It takes all my strength not to double over and empty the contents of my stomach right now. I stupidly allowed myself to celebrate hearing one small sound from the future when I should have realized this was a setup. Louisa was never the real target. The little girl is. And I completely missed it.
The paramedics pull up, and Mitchell walks Louisa over to them. I hear her ask Mitchell if I’m okay. I do sound like I’m hyperventilating. I sit down on the cold ground, bending my knees to rest my head against them. Warm tears trickle down my cheeks.
“Piper?” Mitchell sits down beside me. “You couldn’t have known.”
I lift my head and blink back my tears. “No, I couldn’t have, could I? Because I’m not a gifted clairvoyant. But you know what’s worse? I thought I was a gifted psychometrist, yet I was clearly wrong about that, too, because I would have seen Sam’s plan after he decided to kidnap the little girl.”
“You were focused on Louisa. When you were tapping into Sam, I bet you were trying to focus on what he was doing with Louisa, right?”
I stand up and brush the dirt from my pants. “Don’t try to make me feel better, Mitchell. A little girl is scared to death right now in the hands of Sam Pierce. He must have been running to her when I saw him in my vision. I should have seen his intentions. But I didn’t. That girl is with a maniac right now because of me.” I walk back to his patrol car.
“What do we do now?” he asks. “Want me to call the station and find out if anyone’s been reported missing?”
“The girl’s parents probably don’t even know she’s missing yet.”
“Probably? Or do you know that for a fact?” He opens the driver’s side door, but doesn’t get in the car, opting to stare at me over the roof instead.
“I’m guessing. He just took her. That’s what I was really supposed to stop him from doing. Louisa wouldn’t have died. He was bluffing, and I fell for it.” I get inside the car and slam the door shut.
Mitchell gets in and starts the engine. “You can’t be upset about saving Louisa.”
“Someone would have found her. The sun is coming up. She would have slept off the effects of the drugs and walked to the station at the bridge, or a camper would have discovered her. She didn’t need me. That little girl did, and I failed her.”
“God, when I get my hands on Pierce…” He doesn’t finish his statement because he knows the only thing he can do is lock up Sam. As much as Mitchell would like to take a swing at the guy, he can’t. It would cost him his job.
I’m not sure where Mitchell is driving us to, and I don’t care. I take the fake nail from my pocket.
“Trying to find Sam?” he asks me, giving me a sideways glance.
“Always so perceptive.” My words drip with sarcasm. “Sorry,” I say. “I’m not angry with you. I’m mad at myself.”
“Can I point out something?”
“If you’re going to tell me that without me you’d still be looking for Louisa and wouldn’t even know about the four-year-old girl who’s missing, save it.”
“Actually, while that’s true, it’s not what I was going to say.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Okay, what is it then?”
“You’re making progress. This was the first time you had a whisper of anything from the future connected to a case.”
“I realize that, but I can’t afford to stop and celebrate something so insignificant right now. I allowed myself to back at the warehouse when I should have been trying to find Sam. Look what that got me.”
“Then get to work.” He lowers his eyes to the fake nail in my hand.
I have to admit, I appreciate the fact that he’s not trying to make me feel better anymore. He’s telling me to do my job, which is exactly what I need to do.
I nod before taking deep breaths in preparation. But the second I close my eyes, my phone chimes with an email notification. Before I even check the screen, I know it’s from Sam.
Piper,
Thought you had me, didn’t you? I’d say congrats on hearing the water, but let’s face it. It was no victory. Since you lost round one, I feel I should give you a bigger hint so you at least have a shot at catching up. Your 4:59 p.m. deadline is still in effect. You’ll need to find out who I took, where I brought her, and come save her before then, or she will die. Oh, and good luck sparking visions from that fake nail.
Sam
I reread the email, this time aloud for Mitchell.
“What does that mean? The part about the visions?” he asks.
I stare at the nail.
“I think he knew I was going to try to read it again, and he stopped me by sending the email.”
“So he’s trying to keep you from having another vision?” Mitchell shrugs. “He can’t possibly think that will work. You can just turn off your phone.”
I start to do just that when my phone chimes again. “It’s him.”
If you sever our communication, I’ll sever her head from her body.
I squeeze the phone in my hand in frustration. “Fine. He wants communication? I’ll give him communication.”
I shoot off an email.
Your fear is showing. Stopping me from having visions only means you’re afraid I’ll beat you.
Mitchell pulls into the police station, which is where I figured he was taking us. I still don’t believe the girl’s parents are aware she’s missing, though. But when I fail, Mitchell has nothing to turn to but typical police procedures.
I try to read the fake nail again, but the phone chimes.
“I’ll answer it,” Mitchell says.
“You know he’ll see that. This guy has complete control over his visions. We can’t fool him.”
I read the email.
You can’t beat me unless I let you win, and then is it really a win?
“He’s like a child,” Mitchell says.
“Yeah, a psychopathic child with frighteningly good abilities that are much stronger than mine.”
