Never in my entire career in law enforcement did I think I would get stuck working on a case with a would be psychic. I’m used to working on my own. Years ago, when I was a police detective I had a partner...Samantha. We worked well together, and were put up for the FBI position at the same time.
I got it.
I think she resented me for it, even though we were really close before all the politics came into our working relationship.
We haven’t spoken since I took the position here. Do I miss her? I don’t know. My assistants do a good job and I like working by myself. It gives me time to think, to sort shit out in my head...like my divorce, and how...how I’m going to be able to convince my ex to let me spend more time with my daughter.
She won’t budge though. She just won’t. I don’t know if that’s because of her dick head boyfriend’s influence or because I wasn’t around enough and she resents me...
I can’t focus on it right now. I have other issues at the moment.
Like the one sitting next to me.
She’s sitting there filing her nails as I drive, my eyes narrowed on the road for the most part with only the occasional half glance in her direction. I guess I’m waiting. Waiting for her to spout off some crazy incantation or to start talking in one of those possessed voices, like that chick in Harry Potter (Natalie loves Harry Potter), the one that teaches the crystal ball psychic stuff ...she like, started talking like she was possessed in the movie one time, something about the Dark Lord... I don’t know.
I’m waiting for this one to snap and do the same thing . Then I can tell Foster she’s just as fucking crazy as I always thought.
“So did you go to college after you graduated high school or did you go straight into the academy?” She speaks up suddenly, obviously realizing that my gaze has drifted over to her once again.
I quickly look back out at the road. “Academy.”
“Oh neat, so you were a cop first?”
I grip the steering wheel a little tighter. “Obviously I would have to be one. They don’t just let you walk into a job like this. You have to work hard. Well, I mean, unless you can convince people you have magic powers, like you did with Foster.”
“Hm, right.”
Silence.
Perfect.
“So I guess I’m just supposed to shut up and sit quietly then?”
So much for silence.
“That’s a good starting point, yeah. I don’t really need your help, my recovery rate is just fine, like I said before. Actually, if I were you, I’d try to get reassigned or something. There’s not going to be much work for you to do.”
“I’m used to people thinking I’m a big old Joke, Agent Timberlake,” she says, sternly. “It doesn’t bother me as much as you’d like it to, and I’m not going anywhere.”
I take a long breath in and exhale slowly. I don’t want to scream at her. Not on the first day, and especially not when I’m on the way to interview the family of a missing person. Foster would have my ass for it, since this chick seems to be his new little pet, and I can’t afford it. I have too much going on outside of my job. “I don’t get why you’d even want to do this,” I grunt. “It’s heartbreaking work, you know? You don’t always break every case. I’ve seen a lot of good, innocent people die.”
“Did you ever use a psychic for any of those cases?”
I laugh at her. “No...no I didn’t.”
“Well just think, maybe if you had, things may have turned out differently.”
“I doubt it.”
She shrugs. “You have to be open to new things. Working with the police was something completely new to me. Before I sort of just...popped up and helped out where I thought I could. Then people started taking me seriously. The same people that doubted me in the beginning actually. I didn’t hold it against them, so maybe you should just give me a chance too.”
“I just...need you to back off,” I say, trying not to grit my teeth. “I have a job to do and I can’t afford to have you distract me. This missing girl is sixteen years old. I’m not going to let her die at the hands of some psycho because you told me to take a wrong turn or interview the wrong person...got it?”
She sighs harshly and sinks down lower in her seat. “Yeah, I got it.”
I smirk slightly. Points for me. This time next week, I’m sure she’ll be gone. The rest of our drive is silent, which is fine with me. I turn the radio up slightly, and tap my fingers on the steering wheel in time with the beat, pretending my new “partner” doesn’t exist. When I pull up to the James house, I park the car and throw off my seatbelt before I say anything else to her. “Just stay in the car, okay?”
She crosses her arms. “Okay.”
“Great.” I open the door and get out of the car, filled with more enthusiasm than I’ve had in a couple of days.
