Insanity, p.1
Insanity, page 1
Insanity
A Psychic Visions Novel
Dale Mayer
Books in This Series:
Tuesday’s Child
Hide ’n Go Seek
Maddy’s Floor
Garden of Sorrow
Knock Knock…
Rare Find
Eyes to the Soul
Now You See Her
Shattered
Into the Abyss
Seeds of Malice
Eye of the Falcon
Itsy-Bitsy Spider
Unmasked
Deep Beneath
From the Ashes
Stroke of Death
Ice Maiden
Snap, Crackle…
What If…
Talking Bones
String of Tears
Inked Forever
Insanity
Soul Legacy
Psychic Visions Books 1–3
Psychic Visions Books 4–6
Psychic Visions Books 7–9
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About This Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Sneak Peek from Soul Legacy
About Simon Says…
Author’s Note
About the Author
Copyright Page
About This Book
Dr. Cresswell Simmons, a dream worker, is passionate about traumatized psychics and works in a psychiatric hospital to find those she can help. Six months ago, she barely survived a traumatic experience with a patient. Now on the cusp of returning to work and dreading every minute of it, she’s asked to step back into the same case that almost destroyed her. She desperately wants to say no, but an eight-year-old boy’s life is at stake.
Gray Burnett had worked on the original case, watching the devastation that had hurt Cressy. When asked to help her retrieve the information they need, he agrees—but more to protect her and the little boy than following orders. When her return to work is less than joyful, he wonders at the undercurrents in the hospital, as jealousy, admin disputes, even Board of Director members dominate the investigation and not in a good way.
Cressy is used to a world that doesn’t understand her work, but she needs Gray to open up and to see what’s going on around them. It’s the only way they will survive, as the case takes a bizarre turn that shocks even her …
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Chapter 1
Cresswell Simmons blinked in the darkness, the drum of the phone beside her slow and insistent. She groaned as she reached out a hand. She checked the number on the caller ID and whispered, “Dr. Maddy?”
“Sorry Cressy,” Dr. Maddy muttered. “I forgot what time it was.”
“Or what time zone it was. Where are you?”
“I’m in England right now.”
“Great, that’s nice for you. I’m in Maine. Remember?”
“I know. I’m just …”
“You just what?”
“I’m in trouble.”
At that, Cressy bolted upright.
“What kind of trouble? Do I need to call Drew? Grant? What’s going on?”
Dr. Maddy’s laughter rolled free through the phone. “No, not that kind of trouble. I need help, very specialized help.”
“Oh no, not again.” Cressy moaned.
“Unfortunately you’re the only one I know who can do something about this.”
“And you know how it hurts me to do it,” she muttered.
“And yet you’re getting better at it,” Dr. Maddy added encouragingly.
“At least you hope I am.”
“We’ve certainly saved a lot of people,” Dr. Maddy noted, “so I don’t really want to think of this as being something that we can’t do more of.”
“Because it’s not you going into these crazy minds and trying to figure out how to straighten them up and decide who is sane and who is not.”
“I know. This one’s …”
“Special?” Cressy asked. “You say that every time. You do know that, right?” She pushed herself up against the headboard and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Looking around the room in the dim light, she checked the alarm clock. “It’s five in the morning,” she muttered.
“Yep, I know. I know, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Who am I going after, and what’s going on?”
Dr. Maddy began, “It’s a male.”
“That’s a change,” she noted, with a yawn. “Won’t make a damn bit of difference, you know? I still might not get in.”
“You might not be able to, but Stefan has had some luck with him, and I’ve had just enough luck to realize that he’s there.”
“And, if he’s there, why isn’t he coming out?”
“Now this is the part that gets dicey.”
“Uh-oh, don’t tell me this is another dangerous one. You know I don’t like those.”
“I know you don’t, but this is a boy. He’s only twelve years old, and his mind is still at the point where we can do something with it.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s in Bishop’s Sanatorium,” Dr. Maddy stated.
Cressy hated that, absolutely hated it whenever it involved a sanatorium. Especially that one—her home away from home—when she’d been working at least. “And who’ll get me out when I get locked in there?”
“I’m really hoping you will get in and get out without any trouble.”
“You’re hoping for that, but you’re not sure that it’ll happen, are you?”
“I can’t be sure. You know that. It’s dicey, but both Stefan and I think that the boy’s in there and that he’s hiding.”
“And why is he hiding?” she asked. “You need to give me some background.”
“His family was murdered. By a family annihilator, as the FBI profilers call it,” Dr. Maddy explained, her voice low.
“Great, and I suppose you found this one through Grant.”
“I heard about him from Grant, and Grant gave me all the background history on the boy. Which is already rough enough.”
“Are you sure the child even wants to come back out?”
