Page 7 of Dead Sure
“Everly said she saw you being far away from us, but what does that even mean? To a seven year old, far away is the next town over. Hell, that could mean anything. You could be at the grocery store, the doctor’s office, out to lunch.” As a detective, Ronan hated not having answers to specific questions.
“I know,” Ten agreed. “It’s bad enough I can’t see what’s coming, but it doesn’t help that Cope had no idea what Everly was seeing either.”
Ronan nodded. He’d been thinking the same thing. At the dinner table, he’d wanted to press Cope further, like he would have done with a murder suspect in an interrogation room, but knew that wouldn’t have gotten him anywhere. “All we can do is be vigilant. Keep our eyes open for whatever this thing is that’s coming for you.”
With a small nod, Ten turned off the light and slid under the covers. Ronan wrapped himself around his husband and prayed that whatever this bad thing was, he’d see it coming long before it could do any damage to their family.
4
Tennyson
Ten hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep. He’d been unable to shut off his mind, which kept, unhelpfully, supplying all sorts of bad things that could possibly be coming for him. He’d wanted to ask Everly over breakfast if she’d learned anything else about what was going to happen, but knew that if she’d learned anything she would have told him. The last thing Ten wanted was to send his daughter off to school distracted and feeling bad.
Speaking of distracted, Ten needed to find his own focus for the day to come. Now settled into his reading room, Ten looking at his schedule for the day. He had three client readings, one that started in a few minutes and the other two after lunch. He was looking forward to getting the kids off the bus. The plan was to make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and Everly loved helping to make the pasta sauce.
All at once, the dangers of dinner flashed through his mind. He could cut himself on the jagged edge of the opened can of tomatoes. He could get burned on the stove, scalded by boiling water, or steam when he dumped the water out of the pasta. He could slice himself along with the fresh loaf of Italian bread. Ten slapped a hand down on the table to stop his derailing train of thought.
It was time to focus on the day ahead. Ten’s upcoming reading was for a new client by the name of Elijah Logan. He reached out with his gift and found no members of the man’s family wanting to connect. The more he looked, it seemed this man’s parents and both sets of grandparents were all still alive. Ten had no idea what it was this person wanted to speak with him about.
A knock on his door broke Ten’s mind out of his thoughts. “Come in, Cole!”
“Hey, Ten!” Cole grinned. “I’ve got Elijah for you.”
“Come on in.” Ten stood up and offered his hand, which Elijah took. Information flowed instantly. “What kind of doctor are you?”
Raising an eyebrow at Tennyson, Elijah took a seat across from him at the table. “That explains a lot.” He sat forward, locking eyes with Tennyson. “No wonder that crazy bitch is after me. You’re filling her head with this madness thanks to Google and yourso-calledcharisma.”
Ten frowned. He had no idea what was happening. “When you shook my hand, I saw you in scrubs. I assure you that I didn’t look you up online. If I had, there would have been no need to ask what kind of a doctor you are.” Ten took a breath. He needed to calm himself down if he had any hope of convincing this man his gift was on the level. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
“Fine, I’ll play your little game.” Elijah reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He set it in front of him and made no move to open it. “I work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Salem Mercy Hospital. One of my nurses has had a crush on me for well over a year, probably closer to eighteen months. I’ve done everything in my power to let this woman know that I’m not interested in her. She continually asks me out to dinner, flirts shamelessly with me, and shows up at my house.”
“That sounds like a problem for the Salem Police Department. Is that why you’re here? To speak to my husband, Detective Ronan O’Mara?” Ten relaxed a little. It seemed the good doctor was angry at his stalker rather than at Tennyson.
“Your husband is a detective?” Elijah deadpanned. “Well, that’s convenient.”
Ten was confused. What the hell was going on here? Was this man playing a prank? “I don’t mean to be rude here, Elijah, but if you don’t believe in my gift and you’re not wanting to meet with my husband,whyare you here?”
Elijah reached for his phone. He tapped several times and slid it across the table to Tennyson.
A pretty brunette dressed as a Christmas elf had her arm around Elijah who wore a Santa suit, minus the beard, filled the screen. “Oh, you’re worried your girlfriend will find out another woman is chasing you and you want me to help stop your stalker?” Ten had no idea what the hell was going on.
“This woman isnotmy girlfriend.” Elijah looked like he was about to lose his temper. “She is the stalker!”
“Okay,” Ten said, still feeling at a loss.
“Some psychic you are! I’m wasting my fucking time here.” Elijah made to stand up, but Tennyson held up a hand to stop him.
“I closed my gift off the second you got upset with me. I’m not used to people coming in here angry at me. Like I said, if you would simply tell me what the hell is going on, I’ll be able to help you.” Ten was giving this guy one more chance before he kicked him out of the shop.
“Thatwomanis one of your clients. Apparently you told her she was going to marry me and have twin girls and live happily ever after in a brick house on a lovely cul-de-sac.”
Ten gasped and took another look at the picture of the elf. Everything clicked into place. He knew exactly who she was. “Autumn Miller.”
“Yes.” Elijah nodded, looking a bit calmer. “She works in my department at the hospital. Or at least she did until last week.”
In Ten’s mind’s eye he could see a tiny baby in distress. Bells and sirens wailed, but no one answered the call. Ten’s eyes snapped open. “Oh, my God! She’s the unnamed nurse who nearly caused the death of an infant last week.”
Elijah nodded. “The mother started screaming for help, saying her baby was turning blue. I heard her from the hallway outside the unit. I was coming back from lunch. Autumn was waiting for me at the elevator bank, instead of being on the ward like she was supposed to be. Thankfully, I was able to get to the child in time before serious damage was done, but I shouldn’t have had to do that. We have nurses in the unit to care for and protect these fragile babies. I wrote up the incident and sent my recommendation to human resources that she be terminated. There had been other incidents I’d written her up for and HR agreed she had become a liability.”
