by JANIE CROUGH
Adrienne walked with Vince out to the barn. “You sure you’ve been doing okay?”
“Never better, Missy. You know I like it best when it’s just me and the horses. No offense. Real question is, are you okay?”
Adrienne nodded. “It hasn’t been as bad as I thought it might be, Vince. As a matter of fact, some of it has been downright nice. Maybe FBI agents aren’t as bad as you and I made them out to be.”
Vince grimaced. “I don’t know about that. But I’m glad they’re looking out for you.”
“They’re looking out for you, too, Vince. I don’t think anyone is going to be bothering you about a missed parole anytime soon.”
The older man looked decidedly relieved. Adrienne reached over and hugged him. He hugged her back in his stiff way. Adrienne left him alone in the barn and went back to the house.
Seth was a very active guard. All evening, he constantly checked windows and walked around the house. Perhaps that was because Conner called every hour for an update. Finally at 10:00 p.m. Conner switched to texts so he wouldn’t disturb anyone else, but he evidently had no qualms about disturbing Seth. Adrienne wasn’t worried about Simon Says at all.
Adrienne was glad to have the relative quiet of the ranch. She could hear the slight buzz of Vince and Seth, but that was easily ignored. It gave her the chance to study the pictures she had brought with her.
The pain was a constant as she looked at them, but she forced it aside. Although she had seen these images before—both the photos and the disjointed flashes of insight in her mind—they were still jarring. She focused on the building, the location where Simon Says was taking the women, and let everything else slide out of her mind.
Why couldn’t she see the outside of the building? Always before she had been able to see a suspect entering or leaving their dwelling; that was one of the reasons she had been so helpful to the FBI—her ability to pinpoint location. Bloodhound.
But not now. Why?
It was too fuzzy for her. She could feel Simon’s presence outside the building but couldn’t see anything clearly. Just like when she had been touching her own clothes that Simon had destroyed.
Adrienne released the pictures and thought about that for a second. She had determined that Simon had been calm and methodical when he had destroyed her hotel room, not in any sort of vicious rage. So maybe Simon was calm and methodical when he brought the women to this place. Maybe he didn’t have any desire to hurt them.
But that didn’t make any sense. Why would he bring them there if he didn’t have a desire to hurt them?
Then a thought occurred to Adrienne: was it possible Simon had a partner? Someone helping him bring the women into the building, but who had no desire to hurt them? Someone so meek and unassuming that Simon’s personality all but overwhelmed the artifacts and pictures Adrienne had touched so she never felt the second person at all?
Adrienne went back through every picture again, one by one, searching for the presence of a second person, however minute. She could sense something different sometimes, but not always, and Simon’s presence overshadowed whatever the lesser presence was.
Frustrated, Adrienne gave up on that line of thought. There was nothing in any of the evidence that had ever suggested Simon Says had a partner. He was too egotistical to share his control with someone else. Too sure of his own importance to leave details to someone else.
Exhausted, Adrienne decided to take a break. Simon having a partner was out of the question.
Adrienne wandered into the kitchen and found Seth making a pot of coffee.
“Planning to be up all night?”
Seth rubbed his face wearily. “Yeah. Someone’s overprotective boyfriend keeps texting me every hour.”
Adrienne winced. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. He was a pain in my butt long before you were around. Any luck with the pictures?”
Adrienne explained her theory about Simon having a possible partner, then all the reasons she had discarded it.
“It’s worth keeping in consideration. Anything on location?”
“Nothing yet. I’m going to give it one more try in my room before I go to bed.” Adrienne smiled at him. “I hope you get some sleep tonight.”
She heard Seth mutter something under his breath but decided it was probably better not to ask him to repeat it.
In her bedroom, Adrienne changed into her pajamas and spread the pictures out on her bed. Once again she looked through each picture individually. It was all the same images as before. Nothing. Adrienne decided to look through them one last time and then give it a break. Maybe tomorrow would bring more clarity.
Even concentrating as hard as she was, she almost missed it.
She was studying the pictures of Josie Paton, the woman who had made Simon so angry because she refused to be scared. At first he had wanted to kill her quickly so he wouldn’t have to hear her anymore. But he knew that would take all the pleasure out of it, so he decided to wait.
To calm himself down, he went for a walk. For just a split second, as he went outside, she could see it. Some sort of old white mission-style church. Then Simon was having some sort of problem with vertigo, and it was all gone.
Adrienne went through the pictures with Josie Paton again just to be sure, but there was nothing else. But Simon having vertigo and a white church? Maybe those could be helpful. She would definitely tell Seth first thing in the morning. Right now she just wanted to get some sleep.
But lying in bed a few minutes later, Adrienne found sleep wouldn’t come. She missed Conner. She’d only been without him for one night, but it felt like much longer. What was she going to do without him after they caught Simon? Adrienne didn’t want to think about it. She closed her eyes and pushed the thought away.
