by Meg Allison
“Is he under arrest?” Miles asked, his tone hushed and mildly horrified.
Adam smiled and shook his head. “Of course not, he’s merely a potential witness. Now if you’ll excuse us?”
“Oh, yes, of course,” the ad director muttered as he stepped aside. “Take all the time you need, Nathan,” he added, “Just, um, let us know if you need anything.”
Once they were downstairs, Nathan vaguely noticed the locals rushing for cover as the men ushered him to their unmarked sedan. It was rather worn and the doors creaked when they were opened.
“Is there a particular reason you needed to embarrass and scare the hell out of me like that?” Nathan asked before he ducked into the backseat. Adam only smiled.
“Old habits die hard,” he answered somewhat cryptically. “Don’t worry, I’ll smooth things over for you if I have to, but later. Now we really need to get to the crime scene.”
Once in the car, Adam’s partner started the engine and pulled smoothly out of the parking space. There was little traffic on the street since most of the neighborhood business came to life after dark and after any cops were long gone.
“Is it the same?” Nathan asked. “Like the drawing?”
“We think so,” Adam replied without looking at him. “But let’s wait until we get there to compare notes.”
Twenty minutes later they pulled up outside an old brick hotel. The place had seen better days some decades previously, but now was overgrown with weeds, cracked sidewalks and thick ivy that enveloped every stationary inch of the place. A few windows peeked out of the growth here and there, but obviously, none were in much use. Either the building was mostly empty or had been retrofitted with air conditioning sometime over the last century.
Yellow caution tape surrounded the structure, wrapped around thick old trees draped with Spanish Moss, and then stretched around ‘no parking’ signs and parking meters.
Coleman opened his door and Nathan slid out of the unmarked car. The strobing effect of the lights from surrounding police cars cast a chaotic, throbbing glow over silver moss. Nathan’s stomach clenched as he stepped up on the cracked sidewalk and ducked under the thin, yellow barricade. He could feel it from here: the fear, the hate, the violence. He swallowed back a surge of bile that rose up his throat, and continued toward the building, Detectives Bays and Coleman leading the way.
They passed a dirty man of indeterminate age sitting just inside the door of a parked ambulance. The smell of bile and sweat blew off him and made Nathan’s stomach surge in protest. As they neared the entrance of the building, he felt another wave of panic. It took every ounce of strength not to run in the other direction. Nathan didn’t know how the detectives and other officers could face such horrible sensory overload and not even blink.
Then he was in the door, staring down at a figure sprawled across the narrow entry. Nathan swallowed hard. She stared up at the ceiling, a look of pure terror frozen on her pink lips and in her wide blue eyes.
“Is this what you drew?” a voice asked from behind him. But he couldn’t respond. Those eyes…those lifeless, glassy eyes seemed so unreal and yet he’d seen them before—too many times before in his dreams.
“Nathan?” the voice demanded. “Is this the last woman you drew?”
He startled a bit and blinked. Then he shook his head. “I-I don’t know,” he admitted. “I never really see them. I try not to see them. They haunt me enough.”
A rustle of paper and someone thrust a piece of thick drawing paper in his line of vision. Nathan flinched.
“This is the drawing you gave me, Nathan,” Adam Bays told him. “Is what you see now the same as what is drawn here?”
Nathan looked at the picture, at the thick black lines of ink and the softer shading of details. He looked at the face in the picture—the wide eyes and mouth gaping in frozen fear. He looked back at the dead girl lying on the cold dirty floor.
“I’m not sure, but yes, I think they’re the same except…”
“Except?” Adam prompted.
“Except in my drawing there’s no color. I didn’t know what color her eyes were.”
Silence.
“Do you know this woman? Have you met her before? Seen her?”
Nathan shook his head. “No, I’ve never met her. I don’t know her.”
“Have you ever seen her?” Adam insisted.
