“Gabe, I haven’t had time to search down the old case files of even one of the four you gave me. Hell, man, you just called me yesterday.”
“You got time to search for a body?” Gabriel asked, eyeing his friend sardonically.
Harley’s foot crashed to the floor. “On what evidence?” he asked, his tone ominous.
“Kalesia.”
“Dammit, Gabe. You know I can’t do that. If word got out that I wasted man-hours searching for a body on the say-so of a dream, my ass would be out the door before you could whistle Dixie.”
“I believe her.”
That stopped Harley mid-protest. He stared at Gabriel. “You can’t be serious.” He seemed to realize how that sounded and turned to Kalesia. “Look, I don’t mean to sound harsh, Miss Brannigan but I can’t turn men out just because you have a dream.”
“You owe me, Harley.”
The major’s attention snapped back to Gabriel. “Don’t pull that on me, Gabe. We’re friends but the department doesn’t need the publicity it’ll get when word leaks out we’re conducting a search purely on the say-so of a psychic.”
“How about when word gets out the department sat on the information of a murder?”
“You wouldn’t.” Harley held up a hand. “Forget I asked. Of course you would.”
“Gabriel!” Kalesia protested as Harley’s anger fairly radiated from the man.
“One way or the other, I’m going to check out Kalesia’s vision. I’d prefer to have your help.” Something passed between the two men. To Kalesia’s relief, Harley’s anger faded.
“You can really be a cold SOB when you want to be,” Harley said, a slight quirk at the corner of his mouth. “Okay. I’ll go along with you. Give me everything you’ve got.”
When Harley finished questioning Kalesia, he tapped the pencil against the yellow legal pad. Abruptly, he shoved to his feet. “Wait here. I’ll go arrange for the manpower.”
As soon as the door shut behind Harley, Kalesia rounded on Gabriel. “I can’t believe you blackmailed an officer of the law,” she berated him, outraged.
“Remember that old saying ‘careful what you wish for, you might get it’?” Gabriel grinned lazily. “You got it.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t want to break the law to get someone to check out my visions!” Kalesia fretted, darting a black look in his direction.
“You didn’t,” he pointed out, much too sanguine for Kalesia’s liking. “I did.”
* * * * *
“What do you mean, I can’t go?”
Harley glanced at Gabriel for help, before turning back to her. Kalesia planted her hands firmly on her hips.
“This is official business. I can’t take you.”
“You won’t find the murder victim unless I go along.” She started tapping her toe. First they wouldn’t believe her and now they seemed determined not to let her help.
“I have a general location from your description.”
“And just how big is the Ocala National Forest, Major?” Kalesia asked sweetly.
Harley again glanced at Gabriel. He glared when Gabriel just shrugged and leaned indolently against the wall. Harley cleared his throat. “Look, Ms. Brannigan. This is going to be hard in more ways than one. To begin with, I have a limited number of deputies with me. Secondly, it’s starting to pour out there and is unlikely to let up any time soon. Most of our searching will have to be done on foot or horseback. It’ll be miserable going. Lastly, if we do find the victim, it’s not likely to be a pretty sight.”
Kalesia snorted in exasperation. “To begin with,” she copied the major’s words deliberately, “without me you won’t have the foggiest clue where to search. Secondly, last I checked, I don’t melt in a little rain. And, thirdly, you forget I saw the man get murdered. I know just how ugly it’s going to be.” She matched him stubborn frown for stubborn frown.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Harley muttered. He went out the door, shaking his head. “Backed down by a woman dressed head to toe in yellow.”
Kalesia glared at the major’s back before allowing a slow smile of triumph to curve her lips. She’d won. For the first time since the visions started when she was five, someone was taking her seriously. Gabriel slid his hand under her arm. She looked up at him.
“Thank you.” Putting her hands on his chest, acutely aware of his strength and warmth beneath her palms, she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.
His eyes darkened. He touched his cheek with the tips of his fingers. “See if you still want to thank me if we find the body.” With that, he steered her out the door and into a late model SUV.
