What is happening to this town? While it’s great for my P.I. business, all the crimes in the area are really giving Weltunkin a reputation. If this keeps up, Weltunkin might become a very different place to live.
“What the hell is going on around here?” I say.
“There must be something in the water,” Mitchell says.
“First, I didn’t peg you for a Carrie Underwood fan. Second, I think you totally missed the message in that song.”
“You know what I mean. It’s like everyone suddenly went crazy.”
“Money can do that to people. I mean, how many criminals have you arrested who moved here hoping for a better life and ultimately turned to crime because it’s too damn expensive to live here?”
“Money corrupts.” Mitchell sighs. “Want to come to the station with me to pick up the report, or do you want me to drop you at your office first?”
He knows I don’t like going to the station because only a few other cops actually respect what I do. “I’m feeling feisty today. Why not make some pigheaded officers feel uncomfortable?”
Mitchell laughs. “Is pigheaded your word of the day?”
“Too early to know for sure.”
“Are you excited for a case that’s more up your alley?” He briefly turns his head in my direction.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know, where you can read an object and find someone. It’s always been your specialty. It’s what you’re good at.”
“Right. Because I can’t see the future like Ryker. I wouldn’t have stopped that mugging or the robbery.”
“Piper, that’s not what I meant, but for the record, I wouldn’t have stopped them either. No one at the station would have. This isn’t an attack on you.”
I lean my head back against the headrest and rub my temples. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t help feeling inadequate lately.”
“Now you know how I feel around you all the time.”
I jerk my head up. “I do not make you feel inadequate.”
“Sometimes you do. I mean, most cases wind up with me following you around. I might have the badge and the gun, but it’s always you chasing the leads.”
I’m not sure if he’s fishing for compliments or if he legitimately feels this way. “You have plenty of good insights on cases. In fact, on more than one occasion, it was your insights that led me to more clues.”
“Still…” He clears his throat. “Why don’t I have any abilities if my mom did?”
“I can’t say for sure, but psychic abilities come in many forms. So you’re not clairvoyant like your mom was? You have good instincts. And, you’re good at reading people and getting them to trust you.”
“So I’m an empath?”
“What do you know about empaths?”
“Just that they can feel and absorb other people’s emotions.” He bobs one shoulder. “I’ve been doing some research, mostly so I don’t accidentally insult you.
More like in a desperate attempt to prove he’s like his mother in some way. “Mitchell, what I’m about to say is meant with genuine concern. What about your mother or me makes you think having psychic abilities is all fun and games?”
“I know it’s not, but take being an empath for example. They have trouble being around people. Like you do.”
“I’m aware.”
“Are you an empath? Is that why you’re so sensitive to visions where you’re the victim or the criminal?”
It is really similar. He’s not wrong, but I’ve never discussed it with anyone. Not even Dad. “I don’t like trying to classify what I do like this.”
“Yet you’re upset that you aren’t a clairvoyant,” he says, calling my bluff. “You forget I know you a lot better than you feel comfortable with.”
“The ability to repress memories and emotions is also a gift.”
He laughs. “I guess it definitely could be. All I know is I’m amazed by what you do. Ryker clearly is, too. Why else would he come here just to meet you?”
Because, like me, he wanted to meet someone who would understand what he has to deal with on a daily basis. “I envy psychics who aren’t overwhelmed by their gifts. That must be nice.”
“You’re overwhelmed because you choose to use your gifts to fight crime.”
I laugh. “You’re saying I brought this on myself?”
“Actually, yes. Do the research, Piper. Plenty of psychics lead perfectly normal lives. They get married, have families, have regular, everyday jobs. But that wasn’t enough for you. And I think that’s because the way you discovered your gift was during an extreme circumstance. It was life or death. Plus, you didn’t exactly have anyone in your family you could go to to learn more about what you can do. I mean, your grandmother—” Mitchell’s mouth slams shut.
“My grandmother what?” I never even knew my grandmother. She died before I was born. There’s no way Mitchell knows anything about her. Unless… “What exactly are you researching?”
“Don’t be mad.”
“That is the worst thing to say when you want someone to stay calm.” I can feel my face burning up. “What did you research?”
“Your family tree. You aren’t the only psychic in your family, Piper.”
“What are you talking about? If my grandmother was psychic, don’t you think my father would have told me?”
“I don’t think he felt it was his place, considering it’s not his mother. It’s your mother’s mother.”
He can’t be right. He can’t. “I changed my mind. Drop me off at the office.”
“But the station is right—” he starts to protest, but the look I give him cuts him short. He flips on the flashing lights and makes an illegal U-turn.
The second he pulls into the parking lot, I open my door.
“Piper!” Mitchell yells, slamming on the brakes.
I rush out and slam the car door behind me. I storm into my office, my eyes landing on Dad. “Tell me you didn’t know Mom’s mother was psychic.”
He huffs and shuts his laptop. “Mitchell told you.”
