by Debra Webb
“Find out who the hell he is,” Willis ordered. “Today.”
He shook his head. Just who the hell did this guy think he was showing up in his territory claiming to be with the Bureau? Well, if he was a Fed, he wasn’t from around here. That only made bad matters worse.
He would get the scoop on this guy and then he’d warn Darby Shepard to beware.
AT MIDNIGHT, Aidan waited in the courtyard for O’Riley’s call. Darby had been oddly quiet tonight. She’d fretted over the minor abrasions he’d sustained while rescuing the child who’d managed to land himself in danger. He’d sensed her need to question him about how he’d managed the feat with such ease, but she hadn’t asked and he’d kept quiet. He also sensed her disillusionment with her ability to foresee danger. He couldn’t explain to her that the talent she possessed required training, honing. It wasn’t something she could simply turn on and off at will without the proper skill. And even then, there would be times when life slipped up on her. As it did on him.
Like now.
He became aware of O’Riley’s presence outside the gate.
He’d said he would call and Aidan hadn’t picked up on anything that indicated otherwise. Obviously he should have.
Aidan slipped through the gate and met his superior on the sidewalk far enough from the streetlight’s reach not to be readily visible. O’Riley was a tall man, six-one perhaps. He’d remained lean over the years, but his age was beginning to show in the lines on his face. No one lived this kind of life, certainly not in O’Riley’s position, without suffering the consequences.
“I was waiting for your call,” he said to O’Riley.
“Since Galen is here, I thought I should be here as well. The decision wasn’t made until after I last spoke to you.”
Aidan had his doubts about that, but he kept them to himself.
“Tell me what I need to know.”
O’Riley was not a fool. He hadn’t survived this long in the business by being stupid, either. Though he possessed no special gift of elevated perceptions, his gut instincts were born of experience. Right now, those instincts were telling him that Aidan was holding out on him.
“Lester is dead, I think,” Aidan said, avoiding the topic O’Riley actually wanted to discuss. “Galen may have had something to do with that, but I’m not certain.”
“What about Eve? Have you determined if she remembers anything as of yet?”
“She remembers nothing,” Aidan said without hesitation.
“You’re certain of that assessment?” O’Riley returned, openly suspicious.
“I’m certain. We have nothing to fear from her. Our only problem lies with Galen and his followers.”
O’Riley studied Aidan for several moments before he responded. “Excellent. I’ll be at the Sheraton on Canal Street. Keep me informed of every move you make. If Galen surfaces again, and you know he will, I want to know it ten seconds after you do.”
Aidan nodded, then watched him walk away.
O’Riley was no fool. He would not let this go so easily. Aidan had to find a way to make Darby understand how dangerous digging around in her past could be.
Chapter Thirteen
Darby dreamed of home. Of her parents and their first Christmas together.
The Shepards loved her. Gave her everything. Protected her. But even then she had known she had to keep her secret or they would come.
The men in the white coats.
She heard their voices as they talked about her lack of progress. Heard the concern regarding failure. One of the men, she couldn’t see his face but recognized his kindly voice, worried about her. He feared she would be eliminated.
Another fuzzy image filled her mind in the dream. She had not seen this man for some time. He had left Center. He was cruel and unfeeling. Before he’d gone, Darby had sensed that he would not tolerate her lack of cooperation. She had feared him…just as she feared him now.
He was the man in the white coat who sought Eve.
Eve.
The name felt familiar, made her sad.
Eve had been a little girl at this place called Center—had been afraid…wanted to escape.
Why wouldn’t they let her go? Eve was so afraid.
She didn’t want to see…didn’t want to know.
If she saw, they would keep her forever.
She was Eve.
Darby fought the reality. Didn’t want to believe. Didn’t want to know. But it was true. Made sense. She wouldn’t have the same name now that she’d had then. She had escaped…had gotten a new life and a new name.
She was okay…safe. Aidan would protect her.
She snuggled against his chest, felt his arms tighten around her even in sleep.
He would not let the men in the white coats hurt her. She was safe with Aidan.
The dream turned dark…no, the place was dark. Where was she? Aidan was there. She recognized him, but she was only a little girl. Why was she a little girl in this dream? It didn’t make sense. She didn’t know this place. An old warehouse on the waterfront. Some place unfamiliar to her. It felt wrong. Threatening. They shouldn’t be there. But it was necessary. She had to go…Aidan would not allow her to go alone. He would protect her. She hadn’t wanted him to go…had argued with him. Said things she couldn’t take back. The hurt hung like a millstone around her neck. She’d tried to push him away. Go! she’d told him. Never come back. She didn’t need him. She could do this alone, she’d insisted. There was no choice, really.
If she did not go, someone would die.
Anguish welled inside her.
No.
She didn’t want to see.
No.
Don’t look.
But she couldn’t help herself…had to look. Had to see.
The man wanted something from her…wanted her.
He would have her at any cost.
Aidan held the power to stop him, killed his men one by one. He would win. The man could not stop Aidan…he was too strong…too powerful. He could see just as Darby could.
