Dead To Me (Cold Case Psychic Book 5) Read online

  “I’m ready to do this. How about you?” Ronan’s voice was calm and rock solid. “All anyone remembers is the boy you were when you caught that Greyhound bus out of town. This is your chance to change their perspective of you. It’s just like when you came to Salem. You got to show your new hometown exactly who Tennyson Grimm really was on the inside. You’re just doing it in reverse now. Show these Union Chapel fuckers the real you, babe. I love the real Tennyson Grimm and so will they.” Ronan’s grin was as bright as the sun. “And if they don’t, fuck them! They aren’t worth our time.”

  Tennyson started to laugh. “Fuck them? I don’t know, Ronan. That could be a long list of people. I don’t think my ass could take the pounding.”

  Ronan snorted. “You’re such a dork.”

  “Yeah, but I’m your dork.” Tennyson batted his eyelashes.

  “Thank Jesus for that!” Ronan laughed again. “Look, we’re gonna pay our respects to your mother, go to your father’s funeral, and do anything around the house that your mother needs done, and then haul ass out of town. We’ve got a puppy that I’m missing like hell and a wedding that’s less than a month away.”

  “Not to mention squatters we need to find a home for.” Ten started to laugh again.

  “Not that I mind so much having Greeley living with us, but my boss? Shit, man, that kind of sucks sometimes. I go to tell you a story about what a dick Fitzgibbon was today and the dick in question is standing behind me. It’s eerie, like he has bat radar or something.”

  Ten nodded. “Here’s where 20 turns left and it becomes Main Street.”

  Ronan put the truck into park at the stop sign since there was no one behind him. He couldn’t see another car for miles. “Never forget that you are the Tennyson Grimm I know and love from Salem, Massachusetts. The Tennyson Grimm you were here in Union Chapel died the day you crossed the county line. You hear me? You hold your head high and show these people the real you. That includes your mother. Don’t hide who you are to conform to these small-minded bigots.”

  Ten nodded, burying his face in the crook of Ronan’s shoulder. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too. Now, I’ve gotta see this one-horse town for myself.” Ronan bounced his eyebrows and threw the truck into gear. He purposely drove slowly, not wanting Tennyson to miss any of the details. All of the buildings were brick faced and joined together in a row, with each building painted a different color. It kind of reminded Ronan of a quaint New England town with shopfronts below and apartments above.

  “Chick’s Hardware is still in business. That store was here when I was a kid.” Ten was pointing to a building with a red brick top and a white storefront. There were sale signs for leaf blowers and bags hanging in the windows.

  “Chick is the family’s name?” Ronan wondered how many times the man had been clucked at in his lifetime.

  “No, Chick is the owner’s first name. Chick Huckabee. God, he was old when I was a kid. He probably farts dust now.” Ten snorted.

  Ronan rolled his eyes, but kept silent. He didn’t want to interrupt Tennyson’s trip down memory lane.

  “Oh, Pop’s Store is gone,” Ten said sadly. “They sold greeting cards, over the counter meds, and candy. The Main Street Café is there instead.”

  Ronan set a hand on Ten’s knee. “I love the bistro tables. Looks like a nice spot to have lunch.”

  “Yeah,” Ten agreed, sounding a bit sad. “Ruth’s Market is still there. It’s the only grocery store in Union Chapel. Though now I assume there are larger chain stores in the area.” Ten pointed out his own window at a cute white-washed brick structure with a neon sign advertising Lotto America and Powerball. “Of course, this is also the spot for local gossip.”

  “Everyone’s gotta eat,” Ronan agreed. He looked up ahead and saw a stop sign that looked like it heralded the end of Main Street. Wait, that couldn’t be it, could it? It was only half a mile or so long. Up ahead, on his side of the street, he could see what looked like a bicycle repair shop and a coffee shop. On Ten’s side of Main Street, he could see a striped barber pole and a hair salon and what he thought looked like a used bookstore. He didn’t think that store looked like it was in business any longer.

  “Wow,” Ten sighed. “This is pretty sad.”

  “You mean how much it’s changed?” Ronan squeezed Ten’s thigh.

