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“What man? I thought you said you saw the girl.”

  “I didn’t see the man. It was more like I could see what he was seeing.”

  “So you really can’t tell me anything about this pervert, can you?”

  Renny squeezed her knee and the panic subsided. “He was older and white. He had his own vehicle.”

  “Along with everybody else in this city.” He frowned and looked at his watch. “Go on.”

  “He told her he needed to give the puppy away because he had two dogs already. She told him her granny said they couldn’t afford one.”

  “Are you trying to say her granny was there too?”

  “Why don’t you let her finish?” Renny said heatedly.

  “Because he doesn’t believe a word I’m saying,” Summer said quietly.

  “Didn’t say that,” Kohner said. “How many of these visions have you had?”

  “Uh, three. There were three others.” Summer looked away from his gaze, feeling naked, exposed.

  His smile bordered on a smirk. “You see any other kidnappings we should know about? Preferably ones where you actually caught a glimpse of the perp.”

  “Like you give a damn!” Renny pushed back her chair, braced her arms on the table and glared at the detective. “I convinced Summer to come forward thinking you people would be happy to have more information. Obviously she knew you better. Thanks for nothing.”

  Summer had to scramble to keep up as Renny stormed out.

  “You were right.” Renny pulled on her coat and removed her keys from her pocket. “Asshole. Detective Asshole.” She blew out a sharp breath. “I’m sorry I dragged you down here for nothing. God, can you believe him? He didn’t bother to write down a damn thing. Didn’t have the goddamn courtesy to pretend he believed you enough to hear the whole story.”

  Summer listened with one ear to Renny’s rant. A headache was trying to creep up the back of her skull. Georgia had been gone for three days. Summer wondered if she’d given up hope of being rescued by now. “I should get to work. Make this day count for something.”

  “Again, I’m really sorry. You want to be dropped at home or work?”

  “Work,” she said quickly, knowing if she went to the condo she might never leave. At work she’d have something to do. Something to take her mind off this nightmare she was trapped in. “Thanks for standing up for me. For believing me. For dragging me down here. I know he didn’t hear a word I said, but I said them. One day I think that’s going to make me feel better about myself.”

  “I wish that day was today.” Renny slid behind the steering wheel, put the key in the ignition, then hesitated. “Hey. I have this crazy idea. Not sure you’ll like it.”

  “I’m crazy, remember?”

  Renny gave her a ghost of a smile. “I think we should go back to the bookstore and try to find the book you touched. Maybe with me there to, I don’t know, anchor you, you could see more.”

  Summer’s mind stuttered at the thought of actively seeking a mind hop. She looked at her hands, surprised to see they were clenched into fists as if readying for an assault. When she’d had the same idea earlier, she hadn’t known the old guy was alive. Hadn’t known he was so close and still hunting. Could she do it? Could she willingly open herself up to the ugliness?

  The school photo of Georgia Zackery flashed behind her eyes. She couldn’t be any kind of decent person if she didn’t try with everything she had to connect with that little girl, to find her. Hadn’t she felt frustration at not being able to do anything for Brandy? This was her chance to perhaps balance the scales. “Six work for you?”

  “Perfect.” Renny rubbed Summer’s arm, exhaled, then zoomed out of the parking lot. “Maybe grab a nice low-fat salad afterward?”

  Summer’s smile was shaky around the edges. “On the condition you promise you’ll write Detective Kohner into one of your books. And not in a good way.”

  Renny’s grin was almost feral. “Already ahead of you. He’ll be the first victim of a cop-killing psycho. He won’t go easy or fast.”

  “Is it mean to want Carla to go next?”

  “‘Mean’ can be your friend.” Renny came to a stop at a red light and patted Summer’s thigh. “Working together we’ll find more information. Then we’ll go back to the cop shop and show them our mean. Blow their asses out of the water with our mean until we find someone to listen to you.”

