Deep Within The Shadows (The Superstition Series Book 1) (25 page)

S
ilence stretched between
Chase and Samuel Newton.

The cafeteria service personnel had picked up Samuel’s breakfast tray shortly after Chase arrived. Only a cold cup of coffee remained on the tray positioned across his lap. Propped up into a seated position in his hospital bed, Newton’s posture was stiff from trying to avoid moving.

Chase felt some sympathy for the guy, but dammit, the man was stonewalling him.

“Are you sure you don’t remember what happened, Mr. Newton?”

“I remember being on the street with Ms. Templeton, and then the next thing I’m here, receiving intravenous pain meds and pissing blood through a catheter.

“I’ve interviewed Ms. Templeton several times since the two of you were attacked. She describes your attacker as being tall, thin, with long arms and hands and dark gray in color. As crazy as that description sounds, I have five other people who’ve seen similar attackers and agree with that description.

Newton eyed him. “I didn’t get a good look, but yeah, it was gray.”

“It took some balls to confront it like you did.”

Newton remained silent.

“I believe that this attack on you and Ms. Templeton is connected to your brother’s assault, sir. Before Abbott died, he told me he and Porter were hired to kill Juliet Templeton. Your brother was killed trying to protect her.”

“So he died a hero, but it won’t bring him back.” The pain of his loss blended with his physical pain to cut deep furrows on either side of his mouth.

“Abbott admitted to being paid to get rid of Juliet Templeton. The money was given to him through a go-between. Did Tanner have a possessive girlfriend who’d look upon Juliet as a rival?”

At the dramatic change in Newton’s expression, Chase shifted in his seat.

Newton raised a hand to cup his forehead as he fought off some strong emotion. “I dated this girl in Lexington. Tanner and I used to live there until my father went into semi-retirement and asked us to come back and take over the firm. Her name was Suzette Chalmers. Tanner came over one night before we went out, and the moment she met him she became obsessed. At first she continued to date me, but only to ask questions about my family and Tanner. When I broke it off, she went after him directly. She got into his apartment somehow and cooked dinner. She was waiting for him when he got home. He tried to be nice and told her he was flattered, but that he already had a girlfriend.”

“The woman he was dating… Her tires were slashed, and she received threatening phone calls and letters. We could never prove it was Suzette sending them. Then something weird happened to Bethany. She got sick for like two weeks. Every time Tanner would get anywhere near her, she’d get worse. Like she was allergic to him or something. Finally she broke it off.”

“Directly afterward was when we moved back to Superstition, and about three months later he met Juliet Templeton. I know I had a preconceived idea about her because she’s a bartender, but he seemed really crazy about her, and the other night… She seemed to really care about Tanner.”

Chase concentrated on the pad in his hand. It felt strange hearing about how another guy felt about Juliet, how she’d felt about him. And yes, there was some jealousy involved, but it was hard to be jealous of a guy who’d saved Juliet’s life.

“Tanner seemed to be putting all the craziness from Lexington behind him. Then he mentioned seeing Suzette here in Superstition. He thought it was her. It was just a glimpse, but it freaked him out. When two weeks or so went by and nothing happened, he said he must have been mistaken and relaxed again.”

“Will you give me a description of her?

“She was about five foot six, slender, had light brown hair streaked with blonde and greenish-brown eyes. She was well built and very athletic.”

“How long between the time he saw her until his death, Mr. Newton?”

“Maybe three weeks.”

“Do you know if she has any family in the area, or friends?”

“No. I know her family was pretty well-to-do. And she had a younger brother.”

“What was his name?”

“Justin.”

*     *     *

Juliet avoided looking
at Samuel Newton’s arm. After just a glance she’d felt nausea creeping up her throat. It was blue, the whole arm to the wrist. How could anything injure someone like that?

“I’m sorry you were hurt.”

Samuel leaned back against the pillows on the hospital bed, his body stiff. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“It was indirectly. If you hadn’t intervened, I’d have been killed.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

She wasn’t surprised at Samuel’s wooden replies. He was exhausted after the interview with Chase.

A distant look clouded his eyes. “I’m still not sure what I saw.”

Juliet stood and grasped his hand. She drew some of his pain to herself so it would ease him. She breathed through the first wave until she could control it. “It doesn’t matter. The men responsible for Tanner’s death are dead. Neither of us has to worry about them again.”

“But the person who hired them is still out there.”

Something about him reminded her so much of Tanner in that moment that her eyes clouded with tears, and she had to look away to maintain her composure. “Detective Robinson will get them. You’ve given him a lead. I could tell from the way he looked when he left your room. He’s very determined to find who’s responsible and see justice done.”

“Good.” He seemed to relax a little more. “The other detective was close to retirement and didn’t seem all that interested.”

“Detective Howard passed it on to the right man. Detective Robinson is the right one.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “You need to rest. The more rest you get, the faster you’ll heal.” Juliet closed her eyes for a moment and drew upon the natural power around her. Some of it came from the other people in the building. She was careful to block that off. Most filtered into her from the natural life force of air, water, earth, and from the fire she found in the natural sunlight spilling into the room next to his bed. She siphoned some from the electricity slithering through the room. “Why don’t you close your eyes and rest?” She touched his cheek briefly and his lashes fluttered. She waited a moment until he settled into slumber.

She first set protective wards around the room, then turned her attention to Samuel. Careful not to touch his skin, she held her hand just above his shoulder and directed the healing into the bruised tissue. She didn’t have to raise the fabric of his hospital gown to tell how much of his body the injuries covered. The hungry tug upon the force spilling from her directed it. She was the conduit, Mother Nature the doctor.

