Third Eye Watch (A Serena Shaw Mystery) (8 page)

Serena collected her phone and driver’s license from the security booth and followed Sam. “My car is in the parking lot adjacent to this building,” he told her, as he led her through double glass doors to the elevators of a parking garage.

As they exited the parking deck, he turned up the wiper speed to max, to handle the torrential rain that was lashing his windshield. He was achingly aware of Serena’s presence next to him.

He thought about what his partner had said. Perhaps she knew him better than he knew himself; he’d never suffered real heartbreak, although he had been blamed for a few broken hearts; but Serena, he thought, could very well be the one to break his heart.

He glanced sideways to see Serena gazing sightlessly out of her window.

“What are you hiding, sweetheart?”, he wondered silently.

xxxx

They entered the gallery through the back door. Serena left the “Closed” sign on the door and watched McHot as he wandered around, examining things; running his fingers lightly over the furnishings and the knickknacks strewn all over. He picked up a brass dagger, which lay flat on a tall pedestal and ran his fingers lightly on the blade.

What would his beautiful long fingers feel like on my skin?

Serena turned away quickly to hide her heated cheeks. When had she acquired such a vivid imagination?

“Come, let’s sit down,” she heard and turned around to see Sam walking up to her. He led her to a red leather sofa; it sat angled away from the windows so people outside wouldn’t be able to see them, and waited for her to sit down.

xxxx

Sam sat down next to Serena, angling himself slightly towards her, then centered himself and began scanning her mind; unsurprised to find it unguarded, and completely open to him; as most minds were.

Serena was a friendly and fun-loving young woman; she loved to read and hang out with friends, she didn’t like to exercise but felt she had to so that she could lose ten pounds.
He paused, not glancing at her, but thinking she didn’t need to lose any; she was perfect just the way she was. Then he focused on her again.

He learned her best friend’s name, Alisha, and her ex’s name, “Sanjay”; he had left Serena for another woman.
“Jerk,” Sam thought. Who would let go of a woman like Serena?”
She loved to travel and dreamed of traveling around the world with her future husband and kids. She was close to her parents, and shared a close bond with her brother, the future doctor; and was proud of him. She was proud of her gallery and hoped to expand it into a large showroom in the future.

And then he learned the secret that she had shared with no one else.

Serena could read minds; she had become a telepath after her head had hit the dresser in her bedroom; the same night her neighbor Sofia had been kidnapped. Over the months, she had refined her powers and learned to protect herself from unwanted eye contact. That’s why she wore eyeglasses; zero prescription lens for indoors, and sunglasses for outdoors; to protect herself from the constant barrage of thoughts.

She liked Audrey and admired her, wishing she could be tough and slender like her.

He smiled at that, wanting to tell Serena that he loved her luscious curves.

The man who followed her was from Albania, who hated America and just wanted to go back with a woman named Lena.

Lena, he thought, Sofia’s sister! So the man was with Lena, but why would he be following Serena?

She was attracted to Sam.

He stopped the scan abruptly, withdrawing from her mind before he learned more about what she felt for him. It was a line that he couldn’t; or rather wouldn’t cross. He wanted to let whatever it was between them to develop; without any “inside” knowledge, he chuckled wryly to himself.

She did know more about the man who had followed her. And she had strong telepathic powers, but her unguarded mind left her exposed to intrusions. Like the one he had just exposed her to, he thought, vowing to teach her techniques to protect her mind from unwanted intruders.

xxxx

It had only taken him one and a half minutes to scan her mind, and now Sam looked at Serena, finding her gaze already on him. If she had wondered why he had sat motionlessly for that amount of time, she didn’t verbalize her curiosity.

He looked into her clear brown eyes, and felt the world fade as they stared at each other for a long time. Then his gaze dropped to her lips, and heat filled him when her tongue flicked out as she nervously moistened her lips.
Putting his arm around her shoulders, he tugged her closer; then gently lifted her chin with his index finger. “You are so incredibly beautiful,” he whispered and watched as Serena’s lips parted and her eyes fluttered closed.

He dipped his head, nibbling her lower lip, teasing and caressing it until Serena moaned, and grinned triumphantly as her arms snaked around his neck. He shifted so that he could hold her closer and then probed her mouth urgently with his tongue, asking for and gaining entry, whereupon he plunged his tongue into her mouth, ravenously exploring every inch of it. He plundered her mouth again and again, as they both finally succumbed to the sexual tension that had gripped them.

The need for oxygen finally drew them apart, and Serena clung to him, hiding her face in his chest. He laughed softly; then tucked her head under his chin.

A few moments later, he said in a husky voice drugged with passion, “I shouldn’t have done that Serena, and I’m sorry.”
But he wasn’t sorry. Kissing Serena had been a deep-seated need that he hadn’t been able to deny any longer. And holding her, felt so right! He tightened his arms, knowing that what he should be doing was loosen them, and move away from her.

She drew back in his arms to look at him.

“Why?”

