Mind Shadows

By Mary Beth Engle

Still recovering from serious injuries, Alpha Investigations detective Kevin Garfield rides into Riverdale, Mississippi looking for a meal and some sleep and ends up finding Ellie Foster, the one person who may hold the key to recovering his psychic abilities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Beth Engle
• Release date: Mar 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466004603

Mary Beth Engle

Mary Beth Engle has been writing in various forms since she was old enough to hold a pencil. The intervention of life on earth slowed the creative processes and many years were spent earning an Associate's Degree in English, a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, and a Juris Doctorate from the University Of Dayton School Of Law. These years were made all the more glorious by attaining the much cherished and highly regarded titles of mother and grandmother. Poetry was a specialty during the teenage angst years leading to the selection of her poems for several large and mostly unheard-of anthologies. Short lived literary success in the area of prose was found in the early 1990's with the publication of Wylde Skies; a contemporary romance published by an even shorter lived "books on disk" publishing company out of Littleton, Colorado. Finally technology freed the introverted and whole new worlds opened up with the inception of self-publishing and electronic book formats. In January of 2011, after immersing herself in the brilliant minds that make up the Western Ohio Writer's Association writer's group for a full year, courage won out and she self-published print and e-book versions of Saving Alexandria, and Guardian of Dreams; the first two books in her Alpha Men Series of Paranormal Romances. Mind Shadows, the third book in the series was published in March 2012. Mary Beth Engle lives in Fairborn, Ohio, USA with her 4 sons, 1 daughter, 7 grandchildren and various pets. She is expecting 2 new grandchildren, 0 new children and pets. She is currently hard at work, or some days hardly working, on the next three books in the Alpha Men series; a vampire novel still taking form; and a series of tongue-in-cheek private detective novels to be titled The Adventures of Plosbo.

Book preview

Mind Shadows

Alpha Men Book Three

Ellie and Kevin's Story

By

Mary Beth Engle

Copyright 2011

Smashwords Edition

Chapter One

The country road was barely more than gravel; narrow and lined with giant trees bursting with the rich colors of a Southern Spring. Leaves glistening with the last hint of dew stretched overhead like a canopy, the moisture disappearing rapidly beneath the growing heat of the sun. The hum of a powerful engine disturbed the still morning air; the gentle vibration of the motorcycle soothed the frazzled nerves of the man who controlled the machine.

Kevin Garfield took a deep breath, allowing the fresh air to fill his lungs and ease the constant ache in his brain. It had been six months and the fire still raged behind his eyes. The rest and physical therapy had restored his six foot two inch frame to full strength and health, but little to repair the damage to his mind and spirit. Despite the pain in his head, he rode the bike with the confidence of a man used to being in control; grateful that he could still feel in control of a few things in life.

It had been that desire to feel in control that had left him lying awake and sleepless at four a.m. wondering how long he could continue with his doctor’s orders to ‘just be patient and rest’. Then two days ago, disgusted with the inability to sleep and sick of being patient, he had packed a duffle and pulled the cover off the bike. A pin in the atlas had chosen a general direction and kicked on his internal autopilot.

Where he would end up he had no idea, nor did he particularly care. Still on ‘medical’ leave from his job; he answered to no one. Well with the exception of the occasional phone call to his Mama and Daddy in New Orleans just so they knew he was still among the living. Not that Lucretia Boudreaux needed a phone call from him to know he was okay; his Mama knew with each breath she took where her children were and if they needed her. A smile transformed his handsome face as he thought about his mother. Perhaps he would try to sneak home to N’Awlins and give her a surprise.

The smile faltered as quickly as it had appeared, fading away with the realization that the way his brain was scrambled he wouldn’t have a chance in hell of hiding his presence from a jack rabbit, much less his very powerful voodoo priestess mother. A half smile returned then as he felt her hand brushing against his hair as she did when she knew he was angry. It was a gentle ruffling that might well have been the breeze, but Kevin knew better; his mother was with him as always.

He sighed then, allowing the bike’s speed to slow as he approached a sign. He’d been moving all night and weariness was beginning to settle in. He would need to find food, gas, and a hotel of some sort to get a few hours of sleep before he moved on to wherever it was he was going. The sign was a simple green and white DOT special proclaiming proudly that the city of Riverdale, Mississippi lay 28 miles down State Route 430. There was also the promise of food, gas and lodging, and since Kevin had little care where he ended up Riverdale sounded like as good a place as any to fill his belly and sleep.

