Into a Dangerous Mind (30 page)

“Does that mean you can make some more of those date pinwheel cookies and those crepes for breakfast?”
 
Dix looked so hopeful and smitten at the same time, Cassidy had to hide a smile.

if you guys get some more groceries.
 
I love to cook, but I hate to shop.”

“For groceries anyway…” added Cassidy under her breath.

Cassidy sighed as she placed her fingers over the frets of her cello’s neck and rested the bow against the strings.
 
Everyone had been in such a high state of alert for the past week waiting for the Reaper to make his next move, she hadn’t had much time to play.
 
And since nothing had happened, the high state of readiness was starting to wear on her nerves…and everyone else’s.

Zach and Dix spent their time snapping at everyone, tracking down clues on the copycat killers and placating the Director and the press.
 
She hadn’t seen Zach for more than an hour at a time, and none of it had been with just the two of them.
 
Most of his nights were spent on surveillance shifts or doing some other work she wasn’t privy to.

Not that she hadn’t kept busy.
 
She’d spent most of her spare time practicing exercises to develop her gifts.
 
So between having visions and using her phantom touch, Cassidy had a week-long throbbing headache.
 
On the upside, she now knew more about Zach’s grandmother.
 
It made her sad that she’d never meet the generous woman she’d come to know through her psychic practices with the ring.

On the downside, Kathy was still upset from when Cassidy mentally nudged her, causing her to drop an entire batch of Dix’s date pinwheel cookies onto the tile floor.
 
Kathy, always easy going, tended to be very protective of her baking.
 
Cassidy telling Kathy she’d helped her hone her phantom touch hadn’t placated her friend one bit.
 
Go figure.

What she needed was some well-deserved stress relief.
 
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of the cello under her fingers as she bowed the first sensuous note.
 
The vibrations traveled through her knees and into her body, calming her and making her one with the music she loved.

She let the notes flow through the cello without conscious thought.
 
Music surrounded her, filling the living room.
 
The stress from the past week fell away to be replaced by peace and tranquility which only came from her music.

It wasn’t as sad or desperate as it had been the day Kathy heard her playing before their drinking binge.
 
A twinge of guilt hit her that she should be healing while several women were dead.
 
But she knew from the death of her parents long ago that life went on, even if you sometimes didn’t want it to.

As she continued to play, the music took on more of a hopeful, relaxing quality, and she let herself drift in a sea of sensations.
 
Behind her eyelids a misty vision took shape.
 
Without missing a note, she took a deep breath and let the vision come.
 
If she had learned anything over the past few weeks, it was to roll with her gifts and see where they led her.

She saw herself playing alone on a wooden stage staring out over a sea of hundreds of faces which comprised the audience.
 
The acoustics were excellent, and each note vibrated and echoed around her.
 
Not recognizing the auditorium, she tried to make out architectural distinctions or even a printed sign, but there were none.

As the music swelled to a crescendo, she opened her eyes and saw Zach.
 
He wore a tux, and stood in the aisle below the stage studying her.
 
His warm golden eyes were intense and sad.
 
Several of the audience members turned to stare at him, but his attention was only for her.

Even as her heart skipped a beat, she continued to play.
 
He was here!
 
Excitement and contentment flowed through her, but she resisted the urge to reach out to him.
 
There was so much left unsaid between them….

Zach’s physical presence intruded, and the vision dissipated like fog melting off the ocean.
 
Cassidy opened her eyes and realized she’d already stopped playing.
 
Reaching up to touch her own face, she was surprised when her fingers came away wet.

She sighed and wiped away the last remnants of her tears.

Zach sat across the room waiting patiently.
 
“You play beautifully.
 
I’m amazed all over again each time I hear you.
 
No description can compare to the first hand experience.”

“Thank you.”
 
She frowned and tried to hold on to the wisps of the vision, knowing they were important, but not understanding why.

“You had a vision while you were playing, didn’t you?”
 
