Penumbra (Spook Squad 3)

Maybe that was why Joshua had come here, to give Mary permission to tell all. Maybe he was trying to speed up Sam’s memory so that she could escape Hopeworth’s clutches once again.

She glanced around as Gabriel walked into the room. “Any success?”

He shook his head. “I saw a crow fly away from the window, but by the time I shifted shape and flew after it, its lead was too great.”

Joshua in crow form? Or Joe? And if it had been Joe, what did he want with Mary? “I wouldn’t have thought a crow would be faster than a hawk.”

“Neither would I.” He stopped beside the sofa and gave Mary a smile. “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know you,” Mary said, somewhat crossly. She glanced at Sam. “Do I know him?”

“This is my new partner, Mary. His name is Gabriel, and he’s going to arrange a nice place for you to stay while we track down Blaine.”

Gabriel raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t refute the statement. “Somewhere nice and safe.”

The mobile half of Mary’s face lit up. “A holiday would be nice. Gets boring, this place does.”

Sam patted the older woman’s knee and rose. “We’ll just go talk to the nurses and arrange it, then.”

“And lock the damn window,” Mary said. “I don’t want that bastard coming back to visit me while you’re gone.”

Sam obeyed, locking the window and closing the curtains for good measure. When they were out in the hall, Gabriel asked, “What was that all about?”

“Mary was screaming because she saw Blaine.” Sam glanced back at the room to ensure Mary wasn’t moving around, then looked back at him. “And if Blaine was visiting her, it’s because he wanted to confirm his suspicions about me.”

Gabriel frowned. “But the nurses said she had no visitors.”

“No visitors that checked in with them. That doesn’t mean there weren’t any.”

“Or that Mary wasn’t imagining it.”

Sam nodded, conceding the point even if she didn’t believe that was the case. “What, exactly, did you see when you climbed out of the car?”

“I thought I saw something move—something that was human in shape and yet held no substance.”

“And later, when you gave chase?”

“A crow, as I said.”

She blew out a breath. “A crow is one of Joshua’s shapes, apparently.” But it was also one of Joe’s. And one of them, more than likely, was Kathryn Douglass’s murderer.

If they were two separate beings, that was. It was more than possible Joe and Joshua were one and the same.

“So this Joshua of yours is Blaine?”

The sudden edge in his voice surprised her, though, as usual, there was little emotion to be seen in his expression. She shook her head. “Not unless he can be in two places at the same time. Mary was talking to Joshua when Blaine appeared. Blaine apparently recognized Josh and ran. Joshua gave chase.”

“So if it was Joshua I was chasing, what happened to Blaine?”

“Who knows? But Mary called him a day shadow—apparently he could creep around without being seen.”

His eyebrows rose. “Meaning he could still be here? Can you feel him?”

Sam extended her senses, searching, but there was no sense of the shadowy evil she’d felt earlier. Blaine—if it was indeed Blaine she’d sensed—had gone. She shook her head.

“So, the question is,” Gabriel said, “why were both men here today?”

“If you believe her—and I do—then Joshua was here to tell Mary that it was okay to tell me everything. He apparently told her the military could no longer stop her.”