He would need to check in with John Kallen, his boss and friend as well. Not that Kallen was keeping tabs on him, but Kevin felt the need to keep himself updated on their caseload despite not being able to take an active part. Six months ago that would have been a simple matter of pulling open the long standing corridor of telepathic communication he had with his friend. Now, after being electrocuted and very nearly losing his life, he was left with phone calls and text messages as his main forms of contact. An odd tremor ran up his spine, curiously similar to the tiny electrical impulses he had felt when he’d used his empathic abilities to anchor a psychic, only muted. He could only assume that it was some sort of phantom symptom; there was no one within miles of him and his empath skills had been flushed down the toilet along with all of his other paranormal abilities. Shaking off the feeling of uselessness, he shifted his weight leaning forward and to the right slightly as the bike picked up speed again, roaring off the exit and onto the slightly larger state route that would take him into town.

***

Thirty miles down St. Rt. 430, on the far side of the tiny town of Riverdale, Ellie Foster unlocked the door to her bookshop and reached inside to flip on the light switch. Juggling the box of books and the laptop case she carried in her small arms, she shrugged her oversize purse farther up on her shoulder and pushed the door shut behind her with a smooth swing of one generous hip. She dumped the box on the counter to the left of the door then reached behind her out of habit to relock the door. The shop wouldn’t open for another forty-five minutes, but if she didn’t keep the door locked the good citizens of Riverdale felt it only polite to stop in and chat. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her customers; even those who just came to gossip, but it was difficult to get business set up for the day with Mrs. Gunderson from the flower shop next door nattering in her ear about who was cheating on whom.

Good morning Kingsley! Did you keep everything under control last night? She spoke in a business-like voice to the gigantic tortoise shell tom cat that lounged on the windowsill next to the counter.

Kingsley’s long, thick tail flicked a few times; his big head tilted sideways as if he were considering her question. He let out a massive sound that only the boldest of souls would call a meow and then leapt from the windowsill to the floor. Sauntering across the thick expanse of beige carpet, he stopped at the swinging door separating the retail area of the book store from the restrooms, office, and small kitchen area where Ellie made the cookies and coffee for her weekly book club meetings. As if realizing she had yet to move from her spot next to the register he glanced back over his shoulder to fix her with an exasperated look.

Ellie laughed. Okay, I get it; your food bowl is empty. I’m on my way.

She followed the path the cat had taken into the back. It was a good size area with his and hers restrooms along the left wall, a small room Ellie used as an office on the right, and a fair sized kitchen area that blossomed out from the far end of the short hallway. She locked her purse in the bottom drawer of the file cabinet next to her desk in the office, and then made her way into the kitchen. She crossed the room to the sink and reached down to collect the cat’s food and water dishes, setting them on the counter while she collected a small bag of cat food from an overhead cupboard. Filling the smaller of the two bowls with the dry food, she set it on the floor and watched in amusement as the gigantic cat literally tiptoed to the edge of the bowl and began to eat with the slow daintiness of an award winning Persian.

Ellie laughed. Kingsley, you are a study in contradictions, my friend.

The cat continued to eat, paying her no heed as she rinsed the larger bowl and filled it with fresh tap water. She set the water bowl next to the food dish then returned the bag of food to the cupboard where even the very resourceful Kingsley was unable to reach it. A commercial type coffee maker sat to the right of the sink, and Ellie set about filling the water receptacles and measuring out coffee for pots of both regular and decaffeinated. She flipped the switch to start the beverages brewing, then turned from the sink and headed back toward the front of the store.

She had taken only half a dozen steps when a cold chill crept up her spine, bringing with it an inky blackness that threatened to overwhelm her consciousness. Taking a deep breath, she took a few more cautious steps then sank down onto one of the padded chairs that surrounded the small tables she used for book club meetings. The blackness receded, but the chill remained, raising goose bumps on her arms. Damnit Saturday is my busiest day! I don’t have time for this right now.

She spoke aloud in the silent room, knowing that the words were in vain. Visions came and went as they chose, but the verbal protest gave her a sense of control as well as helping to keep her grounded and conscious. She gripped the edge of the table as the pictures began to flash in her mind. Like a series of old snapshots set in motion they shot through her mind; a young girl, maybe three or four years old. The child was alone; it was dark and damp and she was cold. Her hair was blonde; long and curly, now tangled and matted around her head. Her eyes were a pale, watery blue, deluged with fear and pain, red-rimmed from crying. The name Sarah flashed three times behind Ellie’s eyes, driving the pictures from her mind and leaving behind a raging headache.

