Dream Shard (10 page)

So she agreed to something she’d once thought of as a shackle. Because the empathic link had left something behind in her mind she was desperate to identify.

Burgos knelt down and patted a large hound dog on the head.

“Nature can still triumph over technological advances.” The new team had arrived with a bloodhound. The dog’s master was an Asian man whose accent was thick enough to cut.

“Yeah.” Burgos straightened up and looked at the storage lot for motorhomes. He wasn’t in the mood to admit that he’d lost the trail. But Dresner had clearly realized it was a possibility. The dog had picked up the scent and followed it for an entire mile to where Devon Ross had come out of the water.

“Let’s go.”

They made their way down the hillside. A small dirt road connected the storage area with the rows of recreational vehicles. The dog stopped, looking toward the motorhomes and then along the road.

“They’re gone,” Burgos decided. “They must have got a car from here.” He retrieved his phone and punched in a quick text message. “Let’s get mobile.”

They moved toward the road. A pair of Hummers pulled up within moments, giving them a chance to get out of sight. Burgos utilized the onboard computer and searched the satellite photos.

“There.” He pointed at a screen. “Faded black Mustang. Get on the interstate.”

He sent their location back to Dresner. A team of internet trackers started sending him updated photos within the hour. Burgos grinned. They were closing the gap and Devon Ross didn’t even realize it.

By the time he did, Burgos planned to have him bagged for delivery.

“Time to refuel,” Devon announced sometime near dusk.

“The car’s not the only one hungry.”

The remaining food in her backpack hadn’t lasted very long. Devon hadn’t stopped, hadn’t even hinted that he was interested in pulling in for a burger. He’d consumed his share of the crackers and kept driving, moving around slower traffic but never drawing attention to them by speeding too much over the posted limit. They’d crossed the state line into Washington at noon.

Her butt was numb.

“Mine too.”

She offered him a dry laugh. “You must lead the life of a chameleon.”

He aimed the car at the next exit ramp. “Why do you say that?”

“Because I feel like I’ve spent the day in a silent car while you’ve been able to listen in on my thoughts anytime you like. So when you don’t comment, people get the notion you’re being a loner but you’re actually the opposite.”

“My empathic skill doesn’t work quite like that. A good portion of the time, all I get is the feeling, not the exact words. If I were stronger at linking with targets, I wouldn’t be working as a tracker. I’d be in interrogation.”

He pulled into a service station and up to a pump.

“So you remember what you do for a living?”

His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel too hard. She reached up and rubbed his right hand. He jumped and sent her hand away with another martial-arts-style motion.

The contact stung and a sharp slapping sound bounced around inside the car.

“Shit,” he cussed before reaching for her hand, but she withdrew against the door.

“I’m fine.” She unlatched her seatbelt. “It’s a good sign, you know. I think you’re going to make a full recovery. But you really should consider going to a hospital.”

He shook his head and the sting of rejection filled her mind. “I can sense how strongly you feel about that. Ask yourself why.”

He turned his head and locked gazes with her. Once again, his pupils were dilated slightly.

“I’ll get the gas.” She reached for her backpack and pulled out her wallet. It looked like Devon was lost in thought, but the moment she pulled her bank card out, he reached over and plucked it from her fingers.

“Use cash. Don’t leave a trail. Ever.”

His tone was short and sharp again. She really wanted to downgrade his concern to something that didn’t scare her, but Gold Tooth surfaced from her memory with crystal clear clarity.

She was going to see the smirk on his lips as she swallowed those pills until the day she died.

“Most civilians don’t understand, Kalin.” He pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss against the back of it. “I’m sorry you do.”

He got out of the car, but she felt like she was stuck to the seat. The sense of lament coming from him filled her thoughts, colliding with the memory of the past night. It was stupid, she knew that, had known from the moment she let herself get caught up that there was no future in it.

But it stung to feel him regretting it.

Regretting ever meeting her.

