Rangers: Silver-Star Seductions: A Two-Book Box Set (12 page)

Desire made him overeager. He pulled her to him, their lips meeting in a kiss that was nearly violent it was so filled with need. She paused in the task of unfastening his belt to snake her arms up around his neck, tightening her fingers in his hair, and returning the kiss with unbridled passion.

He wasn’t accustomed to instant heat, the kind that made you lose your mind and revert into a primitive male with only a single thought. But that’s where he was and there was no sense fighting it.

Thoughts of demons and ghosts, psychics and angels were abandoned as they came together.  This might not be the start of happily ever after for either of them, but it was too powerful to be diminished.

Hours passed before they were spent, lying slick with sweat in one another's arms on the bed.. Amazing didn’t even touch what this woman was. She was a force of nature. Neither of them moving except their chests and bellies heaving for air.

“Fuck me,” she breathed. “That was…incredible.”

“That was just the beginning, sugar. If you’ve got more in you.”

She grinned up at him. “Bring it, Ranger.”

“Oh I intend to.”

And he did.

Travis looked rumpled when he opened the door. That was Delilah’s first thought. His shirt was wrinkled and buttoned once, but in the wrong hole so that it hung lopsided, and his pants looked as if they’d been slept in. Add to that the fact that his hair was standing this way and that and he presented the picture of a man who had not slept well if he’d slept at all.

She hated barging in on him in the middle of the night but she had to talk to someone. Twice since they’d arrived in Texas, she’d had a precognitive flash. The first time it’d been too unclear, but this time she got it.

Cia was going to die.

“Come in.” Travis stepped aside for her to enter.

“I think we should ask Brett to pull Cia from this one,” she said as soon as he closed the door.

“What’d you see?”

“Us. At a funeral. Cia’s.”

Travis shook his head. “That could be any point in the future, Dee.”

“No. You looked just like you do now. And Kade was there.”

“Still doesn’t mean—”

“Vacher was there. Standing beside her grave.”

Travis’ eyes widened marginally. “You know she’ll fight it if we try to have her removed. This is personal for her. You know that better than anyone.”

“Which is exactly why she needs to be removed.”

Travis raked his hands back through his hair and paced across the room. “Dee, I don’t know. She may be our best chance at stopping this. And this Vacher character…well, chances are no matter when Cia dies, he’ll be standing there gloating unless she manages to find him one day and we figure out how to banish him.”

“Travis, she’s going to die. And Vacher’s here.”

That stopped any further argument from Travis. “Fine. We’ll talk to Brett in the morning. But—” He held up one finger for emphasis. “If he says Cia stays then you’ll let it go and we’ll do whatever we can to make sure your vision doesn’t come true. Agreed?”

Delilah thought about it for a moment then nodded. She was going to do all she could to convince Brett to remove Cia from the case. If she couldn’t then she’d talk with Butch and see if between him, her and Travis, they could come up with a plan to keep Cia safe.

* * * * *

Cia woke to the feel of warm hands caressing her lower back and butt. She smiled and rolled over to face Kade.

“What time is it?”

“A little before three.”

“You want me to leave?” She almost hoped he would say yes. Since they’d finished having sex, all she could think of was what it would be like if this thing between them was more than a quick affair that would end when the case was over.

If he told her to leave, maybe she could convince herself that there was never really anything there to begin with, just fanciful imaginings.

“No, I don’t. But I do want to talk.”

The warm, relaxed feeling of a moment ago vanished to be replaced with anxiety. Talk was dangerous. “About what?”

“Well, actually I want to talk. And I want you to listen.”

“Okay.”

“Okay. I won’t say this but once. I think you’re wrong about Dwayne Jones and the couple. I read Jones’ sheet. He wasn’t a good man, Cia. He’d been busted on intent to distribute, several felony possessions, breaking and entering, armed robbery and attempted manslaughter. The man was in and out of prison since he was sixteen. He was on a path that was already evil.

“And that couple—that was just a mistake. And it’s not as if they were squeaky clean, either. Spaulding was rumored to be working for some real bad people, people who are into slave trafficking. That woman he was with, Denise Dobbs? She was involved with the same people. And she’d been dealing meth for years. Again, not exactly the crème de la crème of society. And you thought you were in imminent danger and reacted the way anyone would have.”

