Sixth Sense (A Psychic Crystal Mystery) (25 page)

Katherine started down the spiral staircase, enfolded in love in this realm and from the realm above. She could feel it. She could feel her parents’ love and encouragement.

But when she got to the landing, she was focused on Jack. He looked so handsome in his tuxedo. She could see him, but he couldn’t see her—yet. Would he like the dress? Was it too much? Should she have gone with something simpler or more elegant, something more to her mother’s taste?

All doubts were banished when Jack looked up and saw her. His jaw actually dropped. His expression was one of sincere appreciation, and of love.

As the women handed her off to her husband-to-be, he whispered, “My god. Katherine Crystal, you look like a fairy princess. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”

That was the effect she was looking for. She took Jack’s hand and everyone else vanished—the large contingent of Hales that had come in from all around the South, her parents’ friends, her friends from the gallery, even some of Juliette’s friends from Casa Spirito, and the judge who was going to marry them. Justice Harvey Bamberger. Probably Justin was here, too, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was Jack.

The voices in her head were stilled. But she hardly heard the vows. She only hoped she said the right things at the right time. All she could see was Jack in front of her. She was remembering the words he spoke when they made love for the first time: “See only me.”

Jack’s eyes were shining with love. He was reciting his vows, putting the ring on her finger, and then he had her in his arms and was kissing the breath out of her. Everyone was laughing. She was married, then. She hung on to him for dear life as she walked back up the aisle with her groom, yes, her soul mate, and into their future together.

The reality was better than any vision she could have had of her wedding and her future life. It was glorious, unexpected and totally unpredictable.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“You’re back from your honeymoon!” Juliette exclaimed, sweeping Katherine up in her arms, then hugging Jack, as the newlyweds walked into the new offices of Crystal & Hale. “You look tan and rested. Did you two have fun in Bermuda?”

“It was wonderful,” Katherine sighed.

“Way too short,” Jack complained. “But the honeymoon is not over.” He grabbed Kate and bent her backwards in an exaggerated kiss.

“Jack, not here. Juliette is watching.”

“I don’t care if she is. I am going to kiss my wife wherever and whenever I like, and as long as I like.”

Katherine rolled her eyes.

“What did you see there?” Juliette asked. “Tell me all about it.”

“We saw a lot of Bermuda...from our hotel room,” Jack said.

“Jack, stop,” Katherine admonished.

“That’s not what you said on our honeymoon. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we haven’t already conceived a little Jack, Jr., or a little Kate. Those Hale swimmers are really hearty.”

“Jack Hale, you’re embarrassing me in front of Juliette.”

Jack threw his hands up. “Okay, I can see that you two women are going to work me to death, and you know what they say—all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

“Jack, stop being silly.”

Katherine looked around the room. “Juliette, you’ve done wonders with this place in just two weeks. And I love the sign out front. It’s so official—Crystal & Hale—Psychic Detective Agency.”

“Well, all the interior decorating is not complete, but I think you’re going to like your individual offices. And we’ve already gotten some messages, including a dozen media calls, all wanting to know what Crystal Ball Kate is going to do next.”

“How does anyone even know we’re in business?” Katherine wondered.

“Word travels fast. Talk of your honeymoon and the new agency is trending on Twitter. In fact, we already have a new client, in a manner of speaking.”

“Tell us, who called?” Katherine asked.

“Well, it was a Mrs. Yardley. She wanted to hire you to find Bo.”

“Is Bo her son?”

“No. Bo is her pet boa constrictor who got loose from his cage.”

“Who would name their boa constrictor Bo?” Jack asked.

“Your mother named you Beau,” Katherine pointed out.

“We don’t look for lost pets,” Jack said. “This is a respectable detective agency. Lost pets don’t constitute a crisis.”

“To Mrs. Yardley, losing Bo was a crisis,” Juliette explained.

“What did you tell her?” Katherine asked.

“I called animal control, and they found Bo up in a magnolia tree in the neighborhood and brought him back to Mrs. Yardley.”

“That was nice of you,” Jack conceded. “But you shouldn’t be spending time tracking down missing pets. We have an office to run. And cases to solve.”

