Death Perception

  Candice came to another intersection as the light turned yellow. ‘‘Hang on!’’ she shouted as the cars in front of us began to brake. Pulling hard on the wheel, she took us onto the sidewalk and lead footed the accelerator, turning the car sharply to the left at the last second before we hit a utility pole, and we narrowly missed getting creamed by oncoming traffic.

  ‘‘You’re going to kill us!’’ Jane squealed.

  ‘‘Would you rather I stopped and let you out so Robillard could give you a lift?’’ Candice snapped. That shut Jane up. She sat back in her seat and gripped the door handle for support.

  Candice’s phone rang again and I answered it. ‘‘I’ve got your sister,’’ Nora said. I relayed this to Candice.

  ‘‘Where are they exactly?’’ Candice asked, glancing in the rearview mirror again and making a face.

  I could tell that Robillard was after us again. I hit the speakerphone and asked Nora where she was. ‘‘We’re a block west of Charleston.’’

  Candice pulled on the steering wheel and we took another sharp right turn. Craning her neck to look off to her left in the direction of a gas station, she suddenly smiled. ‘‘Nora!’’ she shouted. ‘‘I need you to hurry as fast as you can to the corner of East Bonneville and Main! There’s a gas station there with a small car wash. I need you to pull up to the wash, put some quarters in, but do not enter it until I tell you to, okay?’’

  ‘‘Um... ,’’ Nora said, sounding a little unsure as to why she was being instructed to pull up to a car wash. ‘‘Okay,’’ she finally agreed.

  ‘‘Good, stay on the phone with me and tell me when you’re there, okay?’’

  We made a few more sharp turns, and my attention was now glued to the passenger side mirror, waiting to spot Robillard, who always seemed to be about a half mile behind us.

  Finally Nora said, ‘‘Okay, I’m at the gas station.’’

  ‘‘Great,’’ Candice said. ‘‘Do you see anyone in line for the wash?’’

  ‘‘No.’’

  ‘‘Good! Pull up to the box—it takes both coins and bills. I’ll pay you back—just please ring up the Super Deluxe wash, okay?’’

  ‘‘I’m almost there,’’ Nora said.

  ‘‘Candice!’’ I said as I noticed Robillard beginning to gain on us. It had been a little bit since we’d made a turn, and the street we were zipping down didn’t have as much traffic. ‘‘Robillard’s gaining!’’

  ‘‘It’s eight dollars,’’ Nora said.

  ‘‘Here!’’ I heard Cat say. ‘‘I’ve got a ten!’’

  ‘‘Damn,’’ Nora said. ‘‘It spit the money back out.’’

  ‘‘You put it in the wrong way,’’ Cat said. ‘‘See? It’s supposed to face that way.’’

  ‘‘Candice!’’ I said, my eyes glued to the side mirror. ‘‘He’s coming up fast!’’

  ‘‘Nora, I really need you to order up that wash!’’ Candice said as she made another sharp turn and we were suddenly zipping down a narrow back alley.

  ‘‘Okay, it took my money,’’ Nora said. ‘‘Which button is the Super Deluxe?’’

  Robillard was three car lengths behind and closing in on us. ‘‘The green button, I think,’’ said Cat. At the end of the alley was the entrance to what looked like a parking lot, but the view was blocked by a building on the left and beyond that a street. The alley was slick with water and our car slid ever so slightly even while Robillard continued to gain.

  ‘‘He’s right on our tail!’’ I shouted at Candice.

  And at that moment, Candice did something that astonished me. She actually slowed down.

  ‘‘It says we can enter the wash,’’ Nora said from the speakerphone.

  ‘‘Nora!’’ Candice shouted as I pulled my feet up to brace against the dashboard and pushed back into my seat as far as I could while I watched Robillard close the gap between us. ‘‘I need you to put your car in reverse and hit the gas on my mark! Are you ready?’’

  ‘‘I’m ready!’’

  Robillard’s grille was ten feet away from our rear bumper.

  ‘‘Three!’’ Candice shouted.

  The black sedan was five feet away.

  ‘‘Two!’’

  ‘‘He’s going to ram us!’’ Jane screamed.

  ‘‘One!’’ Candice shouted. To the left of us just as we passed the building and light hit our car, I heard a squealing of tires while simultaneously Candice pulled on the steering wheel and our car rocketed forward and left.

