by Desiree Holt
He obviously would have to wait for the latest media crowd to finally dwindle to nothing. Then he could make his move.
In the meantime, he just wished he could get rid of the fucking headache.
* * * * *
The opening notes of War Machine sounded on Troy’s cell and he pulled it out of his pocket. Lauren watched him as he listened, spoke briefly then disconnected.
“Mia and Dan,” he explained. “They’re five minutes out. I‘m going to turn off the front sensors just long enough to get them inside.”
A few minutes later the doorbell rang and Dan and Mia slipped easily inside.
Lauren stared with curiosity at the woman Dan Romeo had married. They seemed such a physical contrast, the tall, dark, muscular man and the petite woman with her brown hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. The woman stepped forward immediately, hand extended.
“Hi. I’m Mia Romeo. Thanks for letting us barge in.”
Her smile was warm and genuine as was her handshake. The moment their hands touched Lauren felt herself relax. She’d been told often enough by Nonnie that people with psychic abilities often had instant recognition with others. It had been that way with her and Faith. Now she sensed it with Mia.
“No barging indicated,” she told the other woman. “I’m actually grateful that you think you might help. I’d like to be able to get rid of at least one part of this nightmare. Come on into the kitchen. I made fresh coffee.”
When they were seated at the kitchen table, Mia took a sip of her coffee and leaned back in her chair.
“I imagine all this is a nightmare for you, Lauren. I had a similar situation myself when I met Dan and the Carpenter Techtronics case blew up in our faces. I’m fortunate that mine didn’t become a regular occurrence, and I completely sympathize with you.”
“Usually it’s not as bad as this,” Lauren told her. “And after a couple of days, the media disappears. For some reason this time the crowd is at least four times larger than usual and not about to go away.”
“I did notice they’ve dwindled down to a determined few,” Dan told them. “I’d say by tomorrow they might even be gone. A new week, new assignments.”
“Lord, I hope so.”
“But even when they’re gone,” Troy put in, “the other problem still remains. I listen to the calls every night so I can pull off the messages for Lauren that she needs and get a feel for where this guy is. I’m telling you, he’s escalating. His messages are getting angrier and more vicious.”
Dan nodded. “It won’t be too long before he decides he needs to confront you, Lauren. That’s why even when the media’s gone, we’re keeping the security in place.”
“Including me,” Troy told her. He took her free hand and laced his fingers through hers. “I’m here for the duration.”
Lauren wished she knew exactly what “the duration” meant and she felt her cheeks heat when she saw Mia and Dan exchange glances.
Mia cleared her throat. “In any event, I told Dan I’d like to help identify this guy, if possible. I’m not promising anything but I’ll give it a shot.”
“Troy explained a little bit of your abilities to me. And I’ve tried to learn about different psi abilities other than my own. Just to kind of get a feel for the whole environment.”
“Then you know I see things in bits and pieces and often have to interpret them. With Chase Carpenter’s gizmo, we were looking for the place where it might be hidden. I got images of a boat, blocks with numbers on them and something that identified the marina. I wish I could control it better, but I work with what I have.”
“So what can I do to give you whatever you need in my situation?”
“Tell me all about your stalker.” Mia took another sip of coffee. “When he first started, how long this has been going on. How he contacts you. And Troy? I’ll want to hear some of those calls.”
Lauren watched Troy and Dan exchange a glance.
“I know those calls aren’t pleasant,” she said. “Haven’t I heard enough of them? But if it gives Mia a sense of this guy, enough that precognitive abilities can latch on to something, we need to do it.”
“She’s right,” Mia agreed. “Dan, honey, you know I’m no shrinking violet who has to be protected. And I can listen objectively.”
“Fine.” Dan pushed his mug aside. “But I’m listening with you.”
Troy snagged Lauren’s elbow. “You might want to skip this part, sugar.”
She shook her head. “I appreciate your concern, but it won’t be anything I haven’t heard before. And maybe I need to be there while Mia listens. You know, so she can make a connection. If possible.”
She could see him struggling with her answer but then he nodded. “But I’m holding onto you.” He gave a half-smile. “For myself, okay?”
“Okay.”
Even Mia’s face turned white as Troy played the recordings back for them to hear. And Dan’s eyes showed as much anger as Troy’s as the stalker spewed out his venom.
“Okay,” Troy said, turning the machine off. “I think we’ve heard enough.” He looked at Mia. “That give you what you want?”
“Not what I want, but what I need.” She let out a slow breath. “I won’t have to wonder if I’ll be thinking about this. It will be hard to erase from my brain.”
Dan reached for his wife’s hand. “I don’t want you to do this if it will stress you out, sweetheart.”
Her laugh was anything but humorous. “As if I can stop things from popping into my brain. At least this time it might be to help a friend.”
Troy peered out the window as Mia and Dan got ready to leave.
“You might not need those glamorous duds,” he commented. “There are only a couple of hardy souls still hanging around.”
