Divine Intervention (32 page)

Jasi knew what that meant.

If he had lived, Gibney would have been scarred beyond recognition. Years of therapy and excruciating pain were what he would have had to look forward to.

Martin Gibney was better off dead.

Feeling drowsy, she was about to give in to the drugs when she remembered something. "Hey! On my birthday, you were going to tell me something. Some secret."

Natassia gave her a sly, wicked grin. Then her brow twitched up, twice.

Jasi giggled. "You and Ben?"

"Yeah, but don't say anything. Ben doesn't want anyone to know."

"Piss off! I'm not just anyone," Jasi grinned, closing her eyes. "Oh, and Natassia?"

"Yeah?"

"You
are
family."

The room was so quiet that Jasi had to pry one eye open to see if Natassia was still there.

Her friend sat in the chair, beaming widely and wiping tears from her eye.

Jasi scowled, then clenched her eyelids shut.

Damn!

This friendship business was a lot of work.

"Don't you want to know where a particular TDS firefighter has been the past two days?" she heard Natassia say hesitantly.

Brandon…

When Jasi's eyes popped opened, Natassia leaned forward eagerly. "Brandon Walsh has been by your side the entire time. The nurses wanted to boot him out, but―"

"Let me guess," Jasi said dryly. "He charmed them into letting him stay."

"No," a male voice announced from the doorway. "I told them there was a beautiful woman waiting in here for me…naked."

Wearing a huge grin, Brandon sauntered into the room.

"For crying out loud, Walsh," Jasi snapped, flustered by his remark.

He held up both hands in defense and grinned. "Okay, I left out the naked part."

Jasi glanced uneasily in Natassia's direction while Brandon shifted forward, his pale eyes scanning her injuries.

"Don't leave me with him,"
Jasi hissed between clenched teeth.

Natassia patted her shoulder gently, clucked like a mother hen, and then vanished.

Jasi scowled after her.

Some family you are, Natassia!

Brandon waited while she adjusted her position and pushed herself back against the pillows. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been run over by a semi. Twice!"

"You look pretty damn good―for roadkill."

She flinched at the undertone in his voice.

He scooted the chair closer and reached for her hand.

"Jas―"

"Don't!" she threatened, pulling away.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking while you've been lying in here. I think we can make this work between us."

Jasi groaned tiredly. "There's another reason why we can't get involved, Brandon."

She heard his soft intake of breath.

"When I get involved with someone it takes something from me. It can interfere with my skills. It blocks me, exhausts me…drains me."

"But what about Ben? Natassia?" he asked, rising to his feet. "You care about them?"

"I don't know why it's different with them. It just…is."

Brandon fiddled with the plant that Baker had placed near the window. "What if we take it slow, Jasi? We could see how I affect you, your gift. Maybe it'll be different with me. Maybe your psychic abilities won't―"

She shook her head.

"I'm not willing to take that chance, Brandon. I'm sorry but it's not just my career we're talking about. This is my life! Helping people. What I do can mean the difference between life and death for someone."

Jasi thought of the man lying at the bottom of the ocean.

"When I get…close to someone I lose something and that could cost a life. A victim's, mine…even yours."

Standing by the window, Brandon looked away.

When he finally spoke, his voice was cool. "You care about me then." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

Her answer was bittersweet.

Neither of them uttered a word.

There was an endless silence―a void of emptiness. And in that emptiness, Jasi found herself. Alone.

In two swift steps, Brandon reached her side and leaned down. His mouth was hard, demanding. His kiss ravished her. It made her body tingle right down to her toes.
Then he drew back until his face was inches from hers, and his ice blue eyes devoured hers.

"I'm not giving up on us."

She wasn't expecting that. His comment shook her.

Brandon strode to the door, then halted.

"Can I ask you something, Jasi?"

Too tired to resist him, she nodded.

"This job you do―it's dangerous. You almost died on this case." His voice cracked slightly. "Why?"

Confused by the question, she stammered, "W-why, what?"

"Why did you choose this line of work?"

Her breath hung suspended in time.

Then she exhaled a long, ragged sigh. "Brandon…you don't understand."

His eyes blasted her with coolness…and a tinge of something else.

Regret.

Without a word, he walked out the door.

"I
didn't
choose it!" Jasi shouted after him. "Walsh!"

But the door had already closed.

Her heart was tearing.

She could almost envision it―shredded and useless, lying on the floor.

"I didn't choose it, Brandon," she whispered hoarsely, her eyelids fluttering shut.

It chose me.

The sedatives in her IV lured her toward a safe, painless unconsciousness.

And then Agent Jasi McLellan slept.

The sleep of the dead.

Epilogue

She floated in and out of consciousness, like a wave lapping restlessly against the shore. She was oblivious to the sounds and faces that floated past her.

