Free Redemption by Laurel Dewey

well to hightail it out of town for a bit!”
    “It’s a little more complicated than that!”
    “Jane P.! A twelve-year-old girl’s life hangs in the balance! What is there to discuss?”
    Jane quickly realized that Kit’s fervent tone was probably the same one she used when she debated any number of pet political causes. “Kit, there is not enough hardcore evidence for me to link Lou with Charlotte Walker’s disappearance. Your gut intuition isn’t enough to convince me to travel all over hell and back with you—”
    “I’d do this alone. But I don’t have the energy, nor do I possess the credibility and knowledge that you have. And tell me, Jane P., how many times did your gut intuition lead you to a killer?”
    “It’s not my gut talking here! It’s yours !”
    “And you don’t trust my intuition. I see. Well, get to know me and you’ll see that my intuition is right!”
    “That’s not good enough for me!”
    “When I sat down in this chair, I asked you a simple question: Do you believe in fate? The reason I asked that has everything to do with my intuitive abilities. Call it fate or coincidence, but isn’t a coincidence simply a co-incident ?”
    “You’re losing me, Kit—”
    “Call it coincidence or synchronicity, it’s the same beautiful magic. Life serves them up to everyone; the trick is understanding
the messages they seek to deliver.” Kit leaned toward Jane. “Forget about logically explaining them. They defy explanation! When you begin to recognize how these ‘coincidences’ weave in and out and of your life, only then will you understand the governing power of a higher plan.”
    The conversation was becoming too spiritually deep for Jane. “Yeah, okay, I—”
    “You want concrete examples of what I’m saying? Fine. How about this: Because of my interest in children, I collected everything I could find on the Lawrence murder case you were involved in this past summer. Then I see you on Larry King’s show and I’m drawn to you. I can feel that you’re a kindred spirit. And then yesterday afternoon, I’m watching CNN and they break the story of Charlotte Walker’s disappearance in Oakhurst, California ! Within two hours of seeing that story, for no reason at all, I feel a calling to go for a drive. I get in my car and what do I see immediately? A red-tailed hawk circling above me! The Native Americans will tell you the red-tailed hawk is a messenger. It is telling one to pay attention to all signals and coincidences! And so I drive for miles, letting my intuition lead me the entire way, until I end up in Denver on Colfax Avenue. That’s not exactly the neighborhood I choose to frequent. But there I am. And I’ll be damned if I don’t look up and see The Red Tail Hawk Bar. Well, it couldn’t get any clearer than that now, could it? Coincidence ? Not to the untrained eye! I walk into the establishment and who do I see at the pool table but Jane Perry. At that moment, it all came full circle: my odd kinship with you, Charlotte’s disappearance in Oakhurst where Lou resides, the circling hawk, the bar, and you. Now, I know to a skeptic, that line of reasoning wouldn’t hold water. But to the intuitive person, those connections are solid!” Kit sat back, seeming a bit worse for wear after her passionate plea. “Open your mind, Jane P. There are greater things in heaven and earth than we’ll ever know. Pay attention ! The synchronicities in life boggle the mind!”
    Jane recalled the subject of synchronicity at the AA meeting the night before. And yet, she still wasn’t convinced. No matter
how much money Kit threw at her, she wasn’t about to embark on a wild-goose chase that would make her look more foolish than she did getting the crap beat out of her in a Colfax bar. And there was still that little issue of saving her current case and making things good with the FBI. Jane let out a deep sigh and rubbed the scar on her temple as she tried to engender a softer, less