We go into the station, which is just starting to fill up with police officers for the day. Mitchell and I have gotten no sleep at all, which is only going to make this more difficult. But I have less than twelve hours to find this little girl. There’s no time to stop and rest.
Officer Wallace isn’t here since he was out all night looking for Louisa. That means dealing with Officer Andrews, who doesn’t like me at all.
“Any missing persons reported in the past few hours?” Mitchell asks him.
“None. I heard you found the Hernandez girl, though. Good work.” Officer Andrews doesn’t so much as look at me.
“That was all Piper’s doing, so you can congratulate her.” Mitchell motions to me, clearly waiting for Officer Andrews to do just that.”
He clears his throat and mumbles, “Well done,” before shuffling through a stack of papers on his desk to avoid looking at me.
“Thank you,” I say loudly enough for everyone else in the vicinity to hear. “It’s so nice to be appreciated.”
Mitchell smirks at me before turning serious again. “The man who kidnapped Louisa Hernandez has also taken a four-year-old girl. We need to identify her as soon as possible.”
Officer Andrews raises his gaze to Mitchell. “There’s been no report of a missing four-year-old girl.”
“That’s because it hasn’t been reported yet,” I say. “The second it is, I need to know.”
“Did you”—Officer Andrews stands up and lowers his voice—“see this kidnapping take place?”
Oh, this is ridiculous. “Louisa Hernandez had a message for me from Sam Pierce. That’s the man who took her,” I add because if he’s going to treat me like a child, I’m going to return the favor. “Sam Pierce has also been emailing me under the name Ryker Dunn.”
Officer Andrews holds out his hand, presumably for my phone because God forbid he take my word for it even after I just found yet another missing person the Weltunkin PD couldn’t locate on their own.
I pull out my phone and open to my email before passing the phone to Officer Andrews. Once he’s finished reading, I say, “Believe me now?”
He hands the phone back to me. “These emails are evidence. You should have brought them to our attention immediately.”
“She brought them to my attention,” Mitchell says. “I’m the lead detective on this case, need I remind you?”
Officer Andrews clears his throat again. “I’ll be in touch if any reports come in.”
“Thank you,” I say, though my tone implies I think he’s an idiot.
“Let’s go,” Mitchell says, gently tugging on my elbow.
I’m more than ready to get out of here, but there’s something I have to do first. “Meet you in the car. I need to have a word with Officer Andrews in private.”
Mitchell eyes me for a moment, but then he nods. “I have to call the body shop anyway and let them know I won’t be picking up my vehicle today.”
As soon as he’s gone, I take a seat at Officer Andrews’s desk. He remains standing, most likely in hopes of intimidating me. It almost makes me laugh.
“How’s your wife?” I ask.
He looks around, checking to see if anyone is attempting to listen in on our conversation. Then he takes a seat and leans over the desk toward me. “My wife is no concern of yours.” His voice is barely above a whisper.
“But she is a concern of yours.” I study his face. Worry lines crease his forehead. I’m dying to read him because I’m sensing there’s more to this situation.
“Look, you need to mind your own business.”
“You want to know something. I can see it. You’re just afraid to ask me for help.” I sit up straighter. “Am I right?”
“I didn’t give you permission to read me, so knock it the hell off.”
“I’m not reading you. Not really at least. Your body language is giving you away.” I cross my legs at my ankles. “Why don’t you just tell me what it is you want to know?”
He picks up his pen and proceeds to turn it end over end.
“Officer Andrews, I don’t have much time here, so why don’t you just come out with it already? I know how you feel about me, so the song and dance really aren’t necessary. I can help you, and then you can go back to loathing me and I can solve this case. It’s as simple as that, really.”
He stills the pen in his hand before scribbling a note and pushing it across the desk to me.
I think my wife is having an affair.
I get cases like this all the time as a private investigator. Follow a spouse around to see if they’re cheating. It’s textbook. The odd thing is that I know Andrews cheats on his wife, so why would he care if she’s cheating on him in return? I don’t ask since this is clearly bothering him.
I reach out my hand. “Do you have something that belongs to her?”
He shakes his head. “Not on me.”
“Get me something. Jewelry is best. It’s easier for me to read. You can come by my office when you have it.” I stand up.
He stands up as well. “You’ll keep this between us?”
I press my palms to his desk and whisper, “I’ve kept your secret, haven’t I?”
He gives one brief nod and straightens his tie.
I turn and walk out to Mitchell’s patrol car.
“Everything okay?” he asks once I’m in the passenger seat.
“Yeah, I can handle Officer Andrews.”
Mitchell’s gaze rises, and he nods toward the station doors, where Officer Andrews is rushing out. “Ah, but can he handle you.”
I open the door and step out. To my surprise, Officer Andrews comes toward me instead of Mitchell.
“The call just came in. Officer Matthews is talking to the mother now. She woke up to find her daughter missing from her bed.”