Mystical Love (76 page)

His thoughts took a sudden nosedive. Perhaps he
should
involve Sonny in the investigation. Her uncanny insight into people and things might just be the thing he needed to jump-start his investigation. But could he rely on her focusing her talent while grieving for her father? He didn't think he could ask that of her. For once, he wished he had the talent to touch an object and know the truth of its essence. And for once, he wished he had another cop's mind to brainstorm with.

“Don't forget to collect the surveillance footage here and along the walkway,” he said, seeing a new set of blue uniforms taking up residence inside the door. “Send them all to my office stat.” The officers nodded, heading for the cameras.

Sidestepping the EMS gurney as it passed, Dick followed their exit and then headed back to his office. Once again, he wished he had a magic lamp with a powerful genie. What he couldn't do with a spirit that had the ability to see both the past and the future at the same time.

• • •

Sonny wiped her drenched cheeks, surveying the canyon floor below her. She was a mess, her emotions all over the place, but coming to Saddleback Ridge had quickly calmed her down. It was her designated “safe place”—for when her inside world overpowered the outside one. The cactus flowers always lifted her spirits, and the vast landscape always put her talent into prospective.

Her glance drifted left, back towards the retreat hugging the hillside in the distance. She hadn't been aware that Dick knew of her secret hideaway, but then, as Head of Security, where she went and what she did was of paramount importance to him.
It's the one place he
knew you'd be safe from gunfire
, her inner voice advised. She frowned at the thought. Was any place really that safe in today's world?

A hand touched her shoulder, and Sonny jumped, almost slipping off the scenic overlook.

“Sorry,” Logan said, gripping her arm to steady her. He followed her perusal of the landscape. “When Cutter said to bring you here, I didn't think he meant driving into the wilderness.”

“We're really quite close to the retreat,” Sonny said. “We came by car, which is the long way. You can walk the trail in less than fifteen minutes.”

“No,
you
can walk the trail,” he remarked. “I prefer a faster and more comfortable mode of transportation.”

His words rankled, making Sonny wish she could leave him to walk the trails back.

Her glance latched on to a two-story cabin nestled a couple of miles below the overlook. If only she had her briefcase. She could take a quiet moment to look at the Tarot cards and determine why a serial killer would use them as the focal point of his killings. She was sure his identity was amongst the cards—if she could figure out how to arrange them. And then, of course, her path would be clear after that. She would link them to her father's death, then do everything in her power to bring the despicable bastard out in the open, and have him arrested.

Was it a “he” they were looking for? She couldn't be sure without a point of reference. Women tended to be drawn to metaphysics more than men. Though eighty percent of her clients were women, the scattered twenty percent of men that came met with her out of curiosity, desperation, or flat-out hatred.

A vision of her father's slumped figure had her biting her lip. Was Logan right? Had a friend killed him? Ned and her uncle certainly fought enough with her father to put them at the top of any suspect list, but her aunt had been at odds with her father for the last month, too. Perhaps she had just gotten tired of his incessant need to put money above family responsibilities and snapped.

A jerk on her arm made Sonny stumble to a nearby bench. She sank down, surprised to find Logan slipping into the seat beside her.

“Has the crisis been averted?” he asked. “You look like you're feeling better.”

“I'm calmer,” Sonny told him. “But I won't be better until I know who killed Daddy and why.”

“First things first. We need to find out who wants
you
dead and why. Once we know that, we'll know why your father was killed. The two incidents are related.”

“There's a third related incident,” Sonny said.

“Which is?”

“The serial killings. Ever since I looked at the images, I've sensed they are connected to The Sanctuary.”

“Are you sure? Your life seems to have been a roller coaster for the past week. You could be off your game.” He started to elaborate, but the cell phone in Sonny's pocket set off with a rousing rendition of “Hail to the Chief.”

Sonny glanced down at the screen. “It's Ned,” she said. “Should I answer it?”

