Hunted by the Past, page 17
I sat back with a loud sigh, and tapped my fingers absently on the chair’s armrest. Sorting through everything we had on Ellery to this point, I thought it through out loud. “Okay, we know Ellery’s got the stolen information and he’s getting ready to sell it, probably to Hobbes. What does it get him?”
“The big two, money and power,” Kayden offered.
I nodded. “And payback. By selling this information, he not only keeps it out of the government’s hands, but also from whoever hired him to steal it in the first place.”
“He’s playing a dangerous game.”
“He doesn’t think so.”
“You reading minds now?”
I shook my head and got to my feet, needing to move as I kept sifting through the bits and pieces. “Basic profiling. Ellery is a psychopath, so he believes he’s in control and thrives on manipulation. Therefore, he’ll make sure he holds the power, using it to force everyone else to move where he wants them. Money, power, manipulation,” I ticked off each trait. “Then there’s his need for payback. When we stopped the initial sale from going through, we stole his control, so now he’s stealing it back.”
“By killing each of us and taking our abilities.” Kayden sat on the edge of the couch, and watched me. “But each time he does, his personality fractures.”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
I stopped in front of him, the coffee table between us. “If he felt remorse, or shame for killing, then yeah, he’d start to crack, but he’s a psychopath, Kayden. Guilt? Shame? Those don’t exist for him. The only one that matters to Ellery is Ellery. We screwed with his plans. Whoever hired him, left him hanging in the wind, now he’s going to make us all pay. That scares me, because he has no boundaries, nothing to stop how far he’ll go. What if he’s using this possible sale to lure everyone out into the open so he can take us all out in one big blow?”
“That’s damn arrogant.”
“Right.” I moved to the couch and perched next to him. “What happens when you believe you’ve got it all under control?”
Grim acknowledgement colored Kayden’s face. “You begin to make mistakes.”
“Right.” Cautious excitement bloomed as I spotted a possible chink in Ellery’s intimidating armor. “If you know who’s coming after you, and you have access to Liza’s ability, you’re arrogant. You begin to believe your own press. To get ahead of him, we have to change our role in the game.”
“And how do we do that?” There was a world of reservations in Kayden’s question.
I took a deep breath. “We need to check out the other tower.”
There was a beat of silence. “Wait,” he said. “You want to go over to where the shooter was positioned and do a walk through?”
Not understanding his disbelief, I frowned. “I’m not looking for physical evidence. There’s no way anything traceable was left behind. I just want to figure out who was behind the scope.”
He pushed to his feet with a muffled oath. He took a couple of steps away, and then returned to lean over me, his hands braced on the back of the sofa, trapping me without touching me.
At his unexpected move, I lifted my chin and met his glare head on. “What?”
“Are you a glutton for punishment?” he growled.
I lifted my hands and set them on the chest looming in front of me. My fingers curled into the heat under my palms. But it didn’t stop me from pushing him back or growling with frustration. “No,” I scrambled to my feet, forcing him to straighten. It put only a few inches between us, leaving me with nowhere to go. I fisted my hands and set my jaw, trying to ignore how close we were. “You said it yourself, you don’t like being hunted. Why not try getting something from the site and see if we can’t get the upper hand for once?”
“You keep pushing yourself into the past and you’re going to do irreparable damage.”
“You don’t know that.”
His gaze darkened. “Nosebleeds aren’t good, Cyn. Add in the fact you’re now seeing the past without looking for it, I’d say there are reasons to be concerned.”
“Getting shot is pretty damn irreparable, too,” I whispered.
This close to him, I couldn’t miss the pale undertones of his normally tanned skin. Behind his shaggy hair, the knot on his forehead was now an angry reddish-purple, and rusty streaks marred the gold and brown strands. All of it was a stark reminder of the terror that tore through me as he lay unconscious. As much as I wanted him to stay out of the line of fire, it was pointless to ask. He wasn’t the kind to stay behind, any more than I was. My fingers moved without permission, gently brushing along his jaw. “I’m tired of playing catch-up, Kayden. If we don’t get ahead of him…”
“I know.” Frustration and worry lined his face. He captured my hand, squeezed, and then let go. He stepped back, finally letting me move. “A quick peek, nothing more, understand?”
