“Fucking bitch!” Greg managed to scramble to his feet and started kicking Katherine. “You ruined it!”
“Leave her alone!” Toni pounded on the door; then it fell silent.
Katherine curled up and covered her head. Getting kicked by Greg Hammond was a little like falling down a rocky hill on a trail run. She focused on protecting her vital parts, curling into a ball while she tried to roll away.
His feet landed on her thighs and her hips. That was fine—those were two large muscle groups that could take the damage.
She heard glass breaking, and a second later, Toni’s voice rang through the house.
“It’s loaded, and you wouldn’t be the first, asshole.”
The kicks stopped. Katherine felt her vision go wobbly, but not because of precognition. She was just going to pass out. That was okay. Megan’s voice was in the background now too. She heard sirens in the distance.
Poor, lonely Professor Bassi….
She wasn’t alone; she had Baxter, she was getting a dog, and even better, she had the two best friends a forty-seven-year-old newly psychic professor could hope for.
She smelled Megan’s perfume as soft hands stroked her back. “We’re here, hon. I already called 911. The police are on the way.”
“Good.” She relaxed a little bit and reached for Megan’s hand. “I’m getting a dog.”
“Good. Maybe a real big one.”
“I don’t need a big one. Look at Toni. Clearly, little things can be very dangerous.”
Megan sniffed. “Uh-huh.”
“Are you crying? Why are you crying? He’s like us, Megan. He can use people’s emotions like Toni. Is that why you’re crying?”
Megan smoothed her hair back from her forehead, still sniffing, and Katherine’s vision started to go dark.
“Katherine?”
Sorry.
Her vision swam, and everything went black.
* * *
Katherine looked at her reflection in the tiny mirror. “Good Lord, no wonder you were crying. I look like death.”
She had a black eye and several cuts near her ear where Greg Hammond’s boots had managed to land. The entire backside of her body was bruised and aching. She handed the little mirror back to Megan and lay back on the hospital bed. “Nope, that’s not comfortable either.”
Toni had her feet propped on the side of Katherine’s bed. “Have you tried your side?”
“I do lie that way, but I have to keep moving or everything hurts.”
“Please tell me they’re at least giving you the good drugs,” Megan said.
“Oh yeah.” Katherine’s head was swimming. “I’m flying high.”
“Good.”
She moved her neck to look toward the door. That hurt too. “Is Bax out there?”
“I saw him talking with Detective Bisset when I came in,” Megan said. “Before he comes back, you said Greg was an empath like Toni?”
“Maybe not exactly the same. I’ve never seen Toni try to mind-meld like Greg tried with me.”
“But he couldn’t do it, huh?” Toni nodded. “Good.”
“I think he could with the others though.” Katherine looked at Toni. “Think about it. If he already had them in a suggestible state with the visualization program on the app, then all he’d need was a little contact, a little push, and he’d be able to influence them.”
“Sarah Jordan?” Megan asked.
“Drew said that someone matching Greg’s description was seen at the stables,” Toni said. “And the others…”
“Justin said he went to the men’s bathroom at the gym. It was the last thing he remembered. Greg could have been there.”
“That would explain how he got a gun too,” Toni said. “Greg could have brought it with him and given it to Justin.”
Megan said, “And Mario said Abby took the trash out. Right before she attacked him, she’d taken the trash out.” She frowned. “Justin and Sarah both said they remembered doing their visualizations and feeling like someone was pushing them toward their fear. Do you think that was Greg?”
“I don’t know how he’d do it,” Toni said, “but that makes sense. Push them when they’re vulnerable and plant suggestions. Then make them forget they ever saw you.”
“Tell them to dump their phones in water to destroy the evidence,” Katherine said. “We wouldn’t have even known about the connection with the app if I hadn’t saved Kaylee on that roof.”
“Wonder why he targeted her,” Toni said.
“He targeted Sarah Jordan because she rejected him and Justin because Sarah admired him. I get the feeling Greg also wanted Abby and she didn’t reciprocate. It’s not a stretch to think that Kaylee might have rejected him or disrespected him in some way she might not have even realized. He was pretty delusional.”
“What matters is that Detective Bisset seems to think that Greg and Alice Kraft are responsible for all this,” Megan said. “Which means that both Justin’s and Abby’s defense lawyers will be able to use that in their defense.”
“Hopefully they won’t even press charges.” Katherine was exhausted. “Hey, you guys?”
“What do you need?” Toni sat up straight. “You want a nurse? My cousin Leah works here.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Megan asked.
“I’m tired,” Katherine said. “I’m going to fall asleep pretty soon. Can you guys stay with me until Baxter gets back?”
Megan and Toni exchanged a look.
“You got it,” Toni said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“My mama’s already decorating my house for Easter.” Megan walked over to get a chair. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”
“Thanks,” Katherine murmured. “You guys… the best.”
* * *
They released Katherine from the hospital the next morning. She had two cracked ribs and a fractured radius, but they couldn’t do anything about the ribs and her arm was already in a cast. She had two stitches by her ear that her hair would cover up when it grew back in, and lots and lots of bruises.
“I’m never going to complain about having a large butt again.” Katherine winced when Baxter helped her out of the car. “If I had more padding on my back, I might not be so sore.”
“I’ve never complained about it,” Baxter said. “And I concur.”
He wasn’t as keen to make jokes about the situation as she was. He was more concerned about her going back
