Hide'n Go Seek (9 page)

The golf shirt pulled across his massive chest, showing every muscle. Then there were the tight-ass pants. Why was it Grant who made her throat constrict and the nerves in her stomach dance? The consultant, Stefan, was better looking, and had some indefinable charisma she'd never seen before.

But it was Grant that interested her.

It was Grant's energy that surged toward her whenever they were close together.

It was Grant's energy that made hers brighten.

Forcing her gaze back up to his face, she swallowed a couple of times before trusting her voice. "Are you experienced enough in this field to answer the types of questions that come up?"

Grant dropped his arms to his side. "I volunteered with my brother for years. He works out of a center in Maine. Both training and rescue work."

"Then maybe we could use you regardless of the real reason. We're always short staffed."

"Good to know. I'll be around, if you get called out again, let me know where you're going to be." Pulling a card from his wallet, he dropped it on the table beside her.

Kali's face froze. Was that the same as
don't leave town?
"I can do that," she whispered.

Something in her face caught his attention.

"Tough couple of days, huh?"

"Yeah, just a bit." Intense weariness made it hard to get up.

Stefan spoke, smooth velvet that momentarily hid the punch of his question. "How's the painting?"

She froze for the second time. "How do you know I paint?" she murmured, her heartbeat knocking so loudly against her rib bones, she was sure the men could hear it.

"You just confirmed it." His gaze locked onto hers. So intense she couldn't break away. It was as if he were trying to see inside her mind. She blinked...and he broke the connection. She'd been released only because he let her go. She exhaled slowly, a fine tremor wracking her spine. It should have scared her. He should have terrified her. Instead, she understood. She didn't know if she'd passed or failed whatever test he'd administered, but she knew he'd been assessing her.

Beyond strange.

She gathered her strength and stood, stumbled slightly, catching herself on the side of the table.

Grant reached out to steady her.

Energy zinged her.

She jerked back reflexively. He frowned. She bit her bottom lip.

His hand stayed in the air before dropping to his side. He studied her quietly.

Heat flamed her cheeks. Bravely she met his gaze. "Sorry, I didn't mean that the way it looked, you startled me."

With a curt nod, he accepted her excuse and turned to walk away, a slight clip to his step.

Stefan stayed behind. She glanced at him, expecting anything but what she saw - compassion. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed her a business card. "Here's my card. You're going to want to call me."

Kali watched the two men drive away. She'd handled that badly. She hadn't been able to stop herself bolting from Grant’s touch and the freakin’ scary need to touch him. She couldn't explain it any more than she could explain the need to feast her eyes on him. Attraction was one thing. This was something else yet again. She didn't want to care about anyone. Not anymore. It hurt. And she'd had enough hurt lately.

The trouble was her hormones weren't listening.

She glanced down at the card in her hand. Stefan Kronos. Consultant. Psychic Investigator.

What the hell?

Grant pulled onto the highway heading back into Portland. Kali lived in Sorenson, a hiccup of a town nestled between Salem and Portland. By rights it should lose its town status as it had been all but eaten up by Portland's growth. He drove seamlessly in and out of traffic, his mind caught on Kali's last comment. And her reaction to his touch. Now that had hurt. He'd only been trying to save her from a fall.

He'd felt the zing. Reveled in the energy. She'd bolted from it.

And not in a nice way. How could something that powerful
not
be right?

Damn. His hormones went into overdrive every time he thought of her. Yet when he was
with
her, he went into professional mode. Calm, quiet and dependable. Not exactly every woman's dream.

He needed her to feel the same way he did.

"She does." Stefan spoke for the first time.

Grant snorted, easing the car into the other lane. "Really? How come she couldn't take her eyes off you, then?"

"Only at first meet. She got over me pretty quickly."

The smile in Stefan's voice had Grant studying his friend's profile. He wanted to believe him.

"And you need to."

Staring back at the highway, Grant realized he needed lots of things, but Kali in the middle of a case wasn't one of them. Kali in his arms, Kali in his bed, or how about Kali in his life? As if.

