Cougar's Eve (10 page)

Though I knew Nancy was being her usual polite self, I appreciated her kindness toward Anna. I knew Nancy had one of the most difficult jobs in the world, and I was amazed at her patience and ability to remain positive.

“Thank you for calling me,” I told her. “I know Anna appreciates it.”

She smiled. “Anything to make her happy.”

Anna and George Oliver had been married for over sixty-five years. Evidently, they’d been quite the couple when they were younger. Their romance was sweet. They had loved each other their entire lives, and it was obvious they still loved each other to this day.

After we’d finished our lemonade, Nancy disappeared from sight, leaving Anna and me alone. I opened my case to get out the brass rods. Mrs. Oliver knew the drill and waited patiently as I readied myself.

Taking a deep breath and clearing my mind, I took the rods into my hands and spoke. “I ask blessings on these rods and it is in good faith that I request only goodness and truth come from the answers provided by Mr. George Oliver.”

I sensed his presence and opened my eyes to look at Anna. “He is here, so I’ll go ahead and remind him how to answer my questions.”

I closed my eyes and ran through my usual rigmarole of yes/no answers by opening/crossing the dowsing rods. Mr. Oliver and I had been through this several times prior to today, but I wanted to remain professional.

It was odd that today Mr. Oliver didn’t seem happy. Most of the time, he was a rather jovial spirit and enjoyed teasing me by moving a piece of my hair, making the rods cross then bounce up and down and clack together. Sometimes, he even poked my nose just to make me laugh.

Today, I sensed something different. He seemed stressed, almost angry, which was something I’d never felt from him before. I wondered if I was channeling my own stress, which wouldn’t surprise me. I tried to clear my mind once more to concentrate on the task at hand.

My eyes remained closed as I asked him, “Mr. Oliver, are your wife’s keys in the kitchen?”

The wires crossed each other in a no answer.

“Are they in the library?”

Again, the wires crossed.

“Would we find them in the dining room?”

The rods crossed again.

“How about the living room?” I asked Mr. Oliver. He was certainly not being helpful today.

The rods didn’t move for a moment, prompting Mrs. Oliver to say, “Now, George, you know I need to run errands today and I can’t do that without my keys.”

The rods remained motionless for another second or two before slowly crossing into an X then quickly spread wide, giving me both a yes and a no answer.

“George!” chided Mrs. Oliver. “Stop teasing the poor girl.”

I opened my eyes when she touched my arm.

She smiled. “He only teases people he likes, dear.” Anna had been telling me that since I was five years old, but I didn't mind the reassurance. It was sweet of Mrs. Oliver to explain her husband's mannerisms.

The rods moved again and came to rest apart from each other, telling us that Anna’s keys were indeed in the living room.

“Thank you, George.” I laughed as we walked to the living room. The room was also used as the television room and had magazines, books, and mail scattered on tables and chairs. This would be as good a place as any to hide Mrs. Oliver’s keys.

“Mr. Oliver,” I said. “I’m going to walk around the room slowly. Would you please cross the wires when I get close to the location of the keys?”

The rods whipped open to affirm my request before I finished asking my question. Mr. Oliver had never answered shortly, even when he’d been alive, and this attitude bothered me.

“Um, thank you,” I said to the ghost, confused about his irritation. Slowly, I walked around the room and had nearly completed the circle when, two steps before I finished, the wires crossed over the table. Mr. Oliver was being just a little ornery today. He could have crossed the wires slightly before I’d begun walking the wrong way to let me know I was already standing close to the so-called missing keys. But
no
, he had to make me work for my answers today.

“May I?” I asked Mrs. Oliver as I pointed to the magazines on the table.

“Certainly, look as you need to.”

I moved the magazines but didn’t find anything underneath. Then, I looked on the bottom tier of the table, but no keys. With a heave, I slid the table to the side and found the keys. I picked them up and handed them to Nancy, who had returned to the room.

