Page 9 of A Touch of Murder (Touched #1)

Adam walked across the street to grab a good cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll before he opened the shop for the day.

He had an hour to kill before he had to unlock the doors.

He waved at Jacey's sister Nancy as she drove past. She worked as a home health nurse and was the oldest of Jacey's siblings.

"Morning." Becky looked up from the front counter display where she was setting a tray of donuts. "Good timing. I just frosted a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls."

"You know me so well. I'll take one of those and a large cup of coffee." Adam moved to stand at the counter.

"Stay or go?" Becky asked as she went to the other display area where the rolls were.

"I've got time. I'll stay and enjoy it here." Adam pulled out his wallet to grab his credit card. "What's new? I haven't been over in a while."

Becky plated him a roll, then turned to get his coffee. "Not too much. You heard about Roy Rowin, right? Of course you did. Vance told me you led Kyle to Edith. That had to be horrible to see. Did you actually see Roy fall from his horse in your vision?"

"I didn't know at the time it was Roy, but I saw a man fall.

Since I'd had another vision of Edith associated with the saddle, it was safe to assume that it was Roy.

So sad. He was only seventy-two. I mean, that's older, but the man looked healthy.

He was still working his ranch like he was thirty.

" Adam swiped his card before shoving his wallet back into his pocket. "I didn't know them well. Did you?"

"Well enough. Edith taught Sunday school when I was a child.

As I got older and didn't attend church as often, we lost touch, but I always caught up with her at the annual barbecue they'd throw and at other community events around the area.

Ray would drop by about once a month to get a few loaves of my breads.

" She grabbed herself a cup of coffee. "Mind if I join you for a bit? It's quiet this morning."

Adam knew Becky's main rush came between seven and eight in the morning, when people were rushing to work. She'd get another rush in the afternoon. "Happy for the company." He took his food to one of the tables.

"How's business for you?" She sat across from him.

"Slow, but it usually is this time of year.

Once the summer tourists start coming through, it will pick up.

" Being just west of Yellowstone, the summer started later than some areas.

"I've got a woman coming in soon who will be setting up an area in my shop.

She does aura photography. I'm hoping that might draw people in. "

"Oh, I'd love to do that. I've always been fascinated by that kind of stuff. Do you see auras?" Becky asked.

"Nope. I'm kind of curious to see what mine looks like.

I've often wondered if because of my gift it might look different than others.

I'll probably be her first customer unless Jacey gets to her first." Adam glanced up as the door opened.

He forced a smile as Barret Whitestone walked in.

He was in uniform, but alone, and Adam wondered where his partner was.

"Hey, Barret. Your usual?" Becky stood, pausing to hug her brother before going back behind the counter.

"Yeah, but up the size of the coffee. I need caffeine today." Barret eyed Adam, then nodded a hello.

"Morning." Adam smiled. "Care to join us?"

"For a minute. I need to get back to the station.

" Barret walked over and sat down next to Becky's chair.

"We found the Wilson girl yesterday. You were right.

The Utah Medical Examiner's Office had her.

We let her family know yesterday afternoon.

They're having her body transferred up here for burial. "

Adam sighed. "I wish I'd been wrong."

Becky set an apple fritter and a large cup of coffee in front of Barret and took her seat. "That's horrible. I was praying she was alive, and she'd run off with some boy. But I guess the way you found her car, that wasn't probable."

"No, we were running on the assumption she was taken, but we'd hoped to find her alive." Barret turned to Adam. "I was just going to hang out here until you opened. I came to talk to you more about what you claimed to see."

"Barret, we talked about this yesterday. Adam's the real thing. He doesn't just claim to see things. He does see things." Becky gripped her brother's forearm. "Some things in life we can't explain. What Adam does is one of those things."

Barret shook his head. "It's not possible."

Adam took a sip of his coffee then set it down. "What freaked you out the other night at my place? Something I said upset you." He'd thought about that incident several times over the last couple of days.

"What happened?" Becky's interest was clear as she stared back and forth at the two of them.

"Not my story." Adam held up a hand. "Even without it being an official reading, I still keep a person's confidentiality."

"You did a reading for Barret?" Becky's eyes went wide.

"I was trying to prove him a fake," Barret grumbled. "But he saw things."

"Explain." Becky narrowed her eyes on her brother.

"He offered to read something of mine to prove his skills were real. I thought I'd prove he was faking it by giving him my handcuffs to hold. I assumed he'd talk about some arrest or something I'd made. The thing was, those were brand new cuffs. I'd never used them," Barret told his sister.

"So you didn't see anything?" Becky looked over at Adam.

Adam shook his head. "I saw stuff. It made no sense to me, but I told him what I saw."

"Barret?" Becky stared at her brother.

"Do you remember what you saw?" Barret asked Adam.

He nodded.

"Tell her." Barret took a bite of his fritter.

Adam leaned back and tried to remember everything. "A purple teddy bear. An apron with stitched strawberries on it, the smell of lavender, and a short woman. She was really short."

"You said under five feet, right?" Barret commented.

"Yeah."

Becky sucked in a breath. "What else?"

"I think that was it," Adam told her. "That was when he got up and walked out after calling me a few bad names."