“Damn it, Dad! Why didn’t you tell me? Or Mom for that matter?” My arms fly out at my sides, and my purse nearly knocks over Dad’s coffee. He grabs it just in time.
“I didn’t really know her. She and your mother didn’t talk much. They sent cards for birthdays and Christmas. That’s pretty much it.”
“Why?”
“I think I should let your mother tell you.” He stands up. “Come on. I’ll drive.”
I don’t talk to Dad on the way to my parents’ house. I feel like crying and screaming at the same time. I thought I was the only Ashwell with abilities. I grew up feeling like a freak. If they’d told me…
Dad pulls into the driveway and cuts the engine before turning to me in the seat. “Pumpkin, please don’t yell at your mother. This is a sensitive subject for her. I need you to be as calm as you possibly can.”
I scoff. “You and Mitchell are so much alike sometimes I can’t even take it.”
“I don’t know what you’re referring to, but please do this one favor for me, Piper. I’m begging you.”
“Fine. I’ll show you and Mom a curtesy neither one of you ever showed me.” I open the door and start for the house.
Dad rushes to catch up to me and unlocks the front door.
“Thomas?” Mom calls from the kitchen. She steps into the hallway. “Oh, Piper. Hi, sweetheart. What are you two doing here? Is Mitchell with you?”
“No, Mom. It’s just us. But Mitchell is the reason we’re here.”
“Piper, let’s go into the living room and sit down,” Dad says, pushing me in that direction.
I’m too worked up to sit, so I stand by the fireplace, and Mom and Dad sit on the couch.
“What’s going on?” Mom asks, fidgeting with her fingers in her lap.
“Grandma was psychic?” I start.
Mom’s face falls. “Oh.” She turns to Dad. “Mitchell knows?”
“He did some digging when he first started working with me. I didn’t know until he’d already discovered the truth about your mother.”
Mom looks like she’s about to lose it. “Piper, my mother was very secretive when it came to her abilities. She didn’t talk about them. She didn’t want to. I discovered them one day by accident. I came home early from a friend’s house and walked in on my mother mid-vision. I didn’t know what was happening, but she was screaming like she was in pain. I rushed over to her.” Mom is squeezing her hands together so hard her knuckles are ghostly white. Dad wraps his arm around her shoulders, and she leans her head on him.
I want to know more, but this is clearly upsetting Mom, so I don’t push her. Instead, I go to the kitchen and get her a glass of water. When I return, she smiles up at me through tears in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she says before taking a sip.
This time I sit down next to her. “Was she an empath?”
Mom nods. “I never knew why she always chose to stay home instead of going to the movies with us. Or why she always suggested I go to my friends’ houses instead of inviting them over. It was too difficult for her. I thought—no, I hoped you didn’t get that ability. That your gift of psychometry meant you could distance yourself from other people’s pain.”
“I usually can. It’s when I experience it in a vision that it affects me the most.”
Mom’s head bobs in understanding. “She wound up in the hospital for days after I found her. She didn’t wake up for a full twenty-four hours. That’s when I learned what she was.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” I have to know that much. Why she chose to keep this from me.
“I didn’t want you to grow up worrying you’d turn out the way she did.” Mom sniffles.
“Are you saying her ability killed her?”
Mom reaches for my left hand and squeezes it. “No. Nothing like that. But she put so much distance between herself and others. I don’t want that for you, Piper. You seem to think you can’t ever settle down with someone, but you can. She did. She had me.”
“Mom, let’s not turn this into a conversation about giving you grandchildren, okay?”
“It’s not about that, honey. It’s about you living. Look at how much you love being with Jezebel. She’s really made you open up. If you let other people in, they might do the same. They might help you through this. Make it a little easier on you.”
“Mom—”
She holds up one hand to stop me. “No, you came here for answers, so you listen.” She pauses to make sure she has my full attention. “My mother pushed everyone away after I discovered the truth about her. That’s what led her to hating who she was. Don’t make the same mistake she did. Don’t view what you are as a curse. And don’t think it means you can’t have a normal life. Learn to control it. Learn to tune out when you want to. You’re strong enough to do that.”
Am I? There’s nothing I’d love more than to be able to keep the visions at bay unless I want to have them.
“Thank you for telling me. I know that wasn’t easy for you.” I stand up and let out a deep breath. “I think I’m going to head home now.”
“I’ll drive you,” Dad says since my car is at the office.
“Thank you.”
“Piper,” Mom says, looking up at me from the couch. “Your grandmother would have loved you. She’d be proud of the fact that you’re using your gifts to help people. You should be proud of that, too.”
I lean down and kiss her wet cheek. “Love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
“I’ll be right back,” Dad tells her.
I wait until we’re in Dad’s BMW before I ask, “How did Grandma die?”
“She had a stroke. It had something to do with a hole in her heart. You don’t have to worry though because you were checked out as a child. Your mother was, too.”
So it wasn’t anything triggered by a vision. That’s good to know.
Dad drops me off, and I walk upstairs to my apartment. I’m putting the key in the door when I hear a male voice on the other side.
Someone’s inside my apartment.