The 45th Parallel Page 17

  Helene drove Kat to Muldoon’s but when they got there the tire had already been changed. Kat assumed Jack had taken care of the tire for her and went inside to thank him. Jack told Kat John came by that morning, and had it fixed and put back on.

  “How’s that leg of yours?” Jack asked.

  “It’s a little sore. I’m trying to stay off it today.”

  “Well, I have coverage for you the next couple days. Let me know if you need more time.”

  “Thank you, that should be plenty of time to heal,” Kat said as she left the bar. Since Kat had a usable vehicle now, she told Helene she wanted to check on Mary’s house and bring in the mail before going back to John’s. When they got back to John’s, there was no one else there.

  “I think Martine is showing us the hard way to reach an altered state. I have an easier way to do it,” Helene said.

  “Oh, and how is that?”

  “Let’s sit out on the deck and drink wine.”

  “Great idea, I will go down to the wine cellar and grab a bottle.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Helene said as she went out onto the deck.

  Kat felt strange being in John’s house alone. She walked downstairs into the wine cellar, turned on the lights and looked around the room. The soft lighting shone down on the wine bottles lining the walls and cast a dim spotlight on the round table in the center of the room. Kat took a deep breath and walked over to table. As she got closer the bowl, the water began to bubble up in the center. Kat froze and felt her breath catch in her throat. The pump must turn on with the lights, she thought as she let out her breath.

  Kat forced herself to approach the table and sit down but she could not quite bring herself to look into the bowl. There was a Celtic knot pattern carved around the edge of the table. The intertwined pattern was similar to the one on Kat’s pendant. She let her eyes move slowly toward the bowl but stopped at its base. Carved into the table, circling the bowl was a sentence.

  Your dreams will reveal your destiny.

  Kat had not noticed the inscription before. “Let’s hope that’s not true,” Kat mumbled. She heard the sound of footsteps behind her and turned quickly to see who it was.

  “I’m sorry, did I interrupt?” John asked. “Were you able to see anything?”

  At the sight of John, Kat’s heart started to race. She could feel her face grow hot and turned quickly back to the bowl. The memory and embarrassment of their last conversation were too fresh in her mind.

  “I actually came down to grab a bottle of wine,” Kat said.

  “How did your training with Martine go today?” John asked as he sat down at the table.

  “Not very well I’m afraid. I keep seeing my mother’s death but I am watching it through her killer’s eyes.”

  “Do you want to try again? Maybe my energy will help,” John said.

  “I think I am spent for the day.”

  “Well, how about dinner then? Patrick is going to throw some chicken on the grill.”

  “Now that you mention it, I am getting hungry. By the way, Helene took me over to Muldoon’s today. I was going to change the tire but Jack said you beat me to it.”

  “Were you actually going to change it yourself?” John looked at her with amusement.

  “Yes I was,” Kat said indignantly. “I’m not sure why you find that funny, but thank you for doing that. How much do I owe you for the tire repair?”

  John tilted his head to the side and stared at Kat as though he were looking at some strange creature he had never seen before. “Consider it a gift. You do realize you won’t get through the winter with those tires.”

  “I don’t have the money right now to replace them.”

  “I can give you the money to replace them.”

  “No thanks, I will replace them when I can afford to,” Kat said sharply. She did not want John to think she needed his charity.

  “You don’t like asking for help, do you?”

  “I come from a long line of people who don’t like asking for help. My father had a saying, ‘Never let them know it’s not up you’re going,’ words of wisdom from his Irish grandmother.”

  “Everyone needs help once in a while, Kat.”

  “It’s not snowing yet. I have time to figure something out.”

  “Does stubbornness run in the family too?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Kat said as she stood up from her chair.

  John leaned back in his chair and rubbed his fingers through his hair, showing his wide expanse of chest. Looking at him made her knees weak.

  “Hey John, I’m going to throw the chicken on the grill,” Patrick yelled down the steps.

