Chapter 2

“Where’d Frankie go,” Shelley asked when Phil returned. His mouth was full of food.

Phil shrugged. “He just needs to blow off steam,” he replied. “I figure we’ll get a call from him in a couple of hours asking to pick him up at some dive bar.”

“You know what this means,” Sabin said smiling. The two men stared at him blankly. “Dudes, big screen TV and all the porn you can watch in HD!”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Shelley said gathering up some food and heading into the living room. Phil was close behind.

~*~

Kazarian drove, not really knowing where he was heading. He just knew he couldn’t sit around the house and do nothing. Idly he glanced around as he drove, hoping to catch a glimpse of his missing wife.

He saw a woman with dark hair walking down the block as he drove. She was the same height and build as Traci and he tried to edge ahead to see if it was her. When he couldn’t get a close enough look he called out to her.

“Traci!” The woman looked around to see who had been yelling. Much to Kazarian’s disappointment it wasn’t his wife. “Sorry. I thought you were someone else.” The woman shrugged it off and kept walking.

Turning his attention back to the road Kazarian sped up. He hadn’t really been paying attention until he saw what appeared to be someone standing in the middle of the road. “Shit,” he exclaimed and swerved to avoid hitting them. He lost control of his car and crashed into a telephone pole, slamming his head hard on the steering wheel.

Groaning he pulled himself out of the car. His head was throbbing and it was hard to hold onto consciousness. Blackness was threatening to overwhelm him as he glanced back at where the person had been standing in the road. He wanted to make sure that he hadn’t hit them. The road was clear, but he got the distinct feeling that the person had been his wife. Unable to hold onto consciousness any longer he collapsed to the ground outside his car.

~*~

“Guys, quiet down,” Phil hissed as he answered the phone. “Frankie’s house of porn. How may I help you?”

“Is this Phil Skye,” a female voice replied.

“That depends, baby,” Phil replied. “Who wants to know?”

“This is Marjorie at Cedars Medical Center. We have your friend Frankie Kazarian here.”

“What,” Phil exclaimed and waved Shelley and Sabin over. “Right. Tell him I’ll be right there.”

“What’s the dealio,” Shelley asked seeing how concerned Phil looked.

“Frankie was in an accident,” Phil said raking a hand through his shoulder length black hair. “The woman who saw the accident said it looked like he just lost control of the car. He rammed into a telephone pole.”

“Shit,” Sabin gasped. “Is he all right?”

“He’s got a concussion,” Phil replied. “And a minor neck injury.”

“What the hell are we sitting around here for,” Shelley demanded. “Let’s get over to the hospital.”

~*~

“Hey, Frankie,” Phil said entering Kazarian’s room. “How you feelin’?”

“Like I tried to take on a semi,” Kazarian groaned. His head throbbed and his neck was killing him.

“Well, that’ll happen when you pick fights with telephone poles,” Sabin smirked.

“Make a mental note, Frankie, in telephone pole versus car always bet on the pole,” Shelley teased.

“What happened,” Phil asked taking a seat by Kazarian’s bed.

“I was just driving and…I could have sworn I saw Traci walking down the block…but it wasn’t her,” he sighed. “Then…I don’t know…I thought someone was in the road and I swerved to avoid hitting them…her…it was a woman.”

“The witness that reported the accident didn’t see anyone, Frankie,” Phil replied, worried for his friend.

“There was a woman. I saw her,” Kazarian said adamantly. “I know there was a woman and…I think it was Traci.”

Phil, Sabin and Shelley all shared worried looks. It was clear to them that their friend was becoming obsessed with finding his missing wife. “Just get some rest, Frankie,” Phil finally said. “Doc says you can go home tomorrow after they run more tests. I’ll be back to spring ya.” He patted Kazarian’s knee before heading out of the room with Shelley and Sabin.

“He needs help,” Shelley said shaking his head.

“No, he needs to find his wife…dead or alive,” Sabin corrected. “For the sake of his sanity and for closure.”

~*~

“Rox! I’m home,” Josephine called out to her roommate. Roxxi Laveaux came out of her bedroom.

“How’d it go,” she asked.

“Remind me why I help the police again,” Josephine said kicking off her shoes and settling onto the couch with a tired sigh.

“Because we need to pay the rent and bills and being a psychic only pays so much,” Roxxi replied with a smirk, perching on the arm of the couch. “What happened?”

“Tomko hadn’t had time to ease the guy into the idea of using a psychic to find his wife,” Josephine replied. “He basically freaked out, yelled at Tomko and stormed out of the station house.”

“Oh, Josie, I’m sorry,” Roxxi said.

“I don’t think I really could have helped him, Rox. He’s looking for his wife to return to him alive,” Josephine said sadly.

“You know she’s not,” Roxxi asked, amazed at how gifted her friend really was. Her own skill could not even compare.

“I can’t say for sure, but usually when I meet the person I get a strong feeling if the missing person is alive,” Josephine replied. “When I met this guy…I got nothing.”

“You have to help him,” both women heard and looked at each other.

“Was that you,” they both asked.

“It was me,” the voice replied and slowly a dark haired woman began to materialize in front of them. “You have to help Frankie.”

“I’ll let you handle this,” Roxxi said with a small smile.

“Let me guess, you’re the missing wife,” Josephine sighed. “Sometimes I really wish I could turn this off. Maybe have office hours that the other side would respect.”

“This is no time for joking,” Traci replied. “You have to help Frankie find me.”

“Look, maybe you should try haunting HIM,” Josephine replied, sitting forward.

Traci let out an exasperated sigh. “I’ve tried! He either sees me and thinks he’s hallucinating or…I don’t know.”

“It’s because he’s not receptive,” Josephine sighed. “I met your hubby today. He’s…charming.” Traci looked at her pleadingly. “Look, I can’t get involved in a case unless I’m specifically asked. Unless your Frankie changes his mind I’m benched.”

“Can’t you give the police clues,” Traci asked, desperate for her body to be found and laid to rest.

“If it will make you happy…then I can try,” Josephine replied. “Any detail you can give me will help.” Josephine got up and grabbed a pad and pen to jot down whatever Traci could tell her.