Touching Evil (The Leila Marx Novels Book 1) Read online

  “So Conner, do you know Leila is gifted?” I shot her a look so fast she couldn’t turn her eyes to avoid my glare. Nudging my side she said “Yeah, Leila is an expert palm reader.”

  “What? No, Sara you’re crazy.” I turned to face Conner. “No, I can’t do that. She’s drunk.”

  “Oh phooey.” Sara pushed me again and reached for Conner’s hand. He didn’t stop her movements and instead of discouraging her he smiled.

  “Did you just say phooey?” he asked. I had to laugh as I confirmed that yes, in fact, she did.

  “Well, since we’re stuck here anyway, let’s say you give me a reading.” He turned to me with his blue eyes and that addictive grin, and I was momentarily speechless. Conner certainly was a handsome man. After a few seconds, I realized I hadn’t said anything. I quickly shook my head.

  “You don’t have to humor her you know. Really, it’s more like a hobby than a skill. I read some books once, that was it.”

  I didn’t know much more than a few basic lines, but then again, I didn’t actually need to read a hand as much as physically touch someone to get a reading. However, only Sara knew this and I would remember to discuss her discretion with her in the not so distant future.

  “No, Leila. I’m really interested. I’ve never had this done before. Go ahead.”

  He smiled and thrust his hand palm up to me. I hesitated, gave one last glare at Sara, then reached down for his hand. There was a part of me that was curious anyway, especially considering I didn’t get a reading off him the night before.

  I took a deep breath, let it out, and touched his hand. Closing my eyes, I tried to push the surrounding noises into the background. I didn’t necessarily have to do this, but I’d been trying to shield from Sara laying all over me, so my senses needed to be opened again.

  As soon as I did, I got flashes of landscapes. Vast rolling hills, steep rock cliffs, fog, the ocean. Waves of faces flipped though my vision. And although they were quick, I swear the clothing and décor was from a different era.

  Most of the faces were smiling, but then I sensed a great fear. Panic and desperation filled my mind. I couldn’t see anyone in particular, but I felt like a predator stalking my prey. Excitement overwhelmed me as I ran through the forest after something or someone.

  The city. I saw the harbor. I watched people. Hunger seared through my body. The sun warmed my face. I could smell everything and everyone. A older man sat down on a bench next to me. I started a conversation. The next vision flashed to his face, eyes closed like he was sleeping. Left alone in the sun, while a mixture of guilt and satisfaction washed over me.

  “I thought you needed to look at my palm?”

  Conner’s question jerked me back and I let go of his hand. I must have only been touching it for a few seconds. What had I envisioned? This was different than my other readings. They appeared to stretch over a century or more. Typically people can’t project what they haven’t experienced. So how was this possible?

  “Oh, yeah. I was clearing my head. Let’s take a look.” I avoided making eye contact with him and looked at his palm. “Well, you appear to have a strong life line meaning a long life.” I managed a glance up at his eyes and could see the humor in them. “What? Really, this shows that you will have a long life. And see the other line here…that tells me that you have positive forces around you and that your life is full of vitality.”

  I stayed focused on his palm. “This one tells me that you have a selfish view on matters of the heart. Also your fate line shows that you have been on this path for some time and you will remain on it.”

  I dropped his hand quickly and spoke to Sara. “I think the crowd’s clearing out. We should go.”

  She turned to look at Ben and the thinning crowd around us. Conner placed his hand on my arm and I instantly got another vision. This time I was on an old ship. The boards creaked and the boat rocked back and forth with each slap of the waves below. Wind ripped through the sails. I could almost smell the ocean.

  Then the vision jumped forward to modern times again. I was looking in a mirror. I was Conner. We stood with both hands on the sink, staring into his own bright red eyes. He looked pained. I felt something soft in my hand and when I looked down, I saw a cloth covered in blood. I, Conner, snapped my head back up to look in the mirror. His eyes sunk, as though out of energy and fight. He wiped his mouth with the rag and pushed his finger against his lip. Lifting upwards, he revealed a mouthful of large, pointed teeth.

