There was a low murmur of laughter. Even Gideon smiled, but not for the same reason as the others. They laughed with disbelief. He laughed because it might be true. He could just hear Rory talking to Harvey in a sweet, reasonable voice, doing her best to convince him how wrong he was. If she didn’t succeed, then her temper would kick into gear, and anything could happen.
“Anyone have any other ideas why Harvey would follow herrather than getting the hell out of town? Especially when the cops are showing such an interest in her?” Mack asked. “I imagine the cops believe she’s working with him. I can’t imagine they would be suspicious of any of the other women. Rory is the only one who fits the right image. She moves around. She bartends. She’s perfect for working for someone like Harvey.”
Gideon couldn’t fault that way of thinking. Rory had told him the detectives had acted as if she were a person of interest to them.
There was another long silence. Jacob cleared his throat and sent Gideon a quick look.
“Spit it out,” Gideon said.
“The woman is gorgeous. All that dark red hair. That face and her...” Jacob searched for an appropriate description that wouldn’t get his head bitten off by Gideon. “Skin.” He ignored the ripple of laughter that went through the room. “He could be interested in her and just not want to let it go.”
“I appreciate your discretion, Jacob,” Gideon said, his sense of humor returning. “The rest of these jokers wouldn’t have had your ability to think so fast on their feet. I did observe him in the restaurant when we were there. He didn’t spend that much time looking at her. If another man was sitting with the woman I was interested in, I’d be watching their every move together. He wasn’t.”
“That’s true,” Ethan agreed. “That man wasn’t paying that much attention to Rory. Not like he should have been if he was crazy about her.”
“We’ll have to find him before the cops do,” Kane said. “He’s off the street again.”
“Who do we have watching over Rory?” Mack asked.
“Our cameras are installed,” Javier said. “We aren’t taking chances that she’d spot any of us. She’s got too good of a memory. Once she sees someone, she isn’t going to forget that face, especially now.”
Gideon had been afraid to send his little sparrow to spy. Rory was that good.
“Westlake must suspect that she’s part of Harvey’s ring,” Jaimie said. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t be keeping such a close watch on her. He was really pissed that he lost track of her on the street. He sent patrolmen looking for signs of her.”
“The fact that she managed to elude him will only have him looking at her harder,” Ethan pointed out.
“That’s true,” Rhianna agreed. “He’s a hothead too. I watched him chase after her when he got out of the car. His face was red. He had his fists clenched. He was angry with teenage boys in his way. I think he would have hit them if it weren’t for his partner being right there.”
“The excuse of losing Ramsey only goes so far,” Mack said. “We’ve all lost people we care about. He knows where Rory lives. He could take her down to the precinct anytime and question her if he wasn’t happy with the answers she gave him. I didn’t think the way he reacted made much sense. No one is making sense, and you know how I don’t like anything that isn’t logical.” He turned his head to glare at Jaimie.
She exchanged a look with Rhianna, and they both burst out laughing, breaking the tension in the room.
Gideon didn’t blame Mack. He had a point. Rory was a GhostWalker, yet she had no memories of being one. Gideon hadn’t known she was one when most GhostWalkers recognized one another. Very wealthy criminals had taken apartments in a lower-rent neighborhood, meeting together when they never did. Those men were turning up dead. Harvey should have left San Francisco, or at least gone into hiding, but instead, he was following Rory around. Cops were being killed. No one had any idea why.
“We aren’t getting anywhere,” Mack reiterated. “Let’s call it a night. We’ll keep surveillance on Rory, and if we see Harvey, pickhim up and bring him to the interrogation room. Gideon, when you feel like the time is right to have an open talk with Rory, do it. Don’t wait too long. My gut says this has some urgency to it.”
Gideon’s gut was saying the same thing. He nodded. “Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the input.”
He was up and moving before the others, waving at Jaimie and Mack, and taking the stairs when he knew he should have taken the elevator. His body was nowhere near healed. The bullets had made a few decent-sized holes in his body. Paul had saved his life. There was no getting around that fact. He wouldn’t have lived without the man working one of his miracles.
Once out on the street, Gideon could breathe easier. He had never liked being cooped up. The feeling seemed to be getting worse, especially since he’d been wounded. Or was he inadvertently sharing Rory’s emotions? They seemed to touch minds and then bounce off one another, pushing each other away.
As he walked along the sidewalk, he deliberately tried to connect with her. He was a strong telepath. He knew the way to her mind. He traced his way carefully, meticulously, building the images in his head. He needed to know she was safe in her apartment, locked in and asleep after working her shift.
He should have gone straight to Mack and his team once he knew Rory was a GhostWalker, but he’d waited, processing, considering what to do. Knowing whatever he did, the odds were more than good that he would lose her. Now, he worried she was in more trouble than he’d first thought. With every step he took, the feelings of urgency and fear increased. His? Hers?
Gideon made it to his building, put the security code into the panel and hurried inside. He wanted to be in the Eagle’s Nest, where he could breathe. Where he could see and hear. Where he felt he had a direct line to Rory. He knew she had left work and, from the security cameras along the street, gotten home safely.There were no sightings of Harvey, but two undercover cops had been in the bar, and two others had followed her home. She hadn’t acted as though she’d spotted them. He wasn’t certain he believed she hadn’t.
Once he was on the rooftop, Gideon faced the building where Rory rented an apartment on the third floor. She loved her rooftop for the same reasons he did, and often fell asleep there. He wasn’t certain that was a good idea. The nights in San Francisco could get cold and damp, and with her lungs being compromised, he knew it wasn’t healthy for her to sleep outdoors. She had to know it as well, so why did she do it?
He closed off his mind to the worry of her health and focused solely on the connection he knew was between them. At first, he couldn’t find her. He tasted her. A slow burn of need and desire. An explosion of fire and passion. She smelled of a blend of lavender and something else with a citrus undertone he couldn’t quite put his finger on. A coppery taste intruded. The passion and fire gave way to fear. Fear gave way to terror.
Dark. So dark. Hard to make out the figures through the veil between them.Shush. You have to be quiet. Be still. Absolutely still. Be part of the cliff.
Gideon recognized Rory’s voice, although she sounded like a child. A very young child. She was shaken. Her voice trembled, although she was very firm. He couldn’t see her. It was more as if he were looking through her eyes. Someone was with her. Either Rory or the other person was wounded.
Shadowy figures moved past them. Close. So close he could see they were grown men and they carried automatic weapons. Gideon felt as if he could reach out and touch them.
