by JANIE CROUGH
Whichever. He had it bad.
“Good morning.” Conner smiled at her. “Want some coffee?”
“Yeah, I’ll get it. Hi, Seth.”
“Morning, Adrienne.”
Adrienne walked into the kitchen. Conner turned back in his seat to find Seth looking at him with one eyebrow cocked.
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear it,” Conner muttered.
“And to think I was just about to comment on how gentlemanly of you it was to have taken the couch and let her sleep in your bed.”
“Things just worked out differently.”
“I’m just kidding you, man. The way you two have been from the very beginning, I’m surprised it has taken this long.”
Adrienne walked back in, saving Conner from needing to reply. She came to stand next to him and he looped his arm around her waist, pulling her down into his lap. Without any thought to Seth whatsoever, he kissed her thoroughly.
“Good morning to you, too,” Adrienne said, blushing, when Conner finally released her mouth. “What are you guys talking about?”
Conner was loath to bring it up but knew Adrienne should know. They explained their theory about Simon Says being in law enforcement. Listening, Adrienne got more and more tense in his lap.
“We want one of us to be with you, or you to be at the Bureau office all the time,” Conner concluded.
Adrienne stood up. “That’s not going to work. I’m going to need to go back to the ranch soon, at least for a few days. Vince can’t run everything there alone forever.”
Conner shook his head again. “No, Adrienne, you can’t go back there right now. Not until we’ve caught Simon.”
“But that could take months!”
Conner could feel his frustration building. She could not leave—he wouldn’t allow it. He wouldn’t let anything compromise her safety. “It won’t take months. Not with you helping us.” Conner reached out to Adrienne, but she stepped back from his grasp. Conner looked over at Seth, but found his partner was looking down at his hands, unwilling to get involved.
“Conner, I will take normal, reasonable precautions. Of course I don’t want Simon to get ahold of me. But my abilities allow me to know if he’s nearby, so I don’t have to worry about that.”
Conner couldn’t think of a logical argument against what Adrienne was saying. “Three days. Give us three days to narrow down the pool of suspects. During that time, you stay with one of us or in the middle of the Bureau office. After three days we can reevaluate.”
Conner watched as Adrienne considered his offer. She didn’t like to be boxed into a decision, he could tell. Finally she nodded her head. He reached out for her again, and she took his extended hand.
“Okay. Three days.”
Chapter Twelve
The three days were tough. Conner watched as Adrienne worked herself into exhaustion trying to help them. She fleshed out details about Simon Says—his thoughts, his motives—and the crimes. Based on comparing how tall the victims were with what angle Simon held his head while looking at them, Adrienne determined roughly how tall the killer was—around five foot ten.
She worked with an artist to provide a rendering of the room where the women were killed. And went through file after file, package after package, to see what insight she could gather. With the information Adrienne provided, both Conner and Seth knew they would eventually gain the upper hand on Simon.
What Adrienne could do—her freakishly awesome crime-fighting superpowers—was truly amazing. And the price she paid for it was hideous. Of course Conner always saw both secondhand. He had pretty much been banned from the office while Adrienne was working. He spent a lot of time around the city, going back over crime scenes, reinterviewing different parties, trying to piece together anything they may have missed the first time. He didn’t like being away from Adrienne—not when Simon could be anyone at the Bureau.
But in order for them to get ahead in the case Conner had to stay away. Each afternoon he would return to the office and watch the footage of what happened with Adrienne while he was gone. He watched as she pored over any item they had associated with the murder and gleaned whatever information she could. And the cost she paid to do it.
Watching Adrienne go through such mental torture on a daily basis—knowing he could stop it at any time—was destroying Conner. He was torn between wanting to catch a sadistic killer and protecting the woman he loved.
The woman he loved?
Where exactly had that come from? Conner shrugged, didn’t fight it. In the short time he had known Adrienne, she had eased her way into his heart. And he wanted her there. The moment he’d seen her walking into that barn last week, talking about some crazy horse, that had been it for him.
Of course, he had no idea how Adrienne felt. And he couldn’t imagine why she would ever want to stay in San Francisco or ever be a part of the Bureau. The price she paid was too high.
Conner tried to be a buffer for her as much as possible, but it wasn’t easy. Not only did she have the Simon Says case to work on, but soon word had gotten out around the building that the Bloodhound was real, not an urban legend. That she was back. That she was here. Everybody wanted to meet her or shake her hand or just ask for a moment’s worth of help.
It was like Adrienne could spin straw into gold, and everyone wanted to bring their little bit of straw to her.
Not that any of the other agents meant any harm. At worst, they were just overly curious. At best, they wanted insight on a case or two so they could help justice prevail.
Not unlike him and Seth.
The problem was, nobody realized the price Adrienne paid for the help she gave. The violence and malice she was exposed to whenever she touched something new to help someone’s case. The pain and exhaustion that often overwhelmed her.