“Roger that.”
Chapter 15
There were only two ways to get between the condo tower, the main lobby or the fifth-floor gym. Since I wasn’t up to facing Terrance, I opted for the gym. We stepped out of the elevator onto the fifth floor and my phone rang. Following Kayden as we headed down the hall, I checked the incoming number and answered. “Tag, did you make it?”
“Yeah, for all the good it did me.” A myriad of rings and dings played background music to Tag’s voice. “She’s not here.”
I reached out and grabbed Kayden’s arm, bringing us both to a stop. My recent optimism at using Risia’s ability started to dim. “What do you mean, she’s not there?”
“Her apartment is empty, and it looks like she packed in a hurry.” Serious disgruntlement colored Tag’s words. “I’m going to run down some of her friends and see if I can’t find out where she rabbited.”
A niggling sense of unease rose, but considering I had no idea if it was legit or just part and parcel of my current circumstances, there wasn’t much I could do. “Be careful, Hayseed.”
“I will. I’ll call you as soon as I get more information.”
We said our good-byes, and then I tucked my phone away.
Kayden read my worry. “Don’t borrow trouble,” he warned. “He’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, I know.”
We continued down the hall, heading toward second tower’s elevator. A sign was posted above the call buttons. I nudged Kayden, drawing his attention to it. The sign indicated that the eleventh through fifteenth floors were under construction, and inaccessible by elevator without a special pass.
We exchanged raised eyebrows. He gave me a slow nod and I hit ten. We rode up in silence. Once we disembarked, I took lead, heading toward the door at the far end. I pushed it open, and stepped into the stairwell. I held the door open while Kayden slipped by. As soon the door closed, locking us in the stairwell, the temperature rose by a good fifteen degrees.
I snuck a glance at Kayden, his coloring was better but still a little wan. “Ready?”
“After you.”
We made our way up the stifling stairs, my boots echoing hollowly in the cement confines. “You have your B and E kit?” I threw over my shoulder, wondering if maybe I should’ve asked sooner.
I took his grunt for a yes. We stopped at the top of the stairs before the door marked with the big 11. A surreptitious glance up showed no blinking red light in the security camera perched in the corner. “Strange.”
He wiped a thin layer of sweat from his forehead. “What?”
“The security camera’s down.”
He looked up, then turned to me. “That can’t be good.”
Or maybe we caught a break. “Guess we’re starting on this floor.”
With lock picks in hand, he made short work of the heavy door. It opened into a plastic-draped hallway. There were no murmurs of voices, no pounds, clicks, or motorized sounds to indicate any workmen remained on site. Still, we stayed as quiet as possible, drifting down the corridor. Based on the trajectory of the shot, we could narrow our search to the condos sitting above the pool.
Unhung doors rested against unpainted walls, while sheets of heavy plastic draped doorways. White dust layered the cement floors and various construction detritus. Not wanting to leave visible footprints, we picked our path carefully. Halfway down the hall on the left side, I found the first possible position for our sniper. I pulled the plastic aside, and slipped inside, Kayden on my heels.
Bare wood frames outlined future interior walls and allowed an unimpeded view of the windows overlooking the pool area. Even knowing our shooter wouldn’t have lingered, Kayden and I cleared the space before moving to the windows. Then we started our search from opposing ends.
I studied the dust covered floor for any indication our shooter had been there. No marks. Nothing. I met Kayden at the wall of windows. Together, we ran fingers over the edges, looking for openings, cracks, anything a shooter could use. Nothing. I met Kayden’s gaze, and shook my head. We moved out and on to the next unfinished condo.
