Dead O’Clock (Cold Case Psychic #46)

PROLOGUE

Tennyson

Psychic Tennyson Grimm sat at Bertha Craig’s reading table waiting for Carson and Cole Craig to start their morning meeting.

He’d been with West Side Magick for two weeks and still felt like he was walking on eggshells.

The brothers had been running the psychic shop for several years, after the death of their mother, Bertha.

Ten was the first psychic they’d brought in to join the family.

The job offer had come at just the right moment.

Ten had been dropped off at the Greyhound bus terminal back in Kansas on the day of his high school graduation.

He’d come out to his parents as both gay and psychic and was told he would have to leave the only home he’d ever known.

Ten had a little money saved from his time working at McDonalds and a donation made by the Union Chapel Baptist Church, of which his parents were members.

The faithful congregation had been told Ten was off to seek his fortune and they’d wanted to contribute to help assure his success.

No one within the church community had been told of his double sin, as it were, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so willing to fill the collection plate.

Not to mention that his parents, David and Kaye, would have been kicked out of the church.

Ten had known his only hope was to become a working psychic.

He’d done some covert research at the school library and found that New Orleans and Salem, Massachusetts were the two most likely places for him to find work.

Ten knew his gift was the real deal. Not only could he speak with the spirits of the dead, but he could see into the future as well.

Surely there was a place for him in the psychic communities in either city.

After careful consideration, Ten had chosen Salem as his new home.

He’d voraciously read stories about the infamous 1692 Witch Trials and knew he could do the most good in Massachusetts.

To be honest, New Orleans and its voodoo culture scared him.

The other reason he’d chosen the Bay State was because it was one of the most liberal-minded states in the country, while Louisiana was deep red.

Ten had initially hooked up with a psychic named Madam Aurora who’d seen the immense talent in him, but when she realized his gifts greatly eclipsed her own, she’d turned him out into the street.

After that, he’d struck out on his own, giving private readings.

He’d also signed up for every street fair within a ten mile radius and it was through one of those appearances that he’d met Carson and Cole Craig.

The men instantly felt like brothers to Tennyson, but now, sitting alone at Bertha’s table, he was worried that he was about to be out of a job again.

His gifts, while powerful, were of no use when it came to reading himself, meaning he had no idea what this meeting was about or what the outcome would be.

“Hey, Ten,” Carson said, walking into the room. He wore jeans and a faded Fleetwood Mac concert tee. Carson looked worried and Ten couldn’t see what was upsetting his boss. Before taking his seat at the table, he set a manila folder in front of him.

Ten could see something was written on the tab, but he was sitting too far away to read what it was.

“Sorry I’m late.” Cole rushed into the room looking exhausted. “Laurel was up half the night. Nothing we did soothed her.”

Ten had met the baby on a few occasions, what with Cole and his wife living in the apartment above West Side Magick. Laurel was a cutie, but her incessant crying was more than Ten could handle. How the hell did parents deal with unhappy babies? He was sure he was never going to find out.

“I’m sure you’re wondering what this meeting is about.” Carson drummed his fingers on the folder. “Tell me what you see.” He turned the folder around and pushed it toward Ten.

With shaking hands, Ten reached for it and pulled the contents closer.

Gates, Lorraine, was written on the tab.

Who the hell was Lorriane Gates? He’d never heard the name before.

Flipping open the folder, he saw the West Side Magick Client Intake form.

Scanning through the document saw that Lorriane lived on Derby Street in Salem, was a thirty-four year old single, dog mom, who was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that she’d been cursed.

Ten felt his heart kick up as he continued to read.

All thoughts of his job being in jeopardy fled his mind as he ran through the list of things that happened to Lorriane over the last six months.

The poor woman had lost a job, a fiancé, spent over two thousand dollars on a vet bill for her dog, Sushi, had several flat tires along with a blown transmission on her car, and had been the victim of a home invasion robbery, where the thieves had made off with everything that wasn’t nailed down. “Yikes.” Ten shook his head.