Rain, punctuated by booming thunder, pelted down on the roof of the four-wheel drive cruiser, making conversation difficult as they crawled along a dirt road over an hour later. Not that she particularly wanted to talk, Kalesia thought, watching the windshield wipers lose the battle against the downpour. Mud splashed the windshield as they bounced into another deep rut. Actually, more a path than a road.
The utility vehicle slid sideways as the tires struggled to find purchase in the slick mud. Kalesia braced one arm on the dashboard and the other on Gabriel’s thigh, grateful for the strong arm he wrapped around her. Beside her, Harley grunted as he fought the wheel to keep the vehicle on the track.
“Are you sure this is the right way?”
It was the third time Harley had asked. Each time his voice grew grimmer. He glanced in the rearview mirror as he asked, checking the progress of the other three vehicles. Kalesia’s throat constricted. He was on the verge of calling it off. She knew he was. If Gabriel hadn’t been with them, Harley would have turned back already.
Before she had chance to answer, Harley suddenly slammed on the brakes.
“Dammit! I knew this was going to happen!” He piled out of the Suburban with Gabriel not far behind.
“Stay here.”
Kalesia ignored Gabriel’s order and scrambled after them.
The last vehicle, towing a stock trailer with two saddled horses, was stuck in the same rut that had given them so much trouble. The front, driver’s side tire of the four-horse trailer was mired down, causing the front end of the Ford pickup to lift partially off the ground. Not a four-wheel drive, the truck couldn’t get the traction it needed to free itself because of the weight of the horses combined with the depth of the hole.
The trio sloshed back to the helpless vehicle, rain pouring off their slickers.
“We need to unload the horses,” someone said.
“No, we don’t.” It was the driver of the Ford, a member of the Volunteer Mounted Sheriff’s Posse. “If we move them to the back of the trailer, we can use their weight to help jack up the front end.”
A gust of wind slanted the rain directly in their faces. The men looked even more resigned but Kalesia was unhappily aware they all knew they were out here because of her.
“What can I do to help?” Her voice was small and thin. She wished she had kept her mouth shut when everyone turned toward her.
Harley must have recognized the misery in her eyes, because his voice was gentle when he spoke. “No reason for you to be out in this. Why don’t you go ahead and wait in the Suburban.”
Kalesia thrust her chin out. “I would really like to help,” she insisted, his understanding having the perverse effect of making her feel worse.
“Don’t sweat it, Ms. Brannigan,” the driver of the mired vehicle said. “There’s a covered campsite a couple of miles ahead. Why don’t you let Major Harley take you there? No sense in you getting any wetter than need be. Fact is, all but a couple of you can go on ahead. I just need two guys to lift the trailer enough to get some boards under the wheel. After we’re done, they can hitch a ride with Vince and me. That way, if we run into any more problems, we’ll have enough muscle.”
Thirty minutes later a wooden structure, open on three sides, came into view. Inside were two long trestle tables and four large grills. At each open end was a covered garbage can anchored by a
thick chain.
“Well, shall we wait in there?” Harley asked.
Huddled under the overhang with the men, Kalesia gazed into the surrounding woods. Slash pine and scrub oak came to within several feet of the shelter. Sparse clumps of long spindly grass were interspersed amongst the trees. Kalesia didn’t recognize the grass. She bet Gabriel would know, though.
Overhead, light gray clouds scuttled beneath darker, more ominous ones. Lightning split the sky, followed almost immediately by a low, prolonged rumble that echoed eerily from tree to tree.
A chill went through her.
“Cold?” Arms enfolded her from behind and Gabriel’s warm breath whispered in her ear. She shivered again, this time for an entirely different reason.
“Not really. More like someone stepping on my grave.”
“Not while I’m around.”
“I know.” And she did. If there was one sure bet in this world, it was that Gabriel Steele would do his level best to keep her safe.
So why did she suddenly feel so scared?
“It won’t be long before we’ll be back home.”
