Lingering Touch: The Summer Park Psychics, Book 3 (16 page)

He pressed his back against the seat, his feet against the floorboards, and started thrusting up into her harder, faster. She flung back her head, eyes clenched tight, fingertips digging into his shoulders as she moaned his name again.

At last he let himself go, ramming up into her as he held on to her hips. Her body tightened around him, drawing out his orgasm as he spilled himself inside of her. He buried himself as deep as he could and held himself there, holding tight, pinning her against him, feeling the pulsing in their bodies answering each other.

She fell forward against his chest, breathing heavily. He felt her heart pounding against his.

When they were together like this, it was like they created their own tiny world. It was just the two of them. He wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the moment of peace while it lasted.

Chapter Twenty-Three

After the truly glorious session in the passenger’s seat, they had moved to the back for round two. Jazz had been only too happy to fill their time in each other’s arms as they waited for the best moment to go back to Travis’s house.

Finn said Travis checked his traps out in the swamp in the mornings. She didn’t want to think about how he knew so much from so few readings. There was still something going on they hadn’t figured out, and it was scaring her. But they needed to focus on what they were doing. They would sort everything out in time. She had faith in them.

He held her hand tightly as they made their way through the brush surrounding the house. Jazz pulled him back before he could step out into the yard.

“His truck is still here.”

Finn pointed to the small dock behind Travis’s house. “Yeah, but his boat’s gone.”

Her heart was beating fast. She didn’t like the idea of going into the house for many reasons. At the top of the list was her fear that Finn would get drawn into a memory again. After the incident in the SUV, where he seemed to be falling into Michael’s memories without touching anything, she was even more afraid of that happening.

What if the next time she couldn’t pull him back?

“We won’t be able to hear him,” she said. “The boat doesn’t make noise like the truck.”

“You can stay outside as a lookout.”

“Like hell I will. Where you go, I go.”

“Then you’re going into the house. I have to get some answers, Jazz. I need to know what his role in all of this is. It’s the only way to make this stop—to help my sister. I’m sure of it.”

She didn’t like it. Her instincts were screaming for her to run. “We can try to call Rachel again.”

“You just did. No signal, remember?”

He cupped her cheek and kissed her—a gentle kiss, not building to anything. Just a reassurance. It didn’t do much for her nerves.

He pulled back and said, “You don’t have to go with me.”

“I do and I will. I’m all-in, remember?” She let out a deep breath that did nothing to ease her nerves. “Let’s just get this over with.”

She stepped into Travis’s yard, pulling Finn after her. This time, she insisted on opening the front door. She didn’t want him to touch anything. She managed to not knock the door off its hinges.

Inside, things had changed. The animals, the pelts, they were all gone.

“Someone’s been redecorating,” Finn said.

Jazz felt a chill. She stepped closer to Finn.

“How is it that it’s somehow even creepier now?” she asked.

“Travis’s talent lies in being creepy.”

She looked over at Finn. That didn’t sound like him. He was looking around the living room, a strange smile on his face.

“Finn?”

“Yes?”

The lighting was dim. She couldn’t see his eyes clearly enough to note their color.

“Let’s go to the kitchen.”

“Okay.”

Two steps forward, and he stumbled into her side. She grabbed his chest to try to hold him up.

“Finn!”

“Whoa. Whee…” He laughed.

“This isn’t funny.”

She draped his arm over her shoulders. Damn, he was heavy. They staggered a few feet closer to the kitchen before he fell to his knees.

“Dammit, Finn, get up! I am not making out with you in this shithole!”

He laughed again. “Honestly, is that all you ever think about?”

He listed to the side. She grabbed his face in her hands and tried to see his eyes. They were closed.

“Show me your eyes. Finn, dammit, show me your eyes!”

The grin on his face was unnerving. It was worse when he finally opened his eyes.

They were glowing.
Glowing
blue. She could see the color creeping over his irises, making his own color look gray in comparison—blotting it out.

“Shit. Finn…”

She kissed him. She hoped—prayed—it was enough.

He shoved her away. She scrambled after him as he bolted for a door that led from the room. He ran into the small bathroom, retching into a sink. Dim light filtered in from the living room. The window in the bathroom had been painted over and an acrid scent of chemicals overpowered her sense of smell.

