Linked

by Barbara Huffert

  “That goes for me too,” Barry stated.

  “God, would you listen to yourselves,” Tori said with mock horror. “You’re starting to sound more like a support group than a bunch of people I invited over for a casual evening. Give it a rest already, would you.”

  “Stated like a true Beverly Hills therapy veteran,” Guy teased.

  “Don’t start with me, Detective.” Tori glared. “I’ll have you know I may be the only person from Beverly Hills ever who hasn’t attended a single therapy session.”

  “Really? How’d you manage to avoid that?”

  “When I was little, my parents assumed I was just going through a phase and I’d grow out of it. By the time they realized I wouldn’t and tried to force me to get the help they thought I needed I was stubborn enough not to back down after I refused to go.”

  “Good for you.” Guy grinned. “In case you’ve been wondering, I’m proud of you too.” He raised her hand and kissed her palm.

  “God, you’re all impossible.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “And I’m so lucky that you put up with me. I know you don’t want me to say it but I need to say thank you. I’ve never been easy to be around and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the patience you’ve all given me.”

  “You’re worth it,” Guy answered for the group. “You’ll understand one of these days.”

  The conversation drifted through many topics by the time Diana, Carla and Barry called it a night. Tori surprised them once again by hugging them as they said goodnight. During each hug, the recipient shared a look with Guy who was standing behind Tori, thoroughly pleased with the progress he was making and overjoyed that their friends were able to share it with them.

  As soon as Tori stopped waving and closed the door, Guy pulled her to him and cuddled her under his chin. “You made Diana very happy tonight,” he stated.

  “Yeah.” She relaxed into his embrace. “I don’t know why I was so scared all this time. I thought it would be much harder to talk about why I was afraid to let anyone get a little close to me than it turned out to be. I certainly never expected to sit around and talk about it so casually like we did tonight. I guess bringing it up with Carla last week helped more than I imagined it would.”

  “Possibly. Or maybe you’re more ready to let yourself trust people than you think you are. Maybe you’re letting yourself accept their friendship because you’re tired of being alone and want to have people in your life that you know you can be yourself with. Maybe you’re doing this because you need to so you can take the next step and let yourself admit that you love me as much as I love you and are ready for the life I know we can share.”

  “Or maybe I’ve decided I should have friends because I know I’m going to need them to get you to stop badgering me all the time if this drags on much longer. I understand you think you believe what you’re saying but I wish you would stop repeating yourself so often. I don’t want to argue and I really don’t want to hurt you but I know you’re fooling yourself. I know it’ll pass and I really am starting to enjoy you. If you keep pushing me I might get annoyed and say something ugly and uncalled for that’ll ruin our potential friendship. I thought we all had fun tonight and this may be selfish but I want to do this again. If you hound me until I snap it’ll be too awkward between us and we won’t be able to visit Barry and Carla at the same time and I don’t want them to have to worry about that.”

  Guy sighed. “Fine. You win. I’ll cut back on expressing my feelings for now but I won’t stop altogether. I’m willing to limit the number of times I tell you how much I love you but there is no way I will let a day go by without saying it at least once. It wouldn’t be fair of you to insist so we’ll have to compromise. I refrain from sharing my feelings constantly and you cut down on how frequently you deny what I know is in my heart.”

  “I guess that’s fair. But you do know I only point out that you’re mistaken after you tell me what we both know is not true.”

  “Correction. I am the one stating the truth and you are the one who refuses to see it for what it is.” Guy tipped her chin. “I know neither one of us wants to argue tonight and I know we both believe what we’re saying. For now, let’s agree to disagree and let time show us what’s real.” He kissed her lightly. “We’re not going to change things even if we stay up all night repeating ourselves. You look tired and I know I am, so why don’t we turn in now?”

  “Okay,” she agreed, raising her lips for another kiss. “I’m as frustrated as you are, Guy. We both need to let it go because you’re right, neither of us is going to change our mind and we’ll make each other crazy if we don’t stop fighting about it.”