His logical mind struggled with the logistics of the Sacramento murder. It would be physically challenging to pull off alone. Moving bodies required a physical strength and a level of fitness few people had. The oxygen tank added to the weirdness factor. Although Kali was in great shape, she couldn't have lifted a man the size of the Sacramento victim. If she had a partner - maybe. A partner would open the suspect pool to anyone. Something else to talk to the profilers about.

Working with Kali on this case was going to be a challenge. If the press found out about this...not fun. And with her undeveloped psychic power... He knew all too well what happened to people who couldn't control it. Most of them ended up in mental institutes or committing suicide.

Stefan could help her.

"I left her my card. She needs a bit of time."

He would have to watch how she handled this mess.

"You're in trouble here. With her."

"How bad?" Grant couldn't
not
ask.

"Bad." Stefan leaned his head back against the rest and closed his eyes. "She's very powerful. Untrained, not in control and her system surges with physic awareness."

"That's not necessarily bad, though, is it?" he asked cautiously.

As if almost asleep, Stefan murmured, "No, not bad. Except she's keeping secrets."

Waking, Kali lay still for a long time. The last few days had finally caught up with her. Shiloh snuffled and rolled over beside her. "Hey girl. You're as whupped as I am, huh."

Maybe it was time to quit. What had Lauren said?
It's almost as if my soul says enough.
Kali had to admit a part of her felt the same way. She hadn't handled this last mission very well. Finding a murder victim added a definite nasty ending.

She rolled over and checked her clock. Noon. Kali yawned and stretched. Shiloh stretched her paws across the pillows, burying her nose against the blanket. A lady in all ways. Kali laughed. Not.

She hopped out of the bed, opened the glass doors for Shiloh in case she needed to go out. Having an upper deck with direct access to the backyard was a nice feature to the house. So was having a doggy door in the laundry room. Shiloh could take care of her own needs while Kali slept. Enjoying the clear blue sky for a brief moment, Kali walked inside to shower. By the time Kali had finished getting dressed in cotton capris and camisole shirt, Shiloh had joined her. The two trooped into the kitchen, feeling rested and more ready to take on the day. Hopefully without the letter writer. She didn’t dare call him a stalker - even in her mind. That sounded more ominous than she could deal with.

Kali stopped. Energy pulsed from outside her kitchen. Someone sat on her deck, someone in a dark black suit. Grant. Again.

Shit. Her stomach jumped, her aura pulsed in welcome.
What the hell?
She so didn't need this. Or want this.

And if she kept repeating that, she might actually believe it.

What could he possibly need now? She opened the French doors and stepped into the afternoon sun.

He immediately stood and faced her. Grim lines etched his face.

Her stomach sank.

"Hello. Sorry if I kept you waiting. I gather you forgot to ask me something this morning." She yawned as the fresh air caught her. "You could have just called, you know." She stretched. "I feel so much better. It's amazing what a little sleep can do."

A quizzical look came over his face. "So you should." He studied her expression. "I didn't come this morning, I was here yesterday. It's Saturday."

Kali stared at him in shock. "No way. I only slept for a couple of hours, at the most."

"No, you slept all day and all night. I was here yesterday," he said firmly.

Her stomach growled. Maybe she
had
missed three meals. She spun on her heels and turned on her laptop. She put on a pot of coffee while the machine booted up. When it was done, she checked the date. Damn. No wonder she felt good.

Grant stood in the open door. "Do you believe me now?"

"I guess I needed more rest than I thought." She shrugged dismissively, brushing past him to cross the deck. "I can't say I'm surprised. These last few days were pretty hellish." Kali walked over to the railing to stare out at her half-wild yard - so different from the dust and grayness of the Sacramento site. She took a deep breath, loving the musky scent of the evergreens, warm and heavy from the hot sun. It was good to be home.

She turned to him. "Will you have coffee? It should be ready soon."