Nathan frowned at the body lying so near their feet. He looked up into Adam’s eyes and wondered at what he saw there. The man wanted him to say something, but he didn’t have a clue what the hell it was.
“I’ve never seen her,” Nathan said firmly. “I don’t know her and I’ve never seen her until today.”
“You mean, until you drew her two nights ago.”
“I told you—I didn’t really see her then. The feeling comes over me and I have to draw, but I don’t see what I’ve drawn until it’s over. I didn’t really look at the face that time. I couldn’t bring myself to look, so no, I never really saw her before today.”
Adam studied him for a long moment and then nodded, apparently satisfied with what he had said. Then they were ushering him out of the building and back the way they’d come toward the car. The moss brushed his shoulders as he walked beneath the tree. Someone lifted the yellow tape higher so he didn’t have to duck so much as before. The breeze had shifted and the homeless man had been taken by the paramedics. The sweet scent of some plant teased his nose and then he was slipping back into the car. When the door shut behind him a wave of relief carried the last of the tension away and Nathan slumped against the vinyl seat.
Adam and Detective Coleman slid into their seats and he heard seatbelts click. Adam turned to look at him, his green eyes narrowed.
“You all right, Nathan?”
He could only lift his shoulders. “I guess.”
Adam watched him a moment longer as his partner started the engine. When he turned away they pulled back onto the road and left the horror behind them. Nathan had a feeling it had all been some kind of test. He wondered if he passed.
* * ‡ * *
Nathan glanced around the dark, crowded bar and grimaced. This had to be the worse dive he’d been in since he left New York. Music blared from overhead speakers while a ménage of dancers writhed as one on the dance floor. He tried not to look at the group too closely, sure that at least a few of them were actually having sex as the rest gyrated around them.
God, he couldn’t believe he told Samantha his idea or that she agreed to go with him. He kept kicking himself for that. How could have brought her to such a seedy, dangerous place? The only thing worse would be taking his mom to a strip club.
He hadn’t heard from Adam Bays since they had dropped him off at his apartment after their excursion in the day. Nathan assumed he had passed since he wasn’t in jail and soon after received a call from Samantha. If Adam had any lingering doubts about his innocence, he surely would have warned his only sister to stay the hell away.
Samantha had told him she was feeling better and wanted to try out his idea of going to the last place a victim had been seen. She thought that maybe between the two of them and their so-called gifts, something would click and they’d be able to identify the killer. At that point, Nathan was so thrilled that he was still a free man and that she had called him that he would have agreed to anything. He had missed the lovely redhead. Her absence, even for a day, had been glaring.
“Are you okay?” she yelled near his ear.
He looked at her and tried to smile. “Yeah, fine.”
“What?” she yelled, leaning closer. He took a deep breath, savoring the fresh smell of lavender that lingered in her hair. But she was starting to smell like smoke. Despite the no-smoking laws, this place apparently let anything go. He glanced at the dance floor and cringed. Anything and everything.
“This isn’t working,” he bellowed near her ear. “Let’s go. I can't even think.”
Samantha nodded and took another swig of her beer before
following him toward the door. He kept a tight grip on her left hand, certain that if he let go they’d be separated until morning.
It was useless asking questions. Even if anyone had seen who Angie Lloyd left the bar with, it had been over a month since she was killed. He doubted the bartenders and waitresses paid that much attention to their clientele. He doubted they could see them clearly in this lighting.
It had all been supposition that the poor girl was even there that night. It was her routine, her favorite pick-up spot. But that didn’t mean she had been there. She could have disappeared anywhere.
They burst through the front doors and onto the sidewalk. Nathan took a deep breath of fresh cold air. Samantha stopped beside him and laughed.
“I think I’ve lost my hearing,” she said as she wiggled a finger in one ear.
“It’ll come back soon.”
“What?” She laughed then wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I know…but we smell like smoke now. What happened to the no-smoking laws, anyway?”
