Double Vision Read Online Free Page B

had thought she ought to talk to her. “How so, Molly?”
    Molly brought her hand to her knee. She slapped it three times.
    Jenna felt her eyebrows lift. “When did you notice that?”
    â€œJust once. When I saw him coming toward the aisle where I was.”
    â€œCan you do that for me again?” Consistency was key here. So important.
    Tap, tap, tap.
    Again, it was three.
    Green burst forth, the color Jenna always associated with the number three. Three taps. A thought she couldn’t fully identify tickled at her mind.
    â€œOh, thank God!”
    Jenna whirled around to face the direction from where the voice had come, but the man was already to Molly, scooping her up and hugging her to him. He held her face hard to his chest, closed his eyes as he bowed his head toward her.
    â€œSorry to interrupt,” Saleda said, laying a hand on Jenna’s shoulder. “Dr. Jenna Ramey, this is Liam Tyler. Miss Molly’s stepdad.”
    Jenna blanked her face to keep from tearing up at the man’s obvious relief over seeing Molly in one piece. Hank would’ve done the same with Ayana had the situation arisen. As much as Yancy loved A, and as great as he was with her, she’d wondered so many times if a man who wasn’t Ayana’s real father could be there for her, love her as much as a dad now that Hank was gone. Watching Liam Tyler overcome with emotion at finding Molly tugged her heartstrings. Maybe it was possible.
    Jenna stretched out her hand. “Nice to meet you. We were just chatting with Molly a bit about what she saw today.”
    Liam Tyler’s eyes went wide, seemingly at the thought of Molly having seen something so gruesome, but then he pulled back from Molly to look at her face. He smiled wide. “And are you being helpful?” he asked Molly.
    Thank ya, Jesus. Not one of those parents who plants thoughts in the kid’s head by freaking out over the shooting. Makes things a lot easier.
    â€œOf course,” the precocious little girl said, sighing heavily as though it were the silliest question in the world. “I told them the number of steps the bad man took, the number of times he tapped. I was about to tell them about what time it was, but I didn’t have a chan—”
    Liam looked away from Molly and toward S.A. Dodd. “I’m so sorry. She does this sometimes. We’re working on it, but it’s unfortunately still kind of a preoccupation.”
    Jenna cocked her head. “Pardon me? What is it you’re working on?”
    Liam put Molly down and straightened her coat as he looked over her head at Jenna. “The numbers thing. She’ll tell you everything you want to know about every number she counts, but I doubt it’ll help you—”
    â€œOh, no,” Jenna cut in quickly. Better to interrupt him and seem rude than give him the chance to plant thoughts in Molly’s mind that there was any sort of information she should hold back because it wouldn’t be helpful. Parents always meant well, but they never did understand that even the slightest cues given to kids could mean the difference between answers and a missing puzzle piece. She looked at Molly, who was exasperatedly trying to wiggle away from her stepdad’s attempts to tidy her up, and smiled. “The numbers are super helpful, Molly. As is anything you remember. What time was it?”
    Molly looked up at her and grinned, clearly proud of herself. “Three forty-five. I remember it because it lined up. Three-four-five.”
    You’d have remembered it if it hadn’t.
Jenna could practically see the wheels spinning in Molly’s head, latching numbers onto events, people, words. She wasn’t so different from Jenna at all.
    â€œThat was when I looked at my watch, but I’m not sure what time it was when the popping first started,” Molly said. As she did, she glanced up toward Liam Tyler.
    Subtly seeking parent’s