Page 33 of Trouble Comes in Threes

Then I was back at Piney Rest, staring into Miss Adolpha’s face, murmuring, “I think she’s dead.”

The elderly woman’s eyes widened. “Maxine is dead?” she cried out in alarm.

Obviously, I’d missed what she’d said about Maxine, whoever she was, but I was more concerned about what I’d just seen.

Neely Kate shot me a worried look and must have realized what had happened because she said, “No, of course not. Rose probably meant…” Her voice trailed off, and I was surprised that Neely Kate was at a loss for words. I could count the number of times that had happened on one hand.

I was lost to come up with an explanation myself.

Years ago, I’d had multiple visions of people dying or dead. Shoot, I’d even seen myself dead more than a few times, but my life had been pleasantly violence free for nearly three years, so seeing a dead woman on the floor scared the wits out of me. Especially since what I’d seen just now matched the scattered memories I had of my dream.

I always had visions from the perspective of a person close to me, so had the vision been of Miss Adolpha or Neely Kate?

The answer was pretty clear.

“We need to go,” I said, starting to get up, but my phone fell out of my lap to the floor.

Neely Kate gave me a wary look but quickly reached down and grabbed my phone. “Thank you so much for your help, Miss Adolpha,” she said as she stood. “We’ll be sure to let you know how all of this turns out.”

Miss Adolpha kept her gaze on me. “Are you all right, dear?”

“I’m so sorry to run off like this,” I said in a rush. Then I lied. “I forgot my daughter has a dentist appointment.”

“Not to worry,” the elderly woman said with a wave of her hand. “It was fun to get a little bit of excitement.”

“We’ll definitely be in touch,” I said. Especially if the vision belonged to her. But how would Miss Adolpha end up in a warehouse with gunshots and a dead woman?

I snatched my purse and took off for the door. Neely Kate was a few seconds behind after she said her goodbyes.

Once we were outside, she grabbed my arm and pulled me to a halt. “What happened? Why are you running like your pants are on fire?”

“You shouldn’t run if your pants are on fire,” I said, sliding my free hand over my head. “You stop, drop, and roll.”

“You would think that’s common knowledge,” she said dryly, “but I’ve seen some of my cousins do the opposite when they’ve caught on fire.” She shook her head with a look of disgust.

“Your cousins…” I waved a hand. “Never mind. I had a vision.”

“I figured,” she said, her face turning solemn. “Of someone dead.”

I nodded. “It wasn’t very clear, like there was a haze over everything. I was in a warehouse. There were shouts and gunshots, and a woman was lying on the floor with blood running out of her.” Tears filled my eyes. “I think she was dead.”

Horror filled Neely Kate’s eyes. “Who was she?”

Panic bloomed in my chest. “I don’t know.”

She hesitated, then asked in a shaky voice, “Do you think it was a vision of something I’m gonna see?”

“I don’t know.”

Her chest rose and fell as she started to work through what that might mean. “Rose, if it was a vison of something that’s going to happen to me…”

“Then the dead woman was probably me,” I said.

Chapter Nine

“We don’t know that,” she said insistently. “Did you see her face?”

“No. She was turned away, but even if she hadn’t been, it was too fuzzy.”

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