Murders of the Zodiac Boxed Set

by Paris Morgan

  “Adam worked a lot with me when he could, not wanting to send me out and not be able to take care of myself. Most people don’t have psychic abilities, obviously, so they wouldn’t know to look for that in me. Sometimes, though, if you’re not prepared, you can let your guard down, and then, well, you’re dead.”

  “Are there other psychics in the Urban Energy Corporation?”

  He sighed. “I’m sure in a company that size, there are more than a few, but none who worked directly with me.”

  “So John Reed doesn’t have any special abilities?”

  “Not specifically, no. Has he made a few deals with the devil? Absolutely. I’m really glad that we were able to close this part of your case, because the thought of spending years playing the same role and not being able to help people would have taken its toll.”

  I could understand that. It was never fun to make deals with criminals, even if it meant dealing with the small fish to get to the bigger one.

  “What’s next for you?”

  “Well, if Adam has anything to say about it, I’ll be sitting in court testifying for the next fifty years or filling out reports.” He groaned at the thought. “Really, I think he’s hoping I can help in this manhunt for the Zodiac Master. You’re certainly giving him a run for his money if the news station reports are any indication.”

  I shook my head. “No. Those are just going to cause more problems in the long run. He’s not in this for the fame and glory. I don’t think we’re any closer to finding out who he is than we were when questioning you eleven months ago.”

  “You’ve been doing this almost a year. How are you holding up? I’ve followed things pretty closely, knowing that you were looking for someone back then, but with the media not getting a hold of it until now, it was kind of difficult.”

  “I can’t imagine being cut off from support for that long. If you don’t mind me asking, what are the special abilities that made the UCD want you in the first place?”

  “Um…” He looked slightly uncomfortable. “I can read emotions. The stronger they are, the more I’m able to tell what someone is feeling.”

  “OMG! He sent you into that place knowing you could do that? I mean, being able to read other’s thoughts would be bad enough, but you could tell when someone was hurting?”

  Maybe I’d misjudged him—a little. It must have been overwhelming to go into a place like the Black Tie Club, where women had been forced into doing horrible things and know what they were feeling.

  “How did you cope?”

  “I’ve become really good at shutting down the outlets that pick up on that kind of stuff. I also get visions. That’s what alerted them to something going on with me during high school,” he clarified, looking a little sheepish. “I tried to warn people about things that were going to happen, and when they did, they started to think I was crazy. When I’m not with people, I only get visions if something is a far-reaching prediction. Most of the time, I have to be around them for anything to come through.”

  “Shields. I’m still not sure I know how to make them work all the time, but I’m getting better at it. Which, I’m assuming, you have some pretty amazing ones, because I never picked up on it.”

  His grin oozed confidence. “I’ve had a few years to practice.”

  “So you knew about me when we brought you in for questioning?”

  “Sort of. I could tell you had some abilities, but you weren’t aware of them yet. Anyone with a smidgeon of talent could have told you, you were holding back on your psychic skills. Sometimes, when someone is new, it’s hard to tell if they’re just not shielding, or if they’re just so strong, even the shields can’t hold them.”

  “And now?” I pinned him with my cop stare.

  “Now you’re a badass psychic who’s still way more powerful than you know.”

  “Hmph. Sounds like you’re sucking up.”

  “Nope. Just stating the truth.”

  “Sure.”

  He held out a hand. “Truce? Friends, maybe?”

  I considered his words. “I’ll go with a truce. Friends would be a no, but not enemies. It doesn’t look like I have much of a choice anyway.” I took his hand and shook it.

  A zap that occurred when our hands met caused him to release me and jerk back. Frowning, he looked around the room, seeming unsettled.

  “I’ll try not to break your trust,” he offered abruptly. “I’ve got to go.”

  I rubbed my hand against my leg. “Well, thanks for the coffee,” I called after his retreating back.

  That was weird, I thought. It was just some sort of shock when our hands touched, so why was he acting nervous all of a sudden?

  “Whatever,” I mumbled, taking a sip of my coffee. “He’ll just have to get used to having me around.

  ***

  I took advantage of the fact that Noah was off somewhere, and went to find Adam in his temporary office.

  “Hey, about this guy…” I began, but Adam held up a hand, speaking at the same time.

  “I know what you’re going to say.”

  We both laughed.

  “You go ahead,” I urged.

  “I know that you’re not happy with Noah being a part of this investigation. He’s been undercover for so many months, and I really wanted to give him a chance to work with a solid crew for a while. He needs to be evaluated, and he’ll take care of that part of it.”

  “Well, I hadn’t been worried about his mental health, but now that you mention it…” I frowned, taking in the implications of that statement. “Is he able to work? He doesn’t seem to be messed up, but not everyone is on the surface.”

  Adam stroked his chin thoughtfully from behind the desk. “From his reports, he was able to go home every night. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t affected by all the things he saw and had to do to stay undercover.”

  “Are we sure he hasn’t turned to the other side? He was pretty convincing as a bad guy. I’m not comfortable with someone who’s able to look and sound that evil with a snap of his fingers.

