By the time Rick arrived at Jenna’s apartment, Rayne had fallen asleep again and Jenna was making dinner. Rick tossed his briefcase and jacket on the couch and wandered into the kitchen.
Jenna held up a spoon filled with sauce. “Taste this.”
Rick slurped the sauce. “Delicious. How’s Rayne?”
“As soon as she heard the Wells family was safe, she curled up and went sound to sleep. It took a huge burden off her shoulders.”
“That’s great news. I have some of my own.”
“Oh?”
“After Denise took the Wells family into protective custody, Mark stayed behind and canvassed the neighborhood. Many reported that there’d been a dark-colored van hanging out around there for a couple of weeks. Only problem, people couldn’t agree on the color. Some said brown, others a dark navy. They did say that it was a diesel engine.”
“Did anyone see a logo on it?”
“Unfortunately, no. Trip is doing a search for companies that use dark vans for work details as opposed to white vans. That may give us another lead.”
“So, my theory of him being a welder or mechanic may not pan out.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Those are typically in-house jobs.”
“I still wouldn’t rule them out, especially the welder job. Many companies outsource their welders. It’s still a viable clue.”
Jenna swatted Rick with a dish towel. “You are just pandering to me.”
Rick grinned and sniffed the air. “It’s the garlic bread. I’m banking on an extra serving.”
“Ha! You wish. You’ll be lucky to get one slice.”
Rick winked at her. He loved how easily they played off one another’s banter when they weren’t arguing a case. He walked to the kitchen door and turned around. “How long until dinner is ready? I need to freshen up.”
“Give me ten. The spaghetti should be ready by then.”
“Great. I’ll check in on Rayne while I’m at it.”
Rick walked through the living room and down the hall. He stopped at the doorway of the guest room and watched Rayne as she slept. She still reminded him of Summer, his niece. He’d been fresh out of the academy when Summer went missing. His sister had called him and begged him to come home and help find her. Rick had spent over two months in Albany as the local police and the FBI searched for her. Rick sighed as he thought back to the year he’d lived with Annette and Summer. He’d developed a special relationship with his niece and she’d followed him everywhere. When he had a falling out with the family and moved to New York City and in with Mazi, Annette had flipped out. She prevented him from seeing Summer and blamed him for his niece acting out afterwards. The blame continued when he and the FBI failed to find Summer. Her casefile still sat on his desk back in Washington, D.C.; nearly ten years later, they still hadn’t located her. It still haunted him.
Rayne stirred and rubbed her eyes. “Hey,” she said when she saw Rick standing in the doorway. “Anything new on the case?”
Rick was so lost in his past, that he didn’t even notice Rayne had woken up. “Sorry, didn’t mean to stand here and just stare at you. I was concerned though.” He walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. He told her about the neighbors seeing a dark van in the Wells’ neighborhood. “Nothing else new though.”
Rayne sat up and yawned. “I am just happy that Nisha is safe. If he’d abducted her too… I…”
“Don’t fret over it. We got to her first.” He dug into his pocket and removed the small box Mazi had sent him. “I have a present for you. Well, not from me. It’s from my cousin.” He handed it to her.
Rayne took the box and opened it. She removed the pendant and smiled. “Hematite. Grounding and protection.”
“Yes, that’s what Mazi said.”
“It’s beautiful. Will you thank her for me?” Rayne asked as she tried to put on the necklace, but fumbled with the clasp.
“I will. Here, let me get that for you.”
Rayne shifted her body on the bed and flipped her hair out of the way. Rick grasped both side of the chain and clipped it. Rayne turned back around and glanced down at the half-moon pendant.
“It looks good on you.”
“It feels good too.” After a moment of silence between them, Rayne sniffed the air. “Is that spaghetti I smell?”
Rick stood up. “It sure is. And that reminds me, I’d better get cleaned up before Jenna chases me out of the house for smelling worse than garlic.”
Rayne laughed and Rick winked at her. After he left the room, she climbed off the bed and walked to the dresser. She stared at the pendant in the mirror and ran a finger over the hematite moon.
