Celeste Files: Unlocked Read Online Free Page A

beyond what’s in front of us. Your gift almost killed you. And now you have a husband and child to consider.”
    Stunned, Celeste rested her rear on her heels and continued to kneel in front of Maxine. “So all this has been is a bad case of psychic block?”
    Maxine nodded and reached for her tea. “And it looks as if that block is starting to crack. I can help you break past this and learn to better control your mind.”
    Celeste stood, then moved back to the chair and sat. “When I had the vision yesterday, I was in the dying woman’s body, but I could hear my daughter crying. What was strange was that the woman heard the cries. She’d also heard the water running in my kitchen sink. How could this be? And why wasn’t I aware enough to shake the vision and go to Olivia?”
    “Based on what I saw when I traveled into your past, I believe the woman was already dead when you connected with her. You were in a semi-conscious state, and her spirit latched onto yours and gave you enough of her memories to help her pass over to the other side. You do believe in the afterlife, correct?”
    “I’m not sure if I believe in a heaven or hell, but I do think that when people die, they go to another plane that exists with the past, present and future. I also think there are levels to these planes, where some are more…heavenly than others.”
    “How is this different from heaven and hell?”
    “Because I believe there are decent people who’ve made bad choices, and that those choices aren’t worth being condemned to an eternity of misery.” She raised a hand. “And I’m not talking purgatory where a person’s sins need to be purged before they could enter heaven. I’m talking about souls who haven’t been able to let go of the pain they might have felt on earth.” She stared at Maxine. “I think I answered my own question, didn’t I?”
    “I believe you did. This woman’s soul is pained by either her past choices or her murder. Maybe both. Think back to what you saw through her eyes. What did she show you that you could use to help her?”
    Celeste pulled a folded sheet of paper from her purse. “I made a list after the vision,” she said, unfolding the paper. “It’s sketchy and the more time that passes, the more the vision fades.” She liked to compare a vision to a dream. Once the vision occurred, unless she quickly wrote down the details, what she had seen faded within minutes. The tone and emotional tug she’d experienced during the vision would remain, along with a few quick fragments of conversation, but nothing more. “I know the woman was sick. She wore a wig and there were thoughts about chemotherapy.” She glanced at her handwriting. “We were in an office, bound to a chair. There was a wall safe that the other person in the room needed access to. The woman didn’t want the safe opened. She wanted to keep her secrets hidden. She also knew the person in the room with her. I sensed an enormous amount of betrayal and disappointment. Strangely, love too.”
    “Were you able to see this person’s face?”
    “No, just their aura—which was black. Whoever it was threatened her with a gun and a needle filled with morphine, but the woman wouldn’t budge until…”
    I’ll kill the spoiled bitch and her brat.
    Celeste stared at the paper shaking in her hands, to the bullet points she’d listed… Cancer, gun, morphine, safe, baby crying, money. “Oh, my God,” she gasped. “How could I not remember?”
    Maxine leaned forward. “Remember what?”
    She met her gaze. “I need to call Kelly. She could be in danger, along with her daughter.” She quickly stood. “I should go.”
    Maxine also stood, then rested a palm on Celeste’s shoulder. “You need to sit and think this through.”
    “The killer knows Kelly and her daughter.” She searched her memory and tried to latch onto the fuzzy image. “He or she threatened to kill Kelly and her baby if the woman didn’t open the