“Actually Mrs. Yardley is officially a client. She was so grateful she had her driver bring down a check for a hundred dollars.”

Jack frowned. “Her driver? A hundred dollars?”

“Yep. Did I do good? A hundred is a hundred, right?”

“At that rate, I’ll never be able to support my wife and child.”

“Jack, we don’t have a child yet,” Katherine pointed out.

“But we will, and I have to provide for you.”

“We have plenty of money,” Katherine assured him.

“
You
have plenty of money. We are not touching that.”

“Don’t be so macho. What’s mine is yours. You know that.”

“We’ll discuss that later—in the bedroom.”

Kate shook her head.

“If worse comes to worst, I could always do live psychic readings or tarot readings,” Juliette offered. “I
am
a certified psychic.”

“It’s not going to come to that,” Jack promised. “But speaking of pets, Juliette, will you please go get that welcome-home surprise I arranged for Kate?”

“Of course.” Juliette went into Jack’s new office and brought back a squirming white ball of fur and handed him to Jack.

Katherine’s hands flew to her face. “Jack? What is this?”

“Your surprise, sweetheart. Meet Romeo, the newest member of the Hale family. Romeo, meet your new mommy.” Jack handed a mewling Romeo to Katherine.

“Why Romeo?”

“We already have a Juliette. We can’t have a Juliette without a Romeo.”

Katherine squealed. “I love her.”

“Him,” Jack corrected.

Katherine snuggled the Bichon Frise puppy against her face. Romeo proceeded to lick her nose and eyes.

“Lucky dog,” Jack said.

“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?” Katherine intoned dramatically. “I’ve always wanted a dog.”

“Well, now you have one. Every boy needs a dog.”

“But we don’t have a boy.”

“We will,” Jack said, patting Katherine’s tummy. “He, or she, could be in there right now.”

“Isn’t that a little premature?”

“I believe in the power of positive thinking,” Jack said.

“You’re impossible, Jack Hale, but I love him. And I love you. Thank you.” She planted a kiss on Jack’s cheek.

“I have all the things the little master needs—his doggie bed, chew toys, food and water bowl—and he’s going to stay here with us during the day and then move to the main house at night,” said Juliette, who now had her own wing in the main house.

Kate and Juliette had grown very close since they’d discovered each other. They even dressed alike. These days, Kate wore frothy, swishy, sparkly clothing and preferred purple—Juliette’s favorite color. Miss Junior League had definitely left the building. She was growing more comfortable with herself. Jack loved Kate’s gypsy look, her style, and everything about his new wife.

“Okay, Juliette, you can take him now,” Jack said.

Katherine kissed Romeo quickly on the nose. “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

Juliette hooked a leash onto Romeo’s collar.

“I’m going to take Master Romeo for a walk around the garden,” she called as she walked out the door. “I’m trying to potty train him.”

“I want to play with him,” Katherine pouted.

“We don’t have time for games, Kate,” Jack stated. “I dropped by the precinct and finalized my paperwork. I’m officially off the force.”

“What did they say when you told them you were leaving?”

“They were upset, of course, but they were thrilled they’d still have access to Crystal Ball Kate, so they plan to keep Crystal & Hale very busy. In fact, we just got our first real assignment based on their referral.”

“Oh, Jack, that’s wonderful. What is it?”

“Let’s go into the conference room and I’ll give you the details.”

Jack slapped a thick manila folder onto the mahogany conference desk.

“The APD got a call from the Graysville, Florida, Police Department. While we were out of town, there have been more brutal murders in that college town. The psychopath is murdering members of the college’s new homecoming court.”

“Oh, no.”

“Yes, and after three months, they have no leads. The campus, in fact the entire city, is in the grip of an unknown serial killer.”

“Jack, not another one.”

