Evelyn sat at her usual table in the speakeasy with a cigarette in one hand and a drink on the table in front of her. She sat with her eyes closed, focusing, concentrating, meditating. She reached into the depths of her soul to access her true power to call up a vision.
Opening her eyes just briefly, she set her cigarette on the edge of the ash tray and reached for the empty glass on the table. It was the same one Lady Luck had been drinking from when she made her last deal here only an hour ago. That was all that Evelyn had to concentrate on to call up a vision.
Even though she had been trying to call a vision, the first one took her by surprise, hitting her consciousness just as quickly as something jumping out at her.
Frankie sat in a house—presumably Anna’s—and talked with her. The front door opened and Lady Luck walked in. Words were shared, but in this particular vision, Evelyn couldn’t make out exactly what was being said.
Even so, she could tell that they were harsh words being exchanged between Lady Luck and Frankie—Where is Levi? she wondered idly—while Anna sat on the couch, a demur expression on her face. She sat quietly on the couch, averting her eyes to her two guests.
Swirling her hands in the air in front of her, Lady Luck turned them palms-out toward Frankie, sending a streak of light directly at him. Frankie’s eyes showed his surprise as the light struck him.
Just as quickly as the vision came, it was suddenly gone. Evelyn put a hand over her racing heart in an effort to calm herself.
What exactly had she seen? Lady Luck was going to put some sort of spell on Frankie, but what was it? Did she have the power to kill? Or just crank up the bad luck until something so strange happened that death was imminent? And was that the present or the future? Maybe even the past? Had enough time passed for Frankie and Levi to get up to Arlington and get into Anna’s house to talk to her? And where was Levi in that vision?
She couldn’t remember when exactly they had left, but she wasn’t going to wait any longer.
Evelyn scooted around the table, but stopped as another vision struck her.
This time, she saw Lady Luck confronting an unfamiliar man in a small apartment. One Evelyn hadn’t ever seen before.
Once again, there were words exchanged in the vision, but Evelyn couldn’t hear them. She could only witness the motions of the two people she was seeing.
Finally, Lady Luck exited the apartment and the man opened a window and stepped out onto a metal fire escape and lit up a cigarette. As he shifted his weight onto the railing, the supports below gave way and the whole fire escape crashed down to the ground, bringing the man down with it.
When Evelyn snapped out of her vision, she let out an involuntary yelp at having seen a man fall to her death in her vision. She put her hand to her heart again, which was racing faster this time.
At the door leading upstairs, Sid took notice of Evelyn’s reaction. He was a big, stocky man but he had a soft spot for Evelyn. He was always very protective of her, eyeing her from across the room whenever she performed readings on people. On more than one occasion, he had forcefully asked drunk men to leave when they raised their voice to Evelyn after hearing a reading they didn’t like. This time was no different. He crossed the room quickly, coming to Evelyn’s side and dropping to one knee in front of her. He took her dainty hand in his big, calloused one. “Are you okay?”
She reached for her cigarette and took several puffs to help calm herself down. Then she nodded. “Yes. I’ll be okay.” She smiled at him sweetly, then planted a kiss on his cheek. “I just had a vision. A bad one.”
Everyone in the speakeasy knew that Evelyn read people’s fortunes. Not everyone believed that she wasn’t a con artist. Whether or not Sid was a believer or not was irrelevant. He respected Evelyn and her way of life too much to ask any questions.
He nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Um…I’ll be okay.” Her mind was on her visions. Two separate visions. Two people in need. Lady Luck was in both of them, so they couldn’t have happened at the same time. And judging by where both had taken place, she guessed that neither were near each other, which meant that she had time to act. How much, she didn’t know.
“Why don’t I get you a glass of water?” Sid rose to his feet and took one step toward the bar.
“That won’t be necessary,” she told him. “I have to run.” She downed the contents of her highball cocktail and winced as it burned on its way down. Then she got to her feet and went to the stairs. “Thank you for your concern. But I have to run.”
Evelyn could feel Sid’s eyes on her—and everyone else in the bar—so she made sure to exit the room with the same level of grace that she always carried herself with. But inside she was worrying, wondering if she was going to make it to her friends in time to stop whatever she had seen in her vision.
Time was not on her side.