Free Pipeline by Christopher Carrolli Page B

“Besides, aren’t you supposed to be a
skeptic?”
    “I was, but I’m not now and haven’t been for
a long time. And you know exactly why that is, don’t you,
Sidney?”
    Now she had moved straight to him, and they
stood with noses almost touching. Sidney’s chocolate chomping
ceased as a wave of guilt washed over him. He felt like the boy in
her office, hearing the sounds of war and the voice of the man she
loved. He knew what she was about to say.
    “You’re parents brought you into my office,”
she said. “I tried to help you, but instead, I got a little sneak
preview of your abilities, didn’t I? You mentioned Mark and called
me ‘Suzy Q.,’ neither of which you could possibly know. Then your
parents just whisked you away and kept you hidden from me, never to
finish what you’d started. Sidney, that wasn’t fair.”
    He put the Snickers down. He was no longer
hungry, knowing she was right.
    Dylan stared at the confrontation with his
arms crossed, and the puzzled squint of his eyes grew deeper as he
hung on every word. He stepped forward with the intent of a captain
taking helm of his ship, but his facial expression resembled a
stage director whose production became usurped by a bigger
name.
    “I don’t mean to sound rude, Dr. Logan,” he
said, “but you are on my time, and this matter concerns Tracy, not
Sidney. Whatever unfinished business you have with him is going to
have to wait.”
    “Don’t worry, Mr. Rasche. I won’t be treading
on your turf, or stealing your thunder if you do produce results.”
She had come across his name while searching for Sidney and Dylan’s
face melted at the implication. Susan Logan was no one’s fool
either; she had pulled a hidden something from his soul and held it
up to his face.
    She smiled and continued to speak.
    “As I said, I was once a skeptic, that is,
until I met Sidney. You all know him, so I’m sure you know the
story. Sidney’s parents had filed a court injunction against me and
I was prohibited from speaking to him until he reached the legal
age. After that, I didn’t want to impose upon his education.
    “Since that day, I have poured myself into
research of the paranormal: ghostly encounters, sightings,
communication. I had become convinced of Sidney. My life, my career
path, suddenly changed after that day, and all I could do was study
and search for the reasonable explanation, but there wasn’t one. I
have since helped many patients who have dealt with hauntings and
encounters, but unfortunately, you wouldn’t give me the time of
day, Tracy.”
    She turned when she said this to Tracy, who
sulked. She was unaware of Susan’s secret prowess into anything
other than head shrinking.
    “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this during
the sessions?”
    “You never mentioned anything about seeing or
hearing David,” Susan said, and Tracy knew this was true. None of
this had occurred at that time and when it did, Susan was the last
person she would have told. “I really wish you would have called
me. I could have helped.”
    “She’s right.” Leah spoke up. She had been
staring at Susan the whole time and Susan stared back, rummaging
through the files stored in the recesses of her mind. She’d seen
that beautiful, angelic face before, but where? “She’s the one who
helped my Dad.”
    An instant identification rubber stamped in
Susan’s mind. She could still clearly see the picture the patient
had kept in his wallet. The little girl with the golden tresses and
the deep, penetrating, blue eyes, peeping above the perfect,
smiling face of a cherub. It was her: the daughter who saw the dead
as clearly as she saw the living. The child who could bare
testament to everything that had transpired in that house was now a
paranormal investigator, and Susan realized that this grown beauty
was the direct opposite of Sidney Pratt.
    “I’m Leah Leeds,” she said, coming forward
and extending her hand in a handshake to the unexpected guest.