Conduit Read Online Free

did
a quick count on her fingers. “Make that five. That’s just first names.”
    “Connecting with the dead. Those frauds always use that one,
as if it’s possible to talk to the dead.”
    “Because the dead are dead and the only people you can
connect with are the living, even on a psychic level,” Cassie said in a
singsong tone. She leaned over her desk toward Emily. “I’ve heard this all
before.”
    Emily laughed. She gave the same speech to Cassie way too
often. Aunt Susan burned those words into her mind for years, and she couldn’t
help but repeat it.
    Emily.
    She stiffened at the sound of her name. Louder than before,
the whisper pressed on her brain like the vise grip of an unrelenting migraine.
Emily bit down on her bottom lip and lifted her hand to her temple. The
reverberation of her name bounced around her mind and singed her nerves. She
caught her breath and the whisper let go of her.
    Cassie’s brow creased. “Emily, are you okay?” She leaned across
her desk and gently took her arm.
    As Cassie spoke the words, paleness swallowed Emily’s face.
The room spun in her peripheral vision and a wave of vertigo washed over her. “I
think I need some water.” Nausea gripped her stomach and she laid her hand on
her abdomen.
    Cassie got up from her desk without question. Emily rubbed
her forehead and focused on calming her queasy stomach. She had never experienced
such a physical reaction to a psychic event. Then again, the whole situation
confused her. Whispers, automatic writing. Somehow, it must be connected.
    Cassie walked back into the office with a cup of water and
set it down in front of Emily. The cold liquid trickled down her throat and
soothed her aching mind. Her strength returned, having been stripped from her
when the voice took over her mind.
    “What is it, Em?” Cassie asked.
    “I don’t know yet.” A hint of nausea remained with her. She
placed her hand on the edge of Cassie’s desk and focused on some papers on the
desk to stop the room from swaying.
    Cassie took a deep breath and crossed her arms. “But it’s
something.”
    Emily didn’t answer. She had read many myths that said
channeling spirits caused automatic writings, but one couldn’t connect with the
dead because they were dead. Cassie had echoed Aunt Susan’s teachings only a
few moments earlier. “The only people you can connect with are the living,”
Emily said under her breath.
    Cassie cocked her head to the side. “What’s going on?”
    Emily glanced at Cassie and shook her head. Someone out
there used automatic writing to reach out to her, while the intense whispers were
also aimed in her direction. If these two phenomena originated from the same
person, they really wanted Emily to listen, even if what they had to say scared
her.
    Hear me.
    Emily.

Chapter Two
    A crumpled candy bar wrapper tumbled
along the side of Highway 54, just inside the Wichita city limits. The early
morning traffic paid no mind to the litter, but slowed to catch a glimpse of
the gathering of police cars and ambulances on the shoulder of the highway. No
doubt several of the drivers and passengers were on their cell phones, letting
others know about the crime scene circus.
    Parked in front of the Medical Examiner’s van, Detective Lieutenant
Lionel Edwards leaned against his unmarked patrol car. He tapped his foot on
the ground to a silent tempo and mouthed the words of the song that had played
in his car a few moments earlier. Watching personnel crawl over the crime scene
in the field beyond the bottom of the ditch, Lionel had no intention of joining
them until forced to do so.
    He had not wanted to begin his first morning off in a month by
leaving Barbara half asleep on a lazy Saturday morning so he could visit a
crime scene, but the sixth homicide in ten weeks demanded the sacrifice. Even
though he had only planned to sleep late and spend a few hours with Barbara
before going into work, he would not experience the luxury of time off