Because Adrienne never told anyone it hurt. Someone would ask for her help, and she would do it. They would have all sorts of curious questions about her abilities, and she would answer with some light joke—putting them at ease. As far as he could tell from the footage he had watched, her favorite responses for when she was asked how she got her abilities were radioactive spider bite, bombardment of cosmic rays and gamma-radiation accident—all comic book characters’ plights if Conner wasn’t mistaken.
Conner wasn’t sure how she functioned so efficiently or how she was able to keep such an upbeat personality when she was pelted all day by malice of the worst kind. But somehow she did.
The nights were better. Adrienne had moved in with him for all intents and purposes. Only Conner, Seth and Chief Kelly knew Adrienne’s location. Until they discovered who Simon was, Conner intended to keep it that way.
They spent their evenings together with quiet dinners and walks around the city. He loved how the tension that surrounded her when he arrived at the office each afternoon was gone by the end of the evening. He was glad to offer her peace and quiet. And relieved to have her in his bed every night, knowing she was safe and not in any pain.
But having to be away from the office—away from the action—during the day was frustrating as hell.
Conner was gone now as Adrienne prepared to go through her own ruined clothes from the hotel. Simon had shredded most of them into pieces. Because it was her own stuff, this would probably be worse for Adrienne. So Conner didn’t want to go far. In the past few days they had worked out exactly how many blocks away he needed to be in order for Adrienne’s abilities to work.
One of the FBI photographers, Victor Faraday, had seemed to figure out what was going on with Conner and Adrienne, or at least that Conner was never in the room when Adrienne was using her abilities, and had shown Conner how to set up a video chat on his phone so he could see what was happening, even if he wasn’t there. They were trying that now.
That made it easier, but not much.
“Okay, Seth, I’m far enough out, I think,” Conner told Seth, looking into his phone.
“Okay. Faraday is going to hold the camera so I can help Adrienne if she needs it. She’s opening the first of the crime scene bags now.” The camera zoomed in on Adrienne and the bags.
Conner didn’t like how pale she already was. Before even touching her clothes.
Adrienne cut open one of the crime scene bags and reached inside for what looked like had once been a sweater. He saw Adrienne tense as she touched it, but she didn’t say anything.
“Adrienne?” Seth placed his hand on her arm. Adrienne shook her head but didn’t answer. Instead she reached for a different bag, pulling out its contents. She spread her fingers wide over them so she could touch as much as possible.
“Seth, am I missing something? What’s going on? Faraday, do we have audio?” Conner asked.
Victor Faraday was the one who answered. “Ms. Jeffries isn’t saying anything, Agent Perigo. The audio is fine.”
Adrienne tore a third evidence bag open more quickly than she had the first two. She pulled out their contents, careful to touch every piece. But still she said nothing. Conner waited as she did the same to the other three bags.
“Conner?” Adrienne finally looked over at the camera Faraday was holding.
“What, sweetheart?” The endearment was out before he could catch it. Conner supposed it didn’t matter—Seth already knew, and Faraday wasn’t high enough on the Bureau food chain to really matter. Although hopefully he wouldn’t say anything.
“There’s nothing, Conner,” Adrienne responded.
“Do you think I’m too close? Is that it?”
“No. I can feel Simon on the clothes. He definitely had some sort of plan and was in the room. But when he did all this damage, he was not in any rage. At least none that I would be able to feel.”
“What do you think that means?”
He saw Adrienne shake her head. “I don’t know. He wasn’t menacing in any way while he was destroying the room. So it’s really hard for me to get any reading from any of this.”
“Are you positive it was Simon?” Seth asked.
“Definitely. He just wasn’t angry when he did this. Had no malicious intent toward me or anyone. It’s like he was doing a job, calmly and methodically.”
Conner’s eyes narrowed. “Calmly and methodically” scared him almost more than “murderous rage.”
“I can’t see anything else. I’m sorry.” Adrienne sighed.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m coming back.”
* * *
ADRIENNE WASN’T SURE what to make of this. It all just wasn’t right—as if Simon knew the weakness in her visions and was exploiting them. Without malicious intent on the killer’s part, she really couldn’t see anything clearly.
But only someone who knew the type of work she did for the FBI would know that. Adrienne was becoming more and more convinced of Conner’s theory that whoever Simon was, he had some sort of link to law enforcement in this area.
From where she sat at Conner’s desk, Adrienne looked around. There were people everywhere in this building—agents, suspects, witnesses. Most of them she didn’t know at all.
Any of them could be the killer.
Adrienne shook her head and chased away that thought. No, Simon Says couldn’t be in this building. If he was, Adrienne would know it. Even now she could hear the buzz of everyone around her and feel some of the malevolent thoughts and artifacts pushing their way toward her. There was no way a killer could slip by her unnoticed.
She could see the conference room down the hall from where she sat. Seth was putting her destroyed clothes back into the evidence bags. Adrienne knew Conner would return soon.
Conner had agreed to drive her back to Lodi this afternoon so she could check on Vince and the horses. Adrienne knew it would do her good to get out of the city and away from the FBI for a little bit. They had planned to stay the night and come back tomorrow morning. But now Adrienne had a new plan, and she didn’t think Conner was going to like it at all.
