Energized (17 page)

“Y-yes.” The look on her face was a cross between astonishment and adoration.

Niall kept going through the bags. “There are also jeans, tees, shorts, some pajamas, and a couple bras. You should have seen the look on the woman's face at the store when I tried to describe your—well, you know.”

Hannah blinked. She glanced at the bags, then back at Niall. “You bought me clothes
and
gloves?”

“You needed them.” Niall shrugged. “Oh, and here. Use this until your cell is replaced. It's got a month of pre-paid minutes on it. The instructions are in one of the bags.” He handed her the burner phone.

“What happened to earth dog and we're just employer and employee?” She delivered the question with wonder in her voice.

Niall closed the distance between them. “Hannah, I didn't mean the earth dog comment the way you took it. You're a tree hugger. Is that better?”

Hannah stared up at him, her eyes round with surprise. “Yes. And the other thing?”

Goddamn, he wanted to kiss her. To sink into her and lose himself.

So he stepped back instead.

“You've had it rough for a few days. You needed clothes. I have the money. It's no big deal. It's nothing I wouldn't have done for any of my employees.”

Damn his lying ass.

“Oh.” Hannah sighed and shrugged. “Well, then I'll pay you back, Mar—Niall.”

She'd been about to call him
Marine
. Her pet name for him. But she stopped herself. How many times had he thought she was trying not to call him Mr. Graham? She hadn't been forcing herself to sound casual, she'd been distancing herself.

Fuck.
He just gave her another reason.

“Hannah—”

“I'll be ready to go to the Cat in fifteen minutes.” She collected the bags. “Thank you for these. I promise, I'll pay you back.”

Then she was out of the room and racing up the stairs.

“You don't need to,” he said in the silent room.

Truth was, he owed her so much more than she had ever owed him.

And he just kept fucking it up.

T
HE
C
LOSED
SIGN
was up. Finally.

Hannah helped Michael and Karma clear the last of the dishes from the front while Dawn and Sadie set the tables for the next day.

“Why are we wasting our time setting the tables in the restaurant? We need to be getting ready for tomorrow night's wedding,” Dawn said, her Brooklyn accent pitched and whiny. The mascara she'd put on this morning was smudged under her eyes. She looked tired and a decade older than her twenty-eight years.

“Because we're still serving brunch in the Master Room in the morning. Get over it, Dawn. It's not like you have to work on Saturdays.” Sadie slammed plates down on the table hard enough that it seemed to defy the laws of physics because they didn't break. “Doesn't your kid have basketball or something tomorrow?”

“Soccer.” Dawn blew her pink-tipped bangs out of her eyes. She appeared ready to continue the argument the two waitresses had been having for hours. “What's your problem?
Aren't you getting like double time or something to work the wedding? Why do you always have to be such a—”

Hannah didn't wait to hear the argument escalate but pushed the dishpan full of dirty dishes through the swinging door into the kitchen.

“Will you trust me for once in your miserable existence?” Ross hissed out the last word.

Hannah stepped back from the doorway to the office. The whole night had been busy. While the Cat had been markedly slower than the night before, everyone was hustling to make sure all of the arrangements for the wedding were in place.

Several times she caught Ross going over a list or signing off on a document only to find Niall double-checking him. Yikes, the Marine was a major control freak.

A control freak who had bought her lightweight cloth gloves to wear while working so she wouldn't accidentally get another vision. A control freak who spent his own money to buy her clothes. Nice ones in her size. A control freak so bent on keeping their past relationship a secret from the staff that he held her close with one arm and pushed her away with the other.

Well, that wasn't going to happen.

Yes, she'd lost her way after spending the night at the police station. She shivered at the memory. But then she'd slept in his house. In his bed. His headboard was a very nice black metal. That she purposely did not touch. She came to understand the universe brought her into his life to help him connect with his brother. Why else would she have had the vision about Ross if not to help them?

She might have originally come to Tidewater to find Jules and Shelley but the universe had bigger plans for her. Bigger even than helping Niall and Ross. She needed to find the killer.

It had come to her in the shower this afternoon.

The cops didn't believe her. They didn't know how. But she had already established a connection with the killer. If she could reconnect, she might be able to glean enough details to get TSS on Mercy's trail. The question remained, was there anything left in the restaurant that the killer had touched?

