For Her Eyes Only

by Cait London

  Leona placed her forehead against the other woman’s and focused. Come with us, before you’re hurt. Think of your children. They need you. And they need Dean, as the loving father he was, not this man.

  Dean smashed his fist into the pickup’s fender. Owen’s light eyes narrowed, his body tense. Inside the cab, Max was furious, snarling and barking, leaping at the window as if trying to get out. Owen barely moved as he easily blocked Dean’s first punch, then another.

  Infuriated, Dean charged him. That was a mistake. With one quick movement, Owen flipped Dean onto his back. Crouching beside the winded man, Owen spoke softly, then stood up and faced the women. His voice was calm, as if the violence had never occurred. “Sue Ann, it might be better if you’d come with us. He’s okay, just resting. He’ll feel better in a little while.”

  Her eyes filled with tears, Sue Ann looked helplessly at Leona. “I love Dean.”

  “I know. That’s why you don’t want him to feel badly if he hurts you. He needs to cool down before that happens.” Leona smoothed Sue Ann’s blond hair away from her face. Concentrating on her friend’s wide blue eyes, she tried to calm Sue Ann’s fear. She focused on the physical connection with Sue Ann, the streams of their friendship flowing warmly around the other woman. “Please. It’s the sensible thing to do.”

  “Sensible,” Sue Ann repeated blankly. “Yes, I think so.”

  She hurried inside the house and in a short time returned with a small overnight bag. “I’d take our van, but Dean—Dean has done something to it, so I can’t go anywhere.”

  Leona helped her into the pickup’s cab with Max. Then she circled to where Dean lay. Owen stepped between her and the fallen man. “I wouldn’t trust him now, Leona.”

  “I do.” She met Owen’s narrowed eyes, that firm set of his jaw. “He’s a good man, Owen. None of this is his fault. It’s mine.”

  He considered that thought for a moment, then nodded and stepped back slightly. Leona sensed his alert body near hers, at the ready as she crouched beside the fallen man. Dean groaned slightly and she smoothed his hair back from his face, his blue eyes opened slowly.

  “Leona…” Owen warned.

  Dean had been a wonderful loving husband and father; she had to save him. “Dean, listen to me. This is only temporary. I want you to stop seeing Vernon and stop drinking. If you’re taking any drugs, you’ve got to stop. Sue Ann loves you, Dean. You don’t really want to frighten her, do you?”

  “No….” Dean whispered unevenly. “I don’t know why I do some of the things I do. They just boil out of me for no reason. It’s like I’m someone else.”

  “None of those things are your fault, but you have got to trust me. Dean, you must do as I say.”

  When he nodded, Leona continued, “You love Sue Ann and your children. This is going to work out. You have to believe me.”

  Tears streamed down his cheeks, and his hand clasped hers. “Thank you.”

  Leona continued soothing his forehead. “You are to take very good care of yourself, Dean. Get control. Do not communicate with Vernon. Do not see him. But do call me if he makes contact. Understand?”

  “Tell my wife I love her, will you? And that I’m sorry?”

  “I will.”

  Leona glanced up at Owen, who had just placed his hand on her shoulder. He indicated Sue Ann in the pickup’s cab; she looked as if she’d shatter at any moment and change her mind. “We should go,” Leona said., “Give me a call, Dean, if you want to talk. I’m a good listener.”

  After saying a humble “Thanks,” Dean eased himself up into sitting position and wrapped his arms around his folded knees. He waved at Sue Ann and tried to smile. “It’s okay, baby. Don’t worry. I’m really sorry. Love you,” he called unevenly.

  In the pickup, Sue Ann sat huddled in Leona’s arms. Closing her eyes, Leona focused her energy on soothing the other woman. On the other side of Sue Ann, Owen was silent as he drove through Lexington.

  “Yes, I think you’re right, Leona,” Sue Ann stated suddenly as she sat upright and dried her tears. “I think this is best and that we both just need a little break. I’m not going to see Dean again until we’ve talked calmly on the telephone, and he stops seeing Vernon. But Vernon wasn’t like that before, either. He’s always been such a good-hearted family man, but he has missed his wife terribly. He was away for a while, and he’d changed when he came back—he even looked different, but somehow the same. That’s when he started coming over here and got Dean to help him at the salvage yard.”