”I think we’ll go as we came,” Dan told him. “Even those few might wonder why the utility repair people are leaving in street clothes. But you’re right. We may be winding down to the end of this. At least for now.”
“I’ll still be staying here,” Troy said. “There’s still the stalker to catch. Lauren still needs personal protection.” He grinned.
“And I’m guessing you’re happy to provide it,” said Dan
“You take care,” Mia told Lauren. “The guys will get this guy. And maybe I’ll be able to help a little.”
Impulsively Lauren hugged her. “Thank you so very, very much. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”
“Oh actually, I do. Listen, when all this is over you might want to join this little group that Faith and I belong to. Everyone has some kind of psychic gift, and sometimes we need to help each other interpret things.”
“I’d love to. Thank you.”
It would be nice to be around people who didn’t stare at her and treat her as some kind of curiosity.
Dan touched Mia’s arm. “We’d better get going. I’ll touch base with you guys later.” He turned his gaze on Lauren. “It would be stupid for me to tell you not to worry. Of course you will. But Phoenix hasn’t failed yet. We’ll get this jackass.”
When they were gone, Troy pulled her into his arms.
“Dan is right, you know. We will get him.”
She leaned into him, loving the warm, hard feel of him.
“I know. I trust you.”
And didn’t she once think she’d never be able to say that to anyone again?
* * * * *
“I have to believe you can hear me.”
Gayle Hauser sat beside her husband’s bed in the same chair she occupied day after day after day and held his limp hand in hers. Machines still beeped, whirled and whispered as they dripped medication and vital fluids into his system and monitored his vital signs. She talked to him and read to him, forcing herself to believe that she was reaching him even as hope for his recovery dwindled.
At times like this she wished they’d had children, someone she could draw strength from. Oh they had friends, who stopped by as often as they could, but it wasn’t the same thin
g.
The door to the room opened and she looked up to see his doctor. The woman nodded to her and lifted Clark’s chart to read.
“There’s not much new, is there?” Gayle asked in a fatalistic voice.
The doctor gave her what she assumed was supposed to be a reassuring smile. “I’ve seen people come back from worse than this.”
“But more often they don’t,” Gayle pushed. “Right?”
The doctor hooked the clipboard back onto the foot rail of the bed. “You’re right. He’s failing more each day and there isn’t a lot more we can do for him medically. But I always say never give up hope. I’ve seen more than one miracle in my lifetime.”
“Thank you for that.”
I wish that man would call.
“I’ll check back again before I leave the hospital. See how he’s doing.”
“Thank you.” But Gayle knew exactly how he was doing. And it wasn’t good.
She turned back to him after the doctor left.
“Clark, I love you. I hope you can feel it, even if you can’t hear me. If you can just hold on a little longer, I can persuade this woman to come here and make you well. I looked her up on the internet and she really has healed a lot of people.”
Again she felt that little tightening of his hand on hers that had happened the previous night.
It isn’t a spasm or an unconscious reflex like they tried to tell me. I know you’re aware of me.
“Hold on, Clark. Please hold on.”
* * * * *
Kurt Olberman sat on the side patio, watching his dogs play on the side lawn and enjoying his vodka on the rocks. It was time to check in with Reid again. This was taking too long. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the man’s judgment or have confidence in his ability to know what to do and when to do it. But the people he’d reached out to, sounded out about the possibility of Lauren Cahill’s services, were getting impatient. And expectedly so. When one had a member of the family who was ill and resisted all cures, then anxiety became the primary emotion.
He speed-dialed a number on his cell phone and lifted the phone to his ear.
“It’s almost time for her to make the call,” was the first thing Reid said.
“Almost isn’t what I want to hear.”
“I know, but we can’t do this while the woman is still under siege,” Reid reminded him. “She’d never come out of the house. I checked. That’s her pattern.”
“Oh?” Olberman sipped his vodka. “And how did you check? You didn’t give anything away, did you?”
“You think this is my first rodeo?” Reid’s tone was edged with resentment.
“No, no, no,” Olberman assured hm. “Just tell me how you went about it.”
“The day we got here, when I drove by the house to get the lay of the land, the crowd outside was still pretty big. I let Bonner out and he hung out with the media, pretending to be one of them. He told them he was freelance, this was his first time covering this and did they think she’d come outside so they could get a crack at her.”
“Good thinking. We really didn’t discuss the mechanics of this much before you left.” He paused. “But you know I trust you to put a plan together and implement it.”
“Thank you.”
“So where do things stand now?”
“I’m going to check out the scene again tomorrow. There was hardly anyone left today. I’m guessing they got tired of waiting and left. If it’s clear tomorrow I’ll call the Hauser woman and give her the go-ahead.”
“And you think she’ll do exactly what you want her to?” Olberman persisted.
“Oh, yeah. She’s desperate to help her husband. She’ll do anything.”
“And she understands if she breaks the secrecy she loses the money.”
“Absolutely.”
“All right then. Call me tomorrow and update me.”