"Sure. Thanks."

Returning with two cups, she held his out. "I seem to be doing this a lot. So, tell me, now that we have the social niceties out of the way, why are you here this time?"

"Stan received another letter."

Kali's stomach clenched. Suddenly she didn't feel quite so well. Carefully placing her mug on the table, she returned to the railing trying to find balance in the craziness. Turning to face him, she leaned back against the wood and narrowed her gaze at him. "Why Stan again, I wonder?" She winced. "Not that I want the letters here. Believe me, I'm happy to put some distance between them and me."

He glanced at his mug and back up at her. "That's not going to happen. And the most likely reason for delivering the letter to Stan is that the writer knew either that you wouldn't be here to receive it or you wouldn't be awake in time to find it." He took a sip of coffee. "Or maybe he's trying to discredit the center. Or direct the suspicion toward it and away from something else? We don't
know
anything at this point."

Kali rubbed her temple. God, what a horrible thought. "So many people would have known I was out of town. Also, anyone could have watched the house and seen me come home and collapse. And that's just creepy." Shivers rippled over her spine. That had stalker written all over it. She tried to refocus. "Putting that aside for the moment, what did this message say?"

"It said, 'First round to me. Round two begins soon.'"

Kali's knees buckled. Grant hastened over to steady her, his arm curving around her back. "Easy, Kali. Take it easy."

She leaned into him, welcoming something solid to grab onto in a world that had suddenly shifted. Flashes of color flared, sparked between them. She blinked. Embarrassed and more than a little stunned, she pulled away to retreat to the closest chair.

Yesterday she'd pulled away. Today she'd leaned in, then pulled away. She was an idiot. Talk about sending mixed signals. Grant was still speaking.

"I'm sorry. There was no easy way to tell you." He studied her face intently.

She shook her head, a broken laugh escaping. "It doesn't matter. I would feel this way regardless."

"Maybe."

She considered his strong face. She'd thought he had brown eyes. Right now, they looked as black as the dead of night. She swallowed and leaned back. Grant straightened. He walked away for a moment, then came back.

"Have a drink of coffee. It will make you feel better."

She stared blankly at him. "Coffee?"

He held out her cup. "Here, drink. Do you have any brandy?"

"Brandy? Uh no, I don't think so." Kali accepted the cup, then closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. She needed to get a grip. "I'll be fine. I just need a minute."

Grant took a seat beside her, a cup of coffee in his own hand.

It took a few minutes before she trusted herself to speak again. "One more time, what did the letter say?"

Slowly, Grant enunciated, "First round to me. Round two begins soon."

She shuddered.

"Do you think the victim in Sacramento was his first?"

He studied her face. "I don't know. The timing, situation, people involved could all work. However, it's too early to be sure." Turning to look up at the bright sky, he added, "It's also possible there's a different victim. One we haven't found yet."

Another victim? Christ, weren't there enough already?
"I can't even begin to contemplate that scenario." She struggled to reason through the message. She'd been so happy to put this from her mind. No longer. "So, if - and it's a big if - this first victim was the Sacramento victim, it would mean the killer was there when I was there - or close by."

"And possibly for the same reason you were - only he had a hidden agenda. So the question now remains who was there with you? Any chance you wrote that list for me?"

"No, I went to bed right away." She sighed. "You said Stan wrote you a list of the workers who went from our center. Besides, those people, there were teams from other regions. And the many volunteers who weren't SARs." She took a sip of hot coffee, hoping it would warm the pit of ice forming in her stomach. "Overall, there would have been more than a hundred people involved. Tracking them would be next to impossible. Besides, anyone could have flown there and done this. We weren't all that far away from home. Honestly, someone could have driven there and back in the time I was stuck there."

Heavy silence settled between them. Kali couldn't even begin to understand the mindset of someone who could do something like that. Why? She had trouble with the center being targeted, but that someone had involved her in this nastiness...well it didn't make sense.

"Think carefully. Do you know anyone who could do this?"