Before, Molly’s protests felt like a hammer in my head. Now, they’re more like a wrecking ball.
I lean back against the couch cushions and squeeze my eyes shut.
Molly, you heard what I said. I can’t let you out yet. She might—
“Anna? You okay?”
Deo is tugging on my arm. I glance around and everyone else is watching me, too. I wish I could sink through the floor, but Molly’s not letting up.
“It’s Molly. She wants to tell me something, but that would mean I have to let the wall down. And I’m positive I felt something before we went to the police station, so this Badea woman must be able to—”
“No.” Sam glances at Daniel again. “I don’t know who this woman is exactly, but I find it hard to believe she can do anything like that from a distance. I’ve made a study of this kind of thing . . . given the family tendencies. Even with clairvoyants—like people who do remote viewings—most need to touch something in order to read it. Or at least be really damn close by.” He fades off, then says to Daniel, “Why don’t you take a walk around the building? See if anything looks suspicious.”
Daniel and Sam exchange another one of their cryptic looks. I’m starting to wonder whether the two of them are trading psychic messages back and forth, because Sam tells him, “Just do what I asked. I’m not going to say anything. Aaron can go with you if you’re a scaredy-cat.”
“Yeah, right,” Daniel scoffs, heading toward the door.
Aaron is still typing, and it looks like he’s moved on to a different website now. I close my eyes and rub my temples, wishing I had something to drown out Molly’s noise.
We’re working on it, Molly. Could you just calm down please? What is your problem?
Even without hearing her, I know her response would include that she’s stuck behind a wall inside someone else’s head. But I can’t really help that.
I hear Daniel in the hallway a few minutes later. His voice is angry. A woman’s voice, also angry and also familiar, responds, and I tense up automatically.
But it’s not the low tones of Dacia Badea. I place the voice right before the door opens and Daniel tugs his sister Taylor in after him.
“. . . to go home.”
“I did. And when Mom called, she said I could go back out as long as I’m home by midnight.”
Aaron’s eyes stay on the screen as he asks, “You told her where you were going?”
“Sort of. I said I was going to see Popsy.” She gives her grandfather a big smile and crosses over to where he’s sitting. Then she parks herself on the arm of his chair and plants a kiss on his cheek.
“Taylor, you know damn well you shouldn’t be here.” Sam’s comment doesn’t sound even remotely like a rebuke, however. Taylor very obviously has him wrapped around her well-manicured pinky.
“I haven’t seen you in three entire days. And tomorrow’s Saturday. No school, so I still have lots of time.” She looks across the room at the couch where Deo and I are sitting. Her eyes linger for a minute on Deo, which is pretty much the norm for most females between the ages of ten and thirty and sometimes even older. Quite a few guys, too. Then she shifts her gaze toward me, and I see anger or maybe it’s just hurt in her expression. Whatever it is, it feels unfair. I haven’t done anything to her.
She looks back over at Aaron. “What did I miss? And don’t any of you tell me this is none of my business. If it has to do with Molly, it’s my business. If it has to do with Dad, it’s also my business. And you know I’ll find out either way. I always do.”
Aaron, Sam, and Daniel sigh. It’s not quite in unison, but it’s pretty close, and there’s an almost identical expression of defeat on all three faces. Taylor flashes a little victory smile and then repeats, “So . . . what did I miss?”
“Well, apparently Molly has something to tell us,” Sam says. “But Anna here had a little run-in with a woman at the police station who she thinks was trying to read her mind. Or Molly’s mind. Did you finish looking around, Daniel?”
“I didn’t see anyone out there besides Taylor,” Daniel says. “The building appears to be empty, and it’s only our cars in the lot. I can’t guarantee she’s not hanging out at the 7-Eleven, Popeyes, or whatever. But I really don’t think she’d be able to read you unless she was close by. And you could always rebuild your mental wall if you feel anything, right?”
I’m not sure what it is about Daniel’s expression that’s bugging me. I don’t think he’s lying about the lot being empty, but something seems off.