Suddenly, her vision shifted. She was no longer in Jenna’s guest room. She turned around and stared at her surroundings. It was dark, but she could make out cement walls and that window, the one she kept seeing in her visions. To her left, there were three cages sitting on the floor. She walked toward them and bent down. Gina sat in the first one, her hands and legs bound with ropes and her mouth duct-taped. In the other, Sally laid curled up in a ball surrounded by candy wrappers. The third cage stood empty. Rayne reached out toward Sally’s cage, but her hand slipped right through the metal. She tried to speak to the girls, but no sound came from her lips. She wasn’t there. It was merely another vision.
Rayne heard footsteps approaching and turned around. A man crept into the room, but hug the shadows. Did he see her? Rayne couldn’t tell. She walked away from the cages and toward the man. If only she could get a glimpse of his face, then she could help free the two girls.
“What are you doing here?” the man asked.
Rayne stopped and clasped her mouth with her hands. He did see her. Again, she tried to speak, but no sound left her lips.
The man moved forward, but his face was still shadowed. “Is this a trick? Why can’t I see through your eyes?”
Rayne backed away from him. Her body passed through Gina’s cage and she stood on the opposite side of it.
“Damn witch!” he screamed at her as he slid along the darkened wall. He glanced down at Rayne’s neck. “Who gave you that pendant?”
Rayne still couldn’t speak. He moved closer and closer, still hidden by darkness. He reached a hand out toward the pendant and just as he was about to grab it, Rayne clinched her eyes closed and ducked down behind the cage.
“Rayne?”
Rayne lifted her head. She was still crouching on the floor, but Jenna now stood inches away from her. She glanced around the room and realized that the vision had faded. She blinked her eyes a few times and stood upright. No nausea. No pain. She looked up at Jenna with wide eyes.
“What the hell just happened?” Jenna asked as she walked over to her.
Rayne sat down on the end of the bed, her face awash in confusion. “I’m not really sure.”
Jenna sat down beside her. “I was coming down the hall to tell Rick that dinner was ready and I heard you talking. I knew it wasn’t to Rick. He’s in the bathroom with the water running. When I came in here, you were backing away and then crouched on the floor.”
“I was there, Jenna. I mean really there.”
“Where?”
“In his basement.”
“You had another vision?”
Rayne shook her head. “Not like previous visions. I mean, it was a vision, of sorts, but I was physically there, not just seeing things through his eyes.”
“How is that even possible?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Are you in pain?”
Rayne turned and stared into Jenna’s eyes. “Not in the slightest.”
“What changed?”
“The pendant,” a voice said from the doorway.
Rayne and Jenna turned to see Rick standing there.
“He’s right,” Rayne confirmed. She scrunched her nose at Rick. “But how did you know?”
“Mazi said it was for protection.”
Jenna scratched her head. “But why were you there and not just seeing through his eyes like before?”
“I don’t know. Did Mazi enchant the pendant?” she asked Rick.
Rick shrugged his shoulders. “Hell, if I know. I don’t even know if she knows how to do things like that.”
Now Jenna was confused. “What do you mean by enchant?”
“It’s called enchantment. Witches can take objects and put spells on them to infuse them with special abilities. I’ve never done it, but I know it can be done.”
Jenna stood up and shook her head in disbelief. “Okay, now I am truly freaked out. I’ve just gotten on board with this whole vision thing and now you are talking about spells and enchantments.” She rubbed her forehead. “Is that even real?”
“Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real,” Rick said.
“If you understand it, then you can explain it to Troy because I won’t even attempt it.”
“I didn’t see anything new. Well, except a third cage. So really, we don’t have to say anything about this to your boss,” Rayne said as she stood up.
Rick narrowed his eyes. “A third cage?”
Rayne nodded.
“We’ll have to tell Trip. If the abductor just bought it, maybe Trip can find out where. We can leave out how you saw it.”
Jenna sighed. “I’ll email Trip about it. For now, let’s eat dinner before it gets cold.”
Seeing You (a working title) is the story of Rayne Fallon, a witch with the power to see into the past and future, although not always accurately. She gets tangled up with FBI’s SA Rick Harris and SA Jenna Styles as they search for an 8 year old missing girl, thought to have been kidnapped by a Serial Killer.
Seeing You ©2016 Lori Carlson. All rights reserved. Permission must be granted to distribute or copy this serial (unless reblogging). Thank you.
In case you missed a part, click Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15
or jump ahead to Part 17
I am participating in NaNoWriMo. Each day I will try to write at least 1667 words for a total of 50,000 by the end of November. Today’s total: 1632 words. Total words so far: 26,906
A Whispered Wind 