PRIMAL INSTINCT

by JANIE CROUGH

  Conner looked at her hand, then her face. “I should take you to the hospital.”

  “No!” Adrienne’s response was vehement. “I’m okay. It hurts, but putting something cold on it will help. I don’t need a hospital. I promise.”

  Conner was torn but decided not to push it. The burns, although painful-looking, were mostly first degree. Even the blisters were clear, suggesting superficial scalding—not anything that would require prolonged medical attention.

  Seth returned in a moment with a bowl of water and a clean washcloth. He then excused himself to go help some uniformed officers finish up with the witnesses.

  Conner took the washcloth and dipped it in the water. It was cold. “Do you mind if I help?”

  Adrienne laid her arm out on the table between them. “Thanks.”

  She sucked in her breath as the wet cloth touched her skin—the water was chilled but not icy, helping to lessen the pain and cease any further burning.

  “Sorry.” Conner grimaced. “I know it has to hurt.”

  “No, the cold feels good. Thanks.” She smiled at him, and Conner was glad to see even more of her color was coming back into her face. She looked almost normal.

  “How did you spill your coffee?”

  “I could...hear the man’s thoughts and they...startled me.”

  Conner noticed her hesitations. Obviously she expected some sort of argument from him about her gifts.

  To be honest he didn’t know how he felt about her special skills. When he had gotten her phone call a little while ago, he could tell immediately that something was wrong. Dangerously wrong.

  As soon as she had said she needed help, he had gotten Seth on the other line. Conner hadn’t questioned, hadn’t hesitated—just knew she needed him and had responded.

  He could admit to himself that his instantaneous response in coming to her aid without knowing details was pretty odd behavior, especially since he had all but called her a phony and a liar over the past couple of days.

  But he had known—known—when she had called today that the situation was dire from the very beginning. She had needed him to help her, but he couldn’t get there quickly enough, so he had sent Seth, who had been closer.

  And thank God, if the perp had been drawing a weapon when Seth had arrived.

  Conner took the washcloth gently away from Adrienne’s hand and wrist, and dipped it in the cold water again. Wringing it out, he placed it back on her arm.

  “So you knew he was going to kill her?” Conner asked.

  “Yes. That’s what I was certain about most of all. He was definitely planning to kill her and the man she was with.”

  Conner nodded but didn’t say anything else. She had obviously been through a lot already today. He didn’t want to say anything that would come across as combative.

  “You could hear what he was thinking?”

  Adrienne nodded gingerly. “It was like he was screaming his thoughts right in my ears. And I could see what he was seeing.”

  “You could actually see him?”

  “Not see him, exactly. More like see things through his eyes.”

  Conner nodded to encourage her.

  “I know he went into some other coffee shops looking for them before coming here.”

  Conner made a mental note to check into that. Maybe somebody would remember seeing the guy.

  “When he couldn’t find them,” Adrienne continued, “he got more and more furious.”

  “When did you call me?”

  “As soon as I realized he was going to make it here to this coffeehouse soon. I wasn’t sure how long I had before he did, but I knew it wouldn’t be very long.”

  She looked away, over toward the table where the couple had been sitting.

  “I called you while the guy was having a momentarily sane period, when he walked into another coffeehouse. He had to put his rage and malice aside, and concentrate on seeing if she was there. That’s what allowed me to pull it together long enough to call. I’m glad your number was in my phone, or I never would’ve gotten through to anyone.”

  “Why didn’t you call 9-1-1?”

  Adrienne gave a quiet bark of unamused laughter. “And told them what? That there was a man coming up the street, and I knew he planned to kill someone?”

  No, that probably would not have gone over well with the 9-1-1 dispatcher. A city the size of San Francisco got a variety of prank calls every day. Even though they would’ve sent out a patrol unit as standard procedure, it would not have been a priority and wouldn’t have been quick.

  “Nine-one-one would still have sent a squad car. Or you could’ve lied and said he was already here.”

  Adrienne nodded. “Yeah, but I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time. Just trying to engage in normal functions, like breathing and staying upright, was taking all my concentration.”

  Conner remembered the terrified tenor of Adrienne’s voice when she had called. The hesitation and breathlessness in how she’d talked. He realized now how difficult even their very short conversation had been for her.

  “I’m glad you called me.” Conner reached over and stroked her elbow far from the area affected by the burn.

  Adrienne smiled tiredly at him. “I’m glad you believed me.”

  Conner shrugged. He wasn’t sure he believed, exactly, but he had acted.

  “Losing you in the middle of a sentence like that scared me. What happened?”

  “The guy was furious when he realized the woman was not in the coffee shop down the block. He was so intent on hurting her—it was like a bomb went off in my head.”

  “Is that when your nose started bleeding?”

  Adrienne brought a corner of the washcloth on her arm up to her nose, wiping the dried blood. “I guess so. I know that’s when I decided I had to get over to the couple and try to get them out.”

  “So you went to talk to them?”