The man roared at her to come to him. Aidan rushed between them. The man struck…wielding a long knife or sword. Aidan fought him with ease…unafraid. He would win. The little girl…where was the little girl? Aidan’s attention shifted at the distraction. In that fleeting moment, the man charged…impaling Aidan with a single blow.
He would die.
Aidan would die before help could arrive.
And Darby would be left all alone.
Eve cried.
Darby sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air, tears burning her cheeks. A cold sweat coated her skin.
“Aidan!”
“It’s all right. Just a dream.” He sat up next to her, pulled her into his arms. “You’re safe with me.”
She hugged him tight, fought the sting of tears. The final moments of the dream played over and over in her mind. Was it just a dream? Or could it be a premonition of what was to come?
She squeezed her eyes shut and refused to believe the latter. She couldn’t lose Aidan, would not even think it.
He held her close until sleep took her again. This time she did not dream…she’d already seen all she needed to.
Her destiny. Aidan’s destiny. Nothing she could do would stop it.
INCREDIBLY, Darby had been able to put the awful dream out of her mind as the day passed. Between getting her bearings at the preschool, learning the names of the students and teachers and retelling the zoo story to half a dozen parents, she’d scarcely had time to dwell on the dream or what it did or did not mean.
Aidan had popped in at lunch. Though he hadn’t said as much, she sensed that he was hanging around close by. She could feel his presence. It warmed her to know he cared so much, made her want him all the more.
The children had finally gone down for an afternoon nap and she had a moment to herself. Her aide would watch the sleeping angels for fifteen minutes and then Darby would return the favor. She retreated to the break room and enjoyed a cola. For a f
ull ten minutes, she relaxed and sipped her soft drink, content to daydream about making love with Aidan. The intimacy between them was so intense it felt a little scary. She’d never imagined it could be that way…certainly not based on her previous experience—all two times.
What she and Aidan had was special. But what would become of their relationship when Lester was caught and Aidan no longer had any legitimate reason to stay? He would be assigned to a new case and she would be left behind.
An ache pierced her and she had to blink back a wave of tears. Would he ask her to go with him? Would he consider staying? She loved New Orleans…didn’t feel complete when she ventured too far from home. But would this eclectic city be all she needed to keep her happy?
No way.
She wanted Aidan in her life. Didn’t want this to end.
Today, she decided. When she got off work this evening they would have to talk. She wasn’t going to ask for a commitment, just some indicator of what he wanted or where he saw this relationship going.
She loved him. Mistake or not, it was what it was. Every instinct told her that he felt the same way, but she couldn’t seem to trust her instincts these days so that gave her no comfort.
Her ten minutes up, she went to the bathroom and freshened her lip gloss, ran a brush through her hair. Afterwards she returned her purse to her new locker in the ladies’ lounge and headed back to the class of four-year-olds where she’d been assigned.
A man waited at the door.
Her forward movement stalled and her heart lunged into her throat.
But when he turned around, she recognized him and relief slid through her.
“Detective Willis, what’re you doing here?”
Dumb question, she considered belatedly. He was here about the case, of course. The relief she’d felt suddenly hardened into fear.
Had Lester struck again?
That was her worst fear where he was concerned. The thought that he might harm another child tore at her insides. But he was dead, wasn’t he? She sensed that he was…but could she trust her senses?
A resounding no echoed through her brain.
The only thing she could really trust in any of this was Aidan’s word.
Only that once had she doubted him and she’d rationalized that incident to the point of completely setting it aside.
“We need to talk. Privately.”
The detective’s solemn expression sent a new kind of uneasiness slipping over her nerve endings. This did not sound good at all.
“Sure.” She poked her head in her classroom and warned her aide that she’d be a few moments more, then she led Detective Willis back to the break room.
“Shall we sit?” she asked, thoroughly unnerved by his somber demeanor.
“You might want to.”
Darby took a seat in the closest chair, her knees having gone weak with his words. “What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”
“We discovered Lester’s body this morning.”
Relief soared once more. She exhaled a mighty breath of it. “That’s good, right? Where was he found?” The whole city would rest better knowing that bastard was dead and, no doubt, in hell.
“He was deep in the swamp. Not that far from where we found the remains. But he was hidden in such a way that it took a team of dogs to find him.”
The sound of the dogs barking flashed in her mind but she forced it away. Didn’t want to see, or even imagine, the horror of it.
She scrubbed her hands over her face, suddenly weary. Though she felt profound relief at knowing it was over, something nagged just beneath the surface of her newly found calm.
“I want you to see this.”
Darby hadn’t even realized he’d been holding a large envelope, the nine-by-eleven kind that would hold letters without having to fold them, until he offered it to her. Or photographs, a little voice added.
She took the envelope, her hands suddenly shaking. She banished the foolish trepidation. What was wrong with her?
After opening the clasp, she reached inside and pulled out a thin stack of glossy eight-by-tens.