“I know about Jones.” She did know. She’d memorized his sheet. “Knowing doesn’t change what I did. Nor does it excuse me from gunning down two people because I’d been drinking and overreacted.”

“Maybe. But with Jones, it is justified if he welcomed Vacher, don’t you think?”

“But we don’t know that he did.”

“Unless you ask him.”

“I don’t know that I can do that.”

“Why?”

“It just doesn’t work like that, Kade. I don’t go looking for them. They just come to me.”

“Well, have you ever tried?”

“No.”

“Well there you go. You never know until you try. Look, just think about it. That’s all I ask.”

“Why does it matter so much to you?”

“It just does.”

“That’s all you’re gonna give me?”

“For now. Just think about it, okay?”

She considered it, looking into his eyes to try to see what lay beneath the surface. Finally, she nodded. “Okay.”

He smiled sweetly at her and she scooted closer to kiss him. When she ran her hand down his body, he stopped her. “I think we should get some sleep.”

She would have preferred another horizontal two-step but didn’t argue. He gathered her into his arms and closed his eyes. Cia lay there, thinking about what he’d said and wondering. Could she call Dwayne Jones to her? And even if she could, did she want to? What if she found out that he had been innocent of the acts Vacher had made him commit?

She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to have that verified. But what if the opposite proved true? Would she feel vindicated in that killing? Maybe. But there were two more deaths she couldn’t justify. How was she supposed to put that behind her?

Her eyes grew heavy and she snuggled in tight to Kade. Just as she closed her eyes, she felt it. A hot wind and a smell like putrefying flesh.

Her eyes flew open. Silhouetted in front of the window with the light from the streetlamp haloing him was Dwayne Jones. She slid quietly out of bed and went to him.

“Long time,” he said with a lecherous grin.

Cia studied him for a long moment. “You knew, didn’t you? About Vacher?”

“Hell yeah, I knew. Man gave me power. Made me smart and strong.”

“Made you a murderer.”

“Those bitches got what they deserved.”

“How do you figure that, Dwayne?”

“Easy. All they had to do was say yes. We proposed to them, offered ourselves to them. But like the little whores they were, they said no. We weren’t good enough for them.”

“So that justified what you did?”

“We gave them what they deserved.”

“Rot in hell, you bastard,” she hissed into his face.

He laughed. “I’ll be waiting for you, bitch. Got some special plans for you.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Oh, it’ll happen. Vacher will see to it.”

“Cia?”

At the sound of Kade’s voice, Dwayne vanished. She turned to see Kade sitting up in bed.

“Was that Jones?”

“You saw him?”

“Saw and heard.”

Cia was stunned. She shouldn’t have been—after all, she saw the dead, why shouldn’t he? She just hadn’t expected it.

“Have you seen them before?”

“Who?”

“The dead.”

Kade held out his hand to her. She returned to the bed, settling in on her side, facing him. He turned on his side toward her. “I saw my grandfather. Once. During a raid. I was shot. Had on a vest but it knocked me out. When I regained consciousness, I was in ambulance and he was sitting beside the paramedic. He told me I was okay and that he was always with me.”

“And that’s all?”

“Well, until I met you.”

It was obvious that Kade had some degree of ability. What was odd was that it should start manifesting now. Did it have something to do with being around her, or maybe Delilah and Travis? Or was Joe somehow involved?

“How does it make you feel?”

He was quiet for a long time before answering. “A little scared.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“What Jones said  You’ve got to know now that he wasn’t innocent. If you hadn’t killed him…”

“Then he would have gone to prison. I know he was evil. That much is clear. But it doesn’t cancel out what I did, Kade.”

“Cia, you can’t—”

“Let it go.” She silenced him with her fingers on his lips.

He took her hand to uncover his lips. “I can’t. Cia, do you believe in forgiveness?”

This time she could not answer right away. Did she believe? She supposed she did. She wanted to.

“I don’t know that it’s a question of belief. More like a question of whether it’s deserved.”

“And you don’t believe you deserve it?”

“Maybe not.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Kade. I really don’t.”

“Well, if it means anything, I forgive you.”