Probably not. But maybe the other silverware Mercy had
touched hadn't been touched by anyone else. Odds were slim that the customer who did the murder would come back. Hannah considered asking Karma for the knife that had sent her into the vision, then changed her mind. Her friend would likely try to talk her out of searching for another vision, especially while they were working.

Hannah had spent most of her shift surreptitiously touching every piece of metal she could. Both wishing she would and wouldn't see anything. Oh, she got visions all right, just none related to the cruel Mercy.

“This isn't about trust.” Niall's words were calm, cold, and lowering with each syllable. “If you'd actually listen to me, you'd know that.”

Ross's response dropped to a muffle but the tension in the air was palpable.

Virgil and Paulie cleaned their stoves for the night, both glancing intermittently at the door. Neither spoke.

Hannah carried the tub of dishes to the dishwasher around the corner and slipped off her gloves. This was the last set of dishes left to be washed for the night.

With a deep breath for courage, Hannah reached into the tub and grabbed the silverware propped up in a glass. A myriad of images slipped through her mind. Images of sunsets, flashing lights at a nightclub, a perfect golf swing, a sick baby cuddling as it nursed, a handsome young man with laughing eyes, and more zipped through her mind. Scents of magnolia perfume, menthol cigarettes, baby powder, and cigars floated through her senses. There wasn't a single image stronger than another. Nothing to mentally grab on to. Too many to decipher but there was a distinct lack of violence in the overlapping visions.

No blood.

No death.

No Mercy.

“Hannah? I thought Niall gave you gloves,” Karma said from behind.

Hannah jumped, dropping the cutlery. Forks, knives, and spoons clattered against the concrete floor. Her breath whooshed out as the tenuous connections snapped in an instant.

“Whoa! Sorry. I didn't mean to sneak up on you.” Karma bent to retrieve the flatware.

“He did. I, uh, just forgot to put them on.” Hannah tugged the rubber gloves from the sink counter and jammed her hands in them before helping Karma pick up the scattered utensils.

“You know your aura is this brilliant shade of orange,” Karma said conversationally, after they cleaned up the mess. She laid a hand on Hannah's forearm. “Except when you lie. It turns a funky brownish color. Not very pretty.”

Hannah glanced at the demi-wall to make sure no one was nearby. “Sorry about that. I was trying to see if I could get another reading on . . . you know,
Mercy
.” She whispered the name.

Karma pulled her by the arm into the corner, fear on her face. “Are you nuts? After everything that's happened, why would you do that? I saw what it did to your aura. You weren't you. Not when you had the vision.”

“I never am.” Hannah tugged the gloves back on her hands and shrugged. Big mistake. Karma's face drained of color. “This is why I didn't tell you what I was doing. Don't worry, I'm fine. When the visions happen, I am the person who sent me the vision. I usually come through it unscathed.”

“Usually?” Karma looked around the kitchen, then lowered her voice again. “And how many times have you been inside a serial killer's head?”

“Just the one time. Stop looking at me like you expect me to go all Norman Bates on you. I won't. My plan to find something else
she
touched didn't work anyway.” Hannah raised her glove-covered hands helplessly.

“You still didn't explain why.” Karma folded her arms over her chest. “Why would you go looking?”

“Because a killer is out there. We served her a meal. Frick, I could have talked to her and not even known it. Then I spent all night in a room with two cops trying to convince them that I'm neither a killer nor crazy. They didn't believe me. They're so focused on proving it's me, I'm afraid the real killer is going to do it again. I don't want someone to die because of me.”

“No one is going to die because of you,” Niall said, startling Hannah and Karma.

“Way to go all panther-like, Boss.” Karma blew out a nervous breath. She waved at Hannah. “Maybe you can talk some sense into her.”

“Hey!” Hannah wheeled around. “I'm not a child. And I'm not a fool. You weren't there last night. Those cops wouldn't listen to me.”

“And you think digging around for more
evidence
will help your case? If they didn't listen last night, what makes you think they'll be any more willing tonight or tomorrow or if you
do
find the right thing to touch?” Karma's cheeks were mottled with color, but it wasn't rage in her eyes, it was fear.

Hannah touched her friend's shoulder. “You introduced me to your cousins. They listened. If I get anything, I swear I'll give it to them. I won't go back to the station.”

