Dead Rattled (Cold Case Psychic #43)

PROLOGUE

Tennyson

Thirteen-year-old Tennyson Grimm felt like he was losing his mind. Voices came at him from all directions. Some shouted, others whispered. He’d been hearing voices and seeing spirits for four months now and each day seemed harder than the day before.

In the beginning, when he first started hearing voices, he thought he’d gone crazy.

Ten was familiar with words like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder from a doctor his mother watched on television every afternoon.

He’d only paid a little attention at the time, but Tennyson wished he’d tuned into every word.

Going to his parents with his problem was a no-go.

He was scared of what would happen to him if they thought he was ill, mentally or spiritually.

Instead of turning to a trusted adult who could help Tennyson solve his problem, he’d spent afternoons in the library reading encyclopedia articles on mental illness. He’d been able to rule out several possible conditions, but still had been no closer to discovering what actually plagued him.

Tennyson had pondered talking to his father about what was going on.

David Grimm was more level-headed than his mother.

Unfortunately, David’s first course of action would be to pray on the issue and wait for God to answer.

Ten didn’t think he had any time to lose.

David’s second step would be to talk to the church elders and see what they thought of the situation.

Ten had a feeling they would either think he was a prophet of the Lord or that he was absolutely bug-shit crazy, not that the elders would ever phrase it that way, but Tennyson knew those were the two options.

When the voices began, his first instinct had been to ask if they were Jesus.

All of the voices said no. Obviously Tennyson was not a prophet.

Thank God for that because, according to the church, prophets were almost always martyred.

Isaiah was sawed in half. Jeremiah and Zechariah were stoned to death.

Ezekiel and Uriah were executed. Then there was John the Baptist, who was famously beheaded.

Lastly, there was Jesus himself, who died for everyone’s sins.

Ten had been ready to speak with his father and deal with the consequences when, one night, he heard a voice he knew.

The voice belonged to a classmate’s grandmother who’d recently passed.

So recently, that the suit he wore now was the one he’d worn to her funeral.

She’d explained to Ten that she had a message to pass along to her granddaughter.

From that moment on, Ten realized he wasn’t crazy. He could speak with the dead.

Thankfully, today’s event at the Union Chapel Calvary Baptist Church was a more joyous occasion.

Ten’s family had been invited to Rob and Jenny Maroney’s baby dedication.

They’d recently adopted a little girl they’d named Kelly, after years of not being able to have a child of their own.

Ten’s mother, Kaye, kept calling the child a miraculous gift, but Ten wasn’t so sure.

The baby had cried through the entire ceremony, as her parents promised they would raise her in the light of Christ and according to holy scripture.

After the ceremony was over, there was a picnic on church grounds to celebrate the child, who was being passed around by the congregation like a collection plate.

None of the people who’d held the child had been able to soothe her.

His mother was offering the baby a pacifier, but the child was having none of it.

“Tennyson, here.” Kaye Grimm handed the screaming baby to her son.

“I’m not sure I’m the best person for the…

” Ten trailed off as the baby quieted. Not only had the baby gone silent in his arms, but so did all the voices.

He could still hear the world around him.

Parishioners laughing and talking together, birds singing, traffic noises from the street, but for the moment, he couldn’t hear any of the spirits who’d been shouting for his attention all morning.

Was this a temporary reprieve or was his gift gone for good? What the hell was happening?

Ten took a seat at an empty picnic table beneath a stately elm tree.

The little girl was staring up at Ten as if he were the most fascinating person she’d ever met.

Hell, maybe he was. Focusing his gift on the baby, he learned that she had a tummy ache.

Relieved his powers seemed to be intact, he took a deep breath.

In his mind’s eye, he could see a can of baby formula on a kitchen counter followed by the baby crying.

Was it possible her food was giving her a belly ache?

This was the first child Ten had ever held in his life.

Now that he was settled with the baby, it didn’t seem so bad.

Kelly’s eyelids fluttered and seconds later, she was asleep.

“Infants run on their lizard brains and don’t have any thoughts at this age,” a clear voice said from behind Tennyson.