  “Just let us know if you hear from Vernon,” Owen stated quietly, as he handed Sue Ann his business card. “Everything will work out fine.”

  “Really?”

  “I said so, didn’t I?” Owen’s reply was just right—confident, supportive, and certain. “Sometimes men just need a little space to figure things out. You’re giving it to him. You’ll laugh about this while you and Dean are sitting on your old-age rocking chairs and watching your grandkids play. You’re doing the right thing. He’ll realize that you couldn’t have done anything else but what you needed to do. Just recently, I’ve found that to be true myself.”

  Leona stared at Owen. Was this really the man who had demanded that she leave Lexington?

  Owen’s smile at her was too bland and too innocent.

  Twelve

  “NICE WORK,” OWEN STATED, AFTER THEY HAD SETTLED Sue Ann with her parents and driven to Tom’s Salvage.

  In the early morning, the junkyard was already busy. The sound of cars being crushed caused Leona to shiver. She closed her eyes as one dark blue sedan was pressed flat; it wasn’t difficult to imagine how she might feel in that same car.

  Leona held Owen’s hand as they questioned the manager, who hadn’t seen Vernon for some time. Once back in the car, Owen suddenly decided to shop for tea. Leona sensed that was a diversion to calm her and didn’t protest.

  When Owen drove into the strip mall’s parking lot, he was obviously very alert to potential danger. He held the door for Leona as they entered Tea-Mart 4 U, a specialty tea shop with custom blends. “I guess that’s why I got invited to Sue Ann’s? Because Dean might be dangerous?”

  “I thought I could manage Dean. I just didn’t know about Vernon, had he been there.”

  “I don’t blame you. So then, you do need me, right? You trust me at your back, don’t you?”

  “I appreciate your help,” Leona stated carefully. She trusted Owen with her life. But she wasn’t ready, just yet, to admit that she loved him. She sensed that Owen was pleased with himself. Her feminine senses had been sending big flashing warning signs since they’d left the salvage yard. They weren’t spine-tingling, fearsome sensations, but the kind that said Owen was carefully strategizing how he treated her. And those methods had everything to do with his feelings for her.

  She remembered how serious Owen had seemed when he’d crouched beside Dean and spoke quietly. Leona had understood that Owen was introducing himself as Sue Ann and the children’s protector for the time being.

  Protector. If things kept going the way they were, one day Leona might have to explain that label to him. Her sisters had bonded with men who had protected them. It was a unique lifetime blend of love, passion, respect, and friendship.

  The Protector label also could be applied to any of Thorgood-the-Wolf’s men, who had pledged to protect his and the seer’s bloodline through time. Owen definitely qualified as a potential descendant of one of the warriors; his tendencies were the same, despite the veneer of civilization. His “Wolf” name definitely indicated a relationship, and his light eyes and Native American heritage gave him the potential to have visions like a shaman might. Owen hadn’t said anything about visions. Did he have them?

  While standing in the loose-tea section of the shop, Owen talked quietly with the curvaceous salesgirl. She was obviously flirting with him. Leona held her breath while the blonde—who wore a name tag of MISSY—explained the different blends of tea to Owen. Talking quietly, they wan
dered over to the tulsi-tea section, leaving Leona to stand by herself. Owen seemed to be in a good mood, more friendly than usual, smiling and taking in everything that Missy said. And she had plenty to say.

  As Leona stepped out of the shop to answer calls from her family, she heard Owen’s rich chuckle. She turned to see him flashing a brilliant grin down at the woman. Though the shop’s window, she noted the blonde’s hand touching Owen’s chest, arm, and hand frequently—when she wasn’t licking her lips and toying with her long blonde hair. At one point, he seemed to be laughing at something she’d said.

  It was all very disgusting….

  Tempest wasn’t letting that tidbit get away from her grasp, without teasing Leona. “Jealous, huh?”

  Leona thought about breaking the blonde’s arms. Then Missy would have a hard time roaming her hands all over Owen! “Not a chance. I’m not the jealous type.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Tempest singsonged. “You seem pretty hot and upset to me.”

