When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,35

to question her. She was absorbed in whatever was on her screen, so I decided not to risk it, instead placing the pen on her desk. “Thanks.”

She gave me a quick wave that suggested she wouldn’t give me another thought.

But my niece’s and nephew’s lives were at stake, so I wasn’t willing to accept this as a wash. On a whim, I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder, forcing a vision as I focused on the question: What does Calista know about Mark Erickson?

The office space faded to a dark room, and I could barely see. But I could feel, and what I felt caught me by surprise, to put it mildly. I was naked, sitting on top of a man, only I wasn’t just sitting on top of him. I was…

“You have to be more careful than Mark,” I moaned in Calista’s voice, every nerve in my body taut with expectation as I lifted myself up and then lowered down slowly, throwing my head back as a small wave of pleasure coursed through me.

“I ain’t as stupid as him,” the man grunted, his hands digging into my hips and pulling me down even more.

I moaned louder. He was close to pushing me over the edge.

“The cops are sniffing around. They’re gettin’ too close,” I said, but it took effort to focus on the words.

He thrust deeper, sending me into an earth-shattering orgasm.

The office came back into view, and instead of blurting out what I’d seen, I cried out as the last wave of her orgasm shivered through me.

The entire office was staring at me in shock, although a couple of the men wore dazed expressions. The room was so silent I could hear a car driving down the street in front of the building. And I suspected it was one of those quiet, fuel-efficient models.

Oh, sweet baby Jesus. What had I done?

Calista looked up at me in horror and shoved my hand away as if I were diseased. With wide eyes, she forced through gritted teeth, “If you don’t get out of here right now, I’m going to call the police.”

I took a step back, wondering if I should try to explain myself or turn around and bolt out of the room.

But it didn’t take me long to figure out the obvious—there was no explaining this—and the running away plan won out.

When I got to the truck, it took me three attempts to start the engine. I pulled out of the parking lot and drove away with no destination in mind. I just knew I had to get the heck off the property.

As soon as I was certain I was out of sight, I pulled over into the parking lot of an abandoned Sonic restaurant and called Neely Kate.

“Hey, Rose,” she said when she answered. “We haven’t found anything yet.”

“That’s not why I’m calling.” I rested my face in my free hand. “I need to know if it’s possible to die of embarrassment, because if so, I need you to promise to raise my baby.”

“What are you talkin’ about?” she asked, her voice sounding high-pitched. “What happened?”

“I forced a vision!” I shouted. “That’s what happened!”

“Slow down,” she said in a calm voice. “You forced a vision and something embarrassing happened?”

“I saw her havin’ sex, Neely Kate! I was havin’ sex!”

“Was it good?” she asked, “because last time I checked, you haven’t had any in months.”

She had a point, but now didn’t seem like a good time to admit it. “She was havin’ an orgasm, Neely Kate! Instead of blurtin’ out what I saw, I…I…”

“Are you sayin’ you had a When Harry Met Sally restaurant scene sort of vision? Oh, my stars and garters. Where were you?”

I cringed. “At Sonder Tech. In their sales room.”

“Why were you forcin’ a vision? I thought you were just checkin’ on some plants.”

“Because the manager told me one of the employees, a woman named Calista, was taking Mark’s death hard. Then when I went in to use the bathroom, I overheard a woman’s phone call. Right away, I knew it had to be this Calista because she mentioned the name Mark and then told the person on the other line they shouldn’t have called. She said they’d discuss everything in person after work. I decided to force a vision to see if she knew anything about Mark Erickson.”

“And all you got was her havin’ sex?”

“She was talkin’ to whoever she was havin’ sex with. She told him he had to be