  Before I knew what was happening, we were airborne, landing with a hard thud in a dark enclosure as our windshield filled with water. Candice didn’t slow down. With her foot still firmly pressing the gas, she corrected the wheel and raced out of the wash just as a huge spinning brush came at us and knocked the top of the car.

  Behind us, there was a roar from an engine, and my eyes darted to the side mirror, where I had a clear view of Robillard’s car rocketing after us while he attempted to chase us through the wash. However, his large sedan hit the entrance at a disastrous angle and my jaw fell open when he ended up bashing his auto against the side wall of the wash, creating a tremendous crashing sound. Like a ball in a pinball machine, he bounced off that wall and into the other. Then the momentum caused him to swerve sideways with much grating and squealing metal until the sedan came to an abrupt stop as it wedged itself between the big blue roller brush and the sides of the car wash. As we accelerated away from the scene, I could see soap foam, car parts, and pieces of broken washer brush everywhere.

  ‘‘Nora!’’ Candice said as we made another sharp right and zipped down the street. ‘‘Get the hell out of there!’’

  ‘‘Where should I go?’’ she asked, her voice pumped full of adrenaline.

  ‘‘Ohmigod, did you guys see that? His car is completely wrecked!’’ Cat said.

  I noticed a small grin on Candice’s face. ‘‘Head to the parking lot of the Las Vegas Hilton. We’ll meet you there.’’

  Chapter Fourteen

  We exchanged our blue Mini for the red one and met Cat and Nora at the front of the Hilton. ‘‘That was some stunt you pulled,’’ Nora said with a big grin on her face. ‘‘I almost wish I could have stuck around to take a photo of Robillard’s face after he got out of the car!’’

  ‘‘I bet he’s a big foamy mess,’’ Cat said with a giggle.

  ‘‘How did you even know to do that?’’ I asked her with admiration. ‘‘I mean, did you just figure that out on the fly?’’

  Candice laughed, all the tension from earlier leaving her. ‘‘No, I’m not that fast on my feet. It was actually a stunt Lenny told me he pulled to get away from a bookie once. To be honest, I’m not even sure how he figured it out, but at least the story came in handy.’’

  Nora laughed too. ‘‘That sure as hell beats the PTA bake sale I was supposed to attend!’’

  I glanced at my watch. It was nearly four p.m. ‘‘Your kids will be missing you,’’ I said. ‘‘You better get home before we get you into any more trouble.’’

  ‘‘My mom’s in for the weekend,’’ Nora said calmly with a wave of her hand. ‘‘I told her I might be out at the sale until after dark. This is a lot more fun. Can I hang with you guys?’’

  I looked at Candice, unsure.

  ‘‘I have two dozen fresh-baked Devil’s Own Brownies,’’ Nora said, holding up a big plate full of chocolate gooeyness.

  That made up everyone’s mind. ‘‘Of course you can hang with us,’’ Candice said. ‘‘We’re heading back to the cabin. It’s better if we lay low for a while anyway. I mean, I know they’ll be looking for a blue Mini Cooper, but a red one with three women might flag someone too.’’

  ‘‘Then you’d better make it two women,’’ Nora said. ‘‘I’ve got room in my minivan. Why doesn’t Jane ride with me?’’

  ‘‘Gladly!’’ said Jane, and she jumped into Nora’s car behind Cat, slamming the door.

  ‘‘Some people don’t like the way I dr
ive,’’ Candice said with a shrug of her shoulders.

  * * *

  On the way to the cabin we stopped for a few groceries (Nora was like a woman on a mission, racing up and down the aisles, piling up our basket), and I hunted down a package of AAAs for my disposable cell phone. ‘‘Has that thing been off this whole time?’’ Candice asked as we got back on the road and she noticed me putting in a new set of batteries.

  ‘‘Yes,’’ I said. ‘‘Remember? I had to borrow yours this morning.’’

  ‘‘And which number did you give Gaston to call?’’

  ‘‘Oh, crap!’’ I said, realizing my disposable cell didn’t come with voice mail. ‘‘Well, hopefully if he called before, he’ll try again later.’’

