Killer Insight

  “Yes?” Rankin said as he looked up, his eyes full of hope.

  “I’m Dr. Hall. Your wife is out of surgery and doing very well. We were able to retrieve the knife and repair the damage to her bowel, which was the only organ that sustained any injury. Your wife was very lucky, because it could have been much worse.”

  “She’s going to be okay?”

  “We want to monitor her carefully for the next twenty-four hours, but her outlook is excellent.”

  “Can I see her?” Rankin asked.

  “Yes. She’s recovering in ICU and she’s still very groggy, but if you’ll wait over there by the elevator I will take you up in a moment after I speak to the sheriff.”

  Duffy had come back with the water in the middle of the conversation, but heard enough to know that Hadley was going to be okay. When Rankin had shuffled off to the elevators, Dr. Hall turned to Duffy and said, “I’ve got the knife in an evidence bag. I tried to be as careful with the extraction as possible. I’ll have it sent down in a few minutes and hopefully your techs can get a good set of prints off it.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” Duffy said. “While I was getting Rankin some water I called the station and told them to send some techs over to his house to see if they can pull some prints. I’m meeting them over there in a little while with the keys. When do you think you can give us the okay to talk with Mrs. Rankin?”

  “As I told her husband, we want to keep a close watch on her for the next twenty-four hours, and, barring any complications, I would expect it would be all right to talk with her tomorrow.”

  “Great. I’ll be back then. Abby, you ready to go after we get the knife?” he asked, turning to me.

  “More than ready,” I answered, and we headed over to the information desk to wait for the knife to come down from the upper floor. A few minutes later a young man in scrubs showed up with a tightly sealed envelope and a clipboard. Duffy signed for the package and we headed out the door.

  Once in the car Duffy asked, “So where to?”

  “Ellie’s supposed to have a pajama party tonight for the bridesmaids, but I’m wondering if it’s been canceled.”

  “Let’s call her and find out,” Duffy said, and reached for his cellular. Speed-dialing her number, he waited for her to pick up, then quickly filled her in on the details about Hadley’s condition. After that he asked her, “So I’ve got Abby in the car and she was wondering if you were having your peeps over for a party tonight—no boys allowed.”

  I heard Ellie’s laugh on the other end, then some muffled sounds as she gave him an answer. Winking at me, Duffy said, “El says to get your tuchus over to her house, ’cause you are not getting out of her party that easily.”

  “Should we stop at Viv’s so I can change?” I asked.

  Duffy repeated my request to Ellie, then turned back to me. “She says she’s got stuff you can wear if you don’t want to make the extra stop.”

  “Cool.”

  “We’ll be there in ten,” Duffy said, and hung up the phone. Turning to me he added, “You done good today, you know.”

  I smiled tiredly at him. “Thanks. But it’s been a long day. Where does Ellie get the strength to keep going?”

  “At this point, I gotta believe it’s pure adrenaline. She’s excited about the wedding.”

  I nodded and we fell silent for a while. A thought swirled up into my mind as I mentally sorted through the events of the day. “Hey, Duffy?” I said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you think the guy who attacked Hadley had any connection to Gina’s disappearance?”

  Duffy cut me a look. “Is that what your radar is saying?”

  I thought about that for a minute. “No. No, it’s just that here’s this woman who’s doing her thing and some stranger walks in and kidnaps her and holds her at knifepoint.”

  “How do you know he was a stranger to her?”

  I was surprised by his response. “You think she knew him?”

  “Anything’s possible, Abby. He could be her ex-husband. A guy she’s cheating on her husband with. A neighbor or even a family member. Statistics are overwhelmingly in favor of some kind of relationship in cases like this. Point is, we won’t be able to rule anything out until we know who he is.”

  “Huh,” I said, thinking on that. “So you don’t think there’s a connection.”

  “I don’t have enough to go on to make that conclusion yet. For one thing, we don’t officially know that Gina’s disappearance wasn’t voluntary.”

