“And his alibi is weak.Grace would lie for him in a heartbeat—you saw how she looked at him.”
“Like he hung the moon,” Jake agreed with a wry grin.“I've seen that look before.Makes people do stupid things.”
Jenna smiled at the familiar hyperbole.And Jake was right about infatuation turning people stupid.
The trees along the roadside thinned as they passed the outskirts of Trentville, revealing expanses of farmland punctuated by the occasional house set back from the road.Jenna's mind was already thinking ahead to what they might find at the theater, but she forced herself to stay focused on the immediate concerns.
“We should have someone keep an eye on Kingsley,” she said.“If he was involved, he might try to cover his tracks now that he knows we're investigating.”
“What about Grace Thompson?She’s as nervous as he is.”
“Both of them,” Jenna agreed.“At least they’re likely to be in the same place most of the time.”
Jake was already pulling out his phone.“I'll call it in.”
While Jake spoke quietly with dispatch, arranging for officers to monitor Keir and Grace's movements, Jenna felt a tug of worry about her sister.Piper's vision of vultures and a wolf's belly had been more than just a nightmare—it had been a glimpse of Claudia Kingsley's terrible fate.
As Jake ended his call, she gestured to her phone in the cupholder.“Would you mind calling my mom?I want to check on Piper.”
Jake dialed the number and put it on speaker.When Margaret Graves answered, her voice sounded tinny through the speaker.
“Jenna?”
“Hi, Mom.I'm driving, so you're on speaker with me and Jake.”
“Hello, Mrs.Graves,” Jake added.
“Oh, hello.”Her mother's voice softened slightly.“Frank is here.He came by to check in on us.He brought some of that coffee you like—says he'll leave it for you.”
Jenna smiled despite herself.Frank was her friend and mentor, the former sheriff of Trentville.He was also one of the six people who knew about Jenna’s gift, and he also knew that Piper was manifesting similar abilities.Frank's small gestures of care never failed to warm her heart.“That was nice of him.How's Piper doing?”
There was a pause, and Jenna could almost see her mother's face, the worry lines deepening around her eyes.“She's quiet today.Subdued.She asked about you, about your work.”Another pause.“She mentioned her vision again—the vultures, cutting open a wolf's belly.She's worried it might have something to do with a crime.She mentioned a woman's disappearance.”
Jenna exchanged a quick glance with Jake.The specificity of Piper's vision still unsettled her—how could her sister have seen such details without being there?
“Mom,” Jenna said carefully, “I can't go into specifics right now, but...yes, it did mean something.It was relevant to a case we're working on.”
“Oh.”The word was heavy with understanding.“What should I tell her?She'll want to know.”
Jenna hesitated, weighing her options.Part of her wanted to shield Piper from the brutal reality of Claudia Kingsley's death, but keeping her sister in the dark might do more harm than good.Piper had spent too many years lost in confusion and fear, disconnected from reality.Honesty, painful as it might be, was a tether to the real world.
“Tell her that her vision meant something after all,” Jenna said finally.“And tell her that it was helpful.I'll explain more when I get home.I think it's important she knows she's not imagining things.”
“I understand,” her mother replied, and Jenna could hear the relief in her voice.“Be careful, Jenna Marie.”
“I will.Love you, Mom.”
After ending the call, Jenna turned to Jake.“One more call.Can you dial Dr.White for me?”
Jake complied, and moments later, Dr.Samantha White's calm, authoritative voice filled the car.
“Sheriff Graves, this is unexpected.”
“Dr.White,” Jenna began, “I'm calling about Piper.She had a communication—a vision—that turned out to be connected to our current case.A murder victim.”
There was a measured silence before Dr.White responded.“I see.Can you tell me about the nature of this vision?”
Jenna described Piper's imagery of vultures and the wolf's belly, careful to keep the details clinical despite the horror they evoked.