by Janie Crouch
But if he wasn’t involved at all, where was he?
“No car in the garage either,” Wyatt said. “Maybe he didn’t bring her here.”
Shane holstered his weapon. “Let’s see if we can find anything that points us in any sort of direction.”
Sheriff Linenberger arrived a few minutes later.
“Westman, I know you have not broken into this house, after we discussed you waiting for me?”
Shane couldn’t respond to that without incriminating himself and putting the sheriff in a hard position.
Wyatt intervened.
“Sheriff, I’m Wyatt Highfield. I work with Linear Tactical. I’m afraid this entire situation is my fault. I saw the door was open, thought there might be a problem and just waltzed on in.”
The sheriff took Wyatt’s outstretched hand. “Is that so?”
“Yes, sir. Just wanting to be a Good Samaritan, you know.”
Obviously they weren’t fooling anyone, least of all Sheriff Linenberger, but he went along with it.
“Any sign of trouble? Any sign of Chloe?”
“Nothing at first glance. We are just starting to look around.”
The sheriff gave them a hard look. “I’m going to leave here right now. I need to get a cup of coffee and wait for a warrant to come in. Because otherwise anything that may or may not be found in this house could not be used in a court of law.”
Shane was about to protest, to argue that he couldn’t afford – Chloe couldn’t – for them to wait for anything. But the sheriff held out his hand to stop him.
“I know you are colleagues with Travis Oakley. And, since you’re not law enforcement, I guess your friend won’t mind if you’re hanging out at his house until he gets home, given all the panic around the Day’s End set over the past few hours.”
Without another word the sheriff turned and walked out. Shane didn’t hesitate to return to his search. Although what exactly he was searching for he didn’t know.
They found it almost by accident.
Wyatt and Shane had done a cursory search of the closets, to make sure no one was hiding in them, but hadn’t studied them in great detail. Wyatt was actually the one who saw the cut out in the wall peeking out from behind a box.
When they pulled out what was hidden in there, Shane no longer had any doubt Travis was the one who had Chloe.
He was also the person who had been killing the psychics up and down the East Coast. He had kept memorabilia from each of them in a lockbox. Newspaper clippings, pictures of the victims, even some personal items.
Wyatt whistled through his teeth. “Damn.”
“He’s been following Chloe for months,” Shane muttered. “Trying to figure out if she was real or not. A real psychic.”
“And is she?” Wyatt asked.
“She hears voices, yes. But not in the way you think of getting your fortune told at a fair. She can’t do parlor tricks.”
“It looks like this guy Travis hates psychics. Wants to kill them.”
Shane shook his head. “He doesn’t want to kill them. He wants to find one who’s real. These were all fake.”
Wyatt was already on the phone with the sheriff, telling him to hurry and get his warrant, that they thought they’d heard something in the closet and they ended up stumbling upon something much worse.
Shane backed away from the box and begin looking around some more. Knowing Travis was a killer didn’t tell them where he would take Chloe. Shane searched the bedroom and found nothing, then walked into the bathroom to make sure nothing was there.
He saw the ruby earring on the bathroom vanity and recognized it immediately. The one his grandmother had given Chloe.
“Wyatt, Oakley definitely has her. She was here.” Wyatt rushed into the bathroom and Shane showed him the earring, explaining its relevance.
“Don’t touch it,” Wyatt said. “Just in case.”
“We’ve got to figure out where he took her.” Shane knew what he had to do, but he didn’t like it. They needed to talk to Nadine. She was closest to Travis, and might have some idea.
An hour later Shane felt like a bastard of the worst kind. The woman in the hospital bed who had been broken badly enough physically was now shattered emotionally also.
She didn’t sob, didn’t scream, didn’t rage at the news that her boyfriend had not only kidnapped her best friend, but had also left Nadine for dead in a burning building. She just lay in the bed with one of the most empty looks Shane had ever seen.
“Are you sure, Shane?”
Shane held her hand and nodded. It wasn’t the first time she’d asked the question.
Even Wyatt’s charm, second only to Zac MacKay when it came to having women eating out of his hand, hadn’t made a dent in Nadine’s despair.
“Nadine, sweetheart, I’m not trying to make this more difficult. I know it already has to be terrible. But I know Chloe was at Travis’ house. She left an earring—the earrings my grandmother gave her—on the vanity. He’s the Conversation Hearts voice.”
Now Nadine began to cry very softly. Shane glanced at Wyatt, who possibly had the hardest look that Shane had ever seen on the man’s face, even when they had stared down some of the most horrific enemies in grievous situations.
“I told him about her,” Nadine whispered, turning to the side to look at no one. “He’d asked me about Chloe and the rumors before, and I didn’t respond. But finally over the break I told him that she really does hear voices.”
“Is there anywhere you can think of that he might have taken her? Does he have a second house or any places he would like to travel? It couldn’t be too far. He can’t get her on any sort of public transportation like an airplane.”
Nadine let out a shuddery breath, obviously wanting to help her friend but struggling to keep it together. Shane knew her emotions were cracking and it wouldn’t take long before she completely lost it.
