Already Gone (A Laura Frost FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1) by Blake Pierce (e book reader TXT) 📕

could reach. She was so small. Just like Lacey. Laurablinked back unexpected tears at the thought of her daughter. Something aboutAmy’s hand in hers brought a wrench to her heart. Maybe it was because she’dbeen so afraid for her, because she’d fought so hard to save her life. They hada bond now that was new and strange, and Amy’s immediate and natural affectiononly made it seem all the more real.

“Yeah. I was really scared, and then youcame and said it would be all right.” Amy leaned forward a little, shuffling tothe edge of the bed. “And now I saw my mom and dad again! And the bad man’sgone. And the other man said you made the bad man go away.”

Laura could only smile. She could seethat the girl was a born chatterbox. But the vision she had been waiting forwasn’t manifesting, not even at the touch of her hand. “I did,” she said. “Youdon’t have to be afraid of the bad man anymore.”

I think, she addedmentally. Because she really couldn’t be sure. Not when the vision stubbornlyrefused to come.

Laura tried to figure out how she couldforce it. There was nothing now. Not even that hovering darkness. Maybe shereally had just made it all up, born out of a frantic mind. It had felt veryreal at the time. It had felt like a vision that couldn’t get through. Butmaybe she was wrong.

“I thought I was going to go away likeGrandma did,” Amy said, her voice quiet and low. “Until I saw you.”

Laura bit her lip, her heart breakingall over again. “Your grandma went away? Where’d she go, to heaven?”

“Yeah.” Amy paused, looking down at thesheets of the bed. “It didn’t feel like I was going to go to heaven. It feltbad. It hurt. And I was really scared about going away.”

Laura squeezed her hand silently. Therewasn’t much else she could say. Her heart ached that Amy would know that kindof feeling. That she had come face to face with her own mortality at such ayoung age.

“But then you came,” Amy said, lookingup and into her face. “I knew I was going to go away. I knew it. But youstopped that from happening. You changed it even though I knew.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Laura said,putting on a brave face for her. “To make sure that doesn’t have to happen toyou.” Inside, she was mulling over those words. Thinking about destiny, eventhough Amy was too young to know a word like that. That was what she was talkingabout. The ability to change destiny. Was that what Laura was doing?

“You’re like a superhero,” Amy saidearnestly. “Do you take care of bad men all the time?”

“Yes, I do,” Laura smiled, patting Amy’shand. She thought about sitting in bed with Lacey at nighttime, reading her astory. That kid always had more questions than Laura had answers.

Laura pushed aside the thoughts of herdaughter and the pain that came with them with impatience. Sitting here, tryingto force a premonition… this was useless. There was no point in trying anylonger. She had done what she had to make the optimal conditions for a vision.She’d rested a short while, taken painkillers for the very worst of theheadache, caffeinated herself. She’d cleared the room to keep all those peoplefrom clouding the vision, causing confusion and interference. But nothing hadhappened.

“There are lots of people just like me.You see this badge?” she said, wanting to at least put Amy’s mind at easebefore she left.

Amy peered forward at the FBI lettersstitched into the front of Laura’s jacket. “Yeah?”

“That means I’m from the FBI. It’s ourjob to make sure little girls like you are safe,” Laura said. “So, if you eversee the bad man again, or you ever get scared, you can ask your mommy to callthe FBI or the police, and someone will come help you. And if you’re on yourown, you just dial nine-one-one. Got that?”

“Yeah, I knew that before,” Amy said,sounding a little uninterested in the process. “But you’re special. You’re myguardian angel. Mom said I had one but I didn’t know what you looked likebefore.”

Laura laughed. She pulled away from Amy’shand, sensing that she no longer needed quite so much comfort. “I don’t knowabout that. But I’m happy that you’re okay now.”

“Will you come visit me again?” Amyasked, propping herself up on one hand and tilting her head to one side. Herhair swung down over her shoulder, her eyes getting even bigger and wider. “Pleeeeease?”

Laura couldn’t help but laugh again. Thegirl was cute, and Laura had a feeling she was used to getting her own wayalready. Who could say no to big eyes like that? The thought sent a twinge ofregret through her, of pain about her own daughter. She hadn’t see Lacey’s bigeyes for so long. “Well, that’s up to your mom and dad,” Laura said. “Theymight not want me to visit.”

“I’ll ask them,” Amy said seriously.Someone had propped a small, fluffy rabbit toy on the bedside table. Amyreached over and picked it up, swinging it by its floppy ears. “I need myguardian angel to look after me. And you can come back and see all of my toys.”

Laura’s smile was wan this time, hereyes following the rabbit so that she didn’t have to answer right away. It wasa nice thought, but it wasn’t reality. How could it be? Laura wasn’t anyone’sguardian angel. She wasn’t good with kids. She’d failed as a mom, failedcompletely. She didn’t even know what her daughter liked to eat anymore. Laceywas growing so fast, and Laura wasn’t there. She’d allowed Lacey’s father toget the upper hand, to tear her away from Laura.

No, she wasn’t likely to be allowed tosee Amy again. There was no reason for her to. As much as Laura had found herheart touched by Amy, she was an FBI agent. She had no connection to Amy’sfamily.

Then again, Laura had no doubt that the governorwould give Amy whatever she wanted. And given that he had promised to overseeLaura’s career progression, it was possible, just slightly, that their pathswould cross again. Maybe they