On the Scent (14 page)

Zach turned and hurried to his car. He'd been thinking the same thing. But first, he had an appointment to keep.

He spotted Alexandra as soon as he walked into the artsy lounge at the Marriott Marquis. The Pulse lived up to its name, with attractive young people spread among the red seats, sipping drinks and mingling while music vibrated through speakers he couldn't see.

Alexandra kept flicking glances at the watch on her wrist. He'd passed signage promoting the Healthy Mind, Body and Spirit Wellness Conference with times listed for various activities. She must be scheduled for one.

He slid onto the empty seat next to her. She flung her long, blonde hair over her shoulder and crossed her shapely legs so she was angled toward him. Dressed in a black pantsuit with high-heeled boots, she looked pristine and professional.

“I was about to give up on you, Collins.”

“Sorry. I got held up with business. Thanks for waiting.”

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as she met his. “I almost didn't. Call me crazy, but I'm intrigued by what you said on the phone.”

He noticed some women at the bar watching him with a familiar look that implied they recognized him from TV. Damn. The people at this conference might know him, and that made him uncomfortable.

“Maybe we could go somewhere more private,” he suggested, shifting awkwardly.

“No way, Collins. I'm on a panel in thirty minutes. A girl has to make a living. Do you wanna talk or not?”

He recapped what he'd told her on the phone and asked the question that had been at the heart of his thoughts ever since. “Can a person develop abilities after experiencing a head trauma? How does it happen?”

She shrugged. “It's different for everyone. Most psychics I know have had their abilities since childhood. Are you certain you didn't have these abilities before?”

“I don't know. I was always good at reading people. Had good instincts. But psychic?” He shook his head. “I don't know.”

“The thing with the animals—that's new?”

“Never happened until now.”

She looked thoughtful. “You could be a telepath, but they're extremely rare. Probably always been a clairsentient. Maybe an empath. Do you feel the animals' thoughts or hear them?”

He held up a hand in a half shrug. “Hear them, mostly. Sometimes it comes across as feelings.”

“Maybe a clairaudient then.”

He leaned closer. “Woman, I don't know what the hell any of those words mean.”

Her eyes softened for the first time since their meeting began. “I know it's scary and confusing when it first happens.” Her hand covered his. “You're not crazy, Zach. That's the most important thing for you to understand.”

Her words were like a salve to his worried mind. “I hope to God you're right. How do you turn it off?”

“Yeah, right. Good luck with that.” She rolled her eyes and reached into her purse. Pulling out a pen and piece of paper, she scribbled something. “I'll give you some websites to check out and my email in case you have questions. I have a friend who's a clairaudient—someone who senses thoughts and feelings in the form of sounds. I'll see if we can't put you two in touch. I can't tell you how helpful it is to know there is someone else out there who can understand what you're going through.”

Relief relaxed his muscles. “Geez, thank you.”

She arched an eyebrow at him and handed him the paper. “For what it's worth, I didn't know you were faking it on the show. I think you probably weren't.”

“I don't know anymore.”

Her eyes widened, and he'd be damned if her pupils didn't suddenly dilate right along with them. Her mouth fell open in a slight gasp. “There's a woman here with you.”

Hannah? He glanced over his shoulder. The crowd around them had scattered. He saw no one. “Where?”

She nodded toward the wall at his back. “Curly, dark hair. Sad eyes. Older. I think her name is –” She closed her eyes and shook her head. She mumbled something he couldn't understand. “Has your mother passed?”

Zach's shoulders tightened painfully. “What?”

“She keeps saying, ‘Tell him I don't blame him. Tell him I understand why he left.' Does that mean anything to you?”

He couldn't speak. What the hell was going on?

Alexandra's eyes opened and she looked at him, but she seemed to be looking straight through him. “She keeps asking, ‘Why haven't you talked to Dylan?' Do you know someone named Dylan?”

“My brother,” he whispered as a chill ran down his spine.

Alexandra's face scrunched as if in pain. “She wants you to know that your leaving was a good thing. It snapped her out of it. She keeps saying that—‘snapped me out of it.' She says thank you for what you did to help them. Something about money. You gave them money? Does that make any sense to you?”

When he'd heard that his mother had succumbed to cancer, he'd been told she hadn't been with the asshole anymore. He'd wondered when and how that had happened. Maybe she'd left him. He
hoped
she had left that jerk. As for the money —

He nodded.

