Free Nightmare by Robin Parrish

of anything else, I caught up to
Derek and suggested heading for the school library. I needed to
get online and didn't really want him poking around my dorm
room while I sat at my laptop.
    "I assume you have contacted Jordin's `estate' already?" I
commented.
    Derek was slow to respond, his thoughts seeming to linger
elsewhere. "If you call her housekeeper Linda her `estate,' then yes,
I did. Jordin's never been comfortable living in her parents' old
house alone. She mainly holds on to the mansion for sentimental
reasons. When she's not in school, she keeps a small condo in
downtown Manhattan. Linda's the only employee still working
at the Cole house, and she hasn't seen or heard from Jordin in
almost a year. Which isn't out of the ordinary."
    Derek opened the front door to the library and held it open
so I could enter first. Still he never made eye contact with me, his
features distant and filled with impatience. I thought how glad
I was that today wasn't the first time I'd met him, because I'd be
getting a very poor impression of him if it were.

    I found an empty computer in the library and began a quick
search for tattoo parlors in Martha's Vineyard. It was a long shot,
but it was all I had at the moment.
    The search pulled up more than three dozen tattoo parlors.
    "What was that about back there?" I asked, keeping my
voice just above a whisper to be respectful of the other library
patrons.
    Derek sat to my left in a chair he'd borrowed from a nearby
table. "What was what about?"
    I knew that he understood exactly what I was asking about.
I kept reminding myself that Derek wasn't himself-he was agitated, worried about his fiancee, and barely keeping control of
his feelings of helplessness.
    "You seemed to hold Carrie in a bit of contempt," I said.
    Derek feigned shock. "I'm a pastor in training. I'll have you
know I bear nothing but compassion and love for everybody in
the world."
    I waited until he sighed and continued.
    "It just ... frustrates me sometimes," he explained. "Because
she's wealthy, Jordin tends to attract people who want to be
around her but have very little interest in actually being a friend
to her. Sometimes I think I may be the only real friend she has.
Although for a while, she seemed to consider you one, too," he
added as an afterthought.
    That was a strange notion. During our adventures, I'd never
thought of us as close. At best, I merely tolerated her.
    Derek seemed to read the confusion on my face. "I think
it's because you didn't fawn over her the way everyone else does.
You told her what you really thought. You never worried about
offending her, and she found that ... invigorating."

    My eyebrows popped up. "Was that a compliment?"
    Derek frowned, running a nervous hand through his closecropped hair. "Just because I don't agree with your ... shall we
say, `unique occupational history'... doesn't mean I think you're
a bad person, Maia."
    I almost smiled, but I think it came off instead as an unintended smirk.
    "But you've spent way too much time meddling in things
that shouldn't be meddled in," he added. "It's a dangerous way
of living, and it's going to burn you eventually if you keep at it.
I used to wish I could make you-and Jordin-see that."
    My smile turned sour, and I quickly lost interest in hearing
any more of his beliefs about the paranormal. He had no idea
what he was talking about.
    "There are dozens of tattoo parlors within driving distance
of Martha's Vineyard," I said, back to business. "We'll have to
contact each one of them individually."
    "You really think this is that important?" Derek asked. "I
know my girl, and I don't buy for one second that she would
ever get a tattoo."
    "Because she's never done something you wouldn't approve
of," I shot back. Instantly I wished I could take the words back.
    Derek ground his teeth, though he was working to hide it.
"Your excursions with her would be the sole exception."
    I sighed. "Look, if she