A Deep and Dark December(17)

“I don’t have it.”

“I must’ve dropped it at Greg’s house.”

“We’ll look for it tomorrow,” Keith said.

“I need it now. I have to call my boss to tell him what happened, plus I need to check in with my aunt and dad.”

Keith steered her toward the door. “All right. We’ll get it tonight if that’s okay with the sheriff.”

“One thing,” Graham said, causing them to pause in their tracks. “Erin rides with me.”

“I don’t see why—” Keith began.

“I have to control the scene,” Graham interrupted. “I want a tight case. Not that she would, but I don’t want anyone to come back and accuse her of tampering with evidence.”

“Fine,” Keith bit out. “I’ll follow you over, then take her home afterward.”

“Fine,” Graham agreed.

Erin had to endure Jessica’s blatant gawking and Mabel’s not so stealth staring as they passed through the front office. No doubt tonight’s events would be all over town by morning. If they weren’t already. Just what she needed—another reason to stand out. She was grateful to finally be out on the porch and out from under their watchful stares.

It was still raining in great sheets, the sound constant and unrelenting. Lightning flashed, followed closely by a loud crack of thunder. The storm hovered over the town like a punishment.

“After this we’ll get you home, snuggle up on the couch, and maybe watch a movie or something,” Keith said. “How does that sound?”

“Good.” It actually kind of did. She didn’t want to be alone tonight.

Keith kissed her cheek and went down the steps to his car.

Graham grabbed his umbrella from the stand by the door and opened it. “Let’s get you in the car so you can hurry up and do that snuggle movie thing.”

Was that sarcasm in Graham’s tone?

He took her elbow and helped her into his car. She tried to get a read on him, but the cloud-covered moon darkened the night, making it difficult to see his expression. He tossed the umbrella in the back, climbed in, and started the engine with a hard yank of the key. Something was definitely going on here. More than the deaths of Greg and Deidre, and his supposed knowledge about her ability. She didn’t know Graham well enough to know what that something was, but she had a feeling that not all of this controlling the scene business was completely on the up and up.

“That stuff about keeping your eye on me was all bullshit, wasn’t it?” she asked.

He hesitated. “Yes and no. I don’t want any mistakes on this case and I wanted to talk to you alone without tall, dark and grocerly hanging around.” He put the car in reverse and backed out.

More sarcasm directed at her boyfriend.

“What do you have against Keith? He’s a good guy.”

Frowning, he put the car in drive. “I know.”

He hit the gas and their car went ahead of Keith’s. She pretended to focus on the passing scenery, but the storm made that impossible.

“Did you see something back there?” he asked after a moment.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I think you do. Come off it. Tell me what you saw.” She didn’t answer right away, so he prodded her again. “Erin. I told you, I know. You don’t have to hide who you are from me.”

“That would put you in the minority.”

“Along with Keith?”

“No.”

After a beat he said, “Did you see something about the Lasiters?”

How could he possibly know about her ability? He’d been hinting about knowing her lifetime-long kept secret since she came to on the floor of his office. She bit the inside of her cheek.

“Cerie’s worried about you. She thinks you might be having problems with your your ability, too.”

Her aunt told him about her ability? Why? Why would she—?

That’s why Cerie had rushed out of Graham’s office. She must have wanted to get out of there before she had a collapse like Erin’s. What did it mean? Had her father been affected, too?

“You can see the past and future.” Not a question. There was no judgment or censure in his tone. He wasn’t mocking her. Did that mean he believed in psychic abilities?

She’d learned at an early age that the novelty factor of her ability quickly wore off once the reality of what she could do set in. No one liked having the element of surprise taken away from them. No one wanted their past examined. And no one wanted to know how and when a loved one would die. She’d learned that last lesson the hard way.

What would happen if she told Graham about her visions? What would he do with the information? The truth was, she wanted someone besides her family to trust. She was tired of hiding, tired of pretending. She was worn thin from the pretending.

So when he gently said tell me again, she fell headfirst into the illusion of intimacy in his darkened car. It was just the two of them, not looking at each other with miles of pitch-black road ahead of them.

Starting out unsteadily, then gradually finding her pace, she told him about her initial vision and how it had differed from what had happened at the house.

“Has that ever happened before?” His question was matter of fact, as though he dealt with people with psychic abilities every day.