Celeste Files: Unlocked Read Online Free Page B

safe.”
    Maxine gave her a small smile. “Are you really going to tell Kelly you think her mom was murdered by someone she knows because of something that might or might not be in a safe? And how can you be sure the threat was toward your friend? Does Kelly have a sister?”
    She quickly pictured Lea, who was two years older than Kelly and also had a daughter. Lea’s toddler didn’t attend Kid-doodles Daycare. Instead, Lea had hired a young German au pair. Lea’s husband was a hotshot attorney worth several million dollars, and could afford to keep up with Lea’s extravagant shopping, her expensive car, weekend trips to New York City, LA or the Caribbean. According to Kelly, he was also cold and ruthless, and had no problem stepping on anyone if they stood in the way of what he wanted. As for Lea, Celeste had only met her a couple times. She hadn’t cared for the woman, or how she had always found a way to redirect the conversation back to herself, her money, her connections. Bottom line, Lea wasn’t a nice person, but that didn’t make her a murderer. Still, the killer in her vision knew the victim well. Could Lea have killed her own mother? Or maybe her husband?
    The onslaught of a headache pierced behind her eye. She took a seat, then leaned into the chair. “Yes, there’s a sister,” she finally answered. “But she has money and I don’t think—”
    “Then don’t think.” Maxine placed the blanket back into Celeste’s hands. “ Feel .”
    She curled her fingers into the soft material. “Feel what?”
    “The killer.”

Chapter 3

    KILLERS SCARED HER. Celeste had spent two years trying to forget what she had faced in Wisconsin. Only the scars on her body would forever serve as a terrifying reminder that the world was a stomping ground for evil, heartless people. She didn’t want to feel the killer. She didn’t want to invite him or her back into her mind. While she had missed her gift, and there had been a few occasions where she’d desperately wanted it back, this wasn’t the reason why. She wasn’t a criminal investigator like her husband. She was a baker, a wife, a mom.
    “Maybe we should quit,” Celeste said, setting the blanket on her lap. “I could be wrong about the whole thing.”
    “What if you’re not?” Maxine asked. “Will you go to the police? Or ask your father or husband to investigate the crime?”
    “John doesn’t know about yesterday’s vision. But it would make sense to ask the police to investigate.”
    Maxine raised a brow. “You should have talked to your husband about your vision.” She held up a hand. “I’m sorry. Your reasons for not telling John are none of my business. And yes, it would make sense to go to the police, but would they think there was a crime worth investigating? Consider this, you have a woman dying of cancer, who, by all appearances, has taken her life. An autopsy would prove this. If the person who killed her was someone who regularly visited the home, fingerprints would be useless. What was in the safe…that’s what you need to discover. The police might look inside the safe, but if they don’t have any indication of foul play, they won’t look for anything to dispute suicide.”
    Damn. “But Ian—”
    “Celeste, even your father knows he would need evidence to proceed. Give him or the police that evidence, then let them do their job. If you walk away from this now, wouldn’t you always wonder? Especially if something were to happen to your friend and her daughter.”
    Double damn. “Okay, fine. But I’m touching the blanket now and getting nothing. Even if I did, chances are I’ll only connect with Kelly’s mom, not the killer.”
    “But you felt as if the mother knew the person with her. Even if she can’t tell you who it is, she could tell you what they were after.”
    Her flesh and blood.
    The brief memory of the woman’s thoughts should have made her skin crawl with disgust. As a mother, she couldn’t imagine having