you got tied up in paper. Research seems to be your favorite pastime. Well, besides reading. And it’s kind of the same thing. Besides, I was starving.” He turned to kiss me and stared into my face. Setting down the tomato and knife, he wiped his hands and grabbed me by the shoulders. “What the heck happened to you?”
“Nothing. Well, nothing real. It was weird, Greg.” I leaned into his chest and took in a deep breath of just Greg. My heart rate calmed and I began to feel less shaky.
He moved me to a chair and eased me down into it. “Tell me what happened.”
“I was getting into my car at the courthouse and ran into Mike Masters.” When Greg’s face didn’t show any hint of knowing who I was talking about, I added, “The travel book author?”
“What did he do to you?” Greg demanded.
I shook my head. “Nothing. Get me a glass of iced tea, please?”
Greg stared hard at me, then turned to the fridge. “Go on with your story.”
He needed something to do while I talked. I could see his desire to fix this and, from what I could see, there wasn’t anything to fix. “Anyway, we were talking and he asked me if I’d talked to you about including the Mission Wall in his next book. When I said no and told him I had to go, he gave me his business card.”
Greg set the tea in front of me and sat down next to me. “And that was it?”
“Yeah, except, and this is the weird part, when he handed me his card, I saw a hand with a handkerchief in it. And I smelled something sweet, like chloroform, I guess. What does that smell like anyway?”
“Like ether or a sweet smell.” He rubbed the side of his face where his five-o’clock shadow was starting to show. “And you’re sure what he really handed you was a business card?”
“Positive. I’d already gotten into the Jeep and had the window cracked just a bit to talk. There was no way he could have put his hand and arm inside to try to put me out. It was just a flash, then it was gone. I was stressed, right? Just seeing things?” I wanted Greg to laugh and ask if I was making this up. Instead, he glanced at his watch.
“Can you finish up getting the burgers ready? I’ve already seasoned them, and there’s a salad in the fridge.” He stood and stepped toward the living room.
“Sure, but where are you going?”
He paused in the doorway. “To get your neighbor. I only know one person who deals with visions and sightings. Maybe she can help you work through this.”
“So you think I really had a vision?”
He turned away from me but didn’t leave the spot. “I got a report of a missing college girl from Bakerstown yesterday. I’m not saying this is connected, but maybe Esmeralda can tell us if you’re just stressed or there was something else going on.”
I stared after him as he left. This couldn’t be happening to me. I didn’t believe in Esmeralda’s so-called talent or the ability to see into the future or the past. I shivered as I remembered sitting in the Jeep, feeling that fear. A fear I now felt for a completely different reason.
Chapter 10
Esmeralda, dressed in her fortune-teller best, hurried into my kitchen. Satin skirts rustled as she walked, and her white peasant blouse was cinched closed with a black corset. I had to admit, she looked amazing. Her curly hair was loose and bounced as she walked. When she saw me, she stopped dead in her tracks. “Jill, are you okay?”
I’d just finished setting up the fixings for the hamburgers and had washed my hands. I stood facing her, drying them with a towel. “I’m fine. Just a little stressed and overworked.”
She shook her head and pointed to a chair. “Sit there. I need to connect with your auras.”
Rolling my eyes, I did what I was told. Esmeralda can be a little scary when she’s in her psychic medium role. “It really wasn’t anything.”
“Of course not. Shut up and let me do my thing.” Esmeralda sat across from me and took my hands. “Close your eyes and tell me everything from when you first talked to this writer.”
I told the story again. This time, I remembered the white blur I’d seen had been Mike’s card holder, not the actual business card. I’d already put that away. When