  “I’ll grab some bottles of wine and we’ll be right up,” John yelled back. Kat watched as John went over to the racks of wine and selected three bottles.

  “Would you like me to carry one of those?” Kat asked. John handed her one of the bottles and motioned to the cellar door.

  “After you,” he said.

  John followed Kat upstairs and into the kitchen. Martine was making a pasta salad and Anna and Helene were making a green salad.

  “I didn’t even hear you guys come in,” Kat said.

  “We haven’t been here long,” Martine said as she poured dressing into the pasta salad.

  “Can I help with anything?” Kat asked.

  “Why don’t you set the table? We are going to eat on the deck,” Anna said.

  Kat set the table, and they all sat down to eat. Patrick regaled them with his misadventures for the day. Apparently he had mistakenly scheduled two lunch dates on the same day at the same restaurant. He had the hostess sit one date at the front of the restaurant and the other at the outside eating area. The young ladies never found out but they were both convinced Patrick had gastrointestinal problems as he kept excusing himself to use the restroom so he could rotate time between dates.

  “You know this will all come back to haunt you, Patrick,” Anna said.

  “At least I will have some good stories to tell,” Patrick smiled.

  “How was the training today?” Anna asked.

  “I am projecting, but I have no control over where I am projecting to,” Helene said.

  “I had another vision of Mom’s murder, but I have no more clues as to who killed her,” Kat said.

  “I think you both made great progress today,” Martine said.

  John leaned forward in his chair and looked directly at Kat. “Is it only the past that you see in your visions?”

  “That’s one problem with my inherited gift. I don’t always know if I am seeing the past, present or future. What is the point of having a vision if you don’t know how to interpret it?” Kat sighed.

  “Maybe if I tell you everything I know about my parents’ disappearance, it will help you understand what you are seeing.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” Kat said.

  “I actually hired a private investigator, Jerry Nelson, to see if he could find out what happened. He was a good friend of my parents. You could come down to his office with me and go through his old case file. See if anything triggers any insight.”

  “Did he ever come up with any leads?”

  “Nothing,” John said quietly as he leaned back in his chair and stared out at the lake. “They left Beaver Island on Sunday morning. On Monday a commercial vessel made a call to the Coast Guard that they had just passed a ghost ship. The boat was about fifteen miles southwest of Beaver Island. She was sailing slow, sails luffing, with no one in the cockpit. The Coast Guard and the police never found any evidence of foul play.”

  “Do you think they could’ve gotten caught in a storm and washed overboard?” Kat asked softly.

  “There were no storms that weekend.”

  “Kat, Aunt Mary won’t be back until tomorrow. Are you going to stay here or do you want to come to our house?” Anna asked.

  “I think I will come to your house,” Kat said quickly. John sat silently looking out at the lake, and Kat wonder
ed if he was relieved she was leaving.

  Anna, Helene, Patrick, and Kat stood and began clearing the table. Martine walked over to the rail and looked out at the lake.

  “How did Kat do today?” John asked Martine as he leaned on the railing next to her.

  “She was having a difficult time clearing her mind. I don’t think your presence is helping her concentration. If you want to get results, you will have to make it clear you are not interested in her as a girlfriend.”

  John crossed his arms and looked over at Martine. “I took care of that last night.”

  “Good because we are running out of time, the Reaping Moon is drawing near.”

  “I know. If my parents were right…if they weren’t crazy, I will have to finish what they started,” John said.

  Martine stared out at the lake with a pained expression on her face. “I need to call Ron and find out how my grandbaby is doing.”

  “Good night Martine.”

  Martine gave him a hug and went into the house to say good night to everyone else. John went into the kitchen and said he had some paperwork he needed to finish, excused himself, and went up to his room.

  Once in his room, John shut the door and sat on his bed. He opened the drawer to his nightstand and pulled out an envelope addressed, To Our Son John, to be opened upon the event of our deaths. It was a letter from his mother and father. He opened the letter, as he had done hundreds of times before. It was a white piece of paper with one sentence.

