PRIMAL INSTINCT (11 page)

She looked over at Seth. “She had asthma or something. She couldn’t scream, so it wasn’t as fulfilling for him.”

Seth nodded. “Anything else?”

Adrienne walked around the room but couldn’t seem to get any reading. She decided to experiment. “Tell Conner to drive away a little farther. I can’t hear anything right now except from the body. Maybe if he’s not so close, I’ll be able to get something else.”

Seth relayed the message to Conner, and Adrienne walked around the room some more. But still nothing. “He’s very careful, methodical, when he’s placing the bodies. Not angry. It’s difficult for me to get any information.”

The general buzzing got louder, and Adrienne’s head began pounding, and her stomach rolled, so she knew Conner was far enough away not to affect her. She touched different pieces of furniture in the room, hoping to pick up something from them, but had no luck. She was giving up and about to leave when the image came to her.

“Seth! He was standing right over here in this corner.” Adrienne rushed over there and placed herself where she saw the killer. “Watching. Almost like he was watching while you were in here processing the scene. He knew or envisioned or
something
what it would be like when you all got here and found the body.”

Adrienne followed the actions of the killer in her mind. “He laughed to think of you here, unable to figure anything out. Then he turned and walked out the door.”

Adrienne followed the same path outside, knowing Seth was right behind her. “He turned and walked down this block to where his car was parked. He knew not to park it in front of the hotel. He had to hurry. There was something he wanted to see, to make sure he didn’t miss.”

“Miss what?” Seth asked.

“I don’t know. He keeps thinking of it as ‘the show.’”

Adrienne stopped and looked down. “He dropped his keys here, and he was mad. He was going to miss the show if he didn’t hurry.”

Adrienne stopped and looked around, confused.

“What happened then?” Seth asked.

“I don’t know. He just disappeared.”

“You mean he got into his car?”

“No. He reached down to get his keys. And then I couldn’t see him anymore.” Adrienne rubbed her forehead. Why had she lost him like that? There were no other people around, nothing to confuse her. She shouldn’t have lost him like that.

“He was just gone,” Adrienne explained to Seth. “I don’t know why. It doesn’t happen like that.”

She looked around but didn’t pick up any other images from the killer. “Conner didn’t come back, did he?” But she knew he hadn’t, because her head still hurt and she could hear all the buzzing. So what was the problem?

Seth was about to double check with Conner when Adrienne interrupted him. “Never mind. You can tell him to come back. I can’t see anything else here.”

Adrienne walked back to the crime scene, frustrated. She was frustrated with herself, with what had happened, with why she couldn’t get a clear, full glimpse into the killer’s mind. Was it her that was the problem? Was it Conner?

It brought her back to her thought from earlier today: she was dealing with something
not normal.
Well, she better figure out what that
not normal
was before another woman died.

Conner returned a few minutes later and walked directly over to Adrienne. “You okay?”

“Yes. Just tired. This is all so strange, so different from other cases I’ve worked. I’m frustrated.”

“I know you are. Let Seth and I finish up here, and I’ll take you back to the hotel.”

Adrienne nodded and got back into Conner’s car to wait for them to process the scene. A lot of work, a lot of people to manage and, as the agents in charge, everyone kept coming to Conner and Seth for answers and instructions. Adrienne didn’t mind waiting in the relatively peaceful cocoon of the car. At some point one of the local police officers even brought her a sandwich, which she ate gratefully.

Eventually everything wrapped up, and Conner and Seth were ready to leave the scene. She saw them chat for a moment before Conner came to the car and Seth headed in the other direction.

“Seth is going to get a ride back to the office so I can take you straight to the hotel. I know you’re exhausted. Sorry it took so long.” Conner started the car and pulled out into the street.

“That’s all right. It was interesting watching everyone work.”

“Yeah, the locals have been pretty great about working with us in this case. That doesn’t always happen. Cops can get pretty territorial about their cases. I think we all just want to catch this son of a bitch.”

“Me, too.” Adrienne sighed.

Conner reached over and took her hand. “You’re doing your best, Adrienne. Seth told me about today. You can’t let that upset you. Everything you’ve done has helped, and we’re all grateful.”

“But it hasn’t been enough!” Adrienne’s frustration burst from her.

“It will be. We’ll get ahead of him.”

Exhaustion poured over Adrienne. She was tired of killers and dead bodies and voices and visions of evil in her head. She just wanted one night of good solid sleep with no buzzing or static to keep waking her.

They pulled up to her hotel. Conner parked the car and came around to open her door. “You’re dead on your feet.” He trailed a finger down her cheek. Adrienne could feel the warmth it left behind. “These days are rough on you, I know.”

“The nights aren’t great, either.”

Conner grimaced. “No wonder you’re tired all the time. Trouble sleeping?”

