Predatory Game (12 page)

She looked incredibly small and feminine, her huge eyes so drowsy they seemed to be an open invitation to temptation. She looked like sin and sex to him, all rolled up together, and his body responded in the now-familiar way, hard and aching with a demand he was afraid would never quite be sated.

“My willpower is dwindling away,” he muttered.

“What?” Saber looked more confused than ever. “Jesse, you are making absolutely no sense. Not that I think you make much sense anyway, but it’s only noon. Noon is the same to me as three in the morning is to someone else. I am in deep sleep mode. I don’t care how cute you think you are, go away and stop bothering me.”

“Stop complaining and get down here. Patsy’s on her way.” Cute? She found him cute? Like some teddy bear. That was worse than if she’d called him sweet. He was going to show her cute if she kept looking at him like that.

“Patsy?” Saber groaned and shook her head. “Oh, Jess, no. I cannot take your sister on no sleep. She thinks I’m ten and you’re a pervert out to ruin my virtue.”

“Well, don’t feel bad. Usually she thinks the woman is a vamp and is after
my
virtue so really, you’re the lucky one this time.”

She sat at the top of the stairs, smoothing her shirt tail over her knees, her hair wild and her lashes drooping. “Poor Patsy. She’s always trying to look out for someone. I like her, I really do, but she’s…” She stopped, searching for the right word to describe his older sister.

He found himself smiling. She always managed to make him smile. “A stick of dynamite? Come on, baby, grab a shower and eat something. By the time she gets here, you’ll be in great shape.”

“I’m never in great shape around Patsy,” she muttered. “Can’t we pretend I’m not here? I could stay up here sleeping.” Patsy was wonderful and so loving, but she wanted to take care of Saber. No one had ever tried to take care of her. She was a very solitary person and the people around her had always avoided touching her—with good reason. Patsy, however, had no idea of personal space. She hugged and kissed and generally tried to run Saber’s life—in the nicest way possible of course, and maybe that was the biggest problem. Saber was growing too fond of her as well.

“And leave me to face her alone?” Jess scoffed. “No way. Not a chance in hell. Get dressed and get your very awesome ass down here.” Jess rubbed his shadowed jaw thoughtfully. “I’d better shave.”

“Jesse,” she wailed, trying not to be pleased at his “awesome ass” comment. “Why drag me into this? She’s your sister.” He looked good. He brought such sunshine into her life. And he made her feel special, as if he couldn’t deal with life without her. She wanted him.
Wanted
him. Ached for him.

“You’re my housekeeper. Helping out with guests is part of your job. Now stop being a little complainer and get down here.”

Saber forced a glare when she wanted to laugh, just because he was incredibly beautiful and he wasn’t holding a grudge over the way she’d tried to stab him. “You owe me big time for this, Jesse.”

Jess regretfully turned his back on her, although the sight of her lingered in his mind. Saber couldn’t have been more beautiful if she had spent all day locked in a beauty parlor with a team of makeup experts. The sight of her slender, bare legs and fresh, soft skin put far too many erotic thoughts in his head.

Saber was falling in love with him, she just didn’t know it. He rubbed his jaw, hoping he was right. He was happy around her. He loved their strange conversations and her causes. He liked watching the expressions chase across her face. She
had
to be falling in love with him. She was running in every direction but the one she should be. She belonged with him, and whether it was the right time or not for either of them, he was going to make certain she stayed where she belonged.

P
atsy Calhoun was tall with a woman’s curvy figure, a generous mouth, and rich dark hair spilling around her face in a soft feminine sweep emphasizing her cheekbones. Normally she was smiling and looked sophisticated and in absolute control, but when Saber opened the door, she was leaning against the wall in tears.

Saber glanced back into the house, looking in desperation for Jess to appear, but he was in the kitchen brewing tea for his sister. “What’s wrong?” She sounded more clipped than compassionate because it scared her to see Patsy in tears. She placed a comforting hand on the older woman’s arm, feeling inadequate but wanting to help. The moment they came in contact, an instantaneous prickle of awareness ran down Saber’s spine.