“I don’t think he knows he has a choice. I think he’s hiding because he believes the annihilator is still coming after him.”
“Was the annihilator caught?”
“Yes,” Dr. Maddy confirmed. “He’s been locked up, and this little boy needs to know that it’s safe to come back out to reality.”
“Great. Well, you make it sound easy enough, but, if it were easy, you would have done it already.”
At that, she sighed. “No, I … It’s never that easy, is it?”
“No, it sure isn’t.”
“The boy has had some testing done, and basically he’s nonviolent, but he’s withdrawn, disassociated from society. One of his doctors has been working with him and saw obvious signs of stressors, where slight noises make him jump. All kinds of stuff are going on in there.”
“Right, of course there is,” Cressy agreed. “And how is it you think I’ll get him out?”
“I need you to go in there. I need you to go into his head and to tell him it’s okay.”
“Again, if it were that easy, you would have done it already. So what’s the trick?”
“The trick is, he’s not listening,” Dr. Maddy shared. “As far as he’s concerned, the wrong person was caught, and so he doesn’t believe us. I haven’t been able to convince him otherwise.”
Cressy pondered that for a moment. “Okay. And you think it’s all part of the boy’s delusion?”
“Yes, I do. Grant does. Everybody does. We have a confession from the killer, so the boy should be free and clear. Yet he doesn’t want to come out. I think he’s just so caught up in his own psychopathy that he can’t get out.”
“Fine, I’ll try,” Cressy stated, “but, even if I can talk to him, that’s no guarantee that he’ll want to come out. You know it’s safe in there.”
“It is safe,” Dr. Maddy acknowledged, “which is why he’s there. I just need you to try.”
“Is there something else that is special about this one?”
“There’s always something special, but yes. He has a grandmother who’s desperate to have him come back to her. The poor grandmother lost everybody, and now it’s just this little boy and an aunt. We want to give him a chance at life.”
“How long ago did this happen?”
“Four months.”
Cressy winced at that. “Just enough time for him to settle in there.”
“I know, and that’s why it’ll take somebody special, like you.”
“Yeah, you know that the sympathy and flattery stuff really doesn’t work on me.”
At that, Dr. Maddy laughed. “I know, but will you try?”
“Yeah, I’ll try. I also want the name of the FBI agent assigned to the case.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I need to know what this boy went through and what he’s built for a retreat, a shelter in his own head, so I can make him realize the world outside of that sh elter is also safe. And Lord help us all if we’re wrong …”
“I can give you his name,” Dr. Maddy replied, “but—”
“Oh, don’t tell me. He’s a nonbeliever, I suppose.”
“Yeah, he is. He knows that Drew’s married to me and that we have both worked with FBI Agent Grant Summers before, but, as far as this other agent is concerned, it’s all BS.”
“And is that because he’s also very gifted and he’s ignoring it or because he only sees black-and-white?”
“I’ve only met him one time, and I would tend to say he only sees black-and-white, but I don’t really know,” Dr. Dr. Maddy admitted. “That’s up to you to sort out.”
“You never make it easy, do you?”
“It’s not me,” she replied. “I’m a pushover for kids. … Last time we talked, so were you.”
“That’s a low blow.” Cressy growled into the phone.
“No, you’re right. It is. I’m just … I need you to go in after him.”
“I told you that I would,” Cressy repeated, “but I’m not going in unprepared. And you know what happens if I open up that line.”
“I know. I do. Stefan will help. I’ll be there, and, on this end, if you contact that FBI agent, we can make sure that nothing else happens.”
“Yeah, but once we open the doors to crazy, crazy comes out,” Cressy declared.
“And, when we open the doors to somebody who’s hiding,” Dr. Maddy added, “joy, laughter, and love can come out again. Let’s give this little boy a chance.”
“Fine,” Cressy said, “but I’m calling the agent in the morning.”
“You don’t have to. He’ll be there in an hour.” And, with that, Dr. Maddy started to hang up.
“What’s his name?” Cressy cried out.
Dr. Maddy’s voice rang out loud and clear. “His name is Gray, and you met him last time. He was there.” Then Dr. Maddy hung up, leaving Cressy to stare down at the phone in dismay.
She also hadn’t asked for the name of the boy, but she knew the file would be coming. All the files would be. It’s also why there would be an FBI agent attached, whether she asked for it or not. Obviously a whole lot more was going on in this case than Dr. Maddy had let on. Especially if the FBI would be at her door in an hour.
With that, she threw back the covers and headed for the shower. In spite of herself, she was intrigued. And a little scared. The last time she’d been caught up in one of Dr. Maddy’s cases, Dr. Maddy had damn-near died. Cressy really wasn’t about to sign up for another one of those again.
