Page 24 of A Touch of Murder
Adam smiled. "No, I'm not charging you for today. I never do when it's a police investigation. Besides, this was my idea, not yours. Had that woman's child been pushed, I would have given her the money back, but it was exactly the way the police and the medical examiner said it had happened. I'd refused to read her child at first. Something told me it would be a bad idea, but she begged me and even offered to triple my fees, which I quickly refused."
"Was that here in Hidden Falls?"
"No, back in Denver. I didn't have a store there, but people called to have me come to them. I'd thought about opening a store there, but then I visited here, and all thoughts of Denver left my mind." Adam glanced over at Barret, taking in his freshly shaved face and still damp hair. "I usually like to stick to reading objects. They don't impact me as badly as a body will, but sometimes it's necessary. I think I told you before, with a deceased person, I sometimes see things related to them and not an object. Like me knowing Trina was in a morgue somewhere. Hopefully, if she has something to share, she will. I never hear voices, but they find ways to show me what they want known."
Barret pulled into the small parking lot. "Anything else I need to know before we do this?"
"No. I think I warned you about everything. If something goes… I don't want to say wrong, but if anything happens you don't know how to handle, call Jacey. His number is on my phone. I don't expect any problems though. And don't worry about me once I'm home. I'll go straight to the couch or to bed and sleep it off. Just shut the door behind you. I'll text or call when I wake up later to let you know I'm okay, but it could be hours depending on the reading." Adam had a feeling this reading was going to be a bad one. He was going to feel the aftereffects hard once it was over.
"Understood." Barret pushed his door open.
Adam did the same and climbed out, taking several deep breaths of the crisp air. There was rain coming. He could smell it on the air. He fell into step beside Barret and headed into the small funeral home. Like any funeral home, there was a sense of peace and calm once you were inside. He smelled the scent of fresh flowers and wondered other than Trina and Roy if there had been other deaths in the area this week. There probably were and he just hadn't heard about them.
"Good morning," Old Man Farley greeted them. Farley was exactly how you would picture a mortician owner to look. He wore a black suit, which made his already pale skin appear even whiter. He was lanky and thin, with arms a bit too long and boney fingers that would be perfect for any Halloween movie. His hair thinning, but what there was of it was snow white and untamed on top of his head.
"Morning, Farley. Thanks for letting us do this," Barret told the older man.
"Can't say I've ever had a request like this, but I assume you two know what you're doing. I've got the body set up in the viewing room for you." He led them down a short hall past a chapel. Farley glanced at Adam. "He warn you that the body might be hard to look at?"
Adam nodded. "He did. I'm okay. I honestly just need to hold her hand for a few minutes."
"You do whatever it is you need to do. I don't fully understand it, but peoples around here say you've got some sort of witchcraft that tells you things others can't know. I don't know how it all works, but if it helps find whoever did that to this poor girl, you've got my blessings." He led them into the viewing room where a dark mahogany casket sat.
Adam walked over to the casket and bowed his head. He silently asked Trina to forgive him for intruding but asked her to help him find who had ended her life way too early. He had no idea if Trina heard his plea or if it did any good, but it made him feel a bit better. Turning from the casket, he set his small duffel bag down beside the closest chair.
"Just the top?" Farley asked.
"Yeah, that's all we need." Barret walked over to watch as Farley opened the top section of the casket to reveal Trina's body. "Holy Mother…"
Adam turned and his breath caught. Trina's face was almost unrecognizable because of the bruising. He'd only seen her photo in the pictures the family had shared around town while looking for her, but he wouldn't have guessed this to be the same girl. He braced a gloved hand on the bottom of the casket and shook his head. "She suffered horribly."
"When I find whoever did this to her—"
"You'll arrest them and let the justice system handle things, because you aren't as evil and cruel as whoever did that to her is. You're a better person," Adam interrupted as he gripped Barret's shoulder, feeling the tension rolling through him.
"That's not what I want to do," Barret growled.
"It's not what I want either, but it's what will happen because we aren't like them." He released his hold on Barret andstepped closer. "Thanks, Farley. We'll need maybe half an hour," Adam told the mortician.
"Take all the time you need. I don't need this room again today. When you're done, just let me know. My office is at the end of the hall." Farley left the room, closing the double doors behind him and leaving them alone with Trina.
"You still sure you want to do this?" Barret turned to face Adam. "Do you really want to see that happening to her?"
"Hell no, I don't want to see it, but if it shows us who did this to her, I need to do it." Adam stared at the body. "This is going to be bad. I know it is. But I don't have a choice. If I wasn't given this talent for times like this, then why was I given it? Not to read Aunt Mabel's diamond ring. I am meant to help people. Trina might be dead, but what about the next girl these men attack? Do you really think they'll stop at Trina? For all we know there were ten others before her. We have to do everything we can to stop them." He closed his eyes. This was going to be bad. So bad. Maybe he should have had Jacey come, because he wasn't sure Barret was ready for the fallout once Adam was finished with the reading. Oh, he was sure Barret could handle things, but after today, Barret would know exactly how hard this was on Adam's body. He'd know that there were repercussions for what he could do.
"Adam?" Barret's voice was soft, barely a whisper.
"I'm okay. Just getting into the right headspace for this." This wasn't the worst he'd seen. No. That had been his mother. Her death had been harder, not only because she'd been beaten worse, but because she'd been his mother. When he found her body—touched her body, he hadn't been sure he'd ever recover from that. But he had. And he would recover from this. "I'm ready when you are. Get your recorder." Adam pulled out his own recorder and set it on top of the lower half of the casket.
Barret set a much newer recording device beside Adam's. "You tell me when to turn them on and I will."
Adam pulled off his glove, careful not to touch anything until he was ready. "Move a chair closer so I can sit as soon as I'm done, please."
Barret did, moving the chair directly behind Adam so he'd just have to sit down once he was finished. Then he bent down and pulled out two water bottles and set them beside the chair. "Once you down one, I'll open a candy bar for you."
Adam gave a nod. "Turn them on."
Barret hit the record button on each machine, then met Adam's eyes.
