Page 35 of Dark Visions

How fucking great was that?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“So, he’s doing okay?” asked Kane, looking across the table at his friend.

“Yea, man,” said Adam. “He’s got some special shit happening in his brain like the rest of us, but he’s doing okay. He said he’d be around if we needed him. I have to say. It was pretty impressive. His ability, his power, or whatever you want to call it, is pretty fucking impressive.”

“Flip. It’s hard to imagine and yet easy to imagine. The dude was fucking amazing in the field. He was the strongest fucker I’d ever been around in the gym. Massive son-of-a-bitch. I hope we see more of him.” Adam nodded, seated across from Kane at the diner. Aislinn was across the street buying groceries.

“Spook sent the e-mail last night. We’ll see if it gets any attention today.”

“We can only hope,” said Kane. “Aislinn had another vision last night, but it was different. Like seriously different. I think Krauss lost someone he loved to violence.”

“Well, that’s easy to check,” said Adam, pulling out his laptop. He punched in a few keys and brought up obituaries from the last year.

“Hmmm, nothing in the last twelve months. Let me check further back. Bingo!” he said, turning the laptop. “Elizabeth Krauss and Thomas Krauss, wife and son of Dr. Michael Krauss, were killed in a hit-and-run accident.”

“Damn! That’s pretty fucked up. Did they ever catch the driver?” asked Kane.

“I’m looking,” he said, tapping away on the keys once more. “Jesus, no, but the car was pulling out of a club known as a swingers’ club. The club doesn’t have security cameras for obvious reasons, so nothing was caught on tape. Elizabeth and Thomas were walking home from his piano lessons.”

“That would make any man crazy,” said Kane under his breath.

“I can’t even imagine, dude. But it makes sense now. He’s killing people who are in that lifestyle.”

“What about the blonde?” asked Kane, more to himself than to Adam. Adam shrugged his shoulder. “Maybe she’s just someone who was willing to help. In the dreams, man, in the dreams, she is one fucked-up bitch.”

“Well, it makes a bit more sense now, but we still have to find a way to prove it.”

“We? Adam, I don’t want you involved in this. It could ruin your career,” said Kane.

“Fuck you, asshole! We’re brothers first. You hear me? I’m involved whether you like it or not.”

Kane smiled up at his friend and nodded one more time. Catching a glimpse of something familiar in the window, Kane looked across the street to see Aislinn with two shopping totes filled with food. She looked up and smiled, then looked both ways and stepped into the street.

Without warning, without so much as a screeching tire, a garbage truck sped around the corner headed straight for her. Kane’s heart stopped in that moment. He knew he would never make it in time. He was going to lose her.

Aislinn stopped. She felt the terror gripping her chest and knew that it was Kane’s terror as well. Standing stock still, she waited for the impact of the truck. Except it never came. At the last moment, the truck swerved to a stop, turning crossways in the street. The crowds of people stared, unsure of what had just occurred.

Kane, followed by Adam, stormed out of the café, racing towards Aislinn. She fell into his open arms, shaking from the shock of what almost occurred. Looking around the street, she knew he was there. She could feel it. Standing outside the café, just to the right of the windows in a small opening where he was unseen, Flip.

Aislinn ran across the street, dropping the bags on the sidewalk. She stopped in front of Flip and then hugged his waist, her face buried in his huge chest.

“I knew you were here. I could feel you,” she said, crying.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry, Aislinn. It’s okay,” he said quietly. Flip wasn’t sure what to do. He looked over her head at Kane and Adam, their shock-filled grins telling him that it really was okay. He placed one large hand on Aislinn’s back and rubbed small circles. “It’s okay.”

“You saved me,” she whispered.

Flip couldn’t help but smile at the little woman hugging him. She was so small, and Kane was nearly as big him. Kane reached out a hand, and Flip gripped his friend’s palm.

“Thank you, Flip. Thank you. I…” Kane swallowed.

“What the fuck?!” said Adam. “How did you know?”

“I didn’t know, not really,” he said shyly. “I just felt something. I don’t know. I felt like I should be at this spot this morning. I don’t know why.”

“Well, I, for one, am eternally grateful, brother,” said Kane. The garbage truck had already moved along, the crowds dispersing at the spectacle that none could believe. “Let us at least buy you breakfast, brother.” Flip nodded.

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