  “No.” Ten shook his head. “How much it’s all stayed the same. The barbershop and hair salon were here when I left, same with the coffee shop. The bike store is under new management, but it was here too. Same with the bookstore, but in this day and age of eBooks and Kindles, who really buys many physical books now anyway?” Ten shrugged. “This shop is a perfect example of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution: evolve or die. Union Chapel hasn’t evolved, Ronan.” Sighing, Ten turned away to look back out the window.

  Ronan couldn’t help thinking that a town smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt wouldn’t have believed in Charles Darwin or his crackpot theory in the first place. Its bookstore had paid the price for not evolving with the times. He couldn’t help wondering if he and Tennyson would be the next victims of a town stuck in the past, whose ideas and ideals hadn’t bothered to evolve either.

  5

  Tennyson

  Tennyson’s mind was spinning like a top in a tornado as he gave Ronan directions to his parents’ house. His mother’s house now, he supposed.

  The butterflies in his stomach were in full riot mode by the time Ronan pulled up to the ranch-style home on Locust Street. It was painted the same plain light blue color it had been the last time he’d seen it as his father pulled out of the driveway to take him to the bus station in 2005. The shrubs were neatly trimmed and the welcome mat was out. Tennyson couldn’t imagine he or Ronan were going to be very welcome when they rang the doorbell.

  “Maybe no one’s home,” Ronan said, breaking Ten out of his own head. “There’s only one car here.”

  Tennyson shook his head. “No, she’s home.” He pointed to the light blue, late model Toyota sedan in the driveway. They only ever had one car. My father drove her everywhere.”

  Ronan frowned. “Does she know how to drive? Christ, if she doesn’t, it’s gonna suck teaching her how before we go back home.”

  “I’m not sure.” Ten shrugged. “If not, she’s gonna need to learn damn fast. I don’t think Ruth’s Market has a home delivery service like the supermarkets back home do.”

  Ronan snorted. “Makes me miss Boston traffic already.”

  “Me too.” Ten nodded. “Come on, City Slicker. Time to make a house call.”

  “You sure about this?” Ronan cupped Tennyson’s face in his big hand.

  “No, but I’m sure that you’ve got my back.” Ten didn’t want to get out of the truck. He wanted Ronan to turn it back around and hightail it out of Union Chapel as quickly as he could. If they drove like a bat out of hell, they could catch a dinnertime flight out of Kansas City and be back home in their bed by midnight.

  “Damn straight I do.” Ronan kissed him on the lips.

  Tennyson giggled like a schoolgirl. “That’s the first time a boy has ever kissed me in my driveway.”

  “Stick around, there’s a lot of things we’re gonna do in Kansas you’ve never done before, Nostradamus.” Ronan dropped a sexy wink. “Don’t move.” He hopped out of the truck.

  Ten watched in awe as Ronan walked around to his side of the truck and opened the door for him like he was a prince. Ronan did this for him a lot when they were back home, but he couldn’t help wondering if this was for show now. Maybe Ronan’s plans for him in Kansas might be worth sticking around to see them come to fruition.

  Small towns in the Midwest were the same as small towns in the Northeast. Everyone was up in everyone else’s business. This was a strange truck parked in front of the Grimm’s house. He knew everyone that was home had their faces pressed against their front room windows and were on the phone with everyone else who wasn’t home. Hell, if this community
had evolved with the iPhone revolution like the rest of the country, his mother’s neighbors were snapping pictures like private detectives and sharing them across town at the speed of Verizon.

  “Sir,” Ronan said as he opened the door with a flourish of his arm.

  “You know we’re being watched and probably filmed, right?” Tennyson couldn’t help feeling smug satisfaction over that small fact.

  “Of course I do. I’ve seen curtains twitching up and down the street as we drove in. It’s creepy, huh?” The look on Ronan’s face was grim.

  Ten nodded and looked up at the white front door. It looked innocuous sitting there like it always had, but his stomach was tied in knots nonetheless.

