by JANIE CROUGH
“Do I need to apologize for kissing you?” he asked warily.
Adrienne smiled shyly. “No.”
“Good, because I don’t think I can. You want to fill me in with what’s going on?”
“I think I know what’s wrong with me.”
“What are you talking about? I already told you, there’s nothing wrong with you.”
Adrienne shook her head. “I mean, what’s wrong with my abilities. Why they didn’t work yesterday but are working today. Sometimes.”
“I don’t understand. What did you figure out?”
“It’s just a theory.” Adrienne hesitated. She could be wrong, and she didn’t want to make him mad. She should find out for sure first, before she said anything to him.
Adrienne looked down at her hand that rested on his. Hers looked so small and frail compared to his big capable hands.
“It’s okay, just tell me.”
Adrienne gripped his hand harder. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Sure. What?”
Adrienne reached up and put her hands on either side of his cheeks. She leaned over and kissed him. She meant it to be just a quick peck, but her plans to distract him evaporated as soon as her lips touched his. She felt his arms come around her and draw her closer. She sighed and gave herself over to the kiss.
Her lips opened when she felt his tongue, and she slanted her head to give him more access. Her fingers slid up into his hair as she pulled him closer. It was Conner who broke away after a few moments.
“Um, Adrienne, we’re in a park, baby. And I’ll probably lose my job if I get arrested for public indecency.”
Adrienne giggled softly. “Sorry.”
Conner brushed his lips with hers again softly. “A giggle. Quite the beautiful sound.”
“I’m not much of a giggler.”
Conner’s lips brushed hers again. “Maybe you should consider becoming one.”
“Maybe.”
“So, Ms. Jeffries, what’s your theory? What do you need me to do?”
Adrienne took a deep breath and put her forehead against Conner’s.
“I need you to get away from me. As soon as possible.”
Conner pulled back from her immediately. “What?”
“I just need you to go away from me for a little bit while I check a couple things out,” Adrienne responded as gently as she could.
“Why can’t I come with you? Where am I supposed to go?”
“This is something I have to do alone to test my theory. And you can go wherever you want. Go to your house or my hotel or Golden Gate Park. Wherever. I just need you to not be near me for a while.”
Adrienne could tell Conner didn’t understand and was struggling with her request. She knew he wanted to demand more answers and appreciated his restraint.
“Please, Conner. Just for a little while. Call Seth and have him meet me in the lobby of the field office. It won’t take me long to figure it out.”
Conner shook his head and stood up. “Okay, fine. But I don’t like this.”
Adrienne stood up onto her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “I know.” She smiled at him. “But thank you for doing it anyway.”
Conner ran his fingers down Adrienne’s cheek. “I’ll do it as long as you promise to explain to me what’s going on as soon as you can.”
Adrienne nodded. “I promise.”
Conner turned and began walking to his car. “I’m going to head to my house since I left there before six this morning. A shower would probably do me good.”
“Thank you, Conner,” Adrienne called out to him.
“Call me soon.” Conner opened the driver’s-side door but didn’t get in. Instead, he looked at her over the roof of his car. Adrienne was entranced by his intent stare. “And, Ms. Jeffries? No matter what your theory is, we’re going to finish what got started here this afternoon. And when we do, it won’t be in a park.”
Adrienne couldn’t think of anything to say to that. Lord, she hoped they did get a chance.
“Seth will be waiting for you in the lobby,” Conner called out to her as he got in his car and pulled away.
Adrienne quickly began walking back to the FBI field office. The sooner she got this done, the sooner she could take Agent Perigo up on his offer.
Chapter Nine
Adrienne found Seth waiting for her when she walked into the FBI office a few minutes later. She could already feel tension building up in her head, but told herself that it didn’t prove anything definitively.
“Hey.” Seth smiled at her. “Glad you didn’t leave for good.”
“No. I was just trying to get some air.”
“Conner called but didn’t give me very much detail about what we’re doing right now.”
“I know. That’s because I didn’t give him much detail. Let’s just say I’m testing a theory.” She cocked her head toward the elevators, and they began walking.
“Theory about what?”
“My abilities.”
Seth hit the button for the elevator. “Okay. Anything particular about them?”
“Why they seem to be a little hit-or-miss lately. They’ve never been that way before.”
The elevator door opened, and they walked inside. Seth pushed the number for the floor their offices were on. “So, what’s the plan?”
Adrienne turned and looked straight at Seth. “I’m going to ask you to do something you might not want to do. But it’s kind of important.”
“What’s that?”
The elevator chimed, and the doors opened. Adrienne stepped out and began walking down the hallway. She could already hear the buzzing, and her headache was definitely back. “I need you to show me one of Simon’s packages.”
“Okay.”
Adrienne was a bit taken aback. She had expected more resistance from Seth. “Just like that?”
“Yep.”
“Do you think Conner will be mad when he finds out?” Adrienne wondered aloud.
