Predatory Game (GhostWalkers, #6)(27)
“Patsy?” Jess leaned toward his sister. “Just tell me, honey.”
“I dropped by the radio station this morning.” Patsy’s hand trembled as she lifted the water glass to her lips and took a sip. “It’s the first time I’ve been there since I lost David.”
Jess glanced at Saber. “David was Patsy’s fiancé.”
Patsy nodded. “I own the station with Jess and I thought I should begin to take an interest again, so I went in and wandered around. It was upsetting, but I really feel like it’s time.”
“That’s good, honey,” Jess encouraged.
Now Saber was picking up both rhythms, Jess’s and Patsy’s, because Jess was holding Patsy’s hand. It was interesting that they were so different. Being siblings apparently didn’t make their individual biorhythms similar. Jess gave off a very strong, steady beat, the blood moving through his body with an ebb and flow that suggested power. Patsy…Saber frowned, not liking the rhythm. Something was a little off. The blood didn’t seem to move the way it should. She took a breath and tried to drown out Jess’s beat as well as the strange little vibration so she could catch the flow of Patsy’s blood, the echoes of the heart chambers.
“I talked to some of the men and then I left. I was driving down the winding road leading to the main highway, and just as I was approaching that hairpin turn…” Patsy’s voiced hitched again.
Jess let go of her hand to get her a small towel from the sink. That allowed Saber to align her body rhythm with Patsy’s. Yes, there was a definite swish that shouldn’t be there as the blood flowed through a chamber of her heart, almost as if it wasn’t going through properly and was backing up. Along with that Saber could pick up that strange vibration, the energy low and tuned to…
She straightened, covering her gasp of alarm. Jess’s exact tones. The receiver, somewhere on Patsy’s body, was tuned to look for Jess’s tone exactly. She inhaled and exhaled, pushing air through her lungs. Chaleen’s warnings were well-founded. Someone wanted to know about Jess’s secret investigation, enough to use his sister to slip a receiver into the house.
“Take your time, Patsy,” Jess instructed. “Tell me what happened.”
“I was approaching the turn. I took it very slow and I know I was already shaken, I always am, but this SUV came out of nowhere, off a little dirt road directly across from the curve, and it hit my bumper. My car went spinning right for the cliff. I nearly went over, Jess. I came to a stop right beside the guardrail. The SUV kept going.”
Jess’s granite features went so still it looked as if he had been carved from stone. There was a sudden, telling silence. The walls of the room seemed to expand and contract, and Saber’s heart leapt when the floor beneath her shifted slightly. She glanced at the coffee table and saw that items levitated, moved, and trembled. Power surged in the room. Energy. She glimpsed Jesse’s right hand curling slowly into a huge fist.
Jess Calhoun was no SEAL. At least he was no ordinary SEAL. For a moment she couldn’t breathe. Even her brain froze. He moved the walls, the floor, and the objects on the table. He had to be involved—very involved—in the GhostWalker project. And anyone in that project—anyone who knew about that project—was her mortal enemy. She had never had pain around him, never had to worry about headaches and the problems that came with psychic abilities. She thought it was the house, or the fact that they just fit, but he had to be an anchor, a GhostWalker who drew energy away from others.
He had to be trained. And very skilled. They’d lived in the same house for months and she’d never suspected. She always knew when a GhostWalker was close. They gave off a different energy field. Damn. Her gaze slid to the window, the door, calculating the distance. And what about her emergency pack with her money and her important things? Could she get to it? Did she dare take the time? Did she have time to pack everything that mattered?
If Patsy went down, Jess would concentrate his attention there and that would give her an opening to escape. Did he suspect she knew? She had to act natural. Had to appear as if she was only concerned for Patsy and her safety. And what had really happened? Saber shook her head, trying to clear her brain. Patsy had a bug in her pocket tuned to Jess, not Saber, so what did that mean? She had to think.
“I’ll be right back.” Saber flashed a small sign to Jess, hoping he would just let her walk out.
“Where are you going?” Patsy caught at her hand.
“I need to take a quick look at your car, honey,” Saber said. “It’ll just take a minute.” Because if Patsy was telling the truth there would be evidence.
Jess gathered his sister close. “You’re all right, Patsy.”
“I know, it’s just that it was so weird that it was right in that same spot where I lost David, almost as if it were meant to be.”
Saber was on her way out of the room, but the floor rolled and she turned back to see the horror on Jess’s face. He looked stricken. Pale. She couldn’t bear it, even though she was terrified that he was her enemy.
“Patsy, don’t say that,” Jess snapped. “I mean it. You’re not meant to die because David did. That’s bullshit and you know it.”
He glanced up at Saber and motioned her to check the car. She realized his fear was no act. He was genuinely afraid Patsy had nearly driven off the cliff on purpose.