Chapter Thirteen
Adrienne went from fast asleep to completely awake in an instant. She sat up in bed immediately alert. Had she heard something? What had woken her? Something definitely didn’t seem right, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
Adrienne looked around, then stilled herself to listen. Nothing. It was still dark outside. She glanced at the clock—3:45 a.m.
Dressed in her pajama pants and T-shirt, she slipped out of her bedroom. Was Seth still in the living room or had he gone to sleep? Adrienne didn’t know. She quietly made her way past the bathroom and down the hall. There was no need to wake anyone else up if there was nothing wrong.
But something felt wrong. Sort of. Nothing was hurting in her head, nor was she seeing any visions. But there was almost a residual evil presence. Like what Adrienne had been thinking about last night when she’d considered Simon Says might have a partner.
Adrienne entered the living room and saw Seth wasn’t there. She had thought he might still be awake, but maybe Conner had finally given Seth some peace and quit texting, allowing Seth to sleep. Adrienne headed to the house’s third bedroom, which had been converted into an office. Although the desk took up most of the space in the room, there was also a couch. Adrienne had left a pillow and blanket there for Seth in case he wanted them.
The door was cracked, so Adrienne peeked in. There on the couch lay the pillow and the blankets, still neatly folded. Seth had definitely not been here.
“Seth?” Adrienne called out. Something wasn’t right. Adrienne no longer cared if she woke anybody else up. She rushed from the back bedroom to the kitchen, but found Seth wasn’t there, either.
“Seth?” Adrienne called louder.
“What’s going on?” Vince came out of his bedroom already dressed in his shirt and jeans but still looking sleepy.
“I’m looking for Seth. Agent Harrington. He wasn’t in the living room or the office.”
Adrienne didn’t want to panic, but she didn’t think Seth would’ve left her here without telling her
.
“Maybe he ran out to his car to grab something.”
That would make sense. But Adrienne hesitated to open the door and look. Instead she grabbed her cell phone from the table.
She called Conner.
“Are you okay?” he answered without greeting.
“I’m fine. Have you talked to Seth recently?”
“What time is it?” Adrienne could hear the sleepiness in Conner’s voice.
“Almost four o’clock.”
“I haven’t talked to him in a couple of hours. Where is he?”
Adrienne was really getting frightened now. “I don’t know, Conner. He was on the couch when I went to bed a few hours ago, but now he’s not here. Seth wouldn’t just leave.”
Adrienne looked over at Vince, who was watching with concern. He shrugged.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw it then—in the window that faced the barn. Some weird orange glow in the darkness just past the house.
Adrienne walked over to the window to get a closer look. A chill overtook her as she realized what the orange glow was.
The barn was on fire!
Vince realized it at the same time and ran out the door as fast as he could with his limp. Almost forgetting about the phone in her hand, Adrienne was right behind him.
“Adrienne! What the hell is going on?”
“The barn is on fire, Conner!” Adrienne yelled to him as she ran.
“Adrienne, listen to me, you need to stay in the house. If Seth is gone, this could be Simon Says.”
“I can’t, Conner! I have to help Vince get the horses out!”
She could hear them now, their high-pitched screaming. Bucking as they tried to get out of their stalls and away from the fire that terrified them.
“Adrienne!” Conner roared from the phone. Adrienne stopped running at the urgency in his tone.
“Conner, I cannot do nothing while the horses are trapped. I just can’t!”
“I know, baby. But listen to me. Do you have any weapons in the house? A handgun?”
“No, only a rifle.”
“That’s too big. Do you have any pepper spray or anything like that?”
“Yes.”
“Get it and keep it with you. Or grab a kitchen knife if you have to. But be aware, Adrienne. Help Vince, but be mindful that Simon may be out there somewhere. I’ll get locals on their way to you.”
Adrienne couldn’t hear anything else over the horses, so she ended the call. She spun and started running back toward the house. Conner was right. Although she couldn’t feel him now, Simon could easily be out there somewhere, waiting for her. She had to help the horses, but she also had to protect herself.
In the kitchen, Adrienne grabbed the can of pepper spray in a drawer. She decided not to bring a knife; she would probably only cut herself. She headed in a dead sprint out to the barn.
The fire was quickly spreading, and the horses were becoming more panicked. Adrienne tried to remember what Conner said about Simon Says and awareness, but it was hard in all the chaos. She had to get the horses to safety.
Vince was making his way back out to the main barn door, dragging something. At first it looked to Adrienne like a huge bag of feed. She felt nausea pit in her stomach when she realized it was a person Vince was trying to drag out.
Seth.
Adrienne rushed over to help Vince.
“The FBI agent,” Vince yelled. Adrienne grabbed one of Seth’s arms, shuddering as she looked at the blood from an obvious head wound dripping down his face.
“Is he dead, Vince?” Adrienne couldn’t bear the thought.
“No. Still breathing. We’ve got to get him away from here, then get in to help the horses.”
They dragged Seth far enough away to be in no danger from the fire. He was still unconscious. Vince immediately returned to the barn, but Adrienne hesitated. She hated leaving Seth there alone, unprotected, but the horses were working their way into a complete frenzy. She had to go help Vince or all of them would die.