“I’m sorry.” Patsy looked down at her, the tears spilling over. “I guess I’m more shaken than I thought.”

Saber wrapped her arm around Jess’s sister and urged her into the house. Patsy was trembling, and Saber’s prickly awareness was now a full-blown radar attack. She kicked the door closed and took Patsy through to the kitchen.

Jess glanced up, the smile fading from his face. “What happened, Patsy?” His voice was calm, but his eyes were sharp and penetrating. He maneuvered around the chairs and took his sister’s hands. “Tell me, honey.”

Patsy sank into a chair. “I’m sorry, I’m being silly. It’s just that…” She trailed off again and began to weep quietly.

Saber hastily got her a glass of water. As she leaned over Pasty’s shoulder to pass her the water, she felt the tingle of a low-level vibration emanating from the woman. Keeping all expression from her face, she rested a hand on Patsy’s shoulder and let everything in her shift to find the rhythm of Patsy’s body. She was very suspicious that she knew what that vibration of energy was.

“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.

She hurried through the house to the front, where Patsy liked to park her car. The sleek fire engine red convertible suited Jess’s sister. Saber walked around the car until she came to the rear bumper. Black paint, scrapes, and dents marred both the bumper and the rear end of the car on the left side. The car had definitely been hit, and fairly hard. It would have put the convertible into a spin. Patsy had been lucky.

On one hand Jess was a GhostWalker and the two of them being in the same place at the same time couldn’t be a coincidence. On the other hand, Patsy’s car had been hit and she had come in wearing a bug tuned specifically to look for Jess’s tones. He was conducting some covert investigation that was riling people up everywhere, which meant he was probably in more trouble than she was. If she had any brains at all, she’d leave.

“You’re stupid, Saber,” she murmured aloud. “Stupid.”

She’d stayed ahead of Whitney by being smart, by being on the move and leaving no trace behind. She knew how to conceal herself right out in the open, and she was still free because she always—
always
—played it smart. So what was she doing considering walking back into that house?

She stood in the front yard, staring at Jess’s house, her heart pounding, and realized the truth. She loved him. She had let herself fall in love with him. And he was her enemy. Did he know about her? How could he not? There was no such thing as coincidence, not in her world. How many men and women had Whitney actually experimented on, opening their minds and removing their filters, enhancing their psychic abilities and genetically altering them? Certainly the chances of accidentally running into one in Sheridan, Wyoming, were very small.

“Leave, Saber. Walk into the house, pack your things, grab your emergency pack, and leave while you can,” she said aloud as firmly as possible. “He’s a GhostWalker, and wheelchair or not, this is a setup. If he’s in trouble, that’s his problem. You can’t go back to Whitney. You have to look out for yourself. You do. So go now.”

Her heart ached—an actual pain that seemed like the point of a knife stabbing deep. She shook her head and made herself go in. She’d be casual. She’d walk in and tell him about the car, excuse herself, and get out.

She pressed her hand to her chest as she made her way through the living room. She loved the house. Loved everything about it. She loved the way Jess’s scent lingered in every room. Masculine. Spicy. She inhaled to breathe him in as she stopped in the doorway and just looked at him. Even in his wheelchair he was an imposing figure. He looked up, his eyes meeting hers, and her heart nearly stopped at what she saw there.

Raw desire mixed with something else, something she’d never seen before. Could he love her? Was it possible? She pushed a hand through her hair, suddenly uncertain of what to do.

“Baby? What is it? You look as upset as Patsy.”

The caress in his drawling voice warmed her when she hadn’t even known she was cold. She shook her head. “There’s black paint as well as scrapes and a large dent in her car, Jesse. Someone hit her.” And there was a listening device somewhere on her person. Saber had to find it and destroy it. “Did you go anywhere else today besides the radio station?” She poured tea and added a little milk, setting the cup down in front of Patsy. She was very casual, moving around Jess’s sister to stand at her side so she could once again rest her hand on Patsy’s shoulder in comfort.