Where was she? Why was it so dark and cold?

Jasi's eyes wandered, taking in the long corridor before her and the door at the end of the hall. It seemed so far away. The bare floor gleamed, polished to a reflective shine. She could hear the patter of her black sandals as they clicked along the floor.

She leaned down, staring at her reflection―a face that she did not recognize. Blinking rapidly, she cried out in terror when the face became two. Her head whipped around. A scream became trapped in her throat.

The dead girl from her closet was coming for her.

The girl's eyes were hollowed and black. Her face was a ghastly pale shade of gray. The pink skipping rope noose cut deeply into her lolling neck.

"Why can't you leave me alone?" Jasi pleaded.

The dead girl's gray, blistered face moved. "I can't leave. You need me. And I need you."

Her accent was soft―southern.

"He keeps callin' me," the girl whispered, her eyes wide and full of fear.

"Who?" Jasi demanded.

The girl began to sob.

Jasi reached out to touch her blistered shoulder but snatched her hand back when it encountered skin that was colder than ice.

"Who are you?"

The hallway closed in around them, pulsating like a snake's belly digesting its prey. A bright light at one end of the hallway made Jasi turn away.

"Emily," came the soft reply.

"What do you want, Emily?"

The girl's next words chilled Jasi to the bone.

"I want you to find me."

Jasi shook her head, confused, and took a few steps back toward the light. "What do you mean? You're right…here."

The girl said nothing.

"I've seen you ever since I was a child," Jasi remarked. "You've never spoken to me before. Why now?"

She took two steps toward the light, then waited.

Emily lowered her head. "You jes never heard me before. Now you're open. Now you're hearin' me fine."

Jasi glanced behind her. The light flickered once. The brilliance beckoned her closer, enveloping her in its warmth―a cocoon of safety. She paused and looked back at the dead girl with the pink skipping rope around her throat.

"It's okay, Jasmine," Emily smiled weakly. "Go."

The girl drifted backward into the shadows of a closet.

"Emily, wait!" Jasi cried out. "How do I find you?"

The girl's smile brightened and her lifeless body flared with color for a second. "When you're ready, I'll find you."

As Jasi drifted off into a peaceful healing sleep, she made a solemn vow to the dead girl in her closet.

I'll find you, Emily.

I promise…

Here's a sneak peek at Divine Justice…

Prologue

Jasi McLellan
drifted in and out of consciousness, her thoughts like
waves lapping restlessly against the shore. When she opened her eyes, d
istorted faces flashed past her and indistinct words assaulted her ears.
She
reached for the names that belonged to those faces, but they eluded her. She tried to swallow, but her mouth and tongue were sandpaper dry. She inhaled slowly, trying to place the smell, a mix of antiseptic and sweat.

Where the hell am I? And why is it so dark, so cold?

She blinked once and everything changed.

Before her lay a long, murky corridor. At her feet, the bare hardwood floor was polished to a reflective shine. Her sandals clicked as she headed toward the door at the end of the hall. A crack of backlighting outlined the door's shape. As she moved toward it, the door appeared to drift further away.

She paused and leaned down to look at her reflection in the gleaming floor. A face she didn't recognize stared back at her. Amidst charred skin, blue eyes blinked at her.

I have green eyes.

She cried out in terror when the face became two.

The dead girl from her closet was coming for her.

Jasi faced the girl. "Why can't you leave me alone?"

"I can't leave. You need me, and I need you."

The girl's accent was soft―from South Carolina maybe―and the pink skipping rope noose cut deeply into her lolling neck with every word she spoke.

"He keeps callin' me," the dead girl whispered.

"Who?"

The girl began to sob and Jasi reached out to touch the child's blistered shoulder. She snatched her hand back when it encountered skin that was morgue cold.

"Who are you?"

"Emily," came the soft reply.

"What do you want, Emily?"

The girl's next words turned Jasi's blood to ice.

"I want you to find me."

Confused, Jasi shook her head and took a few steps backward. "What do you mean? You're right here."

The girl said nothing.

"I've seen you ever since I was a child," Jasi said. "You've never spoken to me before. Why now?"

Emily lowered her head. "You jes never heard me before. Now you're open-minded. Now you're hearin' me fine."

A light flickered at the end of the hall and Jasi glanced over her shoulder.

"It's okay, Jasmine." Emily smiled weakly. "Go."

The girl drifted backward toward the shadows.

"Emily, wait!" Jasi cried. "How do I find you?"

"When you're ready, I'll find you."

As Jasi drifted off into a peaceful healing sleep, she made a solemn vow to the dead girl in her closet.

I'll find you, Emily. I promise.

The dead girl finally had a name―Emily.

1

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

~ Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC