Farewell to Goodbye

by Penny Childs

  “I know. I’m just sayin’.”

  “I sent you everything we have so far, which isn’t much. You do have one upside. He grabs them from different places, but he always brings them home to kill them and dump them.”

  “Home?”

  “Well, to the same area, anyway. Home is as good a word as any. The place must hold some significance to him.”

  “Where?”

  “Spring Haven, Michigan. It’s a fairly rural town.” He paused with a grin. “Shit, I think they actually refer to themselves as a village. The sheriff there called me this morning, sent all the information she has. She’s the one that made the survivor connection.”

  This had Trevor’s eyebrows going up again. So, the sheriff was a woman. He didn’t see it often, but he did see it. Sometimes they were easier to work with, sometimes they were not. He hoped this one wasn’t one that thought she had something to prove to every other male cop on the planet. He supposed she probably wasn’t though, since she made the initial contact and asked for help.

  “Look, Trevor, I want to tell you, before you read it in the report.” He paused and watched him carefully. “The sheriff up there… its Mel.” He saw Trevor’s eyes widen and his jaw clench, but not much more. “I wouldn’t even ask you to do this, but I don’t have anyone else that’s as good as you are at this.”

  “Mel?” he asked, blinking, ignoring Bill’s attempt at a compliment.

  “Yeah. She’s been sheriff there for about five years now.”

  “You knew?”

  “Yeah, I knew, Trevor. I kept in contact with her, on and off. I wrote her reference letter for her. She was a good agent and it really sucked when we lost her.”

  “Does she know that you’re sending me?”

  Bill shook his head. “I sent her an e-mail and confirmed I’d get someone up there by tonight. I have a feeling she wanted to ask me not to send you, but she didn’t. She probably thinks I have more sense than that,” he said with a grin.

  “She’s going to be pissed at you, you know.” He had not seen her in seven years and he was pretty sure that if it were up to her, she would never see him again. The very fact that she had called and asked Bill for help surprised him. She had to know that she was taking a chance on having to work with him again.

  “I know that. It won’t be the first time. Luckily, I won’t be within kicking distance. You will.”

  “It’s not the kicking I’m worried about, Bill, it’s her proficiency with firearms.”

  Three

  They had ridden in silence a majority of the way from the airport to the police station, until Junior Agent Renee Marshall could take it no longer. Trevor was a time bomb in danger of going off. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and constantly fiddled with the dials on the radio and climate control. She was pretty sure she could hear his teeth grinding together.

  “I’ve heard that you know Sheriff Rhodes,” she ventured warily.

  Trevor glanced over at her. “I know her.”

  “You have a history with her, is what I heard.”

  “You sure hear a lot.”

  She shrugged. “So, is she going to be happy to see you, or pissed off?”

  Trevor frowned and looked over at her a little longer than she was comfortable with before he said, “She won’t be happy.”

  “I just like to know before I walk into stuff like that. How pissed are we talking here? Yelling pissed, or gun drawing pissed?” This earned her another long look. She was almost ready to ask him to please look at the road when he finally did it on his own.

  Trevor had worked with the tall redhead on two other occasions and thought she would make a fine agent, once she had some field time under her belt. Which was why Bill had insisted that she come along for this.

  “So what happened? Bad breakup?”

  “I’m really not going to discuss that with you,” he told her.

  “You screw around on her?” He did, after all have somewhat of a reputation. Trevor did not sleep alone if he didn’t want to.

  “I can have you sent home, you know.”

  This, at least, ended her questions regarding his and Mel’s past.

  Looking out the side window of the car, Renee said, “Wow, if this is the town, you’d think a serial killer would stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, how many people live around here?”

  “Couple thousand, give or take,” Trevor said absently as he pulled into the police station/village hall. It was located on the main drag right on a corner. A chiropractor’s office sat across the street on one side and barber shop on the other. Shops lined the entire street on both sides for a mile or so. The beach was within walking distance.

  “Jeeze, they should all know each other.”

  “Sometimes that helps a monster hide,” he said quietly as he shut off the engine. “Besides, this is a tourist town. People come and go. Strangers are the norm, not the exception.” It was after seven o’clock and he was really hoping that Mel had gone home for the night. He was just stopping by to let the locals know he was here and would be around first thing in the morning. He also figured they might be able to direct him to a good place to catch dinner.

  Renee popped her door open and got out of the car to stretch. She gave Trevor a curious look when he just sat in the driver’s seat staring at the entrance of the building. He wasn’t afraid of anything that she knew of, but she thought he might be afraid of seeing the sheriff.

  Trevor saw the look she was giving him and got out of the car. “I was just thinking about something, that’s all,” he told her before she could comment. Without further hesitation, he walked up the short flight of stairs and into the small building.

  A young man sat at the front desk, feet propped up and reading a magazine. When he saw the two of them enter, he dropped his feet to the floor and set the magazine down. As soon as he laid eyes on Renee, he lost whatever interest he might have had in Trevor. “What can I do for you folks?” he asked, eyes on Renee.

  “We’re here to see the sheriff. Agents Giles and Marshall with the FBI.”

