Page 67 of In Her Wake
“And how does he feel about it?”Frank asked, leaning forward.
“Good,” Jenna replied.“Actually...enthusiastic.Said he’s always been interested in paranormal abilities as a tool in law enforcement.”
Frank chuckled, the sound warm in the quiet kitchen.“So that makes four of us now who know your secret—me, Jake, you, and Colonel Spelling.”He nodded slowly.“That’s good.That’s as it should be.”
“You think so?”Jenna asked, surprised.
“A gift like yours shouldn’t be carried alone,” Frank said simply.“Too heavy a burden.And Spelling’s a good man to have in your corner—connected, respected.If anyone ever starts asking uncomfortable questions about your methods, he can run interference.”
Jenna felt a tension ease that she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying.Frank had been the first person she’d ever told about her dreams, and his acceptance had been her anchor for years now.
“It’s late,” Jake said, stifling a yawn.“And we’ve had a hell of a day.”
They rose from the table together, Jenna’s limbs heavy with exhaustion.Frank saw them to the door, his hand resting briefly on Jenna’s shoulder—a gesture of pride and affection that spoke more than words could.
The night air was cool against Jenna’s face as she and Jake walked to her cruiser.Stars speckled the dark sky above, indifferent to the day’s drama.
“I’ll drop you at your place,” she said as they slid into the vehicle.
The drive to Jake’s house passed in comfortable silence, both too tired for conversation.When she pulled up to the curb, Jake hesitated before opening the door.
“Jenna...”he began, then seemed to think better of it.“Never mind.It can wait.Get some rest.”
As Jenna watched him walk to his front door, she wanted to call him back.After the hospital, after nearly losing him, something had definitely changed between them.But part of her mind whispered that partners weren’t supposed to feel this way.Friends who worked together like they did shouldn’t complicate things with...whatever this was.She put the car in drive before he reached his door, not wanting to see if he would turn to say anything else.
Jenna drove home, where her house greeted her with dark windows and silent rooms.She moved through her evening routine on autopilot—keys on the hook, gun in the safe, badge on the dresser.She told herself that what she needed now was sleep, deep and dreamless.But one big question still haunted her mind, as it had for twenty years.
Where was Piper?
***
Jenna stood on a hilltop, the world below her rendered in twilight hues that didn’t match any natural light she’d ever seen.The air felt charged, like the moment before a summer storm.In the distance, nestled between gently rolling hills, stood a small farmhouse with white walls that gleamed in the strange light.Its red roof stood out against the surrounding greenery, and beside it was a weathered gray barn.
In the fields surrounding the buildings, tiny figures moved, tending to rows of crops.Though they were too distant to make out clearly, their movements suggested the rhythmic labor of people connected to the land.
The realization struck Jenna like a physical blow.This was the farm she had glimpsed before, the one Patricia Gaines had shown her in previous dreams, the one she’d been driving all over the place to find.The connection to Piper that had eluded her for so long.
“I’m dreaming,” she said aloud.The moment the words left her lips, the world around her sharpened, details crystallizing as her consciousness asserted control.The lucidity brought a rush of clarity, and with it, purpose.
She stared at the farmhouse, committing every detail to memory—the slight tilt of the chimney, the pattern of windows, the way the dirt path wound from the main road through a gap in the wooden fence.If only she knew where to look for this place in the waking world.
“I wish I knew where to find it,” she murmured.
“You can find it,” a familiar voice replied.
Jenna turned to find Patricia Gaines standing beside her, her form more solid than in previous encounters.Jenna recognized her hollowed cheeks and her penetrating stare.Her dark hair lifted slightly in a breeze Jenna couldn’t feel, and her eyes held the knowing look of someone who walked between worlds.
“Patricia,” Jenna acknowledged.“You brought me here again.”
“You needed to see it once more,” Patricia replied.“Before you go there yourself.”
Jenna gestured toward the farm below.“What is this place?Who are those people?”
Patricia’s expression softened.“It’s a farm for the lost and found,” she said, her voice carrying a hint of reverence.“People who’ve fallen through the cracks.People who need to disappear for a while.People who are searching for something they’ve lost—or running from something that won’t let them go.”
“And Piper?”Jenna asked, her heart racing.“Is my sister there?”
Patricia opened her mouth to answer, but her form had already begun to fade at the edges, dissolving like mist.“The lost and found,” she repeated, her voice growing distant.“Remember those words.”