Karma sighed, stepped closer, and lowered her voice. “What about the other thing?”

“What other thing?” Niall's black brows drew together.

“It's nothing.” Hannah shrugged and tried for an it's-all-good smile.

“Your aura's getting brownish again.” Karma looked from Hannah to Niall. “She had trouble breaking the connection with the killer during the vision last night. It's how she cut her hand.”

Niall's green gaze swung to hers. “Is that true, Hannah? You never mentioned this before.”

In the bar
.

He didn't say it but that had to be what he meant. And yeah, that sent her mind spinning in a whole different direction. One that had nothing to do with serial killers or kitchen knives.

“Your aura is, um . . . getting kind of red,” Karma whispered to her.

Hannah tore her gaze from Niall's and back to Karma's. But her friend was staring quizzically at Niall. Hannah hazarded a glance back at him. He was bathed in a lovely red light.

“Hannah,” Niall said sharply. The red light zapped out of
existence. “What did she mean about trouble breaking the connection?”

“I was sort of stuck. Karma called my name and helped ground me.” Okay, that was an oversimplification but it was the gist.

“See why I'm worried, Boss? She was looking to see if she could get a vision on the killer again.”

“In my restaurant?” His eyes widened and his cheeks reddened with obvious anger. “You think the killer works here?”

“No, no. I don't. I think the killer ate here. I didn't get a vision from something back here. I got it from the knife that someone ate with.”

Niall exhaled his relief, then glanced at Karma. “Why would you let her try to do something like this?”

“Hey!” Hannah clapped her hands. The sound was muffled by the gloves but it did the trick: they both looked at her. “Don't talk about me like I'm not here. Or like I'm an errant child.”

“Then don't act like one,” Niall snapped.

“Are you kidding me?” Hannah whipped off her gloves and stood toe-to-toe with her handsome, frustrating, egotistical boss. “I'm not a child. And I have every right to do whatever it takes to keep from being wrongly questioned or arrested for something I didn't do.”

“Yeah, I'm going to, uh . . . go in the other room. Zig'll be here in fifteen to pick us up, Hannah.” Karma started to sidle out of the room. She paused next to Niall and said, “Boss, blowing it.”

Hannah and Niall both glared at Karma's retreating back.

Niall glowered intensely for several long seconds, his lips moving as if he were counting to ten. “Hannah, you are not a child. I know that better than anyone. I don't want you questioned again either. But I don't see how looking for another vision is going to help your case. If you do see something, then what are you going to do?”

“I already said I'd call the TSS guys. They believed me. They didn't think I was crazy or lying or doing a bar trick.”

“That's not fair.” Niall lowered his face until they were
nearly nose to nose and whispered, “You were the one who acted like it was a bar trick.”

“Only because it so clearly freaked you out.”

“I never said I didn't believe you. I drove you to the station to report what you witnessed, didn't I?”

“After trying to talk me out of it.” Hannah rolled her eyes. Why was she fighting? What did it matter?

Niall put his hands on her upper arms. She sensed the control in him snapping but his touch was gentle. His thumbs rubbed against her shoulders. Goose bumps ran down her arms.

“I was afraid something like last night would happen. I'd seen it before. You're not the only psychic I've met.” He gave her a half grin. “Hell, Karma works for me. I've known others. And I've also seen what happens when people don't believe them. I didn't want you hurt.”

The absolute truth shining in his eyes made her knees weak. He was worried about her.

“Oh.” Her mind blanked. She wanted to thank him.

She wanted to jump him, if she was really being honest with herself.

But even though he cared about her, he didn't want her. Not the way she wanted him. And it wouldn't work anyway. She was only here for the summer.

But he simply stood there. Holding her by the shoulders. His lips close enough to kiss. Just a few inches and she could taste him again.

His eyes darkened to the color of summer grass. God, it was so sexy how they did that.

He licked his lips, and yes, seeing him do it had her licking her own lips.

Somehow they'd moved closer. Less than an inch now.

“You ready, Han—? Oops! Sorry!” Karma appeared beside the wall, only to whip around and head back the way she came. “Don't mind me. I'll be waiting, outside. Uh, with Zig. Come . . . oh, shit, I can't believe I just said that. See you when you're ready.”