by Yvonne Heidt
“It’s your mother.” Sunny lowered her voice and reached for her hand.
Jordan snapped it back. She hadn’t said a word about her mother’s death, and she was so not going there. The adult in her immediately dismissed the possibility, even as the child she’d been cried out for an explanation. Jordan searched Sunny’s face and didn’t see anything but innocence, but that’s what they did, right? Played on your feelings to deceive you? As a cop, she’d busted plenty of con artists who were so good they could sell ice to an Eskimo.
Yes, Jordan had seen it all, but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it was that Sunny could possibly gain from this. And until she did, she would resist the incredible pull she felt toward her.
They finished their dinner in a terrible, tense silence, broken only by the waiter occasionally coming by to fill their glasses or take their plates. While people around them laughed and joked over their meals, Sunny felt the invisible brick wall Jordan had erected and was sorry for it, but she knew from experience that the spirit wouldn’t leave her alone for long. Part of her couldn’t understand the resistance. She’d lived her whole life around people who honored her gift and surrounded her with acceptance. People came from all over the state for her help. Sunny didn’t know how to react to this stoic skepticism from someone she very much wanted to get to know better. She tried again. “Don’t you want—”
“No,” Jordan said. “I really don’t.”
The energy at the table dimmed even further. Jordan signaled for the check and seemed to look everywhere but at Sunny. For all intents and purposes, the lovely dinner date appeared to be over.
Sunny couldn’t stand it. She couldn’t read what Jordan was feeling, but her body language was taut as a drum. It wasn’t a comfortable silence, and it was in her nature to ease tension and anxiety and put people at ease. Jordan motioned for her to lead the way out of the restaurant, and by the time they got to the truck, Sunny was a bag of nerves. “Jordan.”
“Sunny.” Jordan looked at her with blank eyes.
“What happened back there?” What can I do to fix it?
“We had dinner.”
Talking to this woman is like pulling teeth. “You know what I mean.”
Jordan’s expression was empty. “I don’t understand you. I can’t figure out what your game is.”
Sunny felt as if she were slapped. “Game? You think I have a game?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”
Sunny saw a brief flash of regret across Jordan’s features and her own anger died down a little. “Which is it? Yes, no, or I don’t know?”
Jordan didn’t answer, and frustration kept Sunny quiet. Should she just let this go and walk away right now? She was genuinely curious but hurt at the same time. “Look,” she said. “I can’t change who I am or what I do. I really want to get to know you better, but if you think that I’m playing a game, then we have nothing and nowhere to go from here.”
The silence drew out, and Sunny forced herself to stay quiet as they drove away from the restaurant.
When they stopped at a light, Jordan looked over at her. “I’m sorry. It’s not in my nature to trust, okay? Honestly, I don’t think you’re playing with me. Are you?”
“I’m not toying with you.”
“Sunny, why did you go out with me?”
“You asked me to.”
“Well, yeah.” The corners of Jordan’s mouth turned up slightly.
“Is that a smile?”
“Could be.”
“All right,” Sunny said. “I went out with you because you’re insanely attractive and strong, and truthfully…” Should she tell her that she felt their fate was tied together? That for some reason Sunny felt she had to save her? “I couldn’t resist the sight of you in your uniform.”
Sunny tentatively laid her palm on Jordan’s thigh, hoping that the twitch she felt when she made contact was a good thing. Jordan’s muscles relaxed and she covered Sunny’s hand with her own. “Are we good?”
“I know I am. How about you?”
The suggestive words shot straight through Sunny, and she crossed her legs against the pounding sensation building between her thighs. She deliberately flipped her hair over her shoulder and winked slowly. “Stellar.”
Jordan let out a low whistle in a long exhale. “I knew it.”
*
Sunny changed her clothes at Jordan’s for the investigation. She would have loved some follow-through on the sexual tension between them, but when they pulled into the parking lot, Shade’s van was already there along with Tiffany’s car. She ignored Shade’s raised eyebrow when she passed her to follow Jordan upstairs.