“Does that mean I have to give up my slicker?” Kalesia asked with a deliberate whimsical lilt. She was being silly. Gabriel would protect her. He’d said so. It was probably nothing more than the storm-darkened skies that made it seem a pall hung over everything.
“Cold and clammy as it is, I thought you’d be glad to get out of the thing.”
“But it’s such a lovely color,” Kalesia said, only half-joking, stroking the canary yellow material. “Couldn’t I keep it?”
Gabriel threw back his head and laughed, seeming unmindful of the startled looks he received. “You’re probably the only woman on the face of this earth that thinks a sheriff’s slicker is ‘lovely’.” A deep chuckle rumbled against her shoulder blades.
“Well?” she demanded.
“Well, what?”
“Will you ask Major Harley if I can keep it?”
“Ask him yourself.” He rested his chin on the top of her head, rubbing his jaw against her hair like a contented tomcat.
“I couldn’t do that!” she objected, scandalized. Ask Major Harley for Department property after dragging him out in the rain? No way. She fingered the sleeve. She really would like to keep the slicker. “He’s your friend, Gabriel,” Kalesia reminded him. “Please,” she added for good measure.
He shook his head, exasperated. “And if he says no?”
“Blackmail him. You seem really good at that,” she reminded him, her voice just a shade too sweet.
“Sit,” he commanded, pointing at one end of the bench. “And don’t move.” He shook his head. “The things I do for you,” he muttered as he headed in Harley’s direction.
She sat.
Agony exploded in her brain…
Pain.
Betrayal.
Such a fool.
Black Italian loafers filled his vision. They gleamed. He wondered how he managed to keep the dust off them. It was so very dry. Little puffs of dust marked each footstep.
With an effort, he lifted his head off the rough wood.
He couldn’t move.
The pain in his head was excruciating.
He’d been such a fool to think he was in control, to believe he was safe because he was feared.
He should have been more careful.
“Steele! Get over here quick!”
The shout brought Gabriel’s head around with a snap. His heart stopped beating in his chest when he saw Kalesia pitch head first onto the dirt floor.
“Kalesia!” Gabriel wasn’t aware of his roar as he raced to her side.
He rolled her over gently. Her face was dead white. In the hollow of her throat, a pulse beat frantically.
“Kalesia, wake up. Come on, sugar, wake up.” He patted her cheeks. He looked up and pinned the nearest man in place with a glare. “What the hell happened?”
The man looked almost as shaken as Gabriel felt. “I don’t know. I saw her as we were arriving. One second she was sitting, the next stiffening up like she was having some kind of a seizure.”
“Back up. Give her some air. She’s coming around.” Harley’s words brought Gabriel’s gaze back to Kalesia. Sure enough, her lashes were fluttering and, beneath the closed lids, her eyes flickered.
“That’s it, sweetheart. Wake up now.”
“Gabriel?” The words were raspy and dry. She looked startled at the sea of faces hovering over her and struggled to sit up.
“Shh, easy does it. Take your time.” A hand at her back, he helped her. Using his knee as a brace, he cradled her against his shoulder.
“What happened?” She leaned into him, letting him support her weight.
“You passed out. Can you tell me what happened?” He hugged her tighter, his heart just starting to settle down to a normal pace.
She stared at him. “Impossible. I never faint!”
“You did this time. What happened, Kalesia?” he insisted, too disturbed to care what he was revealing to the men surrounding them.
A deep spasm ran through her. “Oh God, Gabriel, I had another vision!”
“You mean another murder?” It was Harley who asked.
She shook her head fretfully. “No, no. It was the same man. He was sitting there,” her finger shook violently as she pointed to where she had been sitting. “Someone came up behind him and hit him on the head!” Her voice rose shrilly. She bit her lip, obviously fighting for control. After a minute she continued.
“It was someone he knew. Someone he expected. There was such a sense of betrayal…and self-recrimination.”
“Self-recrimination?” That didn’t make a lot of sense. Betrayal, fear, confusion, those Gabriel could understand but not self-recrimination.
