“Did you do anything about it?”
“I...didn’t want to get involved.”
Smith leaned over her, his eyes sharp. “But you felt a pull toward him.”
She opened her mouth and closed it again.
“Did you fuck him?”
Oh Lord, what should she say?
His fingers closed painfully over her arm, and he shook her roughly.
“Did you fuck him?” he asked again.
“No.”
“Why not? Weren’t you attracted to him?”
“Yes.” She focused on the pain of his fingers on her arm. It was helping her brain function again. “But there was an intensity between us. It gave me a headache.”
“Ah.” Smith looked excited now.
“That scared me. I’d never felt anything like that before. I ran away from him. Maybe that was why I felt so bad when that detective said he was dead.”
Smith gave her another good shake and pushed away from her. “Well, that’s a new one,” he muttered. “Are you lying?”
“Why would I lie?”
He shook his head. “Maybe I’d better find out what the detective knows about it.” He considered for a moment. “And how did you hook up with the detective anyway?”
“He approached me.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. He said something about a list.”
“So you say.”
Smith turned toward the door, and Olivia felt a spurt of relief—followed immediately by panic. Had Travis been able to contact Gabe?
She remembered then that he had asked her to send him power. Was there any hope she could do it?
With everything she could summon, she reached for Travis and could just barely feel him at the edge of her awareness. Was he too far away for her to send him anything? And did she have any energy to send?
* * *
After one lastlook at Olivia, Travis turned away and slipped through the wall into a hallway. As he got farther away, he could feel the link with Olivia stretching. How far could he get from her? And what would happen if he got too far? His pace slowed, but he realized that would do him no good. If he couldn’t get to Gabe, they were in deep shit.
When he felt like he could hardly move another inch farther from her, he finally reached the room where Gabe was stashed. That was a good sign, he told himself. At least he had enough awareness of the man to find him.
Stepping through the wall, he found himself in a small, dark chamber set up like a cell. Gabe was lying on a hard bunk, his hands and legs bound and his eyes closed.
Okay. Now he was here. But that was only a small part of what he had to accomplish. He had to get through to the man and tell him the story that would save Olivia. Was there any way to do that?
He looked around and spotted a camera up at ceiling level. The prisoner was being watched. That was an unfortunate complication.
Although he’d never talked directly to the other man, he had to do it now. But how? They’d been together for a while—maybe he could reach him. He had to because Olivia’s life or her freedom might depend on it. There was no telling what torture Smith would put her through if he knew she had her own private ghost.