“By all means,” he replied. “Put it on speaker, though. I want to hear the tone of his voice.” He lifted a finger in her direction. “Talk to him the way you normally talk to him.”

Sonny chewed on her lower lip. Talking with Ned was like walking barefoot over a bed of hot coals.

“Buck up,” Logan added. “You can do this.”

Forcing her mind to take his words as a compliment, Sonny hit the speaker button. “Hello, Ned.”

“Charlotte says you're in distress.”

“I was for a while, but I'm feeling better now.”

A pause descended, and for a moment Sonny thought the line had gone dead. But then Ned's voice came on the line again.

“I owe you an apology, Sonny. I crossed the line in mentioning the lawsuit earlier.”

“You owe Uncle Brad the apology, not me.”

Another pause originated.

“I apologized to your uncle an hour ago, so that fence is mended … We've prepared a statement for you to read before we release it to the press. How soon can you get here to go over it with me?”

Sonny glanced at Logan, who held up three fingers.

“We'll be there in about thirty minutes.”

“We?” Ned asked. “Can't you park Logan Reed at Serenity until we've finished company business?”

Sonny gave a broken laugh. “I can't just
park
him, Ned. He's my guest.”

“With all that's happened, he'll understand. You can conduct whatever business you have with him tomorrow. Right now, your focus should be on assuring our guests they are in no danger. Rumors are already circulating, thanks to the heightened security. You must come home stat.”

“Is that an order?”

“It's a polite request.”

“I'll be there in thirty minutes, I promise.”

“Don't argue—”

Sonny disconnected the call, cutting Ned off mid-sentence. She saw Logan's lips pursed in a frown.

“Relax,” she said. “You told me to act naturally with him, and I did. He is used to my hanging up on him.”

“He's a marvel, if he takes that kind of abuse from you without retaliation.”

“Forget him. What's our next move? I've bought us thirty minutes.” Sonny slipped the phone back into her pocket.

The man beside her began to study the canyon floor, and Sonny knew his mind was sifting through all their options.
Are there any
? her inner voice rallied.
Besides making a reservation for two at the local psychiatric hospital?

“Returning to The Sanctuary is best,” Logan said, coming out of his trance. He shot to his feet. “I think it's time to reveal the incident on the mesa to your family.”

“For heaven's sake, why? They'll go ballistic.”

“Good. People make mistakes when they're angry.”

“We should discuss it with Dick first,” Sonny said. “We owe him that much, don't you think? After all, we're keeping a whopper of a secret from him.”

“As always, you're right. We'll run it by Cutter first and then spill the news.”

“And if Dick says no?”

“You don't solve murders by hoping the killer will have a sudden attack of conscience and turn himself in. You push his buttons.”

Sonny shivered. “This killer will push back. He's cunning, devious, and without conscience.”

“Again, you're right. He's not going to stop what he's doing until we
make
him stop.” Logan reached for her hand. “All set to re-enter the lion's den?”

Sonny took his hand, hopping to her feet and pulling him towards the exit sign. As they descended the trail and cut back through the trees, she wondered why Logan was taking her suggestions. Surely, his crackerjack mind didn't need her input.
But then, he doesn't know the family
dynamics,
her inner voice prompted.

“Sonny?”

She brought her mind back to Logan as they reached the end of the trail and stepped onto a black asphalt path.

“The company calendar will have no record of Daddy's appointments, by the way,” she said, stepping off the path. “He keeps his agendas on his computer, locked with a passcode that has umpteen subroutines.”

“Is that a recent thing?” Logan asked. “The paranoia?”

“No, he's done it for years. He claims building loops within loops is like solving a challenging brain-teaser.”

They crossed two more vacant parking spaces and then, reaching the pickup, Logan jerked the driver's door open. He slipped behind the wheel quickly, waiting for Sonny to slip into the passenger seat.

A moment later, he fired up the engine and shoved the vehicle into drive. In seconds, the truck was sailing out of the parking lot and onto the local state road. Noticing the truck's alarming speed, Sonny chided him, “You do remember this is the lieutenant's personal vehicle you're driving, don't you?”

