Hidden Sanctuary, page 18
“I think it was the rug,” a voice said.
I turned to see Robert enter. He gave me a reserved wave and began sorting through the damaged materials, piling them in the middle of the floor for easier hauling.
I should have stayed with her, I thought, watching the mound grow. I should have made her tell me everything.
I couldn’t stand the guilt anymore. “When I catch her,” I muttered, walking away from the damage, “I’ll set her on fire.”
“Not if I get to her first,” Catrina said, watching from the hallway with Rhys at her side.
I nodded in appreciation of her need for retribution, realizing this was her house. Her bedroom.
Her family.
Much like Efra was mine.
And they could have been killed.
“We will meet you all downstairs after we assess the damage,” Catrina said, her voice determined and unwavering. She’s tough, I thought. I glanced down to see her holding Rhys’s hand as if it were a life preserver.
But not as tough as she’d like to think.
“We should call the local fire marshal,” Eve said, coming up the stairs with a black bag in hand.
I hadn’t known she was a doctor.
Her gaze went back to Catrina as if she expected her to argue. “Let the professionals take care of that. I want to check everyone out. We all breathed a lot of smoke.”
Catrina frowned, but before she could answer, Rhys cut in. “She’s right,” he said. “I can replace the house, but I can’t replace you.”
She softened and nodded.
Not nearly as tough as she thinks, I decided, as I left the three alone and went downstairs. Griffin was in the kitchen with Nick, cleaning up in the sink.
I went outside to find Ana, wanting to talk to her, see what I could find out about this group of women. Perhaps it was the pregnancy or the fact that I’d touched her and the baby, but she felt more open than the others.
I found her on the porch.
“Is everyone okay?” she asked, one hand on her stomach.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Robert is assessing damage to the room, and Eve is checking everyone out to make sure no one was hurt from the smoke.”
“Good,” she said, the worry lines around her mouth fading.
We stood for a few moments in awkward silence. “You know Pauline got away,” I commented, wondering how she’d react to the bad news.
“I know, but you tracked her here. You can find her again,” Ana said.
My sigh morphed into a cough, and Ana gave my hand a pat. “Let’s take a walk. The fresh air will do you good.”
I followed her toward the orchard, my mind racing.
I’d find Pauline again, and that act would redeem me, to a point. I remembered my conversation with Catrina and Eve—that we all wanted the tiles but would cross that bridge when we came to it.
The metaphorical bridge was in front of me, as big as the Golden Gate, and I was no longer sure that I wanted to cross it.
Maybe it was because of the shared heritage or the bonding while trying to save the farmhouse, but I liked these women. I didn’t want to have to choose between them and Efra. I sighed again. This time, sans coughing.
“You okay?” Ana asked.
“Yes,” I lied.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she said after a few minutes.
I stopped and stared at her. “Actually, it was.” I’d tracked Pauline here, wanting not just the tiles, but answers. Reasons. I think a part of me hoped that a closure of sorts would assuage my guilt for letting Pauline steal the tiles in the first place.
But answers hadn’t helped. Quite the opposite. They only brought more questions and responsibilities I couldn’t commit to. And on top of that, my great search had almost killed people and the villain had escaped.
I was most definitely at fault to some degree.
Ana shook her head. “I’d argue, but I don’t think you’re in the mood to listen.” Smiling, she wove her arm through mine. “Let’s get back to the house. I need to pee. Again.”
I laughed, grateful for the distraction. Perhaps my mind would sort through this mess if given a rest.
“So, have you picked out a name for her yet?” I asked as we walked, following our footprints.
“What do you mean, her?” Ana asked.
I didn’t care if she knew I was a dowser. If the others hadn’t told her yet, they would.
I was more worried what she’d do if she found out that I’d used my skill to touch her unborn baby, even inadvertently. She might be fine with my actions. Or she might bitch slap me into tomorrow. While she was tender and sweet when it came to handling Robert, I suspected she was on a par with a tigress when it came to protecting her child. “Just making conversation,” I finally replied, hoping my hesitation didn’t appear as obvious to her as it did to me.
“No. You said it like you knew,” Ana countered with surprising steel in her voice. Her arm tightened on mine.
Well, I had some answers. She knew what I was, and my hesitation was obvious. Hell. I stopped and turned on my best wide-eyed innocent, please-believe-me persona. “Ana, I was just talking. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Really?”
“Yes, really. What is this? Some kind of interrogation?”
“I can do that,” she said, and started walking again, pulling me along.
That didn’t sound good. “What do you do? For a living, I mean.”
She grinned at me, but it wasn’t a friendly grin. It was more like the kind a shark gives right before it bites your head off. “I worked for Interpol.”
“Oh.” Oh crap.
“Now do you want to tell me how you know my baby’s a girl?” she asked.
“No,” I replied, telling her I had been lying but not why in the single word.
“Perhaps later.”
Perhaps? I glanced at her. Now who was the liar?
I didn’t say anything, but knew that Griffin and I would have to leave soon. Ana was able to see right through me, and if she asked the right questions, they might hold me here until they found Pauline and the stolen tiles.
