Psycho (and Psychic) Games (The SDF Paranormal Mysteries Book 2)

by Amie Gibbons

  “Ugh. JB?” I had to struggle not to flinch under that smile. “Do you think I’m gonna help you avoid my team? Tell you when they’re coming and everything? Cuz, I gotta tell ya, that’s not happenin’. I mean, I could lie and say I’d tell you, and you’d know I was lying, cuz you know I’d never do that. So, could you just tell me what you want, so I can negotiate you letting me go?”

  He laughed that perfectly sweet, next door neighbor laugh.

  It made my skin crawl.

  “You’re so ridiculously honest. How long have you been with the FBI?”

  Interesting segue.

  “Just over a year.”

  “Over a year and you’re still that naïve? You’ve had your visions for a while and you are still that innocent?” He shook his head sadly. “Ariana, you’re going to play my game, you’re going to dance to my tune, and you’re going to tell me whatever I want, because you’re mine. I own you now.” He smiled again. “Okay?”

  Well, what the hell was I supposed to say to that?

  No one owns me!

  I wanted to shout it to the rafters. But I didn’t.

  I’m not stupid.

  “I’m not going to argue with you, since you’re holding me hostage. What can I do for you?”

  “You can say I own you.”

  “Okay. You own me.”

  It wasn’t even a question.

  Did it hurt my pride to say that? Yep. Did it matter? Not one freaking bit. I’d say whatever he wanted. It didn’t change anything.

  Pissin’ him off might.

  He looked disappointed. I told him so.

  “I was hoping you were one of those stupid prideful people,” he said. “The ones who wouldn’t give one little concession. The ones I could break. You just passed the first test. I’m really not surprised. You’re a bender.”

  It sounded like a compliment.

  “Thanks?” I said.

  “Sure.” He nodded, handin’ me the water.

  I took it too fast and cracked it open, chugging down half of it and finally pausing to take a breath.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking another gulp.

  Truck nodded, then just stared at me.

  “Are you gonna stare me into submission?” I asked. “Cuz, it’ll work. I’m horrible with silence.”

  My anxious smile slipped on when he didn’t say anything. “You’re as bad as Grant. He can just sit and stare at you... well, I don’t need to tell you. You were there. You saw the glare. And no, that wasn’t supposed to come out so Doctor Seussish.

  “Anyway, what do you want? If you want to make me nervous, well, congrats, you are. Actually, you scare me, cuz I saw what you did. Oh, is there a camera in here? I know it’s stupid to worry about. If you want to test and torture me, I shouldn’t be worried about it being captured on film. Cuz I’ll be dead by the time they catch you and finally see it.

  “Not to give you any ideas. Not that I could. As I said, I saw what you did. No matter what anyone can say about you, you do have an imagination. You should’ve become a writer. You could’ve been like the next Stephen King. I also think it would’ve helped you work out some of your... ugh, tendencies. I could be wrong.

  “But seriously, what’s wrong with you? Do you like killing or do you just not care? Cuz I kinda got the impression it was the first. And you’re a true sociopath, right? You killed the people once you were done with them, like lab rats. You tested and then that was it.

  “What I don’t get is why you didn’t let them go once you were done. You could have worn a mask when you tested them and talked to them, and then just let them go on their merry ways. You know, knock them out and leave them near a hospital or just a road or something. They’d never be able to tattle on you, cuz they wouldn’t know where you were. Unless you really do like killin’.

  “Do you? Is there some thrill in it for you? Cuz I’ve felt that in some of my visions. There are some creatures out there that really get their jollies from causing pain and ending lives. They get off on the power. There was this one...” I bit my lip. “You know, most people cut me off when I do that?”

  “Why?” Truck asked. “It’s entertaining.”

  “Most people say it’s annoying.”

  “I think it’s telling. Finish your story. You said there was this one, and then you stopped.”

  “Oh. I was thinking of a vision I had the other day. There was this couple and the girl really enjoyed beating on her boyfriend during...” I blushed. “You know, S and M kinda stuff?”

