Looking For Trouble Read Free Page B

visions—which no one else could—was nothing new for Alexandria.
    She’d experienced her first encounter when she was just a toddler, playfully talking with the spirits of children from bygone years. Her imaginary friends were as real as the ones she played with at school. As she grew older, she developed the ability of premonition. When she was five years old, she predicted her father’s heart attack before it happened. A few months later, she drew a picture of her younger brother, Christian, before he was conceived. It had startled her teacher so much that she’d called Alexandria’s parents. From that point on, she stopped drawing the things she saw happening in her mind.
    Growing up the child of a black mother and a white father, Alexandria was taught by her parents that she came from extraordinary people on both sides of her family. But there was another dimension of who she was that she knew her parents would never be able to understand—let alone teach her about—so she made up her mind early on to bury the mysterious haunting that often gripped her in her sleep.
    Over the years, she’d developed the ability to tune out voices when they tried to roar inside her mind. For some reason, though, she couldn’t do it with the woman who was now drumming words into her ear. When she’d started hearing whispers a few weeks ago, she immediately knew there was something different about this new voice that was contacting her, and the spirit of the person to whom it belonged.
    As she sat alone, finishing the last spoonful of chocolate ice cream, Alexandria heard the voice again. This time, the sound came in a little more clearly: “Look for the diamond, ’cause the one who has that is the one who’s gonna help save you.”
    â€œWhat the hell does that mean?” Alexandria said. She set her empty container of ice cream on the coffee table in front of her. She knew that whether she wanted to or not, she would soon find out.

Chapter 3
    Nedine, South Carolina
    Â 
    Â 
    J ohn squinted and yawned as he slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to his unfamiliar surroundings. He blinked twice, still groggy from the rush of the previous day’s activities. He’d traveled from New York City to Nedine, South Carolina, with a pocketful of money and a heart filled with dreams. And as waking consciousness took hold of his strong body, he could tell that something special was going to happen today. He didn’t know what wondrous thing was about to unfold, or at what point in the day his good fortune would present itself, but he had no doubt that a great opportunity was coming his way.
    John had always trusted his gut instincts—a skill he’d inherited from his wise old grandmother. If something felt right, he went with it. But if he got an uneasy feeling about a situation, he backed away. He was a natural risk taker, with a head for business, and it was a quality that had served him well, helping him to become the only black executive at the privately owned Wall Street investment bank where he worked.
    John was lying comfortably in bed, enjoying the peace of the early-morning sun as it flooded through the thin beige curtains in his modest hotel room. He stretched his left leg and felt a warm thigh slide against his skin, followed by the soft caress of smooth, naked flesh pressed against his bare back.
    â€œGood morning,” Madeline purred behind him.
    â€œMornin’,” John answered.
    â€œHow do you feel this morning?”
    â€œFine.”
    Madeline tightened her embrace. “John, I’m hungry. Are you?”
    â€œNo.”
    She let out a long sigh. “I’m ravenous. I worked up an appetite from last night.” Madeline grinned seductively, rubbing her foot along John’s muscular calf. “I’m surprised you’re not hungry, too. Especially after your performance, which, I must say, was so Mmmm delicious.”
    John