Lifting the Veil (2 page)

Rockstar. The contents were advertised to enhance more confidence and drive. The second was named

Charmed, to be used for opening up psychic ability, and the third was Divine, for help meeting your guides and the archangels. That was the last thing that Sophie needed. She tried to hand them back. “I can’t afford them.”

“It’s my gift to you.” The charmed woman winked and cupped Sophie’s fingers around the little

bottles before handing Sophie her card. “Call me if you have any questions, any questions at all.”

“Uh…okay.” Sophie glanced at Amber’s excited face, and there was no way Sophie could continue

arguing. She turned back to Theresa and smiled. “Thank you.”

“Enjoy.” She gestured to the empty table where the psychic readers patiently sat waiting. “It looks like they’re ready for you.”

Sophie stepped over to one of the empty tables and eased into the chair. The psychic sitting

opposite looked to be about the same age of twenty-seven, give or take a year or two. Her blond hair hung down to her waist. Her one-inch long, French-manicured nails tapped lightly on the cards while the woman gave Sophie a gentle inviting smile.

“Go easy on me. I’m a virgin.”

“No, you’re not.” The woman’s laughter rang like music through the room.

“Well, this is my first time.”

The psychic’s eyes sparkled with intelligence and confidence as she set the tarot cards aside.

Sophie’s gaze watched her every movement, looking for the earpiece or whatever gadget would be

feeding her information.

“I’m not even going to need the cards for you.” The woman rested her crossed arms on the table.

“Your aura tells me enough.”

“Oh?” Sophie questioned, wondering what bat-shit wisdom the woman was going to start

preaching.

“You’re a sleeper, a late bloomer to the awakening.”

Sophie’s stomach twisted in a knot. Sleeper, awakening, what in the heck was this woman going on

about?

“What does that mean?”

“You have any headaches lately?”

Sophie shook her head.

“Heard any strange noises in your house, any ringing in your ears, any voices in your head?”

This woman was quickly losing ground.
This may take a while.
Sophie leaned back farther into her chair, getting comfortable.

“No…afraid not.”

Sophie’s confidence with this stranger telling her something useful continued to dwindle with each syllable.

“I see.”

Apparently not.
Sophie gave her a fake smile. Her mind scrambled, trying to recall if Amber might be eligible for a refund.

“Okay…well, it seems I get to be the bearer of good tidings.”

“Good tidings? Mmm hmm.”

“You have abilities. They are latent but will soon surface. The color of your aura suggests that the time is close.”

Sophie crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that right?”

“I’m afraid so, hun.” She grabbed the tarot cards, shuffled, and began to lay them out across the

table but not in any particular pattern like on the tables around her. “Let’s see what else is going on with you.”

As if that wasn’t enough. Ha. Sophie berated the woman in her mind.

“You’re currently jobless, are you not?”

Sophie nodded, knowing the woman must have overheard Sophie and Amber’s conversation
. Grab

hold of what you know and work with it,
Sophie teased in her mind.

“You’ll be working sooner than you think.” She flipped a few more cards. “It seems that more than

one job offer is going to come at the same time, so you’ll have to choose.”

Great…even if it was a load of bull.

“Okay.”

She flipped three more cards and paused. Her smile slipped, her gaze intent. “That can’t be,” she

whispered to herself.

Sophie waited and watched as the woman gathered the cards again and shuffled. She set them

down in front of Sophie and asked her to cut the deck before she flipped the first three cards again.

The death card was kind of creepy looking, but she wouldn’t have expected less while in Salem. The second was a guy with five of swords surrounding him, and the last card was an Ace with swords as well.

The Ace had to be a good card, right?

The reader’s face clouded with unease, her once-welcoming smile replaced with a frown.

Alarm bells rang in Sophie’s mind. She sat forward in her chair. “What? What does that mean?”

The psychic glanced up, her gaze now serious. “The death card generally means transformation,

which I assumed meant your abilities.” She pointed down to the cards surrounding the death card.

“These indicate conflict and raw power, possibly even something more sinister.”