  “Did you file the missing persons report?” I asked.

  “Yep. Took care of that yesterday. And I also have an all-points bulletin out on her car.”

  “What did you find out about her phone records?”

  “Well, Kelly was right about the time she said Gina called her. It was a little after eleven P.M. The odd thing is that the plane reservation was made at nine P.M., but not from Gina’s home phone or cell phone.”

  “She probably booked it on the Web,” I said.

  “Not according to United’s records. They confirm that Gina called the customer service line at approximately nine ten P.M. and got a reservation for the first flight out the next morning at six A.M.”

  “If she booked her flight for six A.M. at nine, wouldn’t she start packing right away? I mean, she calls Kelly two hours later and says she’s leaving for California, and she hasn’t packed a thing. That’s just weird.”

  Duffy was nodding his head. “The only thing I can figure is that she bought her plane ticket, then started doing her laundry so that she’d have clean clothes to take on her trip.”

  I thought about that for a minute—it sounded plausible. “What time did she call her boss to quit her job?”

  “Lindstrom said two A.M., and I confirmed that through her cell phone records, which record a call to Fidelity at around that time.”

  I gave Duffy a confused look. “So she was up at least until two A.M. And all of her clothes were put away, not one item was packed, and she had a flight out at six A.M.?”

  “That’s the gist of it.”

  “Something is really not adding up here, Duff.”

  “I know, Abs. I know.”

  “Did you hear from her neighbors?” I asked.

  “Not yet, but they’ve probably been at work all day. Hopefully there will be a message from one of them when I get back to the station. First, however, I have to check out things at the Rankin crime scene.” As he finished this sentence we pulled into Ellie’s driveway, which was lined with cars. The other bridesmaids and guests were here.

  I squeezed Duffy’s arm before I got out and said, “Thanks for the lift, and for the record you were pretty great today too.”

  “Just doin’ my duty, ma’am,” Duffy said with a smart salute and a broad grin. There was something so endearing about him in that moment that my heart gave a little flutter and I felt my cheeks grow warm. I got out of the squad car quickly before I made things really complicated. “See you tomorrow, Duff, and call me if you talk to Hadley.” Then I shut the car door and rushed up the stairs to Ellie’s front door, wondering how I could be having thoughts about another man while my heart was so freshly broken. “Trouble,” I mumbled as I raised my hand to knock. “This can be nothing but trouble.” Little did I know that I was right on the money.

  Chapter Eight

  I was met at the door by the very bubbly bridesmaid named Christina. “Hi, Abby!” she said happily as she shoved a margarita into my hand before I’d even had a chance to remove my coat. “We haven’t had a chance to get to know each other yet. I’m Christina, bridesmaid number three. Come on in and join the party!”

  “Thanks, Christina,” I said as I set the margarita down to shrug out of my coat. “Ellie said she had some clothes I could change into. Do you know where she is?”

  “She ran to the store a minute ago to pick up more tequila. She said when you got here to send you upstairs. She’s already set aside some choices on her bed.”

&n
bsp; “Awesome, thanks,” I said, and hurried up the stairs. I made a point not to glance at Ellie’s photo gallery. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing the flat picture of Gina right now.

  I headed into Ellie’s room and approached her bed. There were three sets of clothes laid out for me. The first was a pair of jeans and a raspberry-colored sweater. The second was a gorgeous light blue cashmere tracksuit, and the third was a pair of black cotton sweatpants and a matching hoodie.

  I opted for the cashmere tracksuit and changed. By the time I’d rejoined the party Ellie was walking in the door with a bag of goodies. “I got more tequila!” she called to the living room full of girls.

  Cheers went up from the group gathered there, and I peeked into the room to see what they were up to. The girls were boisterously playing some game that involved dice and some figurines making their way around a board. “What’re they playing?” I asked Ellie.

  “Mystery Date, if you can believe it.”

  “I used to love that game!” I said with a laugh.