  Summer raced through five times five as the beating of her heart echoed the beating in her head. Her idea of mean was…She didn’t know what her idea of mean was. Not really. What she did know was it probably wouldn’t blow out anybody’s ass. If there was a goddess, her job would be to stand behind Renny and try to look mean. With practice it could be done. She flipped down the visor and began practicing.

  Renny gave her a quick glance. “What are you doing?”

  “I, you know…” She shrugged. “I’m practicing my mean.”

  “Oh,” Renny said slowly. She made a left and pulled up in front of Summer’s office building. “Uh, let’s not quit the day job, okay?”

  “You just wait, okay? I’ll blow your ass out of the water when I’m done.” She opened the door, repressing a smile in response to the amusement Renny was doing an awful job of disguising. “Bookstore at six. Prepare to be impressed.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Inside the office building Summer looked at the bank of elevators, then headed for the stairs. No more elevator conversations for her today. Maybe she should take Stu up on his offer to build her some muscles. Then she wouldn’t need to use an elevator ever again.

  She considered it bad luck when she spotted Marcia standing next to Fiona’s desk. Judging by Marcia’s expression, the feeling was mutual.

  “You okay?” Fiona asked, her eyes wide with concern. “You sounded real shaky on the message.”

  “Yeah, uh. I had a, uh, a thing come up. It was important.”

  “A ‘thing’?” Marcia questioned, her eyebrows raised. “You’re late for work because of a ‘thing’? You’ll have to do better than that.”

  “I’m taking the time, so back off.” She stifled the urge to show her mean. “You’re no longer the boss of me.” The expression on Marcia’s face was priceless. Taking the high road, Summer waited until she was in her office to give in to laughter.

  “Someone’s in a good mood.” Liz stuck her head around the doorjamb.

  “Only a little. Just got one in on M&M.”

  “That’ll do it.” Liz plopped her butt on Summer’s desk. “I could say I stopped by to see if you need any clarification on the work I left in your in-box, but I won’t. Are you okay? Fiona forwarded your message and you sounded kind of…No, you sounded distraught. You’re not having any repercussions from the head trauma, are you?”

  “In a way. Short version. I thought I might have some information for the police about an ongoing case. After talking to them, turns out they don’t think I do.”

  “Am I correct in assuming you’re not ready to give me the long version?”

  She nodded. “Maybe some time when it’s not so fresh.” When I know I’ll stay in control, she thought, shying away from the concern in Liz’s eyes. Concern that could be her undoing.

  “Good enough. My door’s open if you need or want to talk. Whatever you say stays between us.”

  “Thanks. Don’t complain when I take you up on that offer.”

  Liz winked. “I’m made of sterner stuff. If at some point you feel you need to get out of here, do it. Work will get done.”

  “I need the work, the focus.”

  That proved to be true—Summer was able to work steadily until one, when hunger struck. The early March sun was weak at best, still the need to be away from her desk, to move, got her up and out. She walked the crowded sidewalks, passing restaurant after restaurant without being able to decide where to stop. Without thought, she found herself in front of the bookstore.

  Her heart hammered as she wondered if the kidnapper could be in there now, br
owsing through books and looking normal. After a moment’s hesitation, she opened the door and stepped inside. The clerk behind the desk was unfamiliar, but she smiled a welcome.

  Feeling foolish, Summer walked the few aisles, scanning the patrons while maintaining a safe distance from the local section. More relieved than disappointed when none of them matched the limited description she carried in her head, she browsed through the fiction section until she spotted a book she’d enjoyed before. She made small talk with the clerk while buying it, then clutching it to her chest, she retraced her steps back to the office. She couldn’t say why, but some part of her felt the book was a protective shield. Maybe it was because the author was Renny Jamison.

  * * *

  At four thirty Renny wrapped up another excellent writing session. She stretched her back, pleased with her progress and her ability to put the events of the morning on the back burner. If her readers didn’t like her new offering, it wouldn’t be due to lack of effort on her part.

