Shattered: A Psychic Visions Novel (42 page)

Trevor smiled. “Well, I’m her husband as you know. This is Drew, a friend and a local police detective, who has been working to help us solve some big issues happening right now, and
our
financial advisor, Roman Chandler.”

At Roman’s name, the two advisors’ faces pinched up tight. She snickered silently. They knew Roman and didn’t like him. That was good enough for her.

“As Roman will be handling my financial affairs going forward, it seemed prudent that he be here to facilitate the process as easily and as quickly as possible,” she said in haughty tones she’d learned on her father’s knees.

“But we haven’t had a chance to speak to you,” the first advisor protested. “Surely we deserve a private word with you before you make such a major decision,”

“That’s too bad,” she said coolly. “As we deserved and asked for the same respect and didn’t get it either.”

She felt Trevor suck in his breath. But he stayed quiet. She looked at the first advisor then the second. “You may proceed with the full description of my portfolio.”

The men looked uncomfortable around the crowded room. “It’s not normal to have so many people hear the financial details of your estate.”

“You know, you’re right.” She turned to face to the two henchmen who’d come in with her father. “Victor and Will, neither of you are entitled to hear this, you can both leave.”

Silence.

Her father grumbled impatiently. “As you well know that’s George, not Victor, and Will and they go wherever I go. Don’t be tiresome.”

She locked her gaze on Victor’s face and studied the lethal predator in the back of the room. And crossed into grayscale. His grayscale world. Out loud she said, “Hello, Victor. Did you really think you were the only one who could play games like this?”

The room stilled in shock. The financial specialists turned to each other and then slid a look toward her confused father. She ignored them. One should never turn their back on a predator. And Victor was the most lethal predator in the room.

You fucking bitch,
he roared in her mind.
What are you doing in my world?

Better things than you were doing in mine,
she answered, her voice hard, her tone clipped.
Asshole. Killing your stepbrother. Did you kill that teacher in the school too?
She snorted.
And what about Hank? Did you bury him deep somewhere where he can’t be found?

There was a stunned silence – inside and out of her mind. She could sense Trevor and Stefan’s shocked presence in Victor’s mind. She’d shocked them and maybe that was a good thing. She’d been too meek. She’d blame that on the blocks and drugs. That girl was gone now.

Victor was stuttering at the blow. She went in for blood.
Oh and let’s not forget you brother’s passion for fire. Did you kill him because of it? Was that him you left behind in my store? Did you use him as your scapegoat to hide your crimes?
She snorted.
Typical that you’d hide behind your little brother.

She could feel the parts of her mind stir as if he was in there. Like hell she’d tolerate that. She reached around and kicked him out. He jolted back into his chair, the others staring at him in surprise. But their gazes quickly turned to her as she snapped, “No, you will not go into my memory banks again. Not that you were the one who placed the blocks there, were you?”

“Hannah, stop this. You need help…” her father tried to say.

She ignored him.

“You don’t know anything, you stupid bitch,” Victor bit off. The financial advisor who sat at his side shifted back and out of the way. He might not understand what was going on, but he knew he was too damn close to whatever it was.

I don’t know everything,
she corrected.
But I know what I need to know. You fed the blocks in my head to keep them strong all these years. You were just no good at building them in the first place. Stones did that for you, didn’t she?

She heard the shock all around her as Stefan and the others listened in. But the biggest shock waves emanated from Victor. Good. She finally understood what had happened and why. It was too bad it took her this long.
“It’s too bad she was such a conniving, greedy bitch and couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

Don’t speak about her like that,
he roared.

In the rest of the room, Hannah knew this conversation on the ethers must look odd. Half in her mind and half out loud they were only getting tidbits. Just enough to make her look looney.

“What the hell is going on,” her father roared. “She’s lost her mind. Surely you don’t need more proof than this.”

Hannah ignored him and focused on the lethal killer in the room.

Why not? She didn’t like to stick to one man, did she? She wasn’t happy unless she was playing games. Games she’d played with anyone she fancied. Your brother and my father for a couple of them. Will for another.

She snorted at his look of outrage. After a quick glance at the uncomfortable faces on the far side of the table she turned her attention back to Victor.
He’s been walking like a peacock for years. Screwing her and thinking he was pulling one over on both of you. He always acted the most dangerous, terrorized people, but you were the dangerous one. You’re the one that walked into people’s minds and caused all kinds of havoc. Made them think, believe and do stuff they didn’t want to do. Then with Stones’s help, block it out of their memories.

So what if I did? We did?
He grinned at her. But the look in his eyes – chilling.
You can’t prove anything.

She studied him closely for a moment, seeing the tension in his energy, the frustration and anger at her words.
Did Sticks know he lit the chemistry trailer on fire?
She thought the answer was yes.

Of course he did. How do you think he ended up in trouble at that age already? He burned his mother alive in their house when he was only eight. But no one blamed him. I knew what he was though. I watched him give you the can after he lit the trailer up.

And his mother, did she deserve to die like that?

Damn right she did.
He glared at her.
That’s why I never said anything. That bitch was psycho. She’d burn all of us with her fucking cigarettes. One time she held his hand on a hot burner as punishment for stealing one of them.

Hannah could feel her stomach churning inside. It made sense though. Some people were born badly and others turned that way depending on how they were treated.
Right, so why the chemistry teacher?

He tried to get Stones into bed. He was drunk one night and propositioned her. After all he knew about her affair with the other teacher
.

But did he really, or was that more of Stones’s games. She probably screwed the teacher then knocked him out with his own bottle and came to you and your brother with her lies.