  “Talk? I’m not sure that talk is the right word. I stumbled over to their table, literally. I couldn’t figure out what to say—my brain felt like mush.” Adrienne looked up at him with panic in her eyes. “Finally they noticed my nose was bleeding, and the lady got me a wet paper towel from the bathroom. She had just disappeared out of sight when the guy walked in.”

  Conner saw Adrienne shudder. Whatever she was remembering about this guy, she definitely didn’t like it.

  “I thought we were going to make it,” Adrienne said in a low voice. “But then she exited the bathroom, and he saw her.”

  Conner took the wet cloth off her arm again—the burn was looking better, although still angry—and waited for her to continue.

  “I tried to get over to the guy to stop him myself. But his thoughts...” Adrienne closed her eyes. “They were so loud. So unbearably loud.” She cringed again, and Conner found himself cringing with her.

  “I tried to get to him, but he basically just brushed me off, and I fell and couldn’t seem to get up even though I wasn’t hurt. I didn’t have any more strength.” Adrienne looked at Conner with distress in her eyes. “I just knew he was going to kill them, Conner. I knew it.”

  “But he didn’t,” Conner reminded her.

  “Thanks to Seth. He got here literally in the nick of time.”

  “You know, this is all going to be really iffy in court. His lawyer will argue the guy basically had a gun and made a bad judgment about when it was okay to take it out of his pocket. He didn’t actually threaten anybody with it. We have no proof of any intent to harm the woman or the other man. At best the gunman will probably get charged with illegal possession of a firearm.”

  Adrienne nodded. “I know. I don’t stand up well as a witness in court, I’m sure. But the important thing is, nobody was hurt today.”

  Conner gestured down at her burnt
arm. “Not exactly.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Adrienne took the washcloth from him.

  Conner took her hand in his. He rubbed his fingers gently on the part of her hand that wasn’t burned. “I’m still sorry.”

  Adrienne smiled shyly, then withdrew her hand. Conner looked around him. Things were wrapping up. The man had already been taken away by the local police. Conner motioned to Seth, and Seth made his way over to them.

  “Everything almost done here?” Conner asked him, standing up.

  “Yeah. Seems like the perp was the ex-husband of the lady. Although they’ve been separated for over a year, he totally freaked out when he discovered she was dating someone else.”

  “He tell you that?” Conner asked.

  “No, the lady. Evidently he’s been calling her nonstop for the past couple of weeks—wouldn’t get the hint. She finally changed her phone number, and he started showing up at her work.”

  Conner shook his head, not surprised. Domestic violence often escalated like this.

  “She told him about the new boyfriend yesterday, thinking that would get him to move on. But evidently not,” Seth continued. “She knew as soon as she saw him here this morning, he meant her physical harm.”

  Adrienne looked up at Seth from where she sat. “I’m glad you got here when you did, Seth. I really think he planned to shoot her. Shoot them both.”

  Seth grimaced. “Well, that’s going to be hard to prove. But no matter what, she at least knows to be aware of her ex and keep away from him.”

  Conner walked over to help Adrienne out of her chair. He kept a hand at the small of her back in case she started to keel over again. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Sure. Are we headed straight to the Bureau office?”

  Conner looked down at Adrienne’s clothes, splattered with coffee stains. “Do you want to go to your hotel first? Change clothes?”

  “Yeah, that would be great.” Adrienne smiled with relief.

  “Do you want me to drive you or do you think you can walk? I’ll walk with you. It’s a couple of blocks, right?”

  “Yeah, I should be fine to walk. Usually fresh air makes my head feel better.”

  “Usually?”

  “Well, it just doesn’t seem to hurt much at all now.”

  Conner noticed her confused look. “That’s a good thing, right?”

  “Yes, yes, I’m thankful,” Adrienne responded quickly. “It has never...not hurt before. In a situation like this.”

  “Have you had many situations like this?” Seth asked her.

  Adrienne looked away. “Enough. Not as many over the past few years.”

  Conner met Seth’s eyes. They had a lot to talk about when Adrienne wasn’t around. Not the least of which was what had happened here in this coffeehouse this morning. Adrienne obviously wasn’t faking her physical reactions, and she had known that the perp meant harm to that woman.

  It was looking more and more as though maybe she could do some of the stuff they’d heard she could do.

  “All right, I’ll take her to the hotel and let her change clothes, and then we’ll meet you at the office, Seth.” Conner looked at Adrienne’s burnt arm. “Are you sure you’re up for coming into the office today?”

  Adrienne nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

  “We’ll stop at the drugstore on the way and get some gauze to protect the worst part of your burns.”

  Conner and Adrienne began walking toward the door. Seth told him that he would see them in a little while.

  “Thank you,” she said intently, grabbing his hand with her uninjured one.

  “For what?”

  “Believing me. For not asking for details and explanations I couldn’t give at the time. For acting rather than allowing your natural doubts to cloud your instincts and demand more information.”

  Conner was stunned. That statement exactly summarized what had happened. The instinct had been to get her the assistance she needed immediately. He had almost let his doubt overshadow that gut reaction but didn’t. And because of that, nobody had died today. Not the woman or her boyfriend or maybe even Adrienne.