She heard him pulling the gas cap off and fumbled with the door handle. He was watching her with an unreadable expression when she made it out of the car.

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

She made it two steps before she felt him aiming a thought into her mind. This time, it wasn’t coming through as words, just the unmistakable sight of Gold Tooth.

She resisted the urge to turn around and comment. People passed by, all of them intent on their own problems. A black and white drove by, drawing her attention. Tempting her, actually.

Loose end.

That’s all she was, at least to everyone except Devon. It was a strange sort of trust, but she finished and walked back to the car. It felt right about as much as it felt like she was on the edge of a cliff just waiting for something to knock her over the edge.

She slid into the passenger seat and felt a distinct sense of relief.

Only it was coming from Devon.

“So, how far did you say this road trip was taking us?”

He turned the car on and pulled back into traffic. “I think we’re close.”

“If there’s nothing there, will you agree to go to a hospital?”

His knuckles were white again. He didn’t answer until they’d once more merged into traffic on the interstate. She filled her thoughts with the question, doing her best to make sure he heard her.

“All right, Kalin. Deal.” He nodded as though he was trying to convince himself it was the right decision. She could feel his rejection of it.

She just hoped they weren’t heading into a nest of Gold Tooth’s competition.

Sheriff Brice Campbell crossed his hands over his chest and stared at his wife. Time stretched out until he sighed and broke the silence.

“You hate that thing.”

She nodded and left Brice waiting for an explanation. Her attention was on the forest outside their mountain home. That in itself wasn’t out of character. He’d learned early in their relationship to accept that conversation wasn’t her strong suit and that the forest was the place she felt most at ease. There were times, like tonight, when he was jealous of the comfort she found among the trees.

She snapped her head back to him. “I’m sorry. I’m distracted.”

He opened his arms and she came to him. She snuggled against his chest for a long moment before speaking.

“I asked Jacobs to put it on me because I just can’t drop this link. It persists.” She looked back toward the dark forest. “I think I might follow it without realizing.”

“In that case, it’s a good choice.”

Brice lifted his Stetson off his head and hung it on a hat stand. Beyond the windows of his home were two black helicopters used to deploy his wife and her unit. They were military grade, the weapons loaded at all times. Every room in his house had panic buttons and there was a barracks building five hundred feet from the landing pad for the Rangers. His quiet mountain home had transformed into a very classified base since he’d married a psychic Operative.

But it did tend to cut down on unexpected callers. If being the local sheriff didn’t deter people, the armed men would.

It was worth it. His wife fascinated him and he was more in love with her than the day they’d married. He turned around as he heard the scamper of his son’s feet. Jared ran into the living room, his fatigue pants smeared with mud and grass stains. He had his mother’s emerald-green eyes. At just five years old, he smiled as he barreled toward Brice.

“Daddy!”

Brice gathered him close as Jared kissed him on the cheek. The potentially deadly perimeter of his home didn’t bother Brice. It couldn’t. Not when it was a matter of protecting his family from the darker elements of the world.

A perimeter alarm went off in the barracks. The junior officer looked up at the flashing warning light and reluctantly tossed down his hand of cards. His playing companions didn’t look alarmed. The mountain was quiet, too quiet for what they had signed up for as Rangers.

But there were still procedures to follow. Captain Hilliard sat and scanned the video footage being fed in from roadside cameras. He pressed a small intercom button to alert his commanding officer. The black car showed up clearly as it made its way up the mountainside.

“What have you got?” Jason Jacobs asked before he was even through the door.

“Civilian car. Doesn’t look like a problem.”

Jacobs leaned over to peer at the screens. He didn’t dismiss the car quickly but watched its progress from several different camera views. The perimeter alarm still buzzed but he didn’t give it any attention.

“Get Conrad and Smyth out in civilian clothing to intercept. They’ve passed the no-trespassing sign now. I’ll alert Brice, he can make a traffic stop.”

“Yes, sir.”

