Psychic Visions 08-Now You See Her... (4 page)

Or maybe that was bad. He wasn’t sure.

This place was enough to give him the creeps.

He turned to leave when the hair on the back of his head rose. Instinctively, he spun around, his hand to the gun holstered at his side. “Who’s there?”

Silence. Taking a deep breath he checked the room to make sure nothing had changed. It was small. His gaze slipped past the bed, then hit the brakes and jammed into reverse.

The bed was empty.

What the hell?

He spun around in a panic. Where was she? She had just been there. He raced to the bathroom, the door was ajar but he pushed it wide, not taking his gaze off the bedroom. He glanced inside the bathroom. It was empty. He could see the shower and the door flattened to the wall. She wasn’t in either hiding spot.

With narrowed eyes and his hand already pulling out his cell phone, he did a quick sweep of the room, under the bed, opening all closets.

But the room was empty.

She’d disappeared.

Where the hell had she gone? And how?

*

The Bastard walked
into the hospital and smiled at the night admissions clerk. Harried from too much work and long days, the woman barely gave him a glance.

Perfect. He’d been counting on that. Now to find out where the bitch was staying. And who was paying the horrific bill. That’s who he wanted.

Someone was backing her. Someone was protecting her. Without that assistance he’d have caught his prey a long time ago.

The elevator was up ahead. What he needed was a distraction to get into the computer system and find out what bed she was in.

As he walked toward the elevator, it opened in front of him and an obese male, his loose shirttails flapping in the wind, raced out to the front counter and snapped at the poor woman at the desk, “This isn’t acceptable. She needs better food here. She –”

He didn’t bother to listen to the rest. He probably wouldn’t get a better chance. He opened the door leading into the offices and stopped at the first computer that was on. Bringing up the registration, he typed in her name.

Nothing.

He frowned. Why? If not her name, then what name? He tried several variations and still came up blank. He heard loud voices coming toward him. There was no time. He’d just have to walk through the damn hospital and find her himself.

In order to do that, he’d have to change into something slightly less…obvious.

T
ia studied the
man in front of her. He’d gone from relaxed guard to cop instantly. Shit. A guard she could get past – no problem. Most were lazy shifty eyed guys looking for an easy buck.

This guy? Hell no. He’d gone from slightly stiff and unhappy, but aware, to cop mode as soon as he’d realized she’d disappeared. Was he a damn cop?

His glance had gone over her, intent, assessing, but not seeing her. When she realized that, she’d relaxed slightly. He couldn’t see energy. Perfect. Now to make sure no one else around her could either.

“Stefan, she’s gone.” Cold and abrupt. The guard made no excuses. “I turned around and she’d disappeared.”

Crap. He was working with Stefan. And who knew where Stefan stood? She didn’t know him, only what she’d heard, and considering the last memory she could access, she didn’t trust him. She sidled up to the door and peered around it. It was closed and she could hardly open it in front of him. But there was no way she was going to stay here and wait for Stefan to show up.

Stefan would be able to see her.

“No. I saw her then turned around and the bed was empty.” He shook his head, listening to something Stefan said. “The door hasn’t opened since I entered and it’s closed now.”

Double shit.

Still holding the phone to his ear, he spun around. “No, she’s not hiding in the room,” he said in exasperation. “I’ve done this a time or two. When I say the room is empty and she’s gone – I mean the damn room is empty and she is gone!”

Tia snickered. And damn if he didn’t spin around and stare right at her.
Oh shit.
She froze and gazed back at him, terrified to breathe in case he heard it. He still held the phone in his hand as he studied the area where she stood.

But there was no awareness in his eyes. Nothing to say he understood she was there.

“No. I’ll be here.” He nodded a couple of times, his face hard and cold. “Absolutely.”

He closed his phone and put it away then walked to the doorway, crossed his arms in front of his chest and stood in front of the closed door.

Blocking her exit.

She slid back around the corner of the wall and took a deep breath. What was she going to do now? Damn it, Stefan. What was he up to?

Was she a prisoner?

If so, why?

She slid back over to the bed and stood undecided. She had to do this at the right moment – or else.

Only the guard never closed his damn eyes.

Hard footsteps walked down the hallway toward them. She groaned. His gaze swiveled in her direction. She glared at him. How could he hear her? That was something she hadn’t expected. No one did that. Why did he have super spidey hearing? Like how freaking inconvenient for her.