“Why what?” he asked, looking at her in perplexion.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Oh, well I……...you are, well a witness in an active case I’m working on, and I came here today to check out on something that you reported, and, uhh it’s entirely inappropriate to be kissing you.” 

He was a badass federal special agent, having dealt with all kinds of criminals and assholes who had wanted to put a bullet in him, and here he was, unable to explain himself coherently to this little slip of a woman whose chocolaty eyes had melted his ability to think.

“But did you enjoy it?” She asked.

“What? Yes, of course, I enjoyed kissing you. You are a gorgeous woman, and what hot-blooded male wouldn’t; wait, what kind of a question is that?” He was agitated.

“Well, if you enjoyed it, and if I enjoyed it; which I did in case you were wondering, then what’s the problem?” Serena asked, and he gaped at her.

“What’s the problem? You’re asking me what’s the problem? FBI agents don’t take advantage of women. I kissed you when I should have been, why are you smiling?” He asked her with growing frustration.

“I kissed you back, and you didn’t hear me complain, did you?” So saying, she laid her head on his chest and snuggled into him. 

He was stupefied, but only for a moment; then he wrapped his arms around her, and held her tightly, not knowing what to do with her.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” she mumbled into his chest.

His chest rumbled with laughter. “You are incorrigible,” he murmured in her hair and dropped soft kisses on her.

“I know,” she said and burrowed deeper and Sam’s heart felt as if it would burst with happiness.

xxxx

When they exited the gallery, the sun was out, and the small puddles of water around the parking lot were the only sign of the storm that had brought torrential rains only a couple of hours earlier.

Serena dropped her purse and laptop on the passenger seat of her car, and closed the door; then turned to face Sam, who leaned against the hood, his arms crossed, a light smile playing on his lips.

He straightened as she came to stand in front of him, and gave her a tender smile; then reached out to tuck an errant lock of her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers trail up and down her cheeks, he murmured, “I’ll call you.”

Serena nodded, then closed her eyes as he bent and planted a firm kiss on her lips.

“Goodnight,” she told him in a soft voice, then stepped around and got into her car, watching him as he stood watching her drive away.

After a dinner of cold cucumber and avocado sandwiches washed down with a cold Corona, Serena undressed and got in bed. She lay awake for hours, reliving Sam’s kisses and wondering if he was also thinking of her.

A tiny voice inside her reminded her that Sam was not available. He had a girlfriend.

Yeah, Yeah, I know. A few stolen kisses do not, a relationship make.

She thought she should feel guilty, but she didn’t. She wasn’t planning on breaking up a relationship. Besides, she hadn’t planned today. All she had done was enjoyed the opportunity that had presented itself; an opportunity in which she had received spine-melting kisses from a man who was serious eye-candy, and appeared to be a thorough gentleman who hadn’t taken undue advantage of her.

xxxx

After Serena had disappeared from view, Sam walked toward the front of the building and crossed the street. He walked on the sidewalk slowly, focusing his mind, hoping to pick up any stray thoughts left behind by the man who had watched Serena from there.

Then he entered the Starbucks, and walked up to the counter and ordered a coffee, glancing behind him to look towards the exit.

He paid for his coffee, and exited the Starbucks, walking back the same way. He lingered for a few minutes, and then crossed the street again, got into his car, which was parked behind Serena’s gallery, and drove back to the office.

He sighed knowing Audrey would be waiting, wanting to know every little detail about his time with Serena.

MY SISTER’S KEEPER

The young woman who entered
Serena’s
a week later, was willowy thin and tall, dressed stylishly in a pale yellow dress, white open toed sandals, and carrying a matching white tote in her hands. The man who followed her was familiar to Serena; he was the one who had followed her a few days ago, and whom she had foolishly followed into the Starbucks. Serena stood up and came forward, her gaze darting between them, as she met them halfway.

“Hi,” said Serena cautiously, picking up her thoughts unwillingly.

“I hope she doesn’t freak out. Fredrik told me what he had done, foolishly following her…”

“I’m Lena Bardha, Sofia is…uhhh, was my sister,” the woman extended her hand to introduce herself to Serena.

“Oh!” Serena exclaimed, thinking Lena looked nothing like her sister Sofia.

“This is Fredrik, he is my friend from Albania,” Lena was saying, pointing to the man in the Hawaiian shirt.

He nodded at Serena, but didn’t offer his hand nor did he say anything. His thoughts, however, came fast and furious.

“I want to go back home. I miss Albania; miss my family; miss the food. American food is horrible. I’m never coming back. Why does Lena want to find Sophia’s murderer? She’s dead; let her soul rest. I’ll ask her to marry me; it will convince her to go home.”

“I’m very sorry for your loss,” Serena said, aborting eye contact with Fredrik, and letting her gaze rest of Lena’s face, not making direct eye contact.

“Thank you,” said Lena, fidgeting, as she struggled to say something more.

“You are here to collect Sofia’s…..” Serena’s voice trailed off.

“Yes. Also, Fredrik and I plan to stay here for some time, visit America. I have always dreamed of seeing America; I have heard it is a beautiful country”.