“I think they were working together. At least, that’s the impression I got.”
“What else do you remember? Think carefully, Kalesia. Every detail could be important.”
“Shoes,” she said suddenly. “Shoes. I remember the other man’s shoes. They were black and expensive. The shine on them was perfect.”
They were all quiet for a moment. Gabriel broke the silence.
“In your first vision, do you remember seeing the same shoes?”
Kalesia closed her eyes, her brow crinkling. “The killer moved next to the body. He crouched as he ran his finger over first one cheek and then the other.” Her hand gripped Gabriel’s, her short, neat nails biting into his skin. “Yes! Yes, I do. Moonlight glinted off shoes in my vision.”
“What did they look like in that vision? Were they shiny or dull?”
“Shiny. Almost as shiny as they were here.”
Harley spoke up. “Take her home, Gabe. We’ll take over from here.”
“I’m not going anywhere. You still need my help,” she contended, shooting a desperate glance at Gabriel.
Her look of betrayal slashed through him when he agreed with Harley. He tried to lessen the blow. “You passed out. You need time to recover. Let them handle it from here.”
“I’m fine. How are they going to find the body without me?” She shoved at his chest. Reluctantly, he loosened his hold.
“They’ll find the body. We know he didn’t go very far because his shoes weren’t dusty. That limits the search range.” Gabriel tried to sound reasonable. He could tell by the set of her mouth that Kalesia wasn’t in the mood to be reasonable.
“Hey, Major. Take a look at this.” All heads turned.
Harley crossed to where his deputy crouched. On the underside of the wooden table was a small patch of what could be dried blood. He got to his feet, careful not to disturb the area any more than it already had been.
“Hansen, radio for a forensic team. Oh, and get hold of Charlie and tell him to bring his dog. Then take Steele and Ms. Brannigan back to town so they can pick up their car.”
“Major Harley…” Kalesia pleaded.
“No argument.” His expression softened. “Let me do my job.
”
Gabriel squeezed her shoulders in warning. “You’ll let us know when you find something?” he said to his friend.
“The minute.” Harley turned away, his attention already elsewhere.
“Gabriel, I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here.” She shrugged his arm off. “It isn’t fair. I can be of help.”
“Harley will let us know what he finds. You can’t just ignore the fact you fainted.”
“It was just the shock of the vision. It won’t happen again.”
“You can’t be certain of that. The vision caught you by surprise this time, what’s to say it wouldn’t again.” He allowed a hint of impatience to color his low tones.
“It won’t,” she maintained. “I think I reacted so strongly because of the resonance left by his presence. It triggered my vision. It’s the first time I’ve actually been at the scene of one the crimes.”
“That’s exactly what I’m driving at. Look,” Gabriel gripped her chin and firmly turned her face to his. “It overpowered you when the violence was comparatively minor. What do you think would happen if you stumbled onto his grave? Hell, what do you think would happen if you found the exact spot where the killer pulled the trigger?”
Long lashes lowered, extinguishing the defiant, pleading gleam in her eyes. She sighed in defeat. “All right, Gabriel. We’ll go back to your house.”
* * * * *
Tipped back in his favorite chair, Gabriel stared at the night-shrouded river. Kalesia was withdrawing from him. He could feel it. He closed his eyes against the unexpected pain.
His right hand fisted and then slowly opened.
He knew she was feeling as resentful as hell because they had not allowed her to help with the search. Hell, maybe she even had a point. Maybe she did have the right to be there when they found the body. All he knew was that when he saw her white face and haunted eyes, he wanted to bundle her up and promise nothing would ever frighten her again.
She’d shrugged off his attempts to explain. Just pled weariness and headed without a backward glance toward her room.
Alone.
The creak of bedsprings carried clearly on the night air. Gabriel glanced at the open window just feet away, a self-derisive grimace twisting his lips. A drape fluttered in the light breeze. No light showed but it didn’t stop his imagination.
Tapestry of the Past Page 8