Adrienne looked down at the files on the desk and opened one in particular—the one she had worked on with the artist to try to pinpoint the location of where Simon Says was taking and killing the women. She knew she was missing something about this place. Something important. But she could never seem to find time to focus on it. Here at the FBI field office, or really anywhere in the city, there was too much outside interference. The only time she had quiet was when Conner was around.
She was so incredibly grateful for Conner. He had made this all bearable. Not just because of how he negated her abilities and gave her blessed silence. Adrienne had come to depend on him in other ways as well, and couldn’t wait to go home with him each night.
Adrienne looked up just in time to see him walk into the conference room where Seth was still working. From the door he paused and turned in her direction. Seeing her watching him, he smiled and winked at her. Then turned and walked the rest of the way into the conference room.
Adrienne could feel her heart puddle at her feet. There was no doubt she was falling in love with that man. Everything about him fit her perfectly.
Adrienne giggled to herself, thinking about last night. Yes, everything about him fit her perfectly.
Closing the file and attempting to get her wayward thoughts in check, Adrienne walked to the conference room. She knew what she needed to do. But she also knew Conner was not going to like it. Seth and Conner looked up from repacking the evidence bags as she entered.
“I’ve been thinking about Lodi,” Adrienne stated from the doorway.
“Do you still want to go?” Conner asked.
“Yes. I need to. But, Conner, I don’t think you should come with me.”
Conner stopped the work he was doing and looked directly at her. “What?”
Adrienne held up the file in her hand. “I’ve been thinking about the place where Simon Says is killing the women. I feel like there’s more about this that I can figure out.”
“Okay. That would be great.”
“But I can’t do it with you around.”
Conner shrugged. “Fine. Then do it here, and I’ll leave again for a while.”
Adrienne walked over to Conner and put her hand on his arm. “No. I don’t want you to have to leave again. This is your office.”
Conner began to protest, but Adrienne cut him off. “Besides, it’s too mentally loud in this building. There are so many things trying to pull me away from focusing. And not just here in the building—in this entire city. I need some quiet. I want to take some of the photos with me to Lodi.”
“And you can’t do your magic if I’m there.”
Adrienne ran her fingers down his arm and grasped his hand. “Yes. I’m sorry. But I know I’m missing something with these. Being alone where it’s quiet might give me more insight.”
“Alone? No way. Simon knows who you are. There’s no reason to think he doesn’t know where you live.”
“Conner, I’ll be able to know if Simon is around. He can’t sneak up on me.”
“That’s fine. But if he somehow did get close to you, you would be totally helpless. I’ve seen what happens to you when you’re just around things he’s touched. What would you be like around him in person?” His expression hardened, determination glittering in his eyes. “There is no way in hell you’re going by yourself.”
“I’ll take her,” Seth chirped in. “We’ll leave this afternoon and come back in the morning, just like you planned to do.”
Adrienne could tell Conner didn’t like it. Adrienne didn’t much like the thought of being away from him, either. But there wasn’t much way around it.
“I won’t let her out of my sight, Scout’s honor.” Seth held up two finger
s in some sort of incorrect scout salute. “I’ll even sleep in the bed with her if she’ll let me.”
Conner rolled his eyes and put his arm around Adrienne. “Don’t push it, Harrington.” But Conner nodded. “I guess I should get caught up on some of the three hundred pounds of paperwork I have here.”
Adrienne cringed. He hadn’t been able to do any of his normal work in the past few days so that she could work here in safety.
“I’m sorry.” Adrienne looked up at Conner. “I’ve pretty much kicked you out of your own office.”
Conner kissed her quickly on the lips. “I would give up my office anytime if it meant you were safe. Plus, I like that at the Starbucks they know my order now as soon as I walk in. I am no longer mocked by the masses when ordering my drink of choice.”
Seth smirked. “Happy for you, princess. You ready to go, Adrienne?”
“Sure. My stuff is by Conner’s desk.” She didn’t have much since all of her clothes had been destroyed by Simon three days ago.
“Okay, I’ll grab it and meet you at my car.”
Conner walked with Adrienne out to the parking garage. “Stay with Seth the entire time. Don’t even go to the barn without him. And definitely no riding.”
Adrienne smiled. “I promise.”
“I don’t like you not being with me. I trust Seth with my life, but I wish I could be with you.” He gently grabbed both sides of the collar of her shirt and pulled her up on her tiptoes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Adrienne kissed him. “Yes, you will. And hopefully with more answers than I have right now.”
Conner kissed her again. “I don’t care about answers as much as I care about you getting back to me.”
Adrienne could feel heat flood her center. “Me either,” she said with a smile.
* * *
THE DRIVE TO the ranch was uneventful. Adrienne was relieved to see Vince and the horses—all in excellent shape. Vince truly was able to handle everything without her and even seemed a little disappointed to see her back. He immediately cheered when he found she would only be staying for the night.