Other energy lingered in the bathroom. She tried to decipher the cause or culprit, but it stayed just out of reach. She couldn’t find a trace of the dark entity that was present the first time she was here and finally gave up. One thing she’d learned over the years was that if a spirit didn’t want to be seen or contacted, they could be stubborn about it. She shrugged, folded her dress, and put it in her black bag before stepping out dressed and ready for work.
Jordan was a tall silhouette by the window. Sunny jolted at the dark shadow she projected. Something was off. She slowed her step and walked cautiously closer to see her face.
Jordan turned to look at her and her eyes were bright and focused on Sunny like a predator deciding where the kill spot was. Tiny warning bells went off in Sunny’s head. “Jordan?” She instinctively kept her voice low and Jordan blinked, looking slightly dazed.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” Jordan blinked, and the darkness attached to her disappeared.
Sunny wondered if she’d imagined the danger coming from Jordan. Did she wear the bad-girl image so well, then? It scared her a little, even though a part of her wanted to throw herself at Jordan to see where the darkness would take her. She was so damn tired of always making the safe choices. The image of a moth circling a flame came to mind, and she wondered if they knew it would incinerate them, or just found it so damn irresistible to feel the heat boil the blood in their fragile wings that they never saw death coming. Should she be smart about the example and fly away while she still could? Even as she asked herself the question, she knew she would continue to dance around the fire.
“You keep looking at me like that, and you’re going to be late.” Jordan moved closer, her eyes locked on Sunny’s mouth, her breath coming hard.
Sunny mentally snapped her fingers to bring herself out of her reverie. “Like what?”
Jordan took another step until she was inches away, and when her arm circled Sunny’s back, a strong static shock leapt from her fingers and Sunny jumped away from her.
“I have to go to Agnes’s apartment. The team is waiting for me.”
“Fine. I’ll walk you to the door.”
“Do you want to be part of it?”
Jordan looked at her for a long moment, considering the offer. “Sure, why not?”
*
Jordan watched Sunny’s rear pockets during the short walk over, and she couldn’t decide which view she liked best, the dress or the tight black jeans. Naked would be better than both. Agnes opened her door, and the fantasy disintegrated in the face of wrinkles and whiskey. As Jordan and Sunny entered, Agnes left for her sister’s house across town.
She sat on the couch and ignored the sideways look Shade gave her. She was probably still mad that Jordan caused her to break her equipment the first time they met. Steve unrolled the building’s floor plans onto the small dining table, earning him a dimpled smile from Sunny. She seemed to have that effect on everyone. “Okay,” Sunny said. “The energy patterns on the property as I see them are in this apartment, which we’ve already established is Mr. Jackson, and in Jordan and Steve’s wing. Do we agree on this?”
Shade nodded. “There are several spirits that are having a party in the courtyard.” She tapped the paper with a pencil. “But the strongest energy is here.”
“That’s my building!” Steve pa
led. “Our building.” He stared at Jordan, who shrugged. She was just there to observe. A picture on the wall caught her attention. A much younger version of Agnes stared back at her, one with long, fiery red hair held back by a beaded headband. She stood next to a young man who was holding a sign that read MAKE LOVE NOT WAR. That must be Mr. Jackson, she thought. She wanted to ask how they knew it was him who was supposedly haunting Agnes’s apartment, but it had to be because they knew she was a widow, right? Steve had already told her that Sunny didn’t charge them any money. Jordan would try to reserve judgment until all the evidence was in. She owed Sunny that much. Shade flipped on the monitor set up on the counter, and two camera views appeared, one framing the courtyard, the other Jordan and Steve’s third-floor landing.
“What about the basement?” Steve asked, then looked at Jordan. “Didn’t you tell her?”
“Tell me what?” asked Sunny.
Steve pointed at Jordan. “She has pictures!”
Four sets of accusing eyes settled on her. “What?” Jordan asked.
Steve held his hand out. “Gimme your phone.”
