ChasingShadows (15 page)

Chapter Nine

Bremley startled Alex and Juliana a few minutes later. The
butler cleared his throat, presumably in embarrassment. His voice was
solicitous, devoid of his earlier haughtiness. “Is everything to your
satisfaction, Lieutenant?”

Alex drew apart from Juliana. “I want you and the Chambers
to meet me in the den in five minutes.” Alex slashed his hand through the air
dismissively.

Bremley nodded and strode away, stiff-backed.

Alex helped Juliana stand, as if she were a glass egg. His
tender concern quickened her insides.

She loved it.

Hated it.

“Can you walk?” he asked as she took his hand in hers.

“My legs aren’t broken.” A small smile stretched her lips,
her vitality returning. “I need to wash my face, rinse my mouth.” She glanced
warily at the cottage.

“You want to go to the main house?” Alex twisted the gold
filigree ring on her finger.

“No. It’s okay.”

“Give me the word and we’ll be out fast enough to spin your
head.”

She groaned. “That’s the last thing I need right now, thank
you very much.” His face reddened beneath the deep tan. Another smile tugged at
her lips.

“Anytime you want, just tell me what an idiot I am.”

“Never.”

Alex’s warm palm on her back was reassuring, lending her
courage to walk through the guesthouse to the bathroom.

He blocked the doorway, eyeing her every move. Both relief
and nervousness nagged at her. She wet a washcloth with cold water and gazed
into the mirror.

Steel gray eyes returned her stare before turning emerald.

Juliana dropped the washcloth and gripped the vanity edge.
What in the world?

A thought clicked in her mind. The harder she tried to
ignore the truth, the more it persisted, until with terrifying realization she
knew what bothered her.

The dark gray eyes had locked with Juliana’s in a small
compact mirror.

“No. It can’t be.” She shook her head to scatter the
frightening conclusion.

“What?” Alex’s face whitened.

“Ridiculous.” Her unnatural shrill laugh surprised her.

He placed gentle hands on her shoulders and swiveled her
around to face him. “Make a deal with me.” His eyes were dark, formidable. “I
don’t want you holding anything back. I don’t care how ridiculous, how
unimportant, how weird, or how much you think it will hurt me. Okay?” He tapped
his index finger on her shoulder after each syllable.

She pulled away from him and faced the mirror again. Apprehension
trounced her. Relenting, she said, “He saw my eyes.”

Alex stared wide-eyed at her reflection in the mirror. “You’re
joking, right?” His left hand ran amok in his auburn locks.

Picking up the wet cloth, she folded it. “I told you it was
absurd.” Was it? “The kidnapper was looking for someone —someone with green
eyes.”

Alex’s face wiped slate clean giving nothing away. “What the
hell? Has that ever happened to you?”

“Nothing about this case is normal.” A loud groan of
frustration slipped out as she dipped the washcloth in the cold stream of
water.

“Maybe you ought to call your doctor pal.” Concern and
unease riddled the suggestion.

“You a mind reader now?”

A tentative smile flickered across his face before she
covered her own with the wet cloth.

She quickly finished and they left the cottage. A distant
tension hummed between them. When he stopped her at the archway leading to the
mansion grounds, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. She
relished the feel of him, her breasts flattened against his chest, tingling. He
tilted her face up and cupped her cheeks. His mouth met hers in a gentle,
languorous kiss that left no doubts about what he really believed.

Juliana braced herself against his chest as if to push him
away, but he zapped what little strength she possessed. Her body awakened at
his touch. His lips began to melt away the long, lonely years of heartache. She
was powerless to stop him.

Defenseless to stop his tongue from tangling in a sensuous
tango with hers. Defenseless to stop the aching need to submit to his will.

To yield to her own will.

Breathless, Alex broke off the kiss. A satisfied twinkle in
his eyes robbed her of what little sanity remained. He grabbed her hand and led
her away from the magical moment.

* * * * *

Alex and Juliana left the Chamber estate with Jasmine’s
placement agency’s contact information and little else. The Chambers and staff
weren’t aware of any mystery man. A back entrance to the estate existed, but
only those who knew the electronic code could get through the gate.

