Invaded

by Jennifer M. Eaton

  “Like hell it’s okay.” She pulled out of the parking spot and the wheels screeched as she pressed the gas pedal. “He’s driving a—” She looked over her shoulder, back toward Sean’s car.

  “No!” Tracy repeated, snatching the phone and clicking the off button. “It’s not like that. It’s okay.”

  Tears had formed in Laini’s eyes, but she still drove out of the lot. “You’re crazy. You are freaking crazy. I know you didn’t leave a bar with someone you just met. That is soooo not like you.” She sniffed. “I saw you with a guy and a few minutes later I looked up and you were gone. I know you weren’t drunk because you didn’t even have your drink yet.” She wiped her nose. “Then I find you outside in that asshole’s car, obviously fighting him off you.”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  She pulled into the bustling parking lot of a pizza place and parked. Laini turned, shaking. “Then what the hell was it? What’s going on?”

  Well, you see, Laines, I have an alien inside me, and so did the asshole. They used our bodies without our permission. God, even if she could tell Laini, she’d never believe her.

  And what the hell had happened?

  Was Adonna finally waking up? Was she starving for contact like Dak seemed to be? She thought about John, working late trying to make all of South Jersey safe again. How had she repaid him for his dedication? By grabbing the first guy she found in a bar.

  She covered her face. No, it wasn’t her. It was Adonna. The Ambient saw something she wanted and decided to take it, Tracy be damned.

  Laini propped her arm on the steering wheel, her eyes set and defiant. How could Tracy explain without telling her the truth?

  “Things have been really weird since the accident. Sometimes I don’t even know who I am anymore.” Tracy covered her eyes as tears streamed from her cheeks. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “Dude,” Laini said. “I can’t even imagine.” She shuffled closer and hugged Tracy. “I’d be totally weirded out, too, if I’d lost two weeks of my life; but hooking up with a guy you’ve never met is not the answer. You would have hated yourself tomorrow.”

  Hated and then some.

  Laini leaned back. “Maybe you should talk to someone? You know, professional help?”

  Tracy straightened. “I do not need a shrink.”

  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, but I’m worried about you. I lost you once. It sucked. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  She doesn’t want to lose me.

  Tracy didn’t want to lose herself, either.

  The silence between them hung like a veil the rest of the ride home. The pained look on Laini’s face as Tracy slumped off to bed stung like a lance through her chest. They’d been inseparable since middle school, like sisters. There was no one Tracy wanted to confide in more. But how could she ever talk to anyone about this?

  John’s warm smile seeped into her thoughts. He’d understand. Maybe he was the only one who could. Explaining this night without ruining her chances with him was the problem.

  She rubbed her eyes. What was she going to do?

  22

  John checked his hair in the rearview mirror. He blinked, hoping to lessen the puffiness around his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept in months. Maybe this case was getting to him more than he realized.

  *You look great. Let’s get going*

  Glancing through the Starbucks windows, he wondered if Tracy was ticked off about last night. What if she didn’t show up?

  *You won’t know unless you get your ass in there.*

  “All right, all right. I’m going already.”

  He slipped through the door, and stopped in the vestibule. Tracy stood at the counter beside a bag and two drinks. A smooth warmth flooded him. He paused for a moment, drinking her in. He sure as hell could get lost in that smile.

  “Hey, guys,” she said. “I decided to order and have it ready when you got here. I hope you don’t mind.”

  *Touch her.*

  No.

  *Please?*

  John kissed her cheek. A slight zap tickled his lips as Dak reached for Adonna. Dak recoiled inside him. Something wrong?

  *She’s exhausted. Worse than before.*

  John took the coffee and followed Tracy toward the back room. “Are you guys okay? Dak seems to think Adonna is tired, like she’s exerted herself or something.”

  Tracy flinched as she sat opposite him. “Maybe she did. I think I felt her last night.” She shifted in her seat, brow furrowed. “No. I know I felt her last night. She…” She closed her eyes and looked away.