He stood and walked toward Cassidy.
 
“You look worried.
 
Would you like to talk about it?”

Cassidy loosened her bow and shook her head.
 
“It’s already slipping away.
 
I can remember it vaguely, but the emotions were more important than the rest and I can’t recall them.”

Zach leaned his hands on the back of the recliner closest to Cassidy.
 
“It sounds like you had a psychic déjà vu.”

Her brow furrowed into a puzzled expression as she leaned her cello against the wall and faced him.
 
“Isn’t that backwards?
 
Déjà vu is where something you’re doing makes you think you’ve done it before.
 
What I saw in the vision, didn’t feel familiar.”

they happen.”

“So it’s a significant event of some type?”
 
Cassidy brushed a curl that had fallen out of her ponytail away from her face.
 
“But what if choices I make between now and then change the outcome and it doesn’t happen?”

has come to pass exactly as I saw it.
 
Even if I didn’t remember it until I lived it.”

Cassidy frowned.
 
“I’ll ponder that later.
 
I just got rid of my tension headache, and I don’t want it back.”

Zach winked at her.
 
“How about if we go see if we can sweet talk Kathy out of some of the delicious food I smell?”

“Hopefully she’s not still mad about those cookies….”

“But it was a week ago.”

“You’d be surprised.
 
She’s still mad about a joke I played in college where I decorated some cupcakes she made for the church bake sale with birth control pill sprinkles.”

“Hmmm, you’re right, I can’t imagine why she’s still upset over that one.”
 
His voice was laced with definite sarcasm, softened with a small smile.

Zach slammed the phone down.
 
“Son of a bitch!
 
Damn psychos!”

Cassidy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
 
“What is it?”

more confessions.”
 
He rubbed his tired eyes and sat down at Cassidy’s kitchen table.
 
“Apparently, five people have confessed to the Reaper murders.”

“Please tell me one of the people they have in custody is actually Brian.”
 
She sat down next to him so they were eye level.

“No such luck.
 
None of the five fit the profile, and most of them even have air-tight alibis for one or more of the murders.”

A crease formed between Cassidy’s eyebrows and her full mouth turned down into a frown.
 
“Why do you even check out alibis if you know it isn’t them?”

commit a crime and we miss it….”

“I guess it makes sense, but don’t they get in trouble for confessing when they didn’t do anything?”

He began to pace around the room like a caged cat.
 
“Yes, but it’s not a huge offense.”

Nothing about this day was going right and the past week of inactivity on the Reaper’s part had done nothing but make him jumpy.
 
Now with the string of confessions and the few copy cats out there, his level of tension was at an all time high.

Something had to give…and soon.

Cassidy stepped into his pacing path, startling him.

Zach stopped short and stared her down.
 
“What?”

Cassidy stood serenely with her arms crossed in front of her and arched a perfectly manicured eyebrow at him.
 
Her hazel eyes cool and piercing.
 
“I know it’s been a difficult week for everyone, but you’re not the only one who needs to blow off steam.”

“What the hell do you know about it?”
 
He glowered down at her, only to be irritated when she continued to stare at him coolly.

“I know none of us want more murders.
 
I know we’re all hoping the Reaper makes his next move soon so we can put an end to this.”

Her logical tone and even voice only served to fuel his growing temper.
 
He hadn’t seen her for more than a few minutes all week and here she was getting in his face.
 
“Don’t start psychoanalyzing me, Cassidy.
 
You don’t have any idea what I’m feeling.”

For the first time in this conversation, temper sparked in Cassidy’s eyes before they narrowed dangerously.
 
She raised her chin defiantly and stood toe to toe with him.
 
“I would if you hadn’t shut me out,” she said between gritted teeth.
 
“You haven’t bothered to open your mind to me or even talk to me all week.”

The truth of her statement hit hard and he pushed it aside as guilt only added fuel to his anger.
 
“I’ve been too busy this week doing my job to baby sit you!”