“Nope. He’s the one who told me to give you access to whatever you need.”
Adrienne stopped midstride. “Really?”
Seth half smiled at her. “Yep. Do you think he’s been abducted by aliens?”
“Probably.” Adrienne snickered. But she was so pleased. This was a huge step for Conner, she knew. She began walking again.
“Where do you want to go? Back to the interrogation room again?” Seth asked.
The buzzing was getting worse and taking on more definite form, like there were whispers coming from within the walls all vying for her attention. This building was, of course, a place where evil was investigated every day. Definitely no lack of menacing and threatening people here. The images and sounds seemed to want to jump from the rooms and throw themselves into Adrienne’s mind.
Adrienne rubbed her forehead and concentrated just on walking. “Yeah, let’s go back there. At least I’m familiar with that room.”
Seth told her that he would meet her there in minute, and Adrienne went inside. The room had been cleaned out since she had left earlier that afternoon. She sat down at the now-empty table. She could still hear all the whispers, see vague visions of violence as she waited for Seth to return.
Adrienne breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth to try to keep herself focused, a practice she had learned in a yoga class. It didn’t really help, but at least it gave her something to do.
Seth walked in holding a box. He set it on the table in front of her. It was a small brown box, about half the size of a shoe box. Plain. Unassuming. It looked so benign, like millions of packages that get mailed daily all over the world.
Adrienne was terrified to touch it, but she knew there was no point in waiting.
Touching as little of the box as she could, she pulled back the flaps on the top. Inside was a small jeweler’s box that a necklace might come in. Adrienne flinched as she reached in and pulled the smaller box out of the package.
She could feel her breath sawing in and out of her lungs. She forced herself to open the jeweler’s box. Inside it was a lock of hair. She reached down and touched it gently.
Every muscle in her body tightened unbearably. The force of what she was feeling threw her back into the chair. She still had some of the lock of hair caught between her fingers.
Adrienne began sobbing as all of the killer’s thoughts overwhelmed her mind. She could tell Seth was trying to say something to her, felt him touching her arm and shaking her, but he seemed so far away—outside the impenetrable wall of the killer’s ominous thoughts.
All the killer’s feelings piled on top of each other in a hideous cacophony within Adrienne’s head. She focused her energy on trying to sort through them, to pick out useful information, but the effort was too great. It was like the killer was in the room with them, his presence was so strong.
Adrienne forced her fingers to release the lock of hair, but that gave her only the slightest reprieve. She brought her hands up to her head, pressing her palms hard into her eyes.
Adrienne knew she should touch the hair again; should keep going. After all, this was what she had been hoping for, right? For her abilities to work? But this was different—the intensity was so much greater than before.
Adrienne touched the hair again, trying to brace herself against the mental anguish, but it didn’t help. The noise in her head sky-rocketed. She fell against the table and could feel blood begin to drip from her nose. She let go of the hair, but it didn’t seem to help at all.
Adrienne couldn’t take this anymore; she had to get away—just for a while. She would mentally refortify then come back. But for right now she had to get away. She looked over for Seth but found he was gone. In the back of her mind, Adrienne knew there was something she was trying to do but remembering was too much effort.
She had to get out of this building. Where was Seth? She couldn’t take time to look for him. The elevator was just a few yards down the hall. Surely she could make it there and then outside. Away from this package and this killer.
Away from this evil.
Adrienne hoisted herself out of the chair and walked unsteadily to the door. It took her a few moments to remember how to turn a doorknob. She pulled the door with as much strength as she could muster, but the opening was so small she could barely slide through.
The hallway was a twisted carnival fun house, seeming to stretch on endlessly. Leaning heavily on the wall, Adrienne concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She could hear sounds, words, but she didn’t know if it was actual people talking to her or the evil in her head, so she ignored them.
Just making it to the elevator used all Adrienne’s strength. She pressed the button on the wall and sobbed with relief when the elevator doors opened immediately. She heard shouting and saw Seth’s concerned face just as the doors closed.
Strength gone, Adrienne leaned her back against the elevator wall and slid to the ground heavily. She reached up and pressed the lowest button without looking, hoping it would take her to the ground floor. From there she would crawl out if necessary.
As soon as the elevator started moving, Adrienne felt better. She was going to make it. The noise and pain were already lessening. The dimness that had threatened her vision was receding.
The elevator dinged, and the door opened. There stood Conner, tension outlining every muscle in his body. He dropped down next to her immediately.
“Conner...” Adrienne reached for him.
For the second time that day, Adrienne fell unconscious into his arms.
* * *
THIS WAS BECOMING a pattern. Conner caught Adrienne before she fell to the ground. Seth’s panicked call to him a few minutes ago had Conner racing back into town, breaking all sorts of traffic laws—just like this morning—to get back to Adrienne.