  “Yes.” He gave me a significant look. “I do know.”

  Oh crap! Nope, adult word time. I didn’t need a vision to know he planned to rape me. It was real adult word time.

  Fuck!

  “What about you?” he asked, still keeping those eyes on me. “You into the ‘S and M kinda stuff’?”

  I blushed, looking down. How the hell would I get out of this?

  What if I didn’t?

  What if I just distracted him from playing with me until I could find a way out or get rescued?

  “I’m not really a hitting kind of girl, but I do... I bite.” Before he could say anything else, I rushed on. “Which is a good thing considerin’ what my boyfriend is.”

  I kept my head down, like I was embarrassed.

  “What he is?” Truck asked.

  I struggled to keep the triumph off my face, replacing it with my best wide eyes as I looked up.

  “Oh, right. You don’t know... well, how could you? I mean, we try to stay outta the papers. You should hear some of the stories the FBI’s come up with to cover our section. We’re the SDF, it stands for Special Division Force. We deal with the supernatural.”

  I met his eyes. “We take care of cases dealing with ghosts, demons, werewolves, and vampires. My guy’s a vamp.”

  Truck was stunned. Actual mouth-hanging-open shocked.

  I enjoyed that.

  “Oh yeah,” I said. “Obviously you’ve dealt with the human supernatural types. You’ve got powers, you’ve worked with some witch, but all that is real too. And last night... hey, was it last night? How long have I been unconscious? I’m just assuming it’s sometime Sunday.”

  He gave me a smile. “It is Sunday. It’s near dinner time actually.”

  “Oh, well, last night my guy was gonna come over.”

  He nodded. “Would you like something to eat?”

  Okay, that was unexpected.

  “Yes, please. I’m starving.”

  “You are so polite.”

  “Southern,” I said.

  “So am I. I wonder if you’ll be that polite by the time I’m done with you?” He tilted his head as he went for the door. “It will be a while, so probably not.”

  I didn’t let the small noise escape my throat until after he closed the door.

  I heard that scraping sound again. I sniffed. I wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t. If he knew he could get to me, he’d do it more, he’d go faster.

  I had to put him off, keep him occupied, keep his mind on my stories, on what I could tell him. I had a year of cases to talk about.

  I just had to buy myself enough time.

  I downed the rest of the water and it helped keep my head in place.

  Just had to focus.

  I curled my knees up to my chest on the bed. Truck didn’t ask about my hands being in front of me. Maybe he didn’t feel the need since it was pretty obvious I worked my arms over my body.

  I imagined Grant and Quil on either side of me, holding me, telling me to stay strong.

  Would Quil be able to follow my scent?

  If so, I’d just have to wait until nightfall.

  Except for the fact that they couldn’t track you once you were put in a car.

  But the guys would be able to track Truck the normal, human, investigator kinds of ways. Or even magical ones. There had to be trackin’ spells and such.

  Right?

  I twirled the silver cuff around my wrist.

  Where were
the guys?

  Flash.

  The golden world melted around vaguely human looking shapes.

  “I tried them all. None of them saw or heard anything.” Quil! His voice was right there, gold velvet waiting to be stroked.

  “You’re sure?” And that was Grant’s, that cool stream of silk.

  Where were they?

  Some of the gold thinned, showing the outline of what I recognized to be our section in the office.

  “No one can lie to me under hypnosis.” Quil sounded pissed. “I am positive. What are you doing to find her?”

  Two figures moved through that golden molasses, stepping up to each other, facing down.

  “We have agents combing the streets, tracing phone calls, and following every fucking tip called in from every whack job in the area. And we have the witches working a tracking spell.”

  I was glad I couldn’t see Grant’s face. His voice alone made me shiver. Ice would’ve been shaking and throwing on its parka.

  “Don’t take that tone with me, human.” Quil’s voice was the exact opposite of Grant’s, hot, near boiling.

  My two favorite guys, outside of my family, hot and cold. They seemed backwards though, you’d think the vamp would be the cold one.