“Oh, thank you, dear. I appreciate it more than I can say!” said Mrs. Oliver. She turned slightly away from me and addressed the air. “George, we don’t need to do that again for a while now, thank you very much." She seemed mildly annoyed, rather than truly irritated, and I could tell she was poking fun at her husband.

I held my rods in front of me. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Oliver.”

The rods opened in acknowledgement.

I took another deep breath and closed my eyes before speaking. “I close this session in peace.” The rods swung inward, crossing each other and bringing the session to an end.

Closing a session was another way of putting my Sensitive abilities on pause. They weren’t turned off completely—they were never truly off—but I was able to better shield myself when I wasn’t using them. It helped shut off my psychic communication with Mr. Oliver and any other ghosts so I wasn’t followed home and badgered by eager spirits.

“This reminds me of the time your grandpa got rid of that darn spirit,” reminisced Mrs. Oliver. “Your grandpa was always helping me, just like you, dear.”

I locked my dowsing rods in the case then turned to Anna. “My grandpa cleansed your house?”

“Oh, yes. Good thing he did, too!” She shook her head. “All of my plants were dying, and you know what a green thumb I have,” she said as she wiggled her thumb.

“I do,” I replied. “When did Grandpa do this?”

“A few years before you were born, dear,” answered Anna. “After he left, within a week, my plants were thriving and the heavy feeling in the house was gone.”

Grandpa didn’t really discuss his work, but it was a little strange he hadn’t mentioned using his gifts in front of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver. Guess it must have slipped his mind. It was a long time ago.

“I’m glad to help you, Anna. Anytime.” I smiled.

“Thank you again, dear. Send me the bill so I can settle up with you.”

I smiled at Anna, walked out to the SUV with my case and got in the truck. I never billed Mrs. Oliver, but Anna always asked me to send one through the mail anyway. It was ridiculous to charge for something that took less than five minutes, was so easy to do and was for such a wonderful person.

The only time I actually charged people was when the job required much more of my magic and Sensitive abilities. If I was going to feel exhausted due to magical drain then it would cost someone a bit of cash, which only seemed fair. After all, using my abilities was laborious.

It usually took one or two days for my magic to build up again, and the only way I’d found to efficiently do this was rest. The longest I’d ever needed to recover was twenty-four hours, but that was for a case that had involved contacting multiple ghosts and doing a good bit of shielding. This sounds like one day, but it’s twenty-four hours of actual
sleep
. Usually, two separate twelve-hour sleeping sessions get me back on track and I’m ready to go for my next case.

I started the engine and waved goodbye to Mrs. Oliver, who stood on the porch with Nancy, waiting for me to drive away. I put the car in gear and drove about two blocks, out of sight of Anna’s house, when I had to slam on the brakes.

At first, I thought a fly buzzed around my leg, but the creepy-tickling feeling quickly moved from one spot to several other points. Moving from my hands and arms, the sensation changed to pain, feeling like a thousand needles piercing my skin. In addition to the prickly pain, I felt dizzy and my stomach turned, making me violently ill. I pulled over to the side of the road, put the car in park and leaned my head against the steering wheel.

The piercing, needle-like sensation eventually eased, and after several minutes, the wooziness also passed, but I remained uneasy. Though I had no idea what had just happened, an ominous feeling enveloped me. I was reminded of my awful dreams from the night before, when I had been running from something terrible. Soon, I felt more like myself as my belly returned to normal, but I knew someone or something was coming for me, and it definitely wasn’t good.

Chapter Ten

I was relieved when the nausea subsided. I’d never felt anything like it before and wasn’t anxious to feel it again anytime soon. I shook my head, put the vehicle back into drive and headed home.

The sensation of being watched by someone never left me, and by the time I was halfway home, I knew what I’d do about it. I dialed the local sporting goods store, Joe’s Hunting Supplies, but had to leave a message. I told him I wanted to put cameras with motion sensors on my property, from my home to the old house. Also, I wanted cameras facing the gate crossing my driveway and at the front of the old limestone house.

If someone trespassed onto my property again, I’d have recorded footage to show the police. Though I knew the pictures wouldn’t stop an intruder, I wanted to be able to identify him and the video system would most likely give me enough time to get out of dodge before the person inflicted bodily harm.