  “It’s just a front door.” Ronan picked up his hand. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Ten took the first step toward the door and found the second and third ones were easier to take especially with Ronan at his side and holding his hand. When they reached the door, Ten didn’t hesitate. With a shaking hand, he reached out and rang the bell.

  He looked over at Ronan as they waited for Kaye Grimm to answer. It seemed to be taking longer than it should for her to come to the door. Maybe she was nervous too. Or maybe she knew it was him and wasn’t going to open the door for her disowned son and his gay lover.

  Ronan was reaching out to ring the bell for the second time when the door opened. A well-put-together, older woman answered the door. “May I help you?” The glint in her sharp, dark eyes indicated she knew full well who was standing on her doorstep.

  “Hello, Kaye. It’s Tennyson. This is my fiancé, Detective Ronan O’Mara, but you already know that. David sent us here.” Tennyson couldn’t keep the self-satisfied smirk off his face at throwing David’s visit in her face.

  “David sent you here? That’s impossible. David is dead.” She turned her nose up at her son and didn’t bother to look Ronan’s way at all.

  “I’m a psychic medium, remember? He visited me after he passed, asking me to come out here.”

  “I don’t believe a word you’re saying, you charlatan!” Kaye’s voice was full of anger.

  “Mrs. Grimm, I am so sorry for the loss of your husband. Perhaps it would be better if we held this discussion inside the house so that your neighbors don’t hear every word?” Ronan hooked his thumb over his shoulder to the gathering throng of neighbors milling around the end of the driveway with curious looks on their faces.

  Kaye Grimm’s eyes seemed to search Ronan up and down as if she were looking for some kind of fault in him.

  “I assure you I’m clean and housebroken, ma’am,” Ronan offered with a grin.

  “Your kind of contamination is the kind you can’t see from the outside, now is it, Mr. O’Mara?” Her shrewd eyes narrowed to near slits like an owl.

  Tennyson opened his mouth to defend Ronan, but stopped short of speaking when his fiancé squeezed his hand.

  “Ten, why don’t you tell Kaye about David’s visit the other night when we were sleeping.”

  “Sure thing, honey!” Tennyson practically yelled. He knew the pet name would have the neighbors drooling.

  “In the name of all that’s holy, get inside. Both of you.” Kaye pulled the door back wide enough for both of them to walk into the house.

  “Thank you, ma’am.” Ronan smiled, but it didn’t reach his cold blue eyes.

  Tennyson tried hard not to gasp out loud when he saw that nothing much had really changed in the house since the last time he’d been inside. He was standing near the small tidy kitchen which still had the same dark wood cabinets he grew up with. The same white farmers sink was still directly across from him. The only difference he could see was that the fridge and stove were new, stainless-steel models.

  “You can both sit at the table,” Kaye said from behind them.

  Ten startled at the sound of her voice and moved toward the small table on the other side of the kitchen cabinets. It was the same round table for four he sat at when he came out to his parents all of those years ago. He deliberately sat in the “guest” chair rather than the one that had always been his own during meals and Bible study. He couldn’t help but notice his father’s well-worn Bible was sitting at David’s usual place at the table.

  “Why are you here, Tennyson? And why did you bring this…” Kaye paused, she seemed to be searching for the right word to use. “This man here with you? Haven’t you disgraced this family enough already?” She sat at the table and folded her arms in front of her.

  Instead of answering his mother right away, Ten took a moment to study her. In her early fifties now, Kaye Grimm certainly looked her age. She had age lines around her eyes and lips, and her hair color definitely came from a bottle. Never a drinker or a smoker, Ten would guess that she looked her age due to guilt. It could do awful things to a person over the years.

  Doing the one thing he swore he wouldn’t do without his parents’ permission, he read his mother. She was afraid of him. That was interesting. She wasn’t afraid that he would do her physical harm. Oh no, the harm he could do her reputation here in Union Chapel was something she was terrified of. She also saw Ronan as a wildcard. Knowing he had a good reputation back in the land of the Yankees, she knew she had to watch her step where he was concerned.

  “Yes, Kaye, Ronan does have a stellar reputation with the Cold Case Unit of the Boston Police Department.” He shut his mouth and waited for her reaction.