“She forgives you for not coming home.” Alexandra's hand circled in a repetitive motion. “She wishes you would find Dylan. She says you both need each other, and she's sorry for driving you away. She wants you to know she protected Dylan, after you left.” Alexandra squeezed her eyes shut again. “So much sadness. So much pain.”

Zach felt the burn of tears and rubbed at his eyes. Dammit. He hadn't expected this. Was this happening?

Alexandra reached out and clasped his hand. Her eyes opened, and he saw the sheen of tears. She shook her head and her eyes focused, returned to normal.

“I've got to go,” she whispered. Her eyes drilled into him as if she were seeing him clearly for the first time. “Will you be okay?”

He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. They both stood and she released his hand.

“Good luck, Zach. If you need anything…” She let the offer linger between them. With a nod, she walked away. It took effort for Zach to do the same.

“Hannah, we have some serious talking to do.” Sarah threw a thumb over her shoulder towards the back yard, where Kellan, E.J. and Brian had retreated to give Hannah and her best friend some privacy.

Sarah placed her purse on the counter and gave Abbott a wide berth when the cat came stalking in to say hello. It was as if Abbott knew about Sarah's phobia and always delighted in tormenting her with his presence. But this time, Sarah barely gave the cat a second glance. “Why the hell are there two gorgeous studs in your house and you didn't invite me over sooner?” She craned her neck for a look outside. “Damn, girl. That's some serious man candy.”

Hannah bent to pick up Abbott and confine him to the bedroom. Before she could get more than a few steps, a knock on the door preceded its opening. Zach stepped inside and hesitated when he spotted Sarah.

A tiny squeak from Sarah's O-shaped mouth was the only sound in the room as the other woman openly gawked at the latest addition to Hannah's Man Candy Club.

“Sorry. Am I interrupting something?” Zach moved forward to scratch Abbott's ears in greeting.

Behind him, Sarah dropped down low, flung out her arms and feigned an open-mouth “That man is
hot
” expression that ended with a little hand fanning. She followed this by holding up three fingers and shaking her head. Clearly, she was ignoring the fact that
puny little
E.J. was here, too.

Zach turned around as Sarah straightened and assumed one of her saccharine sweet smiles. Hannah fought a giggle when her best friend topped it off with a few flirtatious bats of her carefully made-up eyelashes.

“Sarah stopped by to check on me.” Hannah cleared her throat, tying to chase away the amusement stuck there. “Zachary Collins, this is my best friend, Sarah Taylor.”

Zach accepted Sarah's hand in his. There was that tiny squeak from Sarah's throat again, and Hannah was surprised her best friend didn't just swoon and get it over with.

“I've heard great things about you.” Zach pulled away. “Sounds like Hannah is lucky to have you.”

Sarah shifted from one foot to the other while the fingers on her right hand fiddled with the necklace at her throat. “Thank you. Likewise.”

Hannah expected Sarah to launch into a round of twenty questions as part of her usual protective interrogation, but her friend seemed to have been rendered speechless. Zach nodded toward the back yard. “Full house. Sorry. I asked them all here to strategize. If you ladies will excuse me…” His expression looked intense when he caught and held Hannah's gaze. “We'll talk when I'm done outside, alright?”

Her body slowly relaxed. She'd been so worried when he'd left earlier. Something about his presence calmed her in a way no one else's did.

Sarah brushed against her side as they both stared through the glass doorswhere all of the men stood in a loose huddle in the yard talking. “Mmm-mmm. You saved the best for last, didn't you?” Sarah glanced over and realized Hannah was still holding Abbott at the same time the cat leaned over and brushed his head against Sarah's shoulder. Her friend squealed and shot across the room, wiggling her body as if she were trying to shake off the cooties in the process. “Creeeeepy cat.”

Rolling her eyes, Hannah deposited Abbott on her bed and shut the door before returning to find Sarah once again propped up against the kitchen island and staring at the men outside. Hannah leaned onto the counter beside her and sighed. The men seemed to be having an intense discussion, judging by their facial expressions. Zach looked up, caught her staring.

Both women immediately turned away.

“So are you and Mr. Fine Ass doing it yet?”

“What? No.”

“Mmm-hmm. I notice you didn't ask which one I meant.” Sarah moved away from the counter but kept casting glances out the door at the men. “I saw the way he was looking at you, and more important, I saw the way you were looking at him.”

“We barely acknowledged each other.” She snorted. “Besides, weren't you warning me not to fall for my bodyguard?”