  Conner still wasn’t sure what he believed Adrienne could or could not do in terms of “seeing” evil. But he was at least now willing to give her a chance.

  Conner squeezed her hand. There were many things that probably could be said right now, but he wasn’t sure which would be best or which might lead to an argument. So he said the only thing he could.

  “You’re welcome.”

  * * *

  CONNER WAITED IN the lobby for Adrienne as she went up to her room and changed out of her coffee-soaked clothing. They had stopped at a corner drugstore to get Adrienne some ointment and gauze for the worst of her injuries.

  The red blisters on her arm bothered Conner but on some level reassured him. Adrienne had obviously been in the grips of something...strange to be burned like that and not notice. And it was too extreme a measure for someone to act out in order to prove they weren’t faking something. Adrienne had no reason to go that far, had nothing to gain by it.

  Conner’s phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Seth.

  “Hey. You back at the office?” Conner asked, sitting on the armrest of one of the couches in the lobby.

  “Yeah. Where are you guys?”

  “We’re at the hotel. Adrienne is up changing clothes. Finish everything okay on your end?”

  “Yeah. Turned the ex over to the locals, and the lady is filing for a restraining order even as we speak.”

  Conner nodded. “Well, that’s good.” He and Seth both knew that a restraining order would not stop an ex-husband intent on doing the woman harm, but it was a start and at least made everything official.

  “Her new boyfriend looked pretty spooked by the whole thing. Not sure how long that’s going to last.”

  “Don’t blame him.” Conner chuckled ruefully.

  “So it ends up that the coffeehouse had some closed-circuit video.”

  Conner stood up and walked outside, away from the few people in the lobby. “What did the CC feed show?”

  “Mostly it was pointing at the counter and register, away from the action this morning. Didn’t get the ex at all. But it caught Adrienne a couple times.”

  “And?”

  Seth knew what Conner meant without explanation. “It was scary, man. Seriously. The people who described her as drunk? That’s pretty accurate. And the coffee spill on her hand? That was spooky.”

  “I was just thinking about her burns, Seth. Burns like that? Nobody does that to themselves on purpose to continue some stupid facade.”

  “You’ve got to see this footage. It was like something took over her body. She crushed that cup in her hand with a death grip. Didn’t drop the cup or anything when it spilled on her. It was like she couldn’t release it.”

  Conner rubbed his forehead and began pacing up the sidewalk. “What do you think, Seth? Does this mean she’s legit? That she can really...whatever?”

  “Con, all I know is that something happened to her in that restaurant this morning. You can literally see it overwhelm her. And it’s not pretty. Damn scary.”

  Conner stopped his pacing. “But what does it mean?”

  “I don’t know. But she had no reason to fake it and no reason to know we would be watching. It leads me to believe she may be telling the truth, man.”

  Conner had never seen anything to make him think “gifts” like Adrienne’s were possible.

  He turned back toward the hotel and saw Adrienne walking out the lobby door. “Okay, I’ve got to go. Did you bring a copy of the CC footage back with you?”

  Seth snorted. “Do you really have to ask? Of course. See you in a bit.”

  Conner hung up and walked toward Adri
enne. She had changed into a khaki skirt and a white sleeveless blouse. Her short hair was a little damp from the shower she must have taken. Color had returned to her cheeks. She smiled, crossing to him.

  She was breathtaking.

  If only Conner knew that he could truly trust her.

  Chapter Seven

  Three hours later she was back in that same FBI interrogation room from yesterday. Adrienne sat, sure she was only minutes away from becoming a serial killer herself.

  Nothing. She had absolutely nothing.

  Staring at these pictures for the past hour and a half had brought not one single thought, feeling or insight. Just like yesterday. Like her gift had switched itself off. Again.

  Although they didn’t say anything, Adrienne knew Seth and Conner had to be at their wits’ end with her. They had sat with her for the first hour as she went through the pictures. They had gotten her lunch but that didn’t help. Then they had left; she assumed to do something more productive—which, let’s face it, would be anything else.

  She looked down at the crime scene pictures again. A dead woman, stabbed and left in a warehouse.

  Nothing.

  Adrienne stood from her chair in the interrogation room and leaned onto the table to stretch her back. The movement caused pain to shoot up her arm from the burns. It was a reminder that her gift had certainly worked well enough this morning. Why wasn’t it working now?

  A brisk knock on the door had Adrienne looking up from the table.

  “Yes?”

  In strolled Division Chief Logan Kelly. Adrienne recognized him right away. He had not changed much in the eight years since she had seen him last.

  “Ms. Jeffries. It’s good to see you again.”

  “Chief Kelly.” Adrienne shook his outstretched hand but kept her greeting short.

  That Adrienne didn’t return the sentiment wasn’t lost on the chief. He raised one eyebrow but said nothing.

  “I understand you’re having some difficulty using your profiling gift for this case.”

  “For some reason I can’t seem to get insights on anything that has been shown to me so far.”