Authors: Jennifer Ryan
“I didn’t pick it so much as it picked me. I blanked out. The other agents must think I’m a nutcase.”
“Not really. Impressed, bowled over by your ability, a little awestruck watching you work and find your sister. One of them wants to know if you’ll help with a kidnapping case he’s working on, and another wants to know if you can help them with a bank robbery scheme, something about a code they can’t figure out.”
“The girl ran off with the mechanic who fixed her eighteenth-birthday Beemer after she sideswiped a parked car on her way home from a club. They’re in Fiji, spending her daddy’s money. She’s almost out of cash and will call home for rescue in a couple of days.”
Tyler laughed. “I’ll call the agent and let him know. Anything on the bank scheme?”
“Not now. I’m tired.”
He held her tight. “I know. You’re back, but you don’t look like you’ve recovered.”
“It’s just been too much in such a short time. Between the attempted robbery at the restaurant, the whole confrontation in the restaurant with my sister, my father, and this mess, that poor girl, Leslie, and the serial killer, I haven’t had enough time to rest and recover.”
“Not to mention all the energy you expended waking up happy with me this morning,” he teased and nuzzled his nose against her neck.
He wanted to make her smile. He didn’t know how to help her, except to keep her out here in the isolated hills. That’s why he hadn’t just carried her to the car and taken her back to the city. She needed the time alone.
“That’s been the highlight of my week here in the city. I have to say, I much prefer you happy to mad. You’re something when you’re happy.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll show you how happy I can be tonight.” He nuzzled his nose into her soft neck and kissed her beneath her ear, making her giggle. “We need to swing by the office. You have some paperwork to sign on your father, and we have to get your million dollars back to the bank.”
“Sam caught my father?”
“He did. He waited on the plane until your father boarded with the duffel bags in tow. Your father confirmed the flight plans with the pilots, asked the flight attendant to get him a drink, and sat back ready to gloat. Sam came out and arrested him after your father took the first sip of his celebratory scotch. Sam said he didn’t take it very well.”
“Is Sam upset about the eye?”
“How did you… never mind. He’s fine. I should have warned him about your family’s penchant for throwing a punch. Remind me never to make you angry.”
“I’m more a lover than a fighter.” She turned in his arms and pressed him back down to the ground. “Kiss me. I really need to feel something good.”
He didn’t have to be asked twice, especially when he’d been part of the trials she’d endured over the last few weeks. He cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Soft and sweet, he held the kiss, nibbled at her bottom lip and kissed the corner of her mouth. He used the tip of his tongue to trace her lower lip, and when she sighed, he slid his tongue inside and caressed hers.
She gave back the caress, and he buried his hands in the long strands of her hair and brushed them back over her head and down her back. He loved the feel of her lying down his body. He remembered what it felt like to have her lying on him naked that morning. He cupped her hips and pressed them down to his. A deep groan escaped up his throat.
She rocked her hips against his and continued kissing him. He really wanted to make love to her. It felt like if he didn’t do it now, he might not get the chance to do it again. He kissed her cheek and her temple and forehead. When she rested her cheek against his, he wrapped his arms around her tight and just held her while they both calmed their need for each other.
He didn’t care about lying in the dirt and grass. He only cared about the woman in his arms. She’d let go of her dream of having the ideal family. He’d let go of his dream of having the wife and kids at any cost. He only wanted Morgan, and whatever life they made together.
“We’ve got to get back,” she said, but didn’t move from her spot on top of him. He felt so good, and with his strong arms around her, she felt like she could relax and just be. She didn’t have to put up any blocks or guard herself. When Tyler was like this, she could let go. It felt so good to have his warmth and passion and love wash over her. She wanted to draw it in and wrap it around her, around them, and forget everything else.
“Are you sure you’re up to leaving this place? It’s nice. No one’s around but you and me.”
“I can’t hide here all day. We’ve got things to do. Sam is waiting for us.”