  A grumble at her feet drew her attention. “I hear you. I’ll bet you’re ready for a walk?” She got her face bathed by a frisky Chazz.

  Once she extracted herself, she sent him for his leash and took herself to the bedroom. Chazz sat, leash in mouth, staring at the front door when she returned. “Come on. I didn’t take that long.” His bark seemed to say otherwise. “Whatever.”

  The walk to the park was brisk, fueled by Chazz’s impatience. He stopped to water a couple of bushes, but mostly kept to the path leading to the park. The sounds of other dogs reached them before they arrived and Renny had to tighten her hold on his leash to keep from being dragged.

  “You’d think there was free food,” she muttered, slightly winded. “No picking up smaller dogs, Chazz,” she admonished, unclipping his leash. She took his quiet “woof” as agreement and gave him a two-handed rub. “That’s my sweet baby. Go play.”

  “Sounds like someone’s besotted with their newest family member.”

  Renny turned to see Keile and Can entering the gate. “You’re here early and without the kids. How’d you manage that?”

  “The rest of the family got sucked in by the swings. I came over hoping to run into you.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Shouldn’t I be asking that question? How did it go with the police this morning?”

  “Oh, that.” She blew out a sharp breath, having managed to put it aside until now. “Disaster’s the appropriate word. The detective we spoke to was such an ass. He didn’t bother to hide the fact he thought Summer was full of shit. There’s a girl missing, for God’s sake. I thought they’d at least hear her out. Try to check out her version of events. But no, that asswipe sat there smirking, interrupting her with stupid questions. Not only was it a waste of time, but it made Summer feel worse than she already felt.”

  “And you.”

  “Pissed me off. I was the one who convinced her they would listen.”

  “What about Carla? You try to talk to her?”

  “Wasn’t there.” Renny grimaced. “And I was sporting plenty of cleavage for the occasion.”

  Keile laughed. “You thought your girls would sway her?”

  “By any means necessary. Come on, it’s not like she wasn’t all over me that last time at Eddie’s. I figured the girls might be enough to persuade her to listen to what Summer had to say. Maybe do some follow-up.”

  “Hail to the power of the bust.”

  “More like it was a bust. That fat-ass detective must have been gay. He didn’t even give them a good look. Didn’t trip over himself trying to do my bidding like the young cop we first talked to.”

  “The bastard.”

  “Damn straight. If you could have seen him sitting there like a big blob, judging her. Ugh.” She shook her head. “He was everything she thought he would be.”

  Keile stroked her arm. “Not your fault. What’s next?”

  “We’re supposed to go back to the bookstore. See if Summer can get more…I guess you’d call it information. But now I’m not so sure that’s the right thing to do. What do you think?”

  “Bookstore? What does that have to do with anything?”

  “You know. Where she saw the girl, felt the guy.”

  Keile scratched her forehead. “What exactly are you talking about? I thought it was the swings. In fact, I know it was the swings because it brought back memories of pushing Kyle on the swings and falling a bit in like.”

  “I’m talking about the girl that’s missing now, not the one from twenty years ago. I thought if she touched the book again she might get more information about the bad guy.”

  “You mean she saw the girl that’s missing now?”

  Renny leaned back. She didn’t think she’d ever heard Keile’s voice as high as it was now. “Well, yeah. I thought that’s why you called this morning.”

  “No. I knew she’d seen the other girl from before and thought she could help in some kind of way. Wait.” Keile ran her fingers through her hair. “You’re telling me she saw the girl who went missing Friday and the cops still blew her off?”

  “Exactly! That’s why I’m so pissed. That’s why I practically insisted Summer go talk to the police in the first place.”

  “Okay. Start from the beginning.”

  Renny laid it out, from the meeting with Dani and Carla, to the vision at the bookstore, to convincing Summer to go back to the cops over dinner.

