Into the Abyss: A Psychic Visions Novel (Psychic Visions Series Book 10), Page 3

  One of the beat cops, Calvin, turned to face her and said, “None of the neighbors heard or saw anything. We are still out canvassing.”

  “Of course.”

  She walked through the rest of the house noting the sparse furnishings, the one step above poverty level, the lack of food in the kitchen cupboards and the lean, frail body of the man who’d met an early demise. His life hadn’t been easy, and he certainly didn’t deserve to die like this.

  “What do we know about the victim?” She placed her hands in her pockets as she listened to the recital.

  “Seventy years old, his name was Connor Breaker, a retired electrician, still did odd jobs for friends for a little bit of pocket change. He was on a pension and not much of that. A widower – his wife passed on some twenty odd years ago.”

  “So he lived alone. Are we thinking he’s the victim of a random act of violence?”

  The cops nodded.

  She shook her head. “I’m not buying it. Whoever killed him had to come around the back of the house and into the yard to do so. They had to know the old man lived here. And that he lived alone. That meant someone knew him, or of him. Let’s find out why. Maybe then we’ll find a motive.”

  She stepped back as the coroner arrived. She didn’t need to know time of death or how he died. She’d get those soon enough. What she needed to know was why, and the medical team wasn’t going to be any help there.

  “I’ll need the tox screen results as soon as you have them, Shelby.”

  Shelby was a fifty something gray-haired, grizzled woman who had no use for anybody. But as such Tavika understood her well.

  “You’ll get them as soon as I know something.” Shelby stood and stared down at the old man. Then she shook her head and said, “What is the world coming to? We can’t even have a cuppa tea and watch our favorite show anymore.”

  Tavika spun slightly and stared at the tea. “I wonder if that was drugged. It might make it easier to do this job.”

  “It wouldn’t have taken anything to slice his throat. He’d likely been asleep at the time anyway.” Shelby lifted her gaze to Tavika. “We’ll test the tea anyway. There’s no defensive wounds and no blood on his hands. He went down without a struggle.”

  “Which supports sleeping and/or drugged.” Tavika thought about that. If she was sound asleep and somebody slit her throat she’d still reach up in a jerking reaction. But that didn’t mean the slice wasn’t deep or fast enough that he would be able to do anything about it. There was blood all over the man’s chest with an arterial spray to the left. So the killer stood behind him, grabbed the man’s head and sliced to the right. The old man didn’t have a chance.

  She made one more walk-through of the small house before stepping outside into the fresh air. There was nothing like the smell of fresh blood. It wasn’t something she’d ever get used to. In her case it was the stuff of nightmares.

  She walked over to her bike, keys in hand, and one of the cops called out to her, “Do you want a lift back to the station?”

  She shook her head and waved. “I’ll be fine, thanks.” She gunned the bike and took off down the street. At the first corner she leaned into the curve and whipped around the block. She wasn’t going back to the office. She was going hunting.

  *

  Now what the hell was she up to? Jericho stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. In his mind’s eye he could see her rip down the street on the bike. She’d just left the crime scene so what the hell was she doing now? He could see her slowly turn the corner heading into a shady area. Even in his vision, the neighborhood appeared run down and seedy.

  An area he recognized.

  He frowned. Now why would she want to go back there?

  Unfortunately, just because he could see bits and pieces of visions, it didn’t tell him motivations or what the person was doing outside of it. Right now he really could use that information. When he saw her park the bike and hop off he swore. An old couple passing by shot him a dirty look. He gave them a half smile and stepped off the pathway.

  He’d planned to go to the crime scene after the cops were done so he’d been hanging out in the park. But at this point his presence was going to be noticed. His phone rang and he checked the text messages coming in. Hunter was out on a different job, trying to find a child who’d been kidnapped.

  Jericho kept catching little bits and pieces of the case but nothing big enough to help. His own skills were growing and improving but it was a process – not one he could hurry. And he couldn’t dredge information out of thin air. If visions didn’t come, then they didn’t come.

  Hunter was looking to see if he had more. Anything?

  He responded in the negative. Maybe if he could solve one of these cases the other would get more attention. Right now he was feeling splintered – his visions going in both directions with neither case getting the full benefit.

  Tavika wasn’t exactly a case, but neither was she somebody he could ignore. He knew perfectly well the Ghost was involved. He’d been hunting this asshole for way too long to let the opportunity slip through his fingers. If Tavika didn’t like him involved, well, that was just too damn bad.

  In his head he saw her reach for the doorknob, and in spite of himself, knowing she couldn’t hear him, he cried out, “No, don’t.”

  Where was her instinct? There was something wrong there.

  A second later, he closed his eyes, focused his will and blasted her the same message but ten times harder. Don’t open that door.

  Not waiting, he bolted for his truck. This was not going to end well.

  In his mind’s eye, he watched her hesitate. Then she lifted her middle finger in his direction – a sure sign she’d heard him – and pushed the door open anyway.

  Shit.

  *

  Ah happy day. He was getting to watch a double feature. He loved the view out his front window.

