Twice Bitten, Once Shy: Confessions of a Fake Psychic Detective #5

Chapter 2

Rasputin

Zandra sighs through her cigarette.

I should've stayed in that hospital bed.

"If it's an emergency, try the emergency room. It's right over there," Zandra says and flicks ash toward the hospital.

"No, you don't understand. It's something, um, that someone like, well, you could help with," the woman says.

"What, like an emergency tarot reading?" Zandra says. She starts to walk away. The woman grabs both of Zandra's arms.

"Please. I can explain. I just can't explain here," the woman says.

Zandra shakes the woman's grip free.

I don't need this trouble, but I do need something else.

"Money," Zandra says.

"Name your price."

Zandra snorts. "Really?"

"Yes, of course."

Bullshit.

"Nice try," Zandra says. "You're in line for a free bus ride at a hospital. Whatever it is you want me to do, you can't afford it."

"I live downtown. That's why I took the bus. I promise."

I also live downtown if you count sleeping in unlocked cars.

"Where downtown?" Zandra says.

"Across from the library, above the toy shop with all the cats in it," the woman says.

"Yeah, I know that place. Everyone says it's cute they let the cats roam free. Truth is the place is infested with mice."

"I know."

Zandra takes her time to think the offer over.

Wouldn't be so bad to get to somewhere out of sight. The wrong person is going to recognize me eventually.

"OK," Zandra says finally.

"Oh, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me," the woman says. She sniffles.

You're right. I don't.

On the short bus ride, Zandra learns the woman's name is Ivy. Her wife's name is Jade, and their 7-year-old son's name is Grigori.

Russian.

"Interesting name," Zandra says.

"Jade?" Ivy says quietly. She dropped her voice when talking about her wife and son. The bus is crowded. Lots of ears turn at Ivy's mention of her wife. Stevens Point's progressive streak may be an anomaly in central Wisconsin, but it is still in central Wisconsin.

"No. Grigori. Adopted?" Zandra says.

"Yes, but not in the way you're thinking. It's complicated. He's our son, though," Ivy says. "You'll get to meet him soon."

Ten minutes later, Ivy unlocks a door next to the toy store. A pair of cats in the toy store window beneath a sign that says, "Going Out of Business Sale!" watch Ivy work the key. Zandra watches back.

What happens to the cats when the toy store goes away?

Ivy leads Zandra up a flight of stairs to her apartment. A smile from a woman, presumably Jade, greets them. It's not a happy smile, though.

It's one of those worried smiles, the kind that comes on the cusp of relief. A desperate smile.

A barefoot Jade unloads before Ivy can even introduce Zandra, much less walk through the door.