  “What?” John set down his drink.

  Tracy gulped and met his gaze. “Words popped into my head. I don’t think they were mine.”

  “What were the words?”

  “Need. Want.” Tracy bit her lip.

  *Was she thinking about me?*

  “What were you doing when you heard it?”

  Her eyes darted to the side. “I was, umm, in the car.”

  A twinge of panic rattled through John. What was she thinking? “In the car? Last night? Alone?”

  “No. I was with my friend Laini. We went for drinks.”

  John dragged his fingers through his hair. “Please tell me you didn’t go to a bar. That psycho is still on the loose.” His gaze darted to her eyes. Blue. Maybe a hint of green, but not the vivid emerald of the victims. He let his tension scale slip from a ten down to a six.

  “Psycho, not psychos?” Her lips thinned. “Oh, God, are all those murders related? Is it like a Jack the Ripper thing?”

  He held up a palm. “We’re not releasing that information yet. But they are asking everyone to use caution. Especially in public places like bars.”

  “Oh, please. I was with Laini, and nothing happened.”

  She slipped her fingers around his hand. A tingle shot into his wrist. A new sensation. Dak fizzled and seemed to draw back with a slight amused twist. Maybe Adonna wasn’t quite so tired after all.

  But that didn’t explain the odd set of Tracy’s shoulders—like some important speck of information was being withheld. Maybe she suddenly realized how much danger they could have put themselves in. Or was it something else?

  The cop inside him sucker-punched the regular guy on a date. He would find out what was wrong, once he got her to relax and open up to him.

  “I wish you’d be more careful.” He tightened his grip on her, giving Dak an avenue to reach through him to her skin. His Ambient took immediate advantage, sliding through the embrace.

  John warmed when Tracy’s lashes fluttered. She didn’t flinch, she just seemed to enjoy the sensation of Dak spreading into her. At least she’d finally accepted what they both were, what all four of them were. Maybe this could work out, after all.

  “I know I may seem overprotective, but please, don’t go out at night. Not until we have this guy behind bars.”

  Dak withdrew his touch and John released Tracy’s hands. Dak sank away from the top of John’s awareness, nearly disappearing. John hoped it was alien satisfaction, not a problem with Adonna.

  “We were fine and in a public place.” Tracy took a bite of her croissant. Her arm jiggled as her leg bounced under the table.

  If she was a suspect, he’d already have concluded she was lying. But about what? “I doubt the murderer cares about public places.”

  Her eyes trailed away as she chewed the inside of her cheek. She wasn’t listening, or if she was, she was blowing him off. How many times had he seen this? Human nature would never change. No one ever thinks it will happen to them.

  Dammit! How could he make her understand?

  He placed his other hand atop hers. “Listen, I’m sorry, but I deal with the aftermath of this animal every day. I see things that are too horrible for even the media to know about.”

  She took another bite of the croissant, her gaze stitched to her napkin.

  John balled his fists, rubbing them on his lap. What would he do if something happened to her
because she hadn’t listened to him? He’d never be able to live with that.

  Dak shook inside him.

  John scratched his brow. “You can’t understand what it’s like, waking up every day and wondering if he’s struck again. At this point, I don’t even wonder anymore. I just wait for the bad news.” He sighed, staring at his still-wrapped sandwich. “Every time I get a call, a little part of me dies. Another woman is dead, and it’s my fault.”

  Tracy’s eyes widened. “Your fault?”

  He slammed his fist on the table. “It’s my job to find this bastard. My job to stop him. Every day he’s still free is my fault.”

  A passing employee stuck his head in the quiet room. His gaze centered on the only couple seated in the small space.

  John waved him away. “Sorry.”

  He needed to get a hold of himself. Maybe he really hadn’t been sleeping well.

  Tracy reached across the table. “Hey, no one blames you. And you have to be getting closer, right?”

