“My daughter is going to have a baby; she doesn’t know there is a complication. Please you have to tell her.” the older man cried out, standing next to a young woman in her mid 20’s.

Susan approached the very pregnant woman reluctantly. “Excuse me ma’am, you don’t know me but I have something that I have to say to you.” Susan advised the young lady.

Holding on to the carts handle Amy was in fight or flight mode, wondering if the woman before her had all her marbles. “I really need to get going.” Was all she could muster as she started to push the cart away in the opposite direction.

Susan was used to this, in her 28 years of life 25 of them she had dealt with spirits and their demand to speak with their living loved ones. “Ma’am I know it sounds crazy but I am a medium and your father is asking me to give you a message, his name is Steven right?”

Hearing his name stopped Amy in her tracks. “Yes, that’s right. How did you know?”

“He told me, He has a scar on his right leg from a boating accident he’s telling me to tell you. It’s his way of validating me.” Susan waited for the inevitable waterworks that always happened during the validation process, to her surprise there were none.

“Yeah that’s right. So let’s say I believe you, what does the jackass want?”

It was not the reaction Susan was expecting. Steven hung his head next to his daughter. “What did you do?” Susan directed her words to Steven looking beyond Amy. “Ok. Amy right? He says he’s sorry for his drunkenness and I’m getting he was a distant father right?”

Amy scoffed. “Yeah that’s the understatement of the year. A drunk and a philandering jackass, do you know how much you hurt mom?” Amy yelled looking all around her.

“Honey, he’s right next to you, you don t have to yell.” Susan patted her shoulder as a crowd gathered around them. “No matter what he did in life he wants to help you now, please let me hear him out.” Susan fell silent for a moment. “Ok, he says he deserves your anger and understands it. He’s not asking you to forgive him, but he hopes someday you will. He has a warning for you though, about your baby you’re carrying. He says there is a problem that needs to be addressed right away. Please check it out he says, you’re going to deliver in three weeks. “

Susan waited for a response receiving nothing but gaping mouths and stares from other shoppers and Amy. “Anything else Steven?” she asked the spirit. “Uh huh, uh huh. “ She turned back to Amy’s waiting eyes. “He says tell Mary he wished he could have been a better husband and tell Peter he’s happy you married him, he says Peter’s a good man and also if you’ll let him he’d like to look over your son when he’s born providing you heed his warning today, if not he’ll watch over him on the other side.”

The crowd gasped as Amy finally broke down in tears. “Tell him I’m sorry for letting him die alone and not going to his funeral.” A tearful Amy said, holding her head in her hands.

“Tell him yourself, he’s listening.” Susan hugged her tightly and started to walk away to claps from the crowd. To her amazement no one rushed her for readings for themselves. Instead the crowd surrounded Amy and Susan slipped out of the store unnoticed for the first time in a long time cursing that she forgot to get what she came in for in the first place.

Susan lay across her couch just having ordered a pizza delivery. She mindlessly channel flipped in a semi rapid pace. A somewhat familiar face flashed across the screen. Could it be? Nah, she thought, but there was something familiar about him. The TV news camera gave a close up of the FBI agent giving a press conference and the people behind him. Susan hit pause on the DVR remote. It has to be him! She noticed the ring he was wearing. Only a few remained in existence remained and the one that her father wore was locked safely away in the fire safe she kept in the closet of the home she inherited from her parents.

She remembered the last time she saw him. She was seven years old when her cousin Lucian Tepes had arrived from England having been thrown out of another boarding school. He was 16 and the first person beside herself that she knew of to have the gift. She remembered his kindness to her, playing with her and keeping her little secrets from her parents. Tears started to flow down her cheeks as she recalled that horrible day her father made him leave, packing him away and sending him to a boarding school out west. Lucian, like her parents had been born in Romania and delighted in telling her folk stories and fables. Now to see him on the television and especially wearing the family ring brought a hope to her. She had no other family and wasn’t sure he was even still alive.

The headline new report was out of Nevada, some high profile murder of some Hollywood celebrity made national news. David Dwight was the movie stars name and it was a start to find Lucian.

Devouring her delivered pizza and soda she sat at her computer scrolling through various articles on David Dwight. The tale was sordid enough, but she was looking for behind the scenes information on her possible cousin. Two hours passed absently as her eyes grew tired from reading, ready to call it a night she found another article by a reporter who commented on the Dwight’s story and the connection of the same three private investigator’s who were also involved in another high profile case out of Phoenix. The article went on to give the names of the ex fiancé of the Phoenix serial killer as Danielle Labouleaux and two former FBI agents Aiden Stone and Lucius Johnson.

Could he have changed his name? She wondered to herself. The reporter had listed a follow me on Twitter address at the bottom of the article. She detested social media sites but set up a Twitter account immediately and posted a message to the reporter James Madison with a true crimes rag called Deadly Sins.

Sun rose early the next day as Susan made herself a cup of coffee in her nifty Keurig machine she received as a gift from a regular client, who at least once a month requested a reading. Wandering over to her computer she wondered if this James Madison had responded to her request for more information on the ex FBI agent Lucius Johnson. There was. Her skin prickled with excitement as she read the response from James.

Susan, please call me at the number listed below, I would like to speak to you in person please.

Red flags went off in her mind but she really wanted to find out if this ex FBI agent was her cousin. She dialed the number into her cell phone.

“Madison.” The voice on the other end sounded cold.

“Um, James Madison?”

“Yep you got him.”

Susan inhaled sharply. “I’m Susan Tepes; I sent you a message last night on Twitter? You asked me to call in person.”