His body relaxed more as his tissues mended, the pain from the bruises eased. The door opened behind her just as she reached Samuel’s knee. She stepped back from the bed, her hand dropping away.

Chase’s attention slid from her to Samuel. He came all the way into the room. “What are you doing?” he whispered.

“Nothing. He fell asleep talking to me. We should leave.” She collected her purse from the chair next to the bed and strode toward him.

Chase didn’t move back as she expect, but stood intractable and determined, blocking the door. He laid a hand on her shoulder.

“I can feel the power in the room, Juliet. It’s like static electricity.”

Damn. She should have known. He’d experienced it before, so of course he’d recognize it. She reached out and made a twisting movement, gathering the residual power to her. It washed over her and nestled into her body, the sensation comforting.

Chase’s mouth took on a stubborn look as he gripped her upper arm, his fingers curled around the limb firmly, but not tight enough to hurt. He guided her down the hall to the elevator. She was reminded of how he’d done the same thing the first night they met, when he clasped her arm as if he expected her to attempt an escape.

He spoke to the police officer standing at the desk with a cup of coffee. “We’re leaving. Sparks will be here at five to relieve you.”

“Thank you, sir.” The man handed the empty cup to one of the nurses to throw away and wandered back down the hall.

“I don’t know how much protection he’ll be against witchcraft, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I’ve placed protection wards on the room. As long as Samuel remains inside he’ll be fine. They have no reason to go after him. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Like his brother?”

Juliet stiffened at the unexpected slap.

He removed his hand, and she shifted away from him in the elevator. She was relieved when two more people got on the elevator and stood between them.

Why did she feel this tug of attraction toward him when he could so effortlessly punch at her with his suspicions and hurt her? Why was she a target for this every time something happened?

The elevator door opened and she rifled through her bag one-handed until she found the car keys. Once outside in the parking lot she tossed them at Chase with no warning and he snagged them out of the air with quick reflexes, but shot her a scowl. She got into the passenger side of the car and he caught the door before she could close it.

“We should check out the car before we leave the parking lot.”

“I placed wards around it. If anyone had touched it they’d either be lying on the parking lot writhing in pain from the shock, or the alarm would have gone off.”

He stared at the palm holding the door open and jerked it back. She slammed the door shut and fastened her seat belt. Let him be afraid of what she could do. He deserved it. She was tired of trying to pass for something she wasn’t. She’d let him into her life much further than she had any other man, and he was still sniping at her and blaming her for what someone else had done.

She folded her arms against her when he got into the car. She snagged her bag and pulled it onto her lap for something to do with her hands so he wouldn’t know she was feeling defensive.

She hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t her fault someone had hired Abbott and Porter to kill her.

She was finally starting to believe it. But the pain of Tanner’s loss was still just as sharp.

Chase got in the car but didn’t attempt to put on his seat belt or start it. “What were you doing with Samuel Newton?” he asked, his demeanor less angry.

“I was easing his pain.”

His head came up and he looked at her. “Healing him?”

“Yes.”

“Your voice is better just since this morning,” he observed.

“A side benefit of channeling so much energy.”

He reached for the scarf around her neck. She forced herself to remain passive as he untied it. His fingertips glided over her skin with feathery lightness. Would his touch be so gentle while making love? Her pulse leapt against it.

“The bruising has faded. It’s not completely gone, but it’s fading,” he observed. He laid the scarf in her lap. “You did more than CPR on Tanner, didn’t you?”

Sharp pain rose up to slice at her, regret and grief blending to make her throat ache. “I tried to save him, but the EMTs arrived before I finished.” Tears ran down her face. “Once they were working on him—they wouldn’t let me touch him.” She pressed the scarf to her face as tears flowed. “He died on the way to the hospital.”

“Did you do the same to Samuel when you were attacked?”

“Yes. He had internal injuries, a concussion. When he started to wake up, I had to stop. So I dialed 911 and EMS came to get us.”

“Jesus,” Chase hissed. He braced his elbow on the steering wheel and cradled his forehead in his hand. “I’m sorry, Juliet. I opened the door and felt all that power circling the room.” He shook his head.

“It can be as gentle as a whisper or as fierce as a bomb, but there’s a price to pay each time it’s used. If you use it for good, the price is lower. If you use it for evil, it’s cumulative and can turn on you. I’ve heard it can drive you mad. Nature has its own checks and balances. If it didn’t, you’d be getting a call every few minutes about a fire, a flood, or what have you.”

“I don’t find that very comforting, honey. The possibility of things like that happening behind my back—disturbs me.”

Honey? Honey?
He could take his
honey a
nd stuff it. “You weren’t getting those calls, were you?”

“No. Not until Porter and Abbott were killed.”

“The imbalance she’s created will boomerang back to her threefold. We all pay eventually.”

“Like the spiders you dumped on her last night?”

She shrugged. “We just helped the process along a little.”

He raised a brow.

“We are allowed to defend ourselves. What did you want us to do? Sit there and wait to be chewed up? We sent a message: leave us alone or reap the whirlwind.” She looked out the side window, back toward the hospital. “You can drop me at the library and keep the car. I’ll catch a ride with Juliet and Caleb later.”

He started the vehicle and backed out of the parking lot. “I wasn’t saying you weren’t supposed to defend yourself.”

When he looked in her direction she stared at him hard.

“My badge and gun are useless against this. How do you expect me to feel, when I’ve been entrusted with enforcing the law and protecting the citizens of Superstition, and suddenly find there’s a whole subculture here I can’t even begin to identify, let alone protect? None of my training will stand up to what you three women can do.”