by Debra Webb
“These dreams frighten you?”
She nodded. “Every time.”
This was the part Aidan needed to be sure of. He had to fully understand her intent. “You feel certain you won’t be safe if these men discover your whereabouts?”
She looked directly into his eyes and said what she felt with all her heart, the depth of it glimmering in those lovely eyes. “I think they already know. I think it was them or people who work for them who came after us in that swamp.”
He frowned, annoyed at her for persisting, annoyed at himself for losing all objectivity. “What could these men possibly want from you?”
Her head moved from side to side. “I don’t know, but I believe it has something to do with this little ESP thing I’ve got going on.” She flushed and shook her head more adamantly this time. “Though I think they’ll be vastly disappointed when they discover it only works when it chooses. I have little or no control over it. It’ll be just like before. They’ll find out how useless my talent is and they’ll want to get rid of me.”
He tensed as a very specific warning went off in his brain. “How do you mean that?”
“That’s why they sent me away,” she explained. “At least I think that’s what happened. They thought I had some sort of gift and when it didn’t work the way they’d planned they sent me away. I ended up with the Shepards.”
“You dreamed this?” He had to know how much more she knew or thought she knew.
She drew in a heavy breath and adopted a skeptical look. “Every time I’ve had one of those stupid dreams, I’m—the me in the dream—certain that if I let them know I have this gift I’ll never escape. They’ll keep me forever. That’s why I pretended it didn’t work, so they’d let me go. It was the only way I could escape the place…Center.”
Aidan’s orders were very specific. He knew precisely how much was too much when it came to what she knew about Center and her past there.
What she’d told him—trusted him with—was far beyond the specified limit.
She had, with her own words, sentenced herself to death.
He could avoid passing on the intelligence to O’Riley for a time. But if she persisted in her attempts to learn about her past, he wouldn’t be able to protect her. Telling her the truth would only put her in more danger.
There was only one thing he could do at this point: Keep her distracted until he devised a plan to protect her from Galen, O’Riley and herself.
He reached out to her. She tensed, but didn’t avoid his touch. Her reasoning was clear. She knew he had avoided the truth in regard to the men who had pursued them last night. For that her trust wavered. He would have to find a way to reaffirm that trust. To make her forget.
“You’ve had a long day,” he said softly as his fingers curled around her nape. “A long, hot bath would be relaxing.” He pulled her to him, claimed her lips. She didn’t resist but her hesitancy persisted just beneath the surface. He leaned her back onto the sofa and came down atop her, allowing her to feel the need pulsing already in his body. She moaned softly and he deepened the kiss.
He reached under her skirt and delved into her lacy panties, finding that tight, wet place that burned for him. He knew how she wanted to be touched…knew her most secret desires. He would satisfy each and every one…until all other thought ceased.
Until she was his…completely…once more.
Chapter Twelve
Audubon Zoo
New Orleans
“No, Penny!” Darby rushed to catch up with one of her charges before she got too far ahead of the group.
“Let’s stay with the others,” she scolded gently. Four-year-old Penny stuck out her bottom lip and trudged back to the group. Though Darby greatly appreciated her new position at the Riverwalk Preschool, she could have done without a field trip her first day on the job. But since she’d missed her real “first” day, she certainly couldn’t complain.
Twelve children and three teachers made for nice ratios, but she was still learning the names and faces of those under her care. That made an outing of this caliber less than fun.
The zoo was more crowded than she’d expected. But most of the visitors were groups from nearby schools. As they began their journey into Jaguar Jungle, she quickly surveyed her charges, repeating their names once more. Penny, Jarred, Brooke, Tiffany, and Timmy. No sweat. Two towheads and three brunettes.
She glanced behind her, beyond the clusters of children with their matching shirts that identified their schools and their teachers, who looked flustered already. He was still there. Somehow his presence made her feel safe.
Aidan had insisted that he would hang around a few more days, at least until Lester was found. He wanted to stay close…to make sure she was safe.
The idea warmed her, though she still sensed that he had lied to her about the men who had forced them to run for their lives in the swamp. She could only assume that he had his reasons. Concealing what she suspected could be part of his job. But, somehow, after all they’d shared, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed that he’d chosen not to simply tell her that he couldn’t discuss the matter. She would have understood. As a teacher, she was well aware of sensitive issues and confidentiality matters.
Directing her attention back to the tour guide, she dismissed the unsettling thoughts. He would tell her when he could. If he chose not to, there had to be a good reason. She had to trust that. She’d allowed him into her heart…had given her body to him—she had to give him the benefit of the doubt on this, as well. Otherwise, she would be a hypocrite.
She chewed her lower lip and hoped the fact that they’d failed to use protection wasn’t going to complicate matters. Though she loved him without question, pregnancy was a subject they had not discussed. Besides, she couldn’t be certain he felt the same way she did. She suspected he cared deeply for her. Hadn’t missed the way his body responded to hers, the way their lovemaking affected him. But that was not a certainty that he felt the same emotional bond. Her lack of experience in the area didn’t give her much of a basis on which to form conclusions. She could only hope that this wasn’t a one-sided affair.
