“But what? You said it that day. Maybe we were supposed to meet. And we did, and you wound up saving a bunch of kids because of it.”
She shook her head. “Not necessarily. You said you heard the limb creaking.”
“Yeah, but no one else did. I’m not even sure I really heard it, or just thought I did because of what you’d said.”
“Okay, maybe.”
He nodded. “I’ve been thinking about this ever since that limb fell. And the more I think about it, the more I think it would be stupid not to see where this thing might lead.”
Shaking her head slowly, she said, “I don’t understand. What thing?”
“Us. Working together.”
She blinked precisely three times. “You want to work for me at the bakery?”
“I want you to work with me on crimes. One crime, in particular.”
She closed her eyes. “Jeez, Sam, I’m nowhere near good enough for something that important.”
“I think you are.”
“Well, you think wrong. One time I get a decent vision, and you want to turn it into ...” She let her voice trail off, because she couldn’t resist asking, “What crime in particular?”
He lowered his head, she thought to hide a look of triumph, and a suspicion whispered through her brain. “A string of sexual attacks. All connected. The department is stumped.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“What are you leaving out?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I’m up for a promotion. If I can be instrumental in solving this thing, it will be in the bag.”
She frowned at him for a long moment, feeling deflated. She’d liked him, at first. Thought he was genuine. Maybe, being psychic, she should have picked up on the fact that he was looking to get ahead, willing to use her to do it. It hurt that the first person to believe in her gift had to be so small-minded.
Pushing back her chair, she got to her feet.
He reached out and clasped her hand.
The flash hit her hard, snapping her head back with its impact, and sucking her out of her waking state, and into a vision that burned her brain with its brightness. Girls. No. Women. Two beautiful women, laughing and talking both at once, and him, Sam, right in the midst of them. And then there was something else. The dead woman, Sarah Dresden, the tattoo and the river.
The vision released her as if dropping her from a great height. She hit the earth so hard it jarred her teeth.
“Hell! Are you okay? Megan?”
She opened her eyes, found herself sitting back in the chair where she’d started out. He wasn’t. He was kneeling close beside her, and across the room Karen was looking over the counter at her.
“Who are they?” Megan asked. “The women, the two women?”
He shook his head.
“All S names. Sabrina and Shel—Shelly?”
“Shelby. They’re my sisters.” He was looking at her as if she’d sprouted horns. “What did you see? Is something going to happen to them? Are they in trouble?”
She shook her head slowly. “They’re fine. Who is your mother, anyway, Cleopatra?”
He frowned even harder. “I don’t know what you– ”
“You all look like you belong in the movies. Your sisters are as gorgeous as you–uh–as you probably already know.” God, she hated the slightly stupid state in which that powerful vision had left her.
He was crouching there on the floor, looking up at her, the concern in his eyes slowly being replaced by amusement. “You’re not too hard on the eyes yourself, Meg. You okay? Better now?” He pushed her hair behind her ear, and she was surprised at how intimate the small gesture seemed, how right it felt, and how hard she had to fight not to lift her hand to cover his and press it to her cheek.
“I’m okay,” she said. “You lied to me, though.”
“I did not. I really am up for a promotion.”
“But that’s not why you want to catch this guy. It’s not about the job at all. It’s about your sisters. They’re local, I take it?”
“Local, single. Walk to their cars alone sometimes. Jog in the park. Used to, anyway.”
“They even have S names. Just like Sarah Dresden.”
He nodded.
“Did all the victims?”
“No. It’s coincidence. But it still drove it home for me. How it could just as easily happen to one of them,” he said. He averted his eyes. “The thought of that bastard going after one of my sisters–”
She nodded. “You want to protect them. And you feel for the victims because you see them as someone’s sisters, too. You have a real empathy for them.”
He frowned. “I’m not sure how much I’m going to like hanging out with a woman who can see through me that easily.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem, unless you have something to hide. Which you don’t. Not anymore, at least.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
She pursed her lips. “I heard on the news that Sarah Dresden’s body was found.”
“So?”
“But they didn’t say where.”
He didn’t look at her. “We like to keep some information private, Megan.”
“But you already know that I know where she was found. You already know I phoned your chief and told him where that body was located, and that she had a tattoo, and I’d lay odds she was wearing red sneakers, too.”
He avoided her eyes and moved back to his seat. “I’m not allowed to tell you any of that.”
“You don’t have to tell me. What I don’t know is why your chief denied everything I told him that day. Or why you’re really here with me now. Is it because you believe I can help you with this case, or because you suspect me of something?”
He lifted his head, met her eyes. “You were right about the body, the tattoo, the sneakers. The thing is she was found a couple of hours prior to your call. The chief isn’t convinced there wasn’t a leak.”
“I see.”
“I don’t suspect you of anything, Megan. I like you.”
She searched his eyes, looking for the lie, and found sincerity there instead.
“To be honest," he went on, "I’m not entirely convinced you can help me on this case, but I’m willing to give it a try if you are.”
She lowered her head. “I don’t know how much help I’m going to be. But yeah. I’ll give it a try. I guess. Let me make some arrangements here. I can call some of my part-timers, see if they can take on full-time for a week. Will that be enough? A week?”
“We can work around your schedule. When you have time, I’ll take you to some of the crime scenes, see if you can pick up on anything from them.”
“Okay. All right. And maybe I could talk to some of the victims.”
“He... hasn’t left any of his victims alive.”
She closed her eyes. “How many have there been?”
“You haven’t been following the case on the news?”
She shook her head. “Not until this last one. Something about her...” She let her voice trail off with the thought.
“Thirteen so far,” he told her.