She didn’t care. She brought all her attention to Finn. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. When he was done, he managed to stand up again. He tilted his head back and let out a huge sigh. He didn’t push her away.

“Finn?”

“Yeah. It’s me. Shit, at least I think so.”

Thank God. She buried her face in his chest, gave herself a moment—just a moment—to feel him, to regroup, to try to figure out what to do next.

“This doesn’t make sense,” she said. “If your sister wants you to help her—sees that you’re trying to—why is she making your powers go crazy? She has to know that messing with you is making Michael’s memories have a stronger effect.”

“I don’t know what’s going on. I wish I understood.” He held her tighter. “I’m scared, Jazz. I feel like I’m losing myself. Like he’s taking me over.”

“That sounds like possession.”

“How can he possess me if he’s gone? You said he can’t be haunting me.”

“Rachel said he was cremated. Without physical remains, he should have been forced to cross over.” Jazz had learned that in her own studies, even before Rachel had told her. “I’m calling Rachel. Something’s not right.”

She pulled her phone from her pocket. The signal strength was weak, but there. She hoped it would be enough. Finn rested his head on her shoulder as she dialed the number.

Rachel answered after only a few rings.

“Hello?”

Jazz barely gave herself time to register relief that she had reached Rachel. It was too early to be reassured anyway. Who knew how long their signal would hold?

“Are you absolutely sure that Michael is gone?” Jazz asked. A sharp bite of static hit her ear.

Through the noise, Jazz could hear the hesitance in Rachel’s voice. “He was cremated.”

“I know, but if he found a strong connection, could he possibly possess someone?”

If Finn’s twin had the same power, maybe Michael’s personality had implanted itself in her. Jazz had seen documentaries about twins and their psychic links. Or even worse, maybe Michael had latched on to Siobhan’s psychic energy and was using it to stick around. Michael could be using their connection to get to Finn, to try to influence the corporeal world.

Finn reached behind Jazz and flipped on a light switch. The room went from dark and creepy to bright and…gross. Jazz turned away from the sink. String crossed the room just above her head, filled with photographs hanging from clothespins. Was this a dark room?

She forced herself to finish her thought as she glanced at the pictures. “Maybe someone with psychic abilities?”

“Possession?” Rachel’s voice rose to a squeak.

Jazz looked more closely at the pictures. Her heart pounded, her breath catching in her chest as full-on panic set in. The pictures hanging on the string were of Elsa and Rachel. Rachel through the windows of her mom’s tea room, taken with a telescopic lens. Elsa standing at the window of her loft, arms around Dante’s waist. He had bandages on his face.

These were recent.

“Oh God—”

In a huge burst of static, the call went dead.

“Jazz…” Finn was looking at the pictures, his eyes wide.

“Yeah. I see them.”

He reached up and plucked one of the pictures from the line.

“Finn, don’t!”

Her warning was too late. She waited for the change, for him to stiffen and pull away, to look at her with that condescending smile. His hand was shaking.

Her chest was so tight, Jazz felt like she was going to pass out. She pulled herself together. Finn needed her, dammit. From the look of things, all of her friends did.

Travis was stalking Elsa and Rachel. Maybe that was the real reason that Siobhan was messing with Finn. She wasn’t trying to get help for herself—she was trying to save Elsa and Rachel.

“This… It’s her. I know it.” Finn’s eyes were perfectly, pristinely gray-blue. And full of tears.

“Who?”

“Siobhan. This is my sister.”

Jazz looked at the photo. “That’s Rachel.”

“No. No, this is Siobhan. I’m sure of it.”

“It can’t be. Finn, that is Rachel.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Okay, we need to figure this out—back at the SUV. We need to call the police.”

He nodded. Jazz let out a tiny breath. There was so much more at stake than she had imagined.

“Put the picture back. We don’t want to tip off Travis that we were here.”

She kept one arm around Finn’s waist as she twisted around to turn on the water in the sink and rinse it clean. She hoped it would dry before Travis came home. Finn kept staring at the picture in his hand.

“Finn, put it back.”

Slowly, he lifted his arms and placed it back on the line. He kept staring at the other photos.

She had to get him out of there.