Logan tapped the brakes with a grin. The truck settled into a decent speed, and Sonny picked up their conversation again.

“I think, if I can keep Uncle Brad and Ned focused elsewhere, I can access Daddy's computer. He's left a message in it for me.”

Logan's foot shot from the gas pedal. “How the hell do you know that?”

“From experience. When I'm hurled into a vortex, all kinds of images are swimming in the abyss. My mind has only a split second before it centers on the relevant one, but that doesn't mean the other images disappear. They just pull back, so I can
see
a specific moment in time. When I touched the knife earlier, I didn't see the couple making love, but you did. We both saw the therapy session. You saw the word Pandora last; however, coming out of the vortex, I saw a computer screen with Daddy's name on it last. Since you obviously didn't mention seeing that, you didn't see it. That means Daddy left me a ‘for your eyes only' in his computer.”

“You're starting to make a spirit-world believer out of me,” Logan said, braking at a stop sign. Seeing no traffic, he turned the car onto a secondary roadway. They were soon cruising past a billboard announcing: “The Sanctuary” and then seeing a familiar television van parked alongside the road. Sonny realized Ned was right. It was best to park Logan in a suite and come back for him later. The news hounds would be chomping at the bit, vying to one-up the other for a new spin on her father's death. The appearance of a Meta Corps agent might be a temptation too hard to resist. The security teams would definitely be in force, too, and she was sure the paparazzi would notice that. From then on, life would become miserable for all the retreat guests.

“You're thinking of ditching me,” Logan said, reading her thoughts.

“How did you know?” Sonny asked, turning to him in surprise.

“If I've learned anything from being around you in the last couple of hours, it's that you can't abide chaos.”

“Who's chaos?” Sonny asked.

“Don't joke. I assure you I saw that news crew by the side of the road. They're gearing up for a firestorm, and since I'm no stranger to glaring headlines, nothing they could say or print about me means a damn thing. But they can hurt you and the retreat. And that, I won't allow, so tap that beautiful brain of yours and tell me how to get in the front door without bringing my Meta Corps credentials into the limelight.”

“There is no way.”

“Will a personal way work?” Logan asked.

Sonny's heart skipped a beat. “You're not suggesting I pretend we're dating?” Her eyes came up to study his face.

“Hardly. We need something more serious than that. Will an engagement work?” His eyes roamed over her face and figure, and Sonny knew instantly what he was thinking. Her cheeks colored under the heat of his gaze, and she cleared her throat, pretending not to be affected by the thought of a romantic liaison between them.

“Certainly not,” she scoffed. She schooled her features into a blank television stare, determined not to let him see how much the idea appealed to her.

“You're right,” Logan said. “The family would never believe I took one look at you and fell madly in love with you.”

This time, Sonny laughed. “Do you know how many lies you'd have to tell to pretend you fell in love with me at first sight? You'd never be able to keep a straight face when you uttered them. No, the best angle is for you to take on the persona of one of our guests. Should they discover you're part of Meta Corps, you can say you're on holiday. No one will question that.”

“Very well,” Logan said, grudgingly. “I'll defer to your wisdom. Although, I promise you, if there's any sign you're about to be crucified by the press, I'll step in and shake things up.”

Sonny heard the determination in his voice and suppressed a shudder. She'd hate to be on the wrong side of Logan's determination. If she had learned anything since meeting him, it was that he was a man with a driving need to win. He obviously ran his own cases and brooked no interference while investigating them.

She wished she could agree to his suggestion, though. He was a perfect candidate for a lover—handsome, witty, smart, and she was sure he knew what to do with a woman when he got her in bed. His touch would be oddly soft and caressing … Sonny halted the erotic thought. It was ridiculous to be fantasizing about Logan Reed's body flexing rhythmically against hers. They were strangers, bound together by a maniacal serial killer.
That's it; think of
Logan as a
business associate
, her inner voice suggested,
and remember that mixing business with pleasure never works.