Knock, knock... by Dale Mayer Page A

instincts though. If something feels wrong, then chances are it is wrong – somehow." He coughed slightly then cleared his throat. "Energy doesn't lie; people can only deceive until you look deeper and see the truth of the energy currents. Don't go in to confirm your expectations, go in looking to find what isn't fitting together."
     
    "Right. I know that." So what was the matter? "I think what's underlying this is the series of odd and seemingly unrelated issues. Like what I saw in Bernice's eyes at the end." Shay paused to take stock. "The black circle on David. The deaths of not one, but two prominent people involved in two of my projects."
     
    Stefan listened and then said, "Speaking of Bernice. Dr. Maddy contacted me this morning. I'd asked her to take a look at Bernice after I spoke to you. Remember I said there was something I couldn't figure out? Anyway, she found something odd in Bernice's energy.
     
    "Odd?" Shay said sharply? "How odd. And did she know Bernice?" Then again Bernice, and Dr. Maddy knew many people so it wasn't surprising to hear.
     
    "A friend expressed concern about Bernice's death so she took a quick look." His voice deepened. "According to her, there was a new hook into her root chakra and the energy drained very quickly. Maddy felt it was deliberate but didn't go so far as to say Bernice was murdered."
     
    Shay gasped in shock. "Oh no."
     
    "She also believes the person visited Bernice in the hospital, either in astral form or by hitchhiking on another person's energy."
     
    Silence. Shay in the process of standing up, collapsed back down on her couch. "That is so not good."
     
    "But we can't rush to the wrong conclusion. First Bernice. Then Cummings. Now the headmaster… One of those events would be fine, two maybe, but because there are too many unusual occurrences, you're afraid they’re connected and that they signal a big negative. Not everything that is 'wrong' has to be very wrong. Maybe the victim took too much of his heart medication. An accident. Maybe your personal perspective was skewed by the loss of Bernice and that affected the vision you had. If you can explain away one or two of the occurrences then the others pale in significance."
     
    His voice changed, detaching as if called away. "I need to go. How about we meet for dinner on Saturday, and we can discuss it further?"
     
    She smiled wryly. "Except I actually have a date."
     
    Silence. Then Stefan's amusement rippled through his warm voice as he said, "Wow. I'm delighted to hear it. May I...?"
     
    "You probably already knew. It's Roman, Gerard's grandson and Ronin's brother. We've emailed off and on for years, but now... He just moved here from the East Coast to take over Gerard's business until the board gets through its big power struggle."
     
    "Oh, yes." His voice lightened, warmed. "I do remember him." An odd silence filtered through the phone.
     
    Shay sighed. "What do you know that I don't?"
     
    "Uhm. Maybe you should take a closer look yourself."
     
    She leaned forward. "I did, and came up against a huge wall. So I stopped." She wrinkled her nose and sighed. "Okay, give. What did I miss?"
     
    This time there was no mistaking the laughter in Stefan's voice when he said, "He's safe, but I think you'd better take a closer look. He certainly is."
     
    And Stefan rang off.
     
    ***
     
    Knock, knock…
     
    It's me again Shay. Too bad you didn't see how easy my last trick was. That was like pulling wings off a fly. An activity that had lost its appeal a long time ago. Time for change.
     
    It was quite possible that the police would never connect the deaths to Shay. Maybe an anonymous phone call would tip them off? Send them in the right direction. Sad that they might need that.
     
    Still, the three deaths all related to Lassiter Foundation. They should be able to make that much of a connection. To finger Shay, as a suspect, would only be a short hop away after that.
     
    Experts said that revenge was often