  “Lay off. He’s enjoying himself, you know.”

  “Yes, men do that. Every once in a while you have to reel them back in. You know, I’m not one for pondering, but it seems to me that you and Mom are having definite problems of a male-species kind. Kenneth has got her on the run…she’s acting frazzled. But then, she’s worried about you, too, so the wave frequencies from her are bouncing all over the place. Yours are just hot and bothered. Relax and enjoy the quirks of the male species.”

  Tempest spoke with the age-old wisdom of a newly married who had her man in hand. “I’ll tell Claire that you’re having a little relationship-adjustment problem. This is a reverse play, isn’t it? Our cool, calm, poised sister chomping at the bit and ready to pour tea leaves all over that snazzy blonde. Uh-huh…uh-huh. I know that’s what you want to do, Leona Fiona.”

  “Lay off and stop teasing me. Owen is free to do as he wants.” Leona quickly shifted into business mode and updated her sister on Vernon’s connections in the dangerous tangle. Once she finished, she said, “I’ve got to go.”

  She was uncomfortable with the reverse roles, her sisters clearly enjoying her relationship with Owen. However, Leona had successfully managed to block them from information about the missing revolver.

  Inside the tea shop, the blonde leaned close to Owen as she flipped her long hair yet again. Owen’s smile at Leona was brief and bland, as if he’d just remembered her. That would have to change. “Are you finished? We really should go. It’s too hot for Max in the pickup.”

  Owen looked at the blonde as he spoke to Leona. “We’ve only been in here five minutes, and the windows are down. There’s a nice cool morning breeze.”

  The blonde batted her lashes up at him. “I can read tea leaves and tell your fortune, if you like. Or I read palms as well.” Missy picked up Owen’s hand and held it in both of hers. Turning it over to look at his palm, she ran her fingertip over his calluses. “Oh, I just love a man who has big hands. It usually means he’s very good with them.”

  Leona glanced at Max, and hoped the dog would show signs of being uncomfortable. Behind the pickup’s windshield, Max seemed to be grinning. Leona glanced at Owen, whose smile at her also seemed a bit wolfish. Those odd little tingles hit her again, a clear warning that Owen’s game plan involved something about her. But she couldn’t worry about that at the moment, and nothing felt cool from her viewpoint.

  “I want to go,” Leona stated. She maneuvered her body between Owen and the salesgirl, effectively detaching their hands. She pointed to the glass canisters of green, black chai, and tulsi-chai tea. “We’ll take that and that and that. He can compare at home.”

  Who was this woman she’d become? Leona wondered desperately. Where had the old Leona gone? She stared at Owen as if seeing him differently. Where Owen was concerned, she was definitely possessive. Obviously she needed to protect her territorial rights.

  Owen still wore one of those bland, innocent smiles. “Okay, honey. Anything you say.”

  He was definitely too docile. She didn’t trust that act. Owen was definitely one of those starkly masculine, assertive males. He had some sort of a game plan concerning her!

  Apparently thwarted in her flirtation, the salesgirl glanced at Owen, who shrugged. He looked amused as he paid for the tea. As they got back into the pickup, he seemed almost jovial. His hand stroked Leona’s thigh and cupped her knee. “‘Home’ sounds good. Whose?”

  The question quivered around Leona, the meaning much deeper than the actual words. She looked down at his hand—one Missy believed to be quite capable. Leona thought about the salesgirl’s flirtations with Owen, the way he’d responded so easily, and said, “Mine. I’ve decided to take the day off. But I’d like to check on the shop first.”

  “We could pick up some takeout and stop at a park…let Max walk a bit. It would be a great day for it.”

  “No. We are going to my house.” Her flat statement seemed to please Owen immensely, his grin flashing unexpectedly at her.

  At Timeless Vintage, while Max sniffed around the display room, Leona hurried to turn on her radio. Owen set to work, checking for hidden cameras.

  Glancing around her shop’s display room, Leona saw that Jasmine was elegant as always. As if on center stage, the mannequin commanded attention in her elegant “Derby” outfit. “Date Night” bags gleaming red and black beads caught Leona’s attention, and she knew what she had to do. Her family thought she was stronger. Now was her chance to test that.

