Free Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl

she would refuse it even if we pushed it into her hands.”
    Nic wanted to shake him. “Of course she did. Just by taking her seriously, you’re putting money in her pocket. Do you think she won’t leave here and go right out front and talk to all those people? Once they hear about how you asked her to help on the Katie Converse case, more people will want their palms read or their cards done or whatever it is she does. They’ll think that if the FBI consulted with her, then she must be good. I bet she was the one who asked if I could be here, right?”
    She could tell by their uneasy exchange of glances that she was. “She’ll drum up business, with Katie as her calling card.”
    Nic hated to do this to the Converses when they were so desperate, but she tried to make it quick and clean, like pulling off a bandage. “Have you said anything to her that’s not generally known? Because let me warn you—don’t tell her one thing she doesn’t already know.”
    “But what if she does know?” Wayne asked. “What if she knows already ? That’s why she’s here. To tell us what she knows. Not the other way around.”
    So much for quick and clean. “All right. Let’s go hear what she has to say.”
    Lorena was a plump woman, sixtyish, with dyed red hair. She looked like she had fallen in a paint box. There was a bright circle of red on each cheek, turquoise shadow on eyes rimmed with black liner, and so much mascara that she looked half asleep.
    And then Nic figured it out. The makeup wasn’t so much for the Converses. It was for the TV cameras outside.
    After the four of them sat down around the kitchen table, Nic said, “Can you spell your name for me?” She hadn’t flashed her badge, hadn’t given her own name. Her goal was to give this phony as little as possible.
    Lorena did. There was something high-pitched and artificial about her voice that set Nicole’s teeth on edge.
    “And you contacted the Converses because . . .”
    Lorena patted her ample bosom. “I’ve been having visions and dreams since the very hour Katie went missing. When I saw Cassidy Shaw on the TV, and she said Katie was missing, I knew in my marrow that was who I was dreaming about. But to get to the truth, I need to be able to hold something of hers. Something she might have worn would be good.”
    Nic was glad that they had already taken away something for the dogs, should they ever need them. If they ever got to a point where they could narrow this down to an area smaller than Portland.
    “Just a second,” Valerie said. She left the kitchen and they heard her footsteps go upstairs.
    “So how does this work?” Nic asked while they waited.
    Lorena simpered, not at all deterred by Nic’s glare. “When I’m in one of my trances, I don’t see or hear in a traditional way. It’s energy. I receive an impression of the energy the person is sending out. It doesn’t matter if they’re dead. They’re not dead to me.”
    Valerie reappeared holding a red sweater. “Katie wore this two days before she left. It hasn’t been washed.”
    With eager hands, Lorena pressed it to her chest. “I’m going to go inside myself now. Don’t be worried if you hear me make strange sounds. I lose myself when I’m in one of my trances.”
    Wayne murmured, “Okay,” and Valerie nodded. It was all Nic could do not to roll her eyes. What would you do if it were Makayla? she scolded herself. How far would you go?
    Lorena closed her eyes. She rubbed the sweater over her face and then let her hands and the sweater drop into her lap. “Okay, Katie, tell me where you are. Tell me where you are, baby. I can help you. Katie, where are you?” As Lorena spoke, she rocked forward and back, her upper body following a small circle.
    There was a long silence. Nic looked at her watch. One minute ticked by. Two. Three. When Lorena finally spoke, the three of them jumped. Her voice was slower, lower-pitched, like a sleepwalker’s.
    “I see an old car.