“That’s awful,” Orly said softly.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Hallie said. “That is so sad and scary.”
“What do you do when it happens?” Skyla asked.
Reese shrugged. “There’s not much I can do. It’s not like I can prevent someone from dying. I can’t stop a car accident or a bullet, or old age. It’s just fate. Besides, I don’t know the date or time. Just the how. And all that can change based on future choices someone makes, so it’s not even set in stone.”
Hallie sighed. “That’s how it is with my glimpses into the future. I want to help whoever is on the other side of them, but I hardly ever get enough information to do anything about them. I hate it. I don’t know why we have gifts like this if we’re not meant to do something important with them.”
Reese shrugged. She’d thought about it many times, and never came up with a good reason. It was just something that was part of her.
“Wait,” Hallie said, turning to Orly. “Do you think maybe that’s why Russell railroaded you so much after you told him what you could do? Because he had a step sister with a paranormal ability and he clearly wasn’t a fan, so when he found out about you -”
“He lost his shit and decided to make me pay for everything he deemed wrong in his life? Sure, I guess that’s possible. But I think it had more to do with Molly Edgar. If only we could figure out what he did to -”
“Wait, did you say Molly Edgar?” Reese asked, goosebumps covering her entire body at the mention of that name.
“Did you know her?” Orly asked.
“I sold her one of my art pieces a few months before Russell showed up and wrecked my life. She was really nice, and I remember she loved it so much, she planned on hanging it in her living room.”
Orly suddenly shot up out of her seat and rushed inside. Everyone stopped talking and stared at the door until she returned a few seconds later with a newspaper clipping in her hand. She held it out to Reese. “Is that the art piece she bought from you?”
Reese couldn’t believe her eyes. “Yes. Wow! I can’t believe it was featured in a newspaper. That’s so cool. What was the story?” It was too dark to read the text.
“It’s about Molly Edgar going missing, and her family offering a reward for anyone who helped find her.”
“Oh.” Reese stared at the photo with a rising sense of dread as realization set in.
“That was the woman I was telling you about that I saw Russell kill. It was awful,” Orly explained.
Reese’s heart sank because she knew there was so much more to that story. “There’s something you guys should know.”
“What?” Hallie asked.
“When Molly stopped by my studio to pick up that art piece, I accidentally looked into her eyes. I didn’t mean to, but it kind of just happened.”
“You saw Russell shoot and kill her, too?” Orly asked in horror.
Reese shook her head. “No. That’s not when she died. I mean, I’m sure you’re right and he did shoot her just like you saw, but she took her last breath while being buried alive in a shallow grave, somewhere near a river.” That image still haunted Reese, and was one of the reasons she went out of her way to avoid looking in anyone’s eyes. She had known the moment their gazes met that there was absolutely nothing she could do for the nice woman buying her artwork.
Molly Edgar was beautiful, rich, and the CEO of a successful pharmaceutical company, but no amount of money was going to save her.
“Did you see Russell burying her?” Skyla asked.
“No, I didn’t see who did it. But if Russell saw my artwork on her wall, it would explain everything that’s happened to me since.” Her stepbrother knew what she could do, and he’d seen enough of her art pieces to recognize one.
Everything was finally starting to make sense.