  “Look, once he’s been through the process and has a few post interviews, then I’ll be able to determine where he’s at. Noah has always been a closed book to me, but now, even the slightest impressions aren’t coming through.”

  I shifted uncomfortably as a zap ran through my hand again.

  “Meaning, you can’t tell what he’s thinking at all?”

  What he’d said about shields was true, then. Hmm…score one point of honesty for the bad guy. I wasn’t going to be able to think about him as something other than the bad guy for a while, unfortunately.

  “No. While he can understand others, it doesn’t mean he projects those feeling from them onto us. He had a vision, and that was what got him sent undercover. He was certain he was the one who was supposed to be there. Looking back, I’m not sure we should have sent anyone into that hellhole, because there’s no way they wouldn’t come back unchanged from something like that.” Adam let out a long sigh. “That said, go a little easy on the guy, okay? He’s been through a lot, and while I know that won’t make you immediate friends, it would help to see you accept him.”

  “I’ll try. I can’t just flip that switch in my head and change things, but I’ll give it a try.” I paused, uncertain as to if I should mention my reaction to Noah’s handshake.

  Adam picked up on my hesitation. “Is there something else bothering you?”

  “Yeah.” I wasn’t going to tell him who it had happened with, but he did need to know what had happened. “I didn’t think anything of it earlier, but someone shook my hand this morning, and I felt a spark run up my arm. Then, just a minute ago, it felt like energy crawling around. Is that normal? Should I be worried about it?”

  A knowing grin crossed his face. “When two psychics, or those with abilities, meet and find their soul mate—for lack of a better word—that can happen. It’s not normal by any means, but if you’ve already had this happen, it can mean that your abilities will possibly
shift. You’ll find yourself taking on more of their abilities, and they’ll gain some of yours.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this was a possibility?” I accused.

  Adam’s expression grew serious. “Leslie, it doesn’t happen very often, if ever. Very few people find that one special person, and when they do, they’re a force to be reckoned with. I’ve never heard of it happening in modern times. Honestly, when something like this happens, it’s always sort of a fairy-tale situation. Like someone heard that so and so got a happy ending.”

  I gulped as I realized what this meant. All the anger and frustration I felt around Noah were just things to keep him at bay because I felt drawn to him, like a magnet being pulled closer to steel. But I wasn’t about to let some old wives’ tale or superstition make me fall for someone that I wasn’t even sure I liked.

  “Is this a ‘have to’ kind of thing, or is there an out clause?” I questioned, hoping I wasn’t being completely obvious.

  “You can ignore it, but the more physical contact you have, the stronger the connection grows. Most people want to encourage this kind of thing because they want the extra powers they’ll gain from such a joining.”

  “So, if I stay away from this person and don’t touch them again, then I’ll be able to resist the pull?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. If you’re around them, it’s going to get harder to resist touching them, until it consumes your every thought.”

  “Do they…are they feeling this same thing from me?”

  Adam shook his head. “Yes, they would feel it too. Depending on their level of training and abilities, it would depend on how much they knew about what was happening to them.”

  “When our hands touched, he jerked away and ran off, so I’m going to assume he either knows more about it than he let on, or he was just overwhelmed and confused like me.”

  “I’d say that would be a safe assumption. Do I know him?” He winked mischievously at me.

  “Ah, maybe? He was introducing himself when we shook hands, but I missed his name.”

  Technically, he was reintroducing himself as one of the good guys. I just wasn’t ready to tell Adam who it was yet.

  “Just know that I’m always here if you need me, and I won’t go blabbing my mouth to others,” he assured.

  “Yeah, I know. I just need some time to process this, and see if it really was something, or if I was just imagining it. Time will tell, right?” I tried to smile brightly, but it came out as a weak attempt.

  “When, or should I say, if this happens, we’re all going to know, because the amount of energy you’ll be throwing off will be amazing. So just remember that before you do or don’t do something you might regret.”

  “Got it. Thanks. If I have more questions, I know who to talk to. Guess I’ll go find Ryan and see what our next step is.”

  “Actually, I’ve sent Ryan home for the day.” At my shocked looked, Adam hurried to explain. “He needs to be away from all this for a bit. He’s starting to feel the evil that we’re being surrounded with. He needs to go home and soak up some of that newborn baby energy. If you need to check something out, take Noah or ask me. I don’t want you going anywhere alone. I feel like the Zodiac Master is about to do something, and I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Understood,” I agreed, all the while suppressing a groan. I really wanted to get off of having to work with Noah. I guess this was as good of a chance as any to find out more about what he knew, or if this was even a thing.

  Adam eyed me suspiciously, but didn’t say anything else as I left the room.

  This was going to suck.

  Chapter 3

  Noah

  I sighed behind the closed door of the men’s room, where I’d taken refuge from the emotions that were racing through my body. When I touched Leslie’s hand, I couldn’t contain the look of shock from crossing my face. It was the strangest thing I’d ever felt before. It wasn’t so much the electrical jolt of energy that had run up my arm as the strange feeling of recognition.

