Read Online Since You've Been Gone by Carlene Thompson - Free Book Online

carefully attached Sean’s leash and began talking to him in a baby voice. “Now you come along with your Aunt Betty and meet your Uncle Walt. You two are going to be the best of friends.”
    â€œIf they aren’t, tell Walt I’ll pay for the hospital bills,” Rebecca called as Sean reluctantly followed Betty out of the room.
    As soon as she finished her breakfast, Rebecca called Molly’s. Bill answered. “I thought I’d get Molly or another cop.
    â€œI just walked in ten minutes ago. Molly got a good, long sleep. How about you?”
    â€œThe same. I’m just fine this morning.”
    â€œI’ll bet.”
    â€œI’m coming over as soon as I get dressed.”
    â€œAh, Becky, I don’t think you should,” Bill said. “Thepress has gotten wind of this as well as half the town. You wouldn’t believe the crowd outside. I had to call in some deputies to help keep the mess under control.”
    â€œThen I’ll just fight my way through them.”
    â€œNo, honey, please don’t. That nurse who lives next door, Jean Wright, is here with Molly now. I guess they’re pretty good friends.”
    â€œWell, surely Molly can have more than one woman with her. And I didn’t know she and that woman were good friends. Molly’s only mentioned her once or twice.”
    â€œBecky, people around here know who you are. Or, more important, what you’ve done. No one has forgotten your work with the police a few years ago. You’re a celebrity. We’re having enough trouble keeping a lid on things here as it is. I’m afraid if you show up, we’ll completely lose control.”
    â€œOh,” Rebecca said slowly. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
    â€œI know. And I know Molly would appreciate having you here, but we’ve already talked about it. She agrees with me that it’s best for you to keep away right now. But I told her about your vision and she’s ecstatic that you’ve made some kind of contact. She said you could do more good concentrating on getting some other vibes about Todd than sitting here holding her hand.”
    â€œConcentration doesn’t help,” Rebecca said as she felt the weight of people’s expectations descend on her. “Your mother had ESP. My mother doesn’t understand how it works, but you do.”
    â€œSuzanne doesn’t understand it because she doesn’t want to. It scares her and she’s always run from what scares her. That’s why she got so distant with you when you started manifesting it. I don’t completely understand it, but I accept it—both its limitations
and
its strengths. And you’ve already had one vision. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be optimistic about you having another one.” Rebecca heard him turn away from the phone and speak to someone else. “Got to go, Becky. Besides, we don’t want to tie upthe phone line. You get some rest. I’ll tell Molly you called.”
    He hung up without saying good-bye. Rebecca sighed and lay back against the pillows, feeling helpless. She couldn’t just lie here hoping another vision would strike, so she climbed painfully from the bed and took a shower. She then called her best friend in New Orleans, briefly explained about the situation with Todd, and asked her to water the plants and keep an eye on the house. Next she E-mailed her agent, saying only that she was in West Virginia and leaving a phone number. The agent was waiting for the proposal for Rebecca’s next book, a proposal that was due at the end of the week. Rebecca doubted if she would get one word written this week and didn’t care.
    She tried to lie down again, but after ten minutes in bed she knew she was too restless to spend any more time shut in her room. She got up and took two aspirins, hoping to work some of the soreness from her body. A look in the mirror almost scared her.