Copycat Killer (Psychic For Hire 1)

Beastie is now tapping her claw tips on my door. It is a warning tap. The clever thing knows not to scratch, but that doesn’t mean she won’t do it if I keep her waiting much longer.

“One moment, Beastie,” I murmur. “I’m nearly ready.”

Beastie hasn’t bothered to eat much of her meal. On my way back home I will have to browse some corner shops for decent cat food. I have figured out that if I find anything that is near its Use-By date, some of the smaller stores will sell it to me for pennies. I don’t want Beastie to starve herself because of her food snobbery.

Suddenly filled with nervous energy, I scoop Beastie into my large satchel and bounce out of the apartment. I am determined to complete my task today. Heck, perhaps there will even be a reward in it, I think hopefully.

You wish, says the little voice. Rich people are the meanest people.

“You’re such a cynic,” I murmur under my breath as I run lightly down the stairs.

I let Beastie loose in a little square park not far from my house and she happily darts away. I have no idea what she gets up to, but she sure is in a satisfied mood whenever I come back to pick her up. I always find her waiting for me, as if she has a sixth sense about when I’ll be back.

My first stop is the corner shop near the park. I pop in out of habit, wanting to check today’s news headlines. Humming, I check out all the dates on the canned produce and the pouches of cat food. Seeing one likely tin, I put it right at the back of the other tins, intending to come back for it later. Then I head to the newspaper and magazine shelf.

The images dominating the front pages of the papers stop me in my tracks. It is the smiling face of a gorgeous young woman. The same woman from my dreams.

‘DCK strikes again!’ screams the headline. ‘Jared Everett Fiancée Murdered!’

Gasping, I snatch up the paper. No wonder I kept having the dream. Feeling sickened, I read the column. Her name is Lynesse Jones. She was found dead early this morning. She is the new fiancée of Hollywood star Jared Everett.

The newspaper rustles as my hands shake. I can’t believe it. I am too late. And it was DCK who killed her. DCK.

I want to scream. I should have been there. I should have gone to their house yesterday to warn them. Why did I wait? Why didn’t I do something?

Not everything is your fault, snaps the little voice. How arrogant of you to even think so.

I stare at Lynesse Jones’s beaming face. She looks ecstatic, a young woman on the verge of beginning her new life. She is showing off her big sparkly diamond ring.

No wonder she had looked familiar to me in my dreams. I saw their engagement being announced on this very newspaper some weeks back. They’d had several wild parties to celebrate. There had been a new headline every day.

Another paper shows a pale faced Jared Everett speaking to a police officer. Everett is not the man I had seen with Lynesse in my dream.

“Are you going to buy that?” says the woman at the cash desk. She is glaring at me.

“Sorry,” I mutter, putting the paper back.

I hurry out of t

he store, but once I am outside I feel at a loss. I just stand there watching traffic go by. The purpose of my day was to save her. I had been so excited about proving Storm wrong for firing me. So stupidly excited.

What a mope-fest, says the little voice. Cheer up. Now we’ve got a killer to catch. Exciting times.

“How could I not know it was DCK?” I ask her. “Why didn’t I see that?”

It’s done now. So go to the house and find a clue. It’s what you wanted all along, isn’t it?

“And then what?”

Track the scumbag down and we’ll take our vengeance. I’ll do it. You won’t have to lift a finger… Well, maybe a finger. She sniggers.

I give a huff of disbelieving laughter. Track him down and kill him? Is she mad? And anyway, we can’t go to the house.

“It will be crawling with cops,” I tell her. “They’ll probably arrest me for interfering.”

So we’ll wait it out. We’ll go at night.

“I can’t. I’ve got work tonight. I can’t let Luca down.”