“I have to go to the bathroom.” She had to escape the bed, escape his eyes. No way could she let him see the tears that flowed down her face. Did it mean anything? That was what hit her so hard and with such total surprise. It meant everything.

Cia opened the door to her hotel room to find Joe with a room service cart. She cut a look over her shoulder at the people gathered in the room—Delilah, Travis, and Kade.

“Come on in.” She stepped aside for him to enter, mouthing “what the fuck?” at him.

He grinned and pushed the cart into the sitting area of the suite. “Hope ya’ll are hungry. Got a mighty fine breakfast here.”

Cia looked at Kade, who looked at her, then at Joe and back at her. She looked at Travis and knew he had noticed the reactions. Was he reading Kade right now? The raise of his eyebrows and expression on his face said yes.

Delilah looked up from the table on her lap and the notes she’d been typing. “I’ll just have some toast and—oh my god!”

Cia looked at her then at Joe. He just shrugged and smiled. Delilah set her tablet aside and got up to walk over to Joe. She circled him and stopped in front of him. “Joe, I presume?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Delilah looked at Travis. “You see him, right?”

“Clear as day.”

“And you?” She looked at Kade.

“Yes.”

Delilah turned to Cia. “This is
the
Joe?”

“Yeah.”

“So why’re you showing yourself to us?” Delilah turned to face Joe.

He shrugged. “You seem like nice people.”

“Who are you?” Travis asked.

“Well, you already know that. I’m Joe.”

“Joe who?”

“Just Joe.”

“Plain old Joe,” Delilah said. “That’s what you told Cia. But there has to be more. You had to have had a last name at one time.”

“Not necessarily.”

“Well, when were you born? Where? When did you die?” Delilah fired off the questions.

“Why did you make yourself known to Cia?” Travis added.

Cia stepped in between Joe and Delilah. “Stop.”

“No,” Travis argued. “It’s time for answers. And why don’t you want to know? Aren’t you curious? He’s been with you all this time and keeps you in the dark and that’s okay with you?”

It wasn’t okay but she loved Joe and she couldn’t let them browbeat him. “No, I want answers but it’s his choice on what he tells me and when. It’s not up to you to interrogate him.”

“I have to agree with Travis,” Delilah said then looked at Joe. “She loves you, you know that? Cia honestly loves you. But we love her and we want to know that whoever or whatever you are, you’re not a danger to her.”

“Dee, back off!” Cia’s voice rose.

“No!” Delilah yelled back. “Cia, do you know how extraordinary this is?” Delilah stepped back but did not reclaim her seat. “If he is of the spirit realm, then he’s a far cry from anything we’ve ever encountered. He’s—”

“Cia, it’s way past time,” Travis interjected.

From that point, it turned into a screaming match, everyone talking on top of one another. Several minutes passed with no one willing to back down. All of a sudden, there was an almost ear-splitting shout. “Enough!”

Everyone went deadly silent, all eyes going in shock to Joe. Cia nearly fainted. She’d never heard him raise his voice.

“Joe!”

“Enough, Gracie. Your friends are right.”

“No, don’t let them bully you into telling them anything you don’t want to.”

He turned to her, his smile gentle and sweet, his hand extended. “Walk with me, child.”

Cia didn’t hesitate. Whatever her friends thought, Joe was no danger to her. She knew that from the bottom of her heart. She took his hand.

And in the blink of an eye, she was standing in the middle of the most beautiful meadow she’d ever seen. Bordered on three sides by lush green forest and on the fourth by an overlook of a deep green valley through which a river snaked, the meadow was awash with blooming wild flowers.

“Where are we?”

“Just somewhere nice we can talk. And quiet,” Joe added with a chuckle.

“It’s beautiful.”

“This world is a beautiful place.” He turned away and started to walk.

“You don’t have to tell me anything.” Cia fell in step with him, her hand firmly in his.

“My name is Jophiel.”

“Doesn’t sound like the name of a good old Southern boy, Joe. Where’d you get that name?”

“Just been my name since I came to be, Gracie.”

“I notice you didn’t say since you were born. Just how old are you, Joe?”

“By earth years? I guess a couple of million.”

She stopped dead in her tracks. “A couple of million?”

