Psychic Visions 08-Now You See Her... by Dale Mayer Read Free Book Online

this.
    She should have told her to offer the information if anyone came after her, it wasn’t worth getting hurt over.
    But she hadn’t had that talk with Simone. At least not seriously. Simone had often said, “You know I’ve got your back, right?”
    There’d never been any doubt about that.
    With the sky starting to dump a light rain on the windshield, she hated the tension coiling up on the inside. That inability to swallow from the fear clogging her throat.
    Simone had to be okay.
    Dean pulled into Simone’s place and parked in the driveway. She searched the dark night sky for some sign there’d been trouble in the few hours she’d been gone. She couldn’t see anything. There were no lights on. Then again, why would there be? Simone should be asleep.
    There were no strange vehicles parked outside the house either. In fact, Simone’s vehicle wasn’t even there. Maybe she had bolted. That was better than many options.
    Dean hopped out and slammed the door closed. Crap. She couldn’t get out in time. She’d have to wait for him to enter the house before she exited the truck. She watched as he walked up to the front door and knocked. She almost smiled. Simone was no one’s fool. She’d never open the door to a stranger.
    He rang the doorbell.
    No answer.
    Of course not. It was the middle of the night.
    Then he reached for the doorknob and turned the handle. And pushed the unlocked door open.
    Tia stiffened in disbelief. That couldn’t be. Simone was paranoid about locking her doors. She’d never have gone to bed without locking up and setting the security system. It had been a joke between them for years.
    For Dean to have done that meant something bad had happened. She bit back a cry. Her hand on the door handle, she mentally urged him to go inside so she could get out.
    “Hello, Simone Depres? Are you here? I’m with the police. We’ve gotten a call suggesting you might be in trouble.”
    No answer.
    So he was a cop. Damn. She shoved that deep inside to consider later. Simone was more important at this point.
    No lights on anywhere. She stared at the other windows, the upper left one in particular. That was Simone’s bedroom. No light. No shadows. Tia returned her gaze to the front door to realize Dean had walked inside. She opened her door and slid out then closed the door softly before racing to the front door and her friend.
    *
    Dean stood in the front hallway of the brick two-story building. There were many houses in the neighborhood just like this one, which had been a popular design in the nineties. There appeared to be a half dozen on this block alone.
    There was no one home from what he could see. Or she was sleeping soundly. He hated to walk through her house. “Hello? Simone? Are you home? Tia sent me.”
    He said that last bit slightly louder, hoping Tia’s name would make a difference. The open kitchen was on the left. The living room in front had double French doors leading to a small backyard. He stood at the side and peered out into the backyard, a small grassy space with a couple of chairs. No sign of anyone. The furniture was in decent shape but not designer. The house was middle class and in good condition. She’d looked after the place.
    The stairs were on the right of the living room. No sign of a door to a basement. Good. He didn’t like basements. At the stairs he stopped and called up, “Simone? I’m with the police. Tia sent us. She’s worried about you.”
    Still no answer. With a last look around, he walked up the stairs. “Simone, it’s just me. My name is Dean. I’m a detective with the Portland Police Department. I’m coming up.”
    There were three doors at the top of the stairs. One a bathroom and one a spare bedroom. The master bedroom door was open. He pushed it wider and stepped in.
    The room showed someone having packed in a hurry. There was a suitcase open on the floor, a few items tossed inside, but there was a depression on the bed where another one might