He shrugged. “I suppose if no one complains, they don’t get enforced. Such a high-class establishment obviously runs by its own rules.”
“Well, how about we call it a night and get something to eat?”
He smiled at her. God, she was beautiful. He couldn't get enough of her. Like a randy teenager, he could feel the heat thrumming through his veins. On impulse, he tugged her close against him. She didn’t resist, but leaned against him.
“How about someplace very private?” he suggested, fighting to sound calm.
“I think that can be arranged,” she replied, breathless. “Take me home.”
“You cook?”
“I make a mean omelet.”
He wanted to scoop her up and run, but he decided to play it cool. They walked down the street to where he parked the car, eyes only for each other. From the corner of his peripheral vision, he noticed a shadow separate from a doorway and move toward them. He started to speak but didn’t get a word out before a man grabbed Samantha from behind, jerking her backward and off her feet. Her hand wrenched from Nathan’s, he watched her expression melt into surreal horror as the shadowed figure grabbed him around the throat and thrust a gun beneath his chin.
“Move and die,” the man warned.
“Look what I found,” the one holding her said. “Now why would a pretty thing like you be hanging ‘round a chink?”
“Chink?” Nathan choked out the word.
“Shut up!” the man shouted and pressed Nathan’s head back with the gun barrel. “Keep your mouth closed or I will put a bullet in your brain.”
“Just take our money and let us go,” Samantha coaxed.
“Oh, but I think I want more than money,” the man holding her whispered near her ear. He slid a hand up to cup her breast and Nathan jerked against his captor’s hold.
“Get your hands off her,” he growled.
“You want to make me?”
“Get down on your knees and beg, slant-eyes. Or are you too damn yellow to do anything about it?”
The men laughed as if they’d just heard the cleverest joke ever told. The stale whiskey on their breath made Nathan want to gag. His gaze met Samantha’s and he wondered at the determination he saw there. Somehow, he knew what she was thinking, what she was silently willing him to do. They could wait for help, but it may never come, and it seemed both men were determined to hurt them. He couldn’t let them defile Samantha any further.
He offered a quick prayer for help, and then winked at her. Her eyes widened slightly and he dropped to his knees. The shift in balance threw his attacker forward, loosening his hold.
“What the f—”
A moment later, Nathan had the other man on the ground, flat on his stomach with one arm bent behind his back. He looked up in time to see Samantha kick her prostrate attacker hard in the groin. Nathan cringed at the sickening sound even as pride filled him. She was a damn good warrior, his red-haired beauty.
“Don’t ever touch me again you bastard,” she snarled as she reeled back to kick the man in the ribs.
She turned to Nathan, her chest rising and falling, cheeks flushed. He could only smile and shake his head.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Sure am. You want to call the cops, or should I?”
She grinned and shook her head. “You have your hands full. I’ll do it.”
A moment later she had dialed emergency assistance on her cell and reported the incident. “There’s a car in the area,” she said as she ended the call. “They should be here soon.”
“Good, these two smell worse than a sewer.” He looked up as a police car pulled up, blue and red lights strobed across the buildings. “Nice service.”
After statements were taken, another car arrived along with an ambulance as the throng of spectators thickened. Too bad they hadn’t arrived earlier to help.
“Good thing you and your boyfriend know self-defense,” the cop taking Samantha’s statement commented. He smiled slightly that she didn't correct the man. Boyfriend…it sounded so high-school. But he liked it. “These two match the description of three other muggings this month.”
“Did they hurt anyone?” she asked.
He shrugged and glanced back at his clipboard. “If it’s the same men then yes, they did. Put one man and his girlfriend in the hospital.”
“Wow, I guess we were really lucky,” she said.
The patrolman paused in his writing and looked up. “Are you related to Detective Adam Bays, by any chance?”
Samantha’s gut tightened. “Yes, he’s my brother.”
The man’s eyebrows rose to his receding hairline. “Ah, okay, maybe you should be the one to call him then, ma’am.”
