Thirty-One and a Half Regrets
Page 72

My little dog jerked her head up, startled. I understood why. I never shouted at her.
“Come on, girl.” It was taking every ounce of control I had not to fall apart there in front of the deputies, but I needed her to come with me.
Thankfully, my short tone caught her attention and she ran up the steps.
As I turned to go back up, something on the ground caught my eye, partially hidden between the porch and the bushes. A cell phone with a cracked screen.
Mason’s phone.
“Is everything all right, Ms. Gardner?” Deputy Gyer asked, sitting up straighter.
Fear bubbled in my chest and I took a deep breath to get control of myself. I climbed the steps to the porch, tripping on the last one. “Yes, of course. I just forgot I left another batch of biscuits in the oven. I don’t want the house to burn down.”
Wrong choice of words. A strange expression flashed over Deputy Miller’s face.
I opened the front door, and I walked in after Muffy, shutting and locking the door behind us. I set the hot coffee pot on a placemat on the dining room table and ran into the office.
Mason took one look at my panicked face and jumped out of his seat. “What’s wrong?”
I started crying, trying to catch my breath.
“Rose! What happened?”
“Deputy Miller…he…” I knew I needed to get a hold of myself, but I couldn’t.
Anger flickered in Mason’s eyes. “Did he act inappropriately again?”
He started for the office door, but I snagged his hand and pulled him back. “No! I had a vision.”
Mason grabbed my arms, bending down so his face was level with mine. “Breathe, just breathe. It’s going to be okay. What did you see?”
“He was running through a field. I think it was here on the farm. He said ‘I don’t see them,’ and then a guy growled, ‘Well, find them dammit.’” I looked up into his face. “The other man was Daniel Crocker, I’m sure of it.”
Mason’s face remained expressionless, but a flicker of fear passed through his eyes before determination replaced it. “Was it day or night?”
“Uh…day.”
“Where was the sun?”
“I don’t know, Mason.” I shook my head in frustration. “I was looking at the field.”
“Did you see the house?”
“No.”
“So you were looking away from the house. You were probably facing north.”
I stared at him, bewildered.
“Did you see any shadows?”
“I don’t remember.”
He pulled me over to the chair in the corner of the office and sat me down, kneeling in front of me. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath before trying to remember your vision.”
I did as he instructed. The field was in front of me, the grass trampled, but this time the shadows came in focus. “Yes, I can see them.”
“Which way are the shadows pointing? To your right or to your left?”
I squinted tighter. “Neither. They are kind of pointing in front of me, but not very much.” I opened my eyes.
“Rose, I know that not all of your visions come true. How sure are you that this one will?”
I shook my head, fighting tears. “I don’t know. I never know that part. We could change it, but I don’t know how.”
“How soon after you see a vision does it usually come true?”
“Sometimes soon, sometimes days later.”
“So this could happen today or two days from now?”
I nodded. “But there’s more. After I had my vision, I saw a necklace hanging out of Deputy Miller’s jacket. It was a St. Jude’s medallion.”
Panic filled his eyes. “Shit!” Mason growled, turning to search under his desk. “Where’s my goddamned cell phone? I swear to God it was right there.” His head popped up and he turned to look at me, his eyes steely.
I wanted to break down and cry but I needed to keep it together. “I think I saw it on the ground out front.”
Confusion washed over his face.
“It was between the porch and the bushes. The screen was smashed.”
His face reddened with anger. “Deputy Miller was in the kitchen with you when I came back into the house. He could have taken my phone.”
I sucked in deep breaths, trying not to panic.
“Where’s yours?”
I dug it out of my pocket, remembering I’d missed a phone call. I looked at the screen and saw Bruce Wayne’s name but there wasn’t a voice mail. Shoving the phone at Mason, I took several deep breaths, close to passing out.
“Bruce Wayne?” Mason looked up from the phone. “You missed the call?”
I nodded. “The last time he called me was right before Crocker’s men showed up.”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the chair and into the kitchen, reaching for his gun bag on the table. He pulled out a shotgun and laid it on the table.
The implications of that gun scared me even more. This was really happening. “There’s something else,” I said. “Before I had my vision, Deputy Miller tried to get me to go around the house with him. Alone.”
Mason’s face paled. “He was trying to abduct you.” He stopped and punched a number into the phone, “Jeff, it’s Mason. We’ve been compromised. It’s Deputy Miller.” His voice was tight and official. “No. I can’t wait. He just tried to abduct Rose. I’m getting her out of here now.” He paused. “I’m going to take the old truck and go out the back gate. I’ll meet you at the Methodist church—” He looked down at the phone and tossed it onto the table. “Goddammit! He lost cell service.”