Page 16 of Jon's Helter Skelter Cold Case

“Does that mean she’s possibly alive?” Abby posed the question, glancing around at all of us. “But Dwayne felt the bond break. So it’s not possible, right?”

“I don’t even know what to say to that.” Carol stopped the search entirely, now glaring at the picture as if this was somehow its fault. “Borrowman, what about the rest of the evidence?”

“I basically skimmed the file while pulling stuff for you guys, so I don’t know the nitty-gritty, but I do remember her clothes and a weapon were found buried in the backyard. Presumably the clothes she wore the day she went missing. Grab those?”

“Grab those,” Carol confirmed.

Really trying to boost her search, huh? Although, if she could find the source of the weapon, that would be helpful. Might as well use Borrowman while she had him.

Borrowman was back in a jiffy and handed her the clothes. Carol snapped on gloves before she took them out of the brown envelopes, placing them on top of the picture. Nothing fancy—a pair of jeans, basic red T-shirt, and leather sandals. Then she started in again.

Only to stop a second later with the same frustrated frown. “Nothing on the clothes. Same block.”

“This is getting weird,” Donovan muttered under his breath.

It was beyond weird, in my opinion. Also intriguing.

Carol was taking it personally, like a gauntlet had been thrown down. She thrust out a hand and barked, “Weapon.”

Borrowman also snapped on gloves before he swiftly handed the weapon over to her, taking the clothes and picture back in exchange. When she pulled it out of the envelope, I was a little surprised to see a hand axe. It was something you’d take camping to chop up firewood. It wasn’t a “normal” murder weapon, in my experience. Although people would grab anything at hand in the heat of the moment.

Carol put the axe down on the table, cracked her knuckles like she was going into the ring, and then started again. She really hated being thwarted.

A taut second later, she paused, head tilting to the side. “Borrowman, what was the address for where the clothes were found?”

“Um. One sec.” He flipped the folder open and read through it before saying, “324 Maple Court. Here in Nashville.”

She stared at the map a little harder. “Reading says this thing originated in the house’s backyard.”

I looked at the axe, which was clearly manufactured, with its black handle and red and black blade, and had a mentalhuh? “No way the axe was made in the backyard.”

“Not by usual means.” Donovan stroked his chin. “Is it possible someone rubbed their energy off on this thing? Okay, that sounded weird coming out of my mouth.”

“I don’t know if you even can.” Carol glanced up to meet Donovan’s eyes. “Although, this is reminding me of the head-boppin’ case we had up in Clarksville.”

“Yeah? Same feeling?”

“Pretty similar. These results don’t even make sense. I will swear to you this axe was made in that backyard.”

Now didn’t that beat all.

6

After being with Jon for so long, I could safely say it was never a good thing when the psychics had “unusual” readings. Nine times out of ten, it meant trouble was heading for us on the northbound express. This made me especially nervous because not only Jon, but also Abby, depended on me for protection.

I was thinking I really needed to hijack my father to help with Abby….

Borrowman had his thinking cap on, as he was already moving to the far end of the room, pulling his phone out as he moved. Everyone did that when around Jon—I recognized its significance. “I’m calling Grant.”

Ooooh, now there’s a good idea.

Abby leaned into my side and asked in an undertone, “Who’s Grant?”

“Grant Walker is one of the best Dreamwalkers in the world,” I explained. “There’s no one he can’t find. His range is insane. I think he can cover most of the US.”

“Pretty much,” Jon confirmed. “He said his range is about two thousand miles.”

Abby jolted, jaw dropping. “T-t-two thousand?”

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