He didn’t have to ask how she knew that. He just helped her up and laughed when she turned him around and brushed off his backside. She gave him a few extra pats on the ass and surprised him by giving it a squeeze with both hands.
“Nice butt, Agent Reed.”
He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He smacked her on the bottom and said, “Thanks. I like yours, too.”
She patted his backside and he walked back toward the car with her over his shoulder. They both felt lighter and their laughter rang out over the hills. It was a good moment. One she’d hold on to.
“Let me down. You can’t carry me like this all the way back,” she grumbled and lost her breath from laughing so hard.
He pulled her back over his shoulder and let her body slide down his until her feet hit the ground. He held her to him and gazed down into her bright crystal-blue eyes. Her cheeks were flushed from the rush of blood to her head.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“Nothing like a woman with a split lip and a bruised jaw,” she joked.
He wasn’t in the joking mood. “You’re beautiful,” he said with all seriousness and kissed her on the forehead. He took her hand and headed to the car.
She didn’t know what to say. The look on his face and the tone of his voice said more than his words. Her heart ached with joy and hope.
A
LONG DAY
for both of them, Tyler drove them down from the hills and back to his office. Morgan spent over an hour giving her official statement concerning her father, his abduction of her sister, and the ransom he demanded.
They returned the million dollars to the bank and transferred it back into her account. The bank manager had a fit when she simply walked into his office with the duffel bags, no guards, and asked to make a deposit. With guards posted at the office door, two tellers counted all the money, and she signed and received her receipt.
She didn’t really care about the money. All she’d ever wanted was enough to live her life without having to deal with a lot of people and explaining her gift all the time. She had that in Colorado. Today, that life seemed so far away. She wondered if she’d ever get that quiet life back. Would Tyler be a part of it?
After the FBI office and bank, they met Sam at the police precinct for the task force meeting to go over the Psychic Slayer case and the latest results from the lab.
Sam waved them into a conference room. “What do you think, Morgan? We’ve got photos of each of the victims up on the walls along with a timeline and descriptions of evidence found at the scenes and the phonebook pages. Next to each dead woman’s ad or listing, we’ve put a red sticker.”
Morgan shivered. They stood out like drops of blood on the pages. An eerie reminder those women lost their lives to a man who wanted to silence and blind them. They died because they couldn’t tell him how to find her.
She sat staring at those pages thinking about the murdered women and the ones who could be killed because a man ultimately wanted her. He thought she knew something about him. He wanted to make sure she didn’t tell. And to make sure no psychic ever told.
Morgan listened to them talking about the case. Where they were with different pieces of evidence, what they thought about the man committing the murders, and when they thought he would strike next. No one wanted to say they all knew he was after her.
She must have had contact with the killer through her website. Living in Colorado isolated her from people. Sure, she saw people in town when she did her shopping, but the murders were happening here in San Francisco. There weren’t too many psychic shops in the small towns close to where she lived, and she’d only visited Denver once.
“Tyler, have you heard from the guys at the FBI about my computer files?” she asked.
“Not yet. I checked in with them when we stopped by earlier. They didn’t have anything conclusive. Why? Did you think of something?”
“Can you ask them to search the files in the last”—she paused to think about how far back they should go—“two years. They should look in my responses. If I saw something illegal this man did, I would have told him to turn himself into the police. Tell them to search the file for keywords like
police
, or
turn yourself in
. That might get us something.”
“Do you have a lot of responses where you’d say that to someone?” Tyler asked.
“I can think of a few. There’s something bugging me. I keep thinking I should know which one I’m looking for.”
Everyone focused on Morgan, although they tried to hide it.
Tired all the way to her bones, being in the city and in the precinct gradually drained her. Keeping up her guard against the people in the station wore on her. She wanted this over. Only one way to do that. She’d have to find the man killing the psychics. Enough stalling, she knew what had to be done. She needed to find him her way.