  ‘‘Let’s hope so,’’ she said as we pulled off onto the road to the cabin. We made our way along slowly, with Candice keeping close watch in her rearview mirror for any signs of trouble. No one, however, had followed us or even passed us as we got to the cabin, and I felt myself relaxing for the first time in what felt like all day.

  After we’d unloaded the car and unlocked the cabin, I changed out of my nursing uniform back into my Yankees cap and black sweatshirt, and when I came out into the sitting area, I noticed that everyone had found a comfortable place to sit down. Everyone, that is, except for Nora. The woman must have come with her own set of batteries, because while everyone else had collapsed on any old seating surface, Nora went straight to the small galley kitchen and began unloading the bags and fishing through the cabinets for cookware.

  ‘‘I’ll have us a good hearty meal in no time,’’ she sang.

  ‘‘Can I come live with you after this is all over?’’ I joked as I took a seat on the couch next to Candice, who nodded in agreement. She and I were cut from the same undomesticated cloth where breakfast was a cup of coffee, lunch came in a to-go container, and dinner was anything that came ready to eat after being zapped in the microwave.

  Cat got up to help Nora, and Candice and I focused on Jane, who sat looking scared and timid on a chair by the window. ‘‘How’re you doing?’’ I asked her.

  ‘‘Better now that I’m outta that friggin’ hospital,’’ she said. ‘‘Thanks for taking such a risk to break me out.’’

  I rolled my head and cracked my neck. ‘‘Like I said, we need your help too.’’

  ‘‘So how does this work?’’ she asked curiously.

  I took a deep breath and got up off the sofa, moving to the kitchen table. As I took my seat, I waved her over and Candice came as well, carrying a notepad and pen to take notes.

  ‘‘First, I’ll need to get centered and focused,’’ I said. ‘‘That may take just a few seconds, so I’m going to close my eyes and do my thing, and then I’ll begin the reading, okay?’’

  ‘‘Okay,’’ said Jane, and I could tell she was nervous.

  I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, pulling out my abdomen and filling my lungs with air, then letting it out slowly. Immediately I felt calmer. I quickly ran through my chakras, then pictured a glass dome encircling everyone in the cabin. On the surface of that dome I pictured the glass turning gold and extremely reflective—this is a protection technique that I always employ before the start of any reading to keep out any negative or lower energies that might like to influence the reading.

  After that, I called in my crew and I felt them enter my space. Help me along here, guys, I said, then opened my eyes and told Jane I was ready to begin. ‘‘I realize you won’t be able to confirm any of the information I come up with, Jane, but as I give you my impressions, please let me know if anything sounds or feels familiar, okay?’’

  ‘‘Absolutely,’’ she promised.

  I looked at the table and asked for anything my crew wanted to give to me. ‘‘The very first reference I’m getting is the state of Florida,’’ I said. ‘‘Do you have any idea if you might be from there or have lived there in the past?’’

  Jane actually gasped. ‘‘When I was in the shower this morning, I noticed this!’’ she said, pulling up her pants leg to reveal a small tattoo near her anklebone of the state of Florida.

  I smiled. This might work after all. ‘‘That’s terrific,’’ I said. ‘‘Okay, so the next thing that I’m getting is this reference to a diamond ring, and there’s something really shiny about it—which makes me think that it might be new.’’

  ‘‘Shiny means new?’’ Jane asked.

  ‘‘Yes,’’ I said with a smile. ‘‘My crew will often give new things, like a new car, a shiny quality to let me know it’s new to the owner.’’

  Jane looked at her fingers; she wore no jewelry. ‘‘I don’t remember any diamond ring being given to me,’’ she said. ‘‘But I’m pregnant, so maybe I was engaged or newly married?’’

  ‘‘Maybe,’’ I said, but somehow that didn’t fit with the energy I was picking up from her. ‘‘Now I’m getting a tall man with blond hair around you,’’ I said. ‘‘Do you have any kind of recollection over who the father might be?’’

  Jane’s face scrunched up and I could tell she was trying to think very hard. ‘‘Maybe?’’ she said. ‘‘I mean, sort of in the back of my mind, I think that fits?’’

  ‘‘Don’t force it,’’ I advised. ‘‘If it doesn’t make sense, then it’s okay, we’ll keep going. All right, now I’m seeing a stage. I feel like I want to get up and dance—do you know if you liked to dance at all?’’

