The Fire and the Veil (Veronica Barry Book 2) by Sophia Martin Page A

Veronica wished she didn’t have to tell her the rest, but it would be terrible to withhold the whole story, if it did turn out to be Angie in the middle of it. They had to stop her from ever going out with that crowd. Those kids were bad news—daredevils who were going to get somebody killed, if the kind of stunt they had pulled in Veronica’s dream was any indication.
    “Well, they didn’t want to have to walk to a bridge, and the kid’s place was on the other side of the freeway. So they decided to run across the freeway.”
    “No way,” Melanie gasped.
    “Yes way,” Veronica said. “And the girl I was… riding in—she fell and hurt her knee, so she couldn’t really run. In fact she fell again as she was crossing the freeway. A car nearly hit her, but one of the other girls pulled her out of the way, into the midsection.”
    “Oh my god!” Melanie cried. “That’s terrible. She could have been killed.”
    Veronica nodded. “I think what scared me the most, though, is that for a moment, she wanted to die. She was just going to give up and let the car hit her.”
    “No!”
    Veronica nodded.
    “Oh my god,” Melanie said again. “What if it’s Angie? You know, the trauma she went through—oh, god, what if it’s eating away at her? Making her suicidal?”
    Veronica didn’t know what to say. She knew Melanie was getting herself worked up, and unless Veronica could find a way to defuse her, she’d get hysterical. But on the other hand, what if it was Angie? Shouldn’t they take the dream seriously and find a way to prevent it from ever happening?
    “Have you thought about setting up an appointment with a therapist?” Veronica asked.
    That stopped Melanie short. She took a breath. “No,” she said. “I thought if I… I thought I could handle things. You know, if I was here for her…”
    Veronica took Melanie’s hand. “Mellie, you’re the best mom I know,” she said. “And I think you’re doing an amazing job, dealing with what happened, and being there for Ange. But it can’t hurt to have a professional check in with her. Do you think she’d be upset?”
    Melanie sighed and looked towards the stairs. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll try to talk to her about it.”
    “Yeah, just see what she says. If she’s okay with it, I know a couple of good child psychologists, who’ve worked with us at the school. I’ll give you their numbers. It might be a good idea, for someone from the outside to evaluate how Angie’s doing.”
    Melanie nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. If you know someone good… I mean, there’s nothing worse than a bad therapist.”
    “Totally. But there’s one in particular, she was the psychologist on staff when I first started. I hope she has openings. You’d love her.”
    “Okay,” Melanie said. “Okay. I’ll talk to Angie about it.”
    “Good,” Veronica said, hoping that this was the right move. She didn’t want Angie to feel like they were all over her business, but she also didn’t want to let things go, considering how bad it could get. With any luck, Angie would agree to be seen, and then the psychologist would give her a clean bill of health, and they could all stop worrying about Veronica’s dreams.

Chapter 6
    Veronica was home, tidying up in anticipation of Daniel coming over to pick her and Harry up, when her cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number. She considered letting it go to voicemail, but she was up to date on her bills so far this month, so she answered it instead.
    “Hello?”
    “Veronica?” it was a woman’s voice. She couldn’t place it at first.
    “Yes.”
    “This is Khalilah Jadeed.”
    “Oh. Um. Hi Khalilah.” What on earth was she calling for?
    “Hi. Look. I, uh… I was wondering if you’d meet with me.”
    Veronica frowned at the wall. “You were?”
    “Yes. Are you available tomorrow? After school?”
    Khalilah also worked as a French teacher—it was how they met. She taught at Saint Patrick’s, the