Page 112 of In His Sights

Gary prayed Will was about to eat his words.

After a minute or two, Dan opened his eyes. He handed the watch back, and Will fastened the clasp. “So? What did you discover?” He stuck out his chin. “Gonna tell me what I had for breakfast?” He grinned at the audience surrounding them, raising a few chuckles.

Dan regarded him with a sympathetic gaze. “Your father gave you that watch for your twenty-first birthday.”

Will blinked. “H-how did you know that?” Then he breathed easier, his usual brash demeanor returning. “You’re good, I’ll give you that. You saw the inscription on the back.”

Dan shook his head. “Did you see me look at the back, even once? No, you didn’t. So let me give you something else. He mentioned the watch the last time you saw him. Not that I’m about to mention where you were at the time. That’s no one’s business but yours.”

Will’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. “But… you couldn’t….” He turned and pushed through the throng gathered around them, heading for the door, cries following his exit.

“Hey, Will, what’s up?”

“Well? Did he get it right?”

“Aren’t you going to tell us?”

“Show’s over, guys.” Rob Michaels called out from the front of the room. “You’ve all got work to do.” Little by little the crowd dispersed, until only Gary, Dan, and Riley remained.

Dan glanced at Gary. “I don’t think he’ll give us any more trouble.” His expression grew uneasy. “I didn’t want to do that, but I’ve learned from experience that some people don’t believe a word I say—until I show them. And then they’re either fascinated, like Riley was when we first met, or scared shitless of what I’ll see next.”

“Whatdidyou see?” Riley asked.

Dan shook his head. “I’m sorry. It’s not for me to say.” He gestured toward the door. “Let’s go to our office.”

Riley patted him on the back. “Good luck. And in case I forgot to mention it….” His smile lit up his face. “Welcome aboard.”

“Thanks.”

They headed back to the office, and Gary closed the door.

“Okay, that was pretty much how I thought it would go down.” He gave Dan an inquiring glance. “You okay?” He knew from experience that using his gift exhausted him.

“I’m fine, honest. That didn’t take a lot out of me.” Dan peered toward the door. “I think it took more out of Will.” He looked at the pile of folders on one of the desks. “Are those cold cases?”

Gary nodded. “They’re a real mix. Missing persons, kidnapping, death…. Travers sent them. To be honest, I’m not sure where to begin.”

“Maybe we should spread them out, blindfold one of us, and stick a pin in one of them,” Dan suggested. Then he stilled. “Is Brad’s case going to be one of them?”

Gary’s throat seized. He shook his head.

“That’s probably a good thing. I can’t see Travers being happy about us tackling that one. Talk about a conflict of interests. And especially with all the media interest following our recent success—and my involvement. The press would have a field day. I mean, can you imagine the headlines? ‘Cop Uses Psychic to Investigate His Own Brother’s Murder While Other Cases Go Unsolved. Your Tax Dollars at Work.’” His hand went to Gary’s back. “I said I’d try, and I meant it. We don’t need to involve Travers. We’ll do whatever we have to on our own time.”

Relief flooded through him. “Thank you.”

A rap on the door had Dan dropping his hand quickly. An officer poked his head around the door. “Detective Mitchell? You have a visitor, a Mrs. Sebring. I’ve put her in Interview Room One.”

“Thanks. I’ll be there directly.”

The officer hesitated. “But she’s asking to see Mr. Porter too. She was very insistent about that.”

Dan raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

“We’llbothbe there directly, then.” The officer withdrew and Gary expelled a long breath. “I’m okay now. And this isn’t the time or the place to discuss Brad. How about we go see our visitor?”

They left the office and walked through the crowded hallways filled with people and noise. Gary did his best to ignore the stares and murmurs, but he knew Dan would have a harder time doing that.

Maybe by the time we’ve got a few successes under our belt, they’ll have warmed to the idea.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com