Why did she suddenly feel guilty, as if she’d done something wrong? Okay, she’d play along if it meant that Sunny wouldn’t look at her like that. Jordan pulled up the pictures of the mess in the laundry room and handed the phone to Steve, who shoved the little screen at Shade.
Sunny caught Jordan’s eye and her eyes still held…disappointment? About what? “Seriously, are you going to try and tell me a ghost did that?” Jordan asked defensively.
Shade scrolled through the pictures, then handed the phone to Sunny. A high electrical humming noise came from the dining room table.
“What’s that?” Jordan asked.
“The Mel meter, right, Shade?” Steve nearly jumped up and down with excitement.
“Yes. That’s exactly right. It detects when spirit interferes with the room’s natural energy.”
Jordan puzzled over the possibility. There hadn’t been anyone near the table when it went off. She stood and crossed the room to look under the table, then waved her hand over and around it. Nothing.
She had just taken two steps from the table when another piece of equipment turned on. White static noise filled the room, putting her on edge instantly. “What is that?”
“Spirit box,” Tiffany said. “It rapidly scans radio channels at a high frequency. It’s said that entities can manipulate the energy to communicate.”
“I’ve seen those on television,” Steve said.
Jordan’s skepticism warred with her natural curiosity. “Does it work?”
“Most of the time,” Shade answered before turning the volume down. “There’s only one problem with it.”
“What’s that?”
“It wasn’t turned on when I set it there.”
Chapter Ten
How the hell did she end up in the damn basement alone during the investigation? Oh yeah, that’s right. Shade asked if she was chicken when she balked at going down there. Jordan’s internal six-year-old responded before her common sense kicked in. Sunny asked her to set up a camera in her apartment and one in the basement corridor, facing the hall to include the laundry room door. When she hesitated, Shade goaded her, and Jordan didn’t want to admit she was still unnerved by the washing machine incident. But there wasn’t anything to be afraid of, damn it! She was just trying to take it all in and be cautious, that’s all. She puffed out her chest, grabbed the camera setup bag, and stalked to her building without looking back. At least it would prove there was nothing down there.
Jordan flipped the fluorescents on and put the tripod where Sunny indicated, making sure to line up the viewfinder with the laundry room.
Just as she turned the camera on, the lights went out. “Hello?” she called out. “Sunny?” No answer. “Quit fucking around. Turn the lights back on. Shade?”
Jordan kept her back against the wall as she sidestepped the length of the hallway, all the while feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. She’d just done this in her nightmare, hadn’t she? Her senses heightened in the dark, every noise amplified over her pulse, which pounded in her ears.
There. A small shuffling sound to her left. Jordan froze and kept her breathing shallow in an effort to hear over it. In the dark, she became aware that silence did indeed have a sound; it whooshed in empty space, a static that usually went unheard in a noisy society addicted to electronics.
She felt a small stir in the air that tingled across her skin, and the hair on the back of her neck rose along with goose bumps on her arms and legs.
There. Again. This time to her right. She directed her gaze to look even though she knew she couldn’t see anything. Through the inky blackness she thought she saw a shadow dart around the corner. Her imagination must be playing tricks on her. Jordan took another cautious step, then another, working her way to the stairwell and exit. It felt as if she’d been down there forever, but she knew it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. A small breeze circled her, and Jordan caught a trace of flowers in the air.
Just as she registered Sunny’s scent, she ran into a warm body. Instinct had Jordan striking out before she could catch herself, but she had enough time to alter the direction of her fist and connected instead with the cement wall. Pain traveled up her arm to her shoulder and she gasped. “Motherfucker.”
Sunny cried out in alarm. “Jordan?”
“Uh.”
“What are you doing?” Sunny’s breath was sweet on her cheek and her hands found Jordan’s shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“Just dandy.” She cradled her hand against her stomach and hoped she hadn’t broken any bones. “Why did you turn off the lights?”
“I thought you did.”