  “You’re the one that wasn’t looking out for her!” Quil screamed. “She trusts you, more than herself. And she trusted you to keep her safe.”

  I didn’t remember telling Quil that.

  “Guys, please.” A smaller figure pushed between the two and Kat’s exhausted voice met my ears. “This isn’t going to help find her.”

  “Once night falls, I can have a hundred vampires on this.” Quil’s voice picked up. “But I need someplace to fucking look! Put me within a few hundred feet of her and I’ll be able to scent her out.”

  “Oh, pinpoint her location to a few hundred feet. We can do that, easily. Why didn’t you say so?” And there was the sarcasm only Dan could make sound that snide.

  A flash of gold signaled Quil had moved, and moved quickly.

  “Calm down. Please.” My heart broke at Jet’s voice. He can hold back tears, but you can hear it in his voice when he does. “Quil, Ariana wouldn’t want you to hurt Dan. Just let him go. This isn’t helping. If you want to attack someone, attack me. I’m the one who let the bastard get the jump on me.”

  “There was magic,” Quil said. “Jean said someone teleported in.” His voice lightened. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  I heard a small thump.

  “We need to find her, so we will work together,” Quil said. “I’ll give you the numbers and e-mails to all my assassin contacts.”

  Did he just say assassin contacts?

  “You can follow up on those to find the woman,” Quil said, “and I will call Jean and Sierra and... whoever else I can think of. They may be able to see something in the cards, and there’s the tracking spell. And of course, I will refrain from harming any of Ariana’s friends.”

  I blinked out of the vision.

  I guess he didn’t get that Jet was kinda exaggerating my concern for Dan, but hey, it wasn’t like I could tell him that.

  What if I could?

  What if I could call Collins and send him to talk to them? I wasn’t able to do it awake before, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t.

  It was worth a shot. I had to try something.

  I closed my eyes, trying to clear my mind even though it still throbbed.

  Hey, Collins? I thought, very clearly, imaginin’ a signal going from my head to his cards. It’s Ariana. I’m in the woods... ugh, I’m not sure exactly where in the woods. Or even what woods they are.

  Okay, now I felt stupid.

  Even if I could contact him, it’s not like I knew where I was.

  It was time for a change in strategy. I had to know where I was before I could try to tell it to anyone else.

  Refocus.

  Where was I?

  I took deep breaths, Milo’s voice echoing in my mind.

  “First lesson,” he’d said, “know you can pull anything you want out of someone. There are no limits, there’s no chance about it. You just have to focus and you can see whatever you want.”

  I want to know where I am.

  Flash.

  Little birdies chirped through the bright, pretty woods. Bugs buzzed and chirped. Leaves rustled. Okay, woods. I got that. Where in the woods was I?

  The vision expanded outward, going out over the treetops, showing more woods. That ruled out general suburbia, but still left a lot of Tennessee; actually, we could be in any of the states nearby too, judging by how long I was out.

  The world expanded outward until I saw the sign.

  I knew it well, had a picture of me and my friends posing in front of it when we rented a cabin junior year.

  It read, “Great Smoky Mountains National Park.”

  I solidified the image in my mind, trying to focus down on the cabin holding me in a row of similar looking cabins.

  I jerked out of the vision with a gasp.

  I’d conjured it. Conjured the vision without anything to focus on.

  Awesome!

  But if we were in the Smokies, that meant we were about three hours away from Nashville, and Collins, if he was still in the woods where we saw him, was at least two. He said he’d heard me from Chattanooga though, and that was about two hours, so there was a chance my reach could go far enough to contact Collins.

  I pictured the image of the woods, the line of cabins, and which one I was in, and shoved it out.

  Collins? Any psychics, sensitives, or hell, spirits in the area? I’m Ariana, I’m a psychic. I’m being held by a psycho. Help! If anyone out there can hear me, contact Special Agent Grant at the FBI. I’m in Smoky Mountains National Park on the Pigeon Forge side.

