by Anna Blakely
“Jesus,” Garrett exclaimed under his breath. “What an asshole.” Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
“The vision I saw showed Mary Grace being beaten, and then her father left her alone in the barn with Josiah.”
“The bastard killed his own sister?” Murphy assumed angrily.
“No.” Eden shook her head. “She killed herself. Sliced her wrist with some sort of sharp blade that was within her reach. Josiah begged her not to, but she told him it was the only way she’d ever truly be free.”
“That’s why he’s killing these women.” Alex looked at his boss. “He thinks he’s helping them.”
Eden agreed. “He somehow knows about their powers.”
“He must also be able to pick up on their feelings of not belonging,” Garrett added somberly.
“With the exception of Chloe Howard.”
They all looked to Murphy, who shrugged.
“She wasn’t lonely. Hell, she was involved in all sorts of social groups in college.”
“Josiah had to have picked up on something.” Dan looked at the other man. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen her.”
“Unless she was like Josiah.”
Everyone’s focus turned to Eden. Intelligent, golden eyes scanned across the others before landing back on Alex.
“In my vision he told his sister he never let anyone else see him using his power.” She looked up at Dan. “I think you’re right. Whatever psychic ability Josiah possesses allows him to either read minds or sense emotions. Something that showed him all the victims, including Chloe Howard, felt as if they were somehow less than. Not normal. In his twisted mind, he felt as though he could help them by setting them free.”
Murphy stood and walked over to the board. “Question now is how did he find these women? They were all from different areas in the city. Their jobs weren’t connected, and they didn’t run in the same social circle.”
“Could be one of several possible circumstances,” Dan chimed in. “He could be like Eden and just happened to bump into them on the street.”
Eden nodded. “Or, he could be a telepath and somehow tapped into their psyche.”
“What, like a mind reader?” Garrett asked.
“Exactly.” She stood and joined Murphy at the board. Studying the pictures again, she thought back to what she’d felt and seen when she’d touched the items belonging to each one. “My best guess is he’s out there, purposely searching for his victims, but how he finds them is simply by happenstance. He sees them in all sorts of places. On the sidewalk or at the library. The grocery store, or”—
“On T.V.” Murphy mumbled almost to himself. Staring at Chloe Howard’s picture, he turned to Dan, he asked, “If The Liberator is a telepath, could he read minds through the T.V.?”
Dan nodded. “It’s possible”
“Chloe Howard made a public appearance with her mother two days before she was taken. Some sort of women’s fundraiser or something.” Murphy looked over at Alex. “If what these two are saying is true, our guy could’ve seen her on there and somehow read whatever angst she was feeling. That could have been how he chose her.”
Frustrated, Alex exhaled loudly. “That’s all well and good, but that news footage was broadcast all over the damn state. So, we still have no idea where to even start looking for him.”
“He’s right,” Garrett told Murphy. “Don’t get me wrong, the information Eden discovered is important.” He gave her a quick, apologetic glance. “But knowing the guy’s first name and that he grew up on an Amish-type farm with an abusive father and a suicidal sister doesn’t tell us where to start looking for him.”
“So we find a way to bring him to us,” Murphy shot back.
Garrett snorted. “How the hell are we going to do that? It’s not like we can go on T.V. and offer the prick a formal invitation.”
A slow smile crept over Murphy’s face. One that had Alex feeling all sorts of nervous.
“Actually”—their sergeant looked in Eden’s direction— “that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Chapter Eleven
“No. Absolutely not. It’s totally out of the question, so don’t bother asking.”
Eden looked at Alex. As much as she hated Sergeant Murphy’s idea, she knew it was something she had to do.
“I wasn’t asking.”
A muscle in his jaw bulged, and she could tell he was vicariously close to losing his shit. Well, he’s going to have to get over it.
With his hands on his hips, Alex kept his eyes locked on hers as he ordered the others gruffly, “Give us the room.”
The other men, including Murphy, left them alone without so much as a word.
“Alex, I—”
“You do this, you’re asking for him to take you. You get that, right?”
“Yes.” She looked up at him, hating the fear staring back at her. “I know exactly what this means, but…”
“But, nothing, Eden!” His voice rang off the small room’s walls. Running his fingers through his hair, he turned away from her.
“I get that you’re worried, Alex. And I understand why.”
“Do you?” He spun back around. “Do you really?”
Closing the space between them, he put his hands on her shoulders. Eden tried hard, but in the end was unable to hide the reaction to his anger. She flinched beneath his touch, and Alex immediately pulled his hands away.
“I’m sorry.” Eden’s eyes found his. “I didn’t mean to jump.”
Pain filled his gorgeous blue eyes. “You can feel my anger, can’t you?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Your anger and your fear.”
He clenched his jaw. “Imagine what it would feel like for that bastard to touch you. To be in the hands of a sadistic fucking killer instead of someone who—”
Eden’s breath caught, knowing what he’d stopped himself from saying. They’d made love on more than one occasion. She’d felt it pouring from his touch, but they had yet to actually say the words.
“Someone who what, Alex?”
