Bound by Danger

by Terry Spear

  “Will you promise to meet her?”

  “No!”

  “If I promise to do something for you?”

  She frowned at him. “Like what?”

  “I don’t know, Deidre. You can think of something later.”

  “Oh, all right.”

  “A double date—tonight?”

  “Double?”

  “We’ll ask Dave to go.”

  “Are you nuts?”

  “The guy has the hots for you. Stuck his life on the line. Cleaned up your mess—”

  “He cleaned up your mess.”

  Charlie grinned. “Come on, Deidre. When was the last time you had a date?”

  “Not long ago.”

  Charlie let her, up and plopped his tall frame onto her floral sofa. His piercing blue eyes studied her as he waited to hear more.

  She sat in a wide-winged chair across from him. “Three months ago.”

  “And?”

  “The guy fixed dinner for me and thought that was the way into my bed.”

  Charlie frowned. “What did you say?” Deidre threw a pillow at Charlie’s head, but he caught it midair. “Come on, what would it hurt?”

  “He’s probably attached.”

  “It’s settled. Double date tonight. Slip into your new bathing suit. Let’s go for a swim.”

  She knew this would be a big mistake. Already she felt a tingle of a premonition coming on.

  Meeting Charlie’s new girlfriend and spending another second with a reporter wasn’t a good idea. Her special skills drew a lot of unwanted attention, something she could ill afford.

  Her senior rater, Lieutenant Colonel Ramstodt, already didn’t like her because she was a woman. If she wasn’t careful, he could write her Officer Evaluation Report with just the right words to make sure she never made her next promotion. And then where would she be? She already had six years in the service. She looked forward to wearing the silver oak leaf cluster on her shoulders like her senior rater wore now.

  In another fourteen years, she’d draw a retirement check and be young enough to start another career. Good pay, the chance to manage an office straight out of college, the added benefits of free health care, a tax-free housing allowance and subsistence pay, and thirty days paid vacation—all added to her desire to make the military a career. Financially, she couldn’t do better.

  The Army wouldn’t want to hear she saw glimpses of the future though.

  No, Dave wasn’t the kind of guy she could get interested in at all. After the last reporter poked his camera in her face despite her saying no repeatedly to a story about her special abilities, she vowed never to let another one near her again.

  When she saw a crisis, she had to deal with it. Then the questions followed. A pesky reporter chased all the leads like a foxhound on the trail of a fox’s scent.

  How did she know the mugger had targeted the woman out of all the customers at a busy shopping mall? How did she manage to thwart bank robbers at the local bank? Or rescue a child who slipped into a septic tank? She’d be frontline news if Dave learned about her second vision. Then she could say goodbye to her Army career. He couldn’t help himself. It was his job, after all.

  She slipped into her bathing suit and poked her feet into her sandals. When she walked into the living room, she saw Charlie flipping through a garden magazine. She pulled a lace cover-up over her swimsuit. “You know how much I dislike reporters. This is a mistake, Charlie. What if something goes wrong?”

  "Nothing will go wrong," Charlie said and that's when she had the uncanny feeling something would—right in front of one bloodhound of a reporter.

  Chapter 2

  Dave dressed in his swimming trunks faster than it took him to say “yes” to the unexpected turn of events. He’d had every intention of getting close to the subject, only he hadn’t planned on her looking so enticing. He could have kicked himself when he nearly left his gun behind in her apartment. Acting like a teenager over a new heartthrob, he’d nearly lost it.

  He’d been so busy trying to set up his place to entertain her when she arrived, he hadn’t even realized Charlie had gained entrance to her apartment. Then again, where the hell was Bill? He was supposed to be keeping him updated on what was going on if he thought anyone suspicious was headed his way. They couldn’t make any more mistakes.

  He thought winning her confidence would prove difficult, too. But with Charlie’s help…

  Dave smiled. Everything was working better than he’d ever planned. He would have thanked Charlie for his assistance, if her brother hadn’t been the major focus of their investigation.

  His cell phone rang, and he grabbed it off his dresser. “Yeah, Bill?”