“That was before I saw the man in person.” She angled for a better view of the yard. “Girl, please tell me all those men are not your bodyguards. I'd probably sleep with them all at some point.”

“Even E.J.?” she teased.

Sarah waved a dismissive hand. “Except him.”

Heat crept up Hannah's neck. “You're awful. One is married and the other is taken.” And Zach was…what? She hoped Sarah didn't ask, because Hannah didn't know.

Sarah winked at her. “Doesn't mean you can't look.” Joining Hannah across the room, Sarah sank onto the couch beside her and slapped her knee. “You know I'm teasing. Let's get real. How are you holding up?”

Hannah explained all that had happened and watched her friend's eyes grow wide. “Did you tell the police about the jewels?”

“Not yet. I think that's why Zach asked everyone to meet. I'm not even sure the police would be interested if I can't even give them a clue where the jewels came from.”

“This is starting to sound like one of those Lifetime movies of the week.” Sarah glanced toward the back yard again. “Hannah, are you sure they're keeping you safe?”

All things considered, she thought so. “I'll be fine.”

Sarah clasped her hand in her own and squeezed. “What about—you know? I was only half teasing before about getting involved with one of them. Are you really ready for that, if it happens?”

Oh, it was already happening, but she had no idea if it was all one-sided or not.

And she wasn't sure what to do about that.

“We're relocating you and the boys for a while. No arguments.”

Hannah wasn't surprised by Zach's declaration, but a part of her still wanted to cross her arms, poke out her bottom lip and say, “Uh-uh. I'm not budging.” The part of her that was still in denial that she was in danger—that any of this was happening to
her
— also wanted to dart onto the front doorstep and yell “Screw you!” to the unknown persons upending her life.

But she wasn't stupid. “Okay. Where are we going?”

Zach sighed and his shoulders sank as he fell into the chair across from her. “Kellan has —” He exchanged a look with his associate that seemed to carry a message “— a
friend
who is going to let us use her place for a few days.”

“Where exactly is it?” Sarah asked, perching on the arm of the sofa beside where Hannah sat. She reached down a hand and squeezed Hannah's shoulder.

“A safe place. Don't worry.” When Sarah opened her mouth to demand more details, Zach held up his hand. “I promise we'll let you know when we get there.”

“And who is we?” Sarah crossed her arms. “You expect me to let my best friend go off with four guys I don't know from Adam without knowing where you're taking her? You must be outta your freakin' mind, Jack.”

Hannah reached out a hand to calm her friend's temper from growing. “Sarah, I trust them. It'll be okay.”

“Well I don't.” Sarah whirled a ferocious glare around the room. “I'll only agree to this if someone lets the police know what the hell is going on first.”

Brian stepped forward. “We've already spoken to Interpol, and they're working with the local police. But the APD can't offer the type of protection Hannah needs right now.”

Zach moved to his feet. “I'll be staying with Hannah and the animals twenty-four-seven while the other guys chase down information. We'll have Internet and phone, and I'll be doing my fair share of the work from the safe house, too.”

Sarah's slim body tensed, and she turned to look at Hannah. Hannah didn't need to be psychic to know what her friend was thinking.
Twenty-four seven. Alone with Zach.

Oh boy.

“I don't know about—” Sarah's words were interrupted by Hannah's fingers squeezing her knee. Sighing loudly, she rolled her eyes and finished, “Fine. But I expect a phone call as soon as you get there and at least a dozen times a day.”

Zach reached for his jacket. “I've got to run home and pack a few things. Hannah, be sure to pack whatever you'll need for a week for you and the boys.”

She loved that he'd started referring to her pets that way, same as she did. She reached down to pet the dog whose body was pressed against her feet. Were the animals getting as attached to Zach as she was? She didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

Zach glanced around the room. “Is there anything you have of Ellie's that might help us? A diary? Old photos? Any documents you might have put in storage?”

Not really. Most of what Ellie had owned had been material objects—trinkets and the such. “I'll look again. Maybe I missed something.”

Zach shrugged into his jacket as he inched toward the door. His actions roused Costello from his resting spot, and the dog staggered over to Zach with a walk that resembled a tired old man's.

Zach gestured to her pet. “Do I need to pick up anything for them while I'm out?”

Hannah shook her head, but before she could answer, Zach frowned down at the dog and said, “Absolutely not. No eating pig ears in my car. That's
disgusting
.”

When he glanced up and saw that almost everyone in the room was watching, Zach gave an awkward chuckle and cleared his throat. “Yeah, I'll be back in an hour.”