“Sarge said girls are carrying pepper spray in their purses. Business is booming at all the Graysville sporting goods stores. Coeds are traveling in pairs or large groups, arming themselves with guns and knives and any weapon they can get their hands on. They’re all scared of being grabbed next. The girls’ parents are up in arms, five girls are dead, and one is missing. There’s already a media feeding frenzy. Kate, we’re going to be involved with the biggest murder case in Graysville, Florida, certainly in the South, maybe even in the entire country. The tabloids say the case is shaping up to be one of the biggest killing sprees in modern history.”

“Why are we just now hearing about this?”

“We were a little tied up catching our own serial killer in Sydney, falling in love, and getting married.”

“Sounds a little selfish of us, with all this going on in the next state.”

“Well, law enforcement has been doing its best to keep a lid on it, but things are heating up,” said Jack. “It’s being broadcast nonstop to the whole wide world from the situation room and streaming out across cyberspace. Complete with pictures of the six beautiful dead or missing girls, of their bereaved parents mourning their losses, of the candlelight vigils, and of the remaining homecoming pageant contestants, under headlines that scream, “Who’s Next?” The grief of the bereaved parents is bleeding into every living room in the world.

“They’re calling this case ‘The Homecoming Homicides.’ Everything is spinning out of control, and the murder investigation has stalled. The campus and city police have hit a roadblock after months of fruitless investigation, and the death toll continues to rise. The FBI has been salivating to gain access, and now that they’ve established a joint task force, the university and the city police are forced to beef up their efforts or lose total control of their case. And to make matters worse, the city and campus police are fighting over jurisdiction. Yhey were in the middle of a turf war even before they called in the FBI.”

“Why is jurisdiction such a muddy issue?” Katherine asked.

“The bodies of the five victims were found on landmark sites around the campus, so that’s University turf. The Graysville Police Department claim the girls weren’t necessarily murdered on campus, that they’re responsible for forensic examination of the crime scenes, and that the University is overstepping. They can use all the assistance they can get. That’s where we come in.”

“What do they want us to do?”

“They want you to work with the girl who’s the director of this year’s homecoming pageant. She’s a former pageant contestant.”

Katherine felt sick. She was in over her head. And she was sinking deeper every minute.

“But Jack, we just got back from our honeymoon. We have a million things to do around the house and the office. I haven’t written my thank-you notes. I can’t just drop everything and leave town. I don’t want to leave you.”

“That’s the best part. You won’t have to. I’m coming with you. I would never let you go down there alone. I’m going to protect the mother of my child.”

“Aren’t you jumping the gun?”

“I don’t think so. I have this feeling.”

“Are you a psychic now?”

“No, just an optimist.”

Katherine bit her lip. She tried hard not to show it, but deep down, she was scared to death, and Jack could probably see right through her act of false bravado.

“Just so you know, I can’t pull the killer’s name out of my head. It’s not that simple.”

“I know how it works. I’ve seen you in action, and I know you can produce results.” Jack stared at her face and saw right through her. “But, sweetheart. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. You don’t have to do this. You are more important to me than any case or any business.”

Just then, Juliette walked through the door with Romeo.

“Romeo is exhausted. I’m going to put him down for a nap.”

“Hurry back. I want to go over some crime scene photos with you and Katherine to see if you get any vibes.”

“Vibes?” asked Katherine.

“You know, any psychic-type feelings.”

Katherine shook her head and Juliette sighed.

When Juliette returned, Jack brought Juliette up to speed on the case and the three of them sat at Juliette’s desk with the file between them.

“The city is crawling with media. And unfortunately they want all the gory details. The Graysville police department has faxed over the crime scene photos, the police reports, and the ME reports and photos. A lot of blood and guts.”

Jack opened the file and arranged some graphic photos on the table that made Katherine want to puke.

“Let’s start with twenty-one-year-old Meredith Henning. Tortured, throat slit, what was left of her dumped into Alice Springs. What the alligators didn’t get was recovered there. Burned on the left side of her face,
while
she was still alive.”

“Then there’s pretty little twenty-year-old blond Montana Rountree. Tortured—butchered, really—left naked in a pool of her own blood in the fountain in front of Richert Hall. Same pre-mortem burn marks on the left side of her face.”

The queasy feeling in the pit of Katherine’s stomach persisted as Jack slipped more photos out of the file.