“Every night. Seems to be getting worse.”

Conner put a hand at the small of her back and led her inside the hotel. “I’ll stay here tonight. In the lobby. That should give you a peaceful night’s sleep.”

Adrienne wasn’t sure how to respond. She was so grateful for his offer. The thought of having a night of uninterrupted rest made her feel like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

But she didn’t want him in the lobby. She wanted him in her bed.

Adrienne smiled up at Conner shyly and reached for his hand. “There’s no need for you to stay down here.”

He pressed the button for the elevator then stepped close enough to Adrienne that his lips were just inches away from hers.

“I think we both know if I stay up there, a peaceful night’s sleep is not what’s going to happen.”

The elevator door opened, but Conner didn’t move. Finally Adrienne put a finger on his chest and pushed him into the elevator and didn’t stop until Conner’s back was against the elevator’s wall. The doors closed behind them.

“Sleeping is overrated.” Adrienne reached up and threaded her hands through his hair, bringing his lips down to hers.

She pulled Conner’s lips to hers in a fierce kiss. She could feel a moment’s hesitation before he gave himself fully over to the passion between them. Adrienne gasped as Conner spun her around so her back was against the wall. He wrapped his arms around her hips and lifted her so they were eye to eye.

Heat pooled in her belly as he pressed up against her. She hooked one elbow around the back of his neck to pull him closer, deepening the kiss. He groaned, rocking against her, setting off sparks of electricity up and down her spine.

Adrienne vaguely heard the elevator door
bing
and open—she couldn’t remember either of them even pushing her floor’s button. Conner groaned and slid her slowly down his body and onto her feet. Then trailed his hands up from her hips past her waist to her shoulders, then cupped her cheeks.

He grabbed her hand and led her from the elevator to her room. Adrienne found the card key in her purse and handed it to Conner, who unlocked the door. He jerked her to him as he opened the door, and Adrienne giggled. Her giggling stopped when his mouth captured hers again, closing the door behind him with his foot.

After a moment, Adrienne eased away from Conner and turned to put her purse on the table, flipping on the light. Her breath came in a shocked gasp as she turned and looked around her.

Her hotel room was in shambles. Someone had destroyed nearly everything in it.

Chapter Eleven

When Conner heard Adrienne’s shocked gasp he immediately threw her behind his body and drew his weapon. The room was completely destroyed. He checked under the bed, in the closet and bathroom, cursing himself for not securing the room when he had first walked in, but found nothing.

Conner saw Adrienne still looking around with huge eyes, trying to take it all in. An envelope on the pillow—the one area of the room not destroyed—caught her attention. Before he could stop her, she walked over to the bed to read the note.

When she saw what it said, her hands began to shake.

“Conner?” Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. He was immediately at her side and took the note from her.

Simon says, don’t worry, it’s almost your turn.

Conner lowered Adrienne’s shaking form to the bed. He immediately called Seth.

“Seth. I’m at the hotel with Adrienne. Simon Says has been here. He ransacked the room, left a note on her bed.” Conner glanced over at Adrienne, glad she couldn’t hear the expletives that came out of Seth’s mouth when he understood the full ramifications of the situation. “I need you to get the full team up here right away.”

Conner turned back to where Adrienne still sat on the bed. She didn’t seem to have moved from where he had placed her. The letter was still gripped in her shaking hands, but she wasn’t looking at it. Her eyes were unfocused, staring at some faraway place only she could see.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Conner said gently, kneeling in front of her perch on the bed. “Adrienne?”

She finally focused in on him. His heart broke as big tears filled her eyes then spilled onto her cheeks.

“He was here, Conner. In my room.”

Conner caught her tears with his fingers. “I know, baby.”

“How long ago? How did he get in here? How did he know where to find me? And what could he be looking for?” She stood up as her panic built. Conner stood with her. She grabbed the front of his shirt. “Do you think he’s still around here?”

Conner was reminded that Adrienne wasn’t a trained FBI agent. Just a young woman who had seen way too much violence in her lifetime. Now the psychopath had turned his madness toward her. She was rightfully panicked.

He covered the hand that gripped his shirt and rubbed it gently. “Adrienne, no, he’s not here. I already checked the room and the hallway. There’s nobody around.”

She nodded up at him weakly.

“Seth and the team are on their way. We should try not to touch anything until they process the scene.”

Adrienne released his shirt and stood. She looked around the room like she’d never seen it before, then turned back to him. “Maybe you should leave and I’ll...see what I can see.”

Conner immediately closed the space between them. He gripped her upper arms. “There is no way in hell I’m leaving you here alone. You got that? Don’t even say it.” He would not leave her now.

“But...”

Conner put his hands on both sides of her face and stroked her cheeks with this thumbs. “Baby, no. I’m not leaving you.”