  “How’s it going with you and Charlie’s sister?” his partner asked.

  “How come you didn’t see her brother arrive?” Dave asked, not curbing the annoyance in his voice. Not that it didn’t work out well. He probably wouldn’t have acted all Robo Cop on her if he had known the guy in her apartment was just her brother. So he hoped he looked totally sincere that he wanted to keep her safe.

  “Hell, Dave, he’s there?”

  “Yeah. Where the hell were you?”

  “Right here. I was watching a dude in a black running suit, sweatpants in this heat? He looked suspicious. So I was observing him. Her brother’s really here?”

  Dave let out his breath. “Yeah. What about the guy in the sweatpants?”

  “He went into one of the apartments.”

  “Okay, well I’ve got things under control here. I’m headed down to the pool now to meet the two of them.”

  Bill chuckled.

  Dave smiled. Bill, his high school friend and also a former military police officer, knew just what he had on his mind. Like a brother, Bill needled Dave incessantly when it came to his limited involvement with women.

  “Business first,” Bill reminded him.

  “Yeah, Bill.”

  “I think headquarters sent the wrong photo for the gal.”

  “I agree. For the guy, too. Or at least not an updated one. He’s tall and blond, but way more muscular and his hair is cut shorter, not long and shaggy.” He knew Bill well enough to know he wished he’d gotten the chance to work closer with the subject instead. “Got to go. Talk to you later.”

  Dave ended the call and clipped his cell onto his trunks. What he wouldn’t have given to tackle the blue-eyed blonde in the pool’s azure water. But for now, he had to win her trust.

  ***

  Charlie rose from the sofa in Deidre’s apartment. “Dave seems like a nice guy.”

  “Until he finds he has a story. Jeez, a guy nearly stole my purse at the mall today, that I’d had visions of earlier.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Dave. A lot of guys aren’t comfortable knowing I can see things as I do, Charlie. I don’t tell anyone about it, but it just pops up during our relationship. Remember when the elderly man next door took an overdose of his pain medication?”

  “Yeah, I remember. That loser of a boyfriend of yours, Gerald, kept asking you how you knew, and you finally flat out told him.”

  “He vanished from my life, without a word. I try to keep my abilities a secret. You know how things just happen, and before you know it, lots of questions get asked. On top of that, if Dave knew how I had tackled the offender at the mall…”

  Charlie chuckled. “You’d make a good wrestling partner. He might find that rather intriguing, being an ex-military cop.”

  “I’d beat him every time. Men don’t like it when a woman can outdo them.”

  “So you do like Dave. I knew it.”

  Deidre hit him with her soft tube of sunscreen as they walked out of the apartment. “No, I didn’t mean it that way. It’s only that I don’t date much because guys tend to shy away from me.”

  But yeah, she did like Dave. She’d never met a man so eager to make her acquaintance, and protect her at the same time.
>
  “Dave doesn’t seem like the shy kind of guy.”

  “No, especially when he’s packing. That’s not the point. I don’t like the idea he’s a reporter. They have a nose for news, and I don’t want him to think he has a news story in me.”

  “All right. So what happened with the mugging?”

  “He didn’t get my purse.”

  Charlie laughed. “No, but the impish look on your face indicates he got something else.”

  Deidre nodded as she pulled her door closed. “I’d forgotten you had a spare key to my apartment.”

  “You said any time I needed a place to stay—”

  “Are you here for good?”

  He ran down the stairs beside her. “Got a job at the biggest real estate office in Killeen.”

  “Good.”

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to use your spare bedroom until I find a place of my own.”

  “You’re welcome to it, Charlie.”

  “I’ll pay part of the rent—”

  “When you start selling properties, you can.”

  They walked across the parking lot as Dave spread his multicolored beach towel on a lounge chair poolside. She stared at his bronzed muscles. When did a reporter have time to look like that?

  Charlie waved to get his attention.

