Page 34 of Someone to Call My Own
“No.”
“Yes, he made that clear.” Hearing that Jon denied the connection we shared pissed me off. It was hypocritical and irrational, but true all the same. “Jon also mentioned that you thought he and I might’ve beenfriendsinstead of friends.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what he’s talking about,” I said while wishing the ground would open and swallow me. “He’s of no concern to me.”
“Yeah, he tried that same song and dance with me too. Neither one of you is very convincing though.” Beau smiled wryly then said, “I talked to Jon on the phone instead of using Skype so I can’t be sure of his facial expression when he denied he has feelings for you, but I imagine it would look just like that.” He pointed to my face. “You two idiots are fighting the wrong battle. Stop being stupid, because life is too damn short.”As if I hadn’t learned that the hard way.
“Thanks for the pep talk, Dr. Phil. Can we get down to business now?”
Beau threw his head back and laughed hard for several minutes. “Oh boy,” he said, wiping his eyes. “Jon said pretty much the same thing, but I think he was slightly more colorful.”
“Well, I’m starting to think saltier language is called for in this situation,” I said wryly.
“Have a seat, and I’ll get the file for you to look through.” Beau went to a storage locker in the corner of his office and began turning the lock. “I wouldn’t really say there has been a new development, but what I did discover reaffirms my belief that Kent Jessup never left this county alive.” The lock audibly clicked when it unlocked, and the door swung open. Beau pulled out a worn, leather duffel bag from the locker. “This bag belonged to Kent. There’s no way in hell he would’ve left it behind.”
The look of devastation on his face and the anguish in his voice confirmed my suspicion that this was no ordinary cold case to Beau Rossi. He had a vested interest, but why? Then I realized it didn’t matter. What mattered was whether I could touch Kent’s things and get a psychic connection to him. I walked to the table Beau had set it on and reached for the bag. An image didn’t immediately come to mind, but a feeling of sorrow and fear washed over me.
I blew out a shaky breath and unzipped the bag so I could touch his possessions. “Have you gone through this bag?” I asked.
“I have,” Beau confirmed.
“Are you confident that all the items are his?”
“A ranch hand from Kent’s last known residence gave the bag to me recently, claiming it was Kent’s. His mother also described the bag he’d left home with in great detail, so I’m confident it belonged to him. I can’t say for sure whether all the items inside are his though.”
“Fair enough,” I said. I pulled each item out separately to see if I could pick up any vibes from them. Mostly the bag consisted of clothes and a grooming kit. Odd that he would’ve left them behind, but not necessarily an indicator that foul play was afoot. None of the items gave me anything to work with. The second to last item I removed from the bag was a half-empty box of condoms. I got my strongest psychic hit from them, but that didn’t surprise me at all. Lust and love are two of the strongest emotions that people experience. It wouldn’t be odd to feel the connection if that bag had been hidden and preserved well the last ten years. The residual vibes of lust and the joy of discovery were still strong when I ran my hand over the box.
As intense as the emotions were, I had to believe that Kent’s sexual experiences were new to him. “He was intimately involved with someone here,” I told the sheriff. “The relationship was brand new and thrilling to him.” I closed my eyes and embraced the residual psychic echoes Kent left behind. My heart raced with the excitement that he had felt. “The man was older and more experienced. Their relationship was a secret, which added to the thrill for him.” I kept my eyes closed while I waited to see if Kent gave me more information from that item but there was nothing else.
“You’re certain he was involved with another man?” Beau asked once I set the box on the table next to the clothes.
“Yes, an older man, but it feels like maybe a ten to twelve-year age difference.”
“Most likely one of the other ranch hands and not the ranch owner then,” Beau said, but it felt more like he was thinking out loud rather than speaking to me.
“That is the impression I got.” A wallet was the final item in the bag and the biggest indicator that Kent left in a hurry or not at all. A guy doesn’t go very far without his wallet. A sharp knife of fear stabbed me when I held the worn leather in my hands. “Did you look inside?”
“Yes,” Beau said tersely. “His ID, credit card, and a few hundred dollars in cash are still inside.”
“He was terrified when he threw his wallet inside the bag. It was probably the last thing put in the bag before he zipped it up. It wouldn’t take much for the wallet to fall to the bottom of the bag.” An image of a young guy with shiny black hair and vibrant blue eyes came to me. He was inside rustic-looking rooms with bunk beds. He had packed his belongings as fast as he could and saw his wallet on the nightstand. Instead of tucking it into his pocket, he tossed it inside his open duffel bag because he needed to make a fast escape. “He was trying to flee for his life.”
“I fucking knew it. What else do you see?”
I slowly opened my eyes and looked into blue ones that were eerily similar to Kent Jessup’s. I opened the wallet and removed the driver license, and a younger version of Beau Rossi stared back at me. The only differences were their hair color, age, and last name. I had read that Kent was twenty-two when he went missing, so Beau wasn’t old enough to be his father. I was curious to know their real connection, but I didn’t want my visions compromised by asking too many questions.
I shared with Beau the few details I saw in my vision. I could tell by the fierce look in his eyes that he knew the location I described. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you anything else. Sometimes things will come to me days later, so don’t give up hope.”
“I wish I could take you out to that ranch, but I can’t do that without a warrant. I have talked to the owner a few times, and he threatened me with a harassment lawsuit if I showed up without a signed warrant from a judge.” Beau pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll just hope that something more comes to you—something that leads to a solid piece of evidence so I can get that warrant. I know that my… Kent didn’t just disappear without a trace. He had help. At this point, I just want to return his body to his family.”
“I hope that I can help you with that,” I told him. “Do you know any of Kent’s favorite places around Big Timber? I can see if I pick up any details.”
“I can tell you what I’ve learned from interviewing people around town that knew him,” he replied.
“Okay, that’s a good start.”
Beau rattled off a few locations including a diner and the library while he drove me back to the B&B. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d rather go by myself so that I’m not confusing your energy with anything that Kent might’ve left behind.”