  “Dinner, huh? You making a move that way, Renny?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” She thought about how her heart had done a little flip when she’d looked up and seen Summer watching her and how angry she’d been at Kohner on Summer’s behalf. “Yes. But as you know, it’s…complicated,” she said, falling back on Summer’s terminology. “She told me about the accident and the memory loss. I can see for myself that she’s very unsure of herself, quick to think she’s not quite right. In spite of that, or maybe because of that, I think she’s fun, interesting. And, well, you’ve seen her, she’s gorgeous, with those big blue-gray eyes and shy smile.”

  “I guess you do understand about losing a part of yourself. Just be careful. She’s fragile.”

  “I know. Don’t worry, Mama Bear, I’m going to take it slow for Summer, for me. I’ve fucked up plenty of relationships in the past. I don’t want this to be one of them. So yeah, I’m proceeding with caution.”

  “Good. That’s good. Sorry, didn’t mean to give you the full-court press.”

  “That’s okay.” Renny put a hand on Keile’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t like you nearly as much if you weren’t worried about her. I’m worried about her too. Which is why I’m having second thoughts about exposing her to this guy again. What if she connects and it’s too much for her?”

  “What if it isn’t? Did she agree to do it?”

  “Well, yeah, but only after I suggested it.”

  “She probably would have eventually thought of doing the same thing. This way she has you there to catch her if she falls.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe we don’t go and she doesn’t have anything to make her fall.”

  “Summer won’t do nothing. She told me about the other girl, made it through a grilling with Dani, then Carla and then she still went with you to the police. She obviously feels the need to help. She may not remember, but the Summer I knew was always the first to reach out with whatever was needed. Said she’d learned it from her parents. I doubt not remembering changed that.”

  Renny exhaled slowly. “That makes me feel better. Much better.”

  “Feel free to call if for some reason things go south.”

  “Done.” Renny whistled for Chazz. “I’ll call you either way. I know you’ll be worried.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “How do you want to do this?” Renny asked. They were standing in front of the bookstore, observing the last remnants of rush hour traffic streaming by.

  “Maybe the first thing to do is go inside.” Summer’s smile wasn’t bright, but it was a smile. S
he considered that a major achievement, considering what she was expected to do. “I wish I knew more about what triggered this head hopping deal. Usually I’m mad or upset when it happens. Not that I’m not really nervous right now. Just not sure that’s enough.”

  “Only one way to find out. In our favor, the place is practically empty.” Renny opened the door and motioned for Summer to enter. She smiled at the clerk, who gave her a long look, then glanced away.

  “He’s probably wondering if you’re Renny Jamison,” Summer whispered. “Maybe you should sign some books while you’re here. They have yours in the local talent section.”

  “Maybe I will. After you quit stalling.”

  Summer grimaced. “That obvious, huh?”

  “Not really. It’s more that I’d be doing the same thing if I had to do what you’re about to. We can put this off. Go grab something to eat first. Get you hyped up on caffeine.”

  “I couldn’t eat a thing.” Her stomach was empty and it was better it stayed that way until she knew how she’d react. She flew through the multiplication table to ten, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let’s do this.”

  “Wait.” Renny took her hand and entwined their fingers.

  The section was, of course, where it’d been yesterday. Maybe it was neater, with the books by author in alphabetical order. Summer ran a finger along the bindings, hoping it’d be enough to make contact. It wasn’t. She had to let go of Renny’s hand to pull the book off the shelf. “This is the one,” she said unnecessarily. “I looked at it and thought the conclusion was all wrong. How the guy was most likely white because Brandy was white. And though stranger abductions get lots of attention, they’re rare.”

  “What did you do then?” Renny prompted, putting a hand on Summer’s shoulder.

  “Let me think. I must have replaced it. No. That’s not right. It fell on the floor afterward. I must have been holding it when it happened.”

  “Then maybe you should flip through the pages. Look at the ones you looked at before.”

  Summer complied, going so far as to run her fingers over each page. “I’m getting nothing.”