Alex deftly evaded Grantham’s probing into what evidence the
police had obtained against Jasmine. Grantham blustered, but received no
satisfaction. Samantha emphatically defended Jasmine. Bremley maintained his
stoicism, providing useless answers to Alex’s questions.

Juliana used her telepathy to gain entrance to Samantha’s
and Bremley’s minds. She captured no useful thoughts in either. She stared hard
into Bremley’s dark, shifting eyes. But there was no recognition—even though
his unsettling gray eyes weren’t dissimilar to the ones in her visions. Grantham’s
thoughts remained sheltered behind a solid fortress. Juliana vaguely wondered
if he knew she tried to probe his mind, but he gave no sign of the intrusion.

* * * * *

Juliana and Alex stood behind his desk, her hand securely in
his clasp. After what happened at the cottage, he didn’t think he could let her
out of his sight, away from his touch. The craving to care for her, protect
her, burned hot in his soul.

“Where’s Jasmine?” Alex demanded the moment James set foot
inside his office. His muscles coiled under the tension of self-control as he
wrestled to drive out the rage.

Juliana turned toward him and lifted his chin with her free
hand. “Look at me.”

His eyes met the serene liquid jewels and his fury subsided.
How the hell does she do that?

Ignoring James’ impatient tapping on the doorframe, Alex
kissed her palm. He released her and moved toward James.

“We didn’t reach her in time.” James began.

“Son of a bitch!” Alex pounded a fist on the wall beside James’
head. “Is she on the run?”

James’ averted his gaze. “I’ve issued an APB as a person of
interest. We’re watching her place twenty-four-seven.”

* * * * *

Standing in Juliana’s foyer later that evening, uneasiness
settled between Juliana and Alex. The sun dipped, angling gold through the wide
open door.

“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.” She didn’t know what else to
say. They had reached a turning point, and she feared what the next bend would
bring.

“You’ll see me tonight,” he challenged, leaving little room
for argument. His gaze held hers with a frightening intensity.

“You don’t need to fix the porch light. I’ll get it fixed.”
Stupid,
stupid, stupid. You really didn’t think that’s what he meant, did you?

She couldn’t shift her gaze away from Alex’s eyes. Their
kiss under the arbor still created bedlam with her emotions.

“You didn’t think I’d leave you alone after today, did you?”
His low tone was challenging and sensual at once.

Juliana didn’t know if she should be thrilled or irritated. He
moved closer, until his face was a hair’s breadth away.

“It’s not necessary,” she replied. “I’ve handled myself
quite well for twelve years.” It touched her deeply that he wanted to help
chase away the monsters in her mind. But she needed the distance. Needed to
sort through what was happening to her, with the case, with her feelings toward
Alex.

Alex’s mouth caught hers in a hard, thorough kiss. Her body
betrayed her when her arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him solidly
against her.

After the long, passionate kiss ended they remained in each
other’s arms, breathless, bodies molded together as if made for one another.

She tipped her head back and looked into his face. “Go home.
Get some sleep tonight.”

Alex released her, backing away, and scrubbed at his scar.

“You won’t sleep, will you?”

“What do you think?”

Juliana stepped to the bombe chest and pulled out a spare
house key from the top drawer. She handed it to a bewildered Alex. He glanced
at the key, but didn’t touch it.

“Take it.” She pushed the brass key into his palm and
wrapped his fingers around it.

He pocketed the key and brushed her lips with a fleeting
kiss. Wordlessly, he left her standing in the foyer. A sense of finality
engulfed her as she pushed the door closed.

Juliana Westwood has taken leave of her senses
, she
thought as she walked determinedly toward the phone to call Doc Brian. To her
disappointment, his wife informed her that he was on a weeklong fishing trip
deep in the Oregon woods, no phones, no electricity. He wouldn’t return home
until next weekend.

A quick search through a box in her office produced several
research papers written by Dr. Brian Miller. She carried them into the kitchen
and tossed them on the table.

Exhaustion and hunger wore her out. If she didn’t eat, she’d
never be able to climb the stairs to the bed calling her name. She was ravenous
enough to eat a sixteen-ounce porterhouse steak. Unfortunately, her
refrigerator was as bare as Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard and she didn’t feel
like eating a crappy frozen dinner. Reluctantly, Juliana buried her appetite in
a bowl of canned vegetable beef soup and Doc Brian’s research reports.

