Psychic Visions 08-Now You See Her... (8 page)

“That is crazy. How did you do that?” Then he heard the voices downstairs. “Never mind, we’ll talk later.”

He let go of her arm, knowing that the chances of her sticking around weren’t good, but he had to deal with what he could see at this point, and that was the dead man in the bathroom.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he went down and opened the front door for his coworkers.

S
he had no
intention of hiding away in the truck. Not right now. She waited in the bedroom for the men to arrive, and arrive they did. Cops in uniform. Men in suits. Guys in some weird coveralls. The whole town looked to have shown up. Maybe she should have left after all. It would be hard to find a place to stand and not be in the way. She might seem invisible but she was solid. If they ran into her, they’d realize that soon enough. There was no deck here or balcony doors for her to escape. Torn between wanting to be here to see if they found anything and wanting to escape to keep her cover, she realized several of the men were leaving to grab more equipment from the vehicles. She skittered down the stairs behind them.

Outside, she stood undecided, trying to figure out her next move. She didn’t have much cash on her, the night was quickly turning to morning and she needed rest. While she was worried about her friend, getting answers quickly wasn’t likely to happen.

There was a cool dampness to the early morning air. She’d spent many such nights just walking. Not sure of her next step. She recognized the atmosphere tonight. It held the inner confusion she’d felt many times before.

Dean’s truck was in the driveway, but there were so many people around she could hardly open a door without it being noticed. Still, he had no canopy, making it easy for her to hop into the back and lie down on the hard box. She sighed and closed her eyes. She wouldn’t be able to sleep, but she desperately needed to think.

The conversations rolled around and through her consciousness as she lay there and waited. She sat and watched as more vehicles arrived. The ambulance driver unloaded a gurney and took it inside and upstairs. A few minutes later, Dean walked toward her. She didn’t know if he’d seen her or not.

He opened his driver’s side door. Then stopped. He turned toward her and said in a low voice, “It’s more comfortable inside. Hop in.”

Damn it. How was it he could see her now? He hadn’t been able to before? She jumped down out of the box and slipped into the front cab. She’d have sworn up to five minutes ago she’d be leaving without him. The last thing she needed was to hook up with a cop.

Well, maybe not the last thing as walking away from Simone’s house hadn’t appealed either. And it wasn’t like Dean was easy to ignore. Brown wavy hair that was short but just impudent enough to have a curl cover his forehead. Square jaw and those eyes. They meant business. The thing about him that almost reassured her was that hard determined attitude. As if he was someone to be counted on. Someone she could lean on – just for a moment. Someone who wouldn’t let others down.

Okay, she liked to read fiction, and it sounded like she was writing a story right now. Still, it was her story, so she could do what she wanted. Casting him as the hero worked, but herself, yeah she was the furthest thing from a heroine as possible.

“You okay?” he asked.

She studied his profile. Yeah, square cheek bones, square jaw. Lean features. Brilliant eyes. She sighed. Definitely dependable take charge kind of person. So damn appealing. But not for her. Never for her. That wasn’t something she could afford in her life.

Especially not now.

“I’m fine,” she said shortly.

“You don’t sound it.”

She snorted. “Duh. My best friend is missing and her partner is dead. What am I supposed to think?”

“I don’t know. He’s been shot.”

She gasped. “What? I didn’t see any blood or bullet holes.”

“Small caliber, and the way he was folded over stopped the bleeding from spreading. As soon as they straightened him out and got him on the gurney there was enough blood to see the hole.”

“In the heart?” she questioned.

He nodded. “In the heart. That makes it up front and personal.”

“Shit.” At his sharp look, she snapped, “They are going to look at her as the killer and at no one else now. In the heart, small caliber, bathroom and her missing. Someone who knew him well, had access and opportunity. Simone just became the prime suspect.”

“She did. However, they are printing the house so you are likely to come up as a suspect pretty quick if what you say is true.”

“Of course I will,” she muttered, staring out the window. She’d given up on her camouflage a long time ago, as long as there was no chance of others seeing her, but now she wanted to go back to being invisible so he couldn’t see her – couldn’t read her.

She was used to hiding. Keeping her thoughts, feelings, actions secret. Not this pain of stripping down each of her outer layers. And that seemed to be what he was doing to her.

And what was really confusing was she was letting him.

“I want you to stay with me.”

At his words she swiveled in the front seat to stare at him. “What? Why?”

“You need a place to crash, I have one. You need help and I can help.”

“And again, I have to ask, why?” His words had hit her like a blow to the side of her head. He was a stranger, and yet he was offering to help her. She didn’t get it.

“You need help.”

“Maybe I do. But I can handle my own affairs.”