  Now the young deputy showed an interest in Trevor again. For a moment. “Yeah, she said to expect you and send you back when you got here.”

  “She’s still here?” Trevor asked, sounding somewhat mortified.

  “Oh yeah, she’s been putting in a lot of late nights. I’ll walk you back,” he said with a smile for Renee. “I’m Deputy MacCray. They call me Mac for short. I’ll be on until midnight if you need anything.”

  “This shouldn’t take too long,” Trevor told him, even though the young deputy had obviously been talking to Renee.

  They walked down a short corridor and stopped in front of a closed door, which the deputy knocked on lightly. “Chief, the FBI is here,” he called, cracking the door open and poking his head in.

  Mel looked up from what she was doing on her laptop computer. “It’s about damn time,” she muttered, waving a hand at him to send them in. She was curious who Bill had sent her. And when she saw him, she should not have been as surprised as she was.

  Trevor saw her stiffen as soon as she laid eyes on him. He also saw that she hadn’t changed much, except for the pair of reading glasses she had perched on her nose. She still wore her thick dark hair long and pulled back in a ponytail and still had the most amazing hazel eyes he had ever seen. “Mel,” he said cautiously. She also had a gun in a shoulder holster at her side. A gun that he knew she was very good with.

  She stared at him for a long moment, then shook her head and laughed wryly. “This just keeps getting better and better. He sent you?”

  “I can see I won’t have to study up. We’re going to pick up right where we left off.” He had been prepared for this so was not in the least bit stunned by her attitude.

  “Where you left off, Agent Giles.” She pulled her glasses off and set them on the top of her desk and rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

  “Hey, I hate to interrupt, but if I don’t use the ladies roo
m soon, I’m going to have a problem,” Renee lied. She just wanted to get away from them. They needed to fight and she had no particular desire to be a part of it, entertaining or not.

  Mel smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m Melanie Rhodes. You can call me Mel, though. Everyone does.”

  “Renee Marshall. Reny, if you want.”

  Mel knew why the young agent wanted to leave and took pity on her. “If you go back out front Duane will see to whatever you need.” She threw Trevor a glance. “I won’t be keeping him too long.”

  With Renee gone, Trevor came to sit in the chair across from Mel’s desk. He heard the door close softly and said, “Is this how it’s going to be?”

  “I was being nice to you in front of your cute little partner, Trevor.” She had forgotten how damn sexy he was and cursed him silently for it. He kept his dark hair short now but his eyes had remained the icy blue she remembered. He still filled out a suit better than any man she had ever seen. That she knew what was under that suit only made it harder to not think about it.

  “You know why he sent me.”

  She shrugged. “I know. I guess I just thought he’d warn me if he was going to. I mean, I talked to him not even an hour ago for Christ’s sake.” She made a mental note to call Bill and let loose on him.

  “I can’t believe you’re surprised. You should have felt me coming for miles.”

  She cocked her head. “He really doesn’t talk to you about me, does he?”

  “No.” The truth of the matter was he had quit asking about her a long time ago. He’d had to, for his own sanity.

  “That part of me doesn’t work anymore, Trevor. It hasn’t since…Mississippi.”

  At mention of Mississippi his gaze went to the long scar on her neck, where it lingered for a moment before returning to her eyes. “What do you mean it doesn’t work?”

  “I mean, it burnt out. It no longer functions. I can no longer connect with psychopaths on the old psychic highway.” She saw shock register in his eyes and felt good about it. She had one more thing with which to shock him. Taking the screen of her laptop in her fingers, she turned it to face him.

  He looked at the photo of the dead girl on the screen and frowned. “The woman you found this morning?”

  “Yes. Look closely and think, Trevor.”

  He looked, then shook his head.

  “She was one of your success cases. Four years ago. San Diego. Beth Montgomery.”

  Looking from the screen to Mel, he said, “Yeah, I remember now.” The killer had gotten ten women in all before they had finally managed to capture him. “Mel, are you telling me you can’t…”

  “That’s what I’m telling you.”

  “Is this a case of can’t, or won’t?” He didn’t believe her but knew better than to try and touch her to find out. He liked his fingers straight. Unbroken.

  Standing suddenly, she said, “This is a case of none of your business, Trevor.” She looked at her watch. “Now, if you don’t mind, we can get back at this tomorrow. It’s late.”

  Trevor stood too, and moved to stand in front of the closed door, effectively blocking her escape route. “Something occurs to me, Mel. Something I’m sure hasn’t slipped past you.”

  She stopped and stared at him, but kept her distance. She did not want him touching her.

  “You fit this guy’s profile. You’re a survivor too.”

  “Of course I realize that, Trevor.” She reached up and began stroking the scar on her neck again.

  “And do you think it’s a coincidence that this guy chose your town to dump his victims?”

  She continued to stare at him but did not respond.

  He smiled ruefully. “Of course you don’t. As a matter of fact, you have to be thinking the same thing I am. You’re on this guy’s short list for sure. It’s only a matter of time before he comes after you.”

  Clenching her teeth, she glared at him. “That, if I even entertain it, stays between us. I don’t need my guys getting in knots thinking that my life is in danger.”

