Page 25 of Reclaiming Chaos
Gwen’s smile grew big. “You aren’t the only psychic know-it-all that I’ve met.”
“Really?” Carlee asked. Her voice was hopeful. “Don’t say that too loud around anyone at FT. They’ll want that person too.”
Carlee was already worried enough about Barbara. She claimed she was okay and knew how to keep a secret. She said she knew how to stay off the grid. But Carlee couldn’t help worrying. Mr. Russell had a reach even Carlee was having a hard time comprehending.
Neither Gwen nor the FDG agents stuck around. Carlee was alone with Ridge, and for the first time, they had no one to save or anyone trying to kill them.
“Tell me about the book. Why didn’t you leave it behind?”
“There’s proof of their blackmail scheme and murder within those pages. If you know how to read between the lines.”
Ridge crossed his arms and rested them on the table. “You know that book isn’t admissible in a court of law, just like testimony from a psychic isn’t either.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But it might be the only evidence that exists outside of FT’s walls. If Russell gets his hands on it, he’s going to burn it.”
Ridge tilted his head. “Are there other people at FT who can do what you do?”
She lowered her head. “Yes, just not to my extent. It’s only a matter of time before they put someone on tracking us.”
If her boss hadn’t already. He liked to have his thumb on the pulse of everything, and not knowing what Carlee was up to or where she was, was probably rattling Russell’s nerves more than he cared to admit.
“Okay, well, let’s get to the heart of the matter. Tell me how the blackmail works.”
Carlee rose and took her coffee cup to the sink and rinsed it out. “They give me a trigger. Most times, it was a name or a picture or an object to hold. I tuned in, and I told them what I saw. Most times, it was stuff they already suspected.” She turned to face him. “Someone putting a bundle of cash in a hidden safe. A drug transaction going down. Sometimes it was much more intimate. A couple during a liaison.”
Ridge sat quietly. Even his stillness, his quietness being compelling.
“That was the first one I saw. A man and woman were having an affair in a seedy hotel room. I’d been given a picture of the woman.”
“Why was an affair so important? Did they blackmail them?”
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I didn’t know it at the time, but the woman was Mr. Russell’s wife. It wasn’t until later, when she’d had a mysterious car accident, and her picture was in the paper, that I put the pieces together.”
“Why didn’t you quit right then?”
“I should have, but I couldn’t.”
“Why not? What reason could you possibly have had to keep you there?”
Carlee dropped her gaze. “They found out my secret and blackmailed me.”
Ridge rose from his chair and moved to stand in front of her. “What’s your secret?”
