Conduit (6 page)

She continued scanning the room. A man with a purple bowtie
stood out in another group of lawyers to her left. A large laugh bounced
through the room, coming from a gangly man at least a head taller than the
others around him. Her eyes followed him as he jetted about the party, joining
in the conversations of others for a few seconds before moving to invade another
group.

Emily’s eyes landed on an ostentatious woman, whose
feathered boa adorned her red dress. The woman chatted with those around her
while waiting in line at the bar in the back of the room. The invisible person
pulled Emily in the direction of the woman, but there were too many people at
the bar to know who called to her. No matter where Emily looked, her eyes always
went back to the woman.

“Let me get you some water,” Cassie said.

Emily gave a slight nod and turned to say something. Before
she could open her mouth, the woman in the red dress moved in her peripheral
vision. Emily swung her eyes to the bar, now in full view.

A man leaned against the bar, facing toward Emily. He showed
her a genuine smile, and her heart rate picked up speed. While most women might
notice him for his good looks and captivating smile, he caught Emily’s
attention for a much different reason. Though standing across a crowded room, Emily
felt him right next to her.

Cassie returned with a small glass of water. “Emily, what is
going on with you? This is the second time today you’ve—”

“I’ll be right back,” Emily said. She brushed past Cassie
and moved toward the man at the bar in the back of the room.

“Good evening,” the man said when Emily reached him.

“Stop it,” Emily said.

The man tilted his head. “Stop what?”

“Whatever it is you’re doing to me,” she said. “You need to
stop it now.”

A nervous chuckle left the man’s lips. “I’m not sure I know
what—”

“You do too know what I’m talking about,” Emily said. “We
both know what you’re doing, so stop.”

His smile fell. “Okay. I’m sorry for—”

Emily didn’t wait for him to finish. She turned around and
headed toward the front doors. She breezed past the doormen and the crisp spring
air bit her skin through the light material of her dress. A handful of guests
braved the outdoors, most with coats on. Rubbing her chilled, bare arms, she
wished she’d had the foresight to get her coat before going outside. She slowed
her walk and smiled at the other guests.

She moved to the bottom of the steps and peered out at
downtown Wichita. After the claustrophobia of the man crowding her mind, the
tranquility of the darkened streets and glow of the night’s stars freed her
from captivity.

Leaning against the handrail, she closed her eyes and took
in a deep breath of the fresh Kansas air that only came before and after a good
rain. The sky would spit out sporadic drops of moisture while springtime held
onto the city over the next few months. Then the summer thunderstorms, Emily’s
favorite type of rain, would begin. She loved the way rain cleansed the earth,
and there was no better place to be in the world than in Kansas when it rained.
Tonight, the mere smell of it calmed her jumping nerves.

She needed a moment like this to gather her wits before
going back inside the madhouse and facing more of Nathan’s advances. She cautioned
herself against additional glasses of wine. Too much alcohol would skew her
judgment and cause her to end the night in his bed, a mistake she would never
make while sober.

Emily’s eyes flew open. Her throat tightened and again a
presence came over her that she couldn’t explain. She did not recognize this
new feeling as being the attractive man at the bar. That man had a much
different presence than this invisible specter. This menacing force seemed to
smother her and darkness slithered into her mind.

Her eyes darted about as she tried to locate the source of her
fear, yet the streets were empty except for an occasional passing car. The only
sounds she heard came from the soiree behind her.

“Excuse me, miss?”

Her heart jumped into her throat again and she spun around. The
man from the bar smiled at her. Emily’s anger grew, fueled by her panic at the
unexplained malicious presence. “And now you’ve followed me outside,” she said.
“Would you like my home address so we can start the stalking the proper way?”

The man ran a hand through his hair, which Emily thought might
be more disheveled than Nathan’s hair outside of these fancy gatherings. Though
combed with a sense of seriousness, defiant longer strands of mahogany
attempted to curl at the ends above his ears. “You didn’t let me apologize and
that’s something I need to do.”

Emily bit her inside cheek and tightened her mouth in case
any more sarcasm attempted to emerge unchecked. “Go ahead.”

A corner of the man’s mouth turned upward toward green eyes that
glimmered under the lights of the front entryway. “Thank you. What I was saying
is I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I didn’t realize—”

“That I’m like you?”

“There aren’t too many of us, you know.”

“Why were you doing that to me? You were in my mind, which I
didn’t even know was possible. You shouldn’t force your way into someone’s head
like that. It’s...unethical.”

The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Unethical? Are you with the
psychic police?”

Emily scoured the nearest bystanders, but it did not appear
any of the other guests heard the man’s words. “Will you keep your voice down?”

“Oh, I get it. You’re one of those silent types.” He leaned into
her and lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, I won’t let your secret out.”

“I have my career to think about.” Emily shook her head and
wondered why she bothered trying to justify anything to a stranger. “Never mind.
I don’t need to explain my actions to you.”

“But I need to explain myself to you. I’m sensing a slight
contradiction.”

“I don’t use my abilities unethically.”

“There’s that word again. You must be a lawyer.”

“I’m a private investigator.”

“Then I might need your services one day. What investigating
firm are you with?”

“I own Monroe & Reid Investigators.” As soon as the
words trickled out, Emily questioned why she would reveal personal information
to the man standing before her.

“I’m a jury consultant,” he said. “I could use a good private
investigator on some cases, especially someone with your talents.”

“I’m sure you’re very successful on your own with the way
you push yourself on others.”

The man shrugged. “I guess you could categorize me as
successful. I signed on to work with Nathan Wolk a few months ago, and that’s a
tough guy to work for. I might need help from time to time.”

“Nathan Wolk,” Emily muttered. “Should’ve guessed.”

“What?”

Emily shook her head in response.