“Oh and Agent Timberlake.”
“Yeah?”
“When we get back to headquarters I’ll just tell Foster that you elected not to use my “magic” for the investigation. I’m sure he’ll be fine with that, won’t he?”
I just stare at her. She wouldn’t go to Foster. She’s too timid. “You wouldn’t.”
She smirks. “Try me.”
I hate her.
“Get outta the car.” I slam my door.
She does it silently.
“Don’t say anything unless you’re asked a question, you got it? These people are distraught and I’m not about to make them more frantic by announcing that I brought a psychic with me. They’ll get false expectations of the investigation. That’s not how I operate.”
“I understand.”
“Let’s just go and get it over with then.”
We walk up the drive and for awhile she’s with me, walking silently, and then...then she just sort of stops and stares like some kind of freak.
“Are you coming or what?”
She just stares into the distance.
“Hello?”
“He...he was here.” She steps forward, towards a bush off to the side of the house. “He would watch her from behind that bush there.” She points to it. “Nobody ever knew he was there.”
“He?”
She looks up at me, her eyes glazed over with tears.
It gives me chills.
“Look,” I start, frustrated. “You can’t know...”
“She’s his,” Gracey whimpers. “She’s...god...” She squeezes her eyes shut. “She’s in a cramped little space. She’s...chained...she doesn’t know where she is. She doesn’t know him. But she’s terrified of him.”
Her eyes open again, and all I can do is stare at her, fucking bewildered. “Him?”
“She’s not the first,” Gracey croaks, shaking her head roughly. “You...you have to help her, Justin.”
“Fuck, I’m planning on it! What the hell are you talking about?”
“I...I’m sorry.”
She runs back to the car, and shuts herself inside of it.
I should be happy now. This is what I wanted all along was it?
I stand in the middle of the driveway, not being able to shake the vision of her sobbing in front of me.
It was like...she could see it. She could see this girl, right now, in her mind.
No. No it just can’t be true.
I have to focus.
I start towards the house, determined to get my job done today. Then I stop, because I just...I don’t know.
Something inside won’t allow me to let her sit in that car and cry. Not like that. Not after what she said she saw.
Fuck me.
I walk back to the car, and slowly open the drivers side door and sit down in the seat. She’s whimpering softly, head buried in her hands, and I honestly have no idea what to do. When I was married, there were times when my wife would cry. I would just sit there, asking her what was going on. I’m not good at consoling people, especially women. I’m more stern, more of a protector. My ex tells me I’ll never have an ounce of compassion in me for as long as I live, that I’m a heartless bastard.
Maybe I am.
“Um...Gracey,” I say gently. “I need you to pull yourself together, all right? You can’t go in that house if you’re falling apart.”
She sniffles and sobs a little more before she’s finally able to look up at me. “I’m...I’m really sorry, Agent Timberlake...”
I sigh a little. “You can call me Justin, really, it’s not a problem.”
She nods slowly.
I stare at her, at her expression. She’s still freaked the hell out. Her complexion has turned ghost white, as if she was really there, with Shannon, and I can’t...I can’t buy into this psychic stuff but damn...
Something has spooked the hell out of her.
“I can take you back to headquarters,” I say softly. “I can just come back.”
She shakes her head roughly. “No. I...I have to go in there. I have to know more.”
“I really don’t think....”
“I have to!” She yells at me. “I might pick up on something else. Please...please let me.”
She’s desperate, and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever dealt with before. The better part of me is demanding that I bring her back to base, but the curious part I guess...is telling me to do as she’s asking of me.
I mean, what harm could it do? As long as she’s not a blubbering mess.
“All right.” I pull a tissue out of my middle console. “Clean up your face and I’ll take you in, but the second you start freaking out, I’m taking you back to base.”
She nods. “Thank you, and...you know...you shouldn’t worry about your ex wife so much. She’s doesn’t have as much of an upper hand as you think, and I’m sure you’ll get to see your daughter more soon.”
I’m literally floored.
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