After we split up, I sat briefly in my minivan, searching for a psychic hit that wasn''t there. Despite the many abilities I''d been given, a psychic connection to my own kids was not one of them.


    For now, I was just a mom with a missing daughter.


    I had just put the vehicle into gear, mentally going through a list of her friends and where they lived, when my cell phone rang. I gasped and swerved a little and reached for my cell.


    Kingsley Fulcrum.


    Shit.


    I switched on my Bluetooth. "Hey."


    "Sam! I just got your text. Have you found her?"


    I had indeed sent him a text, but now I regretted doing so. Kingsley Fulcrum was the last person I wanted to think about now.


    "Not yet," I said, as I turned right onto Commonwealth. My sister lived closer to downtown than I did. People were everywhere. I scanned the streets.


    "I''m coming out now. Where are you?"


    "No," I said. "Don''t come."


    "What - "


    "I sent you that text an hour ago. Where were you?"


    He paused only briefly, but tellingly. "I was with a client."


    "I''m sure you were, big guy. And don''t worry, we''ve got it handled."


    "Sam - wait! Are you saying you don''t want my help?"


    "That''s what I''m saying," I said.


    "Sam - "


    But I had already clicked off.


    I sat back and gripped the wheel and wound slowly through downtown Fullerton, knowing that I could have used Kingsley''s help, and knowing that I was allowing the hurt in my own heart to possibly get in the way of such help.


    But I just couldn''t see him. Or talk to him.


    Not now. Perhaps not ever.