Captain Hilliard dispatched his men while Jacobs pulled a cell phone from his pocket and made a call to Brice. A few moments later, Captain Hilliard reached over to silence the perimeter alarm. The moment he did, a second alarm made itself heard.

“Shit,” he cussed as he realized he’d turned his back on the tracking unit’s base controller. It sat on the table, half-covered in playing cards. The red light on it was blinking, confirming that their Operative was outside the hundred-yard range.

Action was instant. Every man in the building got to their feet in a whiplash of motion. They grabbed their high-powered rifles and charged into the night as Jacobs called out orders to the men out on patrol.

Their Operative was heading down the mountain to an oncoming intruder.

The shit just hit the fan.

“That sign said private road.”

Devon remained silent, the speed of the car staying steady.

“It also said trespassers will be shot.” Kalin wiggled in her seat, her palms feeling sweaty. There was nothing but forest land for as far as she could see. The stars were bright because there wasn’t any artificial light to compete with them.

“Devon…this isn’t a great idea.”

He was staring at the road, his jaw clenched.

“Devon?”

She raised her voice, but he was focused on something so intently, he never even blinked. The car engine was roaring away as he took the turns too fast.

“Slow down.”

Dread was knotting in her belly as he continued to look forward. He was leaning closer to the windshield, like he was being pulled toward whatever his mind was linked with.

He had no idea she was even in the car.

“Devon Ross, you are going to get us killed!”

And she wasn’t going to sit by while he did it. She reached for the keys but he smacked her hand away. She fell back to her side of the car, but he never looked her way. Panic was trying to choke her, but she swallowed it and grasped the gear shift. She got her hands wrapped around it and pushed the car out of drive. The engine made a high-pitched whining sound as the car lost speed rapidly. The steep incline of the road helped slow the vehicle, but Devon growled and shook his head as though he was trying to clear it.

“You’re done driving, Devon,” she shouted. “Do you hear me? You’re going to kill us!”

It looked like he was fighting against something. For a moment, he began to turn his head toward her, but he never looked at her. His neck muscles were corded as he strained against something and then snapped his attention back toward the road. He grasped the gear shift and shoved it into drive.

“Stop the car, Devon. You’re focused on something other than driving.”

Sweat was trickling down her back. Her heart was racing, but he blinked the moment their eyes met and her head was filled with the image of a woman. It was so intense Kalin flattened her hands on either side of her head. It was overwhelming with its clarity. She gasped, feeling like she’d forgotten to breathe. The woman burst inside her mind like a living force. Kalin could feel her, feel her coming toward them. It felt like she could even feel the beating of the other woman’s heart.

“Oh crap!”

At the last minute, Kalin reached for the steering wheel, realizing that what she was feeling was in fact happening. She jerked it toward her as the woman came into view on the road in front of them. The car was still moving too fast and the woman was running toward them, her mind linked with Devon’s. The car veered to the right, crashing with a brutal sound into a tree. Wood splintered and the windshield rained down on them in a shower of safety glass pebbles. The seatbelt caught her as she slid forward, yanking her back before she collided with the dash board.

It hurt like hell, but she was still focused on the woman.

Grace.

Devon was climbing out of the wrecked car, his attention on Grace. She’d stopped a few feet from them, a street lamp illuminating her. Devon moved toward her, still focused completely on her.

“Devon?” Grace asked.

Kalin joined him, looking between them as they stared at one another. Grace’s belly was swollen with pregnancy, terrifying Kalin with just how big a mistake she might have made by letting Devon into her bed.

“He doesn’t know who he is.”

Grace turned her head and locked stares with her. Kalin felt the other woman inside her thoughts, just not as intensely as she did with Devon.

“He’s been determined to make it up here—”

“Get your hands up!”

Her heart had just slowed down but it was sent racing again as the night was flooded with light. Kalin lifted her arm to shield her eyes but she was dragged backward before she realized anyone was close to her. They rolled her over and shoved her facedown onto the road.