  My headache was getting worse.

  I jumped off the bed as the scraping sound came again. Seriously, what did Truck have propped against the door?

  He got in too quickly again. Next time I’d get to the door and bash him over the head.

  “Hey,” he said. “I don’t have anything fancy, mostly just sandwich fixings.” He held up a plastic bag.

  “Pretty much anything edible sounds good to me right now.” I sat primly on the edge of the bed, not missing my gun tucked into the side of his jeans.

  My tiny, perfect backup weapon. The one Grant gave to me. And this psycho had it.

  I thought about lunging forward and grabbing it, but Truck kept himself a good few feet away. Too far for me to cover and still take him by surprise. And I wasn’t gonna risk pissing him off until I knew I could get away with it.

  He put the fixins out on the floor. There were packets of ham and turkey lunch meat, a bag of wheat bread, slices of tomatoes, mayo with a dull butter knife, those prepackaged cheese slice things, and some bagged pickles. He also pulled out a big bag of potato chips, a few apples, and another two bottles of water.

  My stomach growled.

  “I think I’m a hop away from forgiving you for kidnapping me,” I said, kneeling on the floor in front of the spread and grabbing the paper plate he handed out to me. I piled meat and tomatoes onto the bread.

  “No cheese?” Truck made up his sandwich a lot more neatly than me.

  “I’m lactose intolerant.”

  Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to be telling the crazy guy about myself.

  “Good to know.” He nodded. “Now that we’re eating, we’re going to play a few games. Alright?”

  He wasn’t really asking.

  “I figured.” I shrugged as I took a huge bite. God, I was starvin’. “What kind of tests are you gonna have me do?”

  “We’re going to see what you can do with your powers,” he said, still so pleasant, pulling a deck of cards out of the plastic bag. “First, it’s just the basic little psychic test. I hold up a card, you tell me which it is.”

  “I’ve never done that.”

  “Good. Then we’ll know how much control you have over so
mething you’re just barely trying.”

  Hey, if he wanted to test me, I was more than willing to let him. It beat the hell out of the alternative.

  God, please don’t let him get to the alternative.

  “I’ll try.” I didn’t even need to force the smile onto my face. It was already there.

  It was my anxious, terrified smile, but hey, it was a smile.

  He shuffled and held a card up in front of his face. I focused on him, got a vision showin’ me the room in general, including the card. I told him, and he did it again.

  I played his game for nearly half an hour while we chowed down. I was able to tell him the card every time, but I got slower and slower

  My head was screaming.

  “You can get tired?” he said as he put the cards away.

  I shrugged, pressing my hands to my head. “Yeah. I wasn’t up to par in the first place cuz I’m still exhausted from trying to track you all night, by the way that gris-gris worked, just so you know. I could kinda see you and get things, but the gris-gris really drained me. I slept and regained some strength, but this little exercise has drained whatever I had left.”

  “You can’t just keep going?”

  “Nope. Some things take it out of me more than others. Like visions from supernatural beings takes more energy.”

  “Cool.” He nodded along. “Our next exercise is more psychological.”

  I couldn’t stop smiling. “You’re making me nervous.”

  “Oh, please don’t be, Ariana. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Why did I have the feelin’ there was an unsaid, “Yet,” at the end of that sentence?

  He pulled a phone out of his back pocket.

  “You’re calling someone?” I asked.

  “Yes.” He hit a name and lay the phone on the floor. “It’s on speaker. Don’t worry, it’s enchanted so they can’t track us.”

  Right, cuz I was worried about him gettin’ caught.

  “Who the fuck is this?”

  Grant!

  “And hello to you, Agent Grant,” Truck said. “It’s JB. I just wanted to tell you Ariana’s with me. She’s perfectly alright.”

  “Let me speak to her.”

  Truck nodded at me.

  “Hey, General.” I struggled to keep my voice even. “He hasn’t hurt me.”

  Yet.

  Truck picked up the phone and switched it from speaker before pressin’ it to his ear.