Free True Vision by Joyce Lamb

can’t charge in there when that guy is there. And I don’t think it’s especially smart to be sitting around here all night. People will get suspicious.”
    “ Now you’re thinking? After everything that’s happened, you choose now to think.”
    He stiffened. When had it gotten like this between them? It used to be so good.
    A gusty, disappointed sigh blew through the phone. “Forget it. Just let me know when it’s done. And don’t let me down again.”
    He held the phone to his ear long after the call-ending click and imagined what it’d be like to drive out of Lake Avalon and never look back.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    C harlie woke, aware first of the warm body curled up next to her. She trailed her fingers over soft fur and stared into the dark, disoriented. What time was it? Hell, what day was it?
    Beside her, Atticus rose and arched his back. She enjoyed the moment when he snuggled his head into the palm of her hand and started to purr. Unconditional love rocked.
    It took her another few moments of scratching his ears and then his belly before she remembered how she’d ended up in bed. Dick Wallace. Migraine. Noah Lassiter.
    Crap.
    She sat up, moving stiffly. She felt like she’d been beaten head to foot. At least the migraine was gone. Her head still ached, but nothing like it had. Must have been stress, she thought. Though it had come on so suddenly and violently. Could it be related to the sudden, inexplicable visions?
    She wished, as she did every morning, that Nana were still alive. She’d know just what to say, how to explain the weird stuff happening to her.
    Help me, Nana, she thought. Help me figure this out.
    And then she remembered a conversation they’d had only a few short weeks before Nana died. They’d sat in the kitchen drinking coffee after consuming a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and sausage. Nana had cleared her throat in her I’m-about-to-impart-some-worldly-advice way.
    “If you or your sisters ever need guidance and I’m not around, I want you to go see a good friend of mine. Don’t hesitate.”
    Fear had flipped Charlie’s stomach. “Nana? Are you—”
    “I’m just saying. There might come a day when you need me and I’m not here. Now hush up and listen. Her name is AnnaCoreen Tesch.” She waggled an arthritis-gnarled finger at a pink notepad on the other side of the table next to the phone. “Write it down now.”
    Charlie pulled the notepad over and snagged the pen before it could roll off the curved edge of the table.
    “She lives over on Sandy Beach Way. 1237 Sandy Beach Way. You can go see her any time. Alex and Sam, too. Tell her you’re my granddaughters, and she’ll give you what you need.”
    “Give us what we need? Like a million dollars?”
    “Write it down, child.”
    Shrugging, Charlie jotted the information on the pink paper. When she was done, Nana said, “Now, put it somewhere where you won’t lose it.”
    That pink slip of paper was still stuck to the refrigerator door by a Metamucil magnet.
    As Charlie sat up, her fingers encountered the damp cloth, and she remembered how Noah had placed it over her eyes before he’d left her alone. She glanced at the closed bedroom door, her heart starting to beat faster. He couldn’t possibly still be here.
    First stop, bathroom. There, she discovered her complexion was almost gray, and dark circles made her eyes look hollow. The last time she’d looked this bad, she’d had a killer flu.
    Flu, hmm. Maybe that was what hit her so fast. That would explain the barfing and lethargy.
    And then she saw that it was the middle of the night. No way would Noah still be here.
    After splashing water on her face and brushing her teeth, she ventured out of the bedroom. Dead silence and moonlight filled the house, and she began to think she was indeed alone when she heard a soft snore. She saw him sprawled on her sofa, and her breath stopped.
    Noah Lassiter slept without his shirt on, and holy God, what a sight. Moonlight