Through Her Touch (Mind's Eye Book 5)

by Deborah Camp

  “Tomorrow. Levi, let’s not be overly dramatic.”

  “You’re not driving back by yourself. I’m sending a car and driver. Leave the rental there. I’m sure there’s an Enterprise or whatever in St. Joseph. Check with the front desk. No, don’t bother with that. I’ll instruct the driver I’m sending to take care of it for you. You wait for the driver, understood? That man will also be your new personal security. He and maybe another person will be taking you anywhere you need to go.”

  “Levi, this is really not necessary.”

  “It is necessary. A murderer is following you, love, and when it comes to your security and my peace of mind, nothing is too much. You’re going to have a security guard or two. No discussion.”

  “Can they be handsome?”

  Levi’s mouth quirked with amusement. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Please. If not handsome, straight and unattached.”

  “Fine, okay. Next on your new agenda, stay put in Tulsa for the next few weeks to make it easier on the new security people. And when you get back home, we’ll trade your car in on a new one. I’ll take care of that.”

  “Levi, no. My car just needs a tune-up.”

  “I’m sure it will get one before they put it on the used car lot. What color do you want? Red? White? Black?”

  She sighed as if she found the conversation tedious. Trudy was sympathetic. Being on the receiving end of Bossy Britches Wolfe was about as much fun as being read your rights.

  “Blue, I suppose. Or yellow. I do love a buttery yellow or bright green.”

  He made a face. “Blue. We’ll go with blue.”

  Trudy smothered a laugh. “Just agree with him, Quintara. It’s less painful that way.”

  He threw her a scowl. “This is serious business, love,” he said, aiming it at Trudy, too. “You’re damned lucky to be safe in your hotel room. You hearing me?”

  “Yes, dear.”

  Holding the phone in front of his face, he glared at it. “Don’t leave that hotel until the driver gets there. I’m not asking you, I’m demanding it of you. I’m doing my damnedest to look out for you, Quintara.”

  His hand was still on her shoulder and Trudy clutched it, brought it around to her lips, and kissed his middle knuckle and then his wedding ring. God, how she loved this man!

  “I know, Levi, and I appreciate you. I will be good and follow your instructions. I don’t want to worry you any further. You or Trudy. The door is now double locked. I will keep this cell phone near me. I will wait for the handsome, single, well-endowed driver to collect me tomorrow.”

  His fierce expression lightened a little. “You don’t ask for much, do you?”

  “Only the best, my darling. Is it too much?”

  The corner of his mouth tipped up. “For you? No.” He released a sigh. “All right. Call me if you need anything else or if anything troubles you, alarms you. Understood?”

  “Yes. Understood. You and Trudy take care, too. Good night, my darlings.”

  “Good night.”

  “’Night, Quintara,” Trudy sang out before Levi ended the call.

  Levi moved around to sit beside her on the couch. Mouse hopped onto his lap and licked his chin. He stroked the little dog and stared broodingly at the phone still in his hand. “When did you know that it had been Quintara in that car?”

  “Just now. It clicked all of a sudden. It had to have been her.” She scratched between Mouse’s ears and Mouse moved from Levi’s lap to hers. “She’ll be okay.”

  “Yeah.” He pressed a number on the cell phone and kept it on speaker. Pete Gonzales answered on the third ring. “Hey, Gonzo.”

  “Hey there, sunshine. What’s happening?”

  “I need you to send one of your best and brightest to St. Joseph, Missouri tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. Quintara’s there and she’s being stalked by a killer.”

  “Christ! No shit?”

  “No shit. I want security on her until further notice.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Maybe send one of your tough guys and Kenner, my backup driver? He’s single and won’t mind working away from Atlanta. I’ll email you the particulars in a little bit.”

  “Yeah, that’s good.”

  “And I want additional security assigned to Trudy, too.”

  “What?” She sat up and Mouse growled. “No.”

