Simon Says_. Walk (Kate Morgan #6)(7)
Author: Dale Mayer

The rest of his afternoon had been a whirlwind of business and trying to keep his head organized, and Simon had been caught up in meetings right through the day and until late in the night. He’d really wanted to spend the evening with Kate but couldn’t get his head wrapped around everything that he needed to get done. So, when she’d suggested they spend the evening apart, he hadn’t been terribly impressed but understood it perfectly. Work was work.

 

At least it kept him busy throughout the day, and his mind was off Kate—mostly.

 

*

 

You lose whispered through his mind.

 

Simon bolted out of the bed, stark naked, spinning around in his bedroom, his heart slamming against his chest, realizing that he was once again caught up in a vision that had seemed so real that actual sweat poured off his body in buckets.

 

In a panic, Simon roared out loud, “Who are you, and what the fuck do you want with me?”

 

Of course only silence came, but Simon swore an almost mocking laughter could be heard in the distance. He shuddered, his skin now clammy, even though it was a decently warm day outside. It was late September, and time was marching on. However, here in Vancouver, it didn’t march too cold. Even if it did get cold, it didn’t ever stay too long. Yet his body was now chilled, chilled enough that he should remain in bed. Yet, as he checked his clock and noted it was almost 5:30 a.m., he admitted more sleep was now a thing of the past.

 

He headed for the shower and turned the heat on max, while he tried to get his body back to a normal awareness, until the threat, whatever that was, had passed. When he got out of the shower, still dripping with water, he felt warmer and marginally better. His heart had already calmed down, and he was busy analyzing whatever the hell the meaning of that strange message was.

 

It was easy to understand the message on the surface, but his psyche wasn’t given to nightmares, and that’s what this seemed to be more than anything. Frowning at that, he made coffee. While the sun still rose over the harbor, he sat down and sipped from his mug. He needed his world to get back to normal, sooner than later, given the fact that he still had to get through a lot of hours and a lot of business today.

 

It’s not as if whatever this gift was—and he used the term gift with a note of sarcasm—gave a crap about the work he did or the projects he was involved in or the people who he helped. His gift was all about telling him that it needed answers now.

 

Not so easy for him. Hell, not so easy for any psychic, probably. His grandmother had been tormented by all of this; Visions from afar-land, she called it, and yet she’d felt compelled to continue in it, even though it had given her nothing but a lot of pain. Hell, his own birth mother, Meggie No-Last-Name, had more or less directed herself out of the family scene in order to avoid all the craziness it brought. Last Simon knew, Meggie was a junkie barmaid.

 

Despite her total lack of mothering skills and instincts, Simon couldn’t really blame her sometimes, and yet he wanted more out of life than to hide from his gift. As long as he could do something good with it, then maybe there was a chance it was the right thing for him to be a psychic. And, when he thought of good, of course his mind immediately shifted to the enigmatic Kate, the woman who had somehow gotten under his skin, banged at his heart, and even, when he wasn’t looking apparently, let herself in.

 

Of course that was foolishness right there because she would say that she hadn’t let herself in, that he’d practically kidnapped her. He had, and he would have a lot earlier, if she’d given him any indication that she was open for any relationship, much less a relationship with a psychic, which Kate was only just able to accept as possibly useful. Yet it had taken this long to get her to even communicate on that level with him.

 

He knew that they were still on a touchy relationship level that he wasn’t terribly comfortable with, because he wanted to have a whole lot more permanency with her. Yet pushing her would give him absolutely the opposite reaction to what he wanted. That much he knew. So going slow and steady was about all he could do, while meanwhile helping her on her cases. The fact that she even wanted to talk with him now about her cases? That was a milestone.

 

Maybe a good milestone. He wasn’t sure because, of course, it left him in the crossroads. He waited until it was 7:30 a.m., and then he quickly dressed and headed out, loving these early morning walks while he still could, before winter in Vancouver set in. A crispness to the air added a certain level of speed to his motion. A couple food carts were up ahead, and one hopefully would have fresh pretzels, and he would sign up for that in a heartbeat, providing they were coming out right now. As he walked closer, he smiled. Seemed he had perfect timing today.

 

The vendor looked up. “Hey, look at you. How’s that for timing, huh?” He greeted Simon with a big grin.

 

“I keep thinking I’ll miss you one of these days.”

 

“Naw.” The vendor shook his head, still all smiles. “Besides, you’re one of my regulars. If I don’t cater to you, … I won’t have a business.”

 

“Ooh, ouch,” Simon replied. “I hope things aren’t that bad …”

 

The guy shrugged. “You know me. I always make a way out of the worst.”

 

“I do know,” he replied, “and it’s much appreciated.”

 

With a fresh cup of coffee and a pretzel, Simon took several deep breaths of the fresh air and inhaled the scent of the hot pretzel—and the coffee of course. Some things one needed to really love if one did a lot of walking in the city, and that was the love of all the smells and the hints of the world that so many people never even saw.

 

But Simon was up early almost every day. This was the world that he lived in, the world that he excelled in, and, no matter how many times he might want to try and leave it, it’s not the world that he would ever leave behind. Now in a good mood, pretzel gone, still sipping his coffee, he quickly texted Kate. Good morning. When she responded with a Good morning back, he smiled.

 

She might not be the quickest to jump into a relationship, but he figured that, once he got her where he wanted her, she’d be the most steadfast. The challenge was getting her there. She was like a young fawn, scared, skittish, yet curious. And, so far, he was winning that whole curiosity vote. Besides, they blended on so many other levels, and it was rare for him to find anybody who could even tolerate his psychic abilities.

 

Some people were seriously fascinated, and others were seriously repulsed, but, in his world, the loyalty that she’d already exhibited? That went a long way. The fact that he’d saved her didn’t hurt either.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2