Adrienne turned back to the barn. The flames were climbing higher. From over to her right, she could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles making their way, but they were still off in the distance. They wouldn’t get there in time to help the horses. Only she and Vince could do that.
Adrienne dashed the rest of the way to the barn, the smoke getting thicker with every step she took. When she entered, she found she couldn’t see anything because of the smoke. The horses, screaming and bucking in their terror, desperate to get out of the barn, made hearing impossible, too. She grabbed a nearby towel, dipped it in water from a bucket by the door and wrapped it around her head. She began looking for Vince but couldn’t find him anywhere.
Unable to locate Vince, Adrienne decided to follow the sound of the horses. The first panicked one she found was Willie Nelson. Adrienne opened his stall and slowly walked toward the frightened animal, grabbing the halter and lead rope from the wall.
Although generally gentle by nature, Willie Nelson was beyond reason now. He nipped at Adrienne and kicked at the barn walls with his hind legs. Adrienne knew if she couldn’t get the halter on him in the next few seconds, she would have to leave him behind and go for another horse. Seconds were precious.
From out of nowhere a hand grabbed Adrienne’s shoulder. Terror shot through her. She reached for the pepper spray, but it was deep in her pocket and she couldn’t quite get it out. She let out a high-pitched scream as the hand roughly spun her around.
It was Vince.
Adrienne almost sagged in relief, seeing the older man. He didn’t seem to notice any of her strange behavior.
“The only way to get them out of the barn is to blindfold them and then put on the halter,” he yelled over the horses’ screams and the sound of the fire. He threw a few short towels at Adrienne and ran back out of the stall.
Adrienne approached Willie Nelson again, towel in hand. After a couple of tries, Adrienne was able to get the towel over his head. Unable to see, he immediately calmed. Adrienne quickly led him from the barn and into a nearby fenced corral, far enough from the fire to keep the horses from panicking. Two other horses were already there.
That meant there were five more left in the barn.
Adrienne sprinted back, coughing as she entered the barn’s barrage of black smoke again. Everything hurt: her lungs, her throat, her head, her eyes—but she knew she couldn’t stop.
Adrienne found another horse and followed the same procedure as she had with Willie Nelson. It was getting harder to breathe, and the heat was now beginning to truly become a factor. Adrienne knew she wouldn’t be able to make many more trips before the fire would overwhelm the barn completely.
As she made it to the barn door, she looked up, shocked to see Seth stumbling unsteadily toward her.
“Give me the horse. I can get it to the corral.”
Adrienne coughed and looked at the blood dripping down his face. “Are you sure?”
Seth didn’t try to answer, just took the lead from Adrienne and slowly began walking the horse away from the barn. As Adrienne turned to go back inside she saw some movement on the front porch of the house. In the dark it was difficult to tell, but it looked like someone was sitting in one of the rocking chairs on her front porch.
Simon Says.
Adrienne knew it was him. Could feel the pounding in her head clearly now. Could feel his glee at the chaos he had caused.
Adrienne deliberately turned away and went back inside the barn. Let the bastard watch. She was going to get every single one of her horses out. She wouldn’t let Simon win this sick little game. She didn’t think he was going to harm her; it looked like he was more interested in watching from the sidelines.
But she made sure the pepper spray was easily reachable i
n her pocket just to be sure.
Five minutes later she and Vince had gotten all the horses out. Thanks to Seth’s help, all the horses were safe, if very spooked, in the corral. When Adrienne looked up at the porch again, it was empty. And her head no longer hurt.
Simon was gone.
Not long afterward, the fire department arrived. Adrienne, Seth and Vince sat exhausted on the back steps of the house and watched as they put out the fire and saved what was left of the barn.
Adrienne was relieved that they were all safe and relatively unharmed. A paramedic had looked at Seth’s head wound and announced he probably had a concussion and should go to the local hospital. Adrienne and Vince had been given oxygen and told they suffered from smoke inhalation and should also go.
But none of them did. Instead they sat on the back steps almost too exhausted to move. They would live.
The sun began to work its way up over the landscape. The rising sun somehow made everything seem a little better. The sound of a vehicle squealing into the driveway made things even better for Adrienne.
Conner was here. One hour and twenty-six minutes after she had called him. She would bet he had broken quite a few traffic laws to get here this quickly.
She watched as he walked toward the barn. She would’ve called out to him but knew her voice would never carry in the state it was in. She saw him notice where they sat. He turned midstride and quickly made his way over to them, eyes only on Adrienne.
Adrienne was too tired to even stand and hug him. Not that he would want her to hug him—she must look and smell like a chimney.
Conner sat down on the step right next to her. He reached over, picked her up and deposited her in his lap. His arms came around her in a crushing hug.
“Thank God.”
Adrienne could barely breathe from the force of his hug but didn’t care.
“I knew I should’ve never let you come to Lodi without me.”
“Conner.” Adrienne wiggled until she could get her arms out from under his and put them around him. “I’m okay. It’s all okay.”
