Touching the Past (4 page)

He backed the car out of the driveway, heading to his apartment and a night of restless sleep.

Chapter 4

She shouldn’t have said yes. She couldn’t do it. It wasn’t working.

She should tell Zac that. Apologize for wasting his time and have him take her home. Say good-bye and—

But she didn’t want to do that, Mallory realized. She didn’t want to say good-bye to Zac. Not yet. Not until she had a handle on what was happening to her.

She hadn’t slept well. Worry and doubt about her ability to help Zac kept her awake until the early hours of the morning. Then, when she’d finally fallen asleep, the detective invaded her dreams, tantalizing her with whispered words she couldn’t remember on waking and a seductive smile she couldn’t forget.

All through her shower and light breakfast, she’d tried to talk some sense into herself. It was just a dream, after all. Still, when he’d picked her up, she’d found it hard to meet his eyes. Then she’d been unable to keep her gaze from sliding in his direction, watching the casual yet controlled way he held the wheel. The relaxed way he leaned back in the seat.

She’d been so busy covertly watching him and trying not to get caught, that she barely remembered what they’d talked about during the short drive. Nothing about the missing people. Just commonplaces about the weather and how Midland had changed in the past years, punctuated by voices coming from the car’s police radio. Nothings to fill the silence until they reached their destination.

They were on Balfour Street, off Helen. It was a beautiful residential neighborhood with well-cared-for houses and lawns. A high-end district. Trees, their leaves yellow, red, and orange, shaded the street. At this time of day, there didn’t seem to be much activity.

Zac stood a few feet away, close to the curb. His open navy-blue windbreaker caught the brisk breeze and billowed away from him. He half-turned toward her. “This is where we found Kim’s car. We’re not sure why she was here. This road isn’t one she’d normally take home. Someone might have lured her here with the offer of a house.” It was as much a question as a statement. A question Mallory couldn’t answer.

She walked across the wet, fallen leaves and grass and stepped onto the street, careful not to get too near to Zac. He was too…disturbing.

Not, she admitted to herself, that he was trying to disturb her. No, Detective Herrera was treating her with a cool, professional detachment that she wished she could match. Instead, she felt as if every one of her nerves were exposed. She was hypersensitive to his every movement.

Mallory knew when he tried to shake the hair back out of his eyes. Knew when he gave up and pushed it out of the way with an impatient movement. Knew when he turned his back to her to study the nearby houses. He’d be thinking about where Kim might have been taken. Not thinking about Mallory.

She tried to block him from her thoughts and at the same time open herself to the impressions from the spot. She willed herself to feel something. Anything.

It was no use. Whatever had happened here had left no impression. No terrible fear or anger.

In a way that was a positive sign. No one had died by deliberate violence in this spot or the two they’d been to earlier. Mallory knew what death by violence felt like. Aside from Evie’s swing, there had been other places. There was something malevolent that lingered at a murder scene long after the blood and police tape had been cleared away. Something that Mallory felt even when she wasn’t trying to. She didn’t sense that malevolence here.

After several minutes of intense concentration that did nothing but add to the headache she’d had since she woke up, she opened her eyes. Zac was watching her. Mallory shook her head. “I’m sorry. There’s noth—”

She broke off, cocking her head.

There
was
something. Almost like a slight echo.

Someone had called to Kim. Someone she knew and connected with good things, though Mallory didn’t get the feeling it was a relative or friend.

She tried to focus in. Catch a glimpse. Closing her eyes, she swiveled her head in different directions.

It was gone. She’d lost it.

“What is it? What did you see?”

Zac’s voice, rough with impatience and something Mallory couldn’t identify, came from nearer than she’d expected.

She opened her eyes. Zac’s face was next to hers. Startled, she stepped back.

A horn blared.

Mallory only had time to see the car bearing down on her before Zac pulled her out of the street and into his arms. He turned, putting himself between her and the car, but she still felt the breeze it kicked up as it passed.

“Idiot,” Zac muttered under his breath, along with a string of less complimentary terms in Spanish. The arms holding her were shaking even as they tightly held her.

