Page 22 of A Shared Mind

The man smirked. “No. We’re walking across the state. We got a little off course. Where are we?”

I glanced at the dogs. They looked nothing like any dogs I’d ever seen. “Uh, are they okay without being leashed?”

The man snapped his fingers, which seemed to get the dogs’ attention. The two of them crouched and didn’t move. “They’ll be fine. So, where am I?”

“Oh, sorry. You’re in Sterling City—well, you’re outside Sterling City. Uh, where are you trying to go?” He was pretty far out from the center of town, that was for sure. I didn’t see any supplies to feed or water them, and I was concerned.

“Maybe you wanna come up to the house and get them some water?”

The man nodded, and he walked next to me as the dogs followed behind. I invited them onto the porch and hurried inside to find two large bowls, filling them with water. I had no dog food, so I didn’t know what to offer. When I returned outside, I introduced myself. “I’m Clay Fines. This is my home.”

The guy was unreasonably handsome, but something about him was off. He seemed to be on edge, and I had no idea why. “I’m Ezgart. These are my puppies.”

Puppies? That was laughable. Those dogs could eat me with no trouble.

“So, are you doing a charity walk? Humane Society? ASPCA?”

“Well, not exactly. It’s nice that humans do those things, but that’s not what I’m here for. I’m looking for a spirit.”

Huh? A spirit? “Like team spirit? I support the Kansas City—”

“No, the spirit of a dead person. His name is Ramon Blanco, and he was recently near you. The hounds can smell him on you. Where did he go?”

I froze. “I’m sorry? Where did who go?”

“I saw you with a man at Smokehouse Q KC, and he had the spirit of Ramon Blanco inside him. He’s disappeared. Where did he go?”

The dogs were busy drinking the water I brought out, but they still looked as if they were hungry, and honestly, I was fucking scared. “I, uh, I’m not sure who you’re talking about. I don’t know anyone named Ramon Blanco.”

The guy pointed at those dogs. “I’m sorry. Maybe they got their wires crossed. Thanks for the water. We’ll take off.”

He snapped his fingers and the dogs stopped drinking immediately. He motioned for them to step closer to him, and they both did without question. What the fuck?

“Wait. I need to know why you thought I’d been near the person you’re looking for. You said the dogs smelled them on me? What’s that mean?” My heart was pounding. What the hell was going on?

The guy—who was tall, dark, and handsome—smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll find him. We’ll get out of your way, and you have a great life. Hunter told me to say he’s proud of you and this is exactly what’s right.”

Who the fuck was this guy? “How do you know about Hunter?”

Hunter popped around the guy and waved, his happy smile on display. “I’m here, Clay. You’re going to be fine, babe.”

I nearly choked at seeing my beautiful Hunter’s face as I remembered it from so many happy moments. What the actual fuck?

“Clay, son, do you want me to make something for lunch?” I opened my eyes to see Mama standing over me with a tender smile on her face.

I glanced up to see I’d fallen asleep in Pop’s rocking chair. I was still at Mama’s house, and I was so fucking confused it wasn’t even funny.

Seeing Hunter in that fucking dream was disturbing, but maybe a part of me believed he was reaching out to me? Maybe I was losing my mind. Something was off kilter, and I needed to wrap my head around it, but more than anything, I wanted to talk to Justin.

“Mama, uh, how long have I been asleep?”

She smiled. “About half an hour. Are you not sleeping well, honey?”

My mother was the most amazing woman who could see through me completely. “I’ve been having some really weird dreams. I mean... Hell, I don’t know what I mean. I need to get packed so I’ll skip lunch. You wanna have dinner together? I’ve got some chicken in my freezer that I can grill.”

Mama laughed. “Sure, honey. Bring it over and we’ll grill it. Bring the truck over so we can load more pottery tonight.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll be back soon.”