  Walking straight for the handbag, she gripped it tightly, letting herself open to the streams of psychic residue. First, she dismissed the energy-fluff she felt from the customers who had handed the bag and narrowed down to her sisters’ touches. Claire, who had created the bag, Tempest, who had held it, and someone else—

  Leona almost tossed the bag away as a biting, angry, vengeful sensation slithered up her arms. She held tight and waited until the sensation eased. The test proved that she was definitely stronger. She replaced the bag carefully.

  Owen came to stand beside her. “I couldn’t find any equipment. What’s wrong?”

  “I need to know him better if I’m going to take him down. That’s what my sister, Tempest, does. Without her gloves, when she feels the history of an object, who held it. I’m not that good, but I got there. I didn’t know I could—”

  “We’re going to take him down,” Owen corrected, as his arm circled and drew Leona to him.

  “Then maybe you should know that Vernon wasn’t exactly reasonable when I saw him last. I was at Alex’s house when he stopped by. Apparently, they share a widower’s grief and a friendship. I’m certain that if Alex hadn’t appeared when he did—”

  Owen gripped her arms and held her away to study her face. “Has Vernon threatened you?”

  His expression frightened Leona. If ever she saw a man who might kill if pushed too far, it was Owen. On the other hand, Vernon was big and powerful, and Owen could get hurt. “I—”

  “Okay, he has…if not in words, then in deed. And you didn’t say anything. You could have told me.”

  “Look Owen, all that is past and we need to focus on the present. I have a lot on my mind right now and that’s never good for a psychic.” Dropping her gaze, Leona studied the silver runes on her bracelet, remembering what she had just learned about her gift. She’d deliberately imprinted Sue Ann with her thoughts—by focusing her energy she’d broken through the other woman’s fear and love and brought her to reason. Her extrasensories were growing too quickly, and she didn’t understand the limits. This time, to protect her friend, it had worked. What if the next time, she did something wrong and harmed someone?

  “I think I want to bake a coconut cream pie and plant those daisies,” she said suddenly. The balance between fear and anger had unsettled her. She knew instinctively she needed to balance the unreality of what was happening to her with everyday tasks, as if nothing had changed.

  Owen’s stare swung from Max to Leona. “Okay, you could do that
,” he said cautiously. “Any particular reason why you want to do that now?”

  When she looked up at Owen, she realized, too, that her jealously had unbalanced her as well. Owen had seemed so blatantly interested in the curvy salesgirl at the tea shop. There was no way Leona’s lean body could compare with the blonde’s voluptuous one. But instead of voicing her fears, Leona tried for an innocent expression. “No.”

  Then she glanced at Max, who had sniffed a path to her shop’s stairway and started moving upstairs; his huffing and sniffing noises indicated he was tracking a scent. “You won’t let Max tear anything up, will you?”

  “Max is too proud to go sniffing ladies underwear, and he’s been walked. Give the dog some dignity, Leona. You really don’t want to face this, do you? Max was all lit up at Sue Ann’s. That creep had been there, the same one that Max had sensed at the farm. Maybe we should bring in the police. If that revolver turns up—I guess I’d better report it as missing, huh?”

  “That might be a good idea. Max is barking again.”

  Owen was already taking the stairs, two at a time. Leona followed. Upstairs, they found the dog poised for battle and snarling, his hackles raised.

  “I thought you said you had claustrophobia,” Owen murmured as he stepped into the crowded office, making it seem even smaller. He moved around the office, checked out the furniture and the ceiling, then quickly inspected everything else. “No camera. No sound equipment. So you are claustrophobic? This doesn’t bother you?”

  “Vernon miscalculated the distance the shelves would take up and—” Leona tried to breathe and couldn’t; her hand went to her chest.

  “That would be one way he’s trying to turn up the pressure on you…by making the space smaller….” Owen turned suddenly and frowned as he saw her. Instantly, his arms went around her, one hand tucking her face against his throat. “Feel me, Leona. Come on, honey, breathe….”