Gatekeeper Read Free Page B

doubtful nod.
    She wasn’t like Amy. She wasn’t psychic. She’d put an end to all that after her mother had died—after her mother’s spirit had tried to contact her. Jillian fought hard to chase away the indelible image of her mother’s ghost from her mind.
    Panic surged to the surface.
    Jillian balked. Where was this uncharacteristic behavior coming from? Usually when she profiled an offender she felt strong, confident and analytical.
    But not this time.
    This time she felt vulnerable and angry and scared out of her skin.
    Her gaze rested on the contents of Amy’s purse once more. Theo was right. She had nailed every case she’d ever worked on. And she was determined to nail this one, to find Amy alive and unharmed.
    With resolve, Jillian slipped on a latex glove and bent down to examine the evidence.
    Steeling herself, she started with the cell phone. There were no unusual calls. Besides, the crime lab would be checking her phone records. The wallet was untouched. Amy’s deck of Tarot cards was still neatly tucked into a midnight blue velvet bag.
    She blew out a sigh.
    There’s more, Jillian.
    She rubbed her throbbing temples. She was going crazy. The voice in her head sounded strange. Male .
    She stood. More what? Where?
    And then, as if coerced by an unseen hand, she walked several feet toward the woods.
    “What are you gettin’?” Theo asked as he strode along behind her.
    “I don’t know,” she said—just as the rising sun glinted off something gold and shiny in the dewladen leaves.
    Squatting, she squinted and, upon closer inspection, discovered it was an old bronze button with the letters CSA emblazoned on it.
    “This is evidence,” Jillian said. “It’s connected to Amy.”
    “I’ll get somebody to bag it,” Theo said before he walked away.
    Jillian lifted the strange little bronze button out of the gravel and examined it. Her fingers tingled through the glove. There was something about this button…
    She had to feel it—touch it. Her gaze darted to where Theo stood, hands on his hips, talking to the other officers.
    Instinctively, she ripped the glove off her right hand. Her heart thudded hard against her rib cage. Theo would kill her for contaminating evidence. But she’d seen Amy do this countless times. It was called psychometry—the art of gleaning psychic impressions from an object.
    Her gaze swept the summit of Shy’s Hill once more. No one was watching.
    And then, with trembling fingers, she dropped the button into her hand.
    A rushing wave of sudden images slammed her.
    She could see her outstretched hands, one of which clutched the button. Bangles encircled both wrists. Garish rings glittered on her fingers. The harsh November breeze blew blonde hair across her face. These weren’t Jillian’s hands. This wasn’t Jillian’s dark hair. She was looking through Amy’s eyes! A strange rainbow-colored light encircled her and in the haze, she could see a tall figure. A man. He stared as if awaiting something. His form was somewhat solid but faded into the mist as if he were made of it. Dark, wavy hair framed the strong lines of his face accentuated by a thoroughly piratelike moustache and spade beard. But he was no pirate. Bronze buttons like the one she held in her hand glittered on his gray coat. The silver hilt of a sword glimmered at his belt and three stars twinkled on each side of his collar. He was a soldier, possibly from the Civil War.
    Confused and stunned, Jillian fell onto her backside. The button slipped through her trembling fingers and onto the leaf-strewn ground. Her breaths came in ragged gasps. What happened? Who was that man? Why was he dressed that way? What did he have to do with Amy’s disappearance? Jillian’s gaze riveted to the button nestled in the gravel between her knees as stark realization seeped through her veins. The button was the sole link to her sister.
    The button—and the ghost of a Civil War soldier.

Chapter Two
     
    Jillian’s heart