Mind Games by M.J. Labeff Page A

which told him she had some explaining to do.
    “Derrick, my back was turned to the door and I heard someone say, ‘Sparrow, remember me?’ She didn’t respond when I asked ‘Who’s there?’ I freaked out and automatically started to defend myself. That’s when I saw her.”
    “Who?” He placed his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her face, searching for a logical answer. No one was in the room now and no one had run out of it when he busted in.
    “The girl. She was dripping wet, standing right there in torn, faded jeans and a T-shirt.” She pointed.
    Derrick walked over to the spot on the floor Sparrow pointed at and knelt down to touch it. The matted, dark carpet was soaked. He rubbed his thumb along his moist fingers and looked up at her. She had told him truth, but her wide eyes conveyed the same shock running through his system. He didn’t believe in ghosts, but where was the person who’d broken into her house?
     

Chapter 7
     
    Sparrow had had one hell of a morning, and this last vision made it even harder to keep it together. Her life was unraveling around her in slow motion, taking her sanity bit by bit. Damn, she didn’t want him to see her like this. She needed time alone to figure out what was going on.
    She followed Derrick through the house while he searched for signs of an intruder he wouldn’t find. She wrapped her hand around his arm. “Stop. She’s gone.”
    He shook free from her grasp. “Did you see her leave? When I came in, you were stabbing at the air with a pair of scissors.” He continued from one room to the other.
    How could she explain the vision to Derrick? The girl in her house was the same girl she’d seen in the ocean. And that girl was dead. She couldn’t tell him. He’d take her to the hospital for a psychological evaluation, and that scared her more than the dead girl haunting her.
    “This doesn’t make sense. If someone was here, why didn’t she take anything? Why did she ask you if you remembered her? Did you?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “What do you mean you don’t know? Did you recognize her or not?” He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a second. He dragged his hand through his hair.
    “She looked familiar, but Derrick, honestly, I don’t know. It all happened so fast, and she scared me.”
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m worried about you. I’m certain I would have run right into this girl if she got nervous and ran out. I heard you scream, so either she’s still in the house, or she’s invisible. I think you should go to the hospital and get checked out. Maybe you need an evaluation.”
    Hospital? Evaluation? She knew it. He didn’t have to complete his sentence. He couldn’t force her to have a psychological evaluation. How could she tell him about the visions now?
    “No.” She folded her arms across her chest, meeting his eyes. “Absolutely not. There’s nothing wrong with me.”
    “This morning you told me you heard someone calling your name, and you don’t remember leaving your house. Now you’re telling me someone was in your house and asked if you remembered them. I’m sorry, but I can’t help but wonder if you’re under too much stress. This volunteer work can get to a person. Maybe you’re getting too attached to the kids you see.” His chest inflated, and he placed his hands over her shoulders. She didn’t appreciate his protective attitude. She could handle working with those beat-down kids just like he did.
    She laughed. “Me? What about you? You spend hours driving the RV in some of the worst areas of the city helping homeless runaways and barely take a salary for yourself from the real patients you see.”
    A shadow darkened his normally pleasant eyes and his lids lowered. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and took a step back. She’d struck a nerve with him.
    “All my patients are real. All of them. Not just the ones that can afford to pay me. As for my salary, I