Authors: Jennifer Ryan
Tyler tried to digest she’d sacrificed being close to him, to any of them, in order to save Matt. Years she’d dedicated to helping him, but never getting too close in order to change that moment when a drugged-out boy pulled the trigger and nearly killed a child. The anger he’d carried with him all this time dissipated and turned to admiration—and guilt.
A shiver of fear rocketed through him as he glanced at the holes in the chair. The last five years had all led up to this night.
“If that crazed idiot had taken Elizabeth into the office and discovered the old-fashioned safe is unused and empty, he’d have killed her. She saved my wife.”
“She’s amazing, but we already knew that.” Tyler brushed his hand over her hair. He didn’t want to leave Morgan on the floor. He needed to get her out of there. She’d asked Sam to take her somewhere with few people. Seeing how she’d reacted to his anger, even unconscious, he needed to get her out of there quick. He put his arm under her head and around her back to pull her toward him, so he could pick her up. Scared and unsure, he touched his fingers to the wet burgundy carpet and pulled them away, wet with Morgan’s blood. Not from her arm. He rolled her carefully to her side and swore.
He looked over his shoulder at the officer cuffing the boy who’d awakened moments ago. “Call for an ambulance. She’s been shot.”
Tyler pulled her torn skirt down and revealed the long gash across her lower back. The bullet left a furrow through her skin. Relieved the bullet hadn’t gone directly into her back, but rather traveled along the width of it. He’d seen a lot of gunshot wounds in his line of work. Morgan would be fine. She’d have one hell of a scar, but she’d live and that’s all that mattered. A half inch the other way and it would be a completely different story.
His tightly held emotions started to crack. He didn’t want her to be hurt. He wanted her to wake up, so he could fight with her about keeping him in the dark, and tell her he was sorry for not understanding, and he wanted to kiss her. On second thought, maybe he’d kiss her first.
Sam smacked him on the back. “I’ve been trying to tell you about her gift. This has pretty much sucked the life out of her. I’ll do as she asked and take care of her. You handle the cops. Detective Stewart arrived a few minutes ago. I don’t want him anywhere near her.”
“She’s bleeding. I’ll take care of her. It’s my responsibility.”
“Not going to happen. Tie up the scene here. Get rid of Detective Stewart and take your
girlfriend
and my wife home.
I’ll
take care of Morgan.”
Tyler wanted to argue, but he’d forgotten about Maria. He couldn’t just leave her here. Besides, Morgan asked Sam to take care of her, not him. The hurt and guilt expanded inside of him until he could barely take a breath.
This night just kept getting better.
Emma broke away from her parents and came over to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and looked at Morgan with tears running down her face. “Is she dead?”
He hugged the little girl tight. “No honey, she’s just sleeping. She’s hurt a little, but she’ll be fine.”
Emma wiped at her tears. “Like when Mommy hurt her head on the ship, when she pulled me out of the water. She fell asleep for a long time.”
“That’s right. Here come the paramedics. They’ll take her to the hospital, so she can rest quietly. Okay? Go back to your Dad. I promise she’ll be fine.”
Emma leaned down and kissed Morgan’s cheek. The simple affectionate gesture brought a touch of color into Morgan’s cheeks. She’d reacted to his anger, and now she’d responded to Emma’s love. No wonder she’d isolated herself.
“So, this is the infamous Morgan?” Detective Stewart asked. The paramedics strapped her to the gurney. “She doesn’t look like what I expected.”
“No? What did you expect, a black pointed hat and a wart on her nose? She’s a woman. A very gifted woman, who saved your ass on that case by giving us the name of the ship where the women were being held. You repaid her by giving her name out to the press and opening her up to her murdering father and a madman, both of whom want to see her dead. I’ll only say this once. Stay away from her.”
“I’ll need to get her statement about what happened here tonight. I’m getting conflicting statements from witnesses. Some of them say the boy thought she was his grandmother.”
“He did.”
“She’s white. He’s black.”
“He’s on something, completely out of his head and hallucinating. She kept him talking, until she got a clear shot and clocked him with the wine bottle. That’s all you need to know. Talk to Sam. He’ll give you the rundown. I can’t talk to you right now.”