On the third condo we hit pay dirt. An arid breeze swirled drywall powder into mini dust devils that twisted their way through half-built walls and wound over the paint-flecked concrete. At the wall of windows, a missing pane of glass left a gap on the far right side.
I moved closer, and found the first imprint, a smudged print of a boot toe. Mimicking the angle of the mark, I lined up an imaginary shot. Sure enough, Kelsey’s second-bedroom balcony came into line.
Behind me, Kayden’s low voice said, “I’ve got signs of a shell casing.”
Half turning, I found him crouched down on his heels, arms on his knees. I joined him and studied the imprint. “Looks as if the shooter tried to brush it away.” Looking around, I said, “Guess this is the place.”
He raised his head and caught me with those disturbing navy eyes. “For the record, I’m not keen on you doing this.”
My lips quirked, and not with humor. “Noted.”
I had my own reservations, but not enough to outweigh the possible benefits. My gut said the shooter was after Ellery, not us. Which made me wonder why he would reveal himself by taking such a risky shot? All he had to do was stay quiet, follow along, and wait. Something had changed, and I wanted to know what it was. If that meant another trip down memory lane, so be it.
Kayden rose and dusted his hands on his jeans.
I followed suit, checking the sparse space for somewhere out of sight of the windows and the plastic-shrouded doorway. No need to advertise our presence. A half-finished interior wall lined by a row of 2x4’s, blocked the door’s line of sight. “Let’s move over here.”
He scrutinized the unfinished wall. “Better than nothing, I guess.”
I stepped around him and led the way. We stood facing each other with maybe a foot between us.
Kayden folded his arms over his chest. “Touch or no touch?”
“Let’s go touch free, maybe we can get what we need with just a surface look.”
He backed up so he could lean against the wall. “I want you in front of me.”
I looked pointedly at the small space between us. “I am in front of you.”
He reached out and tugged me until I stood between his feet. Every breath I took was colored with his unique blend of man and spice. His gaze was hard. “If you start to bleed, I’m bringing you out.”
“Fine.” The tension in my shoulders loosened. Somewhere in my brain, I equated his presence with protection. Maybe it should bother me to rely on him this much, but Kelsey’s death had crumbled my normally stable foundation. Right now, I needed him, needed to feel as if I weren’t completely alone. When this was over, and he moved on to the next assignment, his absence would be the equivalent of ripping off the scab from an unhealed wound.
It would suck.
My gaze dropped to the floor as I pushed my brooding thoughts aside and cleared my mind. Once again, the slide into my psychic headspace was akin to stepping from one room to another. Unease tripped along my nerve endings.
“What?”
Caught off guard by his question, I jerked my gaze up. “What, what?”
“You’re worried about something.”
Stupid aura colors. “Stop reading me.”
Kayden’s image held a painful clarity, one that put him in stark relief against the room’s hazy, watercolor consistency that was associated with the past. The blue of his eyes shifted into a mesmerizing variety of blue, taking on unexpected depth. The strange occurrence was not limited to his eyes. His hair was no longer a combination of blonds, browns, and blacks, but a stunning collection of amber, onyx, and gold. Even his body appeared more etched, for lack of a better word. As compelling as the strange clarity was, the tie between us that was my anchor to the present, remained steady and strong. Even without touching. “Weird.”
He crooked an eyebrow at me. “Going to get pissed if I ask what’s weird?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Maybe.
I turned around and scanned the half-finished space in front of me, and waited. Vague impressions of various men with tools and hard hats moved in overlapping scenes. With no real strong emotions, the past wavered in front of me like a desert mirage. There was no way to tell time, but when a burly, heavy-set man popped out of nowhere to lay a 2x4 against the wall, I jerked back instinctively.
“Cyn?”
“I’m okay, just wasn’t expecting to get brained by a 2x4.”