  John shrugged. “A beat cop shot a suspect fleeing the scene yesterday. That’s why I couldn’t see you last night. We were combing hospitals, but we came up dry.”

  She leaned back. He could see the disappointment in her eyes. She blamed him as much as everyone else did.

  “Then why are you here?” she asked. “Shouldn’t you be gathering evidence or something?”

  Crumpling his napkin in his fist, he did his best to ward off the implication that he hadn’t done enough already.

  She was right, of course, since the asshole was still out there, possibly choosing his next victim right now while he was here drinking coffee.

  Dak swirled beneath John’s left shoulder, relieving some of the tension centered there, while John’s gaze wavered over Tracy’s somewhat haggard expression. Her lips tightened.

  Her gaze was on him, yet she seemed distant. Distracted. Yes, he’d definitely rather stare at her than look at crime scene photos, but what was going on in that pretty head of hers?

  His Spidey senses were tingling on overload. Something was up.

  Unless his cop side was overreacting.

  *Again.*

  Shut up, Dak.

  But his Ambient friend had a point. Maybe she’d noticed John’s reactions to Dak and was giving them time for their internal conversations as well as this outward exchange with her.

  Yes. That was it. He needed to stop thinking the worst every second of the day. Dak was right. He needed to learn to turn the detective off and be a regular guy once in a while.

  A flash of the photographs pinned to the war board raced across his mind.

  Three young women whose lives had been cut short.

  A police department cut to a skeletal team.

  He was the only chance those women had to see justice. If he didn’t solve this case, another woman would be added to the board. And another. And another.

  Who was he fooling? He wasn’t a regular guy. Too many people were counting on him.

  He wished things were different, though. Tracy was the first real chance for him and Dak since Amy, and Dak deserved this.

  *So do you.*

  Yeah, maybe he did.

  John returned his gaze to Tracy. “Dak, he—he likes your company.” John laughed and shook his head. “Hell, I admit I like your company.” He took her hand. Her fingers felt so fragile in his. “I love that we don’t have to hide anything from you. I know it might sound stupid, but keeping secrets like this can get to you after a while.” That, and everything else going on in his life. He tightened his grip, suddenly afraid she might let go. Then he released her before she thought he was some kind of idiot. He stared at his fingers, suddenly missing her warmth.

  Her brow pinched, then softened as if she made a difficult decision. “Listen, I get that this might not be the greatest time for you to start a relationship, but I want you both to know that I understand. Right now, the most important thing in your life is finding this killer before he hurts someone else. Don’t worry about me.” She gripped his hand. “Find this asshole so we can get back to the rest of our lives.”

  His heart fluttered. The rest of their lives?

  Dak swirled a loop inside him, causing John to gasp.

  Down, boy. That’s not what she meant.

  *How do you know?*

  The smile drained from John’s face when a tear streamed down Tracy’s cheek. She wiped it away.

  “What is it?”

  She shook her head. “It’s not fair. It’s stupid of me to even be here, bothering you. You have much more important things to worry about than me.”

  So, there was something else. So much for the overactive cop instincts. “Tell me.”

  “Never mind. It’s a bad time.” She stood, grabbing her purse.

  “No. Wait.” John was holding her wrist. He didn’t remember standing or grabbing her. “You can’t do that. Dak will be crazy worrying about you.”

  She snorted. “Dak?”

  He lightened his grip. “Okay, and me, too. Please, talk to us.”

  She nodded and eased back into the chair. “There’s something I didn’t tell you about last night.”

  John tensed. Maybe he didn’t want to know, but he was glad he wouldn’t have to stew over what was really bothering her. “I’m listening.”

  “I didn’t just hear Adonna last night.” She took a deep breath, then released it slowly.

  John twined his fingers between hers. “Whatever it is, it’s okay.”

  She drew away. “No. It’s not okay. She took me over. It was horrible.”

  “Took you over?”

  “Like a goddamn puppet.” Tracy wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “She was controlling me and there was nothing I could do about it.”