Tyler walked away, following Morgan out to the ambulance, pissed off.
“What’s his problem?” Detective Stewart asked Sam.
“You. And me.”
Sam understood Tyler’s anger. Outing Morgan to Detective Stewart set this whole thing in motion. Guilty. Angry. He wanted to make things right, but he couldn’t even go with Morgan to the hospital because he still had to take another woman home.
“Did she save the little boy?”
Sam understood the skepticism. Detective Stewart believed in what he could see and touch, what he could prove. Morgan was something he’d never thought possible.
“Look at that chair, and you tell me. She knew just what to say to that boy to keep him from hurting anyone else, and she took him down by herself, while two FBI agents sat at the table behind her.”
Stewart looked at the chair and at the two identical boys held by their parents.
“You’d think she’d have known about getting shot and moved out of the way.”
“You assume she didn’t know,” Sam said. “Everything happens for a reason. She’s known about this for years and she still came to stop it.” That said it all. Sam couldn’t make Detective Stewart respect Morgan, but he could give him something to think about.
Stewart didn’t say anything, out of his element where Morgan was concerned. Used to dealing with the scum of society, who were only out for themselves. He had trouble believing someone would put herself in harm’s way when she knew she’d be hurt in the process.
“I assume you won’t mind writing up her statement for us.”
That was as close as Stewart would get to saying he’d keep his distance.
“Yeah, I’ll write up her statement. Right after she’s stitched up and regains consciousness. I’d better not see her name in the morning paper, or on the ten o’clock news.”
No less than three news vans were setting up outside the restaurant windows.
“How am I supposed to keep her name out of this? She confronted an armed man.”
“I don’t care. Keep her name out of it. Call her a friend of the family. We don’t need the Psychic Slayer seeing her name on the news and trying to kill her. The only advantage we have over him right now is he doesn’t know where she is. Maybe she can help us find him. I’d like to give her the chance to try before he comes after her.”
“Can she help us with the case? I saw the newspaper report stating she couldn’t
see
anything about this case.”
“It isn’t a matter of can she help us, she’s already given us information. The clue about the phonebook and his description that we’ve been working with came from her. No, in this case, it’s more a matter of if she’ll help us.”
“If she knows something, then she has to tell us. She can’t keep her mouth shut about a multiple murder investigation.”
“She can’t? Why? If she came to you, would you believe her, or do anything with the information she provided?”
Stewart stood with his hands on his hips, staring at Sam, refusing to answer.
“If you know what’s good for you, stay away from her,” Sam demanded and ran to catch up with Morgan in the ambulance.
Something Emma said gave him an idea. He knew just where to take Morgan to be alone: Marti’s pirate ship. He’d hide her away from the world for a while, and Tyler too.
J
ACK BOARDED
T
HE
World
, Marti’s pirate ship she’d inherited from her grandmother. It had taken a while, but he’d finally gotten Jenna, Matt, and Sam out of the restaurant and home. They left the place in complete chaos while the police took statements, customers were given a gift certificate for dinner on Elizabeth at a future date, and the staff cleaned and closed up for the night.
The press came out in full force in front of the restaurant. A sensational story, especially when the president and CEO of Merrick International were inside during the attempted robbery. Not to mention the CEO’s son had almost been killed. Add in the fact that Elizabeth was the daughter of federal judge John Hamilton and heir to the Hamilton fortune, and that two FBI agents were seated with them and did nothing to stop the events, and it was just another reason to splash the story all over the news.
Tyler had been in rare form. One minute he directed the spectacle and the next he yelled orders and barked at the officers at the door to keep the press out. Maria sat patiently waiting for him. She’d been quiet, only asking Jenna and Elizabeth if Morgan could really see the future.
Jack found Sam sitting in a chair next to the bed in the master cabin below deck. Morgan slept with her bandaged arm propped on a pillow. Lying on her side, her long hair spread across the pillow and over the sheets covering her.
“How is she?”
“She’s still out. How’re the boys and Jenna?”
“Jenna’s still shaken. The boys are fine. You know them. This was a big adventure. I don’t think they really understand what happened. Matt didn’t see the bullets hit his chair. Morgan turned around to protect him.”