  “It is in danger and you know it. You don’t believe in coincidences any more than I do.” He still blocked the door, knowing one thing for certain. She would not risk coming into physical contact with him. She would be too afraid that he might learn too much about what she was hiding if she did.

  “Trevor, it’s late,” she said wearily.

  “And he’s going to pick up another victim soon.” He put his hand on the doorknob but did not open it yet. “Are you staying alone?”

  Her brows went up. “Once again, Trevor, that falls under the category of none of your business.” She touched the gun at her side. “I’ll be quite fine. But if you don’t get out of my way soon, you won’t be.”

  Knowing that she was only half joking, he pulled the door open and stepped aside.

  Alone in his tiny hotel room, Trevor pulled out his phone and made a call.

  Bill answered on the fourth ring, sounding irritated. “What, Trevor?”

  Trevor heard a woman’s voice in the background and smiled. “Sorry, obviously I interrupted.”

  “Obviously.”

  “Bill, why didn’t you tell me that she can’t tap into her abilities anymore?”

  Bill remained quiet for a long moment. “Because I don’t believe her, that’s why. She shut that down after Mississippi because she was afraid of it. She left the FBI because she was afraid. She let you walk out of her life because she was afraid. She became sheriff of Small-Town USA because she was afraid. Almost every choice she’s made since that day has been made out of fear.”

  “I certainly hope you didn’t send me here thinking that I could fix her, Bill,” Trevor said, beginning to pull clothes out of his suitcase one handed and placing them on the end of the bed. “I’m not sure afraid would be the term I would use to describe her state of mind either. Pissed off suits her better.” He sighed and sat down.

  “All you have to do is touch her, Trevor, and you’ll know what’s up.”

  He bit off a laugh. “Yeah, right. I don’t want to draw back a bloody stump, my friend. She still hates my guts.”

  “Another thing I don’t believe.”

  “Then you come down here and touch her, damnit.”

  “Wouldn’t do me any good, and you know it. I’m just a normal guy. You’re the telepath.”

  Trevor ran his fingers through his short hair. “She won’t let me within ten feet of her. She knows better. And I know better than to pry like that. It’s extremely rude, for one thing.”

  “You haven’t touched her since that day.”

  “And?”

  “And, maybe you’re afraid too. Maybe you’re afraid of what you’ll see.”

  Trevor swallowed hard, but did not answer. “Goodnight, Bill,” he said instead, disconnecting the call and leaning back heavily in an extremely uncomfortable chair. He thought about Bill’s statement for a long time and knew he was right. It had been part of the reason Mel had pushed him away. Why she had finally run away. He had been unable to touch her, fearing the thing that had caused her to nearly break.

  Cursing, he grabbed his clothes from the end of the bed and began to hang them in the tiny closet by the bathroom.

  He had also been angry with her. So angry. She had deliberately put herself on the line to catch a killer and had almost gotten herself killed in the process. She had not listened to him or to Bill when they told her to keep her distance and only try to connect to the killer when one of them was with her. Sighing, he sat on the edge of the bed and kicked his shoes off. At least, if she was unwilling to use her talent anymore, he would not have to worry about her forging a connection to this killer. That was something.

  He wished he had not resisted his urge to peek into her head that morning seven years ago. He wished…he wished a lot of things, damnit.

  Four

  Inevitably, since he had made an appearance in her life again, Mel’s sleeping mind wandered to things that it had been able to avoid for some time. The
past. In her dream, she lay in bed with him, pressed tightly to him, relaxing in his arms, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. They were in a hotel room in Mississippi, both of them still junior agents, out with Bill to get valuable field experience. That he had chosen them for this particular case was an honor. It was also because of what they could do. Bill had a way of finding particular talents and tried to pull them close and use them. Often he told them law enforcement had a particularly high number of psychics, whether the cop himself or herself even knew it about themselves. Sometimes what a person believed to be a gut instinct was much more.

  “Whether you like it or not, Bill said no. And since he’s the senior agent on this, he has the final say.” Trevor said this to her softly. His face was in hair that was spread across his pillow. He pulled her tighter to himself.

  “I know. I just think it would work, that’s all.” Mel sighed.

  “Well, we’ll never know, and I for one, agree with him. It’s too risky.” He propped himself up on an elbow and kissed her neck gently. “I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”

  Now she let out a chuckle. “We can’t go through life with you worrying about something happening to me. I have a job to do, you know. There will always be risks involved. And I’m not fragile.”

  “But you can choose not to take some of the risks. Putting yourself in the hands of a serial killer is not something you should choose to do.”

  “He has to be stopped, Trevor.”

  “I know that,” he said, kissing her again. He loved her passion for the job. He loved her passion for other things too. “But not at the cost of your life.”

  She did not say anything to this, but instead enjoyed the kisses he traced from her neck to her shoulder, then back again.

  “God you’re beautiful,” he said huskily.

  She smiled at this, knowing all too well if she didn’t get up now, she’d be trying to rush out before Bill got up in another hour or so. “Trevor, I better get back to my own room.” It was four o’clock in the morning. “Bill’s going to be getting up in another hour or so.”