“H-hello?” Gia said. She hadn’t been prepared for such a gruff reception. “Is … is this Ifasen?”
A brief pause, the sound of a throat being cleared, then a more cultured voice. “Pardon me. Yes, this is he. Who is calling, please?”
Gia almost gave in to an urge to hang up. She had no clear idea why she had called in the first place. This was so unlike her …
She’d gone to the Beth Israel outpatient lab this morning where they drew her blood for the pregnancy test. Dr. Eagleton’s service had said she’d requested stat results, but when 2 P.M. rolled around and Gia hadn’t heard, she called in and learned that Dr. Eagleton was off call. The covering doctor did not return her calls. He left a message via the service that he knew nothing about Gia’s lab test and saw no reason why it couldn’t wait until Monday.
So she’d called the Beth Israel lab but they’d stonewalled
her, saying they couldn’t release results to patients, only the ordering doctor.
Burning with frustration, she’d paced the house. Normally she would have talked it over with Jack, but this was not a normal situation. And she didn’t know how Jack would take all this. So out of sheer desperation she’d looked up Ifasen’s number in his brochure and called him.
Crazy, she knew, but she could be pregnant … with her second child … and Ifasen had told her she’d have two. Jack’s rational explanations from last night faded into background noise; he hadn’t heard about Junie’s bracelet then, how Ifasen had known exactly where it would be.
What else did Ifasen know? She had to ask. She could imagine Jack’s expression when he learned that she’d called a psychic. But what could it hurt?
Besides, feeling crummy and worrying about being pregnant had thrown her off balance. The medical profession was doing its best to make her psycho, so she figured she’d give this a shot. Call it alternative medicine.
She swallowed and said, “I was there at your place last night. At the billet reading with Junie Moon. I was the one who asked how many children I’d have.”
“Yes. I remember. What can I do for you?” His words came quickly, sounding clipped, impatient.
“I was wondering if I could ask you about your answer.”
“My answer?”
“Yes. You told me I’d have two children, and I was wondering how you knew that. I don’t mean to insult you, but I need to know if you were guessing or—”
“I am sorry Miss, Mrs … .”
“DiLauro. Gia DiLauro.”
“Well, Gia DiLauro, I am afraid that now is not exactly a good time to discuss this. Perhaps later in the week, when things have settled down a little.”
Settled down? Something in his voice …
“Has something happened?”
“Happened?” Abruptly his tone sharpened. “Why do you think something has happened?”
She remembered Jack’s impression that Ifasen was afraid of something, and his theory of what and why.
“Did someone make more trouble for you last night after we left?”
“What?” The voice jumped a register. “What are you talking about?”
“One of your competitors, isn’t it. Jealous because you’re stealing their clients, am I right?”
The silence on the other end was answer enough.
Gia said, “You’re probably thinking, ‘Hey, I’m the psychic here,’ right? But it’s nothing like that.”
“If you have anything to do with—”
“Oh, no. Please don’t think that. I never heard of you before last night. But maybe I can help.”
“This is not your concern. And even if it were, I do not see how you—”
“Oh, no. Not me.” She laughed; it sounded high and nervous just like she felt. “I’d be no help at all. But I know someone who’s very good at this sort of thing. I’ll have him give you a call.”
Ifasen hemmed and hawed, obviously not wanting to admit that someone with his connections to the Other Side needed help, but once he learned that the matter would be handled with the utmost discretion with no connection to the police, he relented. But he wanted to make the call, so Gia gave him Jack’s voice mail number.
What did I just do? Gia thought after she hung up. Me, the one who keeps wanting Jack to find another line of work, I just got him a job. Maybe.
What on earth had possessed her to do such a thing?
Because as much as she hated Jack’s work, she wanted to see him back to his old self. That meant getting off his butt and taking on fix-it jobs again. And this one sounded kind of safe. A couple of competing psychics duking it out over clients. Jack could handle them with his eyes closed.
But then, Ifasen had been worried about a bomb last night, hadn’t he. She’d forgot about that. How could she be so stupid?
Call him back. Right. Tell him to forget the number she’d given him. Lose it. But why would he listen to her? If he was going to call, he’d call. But maybe he wouldn’t call. Maybe he’d figure he could handle this on his own.
She could only hope.