I Can See You (27 page)

Remembering what she had to do, she slipped her arm
around his waist and turned back to Jeremy, whose mouth had fallen open. “Noah,
I want you to meet Jeremy Lyons. He works for my graduate advisor, Dr. Donner.”

Noah shook Jeremy’s hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said,
then put his arm around her shoulders, lightly squeezing.

“Likewise,” Jeremy murmured.

“So, Jeremy, now you know. We hoped to keep it to
ourselves a little longer. You know how people talk. But…” Eve shrugged. “I
guess the cat’s out of the bag, Web.”

“We knew we couldn’t keep it a secret forever,”
Webster said, his voice a soft caress that sent shivers racing across her skin
and she had to remind herself that none of this was real. It was as imaginary
as any relationship in Shadowland.

You can’t have him, so don’t dream
. But she would dream, because now she knew what it
was like to hold him, to feel his body against hers.
What have I done?

Noah cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I can’t stay,
babe. I’ve got to get back to work.”

“Oh,” she said feigning disappointment. “I
understand.” But when her smile faltered, it was sincere. “Then, can you take
me home? I had kind of a difficult morning.”

Webster rested his cheek against the top of her head
and for just a moment more Eve held on to the dream, leaning into him. “Sure,”
he said quietly. “Let’s go.”

She gathered her things and walked away, Webster’s arm
still tight around her shoulders. The cold air on her hot face felt good and
she let out a long sigh of relief. Phelps was sitting in the front passenger
seat, eyes wide, obviously having seen it all.

Webster opened the back door, and only then did he
relinquish his hold. “You’d better make me that key after all,” he murmured,
surprising a snort of laughter from her.

“
Babe?
” she asked, and he smiled wryly.

“I panicked. Now, buckle up,” he said and closed the
door.

Jack waited until they’d cleared the first
intersection before twisting around to stare at her, then at Webster. “And that
was… ?”

Really nice
,
Eve thought, resisting the urge to lick her lips to see if she could still
taste him.
A dream
. “Damage control,” she murmured. “It’s been an
eventful morning.”

Tuesday, February 23, 9:55 a.m.

Noah’s heart had not stopped pounding. First he’d
feared for her safety, then she’d rocked him with a kiss she’d called “damage
control.”

Now it pounded with helpless rage as his hands twisted
the wheel, wishing it was the reporter’s neck as she relayed the details of
Buck-land’s visit. “He threatened you?” he asked ominously, and in his rearview
he could see her grow wary.

“I dealt with it,” she said. “Whatever hold he thought
he had over me, he doesn’t.”

And for that, he was fiercely proud of her. “It
doesn’t matter. He had no right.” No right to extort her with her own assault.
It was as if she’d been victimized a second time.

“You’re not helping,” she said softly and she was
right.

“I’m sorry.” But he wasn’t sorry, not really.

“At any rate,” she said, “Buckland’s been following
you to your crime scenes. He followed me to the coffee shop.”

“He was there?” Jack asked. “Just now?”

“Yeah. I guess he thought I’d meet you, to warn you
about the pictures. I didn’t want him to think he was right. So I… did what I
thought I needed to do.”

Damage control, Noah thought bitterly. “I understand.”

“Hopefully Buckland and Jeremy don’t think I’m part of
your case anymore. But you need to watch out. Buckland wants his story and
he’ll keep following you till he gets it.”

“He’s following us now,” Jack said. “Has been since we
left the Deli.”

Noah checked his rearview again, focusing on the
traffic behind him instead of the woman in the backseat. A dark Subaru was
maintaining a safe distance. “Sonofabitch.”

“You gotta hand it to the man for persistence,” she
said, wry amusement in her voice. “Are we going to lose him in a mad dash? Is
that why you told me to buckle up?”

Noah chuckled in spite of the anger churning in his gut.
“Sorry. It’s against regs.”

“Well, damn,” she said. “I haven’t had a good mad dash
in years.”

