“I did, Gran. I really did.”
Annette seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said, “Sweetie, there is something I need to tell you.” She patted the bed next to her, and Dawn cuddled up beside her.
“Okay.”
“Now, I’m kind of rusty with the extrasensory thing. I don’t get out as much as I used to, and I certainly don’t have the same abilities you do, but when I shook hands with Luca earlier this evening, I got a strange feeling from him.”
“What do you mean?” Dawn’s heart kicked up a beat. Did her grandmother sense something bad about Luca? No, it couldn’t be. He was wonderful.
“There’s something supernatural about him. Unique.”
“Supernatural?” Dawn’s eyes widened.
“I don’t mean anything like ghosts haunting him or anything… I sense some type of superhuman ability.”
“Like a superhero?” She laughed. “Gran, you’re not making any sense.”
“I know. I just can’t put it into words. That doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
She’d been completely open about her past with him. Was he keeping something from her?
Annette must have seen the alarm in Dawn’s eyes, because she wrapped her arm around her and hugged her close. “I don’t sense anything bad or mean about him. He has a good heart. Who knows? Maybe he doesn’t even know this about himself. But I think he does. I felt like he could fly like a bird.”
“Holy moly.”
“Or maybe his spirit was soaring because he’s in love. Or…maybe I’ve been watching too many of those romances you keep recommending. But I think whatever quality that boy has, it sure is special. I don’t know what else to say. Just keep your eyes and mind open.”
* * *
“Which one of you brave rookies is going to volunteer?” Sergeant Butts’s eyes skewered Luca as he walked in with his new day shift training officer, Mary Beth Gulliver. “Hey, I think Fierro just volunteered. Didn’t you, Fierro?”
“What now?”
Mary Beth had gone over their route in the hallway, so they were a few moments late for the morning briefing.
Luca had no idea what Butts had volunteered him to do, but he could tell by the cold gleam in his eyes that it wouldn’t be fun. He decided to grin and bear it. “What would you like me to do, Sarge?”
Luca heard a chorus of chuckles around the squad room. Uh-oh. This can’t be good.
“Well, Officer Fierro,” Butts said in an almost gleeful voice, “today we’re hosting the new class from the police academy. And we’re going to demonstrate the protocol for tasing. And you’re going to play the perp.”
Luca swallowed hard. Certainly not his idea of a good start to a Tuesday morning, but he had no choice. It was one thing to get fooled into delivering a coffee and newspaper to the captain; it was quite another to have to get tased. “Okay, no problem.”
“I’ll make sure the Taser is on its lowest setting,” Mary Beth whispered to him. “Don’t worry. A lot of us have been through it.”
Luca shrugged. “I guess it’s all part of the rookie treatment.”
“All right, Wonder Boy,” Butts said, rubbing his hands together. “The students are waiting for us in the workout room.”
Luca wondered at the sergeant’s attitude. He could always sense that Butts didn’t care for him, and since his breakup with Lisa, it almost seemed to have skyrocketed. Did Lisa tell her dad about their relationship? She was pretty nasty to him on the phone the other day. Was that for show? Maybe she told her dad and blamed the breakup on me. I wouldn’t put it past her.
His mind drifted back to the night before last. Dawn. She was unlike any girl he’d ever known. She wanted so badly to help find Mandy. He was worried about Dawn though. Every time she had an upsetting vision, it caused her to faint. Luckily, he’d been with her each time, but what if he wasn’t?
What if, one day when she was waiting for the subway, she had one of her visions and then fell onto the tracks? His heart kicked up a beat as he thought about her getting hurt. He would text her not to hold the unicorn unless he was with her or unless she was safely lying down at home. He hoped that would keep her out of trouble for the time being.
So why did he keep feeling like something terrible was going to happen? He wasn’t the psychic one, except he’d heard that everyone was a little bit psychic. Some had honed their skills and others called it intuition.
Everyone was gathered in a circle for the demonstration.