The other men scattered after asking if Hannah needed help packing. Sarah shooed them each away territorially.

“Are you sure you can handle this?” She grabbed Hannah's shoulders and forced her friend to face her. “Be honest.”

Hannah wasn't the shrinking violet Sarah sometimes painted her as, but she knew Sarah meant well. “Remember when we first met?”

Sarah's face twisted into a confused expression. “Yeah, of course.”

Sarah had been admitted to the same boys and girls home as Hannah because a neighbor had complained to the Department of Social Services that Sarah and her brothers were being neglected while their single mom worked two jobs. A group of older, trouble-making teens had cornered Sarah in the yard, taunting her with insults because she wore her brothers' hand-me-down clothes. Hannah had gotten fed up with what she'd been overhearing and charged in to Sarah's defense, reminding the others that many of them sure as hell didn't look much better.

“I don't like bullies,” Hannah explained. “But I'm smart enough to know when I need help.”

“I won't be there to have your back. Maybe I should come with you.” Sarah's voice was quiet and thoughtful.

“No way. Your mom's last chemo is when—Friday?” When Sarah nodded, Hannah took her by the arms and shook her. “She needs you, you idiot. I've got four hunks looking after me right now. I'll be
fine
.” She let the word roll off her tongue suggestively, then winked and smiled in a way that suggested pure naughtiness.

Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes. “What are you talking about? You wouldn't know what to do with four hunks if you tried.”

Maybe not, but she had a pretty good idea what she'd do with at least one of them.

Gesturing to the kitchen, she told Sarah, “Go and help me gather whatever canned food I have to pack. I've got to find Abbott's kennel and Costello's car seat.”

“Don't forget to pack some condoms.” Sarah howled with laughter.

Thank heavens the door was shut so none of the men outside could hear them. Hannah's face flamed at the teasing—but that didn't stop her from going to check and see if she had any condoms left to pack.

Just in case.

That weird feeling in Zach's gut didn't start acting up until he was halfway down the stairs after leaving his apartment. His feet slowed their pace and he scanned the parking lot below. A neighbor he barely recognized was removing groceries from the trunk of his car. Otherwise, the place was empty.

Careful.

The hairs stood on the back of his neck in that familiar sensation that he was being watched.

He swore and quickened his steps. He probably
was
being watched by the scum after Hannah. Tossing his bag into his SUV, Zach grabbed his mobile phone and called Kellan.

“I'm being followed.” He slid into the driver's seat of his navy Chevy Yukon. It was a company car. They'd gotten three at the same time—same model, same color, tinted windows. “Are you driving your car or one of the Yukons?”

“Since I'm on the clock, Yukon. Why?” His tone was slightly defensive.

“Good. I've got a plan. Let me talk to E.J.”

Twenty minutes later, Zach pulled into Hannah's driveway and into the garage beside where Kellan had already parked his vehicle. E.J. was waiting for him.

“Did you get some?” Zach asked.

“Yeah, man. Piece of cake.” E.J. held up two license plates and smiled. Zach wasn't sure he wanted to know where E.J. had gotten them. They needed to swap the current plates on both Yukons in case the person following him had noted Zach or Kellan's plates. He hoped to God neither of them got pulled over by the cops for it.

“Can you go switch them out for us? Make sure you put the other ones in the back of the cars so we'll have them.”

E.J. sounded downright giddy when he said, “Damn, being a P.I. sure is exciting. I'm on it, boss.” With a salute, he set about the task.

Zach couldn't help the agreeing smile that tugged at his mouth. E.J. was right. It'd been a while since he'd felt this excitement on the job. It felt good. Normal.

Hannah appeared carrying Abbott. She'd changed into jeans. Tight t-shirt. She looked fresh. Appealing. Costello came romping into the room and lunged for Zach.

The feeling of the dog's excitement and energy was so strong it almost knocked him over with its potency. Zach reached down and gave Costello a proper greeting. The dog squirmed against his legs, curling his long body this way and that to make certain Zach's fingers made contact with his furry head.

“If only everyone were this happy to see me.” He winked at Hannah and loved the way her delicate skin turned red.

“Next time I'll run into the room and jump on you too, and we'll see if you still feel that way,” she teased.

His imagination ran wild with that scenario—and liked where it led. He wanted to hold his arms wide in open invitation.
Remember your boundaries.
He stepped back. Tried to focus on keeping her safe.

