AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Normally it’s not, but my colleagues speak highly of you.”
Cassie felt her face heat up. “I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but I’m kind of out of the consultation business.”
Harris nodded and stared Cassie down with such intensity that Cassie couldn’t help but squirm in her seat.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have anywhere else to turn,” the detective said. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice. Or was it reluctance?
Cassie swallowed back some bile. She had known this day would come sooner or later, but she thought she would have a bit more of a reprieve. “What can I help you with?”
“There’s no gentle way to put this, so I apologize for being blunt. Have you heard about the dead women in the papers? Three have been found so far.”
Cassie thought back to the newspaper article Magdalena had talked about yesterday. She had caught the news a few times over the last couple of weeks, too. “Yeah. Another body was found yesterday, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right.” Detective Harris crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. “I was hoping maybe you could help point me in the right direction, given your--” she paused here for a brief second, as if trying to find the right word “--proclivities.”
“Proclivities?”
“Your tendencies, your… predisposition.”
“I know what the word means.” Cassie fought to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “I’m asking what you’re implying.”
“I’m hoping to tap into your experience with the occult.”
Cassie caught herself a millisecond before she laughed in the detective’s face. “I have no experience with the occult.”
For the first time, Detective Harris’s confidence seemed to waver. “Have I been misinformed? I thought you talked to ghosts.”
“Talking to ghosts and having a proclivity for the occult are two different things, Detective.”
“Are they?”
“Yes.” Cassie let some of her annoyance slip through. “Describing something as occult is a blanket term for the supernatural, the mystical and magical.”
“And ghosts do not fall under that blanket term?”
“They do.” Cassie measured her words. She didn’t want to be rude, but she also didn’t want this detective to get the wrong idea. “But that’s not what you meant when you asked me that, is it?”
“No.” It was Detective Harris’s turn to shift uncomfortably in her seat. “No, it’s not.”
“I don’t practice magic or make sacrifices on an altar.”
“I’m sorry if I offended you.” Detective Harris took a moment to gather herself. “Maybe you could enlighten me about your abilities?”
Cassie took a deep breath. She’d had this conversation countless times in the past, but it didn’t get easier. Or less awkward. “I can—could—communicate with the dead. Sometimes I would get feelings about certain cases. Visions, even, where I’d see the past, their past, or even scenes they wanted to show me from the present.”
“Could?” Harris asked. “Past tense?”
“Yes.” Cassie swallowed hard. She swore the people two rooms away heard it. The detective had an imposing presence and Cassie felt it. “It’s been some time since I’ve been able to tap into that side of myself.”
“Does this have anything to do with Novak’s sentencing?”
Cassie stopped herself from shuddering at the mention of his name. “You’ve done your research.”
“I have. It seemed like a good idea.”
“I can’t know for sure,” Cassie continued, “but yeah it seems like my abilities faded as soon as he died.”
Detective Harris gazed at Cassie for several seconds, though it felt like hours. “And you haven’t received any messages? Any communications?”
