She must not have liked it either, since she squirmed a bit, then straightened and shivered.
Chad glanced down. “Hey—look at me. I have boobs! Nice ones, too.”He chuckled.“All right. Let’s see what I can do.”
He tried to align his breathing with hers, first. Then he made her breathe heavily, to add to the drama. As soon as he felt ready, he said in a low, angry voice. “You… must… leave—or die!”
The professor’s eyes rounded and looked like they were about to pop out of his head.“Good, I have his attention.”
“Get… out.”
The professor stood there, frozen to the spot.
“Get… out! Get out, get out,get out!”
He tore out of the apartment and ran for the stairs. Apparently, he didn’t want to take the elevator and risk that it might be too slow. Chad had to leave the psychic’s mind before he started laughing. It was all he could do to hold it in while he squeezed through her gray matter and pushed his way out.
She slumped, straightened, and her body language said she was dazed and a little confused. She looked around the room and spotted the open door. Leaving the apartment, she closed the door softly and apparently forgot all about telling Chad to go toward the light.“Ah, sweet victory!”
Chapter 4
Paparazzi reporter Lila Crum claimed her favorite barstool at the Bay Plaza Hotel and raised her hand in greeting to the bartender. She pulled off her knit cap and tossed it onto the bar. In the mirror, she saw her short, straight, brown hair standing on end with static electricity. She rolled her eyes and patted it back down.
“Hey, Lila. How’re things?” Kevin, her favorite tall, lean, not-bad-looking bartender was always interested in her life.
Her shoulders slumped and she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the long, wooden bar. “Not good. Bring me the usual, Kevin. I need a double this time, though.”
“Uh-oh. Coming right up.”
She watched as he poured, making sure he gave her as much rum as she wanted in her Coke. It sucked to be her at the moment. However, she knew that Kevin would serve up some sympathy along with her favorite comfort foods—rum and pretzels. She lived on carbohydrates these days.
“Here ya go,” he said. He placed the full glass in front of her without sloshing a drop onto the bar. Good thing. At this point, she’d chase the drop around with her stirring straw until she could slurp it up.
“So, why are you acting like Santa just ran over your grandmother and took off before delivering your presents?”
“My job. I’m about to be fired.”
He straightened to his full six-foot-three height and had the decency to look surprised. “Really? I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shrugged. “It’s not my fault that celebrities are behaving themselves. I’ve been searching for leads as diligently as I always do, but nothing’s panned out.”
“Yeah, I haven’t heard about any scandals lately, either. I’dcall the paper and ask for you if I did.”
“I know, and thanks. I really appreciate that.” She stirred her drink slowly as she continued to unburden herself. “I thought I had something on Jason Falco. At least I was able to make a few bucks on the side.”
“The Bullet’s pitcher?”
“Yeah. Some woman who thought I was a private investigator said Falco was hanging around with a nurse who worked with her and gave me the coworker’s address—wanted me to follow him and find out where he lived.”
“How did she wind up thinking you were a P.I.?”
“I was eavesdropping on the staff in a hospital cafeteria. Sometimes I find celebrity sob stories, which make for interesting copy.”
“Like who’s in rehab?”
“Well, yeah, but that’s getting to be a yawn. People don’t care about yet another celebrity with a substance abuse problem unless there’s an interesting twist to it—like a celebrity kid. So, anyway, I heard this nurse talking to a physical therapist about having just met Jason Falco and she wanted to know where he lived, but the bitch who knows refused to tell her. So, I introduced myself. I said I couldn’t help overhearing their conversation and that I could find anyone.”
“So, she just assumed you were a P.I.? She didn’t ask to see your license or anything?”
“Well, she might have asked, and I might have just kept talking about how good I was and about how no one could hide from me.” Lila found something to smile about, at last. “Anyway, I told her I’d follow the other nurse around until I found them together. Then I’d follow him to his home after he dropped her off. She gave me the woman’s address and that saved a lot of time. I hid in the bushes, hoping to snap a picture of the couple together.” She sighed.
