Chapter Three

The steeply winding trail was really no match for her that day. Only two miles into the hike, Guin noticed she’d lost her running partner. She hit a plateau and paused to let him catch up, struck a yoga pose, twisted right, then left.

It was a spectacular day for a much needed therapeutic run; tepid weather, relatively quiet in these parts of the Hollywood Hills near the reservoir. She lunged into a slow squat, felt every ounce of the burn, turned to the other side.

“What the hell…?” Terence closed a sizeable gap in their paces, dragging up the trail. Sweat had formed up the center of his shirt like a widening spine, seeping out to greet his armpits in a sweaty T. Breathing hard, he reached down and brushed the red dust off his clean Nikes. “Hello? Did I know we were racing? What are you—training for a marathon?”

“Sorry, I’ve got a lot on my mind today.” She shook her arms out, wrapped one around her opposite shoulder and leaned into it for a good stretch. “It’s beautiful out here, huh?”

Terence bent at the waist as if he would puke. He rested the heels of his hands on his thighs. He closed his eyes. “Yeah, I love it here.” Then he spat out his correction, “Well, I love it here when I’m not running with you.”

“I’ll try to go easier on you.” Guin’s lips twitched into a little smile. She gazed around the vast openness. The Hollywood sign was visible up ahead, a quiet residential area just below. “I’ve always thought this was a groovy neighborhood. Big money, old names.”

“Très Hollywood, baby.” Terence stood, spiraled his index finger in the air, as if deciding where he wanted his pointer to land. He aimed it at a faded pink and yellow wall a good distance ahead of them. “There, Madonna’s old estate. To your far right and back a few, it’s Britney’s post K-Fed crash-pad. Kevin Costner has a lovely Spanish style around the block there, and Denzel’s layout only a few houses down. Paradise.”

“Stalk much? Shall I put Kevin and Denzel on alert?” She smiled at her best friend. She had a feeling his information was far more reliable than any Map of the Stars. He looked offended. She raised her hands defensively. “It’s a little creepy, that’s all I’m saying.”

He surveyed the steep grade, the houses, the well-worn trails and beautiful homes. “Yeah, if it wasn’t for an occasional dead body rolling down the canyon, this place would be almost perfect.”

“I got called to one of those,” they said in unison, grinned, and then, “Me too.” The pair pointed at each other. “Jinx.”

She dropped into a right lunge and looked ready to go again.

“Seriously though, what’s on your mind?” Terence stretched his back. He was obviously in no hurry. “This Beth thing? Again?”

Guin shot him a look. “Yeah, well. I like her, it’s just that she’s a little—”

“Bitchy?” he assisted. “High maintenance? Prima donna? Sociopathic…?”

“Whoa, Tex. Hold up.” She couldn’t help but softly chuckle. “She is some of those things.”

“Some?” Terence’s eyes were wide as saucers. “Understatement of the year.”

Guin pursed her lips, didn’t disagree. She turned thoughtful. “Then there’s Cheryl.”

“Married Cheryl. Yes, I know the one.” He nodded eagerly, pointedly ignoring the look Guin gave him. He turned on his best storytelling narrative. “Married Cheryl, with a husband, and little children, and a house, probably a family pet…correct?”

Guin openly stared him down.

He stepped up behind her, touched the small of her back, spoke confidentially as other hikers passed by them. “If you ask me, it seems like we’re developing a little pattern here.”

“I don’t recall asking you.” Guin broke away, snatched up a few rocks, tossed them into the reservoir.

He ignored her remark, continued his lecture. “Guin, all the women you date are not available. Except for sex.”

She wanted to tell him he was wrong. “Yeah, well. That way I don’t have to get too involved.”

Terence shook his head. “That’s what your head says, but your heart seems to be having a little trouble dealing with that theory. If you ask me.”

“And again, I did not.” She sighed, felt tension in her neck, rolled her head from side to side. “I just haven’t found the right person yet. You know, someone I can share everything with.”

“Ah, you mean…” Terence twinkled his fingers. “The Guin magic.”

“Stop with the jazz hands.” She focused on the water, didn’t want him trying to read her mind. Surprisingly, he was getting rather good at it. Jesus, she couldn’t afford to be so transparent. “Yeah, the…magic.” She shrugged. “It’s not something I’m exactly comfortable bringing up. People would think I’m a freak.”

She recalled as a little girl trying to tell a grade school teacher about it. She’d been promptly hauled off to the counselor’s office and then her mom was summoned into the mix. The school’s administrators expressed “extreme concern” which caused her mother to blow up. Not because she gave a shit about her kid, but because more than likely they’d interrupted happy hour. Consequently, it was the first of many times Guin switched schools. It was a tough lesson. She didn’t mention her power for the balance of her school career.

But kids had known back then that she was different. Thankfully they weren’t able to define precisely what that difference was. She was simply labeled weird. A freak. If only they really knew how much. Even so, their torture was relentless, and accounted for the second and third times she’d switched schools in her childhood. Thank God for open enrollment.

She imagined that telling anyone today might yield a similar outcome. Too risky, most especially for a cop.

“Yeah,” she quietly said on the tail end of the haunting flashback. “Definitely they would think I’m a freak.”

“In this town?” He elbowed her playfully. “You’re in Hollyweird, baby.”

“Well, then I guess I fit right in.”

“Look, everything will fall into place. I don’t have to be a psychic to know that.”

She looked at him. He was serious. “You think?”

“Cheer up. You’ll meet someone who won’t have a problem with you being one of the chosen ones.” He playfully hooked air quotes.

Guin didn’t buy it. “That sounds nice, Terence. But I really don’t think that’s going to happen.” She gazed up at the skies, as if she could physically address the spirit or whatever power was responsible for assigning her the special gift. “You could very well have chosen the wrong one! Do you hear me? Are you listening up there?”

Terence looked around them at other hikers who hadn’t seemed to notice her odd performance. Still, he quieted her. “Okay, let’s take it down a notch. Hello, drama.”

“Yeah, I’d hate for them to think I’m crazy.” Guin shook her head, her eyes turning slightly misty.

He patted her back. “Honey, you’re still just learnin’ all the tricks. That’s all.”

Guin toughened up, refused to be a baby. She nodded. “Yeah. It’s not like this…this superpower came with a manual.”

“No. But girl, you would look fabulous in the cape,” he whispered.