Murder Game (GhostWalkers, #7)(64)

Kadan fished in the small pack at his belt and came out with a small tube of salve. He tossed it to Don. “Put that on your wife’s wrists. It should help.” He kept his eyes on the man’s face. “You have some psychic ability, don’t you?”

Ryland and Nico both turned to look at Don. Even Gator took his eyes off the faint ribbon of a creek bed he was following to look in the rearview mirror.

For one moment Don’s eyes went hard and sharp, then he frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

So it was going to be like that. Kadan kept his sigh to himself. It was no surprise, but he’d hoped for a different outcome. He shrugged his shoulders and kept silent as they bounced through the canyon toward their destination.





CHAPTER 11


Ian McGillicuddy was very tall and heavily muscled, with chestnut hair that gleamed red when the sun hit it. His dark brown eyes were very intense, and as big as he was, Tansy could have found him intimidating, but his infectious smile kept that from happening. He was very gentle and polite with her at all times, even when she was pacing, probably driving him crazy.

Tucker Addison was nearly as tall as Ian, with rich, dark skin, muscles that rippled every time he moved, cool brown eyes that seemed to see everything, an engaging smile, and close, military-cropped hair that didn’t hide the springy curls Ian teased him relentlessly about. He seemed very patient and calm, although he often would shoot Ian with rubber bands for some teasing remark.

Tansy liked both men, but it didn’t help make the time go by faster. A feeling of dread built, and several times she found herself reaching for Kadan, only to find—nothing. Intellectually she knew she couldn’t reach over distance, but that didn’t make the fear subside. She probably asked Tucker a thousand times if they’d heard anything, and he was always gentle and patient with his answer.

After a while she couldn’t take the compassion in their eyes and went into the kitchen on a pretext of making tea. Tucker followed her into the room and perched on the table, folding his big arms across his impressive chest and regarding her with his ever present calm.

“The hardest part of any mission, even when you’re the one participating in the action, is the wait. You learn, over time, that everything takes longer than you want it to, to sleep whenever you can, and above all, to not play the odds in your head. You just live in the moment. Action, no action, it’s all good. Right now, we need to be living in our moment and let them have theirs.”

Tansy filled the kettle. “You can really do that? You don’t worry about them? Or yourself when you’re going into combat?”

He flashed her a smile, and there was a dangerous edge she hadn’t seen before. “No, ma’am, I don’t worry so much. It’s not going to get me much but lines on my face. I can’t change what’s happening to them. Anything our imagination conjures up is probably worse than what’s actually going on.” He waited until she looked up at him, pausing in the act of putting tea in a small teapot. “I have faith in them. In Rye and Kadan and Nico and Gator. I believe in them. They’ll do what they say they will do.”

She let out her breath and tried to calm her chaotic mind. “They aren’t invincible.”

His smile widened. “Sure they are. That’s where you go wrong in your thinking. You have to believe in them. There is no other outcome than success—total success. Once you believe, you don’t spend all your time tied up in knots.”

“I let him go to get my parents. It’s wrong to trade one person’s life for another, as if he’s not as valuable. I should have just gone myself.”

“You know better than that. Kadan’s trained for this work. It’s what he does and who he is. He’ll go out over and over on missions, Tansy. You have to be okay with that.”

“Why does he do it? Why do you do it?”

His white teeth flashed at her. “Why does anyone do anything? We’re good at it. We’re very good at it. He’ll bring your parents back to you.”

She ducked her head. “I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

He drew in his breath sharply. “You’re worried for Kadan?” His smile widened. “Man, I’m slow.” He slapped his forehead. “All this time I was thinking you had this moral issue going, or that you were all concerned about your parents . . .”

She scowled at him. “I am concerned for my parents.”

“It’s Kadan. You’re all worried about our boy Kadan.” Tucker raised his voice. “Ian. Get in here. You have to hear this.”

She put her hands on her hips. “You’re having way too much fun. I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Ian stuck his head in. “What’s up?”

“Our girl here is all worried over Kadan. She thinks he might fall down and skin his knee.”

Ian hooted. “You’re nervous because of Kadan? All that pacing is over that big badass?” The two men exchanged a long look and then burst out laughing. “Honey-girl, you have no reason to think that man is going to get hurt. Feel sorry for the other guy.”

“Keep laughing, you hyenas,” Tansy sniffed. “I’m not making either of you tea.”

“Come on, now,” Tucker said. “You can’t blame us for laughing. Kadan’s like the hound from hell.”