She lifted her head. “Me or the driver?” Her voice trembled when she wanted to keep it light. Between the psychic echo and the near-miss, her knees were shaking beneath her.

“Both of you. Don’t you know better than to step into the street without looking? If he’d—” Zac cut himself off and took a deep breath. Releasing Mallory, he stepped back without looking at her. “A kid. He was texting and driving. Not watching what he was doing. He was going too fast. I got his plate. That will give us his address. I’ll call it in.”

Missing his support and the warmth of his body, Mallory hugged herself as Zac stepped to the car. Why wouldn’t he look at her? What was wrong?

When he pulled her into his arms, she felt… Safe. Protected. Cared about.

Mallory shook her head. What was wrong with her? Zac had done what anyone would have done in the same circumstances. Just because he’d held her. Cradled her. She—

She was acting like a fool.

Annoyed with herself and her unexpected neediness, Mallory ran her hand through her hair and down her neck. She was just shaken up. It was lack of sleep. And deliberately trying to use her ability after suppressing it whenever possible. The near miss. No wonder she was ready to cling to Zac like a limpet. Read things in his embrace that weren’t there. She needed to pull herself together. Be cool. She’d done it in high school. Hid her crush from him. She could do it again. Keep him from guessing how just being near him caused her mind and emotions to swirl in confusion.

Mallory sighed. How stupid could a woman be?

“Dispatch is sending a car to his home.” Zac turned from his car. “Someone will talk to him. If we’re lucky, the message will get through.” He stopped at the back bumper. His tone was distant. Even though he was facing her, his gaze seemed focused on something else. “Did you pick up anything before you were nearly turned into street pizza?” A hint of anger seeped into his voice.

Was he angry with the driver? Or her? Was the cop mad at people’s stupidity? Or had the man been worried about her?
“There was something,” she murmured absently, turning the question over in her mind. Did Zac care about her?

Of course, he cares about you,
she answered herself.
You were friends. Sort of.
But did that mean anything now?

“What?” Zac’s impatient query yanked Mallory back to reality. He worried about her because he needed her help.

“I think Kim knew whoever took her.” Mallory’s tone was flat. She turned her head toward the street when Zac looked at her oddly, pushing a strand of hair off her face. “Not someone close, but definitely someone she knew and wasn’t afraid of.”

“She went with him willingly?”

Mallory frowned, trying to recapture the image from the past. She couldn’t. All she had was a sense.

She shook her head. “I don’t get that.” She went on before Zac could respond. “But she wasn’t unwilling. And there’s no feeling of violence. He didn’t…” Mallory swallowed. “Kill her.”

“Not here at least.” Zac shoved his hands into the pockets of his windbreaker.

“I don’t think he wanted to hurt her at all.” Mallory looked away from Zac, trying to ignore the way his pulling on the windbreaker emphasized his strong shoulders. “He wants her for some special reason.”

Zac’s voice was grim. “I hope not.”

“No!” Mallory’s swift denial was out of her mouth before she realized it. “I don’t…I don’t think that’s it.” Zac lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t get that kind of vibe.” She shrugged, angry at her inability to sense more and angry with him for not only dragging her into this but for not believing her. “I’m sorry I’m not a bigger help.” Her voice was sharper than she intended.

Zac either didn’t catch her tone or was ignoring it. His face was creased with frustration. “What does he want them for? What makes these three people so special?”

He’d forgotten her. Zac’s mind was focused entirely on Kim Gerson and what could have happened to her.

For just an instant, Mallory felt a sharp stab of something she recognized as jealousy. Horrified, she pushed the ugly emotion away. What was she thinking?
Of course
Kim Gerson was on Zac’s mind. It was his job. He was trying to find the missing woman. That was why
she
was here. It was the
only
reason she was here. To help Zac find Kim and the others. What was wrong with her that she needed Zac’s attention focused on her?

Mallory huddled in her sweater. It was cooler than she’d expected and the wind, with the taste of rain on it, didn’t help.