  Back when they’d been investigating me, I was certain that we’d touched at some point when we’d been introduced. The only thing I could think of that was different between now and then was the fact that Leslie had embraced her gifts.

  I’d enjoyed playing the bad guy when they’d brought me in before for questioning. If I hadn’t, then I would have been dead. John Reed wasn’t known for his mercy, and it would have been a death sentence. Even though it had been annoying, and Adam hadn’t been able to do anything about it then, it helped to solidify the fact that I was on the wrong side of the law.

  Inhaling deeply, I tried to calm my racing heart. I knew what I was feeling had something to do with a connection to Leslie, and I didn’t want to scare her away. Everything that had happened over the past few months had made my life very complicated.

  When I first saw her, I thought she was amazing, but there was the little thing of her being a cop and me being undercover, so I put any thought of my possible attraction to her out of my mind. When she’d shown up a few months later, it had been easier to ignore the attraction, because I’d gotten used to the evil I’d been around for months. There was no way I was going to change my stripes once I was in the inner sanctum of John Reed’s empire.

  Then, like a dog with a bone, she’d come back and continued to throw a wrench into the bigger picture. I’d almost been relieved when they arrested all of us. It was so nice not to have to be around the constant presence of evil. My soul was starting to feel a little black around the edges.

  In my excitement to be back, I’d completely forgotten the underlying anger that she’d felt toward me until that interview. While I waited to have my release processed, I contemplated all the ways I was going to annoy her now that I was on her side.

  A snort escaped as the ironic nature of the situation settled in. That electric spark could only mean one thing—we were drawn together because of our abilities. I cringed at the word “fated,” because that meant we wouldn’t have a choice. But then again, I’d been complaining only moments before at the thought of getting together with her. So what difference did it make if we were soul mates?

  I knew it was going to change things on my side, and if she was the kind of woman I thought she was, this was going to be a real problem. She was going to run, kicking and screaming, from the idea of being forced to like someone like me. Maybe I’d get her to fall in love with me, and then she wouldn’t even have to know it was a thing.

  The sound of the door opening brought my attention back to the present. I was going to have to come up with something a lot better than that if I was going to have any chance of this working.

  I straightened my tie and brushed at my jacket before leaving the bathroom. Whatever happened next wasn’t up to me, and hopefully the fates had a plan that didn’t include me getting slapped in the face.

  Stepping out into the hallway of the FBI’s Dallas Headquarters, I watched as people began running toward the conference room. Curious, I followed at a much slower pace, causing several rushing by to hit me in passing. I’d just reached the conference room door as the news announcer began.

  “We bring you this breaking announcement of an explosion in the west side suburb of Dallas, at the home of a former FBI agent, Gavin Watson.”

  “Crap!” Leslie groaned out loud, with others echoing her sentiment.

  This wasn’t the way I wanted to re-start my career with the FBI, by investigating the death of a fellow agent. The news coverage of this was going to be horrible.

  ***

  Normally, an explosion wouldn’t bring the FBI to the scene of the crime, not immediately. But Adam had tagged Leslie and I as he headed to the door, so I had no choice but to ride along with them to the crime scene.

  The news had given us a report, but this was beyond a simple explosion. Former Agent Watson’s home had been obliterated, leaving a gaping hole in the ground where it had once stood.

  “I may not have like
d some of the things he did when he was alive, but no one deserves this kind of death.” Leslie shook her head in disbelief.

  “This wasn’t an accident.” I glanced toward Adam and gave a quick nod, which he returned, confirming that he’d felt it too. More than one person had been involved in carrying this out.

  “We’re going to have to get a crew in here to sift for remains when the fires are out and it’s safe for them to get inside. I’m just hoping that he’s dead and not just faking it to get out of having to go to trial.”

  “Nope, he’s dead.” Leslie’s face had drained of color, and I watched as Adam caught some double meaning of what she was saying.

  “Noah, why don’t you and Leslie go over there, out of range, and have a conversation?” he suggested.

  I was a little confused until I saw her grimace toward me, and began walking without a word.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as we reached a safe distance away from reporters.

  She ignored me, but began speaking. “What exactly is going on, and why are you still here? Don’t you have an afterlife to haunt?”

  My eyes widened as I realized she wasn’t talking to me, but the ghost of Agent Watson. I hadn’t known she could communicate with the dead in this manner. No wonder Adam had suggested we walk away.

  I brought my thoughts back to the conversation that we were supposed to be faking to keep the reporters from discovering us.

  “Seriously, you were trouble enough in this life. Why did you have to come back to haunt me?” She gave a frustrated sigh. “Could you tell us everything now that you’re about to determine your future in heaven or hell? We could use your insider information to get this guy. It might even help get you entry into the best afterlife,” she bargained.

  I held back a laugh at the idea it could gain him access to either. But then again, what did I know about heaven?

  “If you don’t know anything, then why did the Zodiac Master have you killed? I mean, come on. If you didn’t know anything, do you really think he would’ve gone to the trouble of having you taken out?” She pauses as she waits for a response. “Oh.” She then turned to me. “He says this is to distract us.”