Her breath left her chest in a rush as her brain absorbed what her eyes saw. Lester…executed in a gruesome fashion.
He was going to die…slowly…painfully.
The thought rammed into her mind, reminding her of what she’d felt coming out of that swamp.
She had known this was going to happen.
“We found my other officer, too,” Willis said quietly. “He’s still in a coma but the doctors think he’s going to make it.”
Her gaze lifted to meet Willis’s. He towered over her, his expression accusing. “How did this happen?” Not that she regretted for one moment Lester’s horrible death. He’d deserved it. Her jaw clenched at her own hardheartedness. But it was true. The bastard had murdered at least seven children. He deserved this—she glanced back at the photograph in her hand—and far worse.
“We don’t know how it happened. The only people we know of having been in the swamp at around the approximate time of Lester’s death are you and your friend.”
Darby blinked, startled at the implication of his words. “What are you implying?”
He sat down beside her, his expression softening just a little. For the first time since she’d made Detective Willis’s acquaintance, she felt a little uncomfortable in his presence. He had stronger feelings for her than he should.
She swallowed back the anxiety building in her throat and struggled to hold his gaze.
“I’m not saying you had anything to do with this,” he amended gently. “But your friend is another story. What do you really know about him?”
She shrugged, gave her head a little shake. “What’s to know? He’s my friend. He’s been protecting me.”
“Are you completely certain about that?”
Annoyance flared. “What are you trying to say? He’s with the FBI. You must know he’s been overseeing the Lester case.”
Willis wagged his head firmly from side to side. “No, Darby, he hasn’t been involved with this case on any official level. He’s not with the FBI. In fact, according to every database we’ve checked, which, trust me, was more than a dozen, Aidan Tanner doesn’t even exist.”
“That’s crazy…impossible. Why would you say such a thing?” She wanted to shake him, tell him to stop lying to her, but she couldn’t. Because every neuron in her brain understood that this man was telling her the truth.
“The only hit I got on any search we initiated was from Interpol. Even they don’t know who he is, but a man matching his physical description rescued a political attaché in Brussels last year. According to the report, he came out of nowhere and saved the man from certain death amid a hail of bullets and an explosion that no one should have survived. Sound familiar?”
She knew he referred to the daring rescue Aidan had pulled off at the zoo the day before.
He waited a moment for her to respond, but she couldn’t. Her throat had closed and her stomach had clenched so tightly she could scarcely keep from grabbing her middle and doubling over with the pain.
“I don’t know who this man is, but he isn’t from any law enforcement agency we can find. He may or may not have killed Lester. Personally, I don’t give a shit. The bastard is dead. The taxpayers won’t have to foot the cost of his trial or his wait on death row. He’s certainly done nothing wrong that we can pin on him. If we risk questioning him, that’ll only give away what we know. The only reason I’m telling you this is because I’m worried about you. Why did this guy pick you? There are serial killers running around wreaking havoc all over the country. Why you? Why Lester? There has to be another connection besides Lester. Do you have any idea what it is?”
A shaky breath rushed into her lungs, an autonomic response for sure since she couldn’t even remember to breathe. “I…I don’t know,” she stammered. She didn’t know anything it seemed…except one thing.
She had to get out of here.
Had to…no
w.
“Thank you, Detective Willis.” She stood on shaky legs. “I have to go now.”
He took the envelope from her cold hands and stuffed the photographs back into it. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll keep that security detail watching your apartment for a few days more,” he added kindly.
She watched him walk to the door. He hesitated before exiting the break room. “Let me know if you need anything at all, Darby. I want to help you.”
He did. She knew he did.
But there was nothing he could do to help her.
Nothing anyone could do.
HIS COVER was blown.
That evening as Aidan drove Darby home, he knew with complete certainty that Detective Willis’s visit had been about him. He’d seen the man arrive and enter the preschool. He’d come to deliver the news about Lester’s death. No surprise to him or Darby. Galen’s doing, no doubt.
Willis had been checking into his background. O’Riley had called and warned him that NOPD had initiated a background search. Nothing Aidan hadn’t expected. In reality, he was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. But Detective Willis had been too caught up in the manhunt for a child killer to worry about who or what Aidan was.
But now the cat was out of the bag.
Aidan had a decision to make.
Lie to her or tell her the truth.
Both options carried grave repercussions.
If he lied to her, she would know it and would send him away. If he told her the truth, Center would likely eliminate them both.
There had to be a way.
He knew O’Riley was already on to him. Again today, he had asked if Eve had told him anything more. When Aidan told him no, O’Riley had recognized that it was a lie.
Lester was dead. He had no more excuses for hanging around, to Darby’s way of thinking. O’Riley was suspicious already. The truth looked more and more like the best option, but it was a no-turning-back course of action. Once he’d told her, there would be no way to take back the knowledge that would get her killed if she reacted the wrong way.
It was the only chance he had.
He had to take it.
He followed a silent Darby to her apartment. Once inside, she greeted her cat in that sweet singsong voice, then rounded on him.
