Trouble Vision by Allison Kingsley Read Free Book Online Page A

clouds. “It’ll be easier for you to get in to see him.”
    “I don’t see how. None of my kids have him for a teacher.”
    Clara sighed. “All right, we’ll go in together and I’ll do the talking. It would help, though, if you backed me up now and then.”
    “You always seem to manage fine without me. Besides, you’re the one with the Sense.”
    Detecting an underlying resentment in her tone, Clara glanced at her cousin. Stephanie was gazing out the window, however, her expression bland. Deciding she must have imagined it, Clara concentrated on the task ahead.
    She had questioned enough people over the past year or so that she was getting used to it. Still, she was fully aware that so far they’d been lucky. Although they’d met with hostility and suspicion now and then, they’d emerged without damage. That could end at any time, and she could only hope that wouldn’t be the case with Mr. Josh Millstone.

4
    “We should make it in time for morning recess,” Clara said as she parked the car behind the school. “Otherwise we’ll have to wait until lunchtime, and that would make me late for my shift at the bookstore.”
    “We won’t have to wait. There’s Mr. Millstone.” Stephanie nodded at the play area, where kids ran around yelling at each other, while others stood in little groups, absorbed in whatever they were doing.
    The guy Clara had seen the night of the meeting stood by the fence, reading a sheet of paper that flapped in the wind. He’d tied his hair back into a short ponytail, and his shoulders were hunched against the cold.
    Thankful she didn’t have to find an excuse to visit him inside the school, Clara approached the fence. When she spoke his name, Josh Millstone spun around, his eyes wide with surprise. He had dark freckles all over his face, and his eyebrows were so flimsy and fair they almost disappeared.
    He looked at Clara as if she’d appeared out of the ground. “Can I help you?”
    Clara dragged Stephanie closer to the fence. “This is my cousin, and her kids go to this school. Her eldest, Ethan Dowd, is a huge admirer of yours. He’s always talking about your fight to protect the wildlife.”
    The teacher glanced across the playground, then at Stephanie. “I’m sorry. I’m not familiar with his name.”
    “Oh, he’s not in your class,” Stephanie said, looking flustered. “He just knows about your interest in the environment.”
    Josh seemed pleasantly surprised. “Really? So how can I help you?”
    Clara smiled. “We just wanted to ask you about your protests up at the construction site on the bluff.”
    Now wariness crossed the teacher’s face. “What about it?”
    “Did you know Scott Delwyn?”
    He didn’t answer at first, but stared at Clara as if trying to figure out what she was getting at. Finally he said, “So that’s what this is about. You think my protest group had something to do with his death?”
    Clara met his gaze. “Did it?”
    For another long moment he seemed about to explode in anger, then to Clara’s surprise and relief, he laughed. “Nothing like coming straight to the point.”
    She shrugged. “Just asking.”
    “I thought Mr. Delwyn’s death was an accident.”
    “We’re just making sure, that’s all.”
    “Aren’t the cops supposed to do that?”
    “Yes.” Clara smiled at him again. “But you know as well as I do that no matter how good the cops are, sometimes they miss things.”
    His frown reappeared. “Are you saying it wasn’t an accident?”
    “We’re not saying anything; just asking a few questions, that’s all.”
    Josh nodded. “Well, okay. For what it’s worth, I can assure you that none of my people would resort to violence of any kind. We’ll protest, yes, and now and again we’ll try to disrupt things if it helps to emphasize our cause, but violence?” He shook his head. “Not on our agenda. I’ll vouch for everyone in the group on that. Besides, most of us were together the night Scott died. We