Heart to Heart: Ashton Ford, Psychic Detective Read Online Free

was
mere confirmation of something already shared in a
dream.
    I went all the way through
the institute like that, but all of it stopped, except the
infrequent letters, at Annapolis. The naval academy was preordained
for me, as an Ashton. There had never been so much as a mention of
any alternative. All of the male Ashtons by whatever family name
were born with an appointment to Annapolis tucked into their little
belly buttons. I never questioned it. But I also had no particular
passion for a naval career, never intended to pursue one beyond the
obligatory active duty requirement following
graduation.
    I had a rough time at
Annapolis, but not because of the institutionalization and
discipline that bothers most cadets. I had grown up in that,
learned to cope with it, even to enjoy it in most of its aspects.
But I grew very lonely there. All of my childhood connections had
been severed. I tried to look at it as a natural consequence of
adulthood—and maybe I just was not prepared for adulthood. I felt
abandoned.
    There were other minor
problems too. I think I freaked out the medical people there. They
came at me four times during my plebe year with batteries of
intelligence and psychological tests and never seemed content that
they had me properly nailed. But the testing opened some doors for
me, both during the following three years and afterward. Seemed as
though they gave me any class I wanted and a variety of special War
College postgraduate courses. I actually spent most of my navy
time in a classroom. Finally wound up at the Pentagon, Office of
Naval Intelligence, where I rode out the balance of my obligated
service.
    Since then I have just puttered about. I
have this trust fund, you see, which takes care of the basics, and
I have never seen much point to accumulating wealth of my own, so I
am really free to pursue those things that interest me.
    That is what I was doing at Laguna Beach. Or
so I thought when I went there.
    It had begun to occur to
me though, during that first hour at Pointe House, that something
or someone was pursuing me instead. I never really set out to
become or to be a psychic investigator. I am not even all that
certain that I have any particular psychic abilities of my own. I
do not do things; things do me, and I do not control them. I
usually try my best to keep them from controlling me. That is never
difficult—or it had not been to this point in my life. I had never
seen or experienced any psychical phenomena which, in retrospect,
should be feared or even mistrusted.
    But I very often did not understand that
which was
    being experienced—and even though I had been
conditioned from childhood to accept a reality which most people
clearly do not inhabit, I had always kept both feet planted firmly
on planet Earth, and I was as subject to awe and fear as any human
when magic is afoot.
    Let me assure you that magic was clearly
afoot at Pointe House. And all my small hairs knew it.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four: Glimmer
     
    The telephone began ringing in insistent
little bursts while I was still puzzling over the amenities of my
guest suite. I stared at the phone briefly—I guess wondering if the
call was really for me—then scooped it up and gave it a shot.
"Yeah, who'd you want?"
    I did not recognize the responding male
voice. "Mr. Ford?"
    "Yes."
    It was mildly apologetic. "I understand
you've only just arrived. Hope I haven't caught you at an awkward
time. But it's really important that I speak with you at the
earliest possible moment. Would it be convenient for you to come
down to the library right away?"
    I presumed that the guy
was not referring to the Laguna Beach public library, but I wanted
to be sure. I replied, "You mean the library here at Pointe
House."
    He sort of laughed as he told me, "Yes.
Sorry. I assumed you realized that I am using the house
phone."
    I said, "Why should I think that? Everything
else seems to have come straight from heaven."
    The response was vaguely