By the looks of Adrienne, Seth hadn’t been exaggerating. She looked like absolute hell. She had no color whatsoever and seemed to be shivering uncontrollably even though it wasn’t cold in the building.
The elevator started protesting at having the door opened too long, so Conner let it close. He brushed back a couple errant strands of short hair that had fallen over her forehead. Adrienne murmured and started to move.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Conner whispered. “You ready to wake up?”
Just a few moments later her big hazel eyes opened.
“It’s you.” She hesitated for a few moments then smiled at him.
“Yep, it’s me.”
“No, I mean it is you who affects me this way. The pain is gone. And the noise.”
Adrienne began to get up from her place on the elevator floor. Conner reached down to help her. “Are you sure you’re okay to get up? It’s fine to rest longer if you need to.”
She smiled at him again. “No, I feel fine. So much better than I did a few minutes ago. Seth is probably worried about me. We should go see him.”
Conner pressed the button on the elevator, and they began to go up again. When the doors opened, Seth was there, concern radiating from him.
“Oh, thank God. Are you all right, Adrienne? You looked like absolute, god-awful death when you stumbled into that elevator.”
Adrienne rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”
“I’m serious. I think I aged ten years watching what just happened to you. Are you okay? You do look much better now, I have to admit. What happened?”
Adrienne stuck her thumb out toward Conner. “He happened.”
Conner looked down at her, confused. “That’s the second time you’ve alluded to me. What are you talking about?”
Conner led her down the hall, away from the interrogation room. Instead they went into the main section of offices. He sat Adrienne in his desk chair and perched on the corner of his desk. Seth pulled up another chair near them.
“I noticed it earlier this afternoon,” Adrienne explained, huddling back in the chair.
“What exactly?” Conner asked.
“Whenever I’m around you, my abilities don’t work.”
Conner was taken aback. “What? Why? Why would you think that?”
Adrienne shrugged. “I don’t know why. Think about it—every time you’ve been around me I haven’t been able to do anything to help with the case.”
Conner glanced over at Seth. He shrugged.
“And whenever you aren’t around me, everything does work—like at the coffeehouse this morning.”
Conner wasn’t convinced. “That still doesn’t mean...”
“And this afternoon, it was only after you guys had gone to the crime scene and were away from this building that I got anything from looking at the pictures.”
Conner wasn’t sure how to feel about this information. Adrienne reached over and touched his hand. “I can’t hear or sense anything when you’re around. Like right now, there’s silence—no buzzing, no static, no voices or images pushing at me. No pain. And in this building, with all the case files and evidence, that’s pretty unbelievable.”
“But bad.” Conner frowned.
She squeezed his hand. “Not for me.” She smiled softly at him.
He squeezed her hand in return. “But what does this mean?”
“I don’t know.” She let go of his hand and sat back in the chair. “But I’m grateful I’m not vomiting and throwing back pain relievers like candy.”
Conner still wasn’t sure what all this meant or the ramifications if what Adrienne suggested was true. He decided to focus on what he did know. “Tell me what happened while I was gone earlier. Were you able to pick up anything?�
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Adrienne nodded.
“I showed her the package from Josie Paton.”
Josie Paton, the most recent victim, found in an abandoned building two weeks ago. Married, age thirty-one.
Conner looked at Adrienne. “Did you get anything when you saw the package?”
She flinched and drew in her breath. “He was mad at her because she refused to be scared. She couldn’t fight, because he had her restrained, but she would curse at him and call him names.”
Adrienne stopped, but Conner knew there was more. “You can tell us, Adrienne. Just go ahead and say it.”
Conner listened for a long time as Adrienne told them details of the murder and the abduction. Things she would have no possible way of knowing without her abilities to understand the killer’s mind and his reasoning.
“I still can’t get a good picture of where he’s taking them when he first grabs them. I don’t know why that is.”
“Why is he choosing these particular women?” Conner asked. Their physical size seemed to be the only similarity. He and Seth had checked and double checked to see if there were any other ties between the women: where they shopped, ate, worked, exercised. They couldn’t find anything.
Adrienne rubbed her forehead wearily. “They remind him of someone—a woman he knew. But I’m not sure who that person is to him. It seems to float in and out of his mind, and I can’t get a hold on it.”
Adrienne shifted uncomfortably in her chair, and Conner really looked at her. She seemed exhausted, on the verge of utter collapse. Conner wasn’t surprised; it had been a long, physically difficult day for her. She needed a break.
“Hey, why don’t we give it rest for a little while? There’s a couch in the conference room where you can lie down. I just need to go over a few things with Seth, then I’ll take you back to the hotel.”
Adrienne smiled up at him gratefully. Conner offered both hands out to her which she took to help herself out of the chair. He grabbed his jacket from the back of it and led Adrienne to the conference room. She immediately sank heavily onto the couch.
Conner squatted down and draped his jacked over her. She smiled, snuggling into it.