Free Murder In Her Dreams by Nell DuVall Page A

a glow on the seated
woman.
    She had a series of cards spread out before
her in a cross with another group of four lining the right side. A
young man in jeans and a white T-shirt kneeled opposite her and
stared down at the cards. A bearded man sat next to him while a
girl in a green miniskirt and another man in jeans hovered on the
other side of him. Cassie took a place to the left side beyond the
bearded man and near the windows lining the front wall.
    Cassie studied the woman’s strong features
and wondered if she had Romany ancestors. Tarot cards had become
the in-thing. Funny how people clung to fortune telling. Tula
believed in the cards, but always reminded her, choice remained
with the person and not the cards.
    As the dark haired woman nodded, the silvery
hoops in her ears jangled. “Yes, the answer to your question is
that you will succeed, but change may come from an unexpected
quarter. You are unlucky in your choice of romantic partners.”
    The blond young man frowned and then glanced
quickly to the orange-shirted, bearded man on his left. “What type
of change?”
    “I don’t know. These cards don’t tell that.”
She picked up the cards and added them to the others in her hand.
“Do you want me to cast again?”
    “Come on, Brian.” The bearded man pulled on
the young man’s arm. “Enough of this mumbo jumbo. Let’s go. I need
a drag, now.” He stood up and ambled toward the door like John
Wayne. He leaned against the door frame as he waited.
    Wistful, the young man looked at the cards
and then at the impatient man at the door. He sighed. “All right,
Victor, I’m coming. Thanks, Leah.” He rose and trailed after the
bearded man, his steps lagging.
    The young woman in the green miniskirt moved
into his place. She accepted the cards from Leah, shuffled them,
and handed the deck to her.
    Leah held the cards for a moment. “Your
question?”
    The woman in green reached out a hand to the
man sitting next to her. “I want to know if I’m doing the right
thing.”
    Leah, the diviner nodded and pushed up the
nest of silver bangles on her wrist. She laid the cards out face
up, beginning in the center. She laid a second card atop the first
at right angles to it, then one above the crossed pair, one to the
right, one below, and then one to the left of the pair. The girl
watched every movement, her eyes darting from place to place as
Leah placed the cards.
    As she turned, the face of each one up, the
girl clutched the man’s hand more tightly. Next, Leah set out four
more cards from the bottom to the top along the right side.
    Once she laid out cards, the woman leaned
back, hands resting on her knees to study them. “You have recently
had a broken relationship and have now found a new lover.”
    The girl exchanged glances with the man, and
he squeezed her hand.
    “Your past weaknesses still influence the
present. You must overcome these in order to succeed in your new
relationship, but the future looks bright, and you will find that
which you seek.” She smiled at the pair facing her across the
cards.
    The girl let out a pent-up breath and hugged
the man. “See, Bob, I told you everything would be fine. Now do you
believe me?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Umm, I guess so. Let’s
get something to eat.”
    He helped the girl to her feet, and she
called ‘thank you’ from the door as the two of them left. Only
Cassie and Leah remained.
    “Hi, I’m Leah Chernowski.” The silver bangles
slid forward with a soft tinkle as the card reader held out her
hand to Cassie.
    “Cassie.” She stared down at the short,
stubby fingers gripping hers. Leah’s hands looked the twin to
Cassie’s own. “Cassie Blake.”
    “Would you like a reading?” Leah picked up
the cards and held them out to her.
    “I ... I don’t know.” Cassie looked at the
deck of cards, uncertain. “You didn’t need cards to read those
people.”
    “Perhaps not, but it makes them feel better.
Besides, the cards only speak to those