  ‘‘I love to dance!’’ Jane said in a burst of emotion. ‘‘Ohmigod! I know that I love to dance! See? It’s working!’’

  Cat had come over to stand behind Candice and watch the session. ‘‘Good job, Abs,’’ she said encouragingly.

  ‘‘And with this dancing thing,’’ I said, moving quickly to the next series of impressions, ‘‘I keep seeing money associated with this. It feels to me like you may actually be a professional. Someone who gets paid to dance.’’

  ‘‘Maybe I’m famous!’’ Jane said.

  I smiled. ‘‘Unfortunately,’’ I said, ‘‘that would be a different set of symbols, so while I don’t think you’re actually famous, I do believe that you’re paid well for what you do.’’ The stage in my mind’s eye began to fill with fog and I sat back as I tried to figure that one out. ‘‘That’s weird,’’ I said, focusing on the imagery.

  ‘‘What?’’ Jane asked.

  ‘‘I can’t tell if this is just a metaphor or something about the show you might be in, but my crew is filling the stage where you dance with fog.’’

  ‘‘Oh!’’ said Cat. ‘‘I’ll bet it’s got to do with Cirque du Soleil! They use a lot of fog in their shows.’’

  ‘‘Wow,’’ said Jane. ‘‘That would be so cool if I worked at Cirque! Abby, keep going!’’ she said.

  ‘‘Now I’m getting a school bell,’’ I said. ‘‘Jane, do you remember if you were in school?’’

  Jane’s eyebrows furrowed together. ‘‘Not really,’’ she said.

  My mind filled with a few more images. ‘‘There’s something to do with health care here, like maybe you were going to school for something in the health-care field.’’

  ‘‘Oh!’’ Jane said, perking up. ‘‘That kinda makes sense!’’ We all looked at her eagerly, so she explained. ‘‘See, this morning they were taking some blood from me for some tests and the nurse who was drawing the blood must have been new at it because she couldn’t find a vein to save her life, so I ended up taking the syringe and doing it myself.’’

  ‘‘You drew your own blood?’’ Cat said, completely fascinated.

  ‘‘Yeah,’’ Jane said with a laugh. ‘‘How freaky is that?’’

  My radar was still humming and the images weren’t stopping because we were having a conversation, so I interrupted with, ‘‘Now I’m getting something about a trip or a vacation....’’ I tried to feel out the series of impressions I was getting. ‘‘There’s this feeling of you having taken a trip and I feel like I’m being pulled backward, which to me means that it
’s in the past. Do you have any kind of memory of taking a trip somewhere?’’

  ‘‘No,’’ Jane said, her face scrunching up again as she tried to recall anything that could confirm that for me.

  ‘‘That’s okay,’’ I said, trying not to put too much pressure on her. ‘‘Anyway, getting back to this trip, there’s this feeling that it was quick, like you went somewhere and you came right back, and again they’re giving me this impression of a diamond ring or some piece of jewelry being given to you. Also—there’s this blond-haired guy again connected to this, which tells me that maybe your boyfriend swept you off your feet and took you somewhere to propose.’’

  Even as I said that, I knew it was off slightly, but I couldn’t figure out which part felt wrong. The whole of it made sense to me, but my crew was indicating that I hadn’t gotten it quite right. ‘‘How romantic,’’ Nora said over her shoulder as she stirred something delicious-smelling from the stove.

  ‘‘Oh! I wish I could remember!’’ Jane said, balling her hands into fists and rubbing her eyes like a child.

  ‘‘It’ll come if you don’t try to force it,’’ Candice advised. ‘‘Trust me, Jane, if you push yourself too much, none of it will come back.’’

  When Jane had calmed down again, I continued. ‘‘Okay, now they’re giving me the impressions of the car accident and something else, like I’m being pulled backward again and there’s this feeling like firecrackers or something loud....’’ My voice trailed off as my mind filled with an image that haunted me. Death Valley.

  ‘‘Abs?’’ Cat said, and I realized I’d fallen silent.

  I shook my head as if to clear the image still fluttering through my mind. Suddenly, I got up and moved over to where Candice had set down her belongings. ‘‘What’cha after?’’ she asked as I poked through her things.

  I pulled up her laptop and brought it back to the table. Pulling it open, I punched the power button and waited anxiously while the screen loaded. ‘‘What’s happening?’’ Jane asked.