And despite my trepidation and my growing admiration of these women, I had a promise to keep.
Giving up the tiles was not an option.
When we got back to the farmhouse, the local fire marshal and fire brigade were already inside, having seen the smoke.
By the time they left, the sun was already setting. I met Griffin on the porch. “You okay?” I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder.
He put his arm around me. “Yeah. Eve said I was a moron, but that I’d live to be stupid another day.”
I snickered.
For a few minutes, we watched the sunset in surprisingly comfortable silence. “You want to tell me more about this dowsing ability?” he asked.
I worried my lower lip, anxious that the inevitable would come despite his assurances. That this was the part where he’d tell me I was on the wrong side of crazy and it might be best if we went our separate ways. “Would it matter?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” He sighed. “It’s a little farfetched, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. I guess a demo would help.”
He shifted to face me. “I’ve thought about that, and the answer is no.”
“No? I don’t understand.”
“I don’t want you to do whatever it is you do if it means you have a seizure, or blackout, or whatever you want to call it.”
For a heartbeat, annoyance blossomed, but then I realized what was happening. He was scared for me.
I touched his cheek, surprised and pleased at his unexpected emotion. “It doesn’t hurt me, and what you saw wasn’t normal. Like I told you before, it has to do with the tiles. Otherwise, the only time I experience anything close to that is when I find a new material that I’ve never felt before. And even then it has to be a large amount.”
“So if you were in a gold mine what would happen?”
I smiled, pleased he was trying to understand. “Nothing.” I hesitated, trying to think how to explain what happened. “I’ve been around gold a long time. My brain knows the signature. When I find something new, like the tiles, it’s as if my brain can’t process the information fast enough and I black out. After I wake up, it never happens again. At least not with that material.”
“But it keeps happening with the tiles, doesn’t it? That’s why you went into the bedroom in the hotel.”
I shrugged again. “Their energy signature is a lot more complicated than anything else I’ve dealt with.” If he was having trouble with this aspect of my talent, there was no way I was going to tell him about the visions. Not yet.
“And you use this—” he touched my necklace “—to focus on that energy.”
“It’s how I found Pauline before, and how I’ll do it again.”
Concern changed to stiff disagreement. “I already said that wasn’t an option.”
“Be reasonable,” I said. “It’s the best chance we have.”
And the only option, since I had only a day to find them and get back to Egypt. One day before the curse kicks in.
He scrubbed his face with his palms. “You say it doesn’t hurt you, but I’m not so sure.”
I tried not to roll my eyes, and reminded myself that it was worry that made him cautious, not disbelief. “I was checked out. You read the report.”
“I don’t care what it says. I saw you. Twice. Once in the Jeep and then in the snow.” He slid his hand to the back of my neck, pulling me closer. “You fell backward into the snow, and I thought you were dying. You say it doesn’t hurt you, but for those who have to watch you shake and shudder and refuse to wake up, it looks like torture.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, wrapping my arms around him. For a moment, we held each other. “I didn’t mean to put you through that,” I whispered in his ear.
“Then you understand why you can’t do this to find Pauline?”
Leaning back, I shook my head. “Not unless you can come up with something better.”
“I’ll use my resources.”
“Informants will take too long.”
“I’m the head of security for Dynocorp. I have a tech team at my disposal.”
“And they’ll help you track down a member of the Adriano family?” I asked, unable to keep the doubt out of my voice.
“Not all, but I do have a friend who might,” he replied.
From his tone and the way he glanced away, I knew we weren’t talking about a boys’ club where information was given because of shared gender. Quite the opposite. “What’s her name?” I asked. “This saint who will help us?”
He sighed. “Leslie.”
A twinge of jealousy rocked me. I tried to ignore it. We’d shared one amazing night, I reminded myself. That didn’t mean we were exclusive. “I hope you didn’t piss her off when you stopped dating,” I said, trying to sound more flippant than I felt. “Otherwise, she’ll never help.”
“Uh. No. It was mutual,” he replied.
Perhaps it was the reflection of the setting sun, but I think he blushed.
By the time the sun set and my adrenaline rush faded, all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep, but rest wasn’t an option. We had to catch up with Pauline before she got to the real tiles and moved them to where I might never find them again.
Out in the driveway, Griffin was on his cell phone. His laughter carried on the evening air, needling me as another unexpected rush of jealousy tried to take hold.
She’s just a friend, I reminded myself. A friend who can help us find Pauline.
I clenched and unclenched my fingers, wishing the rest of me believed that. He flipped the phone closed and came back up the drive. “Where is everyone?”
“Catrina and Rhys are making dinner. I’m not sure about everyone else.” In fact, thinking about it, I realized I hadn’t seen them in quite a while.
“Good.” He pulled me close.
“What are you doing?” I asked, confused.
He nuzzled my neck. “Do you want these people along with you when you find Pauline?” he whispered.