  “Mm.” Guy extended the kiss, deepening it into something less than innocent. “I bet we can both come up with better ways to drive each other crazy.”

  “I thought you were tired.”

  “I am. Doesn’t mean I can’t give us something to think about while we’re falling asleep.”

  “Keep that up and I won’t be able to sleep.”

  Guy rested his forehead against Tori’s. “I sure as hell wish Todd would hurry up and nab those two because I hate going to bed separately. I hate having to lie there alone, in the room next to yours. I hate having to wait until after you wake up afraid because of what you have to go through every night. I hate not being able to carry you to bed and hold you for the entire night.”

  “Calm down, Guy. This isn’t going to last forever. Isn’t that what you keep telling me?”

  “Yeah. Doesn’t make it any easier to let you go.”

  “I know.” Tori gave herself a moment to cling to him and enjoy the feeling of being held since she knew there weren’t many nights left before Russ and Stan were captured and Guy would walk out of her life forever. “Come on.” She slid from his arms and took his hand to lead him upstairs. “I sure hope tonight’s dream makes more sense than the last few. Wake me up, okay?”

  “You know I will,” Guy promised seriously as if dreading the fear he knew he’d see in Tori’s eyes later. “Try telling yourself that I’m right beside you if you start to feel trapped again. If you reach toward me at all, I’ll wake you right away instead of waiting until you seem like you’re panicked.”

  “Sh.” Tori cupped his cheek. “You have to let me do this even though I know you don’t want to. Dreams can scare me but they can’t hurt me. You’re here and I’m safe and you know it even when it doesn’t feel like it to me. You are taking care of me, Guy.”

  “Thank you.” Guy let her comfort him. “I do love you, Tori. I’ll be right beside you the whole time and I promise you will be safe.”

  “I know. Now get to bed. The sooner I get this over with the sooner I get to take advantage of your body.”

  Guy forced a chuckle. “Is that so?”

  “Oh yeah. I hope you don’t mind but I think I may have to try to suck your huge cock again tonight. I’m sure I could handle more of it if I keep trying.”

  “Christ, tiger, do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”

  “Yep.” She grinned and gave him a quick squeeze. “Gotta make sure you don’t fall asleep so deeply you don’t hear me.”

  “That won’t be a problem. Nope, no problem at all since you have me so hard I’m afraid to roll over and I won’t be going to sleep any time soon.”

  “Oops. Sorry,” she giggled. “Don’t stay up too long or you won’t have enough strength for me to take advantage of you.”

  “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that one. I’ll be more than ready for whatever ways you decide to use my body later.” He kissed her deeply. “We really need to stop calling it that because we both know there’s no advantage taking or using involved when we are together.”

  “Yeah.” Tori claimed his mouth and rubbed her hip against his groin. “Mutual pleasure. ‘Night, Guy. I hope Harry stays with you so I don’t roll over and hurt him.”

  “I’ll try to hold on to him but I doubt he’ll stay. He’s like me,
much happier in your bed so I can’t blame him for deserting me. Night, Tori.” He chuckled at her scowl but returned to make sure she was comfortable as soon as he heard her crawl into bed. “Be back later.” He leaned over to brush his lips across her forehead.

  “Hey, Guy.” Tori stopped him in the doorway. “I’m sorry you can’t stay with me now too.”

  “Thanks.” Guy’s expression showed he thought she meant more than she did by that statement but she didn’t contradict him.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “I’m sorry I can’t shut up about this but it’s making me nuts,” Tori grumbled.

  “You sure you’re not dwelling on this to avoid thinking about meeting my family?” Guy teased.

  “No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. I might be but it really is getting to me.” She frowned, propping her head against the window. “I admit I would rather be on my way just about anywhere other than to Todd’s but I’m not dreading it as much as I was before you guys agreed that we should get there early so I can meet your sisters individually instead of walking in with all of them staring at me.”