  Her dark eyes popped open in shock before a mask of hate took over her features. “How dare you bring the devil’s gift into my home like that?”

  “I’m rather well thought of in the BPD as well. Aren’t you proud of me, Mom?” Ten deliberately drawled out that last word just to goad her a bit. “This gay midwestern psychic making it big in Boston. Who would have known, huh?”

  Kaye’s nostrils flared, but she stayed silent, glaring at her son.

  Ten exchanged a wordless glance with Ronan. He knew Ronan was on his side no matter how he chose to play this situation with his mother. Rather than be a dick here, he just decided to go with just the facts, a la Joe Friday. “I was sound asleep in our bed the other night when a spirit woke me up. That’s been happening to me since I was thirteen years old. You never knew it was happening, because I never told you about those visitations. You always said you could sense the devil in other people, so I guess the devil isn’t in this gift, because I had it for four years before I even told you and Dad about it.” Ten shrugged.

  Kaye gasped. Her mouth fell open and stayed that way.

  “The Bible is just a book, Mom. Mortal men wrote it. I know you and Dad based your entire life around it, but you only chose to follow certain parts of it. We ate bacon for breakfast three or four times a week. We ate seafood too. Yeah, you followed the part about men not laying with other men and psychics being off the table too, but you forgot the most important words in the whole book.” Ten offered Ronan a smile.

  “Oh, and what would those words be?” Sarcasm tinged Kaye’s voice.

  “Love one another as I love you,” Tennyson said simply. “That was Jesus’ one commandment. You broke it. So did Dad. I forgive you both. I did a long time ago.”

  Kaye’s face turned beat-red. Her hands balled into fists on the table. “How dare you come into my home after I barred you from ever coming back here and preach to me like this? I don’t need your forgiveness!” She was shouting now. Spittle flew from her lips to land on the table in front of her.

  “You might not, but Dad did.” Ten shrugged. He wanted those words to sink in with his mother. After listening to his father say they’d watched his and Ronan’s reality show about the Frye case, he had no doubt they’d discussed him and if they should reach out to him at some point. “He said he had a massive heart attack in his sleep and that you were going to need help planning his funeral and the rest of your life without him. He begged me to come here and help you out, so here we are.”

  “You’re lying!” Kaye’s dark eyes blazed with rage.

/>   “Why, Kaye?” Ronan asked. His voice was cool and controlled. No hint of his emotions played over his face. “Tennyson and I have lives of our own back in Boston. We bought a house a few months back. I’m still recovering from being shot in the chest in August. We have a four-month-old puppy we miss more than our next breaths and Monday is supposed to be my first day back at work in the Cold Case Squad. Not to mention that Ten had a booked schedule full of readings with clients this week that his other partners in the business are now having to take on or reschedule. We don’t follow your lives here in Kansas. Unless David had visited us the other night, we would never have known he’d passed on.”

  “Dad was wearing grey pajamas pinstriped with red and dark blue piping. He said the reason for his heart attack was too much bacon and not enough salad. He also said you both watched our reality show and followed our careers in the months after that show aired. You both knew Ronan had been shot.” Ten gave Ronan a knowing look. He wasn’t ashamed to use his gift to prove to his mother that he was, in fact, telling the truth about David’s visit. “You’re not angry that Ronan and I are here, Kaye. You’re terrified that we’re going to do or say something that’s going to bring your perfectly orchestrated life crumbling down around you.”

  Kaye’s mouth dropped open. Only a squeak came out.

  Tennyson pushed on, “You didn’t tell anyone the real reason why I ended up on that Greyhound bus. You told them all that leaving Union Chapel was my idea; that I had my sights set on something bigger than this piss-ant town. They all believed you because you fanned the gossip with stories about me always having been too big for my britches and lies about me having been corrupted by the people I’d met; that they’d turned me gay. That these friends infected me with the devil and that’s where I got my psychic abilities from. Now, you’re just plain scared that I’m going to blow up your perfectly crafted fairy tale and everyone will know you for the liar that you are.” He folded his arms in front of him on the table and just waited for his mother’s response.