Dream Shadow (9 page)

His home was silent, confirming that his guests had departed. Slowly moving across the porch, Brice sought any clue that they had ever been there. Not a one remained. His kitchen would have passed a white-glove inspection. Every dish was in its place without even a single soap bubble left behind in the sink.

She
did
exist.

Flattening out a hand on his countertop, Brice chewed on his frustration. As her words sunk in, he felt his temper rise. Exactly who in the hell had the audacity to try and train a human being into believing they weren’t allowed to feel?

Well, he was going to make sure he interfered with that training. Pushing away from his counter, Brice moved through the house on silent feet. He felt a surge of desire race along his bloodstream as he contemplated the hunt ahead.

He intended to make sure that they had only
said
goodnight.

Goodbye was out of the question.

Two days later…

Making her way among the trees, Grace kept her eyes moving. Jacobs was utilizing the forest to heighten his unit’s senses. Despite the aches that often accompanied such expeditions, the chance to sleep surrounded by nothing more than the night was well worth it.

But she froze when she realized she’d made her way back to the cabin she’d found Paige in. She looked up but Jacobs had been following her and her C.O. was trying to decide what to make of her actions.

She didn’t understand it herself.

The mystery of it was hounding her. She could understand being drawn toward Paige. The community of Benton was tight. The entire area had been flooded with the anxiety of the little girl’s plight. The second Grace hit the asphalt outside town she’d been awash in the emotional tide.

“That blanket you found is locked in an evidence locker in Benton.”

“Yet I walked here…again.” She couldn’t think of a single reason why, but the cabin beckoned.

Beginning a slow circle around the structure, Grace let her mind wander. It wasn’t a skill she was comfortable with. Focus was more to her liking. When there was a target she could apply discipline and that produced a tight case.

But maybe the problem was that this case was still open. If there had been a second child, Grace would have felt her.

That might just be guilt speaking. Considering the cabin’s kitchen door, Grace reached a hand forward to pull it open. The second child’s face sprang up in full color a second before it faded. Grace froze on the threshold as frustration boiled straight through her until it erupted into anger.

The heat of that anger hit her memory as familiar. In fact, it was exactly the same as the day she’d found that blanket. Grace flung her body back from the structure and felt her temper rip away with the distance.

Extreme events could imprint themselves onto places or buildings. But Grace found herself staring at the cabin and its anger. She simply didn’t understand the intensity of it. Children didn’t hold such anger inside them. Her mystery-blanket child couldn’t have left such a level of hate behind.

But the blanket was in Benton and no other child was missing. Those were facts and emotions were trouble. There were psychics whose true gift was understanding human emotions, but that wasn’t her talent.

“There’s nothing here,” she said to make sure she couldn’t change her mind.

“Didn’t look like nothing to me.” Jacobs sent his eyes over the cabin before aiming them at her again.

“Emotional static, nothing more.” Grace turned her back on him but Jacobs reached out and caught her shoulder.

“I can’t explain what I do not understand, Jacobs.” She kept her voice low to keep her words from drifting to the men nearby. “Once we leave Benton, it won’t matter.”

“You in some kind of hurry to return to base? That’s a first. You never request to return to base, Grace. Why now?”

She started walking to avoid the question.

Some emotion surfaced as she considered leaving Benton behind. Brice Campbell wouldn’t have the means to find her. Regret stabbed straight through her. Grace tried to toss it aside, but that left a yearning in her body that refused to be banished.

It had been two days and her breasts still tingled. His mouth had been so hot on her nipple. Thinking about it made her nipples bead. She had one of the most disciplined minds on the planet, but she couldn’t evict Brice from it.

Her ears picked up the clues that informed her the rest of the unit had fallen into pace with them. Grace didn’t really give them much notice. Half of the unit ignored her out of fear that she’d curse them or read their minds like some cheap science-fiction movie. The rest of the men were only interested in interaction if it involved sex. Jacobs was the only exception. Grace actually enjoyed conversing with the man from time to time.

But she had enjoyed kissing Brice Campbell.

She increased her pace, trying to force herself to focus on the physical demands of the hike.

An hour after the sunset, Jacobs called a halt to their day. Grace slipped from her feet gratefully. The rest of the men settled into pockets that betrayed just where close relationships had formed. Left to herself, Grace sorted among her pack looking for just what would serve as her dinner.

A set of long legs invaded her vision as Jacobs settled himself a bare foot from her body. He really was a giant. His size had no doubt played a part in his assignment to her unit. But he was also a brilliant pilot.

Grace wondered if the man was getting the itch to settle down. She didn’t think that he would ever leave the service. But if he did something like get married, he’d most likely transfer out of her unit.

It was selfish of her, but Grace didn’t want to deal with anyone but Jacobs. She must be getting old, because it had not bothered her so much in the past. Her last C.O. had been an ass. Stephen Fredricks always had a mean streak in him, but when he was promoted into command of the unit it turned into full corruption. It had been one of the longest years of Grace’s life. He ran her like a bloodhound, giving her no more concern than a prized bitch.

“So why do you want to return to base?”

Grace snapped her attention back to Jacobs. He was watching her with those eagle eyes of his. She simply shrugged. Getting involved in a conversation tonight seemed too exposing. There was a level of comfort that came from keeping herself private, and tonight even Jacobs’s company felt abrasive.

“Spit it out, Grace.”

“There is too much emotion here.”

“Maybe it’s time you experienced some intensity.” Grace straightened but bit back what she wanted to say.

“Say it,” Jacobs pressed.