Doc Brian’s research dipped deeper into telepathic
connections and the dangers of forced mind-linking. A long while later,
satiated and troubled by what she read, she trudged upstairs and crawled into
bed. The plush mattress was blissful under her weary body.

But sleep wouldn’t grant her an audience. Her thoughts
wandered in a maze. They wound and curved their way with heedless abandon
around the ultimate finish line.

Alex. And what he was doing to her.

Her heart accelerated at the memory of his body protecting,
comforting, his lips molded to hers.

There was no turning back.

No turning away.

She vibrated with an urgent need to see Alex, to touch him,
to smell him, to hear him breathe.

She shouldn’t feel that way. Her plate was too full. She had
learned to live her life with a famine of trust, to enjoy life and her freedom
alone, to rely on no one. Reluctantly, she’d decided to never let herself get
close to any other man, allowing no attraction to build with another.

How could she push Alex away when deep inside, she didn’t
want to? How could she convince him that life with a psychic would torture him,
when she didn’t know any more?

Cooperation between her heart and head seemed to vanish when
she’d first come face-to-face with Alex at the PD.

Her mind flooded her with “what ifs”. When JB snuggled onto her
stomach, seeking attention like a newborn, Juliana finally let her mind drift
to nothingness and fall asleep.

* * * * *

The closed blinds muted the lights of downtown. Even with
the door open, the squad room was subdued for a Sunday night.

Alex and James glossed over case notes in Alex’s office while
waiting for Captain Hayes. Hayes had demanded an update on their investigation
efforts. Alex knew he would have to reveal his source to Hayes. Experience
proved his superior wouldn’t dole out a free ride forever.

When Hayes strode into the office, his eyes flitted from
James to Alex. “Well, gentlemen, time to ante up.”

James shut the door. Alex eased his hip on the desk and faced
his boss.

No taller than five nine and two hundred pounds of solid
muscle, intimidation was Hayes’ forte. Freckles on his dark leathery arms and
face gave testimony to long hours in the sun. On the brink of fifty, he was
street-hardened, and it showed in his weathered face.

Hayes’ eyes narrowed. “You have two sets of potential
suspects on the run and no concrete evidence against either.”

“At least we have suspects.” James crossed the room and
stood with his back to the window.

Hayes flashed James his trademark icy stare.

“This stays in this room.” Alex tossed a defiant glance at
Hayes and received a curt nod in return.

“Spill it.” Hayes folded his arms over his barrel chest, his
legs spread wide in an impatient stance. “I have a statement to deliver to the
press in a half hour.”

“We have a psychic working the case.” Alex winced, expecting
the worst. He tapped a pen on the desk and tossed it aside.

Hayes belted out a sardonic laugh. “You, MacKenzie, working
with a psychic? Now I’ve heard everything.”

“I’m glad I could provide you some amusement.” Alex’s stiff
gaze didn’t stray from Hayes’ face.

Hayes sobered quickly when he realized Alex was serious. “Give
me the goods.”

Alex briefed Hayes on Juliana’s involvement without
divulging their personal relationship.

“Let me get this straight.” Hayes unfolded his arms, resting
a foot on the visitor chair. “The babysitter’s doing the guy who snatched
Lisette. Supposedly she’s a pawn in his trap to acquire the Chamber pot of gold.
You expect a ransom demand any day. And you can’t identify the kidnapper.” He
paused, looking from James to Alex. “Does that sum up your psychic’s visions?”

After Alex’s affirmative nod, Hayes continued, “The
neighbors are incommunicado and have a room for a girl Lisette’s age.”

A knock sounded at the door, and it opened before anyone
could respond. Sterling slid an urgent file through to James.

James scanned the contents. “Hang on.” He raised his hand,
shock paling his freckles. “Sharon and Matthew Douglas were booked on a flight
to Romania yesterday. Three seats reserved. One’s registered for a child.”

“Romania?” Alex’s spine stiffened as he slid off the desk
and straightened to his full height. If Juliana were wrong and the Douglases
had abducted Lisette… Fear dropped him in his chair. “Tell me it’s a misprint.”