Jan Hambright - On Fire

“Two hours a week is sufficient. You’re making wonderful progress.”

George Welte nodded his head, moseyed to the door and gave her one last glance over the top of his thick glasses before he slid out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Savannah sat back down in her chair, her mind absent. She was no good to her patients or herself in this state. Since surrendering her nightgown, robe and slippers at the police station last night, she hadn’t been able to get Kade Decker off her mind. He was like a CD looped out on the same song, and she couldn’t stop playing him. Then there was the search warrant, probably being executed at this very moment. A physical manifestation of his mental determination to prove her guilt.

She chewed her bottom lip and considered what they’d find. Lighter fluid was a given. In the garage, outside on the patio next to the barbecue. Nothing could be read into it; half the residents of the city could be suspects if he chose to focus on lighter fluid.

Fear raked her nerves. She’d felt his determination, been infused with his surety of her guilt, but there was a boundary there, too. A level of integrity that encompassed everything he said and did. She’d just have to let the lack of evidence confirm it for him.

She stood up and gazed out the third-story window at the rear parking lot below.

The heat outside was suffocating, the index off the charts. A watery sheen of vapor flamed up from the asphalt.

She watched George Welte walk to his red Mercedes coupe, climb inside and drive away.

If only she could shut Kade out, turn off the receptors inside her head, maybe she could get some peace. Her only other option was to deal with it. Figure it out. Find the catalyst for their connection. It had to be buried somewhere in the past. Maybe it was time for a resurrection.

She pushed the button on her intercom. “Charlene? Could you come in here for a moment?”

The door pushed open and her secretary entered.

“What’s my afternoon look like?”

“You’ve got a three o’clock and a five.”

“Call them and reschedule for next Monday.”

“Sure.” Charlene disappeared back into the outer office, leaving her with a tangle of thoughts to sort out.

She’d never shared a psychic bond like the one she was currently sharing with Kade Decker. But how had it happened? She’d never met him before yesterday, and suddenly they were locked in some sort of cosmic union. Fused in thought and feeling, while he sucked the energy from her body every time they touched.

“Damn.” She was beginning to scare herself, and just when she thought she had this psychic thing wired, laced up in a neat little package that she could control and understand.

She plopped into her chair, rocked back, closed her eyes and concentrated, practicing a form of self-hypnosis she’d shared with many of her patients.

Like a silent movie playing in her head, she perused the last forty-eight hours. Gradually, her thoughts pushed farther and farther back until an image slammed into her brain.

She bolted forward, excitement churning her insides, spinning off snippets of detail long forgotten.

Her hand shook as she grabbed her purse out of the desk drawer, left the office and headed for a rendezvous with an ancient memory.

SAVANNAH DROVE into the old section of town, past rows of mature oaks and old row houses.

She hadn’t been back since she’d been removed by protective services on April 18th. Twenty-eight years ago.

Summoning her courage, she turned onto Palm Street and slowed her speed, taking in the sensation of familiarity that teased her nerves and edged her into the past.

A past that had been wonderful up to a point, the point where everything had changed and her destiny had spun out of control.

The house still belonged to her. Her mother had left it to her after she died, but it had been used as a rental ever since.

According to the agency, there was a new tenant moving in, but she hoped he wasn’t there yet.

She pulled into the driveway and killed the engine.

A lump squeezed in her stomach. She felt tears sting the backs of her eyes, remembering the frightened little girl she’d once been.

Breathing through the moment, she climbed out of the car, letting the memories consume her as she stepped onto the cracked cement.

Some were happy. Peddling her bike, listening to the click-clack of the cracks under her tires. Doing cartwheels and somersaults until she collapsed in exhaustion.

Then it had all ended, and hell began.

She pushed the painful images aside and headed for the backyard.

Her mood lightened as she walked around to the side of the house, intent on the memory she’d rousted half an hour ago.

The gate squeaked open, and she stepped through into the neglected yard.

The ghosts from her past were all here, resting comfortably.

She let the spring-loaded gate slap shut, moving along the fence, raking her fingertips over the rough board slats before stopping three-quarters of the way down the fence line.

This was the spot, she decided as she knelt down in the warm grass. The very spot where she and Kade’s lives had become intertwined. The how, she knew, but the why was much more illusive.

The four-inch knothole near the bottom of the board was weathered but just as she remembered it, only lower to the ground.

She’d been five years old that year. The year the boy next door had become her only friend. The only child on the block who didn’t think she was a freak, with a crazy lady for a mother. The memory was poignant and drove sadness into her heart.

She crouched down on all fours, ringed the knot with her finger and put her eye to the hole like she’d done as a child.

The yard next door looked the same. Short chopped grass, well kept. Abundant flowerbeds teaming with gladiolas, iris and snapdragons. Stuck in a time warp, like her wardrobe, she decided as she stared at the same set of urns flanking the back patio and overflowing with bright fuchsia petunias.

A wind chime tinkled, challenged by the hint of breeze stirring the muggy July air.

Sweat crept from her hairline at the nape of her neck and tickled down her back, but she was mesmerized. Glued to the past.

A shadow descended on the other side of the fence, and the tiny portal was blocked.

She swallowed, staring back at the hazel eye gazing at her through the knothole. The iris was ringed by tiny golden flecks, the color as smooth as dark honey.

“Savannah?” Kade’s voice cut into her hearing and she froze. Swaddled in the fabric of time. Transported back to the single thing that had joined them for twenty-eight years.

A kids’ game. An equal exchange of DNA. The origin of their psychic connection.

Blood brothers.

“Kade.” She swallowed and pulled back, relief liquefying in her veins. She wasn’t crazy; she was perfectly sane.

“Stay put, I’m coming over.”

She stood up, waiting for him, glad when the gate opened and he limped toward her, cane in hand.

“When did you figure it out?” he asked, stopping next to her.

“An hour ago.”

“I knew last night, the minute I saw your eyes. I’ve never forgotten them. I verified your name with my mom. She’s got a memory like an elephant. Reminded me of the whole story.”

He touched her arm, sending a jolt of electricity through her. She looked up into his face, as if seeing him for the first time.

The boy she remembered had turned into a man. His dominant features were still there. A distinct jawline, expressive eyes, but time and some sort of tragedy had changed his insides.

“Which story would that be? There are so many.” A hint of discomfort jabbed her heart as she swallowed her anticipation. Her memories of that day were cloudy; maybe his could help to drive the fog away.