"You also said gray hair, but you're right. I freaked out and I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have called you that. It was just…" Barret pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You saw our grandmother." Becky smiled. "She was four-eight but claimed to be four-nine. She always smelled like lavender and wore an apron she'd sewn with little strawberries on the front of it." Becky shook her head as she stared at her brother. "How did he know that from a pair of handcuffs?"

Barret rolled his shoulders. "That purple teddy bear he mentioned.

Grandma gave me one when I was maybe five or six years old.

I've kept it all these years. It sits on my dresser in my bedroom.

" Now he looked over at Adam. "It was what I laid the handcuffs on when I pulled them out of the box.

I left them lying on the bear for a few weeks before finally switching them out with my old pair the morning of the day Vance and I came to talk to you. "

Adam laughed. "That explains it. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how I was getting images like that from a pair of handcuffs. How long ago did she die?"

"How do you know she's dead?" Barret sounded suddenly defensive.

"The same way I knew Trina Wilson was. I felt it.

There is a different feeling for the living and the dead.

I can't explain it. I just know." Adam wiped his gloved hand on a napkin.

"I thought I'd see some arrest you made when you handed me those.

The last thing I thought I'd see is your grandmother. "

"I was convinced you'd make something up. I was shocked when you said all that," Barret admitted.

"Like I say to everyone, it might not make sense to me, but hopefully, it will to you. No matter how confusing what I see might be for me, I tell whatever it is I see."

"He read that from your handcuffs, and you still don't believe in what he can do?

" Becky turned to face her brother. "He's the real thing, Barret.

Doesn't matter if you can't wrap your brain around it.

It's fact. Many of us know that and trust Adam.

Why do you think Kyle went to him yesterday with the saddle? "

Barret sighed. "It's a lot to take in."

"The fact he saw grandma should convince you. Only one of us would know that stuff. Mom and Dad aren't around to tell him. How else would he know that stuff about her? And how would he know you kept those cuffs on the bear?"

"Maybe he got in my house—"

"Hey, I don't even know where you live. Don't go there," Adam said sternly.

"Listen, even I can't explain why I can do what I can do.

It hasn't been easy. Imagine being a child and seeing things you can't explain.

It took years to realize it was because of touching things that I was having visions.

My parents thought I had some kind of mental disorder for years.

My teenage years were almost worse since I have to wear gloves all the time.

I wish I could turn it on and off, but I can't. I decided as I got older, I'd try to use it for good.

Sure, a lot of people think of me as some side show freak, but I've helped a lot of good people too.

I'm sorry if you have trouble believing or understanding.

You're not the first or the last, trust me, but it's what I do, and I won't apologize for it or feel like a freak because of it. Those days are long gone."

"You deserve another cinnamon roll for that." Becky stood and went back to the counter. "And I'll box one up for Jacey as well."

"I'm sorry. You're right. I'm taking what I can't understand out on you.

It's just hard to…" Barret waved his hand.

"I can't deny what you say you saw. You'd think it would be enough to convince me.

I'm just not quite there yet, but that being said, I'm hoping you'll talk to me about Trina Wilson's case.

Her parents gave me the recording you made, but I was hoping there might be other things you might remember.

Something that wasn't said on the recording. "

"I'm happy to do anything I can to find out who killed her. I told her parents that if they found anything else I could possibly get a read on, to bring it in. I really wish I'd been wrong about her." Adam finished off his coffee.

"Are you ever wrong?" Barret asked.

"No. Sometimes people might not understand what I see, but I'm never wrong about what I see.

It can be especially hard with objects that have had several owners or something that gets touched a lot.

Think of this table. Hundreds of people have probably sat here.

I'd get a reading, but it might be of someone that was here five years ago, when you're looking for something on someone that was here yesterday.

I do tend to see violent or traumatic events more easily, no matter how long ago they've happened.

Museums can be interesting for me because if I'm allowed to touch an item, I can relive a piece of its history. "

"What about reading something twice? Will you see different things?" Barret asked.

"Sometimes."

"I've got Trina's bracelet. The one you've already read. Do you think you can read it again for me?"

Adam nodded. "Sure, but not here. I need to go back to the shop.

Readings cause me to tire, and I like being in a safe area when I do them if I can.

Or at least have several bottles of water with me and something with sugar.

" He smiled as he glanced over at the display cases.

"We'd have all that here, but I'd still rather be back at the shop.

" He glanced at his phone to see the time. "Jacey will be coming in any minute."

"Here you go." Becky put a bag on the table. "Sweets for you and Jacey to enjoy later."

"Let me pay you for those." Adam reached for his wallet.

"You will not. You gave me a sweet memory of my grandmother today.

That's priceless to me. Have the cinnamon roll instead of one of those candy bars you're always eating.

" She gripped his shoulder in friendly grasp.

"Thanks for coming over today. And thank you for helping me pull my brother's head out of his ass.

He may be slow, but he'll come around." She moved to hug her brother from behind.

"Go try and find out who took Trina. That will do more to help this community than anything. People are nervous and on edge."

Adam stood. "Thanks, Beck."

"Anytime." She smiled.

"I'll meet you there," Adam told Barret, giving him a chance to talk to his sister alone, and himself a chance to mentally prepare to read that bracelet again and feel the fear that Trina had felt when it had been forced from her wrist.