  “What happened?”

  “I was in the bar with Laini like I said, and there was this guy there. All of a sudden, I had no control of my body.” She wiped another tear from her cheek. “Adonna threw me at him. I tried screaming, I tried fighting, but it was like being stuck in a nightmare. She wanted that guy, and there was nothing I could do about it.”

  *That doesn’t make sense.*

  John’s face flushed as he profiled the scene, imagining Tracy flinging herself into another man’s arms. He fought his hands from forming fists.

  “And that’s not all of it,” Tracy continued. “He had an entity inside him.”

  John flinched. “What?”

  Dak stiffened.

  Shit. Was this the Ambient equivalent to getting cheated on?

  Hold on there, buddy. We don’t know what really happened, yet.

  “How do you know there was an Ambient inside him?”

  She shivered, staring at the pile of napkins between them. “There was this zap when we touched. Like an electric shock. The guy felt it, too. It looked like it scared him.”

  Dak?

  *An initial touch. Like a hello. If that’s all it was then it’s no big deal.*

  “But then the guy grabbed my hand, and whatever it was inside him crawled into me and, like, exploded.” She shivered again and rubbed her arms. “I feel disgusting. Violated.”

  John poked the empty void inside him. It was like Dak had simply melted away to nothing. Apparently, exploding was a lot more than an initial hello. Shit.

  He stroked her hand, surprised when Dak didn’t reach for her. Tracy wiped her nose with her other hand. If she had no control, how far had it gone?

  John calmed the fire brewing in his own thoughts. She wasn’t his. Not yet, anyway. That didn’t stop him from wanting to pummel this jackass, though. “How long did she have control?”

  “Not long. Laini came and it was like Adonna snapped and lost control. All of a sudden, I was me again.”

  “Dak, I need your input on this one.”

  A swirling fizzle rose to the center of John’s chest. *I really don’t want to talk about this, John.*

  I need you, buddy. Come on.

  Dak shimmied a little higher in J
ohn’s chest. *Adonna probably used all of her energy to take control. She might sleep for weeks now.* He pulsed. *If it were me, I’d be too scared to take my host over again, knowing it would tire me that much.* Another swivel. *Touching the other entity must have been very important to her to take that kind of risk.*

  And the other entity wasn’t Dak. His friend twitched and sunk low again. Damn, that had to hurt.

  He looked up into Tracy’s wide, expectant eyes, wishing he could chase away her fear.

  “What did Dak say?” she asked.

  John shifted his weight. “Well, we’ve already explained that these things are tactile, but it sounds like they said a little more than hello.”

  Tracy flinched.

  “Dak said she probably won’t do it again if she got tired enough that she faded out. It sounds like that is pretty frightening for them.”

  “Frightening for them? How about frightening for me?”

  “I understand.”

  “No, you don’t. You can’t.”

  “Unfortunately, I can.” He took a deep breath and stared at his coffee lid. “A few years ago, I blacked out on the scene of a house fire. When I woke up, I had my face in an oxygen mask. I was covered in soot and the arm on my jacket had burned completely off.” John grimaced. “And someone was patting me on the back, calling me a hero. Apparently, I dragged a family of five out of that inferno.” He looked up at her. “Dak saved those people, not me.” Pausing, he chewed his upper lip. “I know he did a good thing, but it took me a long time to trust him again. I still don’t think he can comprehend why I had a problem with it.”

  And he probably never would. There were things about humanity that Dak couldn’t grasp, no matter how hard John tried.

  “As soon as you’re able, I suggest sitting down and having a talk with Adonna. I can’t imagine she would knowingly put you through that kind of stress.” He lowered his hand. “These beings don’t have the same moral system we do. She probably had no concept that what she did was wrong, or that she scared you.”

  Tracy’s brow furrowed. “So, you want me to talk to her?”

  “It’s worth a try.”

  She nodded, and John’s phone rang. Commings.