Jack twisted in his seat so he could look back at her.
“If I promised you a mad dash, would you kiss me like that?” There was
something harsh and almost demeaning in Jack’s tone and Noah shot him a furious
glare.

In the rearview, Eve’s smile disappeared and she
looked away, embarrassed. “No.”

“Jack,” Noah gritted.

Jack settled in his seat with a sarcastic sigh. “Can’t
blame a man for trying, Web.”

Noah bit his tongue.
Focus on the case, not
flattening Jack’s pretty face.

Eve must have thought the same. “Now what? I tried to
confuse things by insinuating that I was there to meet Noah, but I don’t know
if I convinced him.”

“You sure as hell convinced me,” Jack said blandly.

“
Jack
,” Noah muttered between his teeth.
But
she sure as hell convinced me, too
, he thought. And he was already wishing
for another demonstration.

“You convinced every guy in the place,” Jack added as
if Noah hadn’t spoken.

“Do you
mind
?” Eve shook her head angrily.
“This is serious, Detective.”

“It’s his way,” Noah said flatly. “How easy will it be
to connect you to Shadowland?”

“Pretty easy,” she said. “All the grad students know
it’s part of my thesis, although after this morning I don’t think they’ll talk
to Buckland.”

“That’s good,” Noah said. He nearly asked her if she’d
gotten into the Shadowland network, but he knew she’d have told him if she had.
“Now, what do we do with you?”

“I have a good idea,” Jack muttered, and Noah clenched
his teeth so hard they hurt.

I am so going to turn you in
. He should have done it years ago. Why he hadn’t was
a mystery to many, he knew. He was aware of the talk, the betting pool, but
like a fool, he’d hoped Jack would get his life back together.
I did, after
all
.

“What do you mean?” Eve asked warily. Apparently she
hadn’t heard Jack’s mutter.

“That if Buckland knows you’re involved, it’s just a
matter of time before he prints it.”

“He’s printed just about everything else,” Jack said
sourly.

“Like what?” she demanded. “What did he print?”

Noah hesitated. “That they wore red dresses and the
killer used a snake on Christy.”

“A snake?” She looked confused. “Like, a real snake?”

“A real rattlesnake,” Jack said grimly. “It bit her.”

“Did he do that to Martha?” she asked, troubled.

“No,” Noah said. “And we’re not sure why.”

“Did he sexually assault these women?” she asked.

Jack frowned. “Why do you want to know?”

“Did he?” she insisted and Jack shook his head,
disgruntled.

“No, he didn’t.”

“So he meets them in the virtual world, attacks them
in their own homes, strangles them, then stages a hanging. And now he uses a
snake, a common phobia.”

Noah glanced at her again in the rearview. She’d
become very quiet, her expression contemplative. “Do
you
know why he
used the snake, Eve?”

“Maybe. Something Jeremy said today just struck me. He
was on a diatribe, telling me why I didn’t belong at Marshall, throwing out
things he had no business knowing.”

“Like?” Noah prodded gently.

“My favorite color and that I don’t like beets. Or
heights.” She said the last words slowly. “I’m trying to remember who I told
that to. The only thing I can think of is that I filled out a questionnaire
when I was first admitted to the program. We did something similar with our
study, asked all the things they love, hate, things that comfort, scare them…”

Noah got it. “If he has the files, he would have seen
Christy’s questionnaire.”

Eve nodded. “And if she wrote she was afraid of
snakes, he would have known. Did Martha’s autopsy show anything odd?”

“Her blue lungs,” Jack murmured.

“She had blue lungs?” Eve asked. “Why?”

“The ME thinks her killer shoved her face in a
toilet,” Noah said. “We need to see those study files, Eve. We need to know
what these participants said they feared, and as soon as we request the
subpoena, your role in this will come out.”

“I know.” She hesitated. “I can get the files for you
faster.”

Jack frowned. “And more secretly?” he asked pointedly.
“And more
safely
for you?”