Though he shook his head, Alex closed the short distance between them again. With more control over his emotions than before, he cupped one side of her face and said, “Someone who loves you, Eden.” His thumb moved back and forth over her smooth skin. “And I do love you. You know that, right? You’ve felt it?”
Eden nodded. “I know.” She wrapped her fingers around as much of his thick wrist as she could. “I love you too, Alex.”
“Then don’t ask me to stand by and watch you go through all that again.”
Hating that he still blamed himself for what happened before ate at her. “You have to let that go.”
“I can’t,” he ground out roughly, dropping his hand and taking a step back. The vein in his forehead became more prominent the angrier he got. “You don’t get it. You were asleep, but I wasn’t. I was there. Every. Single. Day.”
“I know.”
“No.” Alex shook his head vehemently. “You don’t.”
His chest heaved and his nostrils flared as he worked to calm himself. Alex moved toward her, his anxiety from those horrific days raising his voice as he spoke.
“I close my eyes, and I can still see it. I can still feel you collapsing in my arms. Your pulse nearly non-existent. The fear I felt that day? It’s still here.” He tapped his chest.
“Alex—” Eden tried to ease his pain, but he wouldn’t let her.
With fresh anguish he said, “I’ll never forget how it felt to sit by your side for three fucking days while you laid in that hospital bed. I watched and waited. Praying every second I could. Baby, you were unconscious for so long. Unresponsive to everything the doctors tried, and they thought…” His voice broke to the point he had to clear his throat to continue.
“The doctors didn’t know whether or not you’d even wake up again. That’s what my reality was back then, and I can’t”—he shook his head again, blinking back unshed tears— “I can’t go th
rough that again.”
Grabbing the back of his neck, he turned away, almost as if he were unable to look at her just then. A fist the size of Texas squeezed her heart. Desperate now, Eden did everything she could to make him understand.
“God gave you this gift,” she spoke quietly. “It’s up to you how you use it.”
Alex faced her again but said nothing.
“Those were the last words my mother said to me before she was killed.”
“I thought your mother…” He paused, trying to choose his words carefully.
“Killed herself?” Eden took the burden from him. “That’s what the public story was. What the papers said.”
“So, how did she really die?”
Drawing in a deep breath, Eden shared something she’d never told another living soul. “Alex, my father killed my mother.”
“What?” Confused, he asked, “Why isn’t there a record of it?”
“Because no one ever knew the truth but me.” She shrugged. “And him.”
“What happened?”
“He made his famous chili for dinner one night. He scooped some into a bowl for himself and for me, and then made a bowl for her. Before he gave Mom hers, he crushed up a whole bottle of her prescription sleeping pills and stirred them in. She had no idea.”
“Jesus.” Alex took a step toward her. “How did you find out?”
“I suspected but didn’t dare ask him. Instead, I kept quiet and waited. The night of her funeral, my father drank himself to sleep. Once I knew he was out cold on the couch, I went to him. I put my hand on his forehead and I saw what he’d done.” A tear escaped her eye. “I saw everything.”
“Ah, fuck, Eden.” He went to her, then. Wrapping his arms around her, the sweet, caring man pulled her in close. “That must have been awful for you.”
Eden clutched the shirt at his back. “It was.”
After a moment, he asked, “What happened to him?”
“He woke up shortly after, having no idea what I’d done or that I knew the truth. He bitched about needing more beer. I was too young to drive, so he grabbed his keys and left for the store.” A sad but satisfied smile crossed her lips. “My father wrapped his car around a tree on his way home. He was killed instantly.”
With a muttered curse, Alex’s hold became even tighter. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“Don’t be. I’m not.” Eden pulled away, needing to put some distance between her and the melting pot of emotions boiling between them. “My father never beat me or my mother. But in one, very significant way he was a lot like Josiah’s.”
“He didn’t want you or your mother using your gifts,” Alex concluded.
Eden nodded. “He didn’t understand what we could do. Like most people, that scared him. It caused a rift between him and my mother. When we discovered I was gifted with psychic abilities as well, he began keeping his distance.” She swiped the moisture from her cheeks. “I gained a gift, but I lost my father. Then, a few years later, he stole my mother from me, too.”
Sympathy poured from Alex’s eyes. “Baby.”
“I’m not telling you this to gain your sympathy.” Eden walked to the board. “I shared that story with you in hopes you’d understand why I have to do this.” Facing him again, Eden implored with him to hear what she was saying. “Alex, these women had no one to turn to. And who knows how many others like them are out there, right now. Others like me.”
Alex slowly made his way over to her. “I just got you back.” He stared down at her with the same desperation she felt. “This thing with us…it’s just getting started, Eden. I can’t lose you. Not when I finally have you the way I’ve always dreamed of.”
“Oh, Alex.” Eden went to him. With her hand pressed over his pounding heart, she said, “You’re not going to lose me. We don’t even know if this plan of Murphy’s is going to work.”
“It’ll work,” he stated with utter certainty. “One look at you and Josiah won’t be able to resist.” He tucked some hair behind her ear. “I can’t stand the thought of you being used this way.”