  “Look for my email, Gonzo.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Thanks. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Levi signed off. He tossed the phone aside and flung an arm around Trudy’s shoulders. His whiskers scraped her skin when he nuzzled the side of her neck.

  “What did you mean by ‘additional’ security?”

  “Same as with Quintara.”

  “No.” She leaned away from him. “You said ‘additional.’ Do you already have someone tailing me?”

  He leveled his gaze on her. “Baby, you always have a personal security team.”

  “What?” She stared at him, hoping to see mischief in his eyes “Please tell me you’re joking.”

  “I’m not. Why would you think any different?”

  “Why? Because that’s nutty. Why do I need security? I mean, yeah, maybe now. But before this whole Eureka Springs stuff?”

  “Because you’re you. And you’re married to me.” His hands settled on her shoulders and he shifted to look at her, face to face. “We have a lot of money and I have a measure of fame. I’ve explained this to you before. There are all kinds of fruitcakes out there. Some of them are ruthless as fuck. They’d sell their souls to get money for crack, so snatching you and holding you for ransom would be easy-peasy for them. Keeping you safe is top priority. Numero Uno on my must-do-or-hell-will-pay list.”

  “I haven’t noticed anyone following me.”

  “That’s good. They’re supposed to be discreet. I’d appreciate it if you’d use a driver until this nut is in jail. Wes can take you where you need to go and pick you up. Or one of the people on your security team.”

  “How many people are on my team?”

  He glanced up at the ceiling. “Four.”

  “Four!”

  “They have different shifts.”

  “That must cost a fortune!”

  “It doesn’t. You’re not to worry about that.” His gaze moved over her face as appreciatively as a lover’s touch. “Do you remember anything else from your visions that can help us identify the guy?”

  She closed her eyes, going back over the incident. “He likes heavy metal sounding music. And he has made reference to karma more than once.”

  “Karma?”

  “Yes, as in ‘karma’s a bitch.’ You know, like the person has it coming to her or him. Payback for some insult or bad deed.”

  “The nature of the attacks is interesting to me.” He settled back against the couch and laced his hand on top of his taut stomach. “So far, he’s avoided bloodletting. He’s used a vehicle for murder and he’s pushed someone down stairs and into a trash bin. He doesn’t want to get his hands dirty, so to speak.”

  “Maybe he’s squeamish at the sight of blood.”

  “That’s a possibility.”

  “I wish I could recall something more about him.”

  “Could you see what he was wearing? Shoes? Slacks? Jeans?”

  “No. He was focused on Quintara.”

  “Whoever it is followed her there, so he’s been checking around to know where she’s speaking.”

  “He must have a job that allows him freedom.”

  “Or he’s taking vacation days or he’s unemployed.”

  “He has contempt for psychics.”

  Levi turned his head to look at her. “What did he think about them? About Quintara?”

  “That she was encouraging psychics. He doesn’t think she’s psychic. He thinks she’s crazy like all the people who believe they have a heightened sixth sense.”

  “I wonder if he’s met them all. Is it personal for him or is he randomly selectin
g them?”

  “I think he’s met them.” Trudy shifted through her impressions of the stalker/killer. “It does seem personal.”

  “Yeah, I think so, too.” He shoved up from the couch. “I need to email Gonzo with all the particulars.”

  She grasped his hand, keeping him there another minute. “Is there anything else you should tell me? Keeping anything else from me?”

  “I wasn’t keeping anything from you, Trudy. I thought you knew you had security.”

  “I knew that I used to, back when Lizzie’s boyfriend was on the loose and out to kill me,” she said, catching his slight wince at the mention of that dark time last year. “But I didn’t know that you’d kept a security detail on me.”

  “Well, now you know.” He caught her chin in his hand and stroked it with the pad of his thumb. “You’re my priceless treasure. You think I’m not going to protect you with everything at my disposal?”

  “Do you think we should ask Quintara to stay here with us?”

  “I think we have it under control for now.”

  “And you’ll be careful, too, right?”