“Can you honestly tell me you’ve never used your abilities
on the unsuspecting?”

Emily thought about her handshake with Stephen. “Sometimes
information leaks out to me. I don’t typically push myself into someone’s mind.”

“Don’t typically? That means you have done it before.”

“I have never done what you just did to me, and I’ve
certainly never done it at a party to some poor soul across the room who...” Emily
paused mid-sentence. “What
were
you
doing in my head?”

The man looked away from her.

Emily glared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding. You were
using your gift to get in my head so you could pick me up?”

“I don’t think so. I’m not sure what happened exactly or why
it happened. I just saw you standing at the bar with your friend and the next
thing I knew—”

“Have you ever been married?”

“No, but—”

“I can see your master plan to manipulate women by using
your gift against them has worked perfectly.”

“Maybe I simply haven’t met the right girl yet. I know what
you think, but I’m really not a bad guy. I didn’t even realize what I—”

“So you’re not a bad guy, but you use your powers for evil,”
Emily interrupted without listening to his words.

“I’m not...look, can we start over? You’ve completely got
the wrong impression of me.”

“And I prefer to keep it like that. Have a good night—”

“Jake.” He thrust out his hand. “Jake Hanley.”

Emily ignored his attempt at being friendly and crossed her
arms without shaking his hand. “Have a good night, Mr. Hanley. Try to leave the
other guests alone with their thoughts, if you can manage.” She turned and
walked back into the party.

The connection between them growing
stronger, David Noakes sensed Emily a few seconds before she emerged from the Wolk,
Trotter & Wolk office building. Through his binoculars, Emily’s expression
of hesitation and realization confirmed she also sensed him. Her expression
pleased David, and he closed his eyes to reach out to her. For a moment, he
connected with her mind. Euphoria overcame him as he tasted what it would be
like when they were finally together.

Then the other man strolled out after her and engaged her in
conversation. Emily shoved David from her mind to talk to the man. David had
not seen him before, but his presence infuriated him. How dare this stranger
talk to Emily, approaching her at a party like a slab of meat hanging from a
butcher’s storefront?

Emily would never buy into his charade. She was much more intelligent
than that and she deserved the utmost respect. Once they were together, David
would treat her better than anyone ever could, always remaining in awe of her strong
psychic abilities and subtle beauty.

David tried to read the man, but as he discovered in his
early years, his abilities did not work well on males. Through his years of
research, David learned it was not uncommon to have gender-biased abilities. Men
and women seemed to project on different psychic frequencies, and most psychics
were only able to pick up on one frequency or the other. David could only use
his abilities on women.

The man continued speaking to Emily and undermined David’s
psychic journey into her mind. Emily would refuse the man. She had to know that
something greater awaited her if she could be patient just a little longer. David
had no reason to think she wouldn’t wait for him to finish breaking through. After
all, she had sensed David tonight and readily accepted him into her mind.

As David watched through the binoculars, Emily turned her
head so he could better see her face. Her look of rebuke toward the other man thrilled
David. This man didn’t concern him. She knew better than to waste her time on
some random man. They were now connected and only death could break their bond.

Despite the growing connection, their bond needed to be
strengthened for her to come to him. Jillian Waters would take their connection
to a greater level and bring him one step closer to Emily. It was time for Jillian
to make her sacrifice.

Emily woke with a slight wine
hangover the next morning. Her alarm agitated the headache that started drilling
into her temples before she woke. With her eyes still closed, she slapped
around for the snooze button and silenced the loud buzzing. She rolled over several
times in her bed to find a comfortable, sleep-inducing position, but sleep eluded
her.

Her phone beeped with a new text message. She snatched her
phone off the bedside table and climbed out of bed. The message from Cassie
stated that she had no morning appointments and would be in the office around one
o’clock. Emily tapped out a simple,
Okay
,
as a text response.

As Emily headed into the bathroom for a shower, she thought Cassie’s
absence this morning would give her an opportunity to start her research on the
murders. She wanted to learn details about the victims using news articles,
rather than troubling Lionel and Shawn at the station, especially since they
would be busy with the autopsy. This afternoon, once she put together some facts
about the victims, she would attend Diane Murphy’s memorial service with Cassie.

It seemed like the worst time to sign an exclusive contract
with a client, and Cassie had an appointment this week with Keith at the Heartland
Insurance corporate office to review and negotiate terms. Although they would
only help the police for the next several days until the FBI arrived, they
needed all of their time and resources to work on the murders and their other
open cases before diving into ones for Heartland.

Though she agreed with Cassie on the need to hire an
investigator to work the cases Keith would throw their way, Emily stalled on
placing the actual ad, still concerned about the possibility of someone finding
out her secret. The words of Jake Hanley ran through her mind. He didn’t mean
to be condescending when he pointed out she was one of the silent types, but it
made her question why she kept her gifts locked up so tight.

She didn’t want to run around, gushing about her talents to
everyone, but maybe she was a little neurotic about secrecy. The idea that
victims of a serial killer could be reaching out to her in their final moments,
however, made her never want to tell another soul about her gift. She wished it
would just disappear so she could have an uneventful, normal life.

Emily knew she should have disclosed her suspicions to Lionel
and Cassie yesterday morning, but something stopped her. The significance of the
voices and automatic writings still a mystery, she didn’t want to jump the gun
without first confirming a connection to the murders. If she talked about the
coincidences, they would become real and justify the fear building inside her. Cassie
and Lionel would pull her off the case if they knew, and she would never find
out the reason behind these strange happenings. To get answers, she had to work
the murders.

Best not to say anything and alarm Cassie, she decided. If
things got too complicated or if she made any kind of discovery about the
voices and writings, then she could always talk to Cassie about it and get her
opinion on the matter.