Devious Minds (22 page)

The clothes beneath the chocolates didn’t fare well either. I pulled out my favorite shirt to find a bullet hole right through the middle and nearly cried. With trepidation, I found my black jeans and examined them. Besides being my favorite, they were the only other pair of pants I’d brought, and I loved them. After a quick search, I could hardly believe my luck. No holes! That had to be some kind of a miracle.

Everything else sported some damage here and there, but at least with my underwear, no one would see the bullet holes but me, so I figured I could wear them anyway. I found a t-shirt that had a bullet hole in the front, just below the waist, but decided it would have to do, and quickly got dressed.

As I pulled on my pants and then my shirt, I noticed my hands shook a bit. That’s when the realization flooded me that those bullets had nearly killed me. My heart picked up speed and I sat down, then broke into a cold sweat. How could I go down to dinner like this? Then an idea struck, and I rummaged through my cosmetics bag until I found my anti-anxiety pills intact. If I ever needed one, it was now.

After gulping half of one down with a glass of water, I took a few deep, cleansing breaths and focused on blowing my hair dry. Done with that, I felt a little better and even managed to put on some lip gloss, but that was the most I could do for now. It was seven, and time for dinner, so I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Taking the stairs to the main floor, I followed the sound of voices and found the dining room where Suzette and Ramos stood talking. Ramos sent me a smile, thinking I looked a lot better, and the that bath had done me some good. Then he wondered if I knew there was a bullet hole in my shirt.

I glanced down and realized it was more obvious than I thought, even showing a little skin. “Hey, if you think this is bad, you should see my other shirt.”

Ramos froze and his eyes widened. Suzette’s brows drew together. “What?” she asked.

Oops. That was probably the pill talking, but I knew I’d better roll with it. “Oh, I was just explaining the bullet hole in my shirt, because Ramos was looking at it. He didn’t say anything, but you know how easy it is to pick up on all those non-verbal cues, right? I think about ninety-eight percent of our communication is non-verbal. Did you know that? I remember reading about it in a study or something.”

“Yeah... ” Suzette nodded like it made perfect sense, but she was thinking that I was sure talking a lot. Almost like someone who’d been caught lying and was trying to cover it up. “Well, dinner is ready. Let’s sit down and we can begin.”

“Sounds great,” I said, as cheerfully as possible. “I’m starved. I... uh... had to take an anti-anxiety pill because my hands were shaking so much, but I think the food will help.”

“Oh... that makes sense,” Suzette replied. “You’ve had a trying day. I’m sure a good meal will help.” We began with an appetizer and went from there, with Suzette explaining each dish with relish. She shook off my weirdness, thinking it was explained by the pill, and clearly enjoyed our company.

Or maybe it was Ramos’ company? She kept her gaze trained on him and smiled a lot, but I tried to keep my shields up so I wasn’t sure. In any case, by the time we got to the main course, she’d forgotten all about my faux pas.

We finished our main course of poulet nicoise, which I enjoyed immensely. Then the cook brought out something called a tarte tatin for dessert. It was a delicious, caramelized, upside-down apple pie served with crème fraiche that was to die for.

“How’s Blake doing?” I asked, as I finished the last bite.

“Much better,” Suzette replied. “But it will take a few weeks before he’s back on his feet. I told him what you found on Mason’s computer, but he doesn’t have a lot more to add.”

She was thinking that she’d mostly asked him about me, and if I was the real deal. He’d told her that I’d exposed a killer and uncovered an operation involving the attorney general and a drug ring... all because of my premonitions. Impressed, she’d tried to get more out of him about Ramos, and who he was as well, but Blake had shut down tighter than a clam, and told her to leave it alone.

That didn’t discourage her in the least. She liked mysteries. Even better, she liked solving them, and knew she’d figure it out at some point. Not from Blake, of course. Once he quit talking, she knew it was pointless, but she had lots of other resources.

I didn’t like the sound of that, but there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it. Right now, I needed to concentrate on the bomb and stopping Cypher, especially if Chris was coming. That thought sent a fresh wave of anxiety through me. What had I done inviting him here before we found the bomb? What if he got on a plane tonight?