“No, he never talked about any other houses or a place in particular he liked to visit. I know his family is from Michigan,” —she gave a bitter laugh— “If that’s even true. Honestly, I guess I really don’t know anything about him at all.”
Shane nodded. ”We’ll get as much background info as we can.”
“The only place he took me to…oh my God.” Nadine took a deep breath then looked at Shane in horror. “He has a boat. A really nice sailboat. He took me there when we had the break. He said he was getting it ready to take the perfect woman in his life on a special cruise soon...” Her voice trailed off for a moment. “I thought he meant me. It’s docked in the main harbor of Wilmington.”
Nadine turned her head to the side, obviously trying to process all this. She was done talking.
A boat. That would be perfect. Travis could keep Chloe isolated, without much danger of running into anyone.
Shane reached over and touched Nadine gently on the cheek. “We’re going to catch him. And we’ll get Chloe back.”
Nadine didn’t respond.
Shane looked at Wyatt and cocked his head towards the door. They left quietly.
“If I didn’t want to kill that bastard before, I sure do now.” Wyatt said.
“Wilmington is about five hours from here driving. They’ve got a much bigger head start. By the time we get there, Travis will have left with Chloe, if he hasn’t already.”
Wyatt grabbed Shane’s arm and started walking him towards the exit. “We’re not driving. Linear’s jet is still at the local airfield. It’s ready to take us wherever we need to go. We’ll call Wilmington local police on the way.”
“If they rush in there, he’ll kill her, Wyatt. I know it. She’s told me about his thoughts, how obsessed he was. She thought it was with another woman, but it’s her…” Shane didn’t let himself think about what Travis might have already done. Things he could do to her while she was alive that would make her wish she was dead.
“He’ll kill her before he lets someone take her away from him. Those cops can’t go barreling in.”
“We won’t let them. We’ll get there and handle him ourselves.”
They ran down the hall towards the exit and car. Shane pushed every thought except getting to Chloe and stopping Travis out of his mind.
He pulled the ice around him until it was impenetrable. He couldn’t allow his feelings for her to cloud any part of what was going to happen next.
Shane was gone. Avalanche was here.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Travis was Conversation Hearts.
Chloe had woken up in his car, with him studying her like she was some sort of treasure.
The first time he’d slowed the car to go around a curve she’d opened the door and thrown herself out of the vehicle.
Even knowing how dangerous it was, she didn’t care. Even the bone-rattling impact as she hit the dirt on the side of the road was not enough to make her sorry that she’d gotten out. There was no way she was staying with Travis. The thought of being anywhere near him made her sick on multiple levels.
He’d left Nadine to die. Chloe had no idea if her friend had made it out or not. He’d lied to everyone for months.
And most importantly, Chloe now knew that all those thoughts that had caused her so much agony were about her. The hours of manic obsessive thoughts flowing through her mind when Chloe had thought she needed to be worried for some poor woman far away, she should’ve been worried for her own life.
So throwing herself out of a moving vehicle hadn’t seemed like such a hardship.
But Travis had stopped the car, caught her and zip tied her hands. He’d dragged her back to the car then connected her to the door handle. So if she’d jumped again she’d just be dragged along the road by the vehicle.
Regardless, the thought still held some appeal.
She avoided talking to him as he took her to his house on the outskirts of Black Mountain, then carried her inside and tied her to a kitchen chair. Now he was actually smiling at her like he’d done so many times over the last months they’d worked together. Like they were still colleagues, friends.
He sat down across from her at the table, leaning on his elbows, putting his chin in his hands, like they were having a coffee date. “This all seems a little crazy, I’m sure.”
She jerked away as he reached over to touch her hair.
“Don’t touch me, Travis. You left Nadine —your girlfriend, the woman who thinks she’s in love with you — to die in a burning building.”
Chloe couldn’t let herself focus on Nadine. If she did, she would completely fall apart. Chloe could only pray that somehow her friend had regained consciousness and made it to safety. How she would’ve done that with the flames already barreling up so high, Chloe had no idea. She choked back a sob.
Travis nodded. “I didn’t desire Nadine’s death. But getting you away was a necessity. Noah was going to kill you. The bastard was actually going to let you burn.”
Chloe fought for calm. “And you, Travis? What are you going to do with me?”
Travis sat up straighter, obviously excited to share his plan. She’d seen him do the same thing when he’d had a good idea for a plot point.
“Before I came to work for you I was a manager at a bank, did you know that?”
Chloe nodded. She didn’t really, but she remembered Nadine had thought it was interesting how he’d changed careers so completely.
“I got struck by lightning a year ago.” He reached out his arms to show her the Lichtenberg figures that covered them. “I was different after that. Something changed. I began to hear things, see things from…” — his voice lowered to a whisper — “the beyond. You’re going to help me develop that.”
“How am I going to do that exactly?”
He shook his head, clucking his tongue. “You don’t have to hide the truth from me, Chloe. I know what you can do. I know the rumors are true. You’re connected to the beyond also.”