“That was our reaction too,” Carson said. “We met Lorriane last week and didn’t feel anything was wrong with this woman, aside from a colossal case of bad luck. She’s coming in to see you this morning and we just wanted you to be prepared.”

“Me?” Ten asked. Carson and Cole weren’t overly aggressive when it came to new clients at the shop, but once a psychic had worked with a client, there was no passing them back and forth. “Why isn’t she coming in to see you?”

Cole sighed. “You know our story. Neither one of us had come into our gifts until more recently. You’ve been working with yours for years and might be able to figure out if there is something sinister truly dogging this woman.”

It was true that Ten had a better grasp on his own gift, but he was used to people wanting to speak with loved ones who’d died or with people who wanted to know if a new job or romance was in their future. “Sure,” Ten said, not feeling as confident as he sounded. “I’ll meet with her.”

As Ten spoke, the bell above the front door jingled at the front of the store. “Perfect timing,” Carson said, getting out of his seat and leaving the room.

“We can’t thank you enough for stepping in and helping this woman,” Cole said, looking nervous. “You know how important this place was to our mother and not being able to help clients could give us a bad reputation. It would kill Carson and I if we couldn’t continue Bertha’s legacy.”

“We’ll figure this out, Cole,” Ten said, feeling a strange presence in the room. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced before.

“Lorriane, this is Tennyson Grimm.” Carson escorted the woman into the room. “We asked Ten to meet with you because he has experience with curses. His ability to break them is second to none.”

Ten kept a straight face as Carson continued to talk about his experience. The truth was that Ten had no idea how to break a curse. “It’s nice to meet you, Lorriane,” Ten said as Cole and Carson left the room, shutting the door behind them.

“I need your help, Tennyson.” Lorriane gripped her hands together so tightly they’d gone white. She wore a strappy sundress and minimal make up, which did nothing to hide her blotchy complexion. “I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I can’t live.”

The amount of anxiety and panic pouring off this woman was making Ten feel on edge. “Let’s start by taking a few deep breaths together.”

“I don’t need relaxation tips, Tennyson. I need help.”

Ten offered a smile. “I understand that, but you’re wound so tightly that I can’t see what’s going on. We’re just going to breathe together for a few minutes. I want you to picture your favorite place; a beach, a cabin in the mountains, a field of wildflowers. Let the image carry you away.”

With a small nod that could have been a tic, Lorrianne’s eyes slid shut and her chest began to rise and fall with her breaths.

Taking a deep breath of his own, Ten set to work trying to wade through the intrusive thoughts, fears, and panic in Lorrianne’s mind.

Once she began to calm down, Ten could see a man.

He was tall and thin, with movie star good looks, dark eyes, blonde hair, huge dick.

He could feel the love Lorrianne had for this man.

He, no, Jason, was the air that she breathed.

At first, Lorrianne couldn’t believe a man like Jason could love her too.

She’d thought he was too good to be true.

It turned out she’d been right. “Tell me why your relationship with Jason ended.”

Lorrianne’s eyes popped open. They instantly filled with tears. “Jason said I wasn’t giving him what he needed, but didn’t really explain what that was.”

“Had you come into your mother’s estate before or after you met him?” Ten asked. He could see with absolute clarity what it was Jason had wanted from Lorrianne.

“After,” she said, looking confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Did you get the money right away or is it in some kind of trust until you reach a certain age?” Ten asked.

“I got it all at once.” Lorrianne started at Ten. “Are you trying to tell me Jason was after my money?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.” Ten hated delivering this kind of news, but he figured it was better for Lorriane to know now than to find out after she’d spent a fortune trying to win him back.

“That’s impossible. Jason had his own money.

His father was a former professional baseball player.

He didn’t need my money. All he wanted to do was get married and start our lives together.

I wanted to wait a while and let our relationship grow, but he kept pushing.

A month ago, he gave me an ultimatum, marry him or he was out.

He said his biological clock was ticking and he didn’t have time to waste. ”

It wasn’t Jason’s clock that was ticking, but rather the wolf knocking at the door. “He was over one hundred thousand dollars in debt with various credit cards and a loan shark, whose patience was wearing thin with Jason’s excuses.”