  “Either way, you’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Nothing I can do about it anyway. Why are these damn dreams so weird this time? They follow some woman around a grocery store and then stand around staring at some window with a tree inside. What are they doing, checking the progress of the decoration? I’m sure it must be her house but why don’t I ever see her? Where’s the girl? And what does it mean that after she’s downstairs they’ll wait until dark to go in? She, the girl or she, the mom? What happens downstairs and why is there only one person there? What are they planning for when they go in?” Tori growled in frustration. “I hate this!”

  “I know. I don’t get it either but as Todd told you this morning, you have to wait and see and hope they start making more sense before they do anything.”

  “Is he really as calm as he seems or is that just an act?”

  “An act for the most part but not entirely. Todd has a way of maintaining a level head, even when he’s bent way out of shape over something. He’s very methodical when he’s working on a problem. He looks at every detail from every possible angle so there are few surprises once things come to a head. He’s as frustrated as we are so don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  “But, Guy, I am the only link there is and what good am I if I can’t tell you anything?”

  “Stop beating yourself up, Tori. It doesn’t help. Besides, we’re almost there and Terese will ask questions if you scowl at her like you are now.”

  “Do you have any idea how much I don’t want to do this?”

  “Yes. Just keep reminding yourself of what Carla said. The first time is a little tough but once you get through it everything that follows is a piece of cake.”

  “You know damn well that is nowhere near how Carla described it!”

  “Yeah, but my version put some color back in your cheeks.” Guy grinned and squeezed her thigh. “Maybe instead of whispering sweet nothings in your ear all night I should say things to keep you pissed at me.”

  “Maybe, if you’re so uncertain, you should turn around and take me home.”

  “No can do, tiger. We’re already here.”

  Tori stopped glaring at Guy and glanced at the house he indicated. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” she whimpered.

  “What’s up?” Guy started to park along the curb.

  “No-o,” she wailed. “Don’t stop! Keep going! Oh my God!”

  Guy turned to Tori and saw she was on the verge of panicking. She was as white as a ghost and shaking uncontrollably. Her hands were covering her mouth as if she was trying to hold something in. “Tori!” He had no idea what was causing her reaction.

  “Go, Guy! Just go,” she cried, pointing for him to turn to the left.

  The expression on Tori’s face made the hair on his neck stand on end and all his senses kick into overdrive. He followed her instructions, knowing he had to in order to get an explanation. Three blocks away, Tori indicated that he should pull into a church parking lot. She had her door open before he came to a complete stop and was out of the truck, falling to her knees by the time he switched off the engine.

  Guy crouched next to Tori and held her shoulders as she retched. Her shaking was worse and she was keening without seeming to realize it. When she finished, she was practically hyperventilating.

  Guy captured her head and forced her to look at him. “Talk to me, Tori,” he demanded firmly. “Tell me what’s going on. No, don’t fight me.” He moved his hands to grip her shoulders. “Tell me now!”

  Tori hiccupped and sniffled. She used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth. The panic was crushing her and the edges of her sight were going black. She was so cold. It would be so easy to let herself fade into nothingness. That would make it all go away. She was giving in to that temptation when she felt the pressure of Guy’s hands on her shoulders as he gave her a gentle shake. His voice began to penetrate the fog swirling in her head and her eyes focused enough to see him.

  “Oh my God,” Tori moaned. “Oh my God. Guuuy!”

  “Tell me!” he ordered harshly, squeezing her shoulders even harder. “Tell me!”

  Tori took a deep breath. “Okay.” She took several more. “Okay.” Her head began to nod frantically. “Okay.”

  “Now damn it!”

  Another deep breath. “The house.” Her voice was as shaky as her body. “In the dreams.” She was almost panting. “Todd’s house.”

  “The house you keep watching in your dreams is Todd’s?”

  “Yes. Oh my God.” Tori clawed at his hands, trying to free herself because her stomach was heaving. Guy barely managed to turn her before she retched again. “Tonight. They’re coming tonight. Sarah,” she sobbed. “Nooo!”