Intense relief flashed through Adrienne’s eyes. She had been willing to try, Conner realized—and appreciated—but she would’ve paid a high price for it.

Conner led Adrienne out of the room and down to the lobby. He explained to the night manager that there had been a break-in and that an FBI team was coming to process the scene. Finding out that the room next to Adrienne’s was available, he asked for the keys to it. Adrienne could stay there while they processed her room.

Conner would not leave Adrienne alone in this hotel. In any hotel. Not now. He would take her home with him. She would stay there until they caught Simon Says.

It wasn’t long before Seth and the rest of the team arrived. Adrienne still had that exhausted, pinched look about her and gave no fight when Conner suggested she stay in the room next door. Conner posted one of the agents as a guard at the door, just to be safe.

Seth looked as ticked as Conner when he saw the room and the note. Conner’s anger increased even more as he saw how Adrienne’s clothes had been ripped into pieces and thrown all over the room.

Deliberate, ugly violence.

“Thank God you were with her, man,” Seth said through clenched teeth.

Conner could barely stand to think about the alternative. “What if I hadn’t been, Seth? What if I had just dropped her off, and she had discovered this alone?”

Something like this would be scary enough for any woman to walk in on. But who knows how it would’ve affected Adrienne. Simon having been in her room? Having touched everything around her? A note directed especially to her?

Conner remembered Adrienne’s reaction this morning to Simon’s latest package. It had knocked her out cold. Almost had them taking her to the hospital.

What would’ve happened to her if Conner wasn’t around to block it and there was no one there to help her get out of the room?

Conner didn’t even want to think about it. He was filled with the overwhelming urge to get Adrienne out of here—away from the violence that had bombarded her all day.

“Seth, Adrienne can’t deal with anything right now. I’m taking her to my place. Bag everything, and she’ll look at it when she’s ready.”

Seth nodded, and Conner was grateful not to get any flak from his partner. Conner went to the next room to get Adrienne and found her in the same seat where he’d left her, looking off into space.

He walked up to her slowly, careful not to startle her. He sat down in the chair beside her and gently touched her arm. She blinked and looked over at him.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“You ready to go?”

Adrienne nodded and stood up.

“I’m going to take you to my place. I have a town house in Daly City, not too far from here.”

Adrienne nodded again, then rubbed her hands up and down her arms as if to warm herself.

“Cold?”

“Yeah. But my jacket was...” She swallowed hard and shrugged.

Conner took off his blazer, slipped it around her shoulders and watched her snuggle into its warmth. Not having his jacket meant his holster and weapon showed, but Conner didn’t care. He got Adrienne downstairs and bundled into his car. Her huge eyes peering at him still looked overwhelmed.

The drive to Daly City—a suburb of San Francisco—didn’t take long at this time of the evening. Conner tried to talk to Adrienne about neutral things, like his family, who lived in Nevada, and how he had inherited this town house from his grandmother, the only way he could possibly afford a place like this anywhere near San Fran on his salary.

Adrienne didn’t say much, but she seemed to listen.

They parked at the town house, and Conner helped her out of his car and in his front door. Her eyes still held that somewhat vacant look. He wished she would cry or yell or anything but keep what she was feeling buried inside her.

“How about some hot tea?” he asked as he herded her into the kitchen and sat her down by the table.

“Chai tea?”

“If that’s what you want. Sure.”

“Only if it’s sugar-free vanilla and has no foam.” A ghost of a smile passed her lips.

Conner was relieved to see even that tiny smile. “Smart aleck.”

“So this is where you live?”

“Yep. For about six years now.”

“Always been just you?”

“Is that a more subtle way of asking if I’ve ever been married?” Conner chuckled when Adrienne blushed. “I lived here with my grandmother for a couple years before she died. But since then, it’s just been me.”

“Mind if I look around?”

Conner was glad some life was returning to Adrienne. “Sure, be my guest. But please excuse any mess. I wasn’t expecting company.”

Adrienne wandered around looking at his pictures and knickknacks. A lot of it was decorations from before his grandmother had passed away. Conner had just never changed it.

“How about you?” he asked as he finished making their tea. “Ever married?”

“No. After my work with the FBI before, I just needed to totally be away from people for a while. Then I never found the right guy, I guess.”

“Not a whole lot of guys in Lodi. How’d you end up there?”

“That’s where my foster mother’s family was from. She had passed away and left me some money, plus I saved a lot while I worked for the Bureau, since I never had any free time. It ended up being enough for the down payment on the horse ranch.”

“You love horses?”

“I love how they don’t put any voices or thoughts into my head, mostly. But I’ve grown to love them, yeah.”

Conner smiled and walked over, handing Adrienne the mug of tea.