“Can’t we just keep this between us?”
He laughed. “I can’t promise a thing, Miss Bays. I don’t make it a habit of telling the homicide detectives about my cases, but you know how gossip spreads in the precinct. It would probably go better if you let him know what happened here tonight before he finds out from someone else.”
Nathan cringed. Adam was going to kill him once he heard where he’d taken the man’s little sister. Maybe he would understand, though. Maybe he would be rational about the whole thing when he learned how they had managed to fight back and help put away two dangerous thieves.
He sighed. Yeah, and maybe his mom would stop meddling in his life. Not a chance in hell.
“You okay?” Samantha’s smooth voice brought his thoughts back.
Nathan forced a smile. “Fine, just a little sore. I haven’t used my training in a lot of years.”
“Karate?”
“Tae Kwon Do, Dad insisted I take it to toughen me up during middle school.”
She grimaced. “Sounds fun.”
“No, really, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. I loved it, even thought about teaching after I got my third-degree black belt. But art is my passion. I’m not much of a businessman—don’t think I could run my own dojo.”
Her expression softened as she moved toward him. When she lightly grasped his biceps with both hands, his temperature spiked. “You were wonderful, Nathan. Thank you.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Bullshit, honey. You handled yourself like a pro. I’d never buy the damsel in distress routine from you, now. I have a feeling you could have saved both our butts if you needed to.”
She grinned. “Well, I am still glad you took that bastard down.” Her smile faltered. “I was so scared…” She cleared her throat and he pulled her close, her head pressed to his chest.
“No worries,” he whispered as he stroked her back. “We’re fine. We got through it and put the bad guys down. We make a pretty good team, I think.”
A small sigh escaped her as she wrapped her arms around his middle. Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, reveling in the feel of her body pressed to his. It was so natural, as if they'd done this a million times before. He smiled. Maybe they had—in her dreams.
“Yo
u have some great moves,” she said, her sultry tone making his blood pressure soar. “I’ll teach you some of mine if you teach me yours.”
He chuckled. “I’m most willing to share. But you’d better call Adam first.”
She stiffened. “I don’t think—”
“Yes, you have to. Maybe that way he’ll leave enough of me for my folks to bury.”
“He’s not going to blame you for what happened tonight.”
“Why not? I do,” Nathan admitted. “Coming down here was my lame idea, not yours. Once your brother finds out you were almost mugged and—”
“He’ll get over it,” she said. “Besides, I’m the one who insisted on going with you.”
“And I should have refused.”
She pulled back and looked up into his eyes. “I won’t let you take the blame for what almost happened. Events like this are exactly why I took those self-defense classes. I’m just glad I remembered what to do. If anything, Adam should be proud of me for fighting back. He won’t take it out on you. I promise. I won't let him.”
He wished he could believe her, but he knew deep inside that Adam Bays was going to be one pissed off cop. Though he’d never had a sister of his own, Nathan understood the dynamics of such a relationship—particularly in a close family like Samantha’s. It didn’t take a psychiatrist to know the oldest of the Bays children would give his life for his only sister, or maybe take the life of the moron who endangered her.
As they walked arm in arm back to his car, Nathan glanced down at her profile and smiled to himself. Damn. She was so beautiful, like a porcelain doll in blue jeans and pearls. He longed to drag his fingers through her long, silky hair, to taste her lips once and for all.
She tucked herself into the front seat of his car and smiled up at him. Nathan couldn’t stop the parade of images that ran through is mind. He smiled softly as he rounded the car and let himself in the driver’s side. Even one night with Samantha would be worth any and all consequences. No matter how painful.
* * ‡ * *
Something changed as they drove through the streets of Savannah. His excitement began to fade and morph until it became more like a nervous tremor. Lust dissolved until a mere edge of longing remained. He began to drum his fingers on the steering wheel. Then the light turned red and he almost had to slam on the brakes.