“See anything interesting?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I’m getting pieces of the construction crews.” I narrowed my eyes as if that would somehow help me filter through the past. The images became less hectic, and more and more vague. “I think they’re packing up for the day.”
The images faded away, leaving a ghostly imprint of the empty condo. It reminded me of dealing with a double lens. I f I could find just the right aperture, I could line the two images up until I had a 3-D representation of the real thing. I tried, and failed. Repeatedly. Disappointment crept in. Maybe it wasn’t this condo.
A breeze reached through the gap in the glass and ruffled the plastic hanging in the doorframe. The material’s movement almost obscured the emerging figure, but thankfully I caught it. Battered baseball cap, T-shirt, jeans, and backpack. It gained definition as it moved toward the window, but remained slightly out of focus. A fierce smile stretched my face. “Got him.”
“Male?”
“Sorry, can’t tell, the image isn’t clear enough.”
The figure, smaller and thinner than Ellery, stood by the open pane, gazing out. The image knelt and shrugged the backpack off to the floor. Piece by piece the rifle emerged and quickly took shape.
“He’s using a concealable, precision tactical rifle.” If the situation wasn’t what it was, I’d be green for one of those customizable bad boys.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough emotional echoes to get a clearer picture. I wasn’t surprised, because the sniper’s movements spoke of experience and practice. They swung the rifle onto the tripod and adjusted the sight. Focused on the shooter’s movements, I sucked in a breath. “The shooter’s female.”
“You recognize her?”
“No, her wrists, they’re narrow. Still can’t see her face, stupid baseball hat.”
“Any identifying logos?”
“She’s gone for the standard black motif.”
The sniper set her eye to the sight and waited. The image started to fray and dissipate. Then she gave a tiny jerk, and for a moment the memory held itself together. “She’s taking a phone call.” Really? What kind of sniper took a damn phone call?
“Can you hear anything?”
I shook my head. “I almost lost her before her phone rang.”
“Let’s see if this will help.” It was my only warning before he curled his hands around my waist.
That fast the scene in front of me graduated from rabbit ears to high definition. “Holy crap.” I tried to hang on while the world reset around me.
“They just entered the condo.” The sound of our shooter’s voice came through without any interference.
“Definitely female. She’s reporting to someone.” Not wanting to miss any of the conversation, I covered Kayden’s hands, ensuring we wouldn’t get separated.
“No, haven’t seen him.” A pause. “Yes, sir, they had some notebooks.” Another pause. “Understood.”
Our little assassin clicked her phone shut, tucked it away, and reset her eye to the scope.
“Um, did you happen to notice a tail at Ramirez’s?”
His fingers tightened. “No, why?”
“She just told someone we pulled notebooks out of his place.” She must be a damn chameleon for neither one of us to spot her. “And we were right, they’re waiting for us to lead them to Ellery.”
“Do you recognize her?” he pushed.
“Maybe?” Something about her set off little, warning bells. “I think, maybe, I’ve seen her somewhere before.”
“Whe—,” An imperious demand trilled. He lifted one hand from my waist and the image shivered, lost a bit of definition, but held. “Time to go, Cyn,” he said. “Hobbes just left his office and we need to get into place, so we can switch out with Bishop.”
“I don’t think she’ll give us anything more.” In truth, the image lost it vibrancy, probably because there wasn’t much happening.
“Can you fast forward it to make sure?”
“Yeah, give me a moment.”
With the extra boost from his touch, I arrowed through the unfocused layers, navigating the memories with an unusual ease. A flash caught my attention and, concentrating, I brought it up front and center. Sure enough, the moment she pulled the trigger, her emotional signature spiked. Other than a soft curse at her miss, she made quick work of breaking down the rifle, retrieving the casing, and getting the hell out of Dodge.
“I got nothing.” I stepped away and broke our connection. My surroundings dimmed and resettled. A low-level headache kicking in. “Did you pick up anything?”
“A faint energy signature, but not one I recognize.” He tugged me close. “Headache?”