“Do you have a flashlight?” Jordan asked.
“It’s dead.”
“Didn’t you check them when you started?”
Sunny chuckled. “Spirits can drain the batteries for energy. It happens to us all the time.”
“Okay, here’s a stupid question,” Jordan said. “What do they do with it?”
A heavy metal door slammed somewhere behind them, causing them both to jump. “Answer your question?” Sunny asked.
Jordan was aware of every square inch of Sunny’s body pressed against her, and heat blossomed under her skin at the contact. Fear had jump-started her adrenaline, but Sunny’s nearness kept the blood pounding. Without the lights, the darkness that surrounded them acted like a cocoon for Jordan, making it a safe and enclosed space where only their attraction existed instead of their differences. She could do all sorts of interesting things in the dark.
Jordan brushed a kiss over Sunny’s mouth. She was totally unprepared for the body rush that slammed through her at the contact. Heat licked her ankles and burned up her legs like a fuse that had been lit to set her core on fire.
She pinned Sunny against the wall, holding her wrists above her head and pressing their bodies tightly together. Sunny’s hips pushed forward to meet hers. Jordan kissed her with an explosion of fierce searching, tasting, tongues battling and sucking. The whimpering sounds Sunny made in the back of her throat drove her crazy.
Another door slammed. The lights came on, flickered, and went back off.
“I want to touch you,” Sunny said, helpless to move with her wrists still pinned. Instead, she wrapped her legs around Jordan’s waist, grinding her center against Jordan.
Sunny thrust her hips instinctively and Jordan matched her. The air was so thick between them, her blood so hot, she found it difficult to breathe.
“Yes,” Jordan whispered, nipping at Sunny’s bottom lip. She felt the first wave start at her toes and race to her clitoris, igniting her orgasm and setting her nerves on fire. Her back arched and she cried out, tightening her legs around Jordan and riding out the wave of desire.
Jordan released her wrists and Sunny gripped her shoulders for support as she unwrapped her legs from Jordan’s waist. Tears prickled the back of her eyes and sh
e didn’t know if it was from embarrassment or because it had been so very long since she’d felt her body react this way. Jordan’s kiss gentled until she pulled away slightly, panting against her cheek.
Jordan took a step back to put some space between their bodies, but rested her forehead against Sunny’s. “I’m so sorry.”
Sorry? For what? “Why?”
She felt Jordan’s hesitation in the dark. “Attacking you that way, here. I don’t know, Christ—you smell so good. I didn’t even think. Something came over me. I just had to touch you.”
Dread trickled into Sunny’s chest. Was it even Jordan’s impulse? Or had something else forced her to act? She opened her senses and searched for the presence of other. A raspy growl pierced the quiet, and the sound fisted in Sunny’s stomach, and ice washed over her heated skin.
“What the fuck was that?” Jordan hissed. Sunny felt her turn and knew that Jordan had placed her own body in front of Sunny’s protectively.
Before Sunny could answer, boot steps pounded in the stairwell and the metal exit door opened, filling the hall with light. Sunny turned to look at Jordan’s face and saw regret in her expression. She’d thrown herself at Jordan, and although this time she’d taken Sunny up on it, she didn’t look happy about it.
Shade stood framed in the doorway. “What happened? I’ve been trying to reach you on the radio. I thought you were going to set the camera up?”
Oh, sweet Josephine. She forgot the camera.
“I have to get out of this place.” Jordan grabbed Sunny’s hand and headed to the exit.
Sunny noticed and felt the pained expression that crossed Shade’s face before she quickly masked it. She wished she could help Shade through her jealousy, she really did, and she would give anything not to hurt her again. But their relationship had ended years ago, and she couldn’t stop living her life because Shade refused to let her go.
Sunny was tired. The investigation, wandering in a decidedly haunted basement, and her mind-blowing orgasm in the hallway suddenly combined, leaving her exhausted. Her face grew warm and she dropped Jordan’s hand. “You go on ahead. We’ll be along in a minute.”