  I pulled away from him at the same time he let go of my arm. What had I just witnessed? Before I could even get a word out, my cell phone rang. After a moment of confusion, I grabbed it and answered, staring into Conner’s eyes.

  “Hello?” I pulled my gaze away from him and started to move from my seat. I caught Sara’s glance and motioned for her to give me a minute. Covering my other ear, I turned my back to Conner although I swear I could still feel his eyes behind me.

  “Leila, it’s Garrick. I’m sorry to call you, but am wondering where you are.”

  “I’m at the stadium downtown. Why? Is something wrong?” I heard muffled voices in the background. After a long pause he finally answered.

  “We found her. Erin Montgomery.”

  “Well, that’s great, isn’t it? I hoped I was wrong and you’d find her…” My stomach dropped during his silence. “She’s dead isn’t she?”

  “Yes.” He paused again and I could hear him let out a long breath. “I know that it’s a bit unconventional, but do you think you could come here and maybe…I don’t know...take a look around?”

  He sounded so desperate. This was victim number three and body number three. I thought about his question. I really didn’t want to see a live body, or I guess that corpse is a better word. I wasn’t squeamish by nature, but I’ve never been to a crime scene. Except for Russ. But that was different. Right?

  However, after visiting the Montgomerys and feeling their grief first hand, I knew what I had to do. I agreed to meet him and after giving me directions, I told him I’d have Ben drop me off within the hour. I put my phone back in my purse and tried to compose myself before I turned around. They waited on the platform at the end of the stairs. I let out a deep breath and walked up to them.

  “I hate to bail, but I’m going to need Ben to drop me off somewhere if that’s not a problem.” Then feeling like a bad friend, I added, “Although I could take a cab if you want.”

  Sara came over and wrapped her arm around my waist. “No, it’s not a problem. But what’s going on?”

  I glanced at Conner. He pretended to mind his business and talk to Ben, but I could tell that he was listening in on our conversation.

  “It’s about that thing I told you about.” Sara stared at me with a blank face. “You know that other project I’ve been working on.” After a few hints with my eyes, Sara’s inebriated brain kicked in.

  “Oh. Oh! That thing.” She made a face. “I hope it’s not too bad.”

  I didn’t respond which was answer enough for her. She kicked into gear and got all of us moving toward the parking lot. As we exited down the spiraling walkway to the ground level, Sara and Ben moved ahead of Conner and me. I wasn’t sure how I felt with this arrangement. Even though I’d been momentarily distracted by Garrick’s phone call, I still couldn’t shake the images I saw when Conner touched me. And did he do that on purpose? He didn’t know about my gift, so he wouldn’t know I don’t like to be touched. But it was almost like he did it to give me more visions of him.

  “I couldn’t help but overhear. Is everything okay?” He walked close to me, but far within the boundaries of personal space.

  “Yeah. Well, no. I have to help a friend out with something.”

  I made the minimal amount of eye contact possible, concentrating instead on putting one foot in front of another. I didn’t bother to offer any more of an explanation. Right before we reached the car, Conner stepped in front of me and turned around so fast I ran smack into his chest. I let
out an umph followed by a glare up into his bright blue eyes. I felt him grab my right hand and push something into it.

  “I think we should talk some more.” I looked down to find a business card shoved into my palm, then back up at him with a little less bitterness and a little more confusion. Seeing my face, he continued. “I would like to talk to you more about what you’ve seen. That is, if you’re willing.” He gave me a nod, dropped my hand, and hurried off to the car where Sara and Ben were waiting.

  What was he talking about? Did he know more about me than I thought? Sara would never betray me like that. She never even told Ben. Something about Conner’s look let me know he was on to me. I certainly didn’t want to talk to him did I? I pushed that to the back of my mind and got in the car. Right now I had to focus on Erin. Conner’s red eyes and scary teeth would have to wait for later.