“We’re going to figure this out,” she said. “If Travis has these, he probably has other trophies around. We let the police know, they search the place with a warrant, and they stop him before…”

She couldn’t finish that thought. She had no idea what Travis had planned for Elsa and Rachel. Jazz couldn’t convince herself it was nothing. She turned off the water in the sink and flipped the light switch, then pulled Finn back into the living room.

A quick survey of the room showed her they hadn’t disturbed anything else. She pulled the door to the bathroom shut, then headed for the front door. She kept her arm tight around Finn’s waist. He didn’t seem to want to leave.

The sooner they were out of this house the better. They stumbled out the door and through the yard. Fennel brushed against them as they made their way back to the SUV. A lingering scent like licorice floated around them, cleansing her nose from the stifling bathroom.

She opened the back door of the SUV and helped him sit down. He looked like he was in shock.

“How can Rachel be my sister?” he asked.

“She can’t. I’ve met both her parents. Your powers must be acting up again.”

“No. Not this time. I’m sure of it.” He shook his head. “Is she adopted, maybe?”

“Not that she’s ever told me. Then again, her mother is a lying, manipulative—”

Wait… Her mother
was
a liar and a master manipulator.

Jazz remembered what Tommy had said about Finn’s mom. The picture he painted was not rosy. It did, however, remind her of Lillian Montgomery.

“What?”

“Your dad said your mom left for a lawyer.”

“Yeah.”

“Rachel’s dad is a lawyer. Tommy said your mom warned him not to try to find them. What if they moved and changed her name?”

“How could we all wind up in Summer Park?”

“Summer Park is a magnet for psychics. I’m friends with the owner of the local metaphysical bookstore. There’s a huge population of them here.”

“It still seems like too much of a coincidence.”

“Maybe it isn’t a coincidence. Maybe it’s Fate.”

She was starting to wonder.

“I don’t know. If Rachel is Siobhan, that means my powers aren’t off the rails because of being haunted. I’m back to square one solving that problem.”

“I don’t think so. When exactly did your powers go out of control?”

“It was the day Michael died. No, the day before.”

“The day Rachel was abducted. You started dreaming about what Rachel experienced that night—as it was happening. Twins often have a psychic link. With both of your heightened powers, maybe the trauma of it activated a connection and it sort of went haywire.”

“That’s a hell of a lot better than being haunted or possessed.” Finn shook his head. “Do you really think it could be her?”

Jazz looked at his pale blue eyes, remembering again how similar they were to Rachel’s. But it was more than that. They were both tall and had similar athletic builds, like Tommy. Straight noses, strong features… How could she have not seen it before?

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. She was so relieved, almost giddy. Finn’s sister wasn’t dead after all. And she was
Rachel
.

“Yeah,” Jazz said. “I think so.”

“Damn,” he said. Then he laughed too. “I have to tell Dad. I mean, I’ll check with him on the details first, but he has to know about this.”

He jumped up and pulled his phone from his pocket. He looked at the screen, then he started walking around waving it in the air.

“There has to be a signal around here somewhere.”

Jazz couldn’t stop smiling. This was the best news she’d heard in a long time. Tommy would be so happy. Even Rachel would be glad to know that she actually had a decent family. It was perfect.

Except something wasn’t right. Rachel’s trauma might have Finn’s powers out of whack, but that didn’t explain how Michael’s memories were strong enough to take him over. From what Finn said, Michael’s memories were potent, but they shouldn’t be enough to change his appearance…

Could they?

“Let’s drive somewhere that has a signal,” he said. “We need to call Dad and let the cops know to—”

He gave a sharp cry. Jazz heard creaking and a loud crack from the other side of the SUV. She bolted around to see Finn hanging upside down, his body slowly rotating in the air.

“Finn!”

She ran to him, grabbing his sides to stop his movement. A rope was caught around his ankle. He had stepped in some kind of snare. It looked like it had been set up to pull him against the tree. He must have hit it hard to make such a loud noise. He was out cold.

“Shit! Finn…”

His chest was still moving. He was breathing. She had to get him down. Maybe there was something in the SUV that could help. She turned back to it, vaguely registering Travis standing right behind her, his arm seeming to fly toward her face. She felt a brief moment of pain. Her vision filled with blinding lights and then went dark.