The guard turned to look out the small window in the door. Perfect. She slid under the covers and curled up in a ball, sleeping.

Or at least pretending to sleep.

The door opened.

“Stefan,” the guard said, relief pouring through his voice. “Am I glad to see you.”

“I was in the hospital already, so good timing. Now let’s see what we have here, Dean.”

“Right.” The cop’s voice turned businesslike. “I haven’t left the door like you asked. I was outside. Came in, did my check, and before I was done, she was gone. I swear the door was closed. But somehow she’s gone missing. See, the bedding –”

He stopped. Then exploded. “What the hell?” She couldn’t see him from her position but mentally she could picture him standing and pointing in her direction. At least now she knew his name. Dean.

“I swear she wasn’t there a few minutes ago. Until you came up the hallway this bed was empty.” He groaned. “Honest. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

She held her laughter back in. Served him right.

“That’s all right, I feel that way a lot.” Stefan’s voice was threaded with humor. “And I believe you.”

*

Dean’s disbelieving gaze
went from the full bed with a sleeping woman to the man at his side. He needed to see Dr. Loring again. Maybe the psychologist would believe him now. Or he’d have Dean committed. “How can you possibly believe me?
I
don’t believe me?”

Stefan’s laughter boomed freely around the room. “I can see things a little differently.”

“Right. And what the hell is there to see now that there wasn’t a little while ago.”

“Her.” Stefan walked to the bed while Dean watched. “Tia, enough pretending. You’re going to give Dean nightmares.”

Dean watched in shock as Tia sat up straight in the bed, her expression aggressive, her legs already swinging over the side ready to bolt.

“What? She wasn’t sleeping? She wasn’t out of this bed?”

“Oh, she was,” Stefan said quietly. “She was planning to run, weren’t you, Tia?”

“I want to leave – now!” The slender woman in the bed glared at him. “What happened and why am I here? And where is here?”

The questions and words slid out so fast Dean had trouble understanding what she was saying.

“Where were you when I was in here earlier?” he asked.

“You never left so there was no earlier,” she snapped, still glaring up at Stefan. “And you haven’t answered
my
questions.”

Stefan sat down on the side of the bed and reached for her hand. “You’re in a hospital. In the psych ward for examinations.”

Her gaze widened in shock. She searched the room frantically as if looking for a way out.

And that’s when Dean noticed she was fully dressed.

“When the hell did you get clothes on and from where?” he growled. Damn he’d been played the fool by this slip of a girl, and it was pissing him off. How the hell had she done that?

“Easy.” Stefan restrained Tia. “You need to stay here for a little bit.”

“Hell no.” She twisted out of his grasp and rolled to the opposite side of the bed and bolted off before either man could get to her.

Dean grinned. He liked the spitfire for her spirit but she’d made a fool of him once. Like hell she was going to do it again. He stepped in front of her and reached out to grab her.

Only she wasn’t there.

She’d disappeared right in front of his eyes. As in here one moment and gone the next. Like, what the hell?

T
ia stepped sideways
out of Dean’s grasp and slid toward the door. She was almost there. Almost free. Once out in the hallway she could make a run for it. Get away. She’d done it before. She could do it again.

The door slammed shut just as she reached out, and it clicked locked.

Shit. She yanked on the handle and tried to turn the lock. It wouldn’t budge. Returning her energy back to normal, she spun around and glared at Stefan. “Not fair.”

But he sat on the bed where he’d been and raised an eyebrow, his gaze only slightly amused. “If you’re going to play with energy, then I will too.”

She stomped past the guard and threw herself onto the bed, showing herself again. She couldn’t afford to waste energy. “I don’t have to do whatever you want me to do.”

“What? Stay alive?” Now there was real amusement in his tone. “All I want to do is help you. I thought we understood that already.”

“That was before you set me up.”

“How did I do that?” he asked curiously. “I planned to meet you as arranged, and when I got there you were under attack. I thought I helped then.”

She stared at him. “You didn’t send the assassin?”

“No.” His eyebrows shot up and his gaze sharpened. “Were you targeted? As in this wasn’t a random attack?”

“There was nothing random about that man. He, or one of his cohorts, has been after me for years. A decade by now. I figured you’d betrayed me.”

“Did you consider your attacker might have been tracking your phone?” Dean asked. “Your money and movements.”