“I’ve been thinking about tonight. She threw Sam in your lap first. I don’t think she knew which of them the bullets were headed for. She protected them both. If the bullets had gone into Sam’s chair, you’d have been holding him.”
“That’s my feeling. She knew one of them would be shot, but she didn’t know which, since they’re identical twins.”
“She saved Tyler tonight. I know he doesn’t see it that way, but she did.”
Sam ran both hands through his hair. He needed a haircut. He looked less like his twin, Jack, and more like one of the thugs he arrested.
“The last time we were on this ship, Cameron was being an idiot over Shelly when he was in love with Marti. Have we really fallen into this scenario again with Tyler, Maria, and Morgan?”
“God, I hope not,” Jack said. “You should have seen him tonight after you left. He didn’t know if he should walk out and go after you two, or stay there and take care of everything.”
“I’m glad he didn’t come after us. In the last hour, I’ve finally seen the color bloom into her face and her hair looks like the shine is coming back.”
“She didn’t lie about her gift physically harming her.”
“I don’t think it’s a single gift. I think she has several. She can see things like a psychic, but she has another kind of power. Empathy. She feels what other people feel, and she takes on those feelings somehow. That’s why she referred to it as ‘fastballs.’ The anger coming from that kid hit her fast and hard. Add to that Tyler’s emotions and she just shut down.”
“How’d you get her out of the hospital?”
“I didn’t take her in, but made the doctor come out to the ambulance and take care of her. They weren’t happy with me, but I have an FBI badge and a gun. Works wonders on red tape and policy and procedure. The doctor cleaned and stitched her up, and I had the ambulance take us to the dock. Marti had already called the ship and Captain Finn was waiting for us when we arrived.”
“Why didn’t you just stay with her at the hospital?”
“Because before everything went down with that boy, she asked me to take her someplace where there weren’t a lot of people. The hospital is full of people hurt, sad, anxious, and angry. You name it and they’re feeling it. I couldn’t leave her there where all those things could make her worse. That’s why you’re here. When I came to Colorado, she said she liked being around you because you make her feel good. You radiate happiness and good feelings. I think you’re the best medicine for her. She trusts you, and you aren’t upset about anything.”
Jack had to admit it was a good idea. They didn’t have any other alternatives. Morgan couldn’t tell them what she needed. “Why don’t you stay with her?”
“Because I’m worried about Elizabeth and the baby. She had a pretty good scare tonight. I know she’s tough, but someone violated her workplace and threatened her and her family. She’s pregnant and her emotions are all over the map. I want to go home and see her. That, and I have a lot of things stored up inside of me with my work and Tyler. I don’t want Morgan sensing those things. I think I have them under control, but I don’t know if it’s enough.”
“Did the doctor say if anything else was wrong with her?”
“He didn’t find anything. If she doesn’t wake up by morning, we’ll try something else. She said sometimes she needs a few hours to recover from a vision. I think tonight warrants at least a night of shutting out the world.” He ran his hands over his face. “I don’t know. I’m guessing here.”
“Don’t worry, Sam. I’ll take care of her. If something changes, or she looks worse, I’ll call you. Go see your wife and daughter. You’ll feel better. I know I did after seeing Willow sound asleep and the boys sleeping peacefully in their beds.”
“Whatever you do, don’t tell Tyler where she is. He’s the last thing she needs tonight.”
“She’s really got him tied in knots and standing on the edge of sanity. He’s having a very bad night. I think Maria made up her mind to end the charade with him tonight.”
“No matter what happens, we’ll let Morgan decide if she wants to see him again.”
“Absolutely. Go home to your wife and kiss your baby.”
“I’ll kiss Grace, too,” he said jokingly.
E
XHAUSTION HUNG ON
Tyler like Spanish moss weighing down an old oak’s limbs. He’d managed the scene at the restaurant among all the chaos of customers, police, and the media. He had to keep Morgan’s name out of the press. For once, Detective Stewart willingly helped him along those lines. Sam must have given him what for about giving Morgan’s name to the press again. After all, they had a serial killer out there targeting psychics, and Morgan in particular.