“Have you heard anything from Gabriel?” I asked, trying to keep the panic at bay.

“Not yet. I’ll call him later and let you both know what progress he’s made.” With his resources, she hoped they’d find something, but she didn’t expect any news until morning. If I could identify the building I’d seen with my premonitions, that would certainly help. “Would you like to look through my books now?”

“Sure,” I agreed. “I need to find that building.”

Ramos sent me a smile, thinking I’d had a hard day, and it wasn’t over yet. Maybe he could help. He turned his warm gaze and sexy smile onto Suzette. “I was wondering if you have any more gun collections you could show me.”

Her face lit up with enthusiasm, and a heartfelt smile curved her lips. “I happen to have a great collection that I think you’d enjoy. I even have a couple of flintlock dueling pistols from the eighteen hundreds.”

“Nice,” Ramos said. “I’d love to see them.”

“Let’s do it. First, we’ll get Shelby set up in the library.” After showing me her architecture books, she led Ramos off to visit her gun collection in another part of the mansion. He left with a parting wink at me and I shook my head. He was quite the ladies’ man, wasn’t he?

I grabbed several books from the shelves and took them to the couch and got comfortable. Soon, I was lost in the history of each building, reading more than I should have of the time frame and facts that led to the building’s conception. Still, even as amazing as they were, I found it difficult to pinpoint the exact building I’d seen in Cypher’s mind. Discouraged, I propped a pillow behind me and settled in for a long night of scanning pages. Before I knew it, my eyes closed, and I fell asleep.

“Babe,” Ramos said, waking me. “Let’s get you to bed.”

I pulled my eyes open and squinted up at him. “Oh... sorry, I guess I fell asleep.”

“Yeah, you’re wiped out. Come on.” He pulled me up and wrapped an arm around my waist. With complete trust, I leaned against him and let him lead me up the stairs and to my room. He opened the door and sat me down on the bed.

“Thanks Ramos,” I said. “I think that pill affected me more than I thought.”

“Yeah.” He was thinking that if I wanted to keep my secret, I should only take something like that right before I went to bed.

“You’re right. I’ll do better next time.” I smiled up at him. “Did you have fun with the gun collection?”

“Sure did.” He smiled, then wondered if I needed help getting into bed... and taking off my clothes.

My eyes widened, then narrowed. “Ha, ha. Goodnight Ramos.”

“Goodnight Shelby.”

***

“Shelby, wake up.”

“Huh?” I squinted to focus my gaze on Suzette, who stood beside my bed. “What time is it?”

“Close to six in the morning. Listen, Gabriel called. They found Cypher’s hide-out in the catacombs.”

I inhaled sharply and sat up. “Was he there?”

“They caught two of his men, but the rest of them got away. He doesn’t know if one of them is Cypher, but from the artist’s sketch, it doesn’t look like it. But he’d like you to come.”

“To the catacombs?” I asked. She nodded, and I continued. “Yeah, sure.”

“Good. He was hoping that this is the breakthrough we need, and with your premonitions, maybe you’ll be able to figure out their plans.”

“So they didn’t find the bomb?”

“No.”

“Okay.” I sighed and pushed my hair off my face. “I’ll get ready.” She turned to leave. “Will you tell Ramos? I want him to come too.”

“Already done,” she said. As she closed the door behind her, I picked up that she’d enjoyed knocking on his door and peeking inside to wake him. I rolled my eyes, but understood the feeling.

Ten minutes later, I left my room and hurried down the stairs. Ramos straightened from the door frame and nodded a greeting. He hadn’t shaved. With his black leather jacket, broad shoulders and brooding eyes, he looked almost as dangerous as a terrorist... only in a much better way.

Suzette came from the kitchen and handed each of us a travel mug filled with something hot. “If you like chocolate, you’ll love this.” She was thinking it was her cook’s special recipe for real hot chocolate that was nothing like we had in the states, and perfect for a cold, early morning.

