Chasing the Shadows (Nikki & Michael 3)

But she just wasn't built that way. She couldn't be part-time. And part of the reason was her memories of her parents relationship. They did everything together—even die—and right to the end they'd been extremely happy. Maybe she was fantasizing it a little—after all, they'd died when she was barely a teenager. Maybe it all wasn't as rosy as she remembered. But to this day she could still recall the looks they'd shared, the way they'd touched, the way they'd talked over every decision—and she'd always wanted that sort of relationship. The sort that lasted through thick and thin. The sort that shared good times and bad.And if Michael wasn't willing to shift from his comfortable plane of existence and include her more fully in his life, then the love they shared would mean little in the end. Because she knew from bitter experience love just wasn't enough.

* * * *

Michael leaned against the wall and watched the elevator numbers rise. When he'd finally calmed down enough to open the link between them, he found it locked down just as tight from her end. Nor had she argued when he'd curtly ordered her back to the hotel. Which undoubtedly meant she was furious, though why, he had no idea. She was the one risking her life with acts of stupidity. He took a deep breath, crossing his arms as the elevator came to a halt on their floor. Nikki stepped out alone, which surprised him. He'd half expected her to drag Jake along to help argue her case. She hesitated when her gaze met his, and anger singed the air between them. Then her gaze slithered away, and the anger disappeared. Or rather, was re-shuttered.

"You had a key,” she snapped. “You didn't have to wait for me."

"I know I didn't,” he replied evenly. “I wanted to."

"Didn't trust me to do as ordered, huh?” She swiped her key card through the slot then shoved open the door.

"I just wanted to make sure you got here safely."

"Likely story.” She threw off her coat and stalked over to the minibar. “Can't have the little woman straying too far off the leash now, can we?"

His own anger rose again. “Damn it, Nikki, I had every right to be furious. What you were trying to do was stupid and dangerous, and you know it."

"What I was trying to do was my job!” She grabbed a soda out of the fridge and slammed the door shut.

“I am a private investigator, in case you've conveniently forgotten that."

"You also know how dangerous it is trying to enter someone's mind like that. Especially when the man who attacked that person has a psychic connection to both of you." She popped the top off the soda. Froth bubbled over the lip and dripped onto her shoes. She didn't seem to notice. Or maybe she just didn't care.>* * * *

Nikki took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies battering the walls of her stomach. Though they felt more like condors than butterflies.

A steady bleeping filled the silence. Dale's heartbeat, stable for the moment. Dale herself lay on the bed, her face as white as her sterile surroundings. She hadn't yet woken. Nikki suspected she never would.

"Five minutes is all you have,” Jake prompted softly.

She took another deep breath and released it slowly, gathering her courage. Then she glanced past Jake and met Mark's red-rimmed gaze. In his brown eyes she saw a mix of emptiness, despair and deep, dark fury. The sort of fury that fired the bitter quest for revenge.

"I can't promise this won't hurt her,” she said. “I've never tried anything like this before." His nod was tight. Angry. “The doctors said she might never...” he hesitated, his gaze moving back to his wife as he took a deep, shuddering breath. “If she doesn't, I want the bastard that did this to her. I want him dead. You understand me? Dead ."

Jake placed a comforting hand on his friend's arm. Mark shook it off. “Just tell me you'll try. Tell me you won't hand this bastard over to the cops. He doesn't deserve justice. All he deserves is death. A long and lingering death."

"We'll do all we can.” Jake glanced at her. “You sure you want to do this?" She nodded. “It's our only chance of finding out where Farmer might be hiding."

"Then do it now, because we're running out of time." She walked over to the bed and stared down at Dale's still features. Goose bumps chased their way across her skin, and the sensation of evil stirred through her mind. Imagination, she thought. She flexed her fingers then raised her hands, lightly touching Dale's temples. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the condors making such a mess of her stomach, and gingerly reached with her mind.

And met not the thoughts of a sick woman, but the trap of a vampire.

Chapter Twelve

For a second, Nikki froze, like a deer caught in the glare of headlights. Farmer's laughter spun around her, cold and victorious. Her first instinct was to pull away and break the connection between them, but she resisted the urge. If they were going to stop this man, they needed to know more about him, and that might only be achieved by actually talking to him.

I know how your mind works, remember, he said, his mind voice devoid of any emotion, yet somehow chilling. It was not hard to guess you'd try something like this. Haven't you done enough to her? she spat back . Leave her some dignity in death, at least. Why should I? They gave me no dignity in life.

School children are notoriously cruel. That's a fact of life. Something we all had to live with at one time or another.

But these twelve were not children. They were adults. There were no excuses for what they did. Just as there was no excuse for taking over the minds of those two young women, forcing them to get drunk then jump off the roof. Though it was a guess, she knew it was a fairly safe one. There was really no other sensible explanation for what had happened—not that the authorities would ever consider that a sensible explanation.

An easy death, compared to the hell they gave me.

Or the death you're now giving the remaining ten.

His laughter spun around her, a flat sound that chilled her very soul. You are very clever—but not clever enough.

Malevolence swirled, and the sense of impending doom hit her like a punch in the stomach. Winded, chilled, she somehow wrenched her hands away from Dale's forehead and opened her eyes. And saw the other woman open hers. But there was no life in her blue gaze. No humanity. Only an evil colder than hell.