“That’s why your gift is nearly silent. You need to learn how to shut down your gift so that you’ll be able to find the peace you’re feeling now.

Our gifts are extraordinary, but they come at a cost. Don’t let the cost be your life. ”

“How did you know I have gifts?” Ten asked in a whisper, turning to face the person behind him. He saw a faint shadow of a spirit wearing a straightjacket.

“Because I have them too,” the male spirit said. “Only I made the mistake of telling my family and ended up in the psych ward of the hospital in Severance.”

“In Severance, Kansas? Did you live here in Union Chapel?” Ten asked. The spirit hadn’t fully materialized and he wasn’t able to get a good look at the person’s face.

“I’m Jason Maroney,” he said, sadly.

Ten gasped. “You’re Rob’s brother. The baby is your niece.”

“That’s right.”

“I went to your funeral two years ago. You died in a car accident.” Ten knew the instant the words were out of his mouth that he and the rest of the congregation had been lied to. Jason had died in the psych ward when his roommate attacked him in his sleep.

“Your gift is much more powerful than mine. Tennyson, trust me when I say to keep it to yourself. I came from what I thought was a loving family with parents who would understand everything. At least that’s what they told me my whole life, but it was a lie.

They could have dealt with me failing algebra or getting drunk and having sex at my senior prom, but not being able to see the future.

My father was on the phone with Pastor Jacobs before I’d even finished telling him about my gift.

” The spirit pointed to the pastor, who was having a conversation with Ten’s parents.

Part of Tennyson was stunned by the spirit’s revelation, but the other part wasn’t surprised at all.

Pastor Jacobs’s weekly sermons were filled with lessons about demons, the devil, and the evils they wrought on weak-minded people.

What he’d come to realize over the last few months, was that the sermons were meant to terrify parishioners into staying in church tithing their money and to make sure that people who were undesirable others stayed out of their community.

“What happened next?” Ten wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer, but knew he needed to hear it.

“Jacobs came to see me. Quizzed me on the Bible. When I didn’t have the right answers to his questions, he said I was being possessed by a demon and the only way to handle the situation was with a stay at Severance General Hospital.

My parents agreed. I wasn’t so sure, but I trusted them to make the right decisions for me.

I was only twenty-three years old. What the hell did I know about how the world worked? ”

The more Jason spoke, the more terrified Tennyson became. He was still a minor, his parents could send him to a psych ward without his consent. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“It was worth it to save you. Keep your mouth shut about your gift. Don’t tell a soul.

If you see something bad coming in someone’s future, sit on it.

Do what you can to stop the event from happening, but under no circumstance reveal that you can see the future There’s a life outside of Union Chapel, Tennyson.

You’re only five years away from being able to leave this town and its small-minded ideas behind.

Get used to holding babies. Be safe.” Jason offered a smile. With a small wave, he vanished.

Ten’s head was still spinning when his mother approached him a few minutes later. “Looks like you’re a natural.” Kaye sat beside him and wrapped an arm around Ten’s shoulder.

“Yeah, babies aren’t so bad when they’re sleeping.” Ten reeled from what Jason had told him.

“You’re going to be a great father one day, Ten.

I know your future seems far away, but it will be here before you know it.

You’ll have a beautiful wife, a couple of cute kids and the life you’ve always dreamed of.

” Giving her son a squeeze, Kaye stood up.

“I’ll go make you a plate. Cheeseburger with macaroni salad? ”

“And strawberries,” Ten added, absentmindedly. He had a picture in his mind of what his future family looked like and it didn’t involve a wife. Yet one more secret Ten needed to put under lock and key.

“You got it.” Kaye headed off toward the food tables.

Ten enjoyed his last few minutes of blessed quiet before his mother returned.

As he’d been speaking with Jason, he’d figured out how to turn his gift off and then back on.

He’d been amazed when Jason told him that he could do it, and was even more so when he discovered how easy it was.

It would be an invaluable tool for Ten going forward.

He had no doubt that Jason’s path would be his own if he ever said a word to either of his parents about his gift.

Like Jason said, he only had five years to go until he could leave this town, and it’s backward thinking, behind.