“I thought readings were supposed to be all love and light and airy. What the hell are you talking about with death and sinister?”

“They generally are, but yours… not so much. My guides are telling me that you will do great things with your gifts, once you accept them.” She glanced back down at the cards. “But these are showing me other variables at play. You need to be careful.” She leaned forward and grasped Sophie’s hand. “You create your own destiny, not these cards. You have free will, and you need to remember that.”

Sophie snatched her hand back as if she’d been burned and quickly rose, almost knocking the chair

behind her over. Her heart hammered in her chest. The reader rose too and handed her a business card.

“You’re going to need guidance. Call me if I can help.”

Like hell. Sophie took a deep, calming breath, remembering this stuff wasn’t real.

“Thanks.” She shoved the card into her pocket and moved to stand near the front door, waiting on

Amber to get finished. Her mind was scrambling to reassure herself that this was a bunch of bull hockey.

None of this was true. Just because someone claimed she could see Sophie’s destiny in some stupid

cards didn’t mean that it was real. It wasn’t possible.

Sophie stood around for ten agonizing minutes being stared at like a leper. The hair on her neck

stood on end, every fiber in her screaming at her to leave the place.

Finally, and not a minute too soon, Amber bounced over, grinning from ear to ear. “Oh my god,

mine was great.”

“Tell me about it on the way out.” Sophie grabbed Amber’s hand and started ushering her back

through the corridors at a quicker pace then when they’d arrived. Amber rambled on about her reading, her love life, career, and the money in her future the entire way. It wasn’t until they were seated on the train that she came down from her high and asked the dreaded question Sophie could have predicted

was coming next.
Ha…she could be psychic too.
She mentally laughed at herself.

“How was yours?”

Sophie shrugged. “I apparently have the same abilities as those quacks, and it’s going to show up

soon.”

Amber’s eyes bugged wide. “Oh my god…I can just call you now.” Her brows dipped. “If that’s

okay.”

“Sure…if it were true.”

“You don’t think it is?”

“Nope, I haven’t had any headaches, no ringing in my ears, and no dead people talking to me.”

“Hmm. Well, maybe it can still happen.”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

She chuckled. “Did she say anything else? Is there a Mr. McDreamy coming into your life, anything

positive?”

“She predicted I’ll have my choice of job offers. I guess that’s positive, if it comes true.”

Amber smiled a big bright smile. “I knew it. Things are going to turn around for you.”

Sophie leaned back into her seat and replayed the words back through her mind. If her friend

wanted to think that Sophie’s life contained all rainbows and roses, who was she to burst that bubble?

Amber’s head was firmly in the clouds where she lived, while Sophie’s remained planted in reality. If any of this were to come true, there was no way she could explain any of it to her brother. He was ten years older than her and the head honcho at their small police department after all. He’d have her locked up or worse…committed.

An uneasy feeling crept down Jack Love’s spine. Behind the closed office doors, his latest antics

were the topic of a heated discussion. Chief Masterson had warned him to stay out of the investigation.

He might have even mentioned it was sensitive in nature, above Jack’s pay grade, and that it required a certain finesse, something he lacked. But did Jack heed the warning? No, of course not. Jumping in feet first seemed like the right thing to do, but now he wasn’t quite sure. A glimpse through the plate glass window confirmed his suspicion. His chief’s face glowed a bright red, a sign they’d all come to recognize when his blood pressure and temper were at exploding levels. It was no wonder with the man sitting across from him. The mayor’s hands were flying around as he gestured his displeasure. Jack slunk down into his chair. He was in deep shit this time, paper-pushing deep shit. Screwed didn’t even begin to describe his predicament, and all because he’d arrested the wrong woman. As he cuffed her, he had no clue who she was, much less who she was related to. Even if he’d known that information, he still would have made the arrest. Her hidden badge, on the other hand, would have done the trick.

The office door flung open and banged against the wall. The mayor stomped by, cursing beneath

his breath, his facial features set into hard stone. Steam radiated off of him like a teakettle about to blow. From the looks of it, Jack would have been dead at first sight if the politician carried a weapon.