“Why waste my time?” She locked stares with him. “Whatever Turvel decides I need will happen.”

Dropping her unopened dinner back into her pack, Grace frowned. Jacobs’s C.O. never spoke directly to her, but he sure didn’t have a problem dissecting her life.

“You can stop worrying. I’m not going to follow Susan’s example.”

Jacobs’s eyes turned solemn. He didn’t believe her. He reached forward and snagged her uneaten dinner from her pack and sent it flying into her chest. Grace caught the foil pouch in reflex and glared at him.

“Even if I were planning on putting a pistol in my mouth, I doubt sex would change my mind.”

“Everyone has needs, Grace.” Jacobs tore open a foil pouch MRE and scanned the contents. “Brice got your attention because he’s off-limits. That’s a lesson for Turvel. He thinks he controls you but he doesn’t. Not completely.”

Is it that simple?

Grace used the excuse of opening her dinner to hide her expression from Jacobs. But her interest in the contents died as she felt the unmistakable touch of another psychic. There were only a handful on the planet that could make their way into her mind. Her eyes narrowed as she identified him just a bare second before she thrust him out of her mind. Devon Ross might be able to get inside her mind, but he didn’t have the strength to stay there if she wanted him evicted.

“We have company.”

Jacobs issued a sharp whistle that brought the men of his unit to complete attention. Weapons appeared in every hand as they rolled into whatever cover was closest. His eyes lit onto her face with razor sharpness as he waited for her to clarify her statement.

“Devon Ross is here.” Very close. The man didn’t have as much reach as she did. He needed to be close to his target to link with it. Jacobs’s phone vibrated for attention almost on cue.

“Major Gennaro said he’d drop by for supper.” Jacobs flipped his field-communications phone open. “Nice of you to drop by, Major Gennaro.”

Jacobs kept his eyes trained on her as he snapped his phone shut. Grace recognized the look instantly. Jacobs took his duty to the extreme. Even if the company was expected, he’d always secure her position.

But that didn’t explain the odd topic of conversation. Having her lack of sexual experience discussed wasn’t sitting very well on her mind. They simply didn’t understand. The emotional tide that went with the physical intimacy was too…intense.

Just kissing Brice Campbell was still distracting her two days later. A small trace of emotion raced across her skin as she considered the Benton County sheriff. There was an image sitting inside her skull of the man pulling her top off and tasting her bare nipples. Her breasts tingled with sensation as the memory caught her attention again.

Devon Ross took another try at sinking into her head. Now that the man was closer, his abilities were much harder to fend off. Grace took to the challenge with a surge of anger. She wanted to be left alone.

Evicting Devon from her mind left her with Jacobs’s hooded eyes to deal with next. Pushing to her feet, Grace took her pack with her and inclined her head in the direction of the forest. She didn’t like to change in front of the unit. Jacobs normally allowed her privacy.

“Not going to stick around to greet Devon?”

Understanding dawned on her, irritating her almost beyond endurance. “Is Devon Ross Turvel’s idea of the right kind of man for me?”

Jacobs shrugged. “I believe that’s his thought process. You’re both psychics. Cut-from-the-same-cloth sort of thinking.”

The idea made her madder. It was instantaneous and pure response. Devon Ross’s face rose from her memory and she rejected any sort of interaction.

“We’re like siblings.”

Jacobs looked back at his supper. “That would put a damper on things.”

She inclined her head toward the forest again. He offered her a nod and she turned to escape.

Relief almost flooded her. The lack of human intrusion left her with lungs that suddenly could fill with cool night air. Lifting her head, she let the breeze slip down the open collar of her shirt.

She understood just how Susan had felt. It was like there was a hand wrapped around her throat, squeezing and tightening until ripping it away became absolutely necessary. Grace could feel the leash around her neck tighten as she forced her feet to stop.

Her current freedom was just an illusion. The second she stepped away too far Jacobs would be right on her heels.

But it was still an improvement. Surrounded by the night, annoying things like conversations could simply float away.

“It is a beautiful night. Isn’t it?”

Her pack hit the dirt as Grace turned to confront her company. She knew exactly who it was. She immediately identified Brice Campbell’s voice because her body leapt in response to it.

“You have a death wish or something, Sheriff?”

“Surprising you might not be the wisest move but I admit I get a rush out of shattering your perfect control.” He closed the space between them.

“I don’t have any information about your case. So leave me alone.” Grace reached for her pack but let it slip to the ground again as she considered the fact that Brice Campbell was standing in front of her. That left her with returning to her unit as an option to avoid sharing his company.

“But maybe Jacobs can shed some light on things.” Grace tossed her head in the direction of her C.O.

“I didn’t come up here for my case,” he offered softly. “I came to see you.”

His words set off a response that Grace frantically tried to stop. Heat rose in her face, and she recognized the peculiar tremble her body seemed to reserve for Brice Campbell. His lips lifted into a grin as his hands unzipped his heavy jacket. Her eyes were drawn to his chest as he shrugged out of the garment.

Just the right kind of wrong?

If so, she needed to get a grip on her responses to him.

“You’re wasting your time.”

“Maybe. Then again, maybe my office got a report about an armed group of men making their way up this patch of forest land.” Setting his shoulders against a tree, Brice tipped his hat back and grinned at her. “I couldn’t resist the urge to tell Jacobs how a little gray-haired lady pegged one of his men.”

The picture of her C.O. getting that little tidbit filled her with amusement. The sound bubbled out of her mouth before Grace thought better of it. A grin flashed across the sheriff’s face in response.