd been dealing with it by convincing himself she was a kid and his interest stemmed merely from the lure that she could solve Cori's disappearance.

***

Kate didn't return home until mid-afternoon. She had stayed up until it was practically sunrise with Julie. Julie understood her friend's need for space and that Kate didn't want to rehash her fight with her mom. Instead, they bonded over junk food and a marathon of True Blood. Her friendship was the easiest and most natural thing in Kate's life. Julie never had let the Matt Spencer fiasco weird her out or badger Kate with questions about it.

The only disconcerting thing was, Kate continued to lie about her second sight to Julie. Julie had questioned Kate about Jared's visit and Kate only explained the detective was going door to door looking for leads on Cori's disappearance. The entire town was aware of the case. Besides the news coverage, flyers were hanging up all over. Despite her dishonesty with Julie, Kate dreaded leaving the tranquility of her friend's apartment and heading back home.