Zach helped load the items Hannah had packed into his car. He made sure Hannah hadn't followed him and Kellan into the garage before asking, “Think this will work?”

Kellan closed the car door and slapped him on the back. “Best shot we've got.”

Hannah appeared with a strange-looking strappy thing in one hand and Costello attached to a leash in the other. “Since I don't know how long we'll be in the car, I need to put him in his seatbelt.” She shooed the two men aside, then looked at both SUVs and hesitated. “Um, which one?”

Zach opened the door for her and stepped back to watch. The dog hopped into the backseat and Hannah bent over to fasten him in using the strappy thing. Damn, she looked great in those jeans. He realized his eyes were honing in on her shapely backside when he should have been offering to help.

Going for a ride. Yes. I love to ride! Where are we going? Can I eat while we go for a ride? Hey, what is that? Can I eat that?
Costello sniffed the cloth piece of the harness Hannah was struggling to get looped into position.

“We're going for a ride,” Hannah told the dog in her baby voice. “Are you excited to go for a ride? Huh? Are you?”

Yes! I'm so excited to go for a ride. Let's go.
The dog whined and
wiggled as she tried her best to get him situated.

Zach snickered. “Do you, uh, need any help with that thing?”

“No, I got it,” she called from inside the car, but she seemed to be struggling—mainly because Costello kept wiggling around and jarring the buckle loose.

Done, Hannah grabbed her remaining bag and Abbott, who seemed comfortably tucked inside his mesh kennel. She sat the cat on the backseat beside Costello, hooked the bag in with a seatbelt matching the other strappy thing and then settled herself into the front seat with an exhausted-sounding sigh.

“I hate to tell you this, but I need you to get down, out of sight.”

She frowned. “Seriously?”

“Down,” he ordered. She hesitated, sighed, and climbed into the back seat. She sank down to the floorboard in front of the animals and gave him a defiant look.

Brian and E.J. had left minutes earlier to get into position, so Zach gave Kellan a thumb's up sign over the hood before sliding into the driver's seat.

Turning the engine on, Zach took a deep breath and waited for Kellan to leave first. “I hope these windows are tinted dark enough.”

He gave Kellan a sizeable lead. They'd pulled onto I-85 when E.J.'s voice in Zach's ear said, “If anyone is following you, boss, I can't tell. I think they took the bait and followed Kellan like we'd hoped.”

A second later, Brian's voice said, “Got ‘em. A silver Honda has been on Kellan's tail since we got on 17th Street.”

Zach's gaze shifted from the traffic in front of him to the rear-view mirror. He activated his microphone. “We don't know how many people are involved. I wouldn't be surprised if we were both being followed.”

“My friend is running these plates, but my guess is that it's another stolen car,” Brian said.

“Be careful, Brian. Leave it to the cops to give chase if it's stolen.” Zach thought about Brian's new daughter. Panic tightened his chest. If Brian got hurt— “Don't play the hero. You hear me?”

Amusement flavored his best friend's tone when he replied, “Don't worry. I'm not about to take any careless risks.”

For the next ten minutes, Zach kept his eyes on the cars around him. Hannah remained quiet, even as Costello whined and struggled relentlessly to free himself of his restraint. He couldn't spot any cars following them besides E.J.'s, a ways back. Maybe the plan had worked, but Zach wouldn't feel safe until they'd made it to Lake Lanier and established a safe base.

I want in the front seat. Why can't I get in the front seat like I always do?
Costello whined.
Are we there yet? I want in the front seat.
More whining.

Zach's fingers tightened around the wheel as he silently told the dog to shut the hell up. Situation was bad enough without the animal's whiny chatter running nonstop through his head.

Hannah cooed, “Settle down. Sit.”

Am I in trouble? I want in the front seeeaaaat.

Geez. This was worse than traveling with kids. Making sure it was safe to do so, he shifted and sent the dog an uncompromising look. “Costello, sit!”

The dog's ears lifted and his head tilted in surprise, but he stopped struggling to get free and sat still. Even the whining stopped.

Zach felt pretty damn pleased with himself as he returned his attention to the road.

“Thank you,” Hannah said. “I've never taken them on a long road trip before.”

“It's only an hour's drive.”

“To where?”

He explained about the condo their client—now Kellan's damned girlfriend—owned outside of Lake Lanier. “It's secluded, but not too secluded, and in a gated community. We should be safe there.”

He hoped like hell they'd be safe there. He would be the only thing standing between her and the psychopaths chasing her.