Noah glared at him yet again.
“Jack.”

“No, you listen. Anything she gets by hacking is
poisoned fruit. The DA will throw any arrests out like yesterday’s garbage and
us with it. No hacking. We do it by the book.”

There was an anger in his partner’s voice that Noah
wasn’t sure he’d heard before, but before he could get closer to its cause, Eve
spoke, calmly, coolly.

“My role in all this will come out, Detective Phelps.
That’s a given at this point. I’ll be taken before the committee and probably
thrown out of the program. If that happens, I’ll be blackballed from any other
program. I think it’s safe to say my career is over, so secrecy—and safety—for
myself isn’t my main concern.”

“So what is your main concern?” Jack asked, his voice
also cool.

“That you not show your hand to this monster too soon.
If he knows you know his MO, he’ll change it. He will kill again. It gives him…
pleasure.”

A shiver went down Noah’s spine, not from her words,
but from the way she said them, almost as if she were in a trance. “How do you
know that it gives him pleasure?”

She looked away, the spell broken. “It just makes
sense. Get your subpoena for the files if you like. I don’t know what the file
names are, but I can get you a description. That should speed your warrant.
Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to go home.”

Tuesday, February 23, 10:35 a.m.

“You didn’t have to walk me up, Detective,” Eve said
as she let herself in.

Noah followed her inside her apartment, closing the
door behind him. She’d become formal again. He’d liked it much better when
she’d relaxed her guard and wondered how to get her to do it again. “Yes, I
did. Where’s Hunter?”

“Probably buying roofing supplies.” Her smile was
brittle. “I’m fine, as you can see. Your partner is waiting for you, so go.”
She went to the window and stood, eyes closed.

“I’ll go in a minute.” He stood behind her, wanting to
touch, but knowing she didn’t want him to. “I know you weren’t offering to get
us access to protect yourself.”

“Don’t be so sure your partner wasn’t right,” she
murmured. “Maybe I was.”

He gave in to the need to touch her, grasping her
shoulders gently. She tensed, but her face reflected in the window remained
unmoving. He kneaded, wishing he could turn her around and kiss her again.
She’d know it was real this time.

But he didn’t, instead dropping his hands to his
sides. “I don’t want you here alone.”

She shrugged. “It’s much more likely Buckland was here
last night, and not your killer. He’d been following you and latched on to me.”

“Still, if Buckland prints your name, the man who
killed three women will know you are involved. Then he may come after you.”

Her mouth firmed, her chin lifted. “I hope he does.
I’ll be ready for him.”

Alarm had him frowning. “Eve, this isn’t the virtual
world where you can kick ass as Nemesis or Greer. This is real. He’s killed
three times. He won’t blink at four.”

“Which is why as Eve,” she said, with a calm that
rattled him, “I have a very real gun and I know how to use it. It goes with the
whole survivor thing.”

He knew he should go, but didn’t. “What else goes with
the survivor thing?”

“Different things. I wasn’t always like I am now. I
sat in the dark for two years after my assault. Never looked in mirrors and
didn’t leave the house unless I had to, and when I did it was under an inch of
makeup because I was afraid.”

“Of?” he asked softly.

“Of the way people looked at me. I was young, before.
Pretty. Then, I was a freak. Scarred. People stared in horror, grateful it
hadn’t happened to them, scared that it could. Nobody looked me in the eye.
Once I made a child cry, he was so afraid of me.”

She’d dropped her eyes, shame in her voice and Noah’s
heart squeezed so hard it hurt. But there was nothing he could say that she’d
want to hear, so he stood, helplessly listening. After a moment she lifted her
gaze, meeting his reflected in the glass.

“My world was in the computer. It kept me connected to
people, and in many ways it kept me sane. When I finally got the courage to
come out of the dark, helping people to break free like I did became more than
a wish. It became my purpose. People need purpose, Noah. That’s a survivor
thing, too.”