There was an odd silence as he contemplated her words. He shrugged.
You know, she just might have. She’s that kind of bitch,
he said affectionately.

Well, nice to know that you understand her,
Hannah said in a quiet voice.
And my mother? Do you know what happened to her?

Well, I didn’t touch her,
he snapped
. We weren’t around back then. For the longest time I figured your father did the job. Then I wondered if she hadn’t committed suicide
. He shrugged.
Whatever. Whoever started putting blocks inside your head did us a favor. Once the first one was there, we had no trouble adding more. Of course that was Stones’s work. But then the blocks started to fail, and I’ve been shoving energy to shore them up, but it’s no use. They’re coming apart at the seams.
His face twisted with malicious humor.
Sounds like you are too.

I am not. I’m healing – on my own
, she said.
Once I knew the blocks were there, they became foreign bodies to roust out of my head. Once the first few fell, I had no trouble dropping the rest.

He nodded. “So what now?” he said out loud. He waved at the group of confused faces staring at them. “Do you really think they are going to prove any of this?”

“I’m sure with some time and effort they will prove you burned my store and tried to kill us last night. As for the rest of what you’ve done…”

There’s no way to get proof, Hannah,
Stefan said in her head.
He has to confess in the physical world or he will walk.

Walking free isn’t an option,
she said, studying his grayscale world.
Stefan, why is his world so dark?

No idea,
Stefan muttered.
Something is really weird here
.

“Yeah, well, what about the man you killed,” Victor said in a hard voice to the stunned audience. “That should open up a painful truth.”

Her heart slammed against her chest. She froze. “And who did I supposedly kill?”

“What?” her father gasped.

“Sticks. My brother,” Victor said with a smile. “You were covered in his blood and you took off. I’m sure the cops will be able to match the DNA of the blood you were covered in to the charred body in your shop.” His smile deepened, darkened. “Especially when they find out you were lovers. And of course your prints were all over that gas can. Evidence that didn’t surface then – nice trick, by the way.”

“I don’t understand,” her father roared. “Someone explain.”

Hannah ignored her father. She had to keep her focus on the snake in front of her. “You killed your brother and burned him in my store?” she asked in horror.

“No, Hannah, you killed him.” And he laughed and laughed.

Everyone in the room turned to stare at her.

With that the last of the crumbling heap of the broken wall fell to the ground in dust. And she watched herself walk out of the store at the end of the business day to find Sticks standing in front of her, a knife in one hand and a gas can in the other.

She hadn’t recognized him. And there’d been no time. He’d attacked her – had he even known it was her? With that memory she remembered the details around Tasha. She had gone back East, and Hannah had known about it. She’d wanted to move back home to be with her family. She’d left that same day. At closing time, Hannah had been attacked. And lost everything she’d thought she’d known.

“He planned to burn the store down and I caught him. He pulled a knife. We fought,” she whispered as the memories flooded her psyche. “I fell and he tripped too. I thought he was dead and tried to get up…I searched his pockets and found…” She fell silent, remembering just what she’d found. Was this the time to show them? She’d kept it on her ever since. The only physical evidence she had from her life before arriving at Stefan’s door. “…Something.”

Everyone stared at her.

She shook her head as the memories stopped. “I don’t know what happened after that.”

“I’d been waiting outside. My brother, who you know as Sticks, wanted you dead. That would leave more money for your father to hand to someone else. Like me. And my brother figured I’d share with him. But my brother was almost dead when I went in to check on him,” he snarled. “By the time I came back outside, you’d stolen my brother’s car and taken off.”

“Did you follow me?” She stared at him. “You did, didn’t you? Only you never found me, otherwise I wouldn’t still be alive, would I?”

He stared at her. “You always did have luck. I found the car and moved it. But I couldn’t find you. I have no idea how I missed you. I checked that stretch of highway.”

“No, it wasn’t luck.” She shook her head. “I was being guided.” Then she understood what he said. Her heart clamped down tight. Her memories were still messed up but she had to ask. To make sure.
Stefan?

As I said you were in grayscale and I backtracked to find your body.

Right.
She swallowed several times.
So the voice guiding me toward you – that was the woman who wanted to kill you, right? She’s in grayscale too. And she sent me to you
.

I have an open door policy,
Stefan said.
Any energy worker in need of help is attracted to my energy and can find me if they need to.

So I’d have found you even without her? In effect I brought her to your doorway. She didn’t know where you lived, did she?

No, not until you arrived.

Christ, this keeps getting better and better.

It’s not an issue. Along with my open door policy is a barrier that only allows loving energy inside. So even though you led her to my door, she couldn’t hurt me.
His warm hug of acknowledgement made her feel cared for and loved.

Do you want to see her? Maybe you’ll recognize her and understand why she is after you.

Hannah knew it was the old creepy woman she’d seen on the patio. That woman had a powerful hate on for that man. She had a lot to learn about grayscale, but if she had her memories now she could sort out who was who. And that old lady on the patio she’d met was not a nice lady. And she wanted Stefan dead – bad.

She took a deep breath and hopped into the grayscale of the patio and the woman who’d said the two of them were the same. Hannah called to Stefan then showed him the woman’s face.

Dear God, now I get it! I have to leave. Someone else is in danger,
he whispered. And then he disappeared from her mind.

Good, maybe she’d helped someone else for a change. But she had Victor in front of her to deal with right now and a room full of people who thought she’d lost it. She smiled. “It doesn’t matter. That man won’t be helping
you
out.”

He glared at her. “There’s nothing you can do to me. Now get the fuck out of my life.”

*