“Prickly aren’t you?” But he said it with laughter in his voice.

“Why were you at the hospital?” She knew but wondered if he’d offer something she didn’t know.

“Trying to keep you safe.”

“What?” Everything he was saying was throwing her off sideways. “Safe?” Her voice rose in confusion. “I thought you were guarding me?”

“Sure, as in bodyguard. You weren’t a prisoner,” he said. “Stefan was trying to make sure no one made an attempt to get at you while you were unconscious.”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice, sinking back down on her seat. “I woke up, realized something was wrong if I was being guarded and was afraid I was a prisoner again. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.”

“It wasn’t like that.” He turned a corner. “Stefan asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“Stefan?” Okay now she was really confused. “He was there when I was attacked too. There were several people. I didn’t know who they were. It was all so confusing while I was fighting for my life, and when I woke up, I seemed to be confused still. I didn’t know who was who or who was on whose side.”

“And neither did you give anyone a chance to explain.” He waited a moment then asked, “Are you always this combative?”

Still lost in her thought, she didn’t catch his question at first, then it filtered through. “No,” she said shortly. “It comes from running from bad guys all my life.”

“All your life?” He slid a sideways glance her way as he approached a right hand corner. He returned his gaze to the road and made the turn. “We’re almost at my place.”

“And if I don’t want to stay?”

“Then don’t.” He shrugged. “You’re not a prisoner. Leave if you want. But you’d be safer with me.”

*

He hoped she’d
stay with him but had to wonder at himself. He’d never been into prickly pear cactus women before. In fact, he wasn’t into any cacti, and she definitely qualified as one. He understood she was in trouble and hadn’t had an easy time of it, but he was trying to help her. So was Stefan but she didn’t seem to believe that either.

Stefan’s loyalty to people was never in question. He helped so many people in so many ways it made Dean angry to think that this girl doubted him.

He also had to wonder what the hell he was doing bringing her home. If he did, he couldn’t in any way bring his son home. Not if she was bringing danger with her.

She was being chased. If they found her they’d find him and, as he’d already seen, they didn’t care who got hurt in the process.

Still, his mother had been asking for Jeremy to stay for a weekend since she’d moved West. She had plans for the two of them. He knew his boy would love the holiday too. It all depended on Tia and what decision she made.

“It’s dangerous to involve anyone else,” she said. “Look what happened to Simone and her partner.”

He slid a look her way. “We don’t know what happened there.”

“No, but Brennan is dead. That we do know.” She glared out the windshield.

“Yes, but how long since you’d seen her?” He turned the corner, grateful the highway was as empty as it was. The side streets were completely clear, making the drive nice and easy.

She snorted. “You don’t listen much, do you? I said I spoke with her earlier last night. Before the attack.” She glared at him. “Why are you asking?”

He nodded as if he understood, but in truth there was no understanding this.

“I just wondered if something might have happened with their relationship, Or if they had plans to go somewhere anyway. Maybe Simone left him before he was attacked.”

The cab of the truck went quiet. “No, that doesn’t make any sense. He was supposed to be out of town yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

“Yes. When I saw Simone, I asked when he would be back.”

“Interesting, and as for yesterday, last night… You do realize you’ve been unconscious for weeks, right?”

After a strangled sound and a horrified look at Dean, Tia collapsed into the far corner of the bench seat in shock.

“I guess not, huh?” He pulled the truck onto another smaller street. “Almost home. You have to make a decision soon.” He cast another glance her way. “Except from the looks of you, there won’t be any decision making any time soon.”

Silence.

His driveway was up ahead. He pulled up to his small two bedroom home that had been nice and big for him and his son and would now have its first overnight visitor.

There was something wrong about this mess. He should call Stefan and have him swing by. Maybe she did belong back in the mental ward.

Figures.

Most interesting female around and she was missing her marbles.

He pulled up to the front of the house and said, “In truth, it’s been six weeks since you were found collapsed on the street.”

T
ia watched as
Dean parked the truck outside a brick bungalow then got out and walked around to her side. He opened her door and helped her out as if she were a child. She wasn’t, but she was in shock. How could she have missed out on six weeks of her life? And how had the hospital let her go like they had? Didn’t six weeks in a coma mean needing time to adjust to the world when she came back to awareness? As in physical therapy etc. Then again, she hadn’t given them an option. Yet, she’d jumped right out of bed as if it had been only overnight.

Why had no one said anything?

They’d all reacted as if her behavior had been normal.

And what about Simone? Her poor friend. She must have been waiting forever for Tia to return or at least to contact her. She must have assumed Tia had been captured or killed.

Six weeks was a long time to be out of contact with those you loved.