  Your dreams will reveal your destiny.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Mary got back from Detroit the next day around lunch time. Kat had already gone back to the house and unpacked her bag. She told Mary she had wrecked on her bike and had sliced her leg on a broken bottle that had been thrown on the ground. The look on Mary’s face told Kat she didn’t quite buy her story, but she didn’t ask any other questions.

  Martine told Kat John had to go back to Chicago for two weeks. By the end of the first week, Kat found it much easier to summon up her visions, but each time, she was seeing her mother’s murder through the killer’s eyes. All she could see was the killer’s hands but there were no rings or distinguishing marks. She wasn’t even sure if the hands belonged to a male or female. Having to watch her mother’s murder over and over again was beginning to take its toll.

  “I don’t think I can do this anymore, Martine,” Kat said. “I’m not getting anywhere.”

  “You are being blocked,” Martine said.

  “Blocked?”

  “Someone has cast a blocking spell. You are being prevented from seeing beyond a certain point.”

  “Can you break the blocking spell?” Kat asked.

  “The only way I know to break a blocking spell is to overpower it,” Martine said. She paused, seeming deep in thought. “John will be back this coming weekend for the Full Moon Celebration. They are expecting a very good turnout for this event. It is time to put all of your powers to the test, all of you must go to this event and see if you can pick out anything unusual about anyone in the crowd.”

  “Mary is already insisting we be there since she was on the planning committee. What kind of unusual things are we looking for?” Kat said.

  “I’m not sure exactly. Maybe Anna will get an emotion from someone that is not right, or maybe you will have a vision. Right now, we don’t have much to go on and we have to start somewhere.”

  Kat glanced down at her watch. “I have to get to work.”

  “Call me if you need me, otherwise I will see you on Saturday night,” Martine said.

  The rest of the week dragged slowly. Even though Kat did not want to admit it, Kat felt a surge of excitement at the thought of seeing John on Saturday night. She reminded herself he was not interested in her in that way, and tried to push those feelings aside.

  The night of the Full Moon Celebration, Kat was scheduled to work from noon to six. Aside from the regulars, there seemed to be quite a few groups of men on fishing and golf weekends. Four men entered the bar and sat down at a table in the corner. Kat was in the middle of taking an order of appetizers and drinks when she froze. Her heart leaped into her throat. She recognized one of the men’s voices. It couldn’t be; why would Daniel be at Muldoon’s?

  Kat turned slowly to look at the group of young men who had just come in. It was her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lawton, and three of his friends. She recognized two of them as Daniel’s college buddies and one as his high school friend. She had met all of them over the years they dated. His college friends, Mike and Bob, were total jerks. The high school friend she had only met twice and couldn’t remember his name.

  “Miss, did you get the order?” a woman asked. Kat turned back around to the couple she had been waiting on.

  “I’m sorry, you wanted one plate of potato skins, nachos, and two rum and cokes,” Kat said.

  “And two waters,” the woman added.

  “Got it, I’ll be right back with your drinks,” Kat said as she hurried over to the bar. Kat motioned Jack over. “Is Sarah off break yet?”

  “No, I think she is out back having a smoke,” Jack said. “Why?”

  “I, um, thought she could take the table of guys that just walked in.”

  “Why don’t you get their drink orders and I’ll have her take over when she gets off break,” Jack said giving Kat a funny look.

  “All right,” Kat mumbled. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her pounding heart. “I need two waters and two rum and cokes for table three.”

  Jack put the drinks on Kat’s tray and she carried them over to table three. Maybe if she just ignored Daniel’s table, he wouldn’t notice her.

  “Kat, is that you?” She heard Daniel say. Kat closed her eyes, took another deep breath and turned around.