  “Tori.” Guy shook her again. “Stop it, Tori.” He was close to yelling to get through to her. “You have to get it together now. Do you hear me? Come on, Tori. Sarah needs you. You are the only one who can help her. You have to be strong now. Tori.”

  Guy’s words registered and Tori fought back the terror and forced herself to concentrate. Her breathing was still fast and shallow but she had regained a miniscule amount of control. “We have to do something.”

  “We will.” He was still watching her as if he expected her to snap.

  “Please,” Tori begged. “I’m okay now. Please do something.”

  “Okay, but you have to stay with me.” She nodded but couldn’t hide her shivers. “I mean it, Tori. You have to stay with me now. I know you’re scared out of your mind but you can’t fall apart until after we take care of this. I need you to be as brave as I know you are.” She nodded again. “Promise me that you will get through this.”

  “I promise. I’m okay. Really I am. You don’t have to worry about me. Please do something.”

  Guy stood, pulling Tori with him. He wrapped one arm securely around her and held his cell phone with the other. While they waited for help to arrive, he opened his coat and folded it around her, hoping to stop her shivers. When Tori slipped her hands under his sweater, he felt how ice cold she was and wondered if she was going into shock. Tori was holding on so tightly he suspected he’d have a ridge in his flesh. Instead of asking her to loosen up, Guy increased the pressure in his arms and squashed her against him.

  Within minutes, Ned joined them. He had been on his way to the open house when he got Guy’s call.

  “You holding up, Tori?” he asked by way of a greeting.

  “I’m fine,” she declared, somewhat steadier, partially freeing herself from the cocoon of Guy’s embrace.

  “Good girl.” He seemed impressed. “How the fuck did we not recognize that? Makes me wonder.”

  “Me too,” Guy agreed as more cars began to pull into the lot.

  Ned made introductions to each agent as they arrived. They were the other members of the group which had been assigned to work with the information Tori provided. Lita had been summoned too,
since after meeting Tori she asked to be involved if there were any way she could help. A quick debate soon decided the question of whether or not to alert Todd. Trusting Guy’s judgment, they opted to wait until everything was in place, fearing that his normally steadfast demeanor would desert him in this situation.

  Next the state and local police were notified to ensure that all procedures were strictly followed. There was too much at stake to risk their chance to convict the pair due to an overlooked technicality.

  Once everyone assembled, Ned gave the police a condensed summary of the two men involved. He added a brief overview of Tori’s connection and concluded with all he knew of their current situation. The only thing missing was a firm plan for how to proceed.

  After Guy finished describing the layout of Todd’s house, the group discussed several possible scenarios. Each had both good and bad points and none were precise enough to satisfy any of them.

  “I’m sorry,” Tori spoke up, her voice as shaky as she was, “but that’s not going to work.”

  The police exchanged doubtful looks, clearly uninterested in her statement. The federal agents’ expressions showed slightly more tolerance. Only Guy, Ned and Lita had faith in her reasoning and wanted her to continue.

  Before anyone could object, Ned silenced them with a hard glare. “Which isn’t going to work, Tori?”

  “All of them.” She refused to look at anyone but Ned. “You can’t grab them on their way in since you really wouldn’t have any reason to other than they were about to trespass. You can’t keep Sarah out of the playroom or they won’t go in. You can’t send anyone else downstairs to hide because they’re already watching the house and that would chase them away.”

  “We sure as hell aren’t leaving a seven-year-old alone with them,” one of the local officers said sarcastically.

  “No duh,” Tori snorted. “I know you think I’m a fruitcake and I don’t blame you because most of the time I do too. There must be something wrong with me. I mean, really, how else can you explain any of this?” She could feel the tension radiating from Guy and paused to give him a weak smile. “None of this makes any sense but that doesn’t matter anymore. The only thing that matters is stopping them before they touch Sarah but not before they incriminate themselves.”