  “How you doin’?” she asked me as I followed her into the kitchen.

  “I’m fine. A little tired, but good.”

  “I’m just so glad that Hadley’s going to be okay,” Ellie said as she began to unload the groceries.

  I picked up a bag of lime-flavored Tostitos that Ellie set on the counter and tore it open. “I love these,” I said as Ellie shot me a smile.

  “Help yourself.” She giggled. “Will you still be up for giving us readings tonight?”

  Crap! I thought. I’d forgotten about making that particular offer. “Sure. But how about we limit it to just a few? I’m beat and don’t think I could do more than four or five tonight.”

  “That’s perfect, Abs. I’ll make everyone draw out of a hat to be fair, and when someone draws a number, then they’ll get read.”

  “Great. But stack the deck, honey, so you get a reading,” I said with a wink.

  “Oh, I plan on it!” Ellie said with a grin. “I’ve got you all set in the guest room, so why don’t you head there and I’ll send the first victim up in a minute.”

  “Cool,” I said, grabbing my margarita and the Tostitos. I trooped upstairs once again and made my way to the spare bedroom, where Ellie had prepared a small card table, some chairs and a cute little votive candle in between. I sat down in one of the chairs and closed my eyes as fatigue settled into my bones. I took a few deep breaths and shrugged the feelings off, then focused on getting into my zone.

  Now, contrary to popular belief, psychics do not walk around in a state of constant awareness. We do not head out into the big wide world each day and get bombarded with information. If we did, trust me…we’d all be in the loony bin. Unless there is something of grave importance that our guides want us to pay attention to, like Hadley’s circumstance, for instance, it takes a conscious effort to turn on our radar. It’s a mode we go into. Think of how Tiger Woods walks onto the green at a big tournament. He is focused, centered and intense. He’s all business, and you can tell simply by looking at him that he’s in his zone.

  It’s pretty much the same with us. We focus, gather our energy and flip the old switch, so to speak. I know many psychics who, in order to do this, take an hour or two to meditate. I’m more of a Cliff’s Notes kind of gal, so I need only a few minutes to prepare.

  The routine is pretty much the same every time. First I run through my chakras, or energy points. I imagine them being turned on much like a lightbulb. There are seven of these in total, all a different color, running from my tailbone to the top of my head.

  Once all my chakras are lit I call out to three of the archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Uriel, for protection, wisdom and clarity, then to my crew, who are my own set of metaphysical baby-sitters, if you will.

  The crew consists of five spirit guides who have identified themselves to me through dreams and meditations. Collectively, they’ve made it known that their duty is to make sure that when I do my job, I get it right. Mostly they just try to keep me in line, which seems to require all five.

  By the time I’d finished my meditation the first party guest was peeking in the doorway. “Hi, Christina,” I said. “Come on in and sit down.”

  “Thanks, Abby,” she said, taking her seat. “I’ve never had this done before,” she admitted.

  “Ooooh,” I said with a grin. “A virgin. Well, Christina, I promise to be gentle and still respect you in the morning, okay?”

  Christina laughed and nodded. “What should I do?” she asked as she looked at me expectantly.

  “I need your full name and your date of birth so that I can focus on your energy. You don’t have to do anything other than that,” I explained. “I get to do all the work.”

  “Christina Plimpton, January ninth, nineteen seventy-six.”

  “Perfect,” I said as I closed my eyes. In my mind, I gathered my intuition like drawing back on a bow with an arrow, then loosed it at Christina. I waited to “feel” her energy before retrieving back my intuitive arrow, but as I searched I felt absolutely nothing. My brows lowered as I concentrated. This was weird. I couldn’t get a handle on her energy. Finally, I pulled my intuitive arrow back, thinking I must be more tired than I thought, and reached out to my guides for assistance. No information was forthcoming. I asked for a topic, and got…zippo. I insisted on a topic…and still…zippo. Getting frustrated, I shot my arrow once again at Christina’s energy, only to be disappointed.

