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Or, at least, to leave. His home wasn’t a pleasant place to be right now, with that bloodstain soaked into the carpet.
“It’s not your fault,” Zach said. “You didn’t force him to become a killer. He decided that all on his own.”
“I should have seen it sooner,” Laura said. “He was the danger I sensed. The danger all around me. I should have figured out that someone was after me – and that they would target my friends to do it. I saw his intentions in my vision. He was going to kill you to lure me out on my own, make me vulnerable.”
Zach shook his head. “It’s still not your fault. You’re not responsible for the actions of others, whether you see them or not.”
Laura sighed and nodded. “I guess. That’s one of my faults, I suppose. Always trying to take responsibility for everything.”
“It is,” Zach said seriously. “You should stop.”
Laura took a sip of her own coffee and winced, setting it aside. It wasn’t even worth it for the hydration. “You’re right.” She smiled. “Well, now we’ve figured out this thing about getting stronger with proximity, maybe we can hang out a bit more between cases. You can help me stay on the straight and narrow.”
Zach chuckled. “If you’ll have time. Don’t you have your daughter and that handsome boyfriend of yours keeping you busy?”
“I do,” Laura smiled. “Actually, I have some news on that front. We’ve decided to move in together.”
Zach’s eyes widened with joy. He had the kind of expression on his face that Laura always imagined a father would share with their daughter at that kind of news. Her own father had died long before her first marriage, before Lacey, before all of it. Seeing it on Zach’s face felt like one more piece of the puzzle that was her life was finally clicking into place. “Laura, that’s fantastic news! Oh, I know you’ll be very happy together. And after that? What do you think? Is marriage in the cards?”
Laura blushed a little, looking away with a grin. “I don’t know. I suppose we’ll see how it goes first.”
“If you do, you have to let me come,” Zach said, a twinkle in his blue eyes. “I know you won’t want me to mess up any visions you might have in case something goes wrong on the day, but I’ll sneak in at the last minute.”
“I will,” Laura said, then laughed and shook her head, flustered. “If it ever comes to that!”
Zach laughed merrily. “Well, I’m glad things are going well for you, anyway. I’m sure catching yet another serial killer will be another feather in your cap, too.”
Laura bit her lip nervously. She hadn’t yet fully allowed herself to consider the ramifications of this. Was Rondelle going to be glad that she had stopped a killer – or mad because he’d just told her to stop investigating things alone?
Of course, it hadn’t happened like that. That was her defense. She could tell them that Zach had picked up the phone, not his voicemail, and that he’d said something very quickly that made her realize he was in danger. It would match up with the phone records. It would be an easy lie to sell.
And if Rondelle didn’t buy it…
Well, Laura wasn’t worried about that anymore. She had a loving partner, access to her daughter again, and a good enough relationship with Nate that she really did believe that psychic detective agency was a backup option they could take. She had been sober for long enough now to believe she had a strong chance of not falling off the wagon again, and her powers were stronger than ever – and she understood how to use them more than she ever had.
She had friends around her, a happy home life, and she was good at her job. Good enough to follow it in a different direction if she needed to. She had no reason to be afraid anymore.
“I guess it is,” she said, because she could put feathers in her own cap without waiting for approval from her boss.
Her cell phone started to ring in her pocket, and Laura grabbed it with a quick apology. She glanced at the screen and saw Nate’s name. Was he calling about a case? Or did Rondelle already want to talk to her about all of this?
She stepped out into the hall and answered it, pressing it to her ear. “Hi, Nate.”
“Laura!” he said. “I was just wondering – do you have Lacey this weekend?”
“I do,” Laura said, wondering where this was going.
“Great!” Nate said. “Oh, and is Chris working?”
“No, he has the weekend off usually,” Laura said.
“Okay, great,” Nate said. “Well, I was wondering if you all wanted to come over and hang out. It’s supposed to be the first sunny weekend of the year. I was thinking of doing a barbecue. What do you think? Amy’s welcome as well, of course.”
“That sounds great,” Laura grinned. “What’s brought this on?”
“I thought it was about time we hang out properly,” Nate said. “You know, like partners.”
Laura laughed. “That’s a great idea,” she said, glancing back at Zach through the window in the door. “I’ve got a lot to tell you, actually.”