  “I have security, too. Wes is trained in martial arts and has taken tactical driving classes.”

  “He has?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He headed for his downstairs office. “And you’ve seen me lose it, so you know I can do some serious damage all by myself.”

  She stared after him. His comment sent her back to when he’d beaten Lizzie’s burly boyfriend unconscious. That night he’d unleashed the beast inside him; the one she had always felt lurking there, stirring his anger, making him tense and high-strung. He’d mellowed some since that night, his roiling agitation not as close under his skin as it had been when she’d first met him. But he was still capable of violence. She knew that. She didn’t like it, but she knew it. His horrific childhood had taught him to be a fighter; to draw first blood when threatened. The gym’s punching bag took the brunt of his fury these days and she hoped it stayed that way.

  Chapter 11

  Opening her compact mirror, Trudy regarded her image. Gingerly, she touched the pink skin on her nose and cheeks. It stung a bit. She closed the compact and dropped it back into her small purse. Street signs blurred past the windows as the driver steered the big SUV out of the stadium parking lot.

  “I think I’ve sunburned a little. I should have worn a hat.”

  Beside her in the back seat of the Lincoln, Levi leaned closer to get a better look at her lightly freckled face. His movement stirred up the “new car smell.” This was the first ride in the Navigator that had been delivered that morning, having been outfitted with little extras like bullet-proof glass. They even had a new driver. A hirsute man in his mid-30’s named Adam Beckell. Kenner had been assigned to Quintara, who was quite smitten with the cheerful, 46-year-old former convict.

  Levi’s hand landed on her bare knee. She’d worn shorts and a sleeveless blouse to the baseball game in hopes of getting a tan. “It’s cute. You’re cute. Did you have a good time?”

  “Yes. Didn’t you?” She peered more closely at him, noticing that his smile was more crooked than usual. “How many beers did you drink?”

  “One too many,” he allowed, and with a roll of his eyes he let his head fall back against the seat. “And I don’t even like beer that much. I’m glad Beckell is driving.”

  “If he wasn’t, I would be.” She sent a smile toward the driver, one of her new security personnel. “No way would you be getting behind the wheel, buster.”

  He scoffed. “Buster.” His eyes rolled in her direction again. “You’re cute.”

  “So you’ve said.” When his hand slipped up higher to her thigh, she caught it and held it in place, glancing pointedly at the back of Adam’s head. “Uh-uh-uh,” she whispered. “Not now.”

  He frowned, but let his hand slip off her leg and onto the leather seat. “I’m glad the Braves won. Hey, Beckell, did you catch any of the game?”

  “Yes. Some of it, Mr. Wolfe. Looked like the Cubs might take it until the ninth.”

  “Yeah. I have a soft spot for the Cubs, too.” He angled his body toward Trudy and lowered his voice to a husky whisper. “Did you bond with the wives?”

  She smiled. “Yes. We talked about what stocks were good risks in the market today, the best local beers, and women’s asses mostly.”

  He smirked. “Funny. You’re funny.”

  “Oh, wait. That’s what you guys talked about, wasn’t it? My mistake. Yeah, I remember now. We talked about good books we’ve read lately, what movies we want to see, and that size does matter.” She glanced toward Adam and saw his whiskered cheek flex with a grin.

  Levi chuckled. His cell phone vibrated and he yanked it out of his shirt pocket to glare at the screen. Then his eyebrow arched and he accepted the call. “Miss me already?”

  Gonzo’s deep voice floated out. “I just got a report from IT that someone’s been nosing around in your personal background again.”

  Levi went still beside her and then hitched up higher in the seat. He held the phone closer to his ear. “Who?”

  “Don’t know yet. Could your father be up to his old tricks again?”

  Trudy could barely hear Gonzo now, so she leaned her shoulder against Levi’s to catch his words.

  “Maybe. Find out. Email me in the morning about it. Use my private email.”

  “Will do. Hey, that was a good time today, sunshine. Thanks again.”