  Deidre rolled her eyes again. She couldn’t help it. The guy looked like Gerald Butler with the same mischievous twinkle in his eye. Broad shouldered and as handsome as a swimsuit model. Her gaze shifted to the fine smattering of dark hair trailing down his well-muscled stomach to the waistband of his blue trunks. She quickly looked up and discovered he was studying her just as closely. Her body instantly warmed, and not due to the hot Texas sun either.

  Charlie maneuvered a chair closer, forcing Deidre to take the one in the middle. She rested her towel and sunscreen on the chair, giving her brother a look of scorn as her eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed.

  Before anyone could say a word, Charlie spoke again. “Deidre and I wondered if you’re free for supper tonight. I wanted her to meet my new girlfriend, Marilyn Johnson, and thought we might double-date.” Without waiting for a response, Charlie added, “Deidre hasn’t dated anyone in three months, and she’d love for you to join us.”

  She could have slugged Charlie! For not only saying that she hadn’t had a date in eons, but that she had wanted Dave to join them! If Charlie hadn’t known more martial arts maneuvers than she did, she’d knock him on his butt. Army personnel officers just didn’t get enough hand-to-hand combat training to give her an edge with her brother. Yet when it came to Charlie, she had to admit, she really had difficulty saying no.

  Dave smiled. “Yes, I’d love to join you for dinner. I don’t know anybody here yet.”

  Deidre rubbed her temple and glanced at the pool.

  Charlie touched her hand. “What’s wrong?”

  She stared at the pool’s crystal blue water rippling in the hot breeze. “No children are swimming in the pool.”

  No swimmers played in the water at all. Only sunbathers stretched out on blue and white chaise lounges at the shallow end of the pool, baring their backs to the hot golden sphere clinging to the cloud-free sky above.

  Dave shook his head as he unclipped his phone and left it on his towel. “Not a one. There shouldn’t be as this is the adult pool—only eighteen or older—”

  “What do you see, Deidre?” Charlie asked.

  “What?” Deidre stared at her brother’s inquisitive look. She shook her head. “Nothing.” She walked over to the edge of the pool, then dove in. She never minded telling her brother what she saw, but she couldn’t let Dave know. He might have thought she was crazy, or worse…wanted the story.

  Her forehead pounded. She heard splashes nearby. In her mind’s eye, she could see the boy at the bottom of the pool when she closed her eyes and yet when she opened them, there was no one…no one but Dave and Charlie now floating beside her.

  “Are you all right?” Dave asked.

  She couldn’t tell them what she saw. No matter how much she wanted to leave the pool, she had to watch the scene play out. Avoidance wouldn’t make it go away.

  Charlie cleared his throat. “Listen, do you have a ball in your apartment, Deidre? Maybe we could play a—”

  She shook her head.

  “Me neither,” Dave said. “How about Marco Polo?” He motioned to the deep end of the pool.

  “Sure, sounds good to me. I’ll be it first.” Charlie closed his eyes and counted out loud to ten. “Marco!” he shouted.

  “Polo!” Dave responded.

  Charlie dove for him. He rose to the surface. “Marco!”

  Deidre climbed out of the pool, goose bumps trailing down her arms.

  Dave yelled from the swimming pool, “Polo!”

  Charlie hesitated. “Deidre?”

  She stood on the edge of the pool, staring into the water. She waited for the boy to suddenly appear just as she could see him in her mind’s eye.

  Charlie swam to the edge and looked up at her. “What’s wrong, Deidre?”

  “A boy is at the bottom of the pool.”

  Charlie climbed out. He stared down at the clear bottom. “No one is there. Did you want to go back to your place?”

  She shook her head. “You know it’ll happen, Charlie. It always does.”

  “Come, play with us then. When it happens, we’ll deal with it.” He wrapped his wet arm around her, as Dave treaded water some distance away, watching the two of them.

  She nodded. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I hate when this happens, especially when I’m with friends and family. At least at other times I can deal with it alone.”

  “No need for that. We’ll help when the need arises. Come on.”

  They dove back into the water, and when they resurfaced, Dave said, “I’ll be it next.”

