Conduit (11 page)

Emily’s foot rapped against the
floorboard of the car to the soft beat of the radio. Every few seconds she
stole a glance at the clock on the dashboard. The numbers were closing in on six
o’clock with alarming speed. Each city block they drove seemed to take years,
with her nerves jumping through her body and her head spinning at the thought
of having dinner with Jake.

Cassie and Emily spent the first ten minutes after the memorial
service discussing their findings. While meeting a large number of Diane’s
friends, Cassie learned nothing new. Emily shared the information that Diane’s
aunt Tara was not only the black sheep of the family, but also psychic. Though
an interesting and coincidental tidbit, they concluded it had nothing to do
with the case.

The last several minutes of their drive were in silence.
Emily wondered if she had made a mistake not sharing with Cassie that she had a
date, but if she told Cassie, it would result in endless questions. She only hoped
Jake was late in picking her up so she could avoid a last minute inquisition.

No such luck, Emily thought, as they pulled into the parking
lot of Monroe & Reid Investigators. A black Jeep sat in the parking lot with
dimmed headlights. “Who is that?” Cassie asked, leaning in closer to the
dashboard and squinting. She steered the car into an empty space near the Jeep,
where they could see the driver.

Emily rubbed the back of her flushed neck and squirmed in
her seat. “It’s just—”

“Hey, I remember that guy.” She turned to Emily. “That’s the
guy you talked to at the party last night. Then you went outside and came back
in to talk with us. I thought you said it was small talk with a potential
client.”

“I, uh...I may have exaggerated the smallness of the talk.”

“You talked to him long enough to set up a date? That’s fast
work considering you spoke to him for less than a minute at the bar.”

“We talked outside, too. Then he came by the office this
morning to continue our conversation.”

Surprise overtook Cassie’s face. “We just spent the whole
afternoon together. When were you planning on divulging this crucial
information?”

“I was hoping tomorrow after I knew if dinner went well.”

Cassie peered around Emily to get another look at Jake. “By
the looks of him, I think it will go just fine. At least it better go good. I
take back everything I ever said about you getting back together with Nate.”

“Dinner won’t go very well if I never get in his Jeep,”
Emily said.

“Oh! Yes, go, get out of here!”

Emily climbed out of the car. She rolled her eyes at the
sound of the passenger side window rolling down.

“Don’t stay up too late.” Cassie grinned at her through the
open window. “It is a work night.”

“It’s always a work night, but I’ll be home and tucked into
bed at a reasonable hour, Mom.”

Jake couldn’t stop smiling when he
saw Emily pulling up in the parking lot. Her friend driving the car was
unexpected, but he guessed from their gestures and discussion that her friend
also wasn’t expecting him. He recognized her from their company website as the
“Reid” in Monroe & Reid, but she was much more than that. Their closeness
in their exchange combined with the way her friend stole glances in his
direction told him they were best friends.

Emily exited the vehicle after a couple of minutes and made
her way over to his Jeep. She lifted her hand in a little wave, walked around
the back, and opened the passenger side door. Her bright smile, as little as
she had shown it to him, was just as he remembered. It was the first thing he
had noticed when he saw her across the room at the party last night. He wanted
to keep that smile just where it was for the remainder of the evening.

“Hi there,” she said.

As she climbed into the Jeep, he noticed she was wearing a
black pencil skirt that stopped just above her knees and a short-sleeve, white
button-down blouse. “Hi there, yourself,” he said. He gestured to his jeans. “I’m
afraid I am greatly underdressed for dinner.”

An embarrassed laugh accompanied the crimson on her cheeks. “I’m
sorry,” she said. She tucked a strand of her golden, dark blonde hair behind
her ear and gazed at him with large, grey eyes. “I’m actually overdressed. We
just came from a wake and because we were running late, I didn’t get a chance
to change.”

Jake’s expression sobered. “Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that.
Was it someone close?”

“No, I didn’t know them. Um, it was for a case.”

“You went to a wake for a case? That’s a pretty exciting
business you run there.”

“You have no idea.”

“I take it that was your business partner who is also your
best friend?”

“Yes, Cassie Reid.” She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.
A crooked smile took over her lips. “How did you know that? Are you stalking me
again?”