She shuddered at the word.
Was it just an affair? It felt like a great deal more than that to her. Desire, strong and hot, sang through her veins each time she thought of the way it felt to be with him. It was too incredible for words. How could that not be true love? Lust couldn’t possibly burn this hot.
The children’s zoo adventure began with an archaeological dig where they unearthed artifacts that were explained to them in generous detail. She doubted any of them would remember all that the guide passed along, but his dramatic dialogue and presence certainly held their attention well enough.
From there, they journeyed along a meandering path cloaked in fog that reminded her of the cemetery the other night. She thought of the way Aidan had looked in that long duster…like a vampire or a pirate. She shivered and tried again to focus on the guide’s narration. The path led through archways, past stone carvings that were realistic replicas of those found in Central America. The whole setting was remarkable.
The real thrill came when they reached the Jaguar Plaza and watched the magnificent cats in a setting that duplicated their natural habitat. The guide talked about their incredible strength and speed. Jaguars were, apparently, afraid of nothing, making them extremely dangerous predators. Darby tamped down another urge to shiver as she watched the sleek animals stalk about before reclining, as if some internal clock had alerted them that it was siesta time.
The children appeared enthralled, pointing and chattering as they admired the beautiful creatures through the sturdy fence that kept awestruck visitors from getting too close. Darby crouched in the middle of her group and observed the show from their vantage point.
Laurie, one of the other teachers from Riverwalk Preschool, was having a difficult time with two of her boys. Darby felt immensely thankful that she hadn’t gotten those two. She imagined that the
y were purposely left off her group since she was new.
“Gage has a kitty just like that at home,” Brooke said knowingly. “Same color and everything.”
Gage was in Laurie’s group with the rambunctious twosome who kept the teacher perpetually preoccupied.
“Nuh-uh,” Timmy argued. “His cat’s way littler than that. I’ve seen her. She’s just a regular cat, not a jogwore,” he added, butchering the name for the elegantly lethal creatures.
“Well,” Darby interjected before a disagreement could morph into a fight, “what’s Gage’s cat’s name?”
“Harriet,” Brooke said. “He named her after his grandma.”
“That’s nice.” Darby smiled, thinking how sweet the little boy was for thinking of his grandmother. She wondered if she…if she and Aidan had children, if theirs would be so nice. She thought of the handsome man and her pulse skittered at the idea of how gorgeous his sons would be.
“I think Gage is gonna be in big trouble,” Penny said, joining the amusing conversation. “His momma’s gonna be mad as spit.”
“Penny,” Darby chastised gently, then frowned. “Why would you say that? Did he do something wrong that his teacher doesn’t know about?”
The little girl nodded vigorously. “Didn’t that man say we wasn’t supposed to climb on the fence?”
Darby whipped her head in the direction Penny pointed, just in time to see Gage scramble halfway down the inside of the fence, only to fall from there when his teacher screamed his name. Darby rocketed to her feet and toward the fence. The little boy hit the grassy embankment on the other side of the fence, landing like a cat on all fours, but then he rolled downward right into the jaguar’s meticulously arranged home away from home.
Children shouted all around her. The tour guide, looking wide-eyed and as if it might be his first day, too, started shaking his head and repeating the same mantra over and over: you’re not supposed to climb on the fence.
Darby flung herself at the fence and started upward, her heart hammering wildly. She had to get to that child. The cats…they would…God, she couldn’t even think it. Gage’s teacher, Laurie, had grabbed onto the fence as well.
A blur of movement whizzed past Darby. She stalled, blinked and looked again. Aidan was over the enclosure and slipping down the embankment before she even reached the top of the fence.
How had he plowed through all those children and scaled that fence so quickly?
Her fingers clenched around the cold steel as she watched him reach the boy.
Penny’s wailing dragged her attention in that direction for a moment. She climbed down and moved to her group, huddling them around her as the scene played out like a bad horror flick.
Aidan had the boy in his arms.
A gush of relief moved through Darby, through the crowd…their collective gasps and murmurings echoed behind her. Please, God, she prayed, let him get safely out of there with the child.
Suddenly, the larger of the two cats stood, made a sound that sent a chill down Darby’s spine. Her breath evaporated in her lungs.
Aidan stood stone-still. The child in his arms sobbed relentlessly against his chest. She could see Aidan’s lips moving, attempting to quietly console the boy.
The cat turned toward them, his fluid movement cautious, deliberate, as he moved between Aidan and the fence. Then the animal froze.
For three excruciating beats, no one moved or even breathed.
In the next ten seconds, two things happened. The cat drew back into a crouch and Aidan burst into action.
The cat lunged.
But Aidan was faster.
New voices behind Darby warned that the zookeeper and security had arrived, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off the life-and-death events playing out before them all.
The little boy’s arms went around Aidan’s neck. He hit the far wall climbing without so much as a split-second’s hesitation between running and moving upward. Watching him scale that rock wall was incredible. He didn’t slow for an instant, never lost his footing once.
The crowd around Darby burst into applause.
