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Violet thought about what Sa different froarden-variety sort of psycho to be prompted now "The more research I did, thehi him handle more evidence and items from the cases--e his accuracy Soood He got about seventy-five percent of the doard "he just ca at all

"In the ifts like his I started putting out feelers and kept co to look at me like I was crazy, and irl

"She was in foster care, and was being bumped from house to house She was only fifteen and had already been in twenty-four foster hoot in trouble at every school she attended She was truant on a regular basis, fell asleep in class, and was being bullied by other kids Yet soht-three GPA, despite move afteron ht her to my attention after she called them about her foster dad, a family man everyone in the community ad to find for yearsand soirl Krystal? It wasn’t hard to i in foster care with her outspoken personality and her unusual looks Most foster parents probably hoped for kids who slipped a little more under the radar than Krystal did

"When I ry and withdrawn and reluctant to even talk toher to Rafe would help, but he refused--he was still dealing with his own issues--so I was on et her to open up to

"She explained the myriad of ways she’d alienated her foster parents At first, she didn’t know she had an ability at all, but she’d understood that she was different because she recognized things that the other kids didn’t She knehen her fifth fosterchecks for a child who’d run away She knew too when her third and eighth foster fathers were abusing other girls in the home And she would tell everyone ould listen: caseworkers, teachers, babysitters, even the foster parents themselves But she found out quickly that no one believes a six-year-old, especially one with a history of s,’ and feelings weren’t enough to file charges, only enough to get a little girl h, she’d just stopped co it was best if she reot tired of all the calls from the school because she was ‘unresponsive’ But she couldn’t keep silent about her feelings at the last house even if it ain And by the time I met her, she felt like she was some sort of freak"

So Violet "Wait, when you say ‘feelings,’ do you ht Gemma Who did you think I ht you were talking aboutsoine Gemma as the lonely foster kid that Sara described, withdrawn and uncommunicative Definitely not the Gemma she knew "So what happened? Where did she end up?"

"Let’s just say it wasn’t hard for et approval to be a foster parent, and by the ti to live with us, I’d already earned her trust She couldn’t wait to get out of the syste "I think Rafe’s stillnow "Wait a sec" She held up her hand; it was al Gemma lives with you and Rafe?"

Violet took the coffee Sara handed her, even though the s in her sto at the sa Jay’s palar

"And she still lives with you?" Violet finally asked, trying to wrap her head around what she’d just heard It was almost weirder than the fact that Sara was Rafe’s sister

Sara nodded, taking the seat across from Violet "She does And it works out rather well for us Well, for Gemma and me," she corrected "Rafe and Gemma" She hesitated "They’re like oil and water Rafe can bestubborn" She shook her head exasperatedly "And Ge under the same roof sorin "Or two teenagers, I guess"

Violet didn’t knohy it bothered her so much that no one had told her this before

She just frowned into her coffee, disappoint on her Sara reached across the table to lay her hand over Violet’s Her touch was fir like her brother’s "I’m sorry, Violet It’s hard for kids like Gemma and Rafe to open up, I suppose They’ve considered the anyone"