Giving a sigh she reached into the back pocket of her jeans for the small notebook and pen set she always kept there. Resting it on the table she fought back the headache long enough to flip open the notebook and jot down the scenes that had flickered through her mind. She closed the book and waited for the full pain of the headache to hit her; surprised when instead of the usual blinding pain she felt instead a subtle vibration that shivered through her entire body. Unlike anything she’d ever felt before, the feeling was somewhat like riding in a car but carried with it a soothing warmth that blanketed her body and mind in a peaceful cloud.

The sensation lasted only a few moments then disappeared as quickly as it had come - Ellie remained seated waiting to see if the head pain had only been delayed. After several minutes with no sign of pain or nausea she got tentatively to her feet. It would seem that for the first time in twenty years her vision would not end in debilitating pain. Shocked and a bit disbelieving she gave herself another moment to ponder what exactly might be responsible for such change, but was unable to come up with anything she’d done differently.

Not one to thumb her nose at something positive she took the notebook and headed back to the front of the store. At the register she pulled the phone from under the counter. Punching in a long distance number she waited for the connection then left a voicemail detailing the images and name that she’d seen in her mind She started to return the phone to its cradle, then added, Charlie, give me a call when you get a chance, I need to ask Grammy Edna about something odd that happened this time.

Pleased that she apparently wouldn’t have to deal with the usual hour long aftermath of her vision, Ellie opened the large box she’d set on the counter earlier and started unpacking the books she’d purchased the night before at an estate auction outside of town. She began by sorting them into two stacks; one for hard bound and one for paperback, and then went through each stack to record the titles, author, and publication date of each book. With a brief break to set up her register and unlock her door Ellie worked on the box of books for the next hour, then began resorting the two stacks into genres and putting them away on their shelves.

She had just finished shelving the last of the books from the box when the bell over her front door tinkled. Ellie looked up from her seat on the tall stool behind the register and smiled at the two women who’d entered the store. MaryEllen Jennings and Becky Sue Slater were rumored all over town to be Riverdale’s only lesbian lovers. Both in their late thirties, neither having ever married nor had children; they had moved to Riverdale three years before and lived together on a small horse farm outside of town. Ellie was certain that she was the only person in town who believed the story they told; that they were cousins who had inherited money from their grandparents and had decided to pool their resources to leave the city and breed horses.

Ellie knew the story was the certified truth. Not that she’d gone snooping around for the information, but because when she touched people their stories were told to her; as plain and true as the nose on her face as Grammy Edna liked to say. Even now all she needed to do was reach out and shake hands with either of the women and she would know instantly where they had been, where they were going and why they were in her store. It was why she didn’t touch people often and when she did it was never a skin-to-skin contact. Now she smiled up at her customers with genuine warmth in her eyes. Good morning Becky, MaryEllen, what can I do for you ladies this morning?

MaryEllen, the older and more outgoing of the cousins, smiled at Ellie and made her way over to the counter to pet Kingsley where he lay perched once again in the window sill. We have a list of breeding books we need to find, Ellie. We got the numbers and titles online, but we wanted to see if we could get them from you before we went on and ordered them through the mail.

Ellie nodded. Sure, that’s no problem; I can order them in for you. Just leave the list in my box on the counter there and I’ll place the order first thing Monday morning. It usually takes about a week to get them in, but if any of them are out of print those could take longer. I’ll let you know at the book club meeting on Thursday if there’s any problem and of course I’ll give you a call when they come in.

The two women hesitated in front of the counter, exchanging looks before returning their twin green gazes in her direction. Ellie… Becky spoke hesitantly, her voice much softer than her cousins. We were wondering if you’d like to come over for dinner some time. We know you’re all alone in that big old house of yours and…

MaryEllen broke in, growing impatient with her cousin’s waffling. Oh hell, Ellie, we know this entire town thinks we’re a lesbian couple and to be honest neither of us really gives a shit what they think. We would like to try and start making some friends though, and since you seem to be the person in town with the most common sense we thought we’d start with you.

Ellie laughed. "Well I must say that