Jake chuckled. “I saw her picture on your website. As far as
knowing you’re best friends, I’m a jury consultant, remember? I get paid to
read body language and make perceptive deductions.”

“I’ll have to remember that. So where are we headed?”

He started the engine. “I was thinking of that new Mexican
restaurant over on 29th Street?”

“Perfect. I love a good margarita.”

“Then I’ll buy you a grande.”

“After my day, make it two.” Emily shook her finger at him. “Remember,
this is an apology dinner.”

Jake smiled. “That it is, but only so long as you stop
holding the apology over my head after tonight.”

She bit her bottom lip and reciprocated the smile. “Deal.”

David lifted his glass and swallowed
the last bit of Maker’s Mark. Though he wanted to have another drink, the
bottle was already half-empty. At the sink he rinsed out his glass and placed it
in the sink. In moderation, alcohol had a positive effect on his abilities. It
helped loosen his mind and remove inhibitions. If he indulged too much, the
same alcohol impeded his gift to the point where it stopped functioning until he
was out of a drunken state.

His experiments helped him learn how to use alcohol to his
benefit, as well as so many other things. All of his time spent on other women,
trying to attract their attention through conduits, had led up to this moment,
to Emily. She had been his destiny before he knew she existed, and Jillian
would help him get closer to her.

David shuffled to the kitchen table and picked up the knife,
his instrument to help him communicate with Emily. With the last two kills she
heard him, and with the next ones their connection would grow. He theorized
that, starting with Jillian, it would take three more for her to find him. Then
they could be together.

He smiled at the thought and headed toward the basement
door. This was the part of his work he enjoyed, when he melded his abilities
with his chosen conduit and they worked together to make Emily hear them. Jillian
might be not as smart as most of his other women, but she was one of the
strongest conduits he had come across. She also looked like a hell of a
screamer, which would make him enjoy their time together even more.

Much to Jake’s satisfaction, Emily’s
addictive smile stayed on her face for most of the evening. The more he saw it,
the more it affected him, on both emotional and physical levels. His weightless
heart bounced around in his chest and raced a little faster every time the
corners of her mouth lifted toward her soulful grey eyes.

He had enjoyed the evening more than any other in recent
memory and he hated for it to come to an end. As the waiter cleared off their
plates, he feared that at any moment Emily would stand up, have him drive her
back to her office, and quite possibly walk out of his life.

Jake had never lacked in confidence, but Emily made him
doubt everything. Watching her sip the last of her small strawberry margarita,
he recognized something special in her. He just wanted to keep her around as
long as he could without screwing it up.

“Are you sure you don’t want a second one?” he asked,
wishing she would say yes to ensure more time with her. “You’re a long way off
from two grandes.”

Emily shook her head. “As nice as it sounds, I really can’t.
I still have to drive home tonight.”

“That’s why I’m sticking with soda,” he said, shaking his
glass. “Though a tall, cold cerveza sounds great right about now.”

“Next time you have a beer and I’ll take the soda.”

He was glad to hear those words, a loose commitment to a
second date. “Sounds like a plan.”

Emily bobbed the straw up and down in her glass and her
smile faded.

“What’s on your mind?” Jake asked.

She moistened her lips and lifted her eyes. “I haven’t met a
lot of people like us before. I’m curious, how did you know? I mean, how did
you find out about your gift?”

“Well, to be honest it was my sister who knew first.”

“Your sister?”

“My twin sister. She had the same gift that we do.” Jake
smiled at his memories. “Janie was always the smarter one. She picked up on
things much quicker than I ever could. Just before we turned twelve, she brought
to my attention that something was off with us. We both sensed things that we
shouldn’t have been able to, but being a typical boy, I ignored it. She
explored it and dragged me along for the ride.”

Emily laughed. “Sounds like a smart girl indeed.” She
furrowed her brow. “You used the past tense when you talked about her.”

Jake hesitated. He had not meant for the date to take such a
serious turn. Such topics were usually left for later down the road, if ever at
all, but his painful memories were safe in Emily’s caring hands and he didn’t
mind sharing with her.