  “No, I will.” Deidre closed her eyes and counted to ten. She needed a distraction for the moment. Worrying about the inevitable wouldn’t help her to solve the problem. “Marco!”

  “Polo!” the two men shouted.

  She dove for her brother. “Marco!”

  “Polo!”

  “Polo!”

  Dave’s voice sounded closer. Either he wasn’t a good swimmer or he wanted her to catch him. She dove for her brother. “Marco!”

  “Polo!”

  “Polo!”

  Again, Dave swam closer to her. All right, we’ll end this quickly enough.

  She dove under the surface, reached out for him, her fingers touching a leg. Only the leg was small…like that of a child’s. She opened her eyes, the chlorine stinging them as she witnessed a young boy wearing blue swim trunks sinking to the bottom.

  Her heart nearly leapt from her chest as she dove for him, already knowing she needed another breath of air to rescue him.

  Chapter 3

  Deidre’s lungs screamed for oxygen as she tried to swim to the bottom of the pool where the boy’s lifeless form rested. She fought the urge to resurface for air without reaching him first.

  The pressure of diving so deep created a piercing pain in her ears and sinuses. She couldn’t quite reach his arm. Her fingers stretched out to his, but the buoyancy of her body made her struggle against being pushed to the pool’s surface.

  Finally getting close enough, she grabbed hold of his wrist. With him in tow, she kicked to the surface with all her might. The few seconds dragged like hours. Then to her surprise and guarded relief, Dave and Charlie joined her as she burst from the water. Charlie pulled the boy away from her, then lifted him to the pavement. Dave’s firm hands gripped her arms as he assisted her out of the pool.

  “I’m…all…right. Take…care…of the…boy.” She coughed, bent over, wheezing as she attempted to catch her breath. Lightheaded, it took a second before she noticed the commotion around her. Concerned sunbathers, prematurely dragged from their sun worship, hovered over them as someone called 911. Tears filled her eyes as Dave joined Charlie, moving the boy onto h
is side. Her heart sent the blood rushing to her ears, pounding with worry.

  Water escaped the boy’s mouth, but he wasn’t breathing. Dave cleared his passageway, then breathed into his mouth. The boy coughed. Deidre took a ragged breath.

  An ambulance’s siren peeled into the parking lot. A woman’s scream shattered the otherwise silent scene. “Tommy!”

  “What’s your name? Are you all right?” Dave asked. He attempted to make sure the boy could speak.

  “Where’s…my…ball?” The boy’s face remained deathly pale as his eyes glazed over.

  A sunbather handed him the brightly colored ball as a woman, undoubtedly the boy’s mother, ran toward the fenced-in pool area.

  “What on earth!” the frazzled looking redheaded woman shouted, racing through the gate to the pool.

  “The wind…” The boy coughed, his voice raspy. “Caught…cough… my ball, Momma.”

  Dave made him lie still to prevent shock as one of the onlookers handed him a towel to wrap the soaking wet youngster in.

  Once the emergency technicians rushed into the pool area, Dave rejoined Deidre as Charlie retrieved their things.

  Dave rubbed her arms with tenderness. As she finally took notice, she stood, her legs trembling from the incident. Chill bumps dotted her skin.

  The medical personnel loaded the boy into the ambulance. Relieved he would be fine, she still felt shaken. Did Dave sense she had a gift? She hoped not.

  “I’m going to run in and change, if you guys don’t mind.”

  Dave stuck close to her. “I’ll walk you back to the apartment.”

  “See you in a minute,” Charlie said.

  Charlie handed Dave her cover-up, and he wrapped it over her shoulders. His warm hands touched her gently, and her whole body reacted again. Her sensitivity to his touch drove her nuts when he got too close. Drawn inexplicably to him, she felt unnerved by him. She fought wanting to get to know him better. He was a reporter, for heaven sakes.

  His deep voice shook her from her distraction, and she realized he was studying her with concern. “That was some rescue you did back there. Charlie and I swam to different parts of the pool to avoid being tagged by you. A few seconds later, we realized you weren’t coming after us. Then when you didn’t resurface, we got worried and dove under to search for you.”