Read Online The Soul Summoner (The Soul Summoner Saga Book 1) by Elicia Hyder - Free Book Online
Authors: Elicia Hyder
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I decided to bring you lunch. She suggested goat cheese grits." He held up the plastic bag.
I laughed and accepted it. "Thanks. Come sit down." I walked back to my spot on the couch and pulled my fleece blanket up over my bare legs.
He sat on the loveseat caddy-cornered to the couch and laid a thick file folder on the coffee table. I looked at it and then back at him. My eyes widened and I shook my head. "Oh no," I said. "I'm not doing anymore police work. Do you hear me? I am not going to be your secret, silent partner helping you crack cold-cases and solve murder mysteries."
He laughed and flipped the folder open. "It's not that, I promise."
I relaxed a little and pulled the plastic bowl of steaming grits out of the bag. He had also gotten me some type of sandwich.
Nathan passed me a worn 8x10 photograph of a football player and a cheerleader. The number fifty-four was printed on his jersey and drawn on the girl's cheek in blue paint and glitter. The football player with the tousled blonde hair and crooked smile was a younger, less stern version of Nathan. The girl on his arm held a bouquet of red roses and had a blue ribbon tied in her long, dark hair. She was strikingly beautiful.
She was also dead.
I tapped my finger on the picture and looked up at him. "Who is this girl?"
"My little sister, Ashley."
I deflated a little. "How did she die?"
He took a deep breath and leaned his elbows on his knees. He cast his gaze to the carpet. He had been forewarned about my ability, but that hadn't lessened the shock of it.
After a moment, he sat back against the seat. "She went missing two weeks after this photo was taken after a different football game." He looked at the picture for a moment before tucking it back into the folder. "I didn't know until just now that she was really dead."
Gasping with shock and trying to swallow wasn't a good combination. I sucked a spoonful of grits down my throat then coughed and sprayed them all over my lap. I yanked a napkin out of the paper bag, wiped my mouth, and put the food on the coffee table. I dropped onto my knees in front of him and covered his hands with my own. "I'm sorry, Nathan. I really had no idea. I just assumed—"
He cut me off with a wave of his hand. "It's OK. I've believed she was dead for a very long time now. But they never found her body."
I gulped and slowly retreated back onto the sofa. "Is this why you went into police work?"
He forced a smile, but it was full of pain. "I was planning to be an engineer."
"What happened to her?"
He laid his head back and stared at the ceiling. "She was a junior in high school when she disappeared. I was a senior and the captain of the football team. Ashley was a cheerleader. She was supposed to ride with me to a party after a game we won, but our coach took an extra-long time during the end of the game meeting. I couldn't find her when we broke out. I just assumed she had ridden with some of her friends, but she never showed up at the party. The last time anyone saw her, she was putting her gym bag in the back seat of my car in the parking lot."
"So, instead of becoming an engineer, you became a cop," I said.
He nodded. "When I got out of high school, I did my two years at the community college studying criminal justice and enrolled in the police academy."
"So you could protect people?"
He shook his head. "No. So I could find the person who took my sister."
I hugged my knees to my chest and tugged the blanket down over my feet. "And nothing ever turned up?"
He sat forward again and reached for the folder. "Not on my sister's case." He pulled out more photographs. "There have been eleven disappearances very similar to hers in the past thirteen years. All of them happened in different cities between Asheville and Raleigh."
I sat up and looked at the faces of the girls smiling up from their pictures.
I looked up at him. "You think they are related?"
He shrugged. "If not, it's a pretty big
I laughed and accepted it. "Thanks. Come sit down." I walked back to my spot on the couch and pulled my fleece blanket up over my bare legs.
He sat on the loveseat caddy-cornered to the couch and laid a thick file folder on the coffee table. I looked at it and then back at him. My eyes widened and I shook my head. "Oh no," I said. "I'm not doing anymore police work. Do you hear me? I am not going to be your secret, silent partner helping you crack cold-cases and solve murder mysteries."
He laughed and flipped the folder open. "It's not that, I promise."
I relaxed a little and pulled the plastic bowl of steaming grits out of the bag. He had also gotten me some type of sandwich.
Nathan passed me a worn 8x10 photograph of a football player and a cheerleader. The number fifty-four was printed on his jersey and drawn on the girl's cheek in blue paint and glitter. The football player with the tousled blonde hair and crooked smile was a younger, less stern version of Nathan. The girl on his arm held a bouquet of red roses and had a blue ribbon tied in her long, dark hair. She was strikingly beautiful.
She was also dead.
I tapped my finger on the picture and looked up at him. "Who is this girl?"
"My little sister, Ashley."
I deflated a little. "How did she die?"
He took a deep breath and leaned his elbows on his knees. He cast his gaze to the carpet. He had been forewarned about my ability, but that hadn't lessened the shock of it.
After a moment, he sat back against the seat. "She went missing two weeks after this photo was taken after a different football game." He looked at the picture for a moment before tucking it back into the folder. "I didn't know until just now that she was really dead."
Gasping with shock and trying to swallow wasn't a good combination. I sucked a spoonful of grits down my throat then coughed and sprayed them all over my lap. I yanked a napkin out of the paper bag, wiped my mouth, and put the food on the coffee table. I dropped onto my knees in front of him and covered his hands with my own. "I'm sorry, Nathan. I really had no idea. I just assumed—"
He cut me off with a wave of his hand. "It's OK. I've believed she was dead for a very long time now. But they never found her body."
I gulped and slowly retreated back onto the sofa. "Is this why you went into police work?"
He forced a smile, but it was full of pain. "I was planning to be an engineer."
"What happened to her?"
He laid his head back and stared at the ceiling. "She was a junior in high school when she disappeared. I was a senior and the captain of the football team. Ashley was a cheerleader. She was supposed to ride with me to a party after a game we won, but our coach took an extra-long time during the end of the game meeting. I couldn't find her when we broke out. I just assumed she had ridden with some of her friends, but she never showed up at the party. The last time anyone saw her, she was putting her gym bag in the back seat of my car in the parking lot."
"So, instead of becoming an engineer, you became a cop," I said.
He nodded. "When I got out of high school, I did my two years at the community college studying criminal justice and enrolled in the police academy."
"So you could protect people?"
He shook his head. "No. So I could find the person who took my sister."
I hugged my knees to my chest and tugged the blanket down over my feet. "And nothing ever turned up?"
He sat forward again and reached for the folder. "Not on my sister's case." He pulled out more photographs. "There have been eleven disappearances very similar to hers in the past thirteen years. All of them happened in different cities between Asheville and Raleigh."
I sat up and looked at the faces of the girls smiling up from their pictures.
I looked up at him. "You think they are related?"
He shrugged. "If not, it's a pretty big
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