“Ah, yes! Thank you so much for calling me back!” He softening his tone, he sounded to her to be in his mid thirties.

“Like I asked you last night, I am looking for a family member of mine that I haven’t seen since I was a child, I have a feeling it might be the man you mentioned in your article, Lucius Johnson. Do you have any information on him or how I may contact him?” silence befell the other line. “Hello?”

“I’m here, I can help you. In return maybe you can help me. There is a woman he is rumored to be in business with that I have been trying to contact for a long time. Maybe you can help me get information on how I can get in touch with her.”

“Um, I don’t even know if this Lucius Johnson is my relation Mr. Madison. I surely don’t want to make promises.” Susan said ignoring her internal warning signals.

“Well yeah, of course. Sorry to get ahead of myself, but if it is the same person will you help me?”

“Why aren’t you able to contact her yourself?”

“Ms. Tepes, she is a little allusive is all, but I simply want to see if she will give me an exclusive interview, her fiancé was the serial killer out of Phoenix. Dr. Gerard Wolfe. Do you remember the story? It was in all the national media outlets. Biggest story since the D.C sniper. ” Madison said almost in hushed tones.

She tried to shake off increasing uneasiness, but she really wanted the information on her possible cousin. Against her better judgment she agreed. “Ok, if it’s him I’ll see if I can get some information on this woman. What’s her name?”

James voice broke with excitement. “Danielle Labouleaux, pronounced la boo low.” He told her as he fingered a candid photo of Danielle as she was entering into a clothing store in Hawaii.

Susan wrote down the name. “Can you tell me anything on this Lucius Johnson?” she asked dryly.

“I can do better than that; I’ve got a phone number for him in Atlanta. He was Special Agent in Charge of the murder case that brought down a human trafficking ring and the serial killer Dr. Wolfe. He inexplicably left the bureau after that for some reason. It’s strange if anything he should have been promoted for it. The other agent that worked under him Aiden Stone also left the FBI at the same time and they both seem to be connected to this Danielle Labouleaux now. Like I said she was the Dr.’s fiancée. I am just looking for a small interview with her about the case. I’m writing a book on notorious serial killers.”

She let Madison talk himself out. If it was true that Lucian was now Lucius, then she wondered if he was able to still use his gift. She could care less about this Labouleaux woman or getting James his interview. “If you have his number and you think they are connected why didn’t you call him yourself?”

Madison hesitated; Susan figured he was formulating a lie. “I did, he told me he doesn’t speak to reporters and if I called the number again he would have his buddies in the IRS audit me every year for the rest of my life and from what I know of him he probably could. He also said he didn’t know Danielle Labouleaux personally outside his scope as an FBI agent and had no way of getting a hold of her anymore, I figure he’s just protecting her.”

“Sounds reasonable, why are you so adamant in speaking with her if she doesn’t want to be found?” Susan wasn’t convinced of Madison’s motives.

“I don’t want to pressure her or hound her I swear, it’s strictly for my book and if I just had five minutes to talk with her I could convince her of that, there are a lot of people who think she may also have been involved, she could tell her side of the story.”

She resigned herself knowing the only way she was going to get anywhere was to agree to help him. “Can you give me the number now?” Hastily writing down the number she promised to call James after learning if her Lucian was this Lucius Johnson.

“Lucius’ cellphone.” The female voice announced on the other end.

Susan cleared her throat. “Ahem, um, excuse me I’m looking for a Lucius Johnson? I was given this number.”

“Oh, sorry he left his cell phone here, can I tell him who called please?” the female voice requested.

“He may not remember me, to be honest I’m not sure if he’s the one I’m looking for, I may be his cousin Susan…….”

“Susan Tepes?”

“H..How did you know?”

“I’m Danielle Labouleaux, an old friend of Luc's from back in the day. He was my dad's FBI partner. He talked about you all the time!”

Susan’s hands shook as she tried to gain composure. “Ms. Labouleaux, you're friends with Lucian?”

“Call me Danny and yeah we way back. He’s going to freak when he finds out you found him!” Danny laughed. “How did you find him may I ask?”

Susan’s mouth went dry, the same red flags popped up in her head, the last thing she wanted to tell this Danny is that some reporter was looking for her about her ex-fiancé. “I saw him in the background on a news cast. I wasn’t sure it was him, but I saw the ring.”

“Ah, yeah the family Order of the Dragon ring right?” Danny inquired.

“Um, yeah that’s the one! Anyway I checked online and found an article calling him Lucius Johnson so I took a chance and looked him up. I hope he won’t mind.” Susan hoped to deflect anymore questions as to how she got the number.

“Girl, he’ll be thrilled!” Danny exclaimed.

“Can I leave a number for him?”

“No problem! Hang on.” Susan heard muffled yelling “Aiden get me a pen.” She then heard in a deep male voice in the background. “Come and get it from me Nani!” Susan smiled at the playful nature in the man’s voice. “Boy, it ain’t a quarter past foolish! I’m on the phone, just give me the pen!” she heard the man’s now garbled speech as if he was walking away. Danny answered the garbled question. “It’s Luc’s cell phone he left it by mistake, geez you’re as nosy as a woman!” Danny finally turned her attention back to Susan. “Sorry about that, go ahead with the number.”

Pleasantries over with Susan hung up from Danny with excitement and dread. She had talked to the elusive Danielle Labouleaux that James Madison would kill to speak with. She dug into her computer Googling anything and everything she could on Dr. Gerard Wolfe. What she read shook her to her core. She felt an immediate need to protect this Danny from Madison. She resolved to make up a lie and tell him that Lucius Johnson was not her cousin.