“Without context you can’t interpret what you see. You’ve made that clear. Tell me what you saw in Taylor’s aura.”
“I saw the kind of energy that I’ve come to associate with drug addiction. But I didn’t see any indications of an actual drug in his aura. I mentioned the bad energy to Evelyn, but she said as long as he wasn’t using at the time, she wasn’t going to kick him out of the study. She reminded me that a lot of people with psychic talents end up experimenting with drugs at some point in an attempt to self-medicate. Sensitives often think they’re going crazy. Sometimes they go to a doctor who thinks they’re disturbed and puts them on medication. Either way, drugs are often a factor when it comes to dream therapy.”
“The bottom line being that the indications of addiction were not a serious red flag.”
“No, especially since he showed no obvious signs that he was on drugs at the time. It was only later that I realized it wasn’t drugs that he was addicted to—it was the killing.”
“The ultimate game for a full-blown psychopath,” Judson said.
“Game is exactly the right way to describe how Taylor viewed his kills. Evelyn and I were convinced that there had been many victims before he got to Wilby.”
A van that had been driving down the street abruptly veered into the parking lot. The headlights pierced the night. The vehicle was moving much too fast and it was coming straight at them.
Judson was already reacting. He seized Gwen’s arm and swept her into a protected zone created by two parked cars.
The van slammed to a halt less than three feet away. There was just time enough to read the words Hudson Floral Design before the driver’s-side door shot open. A woman dressed in jeans, boots and a faded cotton shirt leaped out. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She ignored Judson and fixed her full attention on Gwen.
“I heard you were back,” she said. Rage and long-smoldering pain seethed in the atmosphere around her. “I also heard that Evelyn Ballinger is dead and that Oxley found you in the house with the body. Sounds like you’ve gone back to your old habits.”
“Hello, Nicole,” Gwen said.
She kept her voice low and soothing, intuitively trying to counteract some of the other woman’s anger. But she knew there was little hope of success. She was aware that Judson had gone ominously still. He stood very close and a little in front of her, partially shielding her with his body. She wanted to tell him that there was no immediate physical threat, but she wasn’t altogether certain that was true. It had been two years since she had last faced Nicole. On that occasion Nicole, sobbing hysterically, had vowed vengeance.
Nicole rounded on Judson. “Rumor has it you’re the new boyfriend. Better be careful. People around her have a bad habit of dying.”
“Take it easy,” Judson said.
“She murdered the man I loved two years ago and a couple of other people as well. I’ll bet she killed Evelyn Ballinger, too.” Nicole’s voice rose. “Stick around long enough and you’ll be her next victim. And watch what you eat. She uses poison, you see, so it always looks like a heart attack or an accident.”
“That’s enough,” Judson said. This time he put an edge on his words.
His ring heated a little, and Gwen was aware of an unnerving, deeply ominous sensation.
Nicole gasped and stepped back, startled. She turned quickly, searching the parking lot with an anxious expression, as if looking for something that might be coming up behind her. When she saw nothing, she burst into tears and turned back to face Gwen.
“How dare you come back here as if nothing ever happened?” she got out between sobs. “How dare you, bitch?”
She swung her hand in a vicious slap aimed at Gwen’s face. Judson moved slightly, just enough to get in the way of the blow. He absorbed the impact on one broad shoulder. The scary heat in the atmosphere escalated a couple of degrees.
Nicole whirled and fled back to the van. She got behind the wheel and slammed the door shut. The vehicle careened out of the parking lot and shot off down the street.
The disturbing energy dissipated.
Gwen watched the taillights of the van until they disappeared. Eventually, she allowed herself to take a breath. Judson clamped a powerful hand around her arm and drew her out from between the parked cars.
“Who was that?” he asked. He sounded very matter-of-fact, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.
“Nicole Hudson. She owns a florist shop here in town.”
“I saw the sign on the van. She was Taylor’s lover?”
“Yes. She blames me for his death. She never believed that he was a suicide. She thinks I killed him.”
“I got that impression,” Judson said. “You have quite a reputation in this town, don’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
Ten
When Judson and Gwen walked into the lobby, Riley Duncan looked up from whatever he was doing at the front desk. He gave Gwen a stern frown.
“Had a complaint from a guest on your floor, Ms. Frazier,” Riley said. “The lady in three-oh-five says your cat is bothering her.”
Gwen frowned. “How could Max bother anyone?”
“She said he meows loudly whenever someone walks past in the hall. I went up there to check and she’s right. I could hear him on the other side of the door. Three-oh-five says the noise creeps her out. She doesn’t like cats. She’s afraid the cat will get out of the room and trip her up on the stairs.”
“I’ll keep Max away from her,” Gwen promised. “Once he knows I’m back tonight, I’m sure he’ll stop meowing. I think he’s having abandonment issues. Evelyn raised him from a kitten, and he doesn’t understand that she’s gone forever.”
“Probably doesn’t like being cooped up in a hotel room, either,” Riley said. “Cats are territorial, you know. They don’t adapt well to new environments.”
“I’m aware of that,” Gwen said. “But I couldn’t leave him out there all alone at the house. There’s no one around to feed him.” She cleared her throat. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in adopting him?”
“I’m not a cat person,” Riley said. “Take him to the pound.”
He went back to his computer screen.
Gwen and Judson went up the stairs. The meowing started when they reached the third floor. It reverberated down the hall. Gwen winced, took out her key and hurried forward. When she opened the door Max was waiting. He dashed through the opening.