Yet, as she stepped into the bathroom and stared into the mirror, she shook her head. “Seems you did it anyway, fool.” Then she got in and turned on the water.
Chapter 2
Knock-knock. Knock-knock.
Cressy stared at the door, her brows furrowing, as she studied the huge wooden piece. It had been a long time since she’d opened the door to strangers.
When a voice on the other side called out, “Dr. Cresswell Simmons? This is FBI Agent Gray Burnett.”
She stared at the door with dread. She knew perfectly well that, once she opened it, if she opened it, there was no going back. But she still hadn’t found a way to come to terms with what she was about to do. She got up and slowly walked toward the door, then opened up the little peephole and stared out, expecting to see a stranger on the other side, but this wasn’t some stranger.
She opened the door to frown at him. “Don’t I know you?”
He slowly nodded. “Yes, we’ve met.”
She wasn’t sure about where or when, but then she’d blocked out a lot of things in life that were unpleasant. The fact that she recognized him and yet didn’t remember how she knew him meant that he belonged to an era that she did not want to recall. Slowly she opened the door wider and let him in.
He stepped inside, took a casual look around, and then turned to face her.
That’s when it hit her. “You were part of the case,” she murmured, staring at him, the fear rising deep inside her.
“I was. I was one of the FBI agents working that case back then.”
She wrapped her arms around her chest, then closed the door and slowly walked back into her living room. “And you’re here now. Why is that?” she asked, realizing her tone was hard.
He hesitated, then asked, “Did Dr. Maddy contact you?”
“Yes.” Then she noted another connection. “You’re the one who works with Grant.”
He nodded. “I am. … Are you okay?”
She gave a bitter laugh. “How is anybody ever okay after something like that?”
“Look. I don’t know why you even agreed to do this,” he began. “I know what you went through last time, at least some of it, and it was pretty traumatizing.”
“Yeah, it was,” she confirmed, tossing him a look, “but I’m not some delicate flower.”
He stared at her. “I never thought you were, but it was only a few months ago.”
“Six months actually.” She shook her head and stared out the window. “A pretty long six months.”
He nodded in agreement.
“Why you?” she asked, turning to look at him.
“I honestly don’t know. Grant just told me that I was connected.”
Her eyebrows shot up at that. “Did he say in what way?”
“No, just that Dr. Maddy had insisted that it needed to be me. I don’t know more than that.” He hesitated and then raised both hands, as if frustrated in his own right. “I don’t have much to do with this stuff, you know? I’m not a believer,” he admitted, gentling his tone. “I’m not trying to insult you guys because I’ve seen some phenomenal work, especially from Dr. Maddy and Stefan.”
“Yet you’re still not a believer.” She frowned. “Even though you just shared how you’ve seen some incredible things.”
He studied her and then nodded again. “I know, and it sounds like a complete dichotomy. I get it.”
“Because it is,” she replied in exasperation. “You either believe what they’ve achieved, or you don’t, in which case you’re probably on the wrong side of the fence and definitely aren’t the person I need with me for this battle.”
“You say that as if you’ll be at war,” he noted cautiously.
She glared at him. “What do you think that last battle was?”
He winced at that. “From what I saw, it was some kind of a strange off-the-charts commotion, yes,” he confirmed. “If you’re thinking it’ll be like that again, why would you even agree to do this?”
“Because apparently a twelve-year-old boy is at the heart of this.”
“Yes, there is that.” He let out a sigh.
“The question I’m struggling with is, why you agreed to go.”
“Because a twelve-year-old boy is at the heart of this,” he repeated.
At that, she realized he didn’t want to be here, but he would do it just because of that boy. She blew out her breath. “That was the right answer.” She gave him a weak smile.
His lips twitched. “I’m glad I passed one test, at least,” he muttered. “But for somebody who doesn’t deal with it all the time, this isn’t very comfortable stuff.”
“For somebody who does deal with it a lot, it’s also not comfortable stuff, so don’t kid yourself. What I do is already at the edge of normal in my world, and I take it way past my normal,” she stated boldly. “I have a degree, and I work in a field where I have the respect of my colleagues for the results that I achieve, but they don’t realize the kind of inside work I really do on the patients.”
At that, a grimace slid across his face, and he gave a clipped nod. “Everything I’ve heard about what you do sounds like fantasy—or rather some horror movie.”
“After the last time, absolutely,” she agreed. “I had come up against something like that before, but never with that kind of power, that kind of strength,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. When she realized that they still stood in the front hallway, she motioned toward the living room. “Please, come in and sit down.”
He hesitated, then kicked off his shoes and walked in, settling in the single armchair.
She looked over at him and smiled. “Obviously you’re not at ease.”
He shrugged. “Would you be?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “I’ve never been in your situation.”
“How did you get into this?” he asked curiously.