  Six

  Ben questioned the location several times before he finally dropped me off. We were at a cemetery. Well, next to an old one. I wanted them to let me out here and I planned on walking the rest of the way.

  The thirty minute ride had been interesting. Sara and Ben maintained the conversation with a few words from Conner and me. I was thankful I sat behind him where I didn’t have to make any more eye contact. I jumped out of the SUV as soon as Ben stopped and told Sara I’d give her a call later, shutting the door while they were saying their goodbyes to me. I wanted out of there as soon as possible.

  Although, what I was about to face would be even more grim and uncomfortable.

  I began walking around the south side of the cemetery. This was one of the oldest ones in Baltimore, and it wasn’t used anymore. However, the land around it had been donated to the city and turned into a park. One section was used as an off-leash dog area, a walking path outlined the perimeter, and on the opposite side sat a playground.

  As I rounded the corner and reached the end of the cemetery, I could easily identify where I needed to go. The playground section swarmed with activity. Jackets identifying either C.S.I., Forensics, or EMT’s made up the majority of the personnel. Interspersed amongst the crowd were city cops, park employees, and the plain-clothes detectives. Yellow crime scene tape complimented the red and blue playground equipment and several cop cars had parked around the perimeter, lights flashing but sirens off.

  A single ambulance faced backward toward the center of the area. As I got closer, I watched the crowd clear a path for two EMTs to wheel a gurney to the ambulance. On top of it lay a black body bag. Shouting from the other side of the police tape brought my attention to the awaiting crowd. Cell phone cameras clicked, and several morbid observers tried to get a better view of the body on the gurney.

  The shouting came from Carl Montgomery. Detective Sherwood motioned with his arms for the man to calm down. He tried to comfort him by placing a hand on his shoulder, but Carl knocked it off and pushed around him to see his daughter. The detective signaled for a uniformed cop to assist and he forced the grieving father to turn away. Carl didn’t resist this time and instead sunk to his knees with both hands flying to his face, his body shaking with each devastating sob.

  “This is the worst part.”

  I jumped as Garrick suddenly appeared beside me. I noticed that I had tears in my eyes, and quickly tried to wipe them away before acknowledging the detective.

  “Telling them we failed, but then promising to find out who did this. I hate not being able to know that for sure.” He ran his hand through his hair as I turned to face him. He looked bad. It wasn’t just the bags under his eyes, but the look of utter defeat. These cases were getting to him, and understandably so. He stood hunched over and his clothes looked like they hadn’t been changed in a few days.

  “Here. Take this. We’ll have to wait a bit until forensics is done, but then I’d like you to walk the scene.”

  He handed me a BPD visitor’s badge with my photo already on it. I didn’t ask. He excused himself and told me to wait where I was. I watched him walk over to Carl and kneel down to be at eye level with the man. He put his hand on his back and Carl nodded in agreement.

  Watching this scene unfold was all too familiar. When I discovered Russ in the alley, the police were only a few minutes behind. I stayed on the ground with him as they tried to stop the bleeding. The EMT’s hooked up bags of fluids and stuck the heart monitoring pads all over his chest. I held his hand all the way to the emergency room even though I knew he was gone. I didn’t check for a pulse and I couldn’t tell you whether or not the machines showed a flatline, but I could sense it. His hand didn’t hold mine back. He simply wasn’t there.

  I remember Garrick sitting next to me outside of the operating room after they told me the news. He also had his arm around my back as I sat in my state of disbelief. I knew he was talking to me, probably making the same promises he said to Carl now. But I didn’t hear a word. I didn’t feel him there or have any visions. I simply felt nothing.

  They never did find the person who murdered Russ. A random city mugging. The case was still open, but I wasn’t holding out hope. The statistics are there, these kinds of things happen all of the time without reason. If only we hadn’t gone out for the drink. If only we hadn’t argued over something as insignificant as a dress. If only he hadn’t stormed out of the bar, he would still be here.