After my call, I drove home at a leisurely pace, in no hurry to get there. Route 100 is largely made up of curves with an occasional straight section. It’s difficult to see cars near you because they disappear as you round curves. My road was on one of these curves, making it hard to spot. There used to be a sign that said
Hidden Entrance
, but it kept disappearing, imagine that. I take my privacy seriously and having a sign pointing out the road leading to my house was definitely a hindrance to any privacy at all.

I slowed and turned as a beat-up old truck whizzed past. Guess he was in more of a hurry than me. People rarely watched their speed on the main route, which could be deadly. Curves pop up on you, causing you to take them too quickly if you’re not prepared. Deer were also plentiful in this area.

The sun still shone as I pressed the remote to open the iron fence and garage door. I drove into the garage, parked the truck then closed the automatic door and waved to the deputy who was stationed in my yard before I headed into the house.

Murrlin poked his head out of the hallway as I came into the house, meowed at me, then headed back into the bedroom. I barely had time to put away the case containing my rods when the doorbell rang.

Joe from Joe’s Hunting Supplies waited on the other side of the glassless portion of door. “Miss Dubois, where do you want us to set up everything?”

Surprised to see him, I said, “Wow, I didn’t realize you’d be here so quickly. Thanks for coming right out.”

“Sheriff LaGrange called before you. He requested we set up cameras out here. Thought it must be mighty important if both of you called.”

Ah, so Bud was looking out for me again. I didn’t mind, considering the recent events, and it made sense he wouldn’t tell me about it since he knew I didn’t appreciate being smothered, even if it was with kindness.

I smiled at Joe and gestured for him to follow me outside. After walking around and showing him all the places I wanted to put cameras and listening to his suggestions, he and his men got to work. It took the rest of the afternoon before they completely installed the equipment and linked all the cameras to my laptop.

When the job was complete, Joe rang the doorbell again, and I invited him inside so he could show me how to run all of the different cameras. Thankfully, I’m pretty tech savvy, so it didn’t take long to learn the system.

Ten cameras had been set up to correspond with the numbers on the keyboard. When I wanted to look through the lens of camera number one, I pressed one on the keypad. If I wanted to take a picture, I pressed the space bar. It was pretty simple.

If any of the cameras sensed motion, a flash would light up the target area. A picture would be taken instantly and saved on my computer. With two cameras in particular, called Eagle Eyes, I could zoom in and out, giving me the ability to practically count the pores on a person’s nose. None of it was cheap, but it was worth the peace of mind.

On camera one, I watched the deputy cross from the north side of my yard. Camera two picked up where the first one left off and showed the officer walking toward my front door. I opened the door before he could ring the bell.

“Looks like the cameras are in working order,” he smiled.

“So far so good,” I replied.

He waved two fingers at Joe then said, “Sheriff says to take off. Have a good night, Ms. Dubois.”

“Okay, thanks,” I said then closed the door. I was a little puzzled at his timing but shrugged it off as coincidence. It was the end of the workday after all.

After Joe’s crew left, I walked outside to reset the wards on the iron fence for the night. Due to everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, my magic wouldn’t be quite as strong, but it was better than nothing.

Minutes after I walked back into the house and set the threshold magic, the phone rang, the caller ID flashing Bud’s name.

“Hi, Bud.”

“Hey… Did, um, Joe show up?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes and thank you. I called and left a message for him after the two of you had spoken so he got here pretty quickly. He and the guys are already gone, and everything is set up.”

“Good, I hope you don’t mind,” he said quietly. “I’m just worried about you after what happened.”

“I know, thanks for being such a good friend.”

“Did they set up cameras on the fence, garage, back patio and front door?”

I laughed to myself at my friend's thoroughness. “Yes, but I added a few more. They also put a couple on the old property and the trail leading to the limestone house. I also had two Eagle Eyes installed: one swivels on the driveway; where that one stops, the other one picks up and sweeps the house and backyard.”