“Love, get your ass in here,” his chief bellowed while moving to sit behind the wide oak desk.

This wasn’t Jack’s first offense, but the look on Masterson’s face suggested it might be Jack’s last.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the line of fire.

“Shut the door,” his boss demanded.

Jack eased the door closed and waited for the ass chewing that was coming next. His ass puckered,

his entire body tensed.

“Park it, Love.”

“I’d rather stand, sir.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion. I said sit your ass down.”

Love rounded the chair and sat, resting his ankle on the opposite knee in a relaxed state,

contradicting the turmoil going on in his mind.

“Comfortable?”

“As best as can be expected, sir.”

“Good, get used to it. You’re on desk duty until the mayor forgets you exist.”

“But, sir, she was selling contraband.”

He shook his head. “Save it. There’s nothing you can say that will explain you disobeying a direct order.” He crossed his arms and leaned forward on the desk. “She was undercover. That drug buy you saw was staged by the fucking feds. You almost killed her case. The only reason the feds aren’t in here demanding your dismissal is because you helped solidify her cover.”

“Sir, how is the mayor involved?”

Masterson tilted his head as if he knew the next question before it was spoken. “She’s his daughter.

Now get out of my office.”

He picked up the phone and started punching numbers.

“Sir, what did the mayor suggest as my punishment?”

He slammed the phone back into the base. “Not that it’s any of your damn business, but he wants

your ass in a sling and off the force. Luckily for you, his daughter feels different. For some ungodly reason, she feels she owes you one for helping her out.”

“And you, sir?”

Masterson let out an aggravated sigh. “You’re a damn good cop, but you’re walking a fine line.”

“Thank you, sir.” Jack’s chest puffed out with pride.

“And we’re short-staffed,” the chief added after the fact, deflating Jack’s sails.

The chief picked the receiver back up and started punching numbers, giving Jack a nonverbal

dismissal. Love opened the door and glanced back; the chief’s hand covered the speaker. “Don’t you have a report to go write?”

“Yes, sir.”

Jack stepped out of the office and took a deep breath before returning to his desk. A place he was about to become even more familiar with over the next few months. He replayed the events in his mind.

He’d seen the drug buy, witnessed it with his own eyes. He had a duty to arrest her; it was part of his damn job.

He’d begun typing away when the door to the precinct opened again. This time it wasn’t the mayor

or any feds dressed up in suits. It was the chief’s wife. She strolled in carrying a covered dish. The aroma of fresh baked cookies drifted through the room. His taste buds started watering just thinking about the moist cookies the chief’s wife always brought in.

The chief stepped out of his office. The worry creases around his eyes softened upon seeing his

wife. “Eileen, what are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I know.” She winked. “I have a favor to ask.”

“How much is this one going to cost me?” he joked lovingly, a contradiction to the behavior Jack

had witnessed moments ago.

“It’s not so much for me, but for your sister.”

The chief’s worried features returned. Jack leaned back in his chair, watching the exchange,

debating how he might use Eileen in the future to get him out of trouble.

“What does Sophie need?”

“She needs a job. She’s getting desperate, Max. She won’t tell you how bad it is because she

doesn’t want you to worry, but she really needs a job. Her bills are piling up; she’s stressed and that piece of crap car keeps breaking down on her. We have to help her.” Eileen uncovered the cookies

before offering them to him.

Was it a gesture or a bribe? She was good, real good.

“Just a part-time job until she finds something she likes. Don’t you need a filing clerk or something around here?”

His wife batted her long eyelashes and Masterson turned into putty in her hands. Brilliant.

“Eileen, you know I don’t mix my work with my family.”

Jack rose and strolled over, interrupting their conversation. Eileen had great timing and he wasn’t above using it to his advantage. Jack took a cookie from the batch. This was his chance of getting off desk duty. With more staff, the chief would have to send him back out in the field. “I’m sure he can help her out. Isn’t that right, Chief? You were just telling me how short-staffed we are.”