James Swain - Shadow People

“He a regular?” Peter asked.

“Hedge fund manager. I saved him a billion dollars last year,” Selena said.

“Holy cow,” Liza said.

“Got him on retainer?” Peter asked with a smile.

“Come to mention it, I do. His partners as well. Does that seem vulgar to you?”

“You have a right to make a living as much as anyone else.”

“Good answer.”

Selena fished the money out of her cup and stuffed it into the pocket of her dress. It was not easy making a living telling fortunes. There were so many fakes in the city, it was hard for a real psychic to get by. Selena had obviously found a gold mine inside the subway station, and Peter guessed her drab appearance was more costume than real.

“So tell me why you’re here,” Selena said. “It’s not often that another psychic seeks out my counsel.”

“I’m having a problem with a shadow person,” Peter explained. “Actually, several of them. They keep kidnapping me and my friends, and taking us into the future where we nearly die at the hands of a serial killer. I just learned that one of them was the victim of this same serial killer. I’m having a hard time understanding all this. Will you help me?

“Does your boyfriend always talk so fast?” Selena asked Liza.

“Only when he’s on edge,” Liza replied.

She addressed Peter. “The answer is obvious. You’re just not seeing it.”

“Will you tell us?” Peter asked.

“Bad question. Try again.”

“Will you guide us?” Peter asked.

Another businessman stepped up and dropped big bills into the dented tin cup.

“Investment banker,” she said as the man departed.

“Did you save him a bundle?” Peter asked.

“Just his bank. You don’t need me, Peter. You already know the answer.”

“Thanks. That makes me feel much better.”

“Repeat the words you said to me a moment ago. Dissect them one by one. One of those words holds the key to your mystery. Do it, and see if I’m right.”

Peter played back to himself what he’d just told Selena. While he did, a third man deposited more good tidings in Selena’s cup. Not a gold mine, but a mint.

“He runs a foreign embassy,” she said.

“Friend or foe?” Peter asked.

“Friend, of course. The only information I’d sell to a foe would be bad information. Have you got it yet?”

“I think so. The word nearly. ”

Selena nodded approvingly. “That is correct. You said the shadow people were taking you and your friends into the future, and that you nearly died at the hands of a serial killer. But none of you have died. You’re assuming you will die, but that may not be the case.”

“I was taken into the future, and the serial killer put a gun to my head,” Liza jumped in. “He pulled the trigger right as I was yanked back into the real world. I would have died.”

“But you didn’t,” Selena said forcefully.

“I got lucky.”

Selena’s eyes laughed, and the corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly.

“Why is that funny?” Liza asked.

“No one gets lucky,” Selena said.

“Sure they do. Haven’t you heard of Lady Luck smiling down on you?”

“Tell her,” Selena said to Peter.

“Luck is controlled by the spirits, and they only dole it out to babies and drunks,” Peter explained. “Everything else that happens in life is a role of the dice.”

“Next you’ll be telling me there isn’t a Santa Claus,” Liza said.

“Come to mention it…”

“What about you and Snoop? You were both taken to the future, and escaped before you were shot in the head,” Liza said. “Isn’t that luck?”

“No, that was fate. There’s a big difference.”

“Now I’m really confused.”

Selena’s eyes were still laughing. She rose from her chair and headed for the escalators. They followed and were soon standing in bustling Times Square. Down 42nd Street they went to one of the area’s many overpriced parking garages. The afternoon light was beginning to fade, and Peter realized he needed to get to his theater and prepare for tonight’s show. Selena’s day might be over, but his had just begun. Selena handed a parking attendant a stub, and the uniformed man hustled away.

“You don’t take the subway?” Peter asked.

“No. I live outside the city,” Selena said.

She removed a giant wad of cash from the pocket of her dress and began to count it. Her take for the day was well into the thousands of dollars.

“I think I’ve figured out what’s going on,” Peter said. “Will you hear me out?”

“Go ahead,” she said, still counting.

He spent a moment collecting his thoughts. When he finally spoke, it was with the conviction of someone who’d finally found a truth that had been evading him for the longest of times. “I was wrong from the start. The shadow people aren’t trying to hurt me, and in fact, aren’t evil spirits at all. They’re victims who are taking me into the future to reveal things that will help me stop the killer from claiming his next victim.”

Selena’s face was a blank. A shiny black Mercedes with New Jersey license plates came out of the garage. Selena tipped the attendant handsomely, then nodded good-bye to Peter and Liza as she climbed in.

“At least tell me if I’m getting warm,” Peter said.

She looked at him before shutting the driver’s door.

“You’re on fire,” she said.

Peter’s limo raced downtown. In less than two hours, he would be performing a full-evening magic show for a packed house. Solving crimes was important, but so was satisfying the people who paid to see him perform.

Liza fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. It was rare to see her so unsettled. He was tempted to read her thoughts, but fought back the urge. Their relationship was never going to work if he kept stealing looks inside her head, and he told himself the practice had to stop.

What are you going to do?” she asked.

“I guess I’m going to be taking a trip to the other side.”

“You mean you’re going to let the shadow people kidnap you again? Don’t you remember what happened the two previous times? If you go back again, that crazy serial killer will shoot you.”

Liza was wrong. This time would be different. This time, he was going to figure out who Dr. Death was, and bring him to justice. “The shadow people aren’t trying to harm me. They’re trying to show me something that will help me figure out who Dr. Death really is. I need to go back.”

“The shadow people may not be trying to hurt you, but Dr. Death is. You think you can escape from him? I couldn’t, and neither could Snoop. I know you have special powers, but do they work on the other side?”

Peter shook his head. When he was in the spirit world, his psychic gifts were weak at best.

“Then how can you stop him from killing you?” Liza asked.

He didn’t know the answer to that question. Dr. Death had come close to putting a bullet in his head the two previous times he’d paid him a visit. Going back a third time was a definite risk, but he needed to discover what it was the shadow people wanted him to see.

“I’ll find out when I get there,” he said.

Liza became angry with him and stared out the window. “What if I say no?”

“No, as in, don’t go?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Then I won’t go,” he replied.

“You won’t?”

“We’re a team, remember? If this upsets you, then no, I won’t do it.”

She faced him. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

“Now let me ask you a question. What about Rachael? If I do nothing, she’s probably going to die.”

“You don’t know that. The police or the FBI might still find Dr. Death.”