  The popcorn was long gone. He’d been glued to the window. He did like to see Tavika so tormented.

  “You’re welcome,” he said with a sneer to the empty room as she entered the destroyed house. It had once been a nice neighborhood but had long since fallen onto hard times. Hell, the streets and those around it were the poorest of the poor now. When she’d lived there it had been a nice middle class area. Now vagrants lived wherever the hell they wanted. Most houses were empty and slated for destruction.

  The whole street was supposed to come down with a new multifamily complex going up in its place, but the financing had fallen through.

  He grinned. It was probably because the place was haunted.

  He should know. He was the one who sent those freaks into hell where they belonged.

  The youngest one was still on his list. Did he let her live? Was she a threat to him? At the moment he was feeling generous. After all a man in love was entitled to some feel-good moments. He’d been alone for a long time. He was making a lot of changes for the love of his life. Major decisions to clean up his act.

  He watched Tavika hesitate then lift a middle finger to someone watching.

  Shocked, he leaned forward. There was no one around her.

  What the hell? Who was she flipping off?

  That her reaction was perfect timing to his thoughts sent a chill through his body.

  Was that directed at him? He slowly stood and walked close enough his nose pressed against the window. But she didn’t come back out of the house.

  Surely not.

  Because that would mean she’d seen him…in which case…he’d have to do something about her.

  How to know for sure?

  Chapter 4

  She didn’t know why she insisted on coming here on a regular basis. The place held nothing but pain and torment for her, but knowing her family had died here gave her a connection. One she couldn’t leave alone.

  Or they couldn’t.

  Their spirits resided here. Even though she’d done her damnedest to help them move on, or at least move to a nicer place, they st
ayed tied to their violent end. It was why she contacted Stefan years ago, to see if he could help her send their souls home. But Stefan told her it was something she could easily do herself. She’d hung up on him at that point. There were a lot of things she could do, but that didn’t mean she was going to be up to doing them.

  For that reason she visited. As if somehow their existence would be a little easier by having her around.

  Like hell.

  The place looked the same as the last time she was here. The city had planned to raze the property to the ground, but of course they never did. The land wasn’t worth much. The neighborhood was a drug haven. And outside of a few homeless who moved into the building every once in a while she usually found the place empty. Even the homeless moved out quickly. The house was haunted after all.

  She applauded her sister and mother’s efforts to amuse themselves. When in reality what they were trying to do was save someone else from dying as they had. She didn’t know if the Ghost returned here to the scene of his crimes, but it was a common theme among killers. She’d questioned the neighbors every once in a while to see if anyone came by. The neighbors changed with the seasons, but the message was always the same. Besides a few vagrants, no one came here but her.

  Still, she wished her family would find a way to cross over. According to them, they weren’t leaving her alone until their killer was dead too.

  Which meant Tavika would die first.

  And soon if her mother’s visions were correct. Tavika had a few but they were hit or miss. She didn’t know if she could trust what she saw. And none were anything she wanted to come to pass.

  Her phone jingled in her pocket. “I told you it doesn’t have to end this way,” Travis said.

  “You’ve told me lots. That doesn’t mean fate is going to be changed just on your say-so,” she said as she turned in exasperation.

  “You changed your fate once. You were supposed to die with everyone else. That you haven’t is already a change. You don’t have to die this next time either. The life you lead, you could have gotten shot any number of times, but you changed the course of life, extending yours much longer. That can happen again. The Ghost is out there. Yes, he’s watching you. Yes, he might get you. But you also have the ability to take him out this time. Just think, you could put a stop to this once and for all.”

  “Now if only that were true,” she muttered. She tried to keep that mutter quiet but knew Travis would pick up on it. He always knew what she was thinking.

  She walked through the desolate bungalow. There was an edge to the air today. She stopped in the center of the living room and turned around slowly. What was different?

  The energy was different.

  Then she got it. With a wolfish smile she studied the energy around her. She could see…something. Something…familiar. He’d been here. The Ghost had actually been here. When? Had he done anything while he was here?

  She closed her eyes and let the wisps drift through her mind.

  She’d imagined him so many times. Squatting down almost at the exact place where she stood. A smile on his face as he relived the moments when he wiped out her family. Asshole. She couldn’t stop the stabs of hate darting through her. She’d always known he was going to kill her one day. As long as she took him out too, she didn’t care.

  The whispers disappeared, and she was left once again inside this cold and empty place. As she studied the room she caught a glimmer of something in the corner of her eye and slowly straightened.

  In a soft gentle voice she whispered, “Hello, Bellamy.”

  Her sister’s spirit drifted closer. In a weird echo voice her sister responded, You know you shouldn’t be here, Tavika.

  “But you’re here.” It was the same irrefutable answer she gave every time. Her mother and sister didn’t want her to continuously come, but as long as they were here she felt compelled to.

  “He was here, wasn’t he?” She waited for the answer, watching her sister hesitate. “Bellamy, tell me the truth.”