She barely refrained from rolling her eyes. First Noah, now Travis. What was it with people thinking she was connected to some sort of power source?
“Travis, yes, I’ll admit I hear some voices. But not because I’m connected to some higher power or the beyond. My brain just sort of works at a different frequency than other people. I hear things others can’t. But I don’t have any magic I can rub off onto another person.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. “Don’t be selfish, Chloe. You need to share your power. Help me develop my own more fully. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.”
You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.
The words echoed through her mind, just after he said them.
“You and I are meant to be together.”
You and I are meant to be together.
She winced as pricks of fire burned through her thoughts even as he was saying the words. That hadn’t been true a few minutes ago. Chloe realized Travis was getting worked up, that the part of his mind — the one she’d labeled Conversation Hearts — was taking over. The logical Travis part of his thoughts, the part she had worked with every day and had never bothered her, didn’t burn her mind, but the other did.
“You’re mine, Chloe.”
Mine.
Chloe closed her eyes as her head felt like it was being ripped apart. She could feel her nose begin to bleed again.
“Travis, stop.” She didn’t know how to explain it, how to make him understand what thoughts burned her and which didn’t.
“What’s happening? Your nose is bleeding.”
And just like that, the pain stopped. He was back to logical. She opened her eyes. Travis was staring at her with something akin to wonder.
“You could feel me, couldn’t you? I knew it. You are the one, Chloe.”
The burn flickered again.
“Travis, those thoughts you have. The ones you think are…” — Possessive. Controlling. Needy. Obsessed. — “different, do you know which ones I mean?”
He nodded gravely. “Yes. Those I push to you.”
She stared at him. Pushed to her. No wonder she hadn’t been able to escape them. He had been deliberately attacking her with his thoughts. The only time she’d been able to block them was when Shane was around.
Shane.
Was he still at Alexandra’s house waiting for an attack that wasn’t ever going to happen? How long would it take until he even figured out Chloe was gone? He might not even realize it for a couple days. And by then it would be too late.
She had to find a way out of this on her own.
“You can feel me, can’t you Chloe? I knew you were the real thing. Not like the others.” Travis’ excitement was evident.
“What others?”
His eyes narrowed. “The fakes. I spoke with them first. I went to see these so-called psychics. Talked to them, tried to see if I could learn from them. I wanted their power.” He shook his head. “They were all fakes.”
Realization dawned. “You killed them. You’re the serial killer who’s been murdering the psychics.”
“Don’t look at me like that, Chloe. They were fakes. Not real, like you. I was ridding the world of liars and cheats who took people for their money. None of them had any genuine abilities. They couldn’t complete me, help me, empower me like you can.”
“I don’t have any power either, damn it! You’ve worked with me for months and have you ever seen me be able to do anything special? For all I know I just have an overwrought imagination that projects voices in my head.”
“No, Chloe, you’re special.” Travis stood and walked over to crouch beside her. “I knew you were even before I was completely sure the rumors were true. That’s why I got so close to Nadine. I didn’t want to eliminate you if I didn’t have to. After all, you weren’t trying to steal from people, weren’t trying to convince anyone to believe you. So I wanted to see if the rumors were true.”
“Nadine.”
Chloe could barely keep herself from blanching as Travis trailed a finger down her cheek. “
I didn’t want to sleep with her, to be honest, but what could I do? I needed the information. I needed her to tell me everything about you. But I didn’t want her to get suspicious and clam up. I hope you can forgive me. I thought of you the whole time.”
He moved closer. “It’s always been you. You’re mine.”
You’re mine.
“Forever, Chloe. We’ll be together forever. You will be mine, forever.”
Mine forever.
She winced, gritting her teeth. Travis smiled. He liked that he could affect her. He grabbed a piece of her hair and rubbed it between his fingers.
“I’ll never be yours, Travis.” Even as the words came out of her mouth she knew she shouldn’t say them, knew she should play along. Do something to lead him on. But she couldn’t. “Never. I won’t help you. Won’t teach you. And I damn well will never want you.”
His fingers slipped down to her throat and began to squeeze. “Oh you will, because I will be the only thing you know. It will be only us.” He cut her air off completely. “And because if you don’t give me what I want, if you don’t share your power, teach me how to develop mine, then I will have no use for you.”
Chloe struggled in her chair to get away from his grip as her lungs began to burn, but she couldn’t escape.
“You are mine.”
Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
Her brain burned from his mental attack as he released her throat and she was able to get air. Finally, he stopped the barrage of thoughts and she sank back into the chair.
“And I don’t even have to lay a finger on you to hurt you, do I?”
MINE!
She screamed as the agony blazed through her brain, sliding to the ground, covering her head with her hands as best she could with her wrists still attached to the arms of the chair, sobbing.
“See, neither of us want you to experience that all the time, do we?” He stood and took a paper towel from the counter and held it to her nose that was bleeding again. “It can’t be good for you. So we’ll work together to make sure it doesn’t. And since it will only be the two of us for a long, long time, I’m sure we’ll be able to meet both our needs.”
