Mystic Danger 2: From the Ashes Read Free

off balance. He was the one with a second sight or extra sense of memories. Right? “You recognize me?”
    Jake’s handsome face darkened, and his eyes flashed threateningly. “I didn’t last night, but I do now. Who put you up to this?” He looked about furtively. “Where’s Mom? Is she all right?”
    Jake reached across the table to hold Rance in place while grilling him. His voice was like velvet sandpaper, soft yet irritating. “What is the meaning of this?”
    An electrical current of recognition ground Rance to his seat. Jake’s fingers on his wrists made him flush with a mixture of sudden familiarity, which he was sure was from Sarah’s memories, and an inexplicable desire, which disturbed him. This was Sarah’s brother, so there was no way he should feel drawn to him sexually, not if he was channeling Sarah.
    “Let go.” Rance struggled to remain calm.
    “Is this a sick joke?” Jake demanded. “Who are you? Where is my mother?”
    “I’m right here, son—goodness!” Haley frowned as she rejoined Rance. “This man has no idea what you’re talking about, Jake.”
    Haley smacked Jake’s hands, telling him to release Rance. Then she placed a framed drawing in front of Rance. “Sarah was a good artist, even had a few showings in the area, and some of her work hangs in various museums throughout the state. She drew this when she was about sixteen. Sarah was our only daughter and had brothers, but she used to say this was a portrait of her brother by a different mother.”
    Rance recognized himself instantly, and for the first time since he’d received Sarah’s corneas, he was sure of something. Himself.
    “I never met Sarah.” The words sounded lame, but he had to be honest. “I-I don’t understand what’s going on, but…I had to come here, to see you.”
    “Of course, dear.” Haley patted his shoulder.
    “No, you don’t understand.” Rance swallowed hard, gathering courage. “Things have been strange for me ever since the operations. I’ve had visions.” He glanced up to meet Jake’s steely gaze. “I don’t expect you to believe me, but this was all meant to be.”
    Regret filled him. “I don’t mean that it was Sarah’s lot in life to die like that—I read about it in The Las Vegas Sun , weeks after I began healing. It was horrible. Three people killed, including your daughter. Tragic, her getting gunned down like that and the police unable to catch those responsible. But I was meant to…” Rance groaned and buried his face in his hands, searching for the words. Benefit sounded so cold, so mercenary, but what other word sufficed?
    Haley pulled Rance’s hands away and looked him in the eye. Her gaze was kind, understanding, and her pain and sorrow alone would have done Rance in, but the compassion Haley offered nearly brought him to tears. “Sarah knew this would happen, I think. Look.” Haley indicated the portrait. “It’s a perfect likeness of you as you are today, and she drew it nearly fifteen years ago.”
    Rance could only stare. It was perfect. In the picture, he actually looked radiant and happy. Far from how he felt at the moment. But the thought that a young girl from hundreds of miles away, one who’d never meet him, could capture him so uncannily, was a miracle in itself. Just like the gift of sight Sarah had given him.
    Haley bent and hugged Rance. The act was the panacea Rance needed to heal his troubled heart, even if temporarily. The guilt he’d felt for receiving another’s eyes unnerved him.
    Jake cleared his throat, interrupting Rance’s brief respite from guilt. He could tell by Jake’s tone that he wasn’t convinced Rance wasn’t up to something that would harm his family. “How is it that Summer found you? Why are you here?”
    “Jake!” Haley sounded shocked. She slammed her palms onto the table before him, glaring at him. “I signed the forms agreeing to meet Sarah’s recipients. Sometimes, these people just want to say thank