She jumped, startled, then blinked to refocus. He was out…clear of the danger. Safe…with the little boy securely tucked against his chest.
The next few minutes passed in a frenzy of activity. EMTs arrived and took charge of the child, who appeared to be fine except for a few bruises and a skinned elbow. Aidan’s hands were skinned and slightly battered from grabbing onto the rough edges of the rocks. A command decision was made by the senior teacher from Darby’s preschool—they were out of there.
Aidan smiled at Darby as she, the other teachers and their children filed out of the Jaguar Jungle to head toward their buses. She knew without having to ask that he would follow as soon as the EMT finished cleaning the abrasions on his hands.
As the bus pulled away from the parking lot, Aidan was already climbing into his shiny black sports car as she had known he would.
She didn’t look away until the bus had lumbered out onto the street and driven away. Aidan had handled the crisis as if it were an everyday affair in his line of work. Perhaps it was. But he could have been killed. Mauled to death like so many others she heard about in the news.
That was the part that puzzled her—disappointed her. Made her sick to her stomach. How could she have this amazing gift that could locate serial killers and the remains of his victims and not be able to know in advance when a child was in danger…when the man she loved was in danger?
It just didn’t make sense.
Maybe her dreams were right. Maybe she was a failure and that’s why she’d been sent away from that place after all. The men in the white coats might not even want her. That could be why Aidan seemed so vague and noncommittal about the men who’d been after them in the swamp. It might have nothing to do with her.
Poachers protecting their livelihood or vigilantes after Lester seemed far more likely, now that she thought about it.
Her life wasn’t in danger, she decided. Not anymore. Lester wasn’t coming back. She sensed that with finality. Though, God knew, she wasn’t sure she could count on her instincts in the matter. Yet, somehow, she did. Aidan had said the same. And she did trust him.
Any man who would risk his life to rescue the child of a stranger was a man who could be trusted, in her opinion.
Jackson Square Precinct
New Orleans Police Department
DETECTIVE LANCE WILLIS stood in the men’s room on the second floor of the most famous cop building in New Orleans and stared at his reflection. He didn’t look that bad for a guy almost forty. He had a few lines, but he didn’t smoke or lie around on the beach so they weren’t that bad. He’d kept himself fit, still had his hair and teeth. He owned his own house at the edge of the French Quarter and had a fair savings account. He wasn’t such a bad catch. And yet he would be forty in three months and he’d never been married. He heaved a sigh and admitted the truth about his martial status. It was tough for a guy to find a wife when his mistress ruled him, his mistress being his work.
The job always got in the way of a lasting relationship. Dames just didn’t want their men tied to the job like that. And they sure as hell didn’t want some guy that got shot at more often than not. Life was too short to put up with the bull of being a cop’s wife.
End of story.
Willis shoved a hand through his hair and headed back to the bullpen. He’d heard about the hero at the Audubon Zoo who’d rescued the child from the jaguars. The man hadn’t even given his name but he knew from the description, and the fact that two of his officers were still watching Darby Shepard, that it had been her friend.
He hated like hell that he experienced that pang of jealousy. She was a material witness in a case, nothing more. And yet those three days they’d spent practically every minute together had gotten to him on some level. He liked her vulnerability, her innocence. A guy rarely found that these days in the Big Easy.
She was sweet and kind�
�pretty as hell. He didn’t give a damn about her so-called gift. He just liked her. Liked her a lot.
But, according to the officers on her stakeout detail, she’d let her friend spend the night in her apartment for the past several nights.
Another pang of jealousy stuck him in the gut. The guy could very well be taking advantage of her vulnerability. Especially right now. She’d been through a lot and needed protecting. Hell, Lester was still out there somewhere.
Willis would find that bastard if it was the last thing he ever did. Find him and send his ass to death row. The remains that Darby Shepard had discovered were still with forensics, but Willis knew they belonged to those missing children. He was certain of it.
He would be the hero when the confirmation came and he could go public with that story. Especially if he nailed Lester in the meantime. He would do that. His task force was not going to fail.
Grabbing a pen he wrote down the name Aidan Tanner. “Chapman!” he shouted across the room. “Get over here.”
Chapman, a newbie who’d just been promoted from beat cop after acing the detective’s exam, hustled over to see what his boss wanted.
“What’s up?” He braced his hands on his hips like a John Wayne wannabe and waited for orders.
“See what you can find on that Aidan Tanner guy who’s been hanging around Darby Shepard. I want to know everything you can find on him.”
Chapman shrugged. “Ought to be easy enough. She said he’s with the FBI.”
Shock, followed immediately by fury, boiled up in Willis. “What the hell are you talking about? FBI? Who said he’s Bureau? How come nobody told me about that?”
“I thought you knew. He—”
Willis shook his head, cutting off the detective’s explanation. “If the Bureau had put him on this case, I—” he jammed his thumb into his chest “—would know it. Bill Frazier is a friend of mine. He’s the field supervisor of the New Orleans office. This guy ain’t from the Bureau. Not local, anyway.”
Chapman shrugged. “Whatever you say, boss.”