  Instead of speaking, her sister nodded. Then in a voice barely above the breeze dancing on the outside flowers she said, Yesterday. He was here yesterday.

  Shut up, her mother ordered.

  Instantly Bellamy disappeared, even now compliant under her mother’s orders.

  Tavika froze. “What?” She spun around, her heart slamming against her ribs. “He’s back. Oh my God, he’s really back.”

  Her mother’s voice slammed through her consciousness. You will not pursue him.

  Tavika straightened and turned to face the dominant presence in the room. Unlike Bellamy who drifted in and out of existence, her mother’s ghost was angry, vengeful.

  Even in spirit form, she was hard to deal with. Tavika faced her. “I will do everything I have to do to bring him down.”

  And if it kills you? If he kills you? What then?

  Tavika whisked the tears from her eyes. “Then we will be a family again.”

  Determined to not listen to the pleas of those long gone before her, Tavika turned and strode to the front door. Standing in the doorway she caught a whisper of something else. Slowly, her heart in her throat, she turned.

  And there was a beautiful little blue ball. A child spirit.

  She shook her head. In a soft voice she whispered, “Who are you and why are you here?”

  There was no answer. As Tavika watched she blinked out of existence.

  “Bellamy? Mom? Who is this new spirit?”

  As Bellamy tried to answer, her mother’s voice cut through with displeasure. Forget about her. You can’t help her now. Besides, she’s been here forever. How typical that you didn’t see her until now.

  Unfortunately that was quite possible. She couldn’t see everything. And what she did she couldn’t trust. Some truths were just too painful. Sadly Tavika whispered, “If you’re right, there was never anything I could do to help anyway.”

  And she strode out into the sunshine.

  And froze. She took a hard gasping breath of the fresh air and slowly turned back to the dilapidated hovel.

  What if her mother was wrong? Or just being spiteful as she’d been so often in real life? What if the child was a new spirit? If she was, that could mean a new murder. And in this location, that meant The Ghost had not only returned but he’d gone back to his old habits – murder – only this time children.

  *

  He didn’t need to be psychic to see the shock in her rigid spine, the shaky hand she stuffed in her pocket. He was across the road leaning against a tree. Following her around seemed to be his life at the moment. But it wasn’t much fun when pain radiated from her very soul. He shouldn’t have come. It hurt to watch her torment herself.

  But of course, she was not only a cop but someone who was dedicated to hunting down the Ghost… Well, he understood that.

  Although not the cop part. He’d spent his life avoiding them. Not his favorite people.

  Other psychics made it their life quest to help the police.

  He went the opposite direction. He bypassed the cops and went after the killers himself.

  He could play the authority game if he had to, but he had no tolerance for it. Some things were much more fun, and sticking it to the establishment was one of those things. He hadn’t always been that way. At one time he’d believed in the same rosy view so many other people did – that the cops were there for you. They were going to help when you ran into a calamity. But when his life had split wide open and disaster hit in a big terrorizing way, they hadn’t been there for him.

  It had been so big that of course he’d turned to the cops for help. Because who else did one turn to? There were no other options back then. No powerful psychics like Stefan. Or maybe there were but he hadn’t known about them. At the time it never occurred to him there was help in other quarters.

  And maybe he’d not have listened then. He’d been all about following the rules. And that meant calling law enforcement for help. Only the cops had f
ailed. Even worse, after months of terror and paralyzing fear he found out the culprit had been a cop himself.

  Walking away had been an easy decision. Staying out of mainstream politics and enforcement even easier. Hunter had found him soon after. They’d been as close to being partners as two loners could stand to be. Jericho had always known he was “different” in an esoteric way, but he’d never looked at his visions as anything other than useless until then.

  The only reason he walked into that station this morning – the first time in over ten years – was for Tavika. It really pissed him off that the first woman to set his body on fire and make his lungs hurt with an aching throbbing need to breathe in her scent, to mate with her in the most primal way he’d ever imagined…was a fucking cop.

  And not just a cop, but one through and through, a dyed in the wool believer of justice and all the bullshit it meant.

  Yet, he couldn’t take his eyes off her as she stood in the doorway as if having just learned something horrific. It made him wonder…what had she found out?

  She stood so still, having absorbed a blow in a way so few could, and still she didn’t go down. What would it take for her to drop in defeat?

  Death. Nothing short of her last day on this planet from what he could see.

  And damn if he didn’t want her even more.

  *

  She didn’t like what she’d seen. Look at her. Even at this distance he could see her shaky hands, the pallor on her face. Interesting. He’d been by there yesterday. But no one could have seen him. He considered it then shook his head. No, not possible. So what had freaked her out?

  He lowered his binoculars.

  Unless it was just old memories.

  He kinda liked that idea.

  He’d saved her life back then as a gift. Who knew she’d provide so much entertainment over the years.

  She was a gift that kept giving.

  At least to him.

  Chapter 5

  Tavika shoved open the door to her small apartment and walked inside. She knew she should eat something. She had a lot of work to do. But everything inside had shut down. She was ready to drop.