  But I could “if only” myself to death. I’ve learned to think of the good things, the memories. Not the circumstances I had no control over. It’s been a long journey, and moments like this reminded me how far I still had to travel.

  And where was I going? I didn’t know. As I said before, some days were better than others. The past few have been pretty good. At least in terms of doing activities that helped me forget about the bad stuff for a while. The dinner and game had been nice. Conner was definitely intriguing, and after today, I knew I had to find out more. It was such an unusual reading. And what was with that last one? The mirror, the rag, and the teeth? I think my brain was in overload.

  I must have sat there for thirty minutes without moving. When a hand touched my shoulder I nearly jumped out of my skin, realizing how stiff my muscles had become. I looked up into Garrick’s eyes and felt another sense of sorrow for what he was going through.

  “Forensics is finished and I got us a few minutes with the scene before we head over to the morgue.”

  He began walking toward the center of the commotion. As I followed, I noted the crowd had thinned. Half of the police and vehicles were gone and only a few gawkers remained to try and steal a photograph. I walked up the slight incline past the forensic personnel and stepped next to Garrick.

  We stood over a shallow grave. The ground seemed like it had barely been disturbed enough to bury a body. Garrick sighed.

  “We got the phone call earlier this afternoon. Just like the others.” He brushed his hands over his face a few times and stood silently above the final resting place of Erin Montgomery. “Do you think you’ll be able to tell us anything?”

  With a start, I realized that he was talking to me. In deciding how to break the news to him, I went with direct. “It doesn’t work that way for me, Garrick. I’m sorry, but I really need some type of object from her.” I glanced around to see if there was anything for me to use. Nothing.

  “Yeah, that’s what I figured,” he said with another sigh. “All right, let’s go to the morgue to see the body.” My posture stiffened in a subconscious reaction but he saw the consternation on my face. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to go. I wasn’t thinking.”

  I’ve never been to a morgue before. Usually my involvement was limited to conference rooms and bags of evidence. Seeing a body, a person, who had once been alive, seemed like a daunting task. But then I remembered Carl Montgomery. This was his daughter. She was one of three daughters murdered. My discomfort at being in a morgue mattered little in the grand scheme of things. If I could help, I promised I would.

  “No. I’ll go.”

  We walked to his car without speaking again. It wa
s already dark out, but the remaining police cars and forensics unit provided enough light for us to manage. I took off the jersey before getting in the car, not feeling celebratory anymore.

  The city morgue was located back downtown, requiring a trip on the interstate and several passes over the metro train system. The silence would have normally been uncomfortable, but I was at ease sitting near Garrick, having a sense the feeling was mutual. He needed some peace tonight, and I was obliged to give it to him.

  We parked on the street alongside of the forensic medical center. The city had invested quite a bit of money into establishing a teaching extension of the state university’s medical school program, and I could see that the money had been well spent. The five story building consisted of intricate designs of red brick and tinted windows. But at this time of night, it looked more like a game of Battleship, with lights in various laboratories and offices illuminated in a scattered pattern.

  Garrick quietly led us to the elevators and down to the basement floor. When the doors opened, I was relieved to see a large, brightly lit room instead of the long, narrow hallway I’d anticipated. Although it was actually two areas, the laboratory was enclosed with a wall of windows, creating the illusion of space.

  Immediately in front of us was a metal desk with one very bored-looking attendant sitting behind it. He looked young and was thoroughly engrossed in an automotive magazine. His feet were propped up on the corner of the desk without any care for the stack of papers underneath them. Apparently he got stuck with the Sunday night graveyard shift. I wondered if that term was used in here.

  Clearing his throat, Garrick finally got the young man to acknowledge our presence. He jumped to attention and tried to straighten up the desk. Despite his best efforts, I saw remnants of candy bar wrappers covering the computer keyboard.