  “No thanks necessary.” His gaze met Trudy’s. “We’ll all get together again soon.”

  “Great.”

  Levi slipped the phone back into his shirt pocket and looked out the side window, deep in thought.

  “Why would your father be snooping around like that?”

  “To piss me off. To find something he can use against me.” He didn’t look at her, keeping his face averted, but she could feel his puzzlement, his worry.

  “He’s done that before, hasn’t he? Snooped around?”

  “Yes. He’s hired someone to look at my credit card accounts, my banking information, where I shop, what charities I donate to, that sort of thing.”

  “Oh, my God. Why doesn’t he just leave you alone?”

  “Good question.” He sighed and ran a hand down his face. “Might not be him. Could be a nosy reporter. Someone like that. They won’t find a lot because there isn’t much to find. Although I haven’t lived the life of a saint, I’ve never been arrested, don’t have any baby mamas I’m sending money to every month, no strippers I’ve paid so they won’t sell their stories to the tabloids, and no dick pics floating around that I emailed to under-aged or any-aged women.”

  Trudy swept her hand in an arc and snapped her fingers. “Well, shucks. Who would have pegged you for a Boy Scout?”

  He chuckled darkly at that. “You know me well enough to know that’s a crock.” He turned his head to face her. “I’m a sinner, but I’m not stupid.”

  She tucked her hands around his arm and snuggled into his hard body. He smelled faintly of hot dog relish and sunshine. She nuzzled his neck and bit his earlobe. He stroked her bare arm up and down, up and down. “Thank you for today. I felt like a wife.”

  He inched his head back to give her an amused frown. “What? You haven’t felt like a wife before today?”

  “Well, yes, but not in the same way. Today I felt like part of a clique. You know? I used to be part of a single girl clique and now I’m part of a married women clique. I like it.” She nibbled his ear again, making him smile. “Do you feel like a husband?”

  “Mmmhmmm. I feel like a husband with a beer buzz and a boner. It’s a great combination.”

  She grinned naughtily, but moved away, conscious of the driver. “You’d be willing to get together again with those couples?”

  “Sure. We can’t overdo, though. I don’t want to get so chummy that the line blurs between business and social.”

  “I’m sure they feel the same way.”

  “Mr. Wolfe, t
here are photographers outside your apartment building. Should I take you around to the back?”

  Levi sat straighter and leaned toward the window to peer out. Four people stood at the entrance of the building and two news trucks were parked in the lot beside it.

  “What the hell is going on?” Levi groused. He pulled his cell from his pocket and ran his thumb over the screen. “Yes, go around to the back, please, Beckell.” The phone buzzed, he checked the number, and answered it. “Hi. Hey, do you have any idea—.”

  “Why have you kept this whole psychic killer thing from me?” Sissy Franklin asked, her Texas twang as prominent as the irritation in her voice.

  “Psychic killer? What are you talking about?” Levi’s narrowed gaze locked on Trudy and he mouthed shit along with a hard bounce of his head.

  “I’m talking about what was on Entertainment Today. Chason Bolt was on there, talking about how he was almost run over by someone who is killing psychics! You must know about this, so what’s the deal? Why am I just finding out about it?”

  “Sissy, let me get back to you.”

  The car came to a stop at the back entrance and Levi motioned for Trudy to make a dash for the double doors. She slid out and was inside the building within seconds with Levi right behind her. At the freight elevators, he fitted his key in the wall panel and pressed the P button. The elevator doors slid open. Before they closed, Trudy caught sight of two of the news people arriving at the back doors, but Adam Beckell was there to stop them.

  “Whew. That was close.” She slumped against the wall as the compartment began its upward climb. “What’s Chason thinking going on a national program and blabbing? We all agreed we would keep this under wraps and let the police handle it for now.”

  “He must be feeling neglected.” Levi shook his head and punched in a number on the cell. “Do me a favor, baby. While I talk to Sissy, will you call Quintara and make sure she’s okay?”