Page 16 of Shattering Dawn
“Not exactly. You’ve done your job. You’re through.”
“You can’t fire me and I’m not quitting. You and I are sticking together until we find the people who tried to grab you tonight.”
“I appreciate your professional commitment, but we have to be realistic. You are in over your head.”
“I’m aware I don’t look my best at the moment, but you should see the other guy.”
She managed a weak smile to acknowledge the weak joke. “Thank you for scaring him off.”
“You have no idea how much I scared him.”
“I’m very grateful but I really do need to find someone else to work with going forward.”
“Because of my physical condition?”
“It’s not just that. There’s the problem of trust.”
“You don’t trust me?”
He sounded surprised and possibly offended.
“I trust you, but you don’t trust me,” she said. “You didn’t believe me when I told you that I could see auras and photograph energy prints, for example.”
“To be fair, I’m in a business that requires some degree of skepticism.”
She sighed. “I understand. But I’m involved in a dangerous and complicated situation. I can’t afford to waste time with an investigator who is going to question everything I say.”
“Amelia—”
“Look, I get that you have doubts. I hoped you would take me seriously because your name was on that old research list. I assumed that meant you had some talent yourself.”
“Amelia—”
“I don’t know how or why you wound up on that list of people. Maybe the researchers made a mistake when they added your name to it. What I’m trying to say—”
“Amelia, the researcher who designed that damned test did not make a mistake. I’m on the list for a reason.”
That stopped her cold. “What?”
“One of my uncles, Shelton Sweetwater, designed and administered that study. A small, clandestine government agency commissioned the research. The goal was to find a reliable method of identifying and measuring psychic sensitivity. Shelton told me he tested a few hundred subjects on the West Coast.”
A thrill of discovery sent a shock wave through Amelia.Progress at last.“Your uncle was responsible for the test?” In the next breath excitement metamorphosed into outrage. “Why didn’t you tell me that when I hired you this morning?”
“Because I wasn’t sure who you were or what you were after. The results of that test were classified, after all, and in the end, the project was shelved.”
“Why?”
“According to Shelton, the study could not be replicated. None of the standard scientific testing methods or tools proved reliable. The reason my uncle was able to come up with a list of people whodemonstrated a genuine psychic vibe was because of a device he invented that only he can operate.”
“Hmm.” She sat quietly and drank some more wine while she processed the new information. “This is important. I need to update my friends.”
“So much for ‘classified.’ ”
She ignored that. “We should contact the agency that commissioned the research and tell them someone is running dangerous experiments on the people on that list.”
“Good luck with that. According to Shelton, the agency that commissioned the original research has long since disappeared into the graveyard of shuttered government projects devoted to paranormal research. He has no idea how to contact anyone who might know what to do about our problem.”
She paused her glass halfway to her mouth. “So it’sourproblem now?”