  “Oh, hi Daniel,” Kat nodded to his two college friends, “Bob…Mike, what brings you here?” Kat said as she plastered a phony smile on her face.

  “We are up here for a guys’ golf weekend. Mike’s folks have a condo in Suttons Bay. Are you working here for the summer?”

  “Yes, I’m staying with my aunt Mary. What can I get you guys?” Kat wished she could disappear. How pathetic he must think I am, living with my aunt and working as a waitress at Muldoon’s.

  “How about a round of Corona?” Bob said.

  “Sure, would you like menus? We have some happy hour specials on the board.” Kat guessed they must have been drinking all afternoon. Mike and Bob were even bigger jerks when they had had a few drinks.

  “We’ll take some menus and can you wipe off this table?” Mike said.

  “Sure.” Kat turned before they could see her face getting red. Kat went over to the bar, got four Coronas, grabbed four menus, and a wet cloth to wipe the table. She walked back over, placed the beers on the vacant table next to them, and started to wipe off the table. Although it had seemed perfectly clean to her before they sat down, she went through the motions anyway. When Kat had finished, she put the beers and menus on the table.

  “You need to wipe down the table in front of me again. It’s still dirty,” Mike said.

  “What are you, Mike, a germophobe?” Bob asked.

  “No, I just like the way her T-shirt moves when she is cleaning,” Mike said.

  “I’ll be back to take your orders in a few minutes,” Kat said, ignoring his request and trying to maintain her composure.

  “Quit being a dickhead Mike,” Kat heard Daniel say as she was walking away from the table.

  “What’s your problem, you’re done with her.”

  Kat told Jack she would be right back and she went into the bathroom. She could feel her eyes filling up with tears. I will not let that asshole make me cry. She closed her eyes and took several long slow breaths. Once she felt she had regained her composure, she went back out to the bar. The front door opened and, much to Kat’s relief, Patrick walked in.

  “Well, well, Patrick Cauley, what brings us the pleasure of your company?” Jack said. Patrick walked up to
Kat and gave her a hug.

  “I came by to bring my cousin to the Full Moon Celebration,” Patrick said.

  “I’ll be closing up a little early tonight so maybe I will catch the tail end of it,” Jack said.

  “I need to go home and get changed first,” Kat said.

  “No problem, I can hang out while you get ready. Anna and Helene are already down there helping to set up. John’s winery is providing the wine.”

  “Don’t forget we are all supposed to be looking for anything or anyone unusual, so don’t take off with some woman five minutes after we get there.” Kat whispered.

  “I won’t forget.” Patrick glanced over Kat’s shoulder in the direction of Daniel’s table. “I think the guy in the green shirt is trying to get your attention, Kat.”

  Kat looked over toward the table. “That is my ex-boyfriend and his jerky friends.”

  “Is your ex wearing the yellow shirt?”

  “Yes.”

  “No wonder he’s been staring me down. He probably thinks I’m your date.”

  Kat had not thought about that before, but Daniel had never met Patrick, Anna, or Helene. He would have no idea he was her cousin. Kat saw Sarah coming in from her break and she motioned her over. “Do you mind if I take off a little early? I only have tables three and four. Table three needs their appetizers and table four just has drinks.”

  “No problem, have fun,” Sarah said.

  “Were they giving you a hard time?” Patrick asked.

  “Just the one in the green shirt,” Kat responded.

  “Hold on for a minute,” Patrick said as he reached out and took Kat’s hands and closed his eyes. Kat glanced over to Daniel’s table. After a brief moment, all four of the beers flipped over and landed in Mike’s lap. Mike looked around the table for someone to blame, but the other three men were as stunned as Mike.

  “Time to go,” Patrick said with a big smile.

  “Patrick,” Kat said. “Martine would not be very happy about you using your gift for evil purposes.”

  “It’s a good thing she’s not here, then,” Patrick said as he pulled Kat to the door. “You have to admit, my aim is very good now, especially when I borrow some energy from you.”