I did, and more than I cared to admit. I’d just met these women, but they were already closer to me than I thought possible. But if they were with me when I recovered the tiles, they would take them, and I had a promise to keep that did not involve rebuilding the mosaic.
“No,” I whispered back, sliding my hands under his jacket and up his back.
“I didn’t think so.”
I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Shadowed by the rest of the curtain and the darkened room, someone watched us. “We have an audience.”
“Good.”
“Good? How does making out with an audience help us slip away?” I bit his ear and was rewarded with a groan as he grabbed my hips and pulled me close. His erection pressed against me, and I grinned.
The curtain swung shut. “They’re gone,” I said.
“That’s how,” he replied. His mouth traced a path up my neck, stopping at my lips. “Once we’re sure they’ll stay gone, we’ll leave.”
“You call that a plan?” I asked.
“No. I call this a plan,” he whispered, claiming my mouth with his. I opened to him, and slowly, his tongue teased mine. Tasted me. Made me crazy as heat built inside my body.
Finally, I turned my head away. Much more and I wouldn’t be able to think straight, much less make an escape. “Tell me how this getaway is going to work,” I said, my voice breathier than I’d intended.
He kissed my throat. “I have a knife in my pocket….”
“And I thought you were just happy to see me,”
“Brat,” he said, biting my neck.
I groaned.
He continued. “I’ll puncture their car tires, and we’ll get away. Simple as that.”
“Simple?” I said, sinking into him. “How do we get them to leave us alone for that long?”
His hands slid around my waist and moved under my shirt to cup my breast. “We’ll give them a show. Trust me, at some point they’ll get embarrassed and leave us be.”
My heart beat hard, and my shivering was not due to the cool air. “What kind of show? X-rated? At this rate, we’re going to end up naked on Catrina’s front porch.”
“No, we’re not. We’re going to move it to the hood of my car,” he whispered.
“Excellent,” I said. “If it were summer.” A metal hood in winter was not my idea of a good time.
“You’ll deal,” he said, laughing as he pulled me down the porch. “And I’ll keep you warm, don’t worry.”
I gave the appropriate giggle and followed. The cars were parked next to each other, like ducks in a row. Thanks, guys, I thought as we walked past them.
We reached our vehicle, and I found myself lifted onto the hood. I hissed as the cold penetrated my jeans. Sitting on the edge, I pressed my knees against Griffin’s hips and pulled him close.
His hands went back under my shirt and unhooked my bra. “Isn’t that a little more than a show?” I whispered.
“Just watch the windows and make sure they see us,” he replied. “When we’re sure they’ll leave us alone, we’ll slice tires and go.”
One of his hands slid between my legs, making me sit up. “They there?” he asked.
“I can’t focus on the house if you’re feeling me up,” I hissed.
“Sorry.”
He didn’t sound sorry, but he moved his hand around to my back.
I watched for signs of spying. Nothing. A few minutes later, I was ready to yank off my jeans, and to hell with pretending, when Ana opened the front door, flooding the lawn with light. “Do you two need a room?” she called out, laughter in her voice.
“We’re fine,” I replied. “Be there in a minute.”
Seconds later, we were alone in the dark.
“Now?” I asked.
“Thirty seconds. Let’s make sure,” Griffin replied.
I ticked off the seconds until he pushed up my shirt and took a nipple into his mouth. Then I lost count and pulled him closer. “God, yes,” I hissed.
He stopped. Though I couldn’t see him in the darkness, I felt the change in attitude. Damn. It was time to make our escape.
He pressed the keys into my hand. “Keep an eye out.”
Easing the car door open, I took the driver’s side, ready to start the engine.
In the dark, Griffin knifed the others’ tires. It seemed to take forever. I watched the house, but it remained unchanged. Silent. No alarms sounded, no outside lights came on.
No one charged out to stop us.
Quietly, the deed finished, Griffin took the passenger seat.
“I should drive,” he said, closing the door.
“Why?”
“Again. Quicksand.”
“That was days ago.”
“And I still have the head wound,” he sighed.
I ignored him, started the car and backed out. I had the car oriented when the front door opened.
“Go!” Griffin shouted.
I flicked on the headlights and floored the pedal at the same time, racing up the rocky lane.
In the rearview mirror, I saw Catrina and Eve give chase, then stop. Ana watched from the porch.
I forced myself to focus on the road, but I wanted to cry. These women were like me. We might have been more than Marians and sisters. We might have been friends.
Instead, I was leaving them behind and by this time tomorrow, I’d have the tiles. Tiles they would never own. Never use.
I turned onto the main road and realized they were right to suspect me. Right to wonder about my motives. I was more like Pauline than I cared to admit.
Just more convincing.
Chapter 17
This time, I drove and Griffin slept. Left alone with my thoughts and my conscience, I flipped through different scenarios, wondering if there was any way this fiasco might have been prevented.
From losing the tiles to Pauline, and all the way to knifing the car tires, we’d faced one disaster after another.
At three in the morning, when the stars were still out and I’d just entered Paris, I concluded that there was no good answer, and self-torture wasn’t getting me anywhere.