“You’re cold.” Zac caught her by the shoulders. Mallory could feel the warmth of his hands through the thin sweater. “Why didn’t you say something?” He herded her toward the car.

Mallory let him. It felt good to have someone who cared.

She stumbled at the thought, righting herself and waving Zac off before he could help. There it was again. That strange desire to want Zac to feel something for her. Zac needed her help. That was as far as his interest went.

She slid into the car and fastened the seatbelt with awkward, trembling fingers.
It’s just the cold,
she told herself.
I’m cold, that’s all.

Zac slipped in beside her, started the engine, and adjusted the heater. Warm air filled the car. For a few seconds the only sound was that of the fan blasting hot air out of the vents.

“Better?” Zac turned the fan down a notch.

“Yes.” Mallory relaxed her hunched shoulders and wiggled her toes in her shoes. The warm air at her feet felt good. “Thanks.”

“I didn’t think.” Zac’s hands rested on the steering wheel. They were strong-looking, with short, wiry black hairs curling at the knuckles and on the backs. “I should have remembered.”

Mallory lifted her gaze to his face. He was staring straight ahead. “Remembered what?”

He gave her a quick look, then glanced away. “You were always cold. It would be seventy-something in the study, and you’d have a sweater on. The pink and white one.”

Mallory studied his profile. “You remember that sweater?”

Zac turned his head. “I remember every—” He broke off, looking away. He cleared his throat. “Are you up to taking a look at those personal objects you asked for? Or do you want to do it some other time?”

“I’m all right. I can do it now.”

Without a word Zac nodded and put the car in gear.

Mallory settled back in the seat, feeling a warmth inside her that had nothing to do with the air coming out of the heater.

Chapter 5

Zac watched Mallory’s slim fingers turn over the items from Kim Gerson’s purse. It had been in the woman’s car when they found it. It was a pitiable collection of objects to try and draw a portrait from. A woman’s pink faux-leather wallet studded with rhinestones, full of plastic and a few crisp bills. An organic piña colada lip balm. A couple of pens. Her Kindle. Her keys were missing. As was her phone. His working theory was that she was just stepping out of the car, keys in her hand, phone in her pocket, when she was taken. But why? And where?

Mallory’s hands stilled on the wallet. She opened it.

Zac bit back the question he wanted to ask. He hadn’t said a word except to answer her brief questions about the missing people ever since he’d brought the evidence boxes to his office for her to examine. He’d forced himself to sit and wait, not wanting to distract her.

Distract her. He stifled a sudden snort of laughter. He’d been the one distracted. His thoughts kept going back to that moment when he’d held her in his arms. When she’d stepped into that car’s path.

Zac closed his eyes. He’d thought he was going to lose her. That she was going to be killed right in front of him.

The
helplessness
he’d felt. Just remembering made his gut clench. If he’d lost her—

What? What would it mean to him if he’d lost her?

She was—

What
was she to him? A friend? Yes. Well, they had been friends. Of a sort. But what were they now?

He was attracted to her. But how did she feel?

“Did you see this?”

Mallory’s soft question brought his attention back to the investigation. He pushed himself away from the wall he’d been leaning against and stepped to the desk. She held a cream-colored business card that he recognized.

“It’s from a health food homeopathic medicine place. We checked it out. No one there remembers seeing Kim, and there’s no record of her ever having bought anything from them.” He nodded at the lip gloss. “They don’t sell that particular brand.”

“Yes, but…” Mallory dug into the box containing Daniel Yeun’s things. “Do you know what this is?” She dangled a keychain from her fingers. It was shaped like a “t” with a loop instead of a straight line above the cross bar. It had been attached to Daniel’s backpack when it was found on the sidewalk.

“A weird looking keychain?”

She shook her head. “It’s an ankh.” She dropped it back in the box.

“Ankh?” Zac frowned. What was Mallory getting at?

“An Egyptian symbol.” She pulled something from Beth Kennedy’s box. “And this?” She opened her hand to reveal a gray, polished stone. Three short red lines were painted on it, two of them curving off and above the third.