“Will do.”
Olberman disconnected the call and put the cell phone down on the table. He smiled, the scent of success so close he could smell it.
Chapter Seven
Mia was dreaming. She was trapped in a sea of flowers that seemed to grow taller with every minute, wrapping themselves around her. Every time she tried to get away a faceless stranger appeared, holding a knife in his hand. She tried to scream but no sound came from her mouth.
Everywhere she turned long flower stems twined around her body. Their heads bent toward her and they all seemed to be saying Help!
The stranger came closer, and now there was a flame burning behind him, low and creeping as it inched toward the flowers. She was falling to the ground, all the flowers trying to hide beneath her, the stranger advancing and the fire growing hotter.
Finally she found her voice.
“No!” she shouted. “Let go. Get away from me.”
She flailed against the long stems of the flowers but they wouldn’t let go.
“Mia.”
Someone’s hands were holding her, keeping her from getting away. She tried to push at them but they wouldn’t let go.
“Mia. Sweetheart, wake up.”
The fingers gripped her harder and now someone was shaking her. Panic caused her breath to lodge in her throat.
“Mia. Come on. Wake up.”
Warm lips pressed against hers, a familiar touch that made her open her eyes wide. And look directly into Dan’s concerned ones.
“Take a breath, baby.” His hands were tight on her shoulders, reassuring her. “Bad dream?”
“Yes.” She was glad to breathe again. For a moment she just sat there, calming her racing heart.
Dan kissed her forehead and her cheeks then wrapped his arms around her, pressing her to his chest. “Try to let your brain rest now.”
“I’m better,” she said at last. “Just keep holding me for a minute, okay?”
“As long as you want.”
One hand stroked her back and little by little the tension eased from her body.
“How about some tea?” he asked. “You always like it after one of your dreams.”
“That would be great.” She started to get out of bed but he pushed her back to the pillows.
“Just lie here. I’ll bring it to you.”
By the time he brought the hot, fragrant liquid, she had herself under control. She sipped it slowly, gathering her thoughts.
“Ready to tell me about it?” Dan asked when she finished the tea.
“Yes.” She set the cup and saucer on the nightstand.
Dan was sitting beside her on the bed and he took both of her hands in his, squeezing them reassuringly. She knew her dreams frightened him more than they did her, but trying to keep something from him wasn’t an option. When they’d married, he made her promise to be completely open with him about her precognition. In return, his emotional support always centered her.
“I was in a field of flowers. I don’t know what kind, but they were tall and thick and trapping me in their stems.”
“Anything else?” Dan asked.
“Yes. There was a man there. I couldn’t see his face but he had a knife and he was threatening me. And there was a fire behind him advancing toward me.”
“So. Flowers, fire, faceless man. You think it’s significant that all the components begin with the letter F?”
Mia frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“You get a feeling this relates to Lauren’s situation?”
“Maybe. It was the last thing on my mind when we went to bed.”
Dan lifted her hands and placed a soft kiss on the knuckles of each. “How about I call Troy and see if we can bring some pastries over and you can tell them about this. See if anything rings a bell with Lauren. Also, I got a text from Andy that he’s sending a new report. I’ll check my laptop.”
“That sounds good. I’ll go jump in the shower. And Dan?”
He looked up, cell phone in hand. “What, sweetheart?”
“I love you.”
His smile made her body tingle. “Same
goes.”
* * * * *
“The mob seems to be gone,” Troy commented.
He had just checked the input from all the cameras and eyeballed the front through an upstairs window.
“Are you sure?” Lauren turned from the counter where she’d been rinsing the breakfast dishes and loading them in the dishwasher.
“I’ll be sure in a minute when I get a report from the guard who’s been sitting down the street.”
At that instant War Machine sounded from his cell and he pushed the button to answer. Lauren held her breath as she watched his face for some kind of indication. He nodded, said thank you and disconnected.
“All gone,” he told her. “Every last one of them. The guard even drove around the block a few times to make sure no one was lurking in someone else’s shrubbery.”
“Thank god.” She smoothed back her hair. “I figured it was about time for them to get bored. I wouldn’t even have worried if there hadn’t been so many of them this time.”
He reached out and pulled her against him, his strong fingers massaging her neck. “Well, I say good riddance. Now if we could just eliminate the stalker we’d really be home free.” War Machine blasted from his cell again and he fished it out of his pocket, looking at the number. “It’s Dan.”
“Maybe his supercomputer has found something.”
“We’ll see.” He listened, his face giving nothing away.
Lauren waited anxiously. “Well?” she asked when he ended the call.
“They’re on their way over, bringing an offering of pastries.”
“Oh. Does that mean bad news or good news?”
“I think good but we’ll see when they get here.”
* * * * *
Gayle kept her cell phone on vibrate when she sat with Clark. She usually waited until she’d accumulated a few messages before going outside to answer them. But when it vibrated insistently three times in a row she checked. It was him. And obviously he needed to talk to her right away.
