Into a Dangerous Mind (23 page)

Zach looked over at Dix as Kathy disappeared.
 
“So, what did I miss?”

“With me and Kathy?”
 
Dix looked decidedly guilty.

“That, too, but I meant the girl—have they found her yet?”
 
Zach sat down on the sofa, and Dix plopped down onto the armchair.

Dix’s eyebrows drew together, his face darkened into a scowl, and he shook his head.
 
“No.
 
We have all the local law enforcement agencies on alert, so we’ll know as soon as they find her, but nothing yet.”

the aura and then looked over at Dix with a smirk.
 
“So…left some sexual energy on the couch last night, did you?”

Dix blushed scarlet and suddenly became very interested in studying his shoes.
 
“I just kissed her…mostly.”
 
He glared at Zach.
 
“Wait, why the hell am I explaining my actions to you like I’m some hormonal teenager?”

Zach grinned, enjoying his friend’s discomfort.
 
“I don’t know, why are you?”
 
He leaned back in his chair, crossing his ankles.

“Probably because it’s your fault.”
 
Dix shook a finger at Zach.

“My fault?”
 
Zach tried unsuccessfully to hide a grin.
 
“I was a little busy with my own woman last night.
 
I don’t remember being in here coaching you two.”

me.”

Embarrassment burned through Zach as he realized Cassidy’s phantom touch power had reached out to both of their friends while he and Cassidy had been making love and her shields had been down.
 
“Did Kathy feel it, too?”
 
He swallowed against a throat gone dry.

Dix nodded.
 
“I’ve never been so damn horny in all my life.
 
We both just ended up in each other’s arms, and before we could do much more than kiss and grope a little, well…”

of you made it to the finish line.”

Dix scowled.
 
“I would have preferred being able to take the credit for her finish line myself, if you know what I mean.”

“I’d apologize, but it wasn’t me.
 
Cassidy is the one with the phantom touch power, and she’s still learning how to use it.”
 
Zach sighed and made a mental note to warn Cassidy about the phantom touch fiasco before she saw Kathy and Dix.

Dix scrubbed his hands over his stubbled face and then looked up at Zach.
 
“Damn boy, so what you’re telling me is we were picking up on you and Cassidy’s…activities?
 
I thought maybe one of you was dreaming or something.”

Zach avoided Dix’s gaze and nodded.

Dix let out a long whistle.
 
“Wow.”
 
Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and wisely changed the subject.
 
“Anyway, getting back to the case, we can’t find the woman the Reaper attacked.
 
We’ve run what little information we have on her through the databases, but no one who fits her description has been reported missing or has been treated for similar injuries.”

the incident this morning, I mean?”

“No, and not for any of the good reasons I would’ve preferred, unlike what I heard coming through Cassidy’s door this morning.”
 
Dix chucked a thumb in the general direction of Cassidy’s door.

“Yeah, well, she’s not speaking to me, so I guess you’re better off than me since Kathy is not only speaking to you, she’s cooking you breakfast.”

With Cassidy it always seemed like one step forward and ten steps back.
 
Usually, he admitted, it had been his own fault, but this morning happened because of her fear.
 
Hopefully, once she calmed down enough to see things objectively, she would understand his determination not use his powers destructively.
 
A fine line it would be easy to cross, but he’d always stayed clear of it.

“What are you two fighting about now?”

Zach glanced toward her closed door to ensure she wouldn’t hear them discussing her.
 
“She thinks I should force open the Reaper’s powers.”

Dix’s brows arched.
 
“Wouldn’t it kill him?”

“Most likely, but she thinks any weapon in our arsenal is fair game at this point, both to prevent future murders and to protect herself.”

Dix looked thoughtful.
 
“I may not be a psychic, but isn’t it the same ethics as misusing your FBI power and authority?”

Zach looked into his friend’s eyes and smiled.
 
“Exactly.
 
But I have a feeling she’s thinking more ‘the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one’, while I’m thinking ‘the ends don’t justify the means.’
 
She’s scared—not that I blame her—so she doesn’t want to see my reasons.”

Dix stood and slapped Zach on the shoulder.
 
“Cassidy is a very smart lady.
 
Give her some time.”

Zach sincerely hoped so.
 
He’d gone too far in his feelings for Cassidy to want to lose her—especially over this.

Cassidy slammed the car door and then fastened her seatbelt.
 
As soon as Zach slid into the driver’s side and closed the door, she rounded on him.
 
“Why didn’t you warn me?”

Zach sighed as he fastened his own seatbelt and started the car.
 
“You weren’t speaking to me, remember?
 
I didn’t think you wanted me contacting you when you were pissed at me.”

I walked out there.”

Zach stopped at a stop sign and turned in the seat to look at her.
 
“If I would have contacted you, what would you have done?
 
Be honest.”

!
 
She hated when he was right.
 
If he would’ve contacted her before she cooled down, she wouldn’t have listened—even if he’d gotten past her shields.
 
She sighed, deflated.
 
“You’re probably right.
 
But how am I ever going to face them again?”

“Look at the bright side.”

“And just what would the bright side be in this particular case?”

“They both had a really good time?”

kind of funny.
 
But we have to come up with a signal or something so we know it’s important—even when we aren’t speaking.”

Zach turned to look over at her.
 
“How about pint?”

 
“Can you teach me how to control this phantom touch power before I become a menace to the neighborhood?”

Zach fidgeted in his seat.
 
“I can try.”
 
He held up a hand to forestall her objection.
 
“It’s not my talent, so I can tell you how it works in theory.
 
When this whole thing is over, I’ll put you in touch with some other psychics who do have that talent.
 
They’ll know how to help you.”

“Great.
 
So until then, I’m sharing with the world anytime we do anything.”

“Not exactly the world.
 
Your range is limited and both Kathy and Dix have some small measure of psychic awareness, so they were able to pick up on the signals you were sending.
 
None of the rest of your immediate neighbors has enough sensitivity to even have the hairs on the back of their necks stand up.”

Small consolation, but she’d have to take it—not like she had a choice for now.
 
“So, where are we going, anyway?
 
I was so happy to get out of there, I didn’t ask at the time.”

“I knew you were uncomfortable, so I figured we could go do another round at FBI headquarters and see what else we can dig up about the Reaper’s parents.”

“Okay, but I’m starving.
 
Can we drive through somewhere?”

“We could have stayed and had crepes”

“I have no desire to sit across from both of our friends whom I just gifted with orgasms a few hours ago.
 
I feel like I serviced the whole damn house!”

Zach chuckled.
 
“Well, you did.”

Cassidy slugged him lightly in the shoulder and glared, but it only served to make Zach laugh harder.
 
Eventually his laughter subsided and gave way to a lopsided grin.
 
“No problem, there are a bunch of drive through places we can choose from on the way.”

embarrassing, she reminded herself.