“Janie was in a car accident with my mom when we were
fourteen. They were the middle car in a five car pileup. A semi was behind
them. She, uh...” Jake took a deep breath to steel against the always raw
memory. “Janie didn’t make it.”

“Oh no, Jake. Did your mom survive?”

“She did, but she was paralyzed. My dad couldn’t handle
Janie’s death or taking care of Mom. Their marriage was on the rocks at the
time anyway, they were always fighting. He left without much to say to either
of us. It was like we had both died in the crash with Janie. Mom did die about
five years later from a stroke. I’m still not sure where my dad went off to.”

Emily put her hand over her mouth. “That must have been
horrible for you.”

“Some days it’s still hard thinking about it. I was mourning
Janie and angry with my dad for taking off. For the first year we had a nurse come
to help, but with Dad gone, the money ran out fast. Taking care of Mom without
help was difficult enough, but I worked two afterschool jobs just to help make
ends meet. It didn’t leave much room for the usual teenage boy antics.”

“I can imagine,” Emily said.

“Since I didn’t have time to hang out with my friends outside
of school, all of them disappeared over time. Before the accident, life was
much different, but afterward that one event consumed my whole life.” Jake
cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. It was time for a change of
subject. “How did you first find out about your gift?”

“It was much like you and your sister. I was ten when I
started hearing things.”

“An early bloomer,” Jake said.

“If you can call it that. I’m not sure exactly when we are
supposed to bloom. I was too scared to tell anyone because I thought I was
going crazy, but my Aunt Susan was like me and she recognized what was going
on. She took me under her wing.”

“It’s good you have someone like her.”

“And I wish I still did. She died ten years ago. I needed so
much more time with her, but the time we had is very precious to me.”

“That’s awful,” Jake said. “It sounds like we’ve been
through a lot of similar things in our lives. What about your parents? Did they
have this thing? Couldn’t you talk to them about it?”

“My mom assumed we were both nuts. She still does.” Emily’s
forehead wrinkled and she averted her eyes. “I don’t know my dad. Mom was quite
the alcoholic until a few years ago. She drove him away with her drinking when
I was almost four. Although I wish he had kept in touch with me, I don’t
necessarily blame him for leaving her. She is very difficult to deal with.”

“Do you still speak with your mom?” Jake asked.

“Yes, although she’d rather I didn’t. She has early onset
Alzheimer’s with dementia and lives in an assisted living facility. If I hadn’t
put her there, the alcohol would have killed her. I still visit her every
couple weeks, but when she recognizes me in a lucid moment, she usually curses at
me and throws things. Books, flower pots, utensils. Whatever is nearby and can
fly is tossed in my general direction.”

“Emily, that’s horrible. You shouldn’t have to put up with
all that.”

“It’s okay. It’s the way life is and I deal with it the best
I can.” Emily grimaced. “I’m sorry. This isn’t typical first date conversation.”

“We’re not your typical people.”

Emily raised her water glass and nodded in agreement. After
taking a small sip, she said, “Despite our unusual lives, you seem to have done
very well for yourself. Jury consultant for Nathan Wolk. That’s not an easy job
to come by. It’s not like he advertises for employees on Craigslist, so you
must have made someone very happy to even be considered. I’m sure Janie would
be impressed.”

“I would hope so. Speaking of which, I understand I’m on
dangerous territory.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m on a date with the ex-girlfriend of the big boss.” Jake
shook his head. “That may be a fireable offense.”

“I know you didn’t gain that knowledge using your jury
consultant training. How did you find out?”

“After I came to see you, I went to the office for a little bit
and your name was being batted around like a baseball during spring training.
Seems a lot of people consider your relationship a thing of legend.”

“Legend meaning in the past.” She took a long drink of her
margarita. “We were together for about a year and a half, but it’s been over
for several months now. If he even considers firing you for being on a date
with me, I will have a lot to say about it.”

“Good to know you not only have my back, but you have that
kind of pull to save my job.”

“We’re still friends and probably always will be, but
nothing more.” She gave him a wistful glance. “I hope that isn’t a problem for
you.”

Jake took her hand and locked eyes with her. “It shouldn’t
cause too much trouble.”