“Any answers are better than none.” That was the truth. If this had been a case he’d been working, it would have gone cold.
“Okay.” She gave him a grim smile. “Let me explain some things before we go in.”
Cooper held her gaze.
“Nothing I tell you will be admissible in a court of law.”
“Okay.”
“If I see a face, we have our own forensic sketch artist, and I’ll call her in so we can do a composite for anyone you’re looking for.”
“Okay.” His skeptical tone had her raising a brow.
“How I work is that I touch something your sister either used every day, or that meant something important to her, or even something she recently bought. I tap into her energy and get flashes of her life. It’s kind of like flashes of pictures taken with a camera. If there are any important ones that look out of place, I’ll tell you.”
Cara opened the door, and he followed, thinking she was done. “And whatever you do, no matter what I tell you that I see…don’t touch me. It breaks the connections and will make me see yours.”
“Got it. No touching.”
She slid out of the car and moved to stand beside him on the sidewalk. “And one more thing.”
“There’s more?”
“Yeah. When I see those pictures, I’ve been told I….” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
“You what?” he asked, opening the gate and letting her pass.
“I may…I kind of….”
“Just spit it out,” he said, sliding his key into his sister’s lock.
“My body is sensitive to the vibrations, so much so that it looks like I’m on the brink of an orgasm, even though I’m not.”
His mouth parted, and he paused with the doorknob in his hand. What did one say to that?
“It’s easier to show you than explain.”
He gave a single nod, walked into the small house, and stepped out of her way, not wanting to taint his sister’s energy with his own. Goosebumps rose on his arms as he watched Cara walk around the living room. She kept her fingers clasped behind her back as she examined the home like someone visiting a museum. “Can I see her bedroom?”
“Yeah. It’s this way.”
He walked into Angela’s room and stepped out of the way. Cara did the same thing she’d done in the living room. She walked around the space and even peered into the closet before stopping outside the bathroom. “Are you sure nothing’s missing?”
“Positive,” he answered, swallowing around the lump in his throat.
Cooper followed Cara into the bathroom. Her smile widened as she pointed to the toothbrush. “May I?”
“Knock yourself out.”
“Toothbrushes hold a lot of energy. It’s touched every day by the owner, but this one”—she pointed to the wrapper in the trash—“is new, so it should help me see only the recent events.” Cara set her phone on the counter and hit Record.
“Good luck.” The words sounded as though he’d swallowed chalk. Cooper braced himself, not sure exactly what to expect.
He watched as Cara picked up the toothbrush and closed her eyes. Her chest heaved as her breaths came out in pants. “Are you kidding me?”
He didn’t know if he should answer, so he remained silent. She tossed her head back and moaned as her head moved from side to side. He didn’t know how long they stood there. Every nerve in his body clenched tight as each minute ticked by. Cara clutched the sink counter with her empty hand and squatted in front of it, as if the toothbrush was draining her energy.
He moved closer. His hands hovered around her in case she lost her grip and he needed to catch her.
