1987

Alice Parker's first grade class seemed to be having a typical field trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo. The children were enchanted for the most part by the exotic animals, some more so than others. It was later in the day, nearly time for the children to board the buses to return to the school that tragedy struck. Alice Parker could not locate one of her quieter students, Caitlin Spencer.

It was not unusual for the studious girl not to attract attention from the adults, as she needed little direction. A direct contrast to her brother who was four years older, Shawn. Oh, Alice Parker remembered him well. As it turned out, she should have kept a closer eye on the girl than she ever had with Shawn. If she had, she would have seen the woman approach Caitlin half an hour prior.

Even though she had known better than to speak to strangers, the woman eerily resembled Caitlin's mother, Madeline. So the child had believed the woman to be her Aunt, her eyes welling with tears when she was informed that her family had just perished in a car accident and that she was to live with her Aunt. She was whisked away to New York City, leaving Santa Barbara far behind.

Present Day New York City

Caitlin Johnson dropped the last of her luggage by her front door as she awaited her fiancé, Tom Potter, of the NYPD. She had met him the year prior while working forensics on one of his murder cases. For their anniversary, Tom had surprised her with a trip to the Bahamas. Excitement pumped through her blood even as she tried to ignore a trickle of unexplained tension that was creeping through her.

He was to pick her up at noon and it was five minutes after. It wasn't unheard of for one to be late due to traffic in New York, but she didn't want to miss their plane either. Caitlin went to her living room and peeked out the blinds into the darkness. Her blood ran cold when she spotted Tom kneeling under the streetlight just as a man raised his gun and shot him, execution style. She could only make out movement but she saw the figure turn toward the window and she knew he had spotted her. Heart pounding, Caitlin grabbed her wallet and fled her apartment, racing out the back door. As the back exit swung closed behind her, she heard the front door slamming shut. She had to get out of New York and fast, but she had no idea where to go. Maybe Santa Barbara. Surely she could find one of her father's old partners and they could help her.

She hailed a cab to take her further down town, where she withdrew as much money as she could from the ATM, knowing this was the last time she could use her card. Caitlin headed for the bus station and purchased several tickets, hoping to leave a confusing trail. At the first stop the bus made, while she waited to board one going in a different direction, she picked up a disposable cell phone with web access, and then once on board, she pulled up the Santa Barbara newspaper.

On the front page was an article about a psychic detective. She scoffed at first then when she saw the picture, her jaw dropped. Her brother Shawn was alive and well. Had her family simply decided they didn't want her? There was only one way to find out, Caitlin realized. And if that hadn't been the case, she would be safe with Shawn. A small sense of relief enveloped her. She took a closer look at the photo. Was that Gus? She managed a small smile.

Present Day, Santa Barbara

Something was about to happen. Shawn could feel it in his bones. While admittedly he wasn't a true psychic, his hunches and feelings were usually spot on. But he had never felt like this before. He balled up a piece of paper and threw it at Gus.

"What the…" his friend exclaimed when the paper ball bounced off of his head. "Shawn!"

"Sorry. I'm feeling at loose ends. Did you ever just feel like something big was about to happen, but you didn't know what?"

"Every day of my life, Shawn. How about food? If something big is going to happen, I don't want to experience it on an empty stomach."

"Let's get some jerk chicken," Shawn replied, scrambling to his feet.