“You heard what Murphy said. I’ll be protected by your team the whole time, and the second Josiah tries to get to me…if he tries…you and the others will swoop in and take him out. I won’t ever be in any real danger.”
Anguish filled his eyes. “I fucking hate the thought of you being anywhere near that sick bastard.”
“I know,” Eden whispered softly.
That same muscle in his strong jaw bulged. “There has to be another way.”
I wish there was. “There isn’t. Not without risking more lives.”
Alex stared down at her, still racked with indecision. Deep down, he knew she was right. She just had to give him the time to accept it. A minute later, his resolve crumbled.
“Goddamnit.” The explicative escaped his lips on a whisper just before he leaned his forehead against hers. “Swear to God, if anything happens to you…”
“Nothing is going to happen to me, honey.” Eden leaned up and pressed her lips to his. “I promise.”
She went in for another quick taste, but Alex deepened the kiss. Soon, what was meant to be a short symbol of reassurance turned into a passionate embrace.
Tongues intertwined, the two became so lost in their unspoken promises to each other, neither realized they had company until Sergeant Murphy cleared his throat.
“I take it you two have come to an agreement?” The man’s rough voice rumbled from behind Alex.
Turning to face his boss, Alex wasted no time making his conditions clear. “If we do this, she’s to have eyes on her at all times. No exceptions.”
“That’s the plan,” his boss assured him.
“I mean it, Richard.” Alex reached back for her hand, which of course, Eden was more than happy to give.
“I hear you, Bennett.” Murphy took a few steps toward them. “But you need to remember, I’m the one in charge here. Not you.”
“Not where she’s concerned, you’re not.”
The two men stared each other down for a stretch before Murphy surprisingly backed down. “Fair enough.” He looked at her. “The press is already starting to gather outside.”
“Already?” Alex frowned. “We just agreed to do this like two seconds ago.”
“Wrong.” Murphy shook his head. “You just agreed to do this. She’s been on board from the beginning.”
“What if I’d talked her out of it?”
Murphy chuckled. “Like that was going to happen.”
Eden held back her grin.
“You ready?” Murphy directed the question to her.
No. “As I’ll ever be.”
A few minutes later, while standing just inside the precinct doors, Murphy quickly went back over the plan one last time.
“I’ll make the official statement. Say something about how, thanks to Eden’s involvement we now have a suspect. Assholes that they are, someone will most likely bring up the last case she worked with us. Eden”—Murphy directed his attention to her—“remember, your job is to stay quiet. Look nervous, uncomfortable. Even remorseful.”
“This sucks,” Garrett exclaimed from beside her. “What happened before wasn’t her fault and she’s just supposed to stand there and take their bullshit?”
“It’s okay, Garrett.” Eden put a hand to his arm.
The anger he felt toward the media on her behalf was strong, but not nearly to the extent of what she’d felt from Alex earlier. It made sense, however. Garrett wasn’t in love with her.
I love you.
Eden stored the memory of Alex saying those precious words in the back of her mind. She couldn’t think pleasant thoughts right now. As much as she hated to, she had to force herself to pull up some of the worst memories from her past.
Her father’s harsh, judgmental words to both her and her mother. The strange looks she’d received as a child and then later, as an adult.
The whispers and stares she’d gotten when that poor wo
man died two years ago, and worse, the things that had been written about her for months after.
It didn’t take long for old insecurities to begin seeping in. By the time she stepped out onto the precinct steps, Eden didn’t have to pretend to feel as though the world was out to get her.
Several gasps filled the air, and the incessant clicking of cameras and harsh, bright flashes left her blinking. Her heart felt heavy, and she had to work to control her breathing.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all.
“Good afternoon,” Sergeant Murphy began once the crowd became hushed. “Thank you all for coming.”
Eden stood stoically as he shared with the press what he’d prepared only a few minutes before. Murphy told them they had a person of interest whom they were looking into closely, and it was all thanks to Eden and her unique ability.
Immediately, the dozen or so reporters began speaking at once, shouting out questions and accusations. Just as they’d expected.
“Sergeant Murphy, everyone at home is going to want to know why your department would even consider partnering with Miss Westfield again after the disastrous results she yielded the last time she served as a consultant for your unit.”
“Seriously,” another misguided reporter snarled. “She let one woman die, already. What makes you think she’s going to be of any help this time around?”
“Everyone knows you’re a fake, Eden,” one woman accused her directly. “What kind of person are you to waste the department’s precious time when they could be out there, chasing down real leads.”
The questions and verbal attacks continued on for several more minutes. Eventually, Murphy put a stop to it, assuring the press and everyone watching from home that the police and FBI were working diligently to follow up on all leads, and they were not solely relying on Miss Westfield’s assistance in solving this case.
His statement contained just enough carefully worded portions to lead anyone listening to believe that, while he was allowing her involvement, he didn’t really put a lot of weight in her findings.
Even though Eden had been expecting it, the man’s words stung. Too many times, the validity of her gift had been brought into question, and she was surprised at the level of pain still present in those memories.