  Changing tacks, I asked a question in my head: How is Christina’s love life?

  No answer.

  How is Christina’s career?

  No answer.

  How is Christina?

  No answer.

  Finally I opened my eyes and looked at the anxious girl in front of me. She had no doubt watched my facial expressions and was wondering why I appeared so pissed off. “Christina—” I began.

  “It’s something bad, isn’t it?” she asked me.

  I smiled, making an effort to appear relaxed. “Not at all. It’s just that I seem to be more tired than I expected, and your energy is so subtle I’m having a hard time making a connection. Why don’t you send the next person up so I can warm up on them and then we’ll try you again in a little bit, okay?”

  “Uh…okay, I guess,” she said, looking so disappointed that I almost held her back and tried again. But something told me to move forward to the next guest, so I waited while she got up and left the table, feeling truly crappy for letting her down.

  A minute later a petite blonde made an entrance, seeming more nervous than she probably would have if I’d been able to connect with Christina’s energy. I waved her in and she introduced herself as Michelle. After a moment I focused all of my energy on her and felt a connection right away. So relieved I could have laughed out loud, I began, “Michelle, do you have a brother?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “He’s your older brother, right?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “Are you and your brother spending money on the outside of your mother’s house?” I asked, puzzled by the message sequence coming to me.

  “Uh…” she said as she thought through my question.

  In my mind I kept hearing the word “mother,” then seeing the image of a house, then a dollar bill. As I followed this sequence I was shown a LA-Z-Boy chair being set on the porch of the house, and I asked, “Are you and your brother buying some type of chair for the porch of your mother’s house?” Odd as the image was, that was what I was compelled to say.

  Michelle gave a hearty laugh as she replied, “Ohmigod! Abby, you are amazing! My brother and I are buying my mother a porch swing for her birthday at the end of March!”

  I sat back in my chair relieved. Thank God, my radar was fine. There was something up on Christina’s end. Michelle and I continued to have a terrific session for another fifteen minutes or so and I asked for the next in the group.

  Because I was expecting Christina, I was surprised when Ellie appeare
d in the doorway. “Knock, knock!” she said coming into the room with a bottle of Pellegrino water.

  “I thought Christina was coming back up,” I said as she took her seat.

  “She decided to wait until you finished with me. She’s a little nervous to come back up here. What did you say to her?”

  “Nothing, and that’s the truth. Also the problem.”

  “You didn’t get anything at all?”

  “Nada,” I said.

  “Hmmm. Well, she thinks that you saw something terrible happening to her and you won’t tell her what it is. She’s waiting to come back until she sees what you have to say about me.”

  “You know I don’t filter,” I said defensively.

  “That’s what I told her, but she can get a little wiggy, Abby, so not to worry. Now enough about her. Let’s focus on me!” Ellie said with a small clap of her hands.

  I gave her a grin and closed my eyes, focused, shot my arrow, retrieved it back and began speaking. “Okay, El, the first thing I get is the image of a cradle, and we already know you’re pregnant, but they’re pointing to a pink blanket here.”

  “That’s what you told me this afternoon, that I’d have a girl,” Ellie said.

  “Oh, yeah,” I said, remembering. “Well, they’re saying that this is the first of two. So I hope you like girls, because I’m definitely seeing another cradle later, and it’s also got a pink blanket.”

  “Wonderful!” Ellie said. “Eddie will be thrilled!”

  “And congratulations on the new house,” I said, moving on to another topic.

  “You are good,” she sang back at me.

  “You’re moving closer to water,” I said, seeing a FOR SALE sign in my head and a moving van parked next to a lake.

  “There’s a house we’ve fallen in love with about a stone’s throw from Huston Lake and that wouldn’t be as long a commute for either Eddie or me.”

  “Great! I’m feeling like you need to act before the end of March, because that property won’t be available for long.”

  “We planned on making an offer after we got back from our honeymoon.”