“How did you end up working with the Bureau anyway?” Conner sat down in his normal recliner across from the couch. But Adrienne seemed more interested in walking around, looking at things: his pictures, his books, his DVDs.

“I was eighteen. After my foster mother—really the only person I called family—died, I had to go into San Francisco for some business with her will at the courthouse. As you can imagine, a courthouse is not the best place for me to be with my gift.”

Conner could imagine.

“Plus I was used to living in a small town,” Adrienne continued, still wandering around his living room looking at things. “I was a mess, hardly able to function. I literally ran into Chief Kelly, knocking all the papers out of his briefcase. I went to hand a photo back to him—it was a picture of one of the Bureau’s ‘most wanted’ criminals—and got a clear image of exactly where the guy was right at that moment. Which happened to be just a couple blocks away as he was about to rob a convenience store.”

Adrienne came and sat down on the couch across from Conner’s chair.

“And?”

She smiled. “Well, I told him what I saw. I have to give Chief Kelly credit—he didn’t laugh or scoff or arrest me. He called it in, and they caught him. Right where I said he’d be.

“After careful vetting and making sure I wasn’t that guy’s accomplice, Kelly offered me a job as a ‘consultant.’” She sighed. “I was eighteen and had nobody. I wanted to do something important. To make a difference.”

“You did make a difference, Adrienne. You still are making a difference.”

Adrienne shrugged. “I guess. Part of me always felt like I was a coward for quitting. Even though I honestly had no alternative at the time. It was too much.”

Conner came and sat next to Adrienne on the couch. “I’ve seen the price you pay for using your talents, Adrienne. Nobody should’ve expected you to keep paying that price. It couldn’t be done. And you were a
teenager,
for heaven’s sake.”

Adrienne leaned her head back against the top of the couch. “My perspective on that time has changed, thanks to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I now understand what my job with the FBI could’ve been like, if it had been done right. You’ve shown me how much more I can handle if I can just get some sort of rest and reprieve in between.”

Conner sighed. “I don’t know how true that is. You’re still exhausted and in pain a lot of the time.”

“Yeah, but I know there is a time coming every day when I won’t be in pain. When there won’t be noise. That’s thanks to you.”

“I wish I could’ve been around ten years ago.”

“That would’ve been ideal.” Adrienne turned her face toward him and grinned without lifting her head from the couch. “But I realize now, if I had just demanded time off in between cases to recuperate—that would’ve made a huge difference. And I needed to get a place out of town so I wasn’t always bombarded by noise in my time off.”

“You were eighteen. Most eighteen-year-olds are trying to figure out which English class to take at college or how to get beer without being carded.”

Adrienne shrugged. “Yeah? Is that what you were like at eighteen?”

“Pretty much. I always knew I wanted to be in law enforcement, so I stayed pretty clean. Went into the Bureau right out of college.”

“Never married?”

“No. Engaged once, back East. But she really wasn’t interested in the hours an agent has to put in. Glad we figured it out before we got married. No harm, no foul.”

Adrienne reached for his mug and took it along with hers back to the kitchen. Conner could hear the water running as she rinsed them out.

“It’s still pretty early,” he called out to her. “Want to watch some TV?”

Adrienne returned from the kitchen and stopped right in front of Conner on the couch. “No, actually what I was hoping is that you might kiss me some more, and we could eventually work our way to you showing me your bedroom.”

* * *

A
DRIENNE
WASN
’
T
SURE
she had ever wanted anyone as much as she wanted Conner Perigo right now. Glancing down at him, she could see myriad emotions cross his face: concern, hesitation, passion. He was worried about her vulnerable state. He didn’t want to take advantage. She truly appreciated that he was the type of man who would consider these things and want to do what was right.

But she wasn’t going to allow it to get in her way tonight.

Adrienne could admit she had been shaken earlier. What she saw in her hotel room had frightened her. Deeply. And she knew she was going to have to deal with it and process it—but not right now. Here in this house, enveloped by all the items Conner held dear—pictures, knickknacks, items of the past and the present—Adrienne felt safe. This was a house centered in love and security. Adrienne could feel herself drawing strength from it.

They had right now. Adrienne wasn’t going to waste it. Vicious psycho on their radar or not, nobody ever knew how many tomorrows they had.

Conner still hadn’t responded. He was eyeing her warily, as if he couldn’t quite decide the best way to talk her down from this particular ledge.

Obviously he was going to need a little help getting over his nobility.

Adrienne crossed the few remaining steps to him. She leaned down to where he sat on the couch and put her hands on his knees. She smiled at him.

“Adrienne...”

Adrienne leaned the rest of the way and kissed him. Lightly. She put her hands on his shoulders. He didn’t pull away, but he didn’t pull her to him, either.