“Wow, thanks,” I said with enthusiasm, then sipped my drink and thought I’d died and gone to heaven. “This is amazing.”

Suzette threw a smile over her shoulder, and we followed her out to the garage and into the Mercedes.

“I’ll sit in the back,” I offered, knowing Ramos could watch for a tail better from the front seat. At the gate, she entered the code, and I made a note of the four-digit number from her mind, just in case I ever needed it.

“Gabriel’s waiting for us at an old entrance to the catacombs,” Suzette explained. “They found the hide-out around four-thirty this morning. From what he told me, the bomb wasn’t there, but they caught two of the men.” She was thinking they were waiting for me to do my premonition thing before they carted off the evidence.

Oh great, more pressure, just what I needed. My stomach clenched with apprehension, turning the hot chocolate I’d consumed into a sour lump. I set my mug in the cup holder, knowing I couldn’t drink it now. I should be used to this since it happened all the time, but I wouldn’t be able to understand these guys’ thoughts at all. How was I supposed to work with that?

Suzette pulled the car off the street near a bridge and parked behind several police cars that still had their lights flashing. A policeman with a flashlight came to the car. After they spoke, he motioned for us to follow him down the embankment toward the bridge, shining the light on the path so we wouldn’t stumble. Knowing my limits, I took Ramos’ arm and followed behind Suzette.

Several officers stood at the base of the bridge, but moved to allow us passage beneath the columns and through a crevasse between the cement and several rocks. One of them spoke into a radio and asked us to wait. Soon, Gabriel appeared, looking haggard and dusty.

“Ah... merci, thank you for coming,” he said. “Follow me, s’il vous plait.” The passage was wide enough for two people and, to my relief, lit by lanterns hanging every few feet. “This is not a well-known entry point, but my friend, a cataphile, as we call them, heard of some recent activity here. This entrance leads to several tunnels, but we will take the one to the right. As you can see, it circles back and opens into this room.”

The large opening had chain-link fence across it that had been cut down the middle. A fold-out table with four folding chairs sat inside the room. The table held all kinds of electrical components, from wires and cutting tools to transistors and computer terminals. There were also boxes of other things lying around, including a few haz-mat suits.

“This room has an escape route through there.” Gabriel pointed to a large hole in the corner of the wall. “The tunnel leads back up to the street. This is where the others escaped, but we caught these two.”

He pointed out the two men I hadn’t seen behind the table, sitting against the wall. Both had their heads down, but glanced up as we came into view. My breath caught. They were the two who’d followed me to the cemetery and caught me at the café. They took one look at me and shook their heads, thinking what I could only guess were a lot of French swearwords.

I glanced at Gabriel. “They’re the ones who caught me the other night.”

“Good,” Gabriel said. “Then we know we are on the right track. We believe the bomb was here, but as you can see, it is gone. These men have not spoken to us yet, but I wished for you to be here in case you picked up something from this room. Is it possible for you?”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “I think so, but... can I talk to you privately for a moment?”

Gabriel’s brows drew together. “But of course.” He drew me to a corner away from everyone else in the room. I caught Ramos’ alarm but shook my head. “What is it?” he asked.

“I can help, but I need someone to stand beside me and interpret what I say to them in French.” Gabriel’s eyes narrowed, and his brows drew together in confusion. “Let me explain. With my premonitions, I will probably pick up something, but it will be in French. Since I don’t know French, I won’t know what it means. If I can repeat what I pick up to whoever’s standing beside me, maybe they’ll know what it means, even if I don’t.”

He nodded, but was thinking,
ça me semble un peu fou
.

“Uh... like... what does ‘ça me semble un peu fou’ mean?”

His startled gaze jerked to mine. “Is that what you do? Hear thoughts?”

I glanced around the room in alarm. No one was looking at us, so I didn’t think they’d heard him. But what had I just done? My heart raced and I grabbed his arm, catching his gaze and pleading for him to understand. “Gabriel... this is... you can’t let anyone know. No one knows about this... not Blake... not anyone. You have to promise me you won’t ever tell my secret. Please.”