“I’ll call the office and have them search your files for the keywords you said. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Tyler kissed the top of her head and walked by, his hand brushed across her shoulder and back as he passed. He’d make the call and get her out of here. Fading fast, he didn’t want to see her blank out for hours again. She couldn’t keep this up. He knew it, and Sam had already commented on it too.
He hated to admit she needed to go back home to Colorado. He didn’t want to be separated from her, but he wanted her safe and healthy.
They had a lot to work out before they shared their lives. He wondered if she’d live with him in California. Not in the city or even the suburbs, but maybe they could find something more isolated. Someplace like where her father had been living. She’d done okay up in the hills. He’d have to start looking around for a piece of property. He had some money put away. Real estate and property were expensive in California, and especially in the Bay Area. It didn’t matter. He’d find a place for him and Morgan, whatever it took to keep her safe and with him. They could use the property in Colorado throughout the year, or if she needed to get away. They’d work it out. He couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not ever.
S
HE WAITED FOR
Tyler to leave, then stood, and with all eyes on her she went to the wall of pictures and details about the murders. She walked by each one and touched some of the pictures. Then she stood with her back to the group of men discussing the case and opened herself to the man who killed these women.
She tried to put herself in his home at the coffee table in his apartment looking at the open phonebook, looking through his eyes. A different experience for her; normally she saw her visions as if they were on a movie screen in her mind. In this case, she was the man sitting on the old sofa looking at the phonebook.
Once she had herself in that place, she mentally told herself to move away from him and walk around the room. It took all her focus and energy to make herself an active participant in the vision.
As soon as Sam saw her blank out, he silently signaled for everyone to leave. She needed her space. All of them focusing on her would only drain her faster. He’d watched her wilt when she shared a vision with Emma. This time, she looked like a leaf in fall withering away to a crisp death. He wanted to shake her out of whatever vision held her, but he feared what might happen if he touched her. He wished Tyler would come back. With his connection to her, maybe he’d know what to do.
She stood before the wall of pictures, not really seeing them at all. Her shoulders slumped with her hands and arms hanging at her sides. Her lively hair went as slack as her arms. The golden mass of waves now lay limp and lifeless. The golden glow of her hair tarnished and dulled. When she swayed slightly, he moved toward her and stood behind her within reach. If she collapsed, he’d catch her.
Morgan moved around the dingy room. From the small sitting area, she looked into an even smaller kitchen with scarred and battered cupboards. Many of the drawers hung at odd angles, unable to slide into place properly. Outdated, avocado-green refrigerator and countertops in a faded white-with-gold-flecks pattern.
Nothing in the space told her where this apartment was located. She glided to the door with the peephole, hoping to avoid getting trapped in a closet. She’d never done this before and relied solely on instinct. She floated through the door and almost laughed at the thought of Tyler being right. In this way, she could be considered a ghost. She found herself in a hallway with dark paneled walls and a threadbare, cigarette-burned, deep burgundy and navy carpet that long ago needed replacing. She didn’t even want to consider the many stains. She turned and stared back at the door she’d just spirited through. Apartment 6D.
Tyler walked into the room. Sam stood behind Morgan. Although she stared at the gruesome wall of photos and evidence, she wasn’t seeing any of it. She’d gone somewhere else. He quietly walked over to Sam and whispered into his ear, “Why is she smiling when she looks like she’s fading?”
“I don’t know,” Sam whispered back. “She just said, ‘Apartment 6D.’ I’m guessing she’s tracking down our guy using some kind of psychic spider sense.”
“She isn’t Spider-Girl. She doesn’t have superpowers.” Worried about her, she didn’t look good, and seeing her this way ate away at his heart.
“I’m not so sure about that. She’s got an apartment number. Let’s see if she can get anything else.”
“She’s turning gray. We aren’t talking pale here. Gray.” He took a step toward her. He couldn’t feel her with him. He couldn’t hear her, even when he called to her in his mind. This wasn’t like in the hills. This was different, like she’d gone somewhere he couldn’t go.