Finding The Lost Mystic Islan - Liberty Parker Page 0,11

to try and get him to settle down, yet he has no compulsion to give into my demands and worries.

“Gaia, there’s no need to be a smartass here, please continue,” I state, waving my hand furiously through the air.

“Anyway,” she gives me a skeptical look before continuing, “knowing you have enough on your plate, and being the helpful person I am, I decided to follow the trail. It led to the woods behind Echo’s house. Do you know what this means?”

Sitting back in my chair, I prop my feet up on the desk, making myself more comfortable. I have a feeling she’s not going to get straight to the point, instead, she’ll be making an entire play out of these circumstances. “No, please enlighten me.”

“A rip in time, another dimension if you will, is at play here and all signs point to Echo as being the ringleader. Well?”

“Well, what?” I ask, still computing the information she just shared with me.

“Well… what are you going to do about it?” she asks with a contemplative look plastered on her face.

Leaning forward in my chair, I wave her closer as if I’m going to share a deep, dark secret with her. Then, in a low, whispering voice I say, “Investigate.”

“Now who’s being the smartass, Sheriff?” she huffs out with her arms crossed over her chest. “I just basically solved your case for you.”

A shake of my head has her rolling her eyes. “If only it was that simple and easy, Gaia.”

“Hmph,” she harrumphs. “Men make things so much harder than they actually are.”

“Gaia, I can’t just arrest him without cause and enough evidence to back the charges up. I have to follow all the breadcrumbs before I can charge him with anything. Besides, if he’s not doing this all on his own, I need to capture his co-conspirators.”

“Get him in here, Sheriff… I’ll get all the answers you seek.” Her confidence scares me. “I can force him to answer all your questions honestly.”

“By using magic?” I inquire with a raise of my brow.

“Exactly,” she happily responds.

“It’s forbidden, Gaia, and you know it.”

“Extenuating circumstances,” she clarifies with a dramatic wave of her hand as if that clears up the matter.

“I don’t do things that aren’t by the book, Gaia. I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to let me do things my way.”

“Your way could get another woman killed,” she angrily rebuts as she marches her way out of my office—more like stomps her way out. I’m trying to remind myself that emotions are high all the way around and dismiss her outburst and show of attitude. This is not her normal everyday demeanor, so I’ll let it pass… this time.

Gathering my belongings, I make my way out the door to go and investigate the wooded area that surrounds Echo’s residence.

Vaughn

“No!” I cry out and jolt straight up from the bed. My heart is racing, beating so harshly that I fear it’ll beat itself right out of my chest. Fisting my hands, I reach up and furiously begin to rub the sleep out of my eyes. As hard as I try, I can’t remember the nightmare that suddenly woke me. Reaching into my memory bank, I know it has something to do with Emmaline, but what it could possibly be, I can’t pull forth. It must’ve been bad for me to rise as quickly as I did. Feeling a sense of urgency, I rush through my morning routine, dread pummeling through my chest. Emmaline is calling to me. The connection I have with her is potent. I can feel her distress, just not what it’s about or why she’s feeling what she is.

Falling over my feet, I stumble my way to the kitchen where Shyla has a portable mug, filled with morning bliss, waiting for me. “I thought you may be in a hurry this morning so I went ahead and got this travel mug filled with perfection and made just the way you like it.”

“Thank you. I don’t understand or know why, but I feel an urgency to get to the hospital this morning,” I inform her as I give her a quick kiss to the cheek and head toward the front door.

“Not so fast!” She points a finger at me, halting my progress.

“What?” I quickly spin around, waiting to see what she needs to say and hoping she gets to the point fast.

“I’m going with you. Something is happening to you, and I want to be there to support and help you through