“Give or take a few thousand years.”

“What are you, Joe?”

“Just Joe.”

“You mean Jophiel? What does that mean?”

“Well, if you listen to the rumors, it means creative power. According to the lore, Jophiel teaches the consciousness to discover the Light within.”

“Kade was right! You’re an angel.”

“I guess that’s what some people might call us.”

“What do you call yourself?”

“Just Joe.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Come on. Just Joe? You have to think of yourself as more than that. Did you die and become an angel?”

“No. I’ve never died. Never really been born. Just have been.”

“How? I don’t understand.”

“Not sure I do either, Gracie.”

“So do you take orders from God or what?”

“No.”

“But you’re always trying to get me to repent, to change, and to find redemption. Is it for God that you’re doing this?”

“It’s for you, Gracie.”

She dropped his hand and walked away a few steps before turning to face him. “Why?”

“Because you don’t see the Light inside you. You got all turned around and twisted up when you shot Dwayne Jones and then twisted even more when you shot that couple. You shot them because you were scared. I’m not saying it’s right but it is understandable. You think an act of anger and fear negates all of the good you’ve done and will do. You let that define you and it’s just wrong.”

“I killed three people.”

“Yes, you did.”

“There’s nothing good in that, Joe.”

“No, there isn’t. But that isn’t the sum of your life, Gracie. Not unless you let it be.”

“I can’t just forget. Just pretend it didn’t happen. What am I supposed to do?”

“Forgive yourself and sin no more.”

Cia turned and started walking. She didn’t stop until she reached the edge of the meadow that overlooked the valley below. For a long time, she stood there, staring out over the landscape, tilting her face up to the sky to follow the wispy clouds. Forgive herself? How did one do that?

“One day at a time, Gracie.”

She looked to see Joe standing beside her. “Easier said than done.”

“You don’t walk the road alone, you know.”

She smiled up at him. “That mean you’re gonna stick with me?”

He nodded with a smile. “And there’s someone else, Gracie. He’ll stick with you if you let him.”

“Kade.”

“He’s a good man.”

“I know he is. He thinks you’re an angel, you know.”

“Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe… What does it matter what something’s called?”

She chuckled. “I guess. It’s so peaceful here. Can we stay a while?”

Joe shook his head. “We have to go back. You’re needed, Gracie.”

“I won’t tell them, Joe.”

He shrugged. “You’ll do what you think is right.”

And with that, they were once again in Cia’s hotel room with everyone staring at Joe.

“Your breakfast is getting cold,” he said with a smile.

“Just toast and coffee for me,” Delilah said.

Travis started lifting covers off the dishes. “Color me in for the works, my man.”

Cia stared at them in surprise. They acted as if nothing had happened. She turned to look at Kade and he rose from his chair and nodded his head in the direction of the bedroom.

She followed him into the bedroom. “What the hell happened?” he asked. “One minute you were there, and then you…blinked out for a second.”

“Blinked?”

“Yeah, as in vanished and reappeared.”

“I don’t know. Joe took me to this meadow. It was beautiful.”

“And did he tell you who he is?”

She nodded.

“And?”

“And I’ll fill you in later when there aren’t so many people—”

All at once, everyone’s cell phones rang. Cia and Kade looked at each other then grabbed their phones.

“There’s been another one,” Kade said, as he was the first to finish his call.

“Got the address,” Travis yelled from the living area.

“I’m going with Kade,” Cia announced. “Dee, call Brett and fill him in then you and Travis meet us there.”

“Speaking of Brett,” Delilah replied. “ I spoke with him this morning.”

“And?”

“I asked him to remove you from the case.”

“Why?”

“She has good reason,” Travis answered.

“What reason?” Cia kept her eyes on Delilah. “Dee?”

“I don’t think you’re safe.”

“As much as the rest of you.”

“No, Cia. This one is --”

“You know, don’t you?” Cia stepped closer to Delilah, lowering her voice. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

Delilah nodded. Cia put her hand on Delilah’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “I’m not backing off. And I need to know you have my back.”

“You already know that, but I still think you need to be removed, Cia. You’re too close to this and—”

“Look, you know I trust you, and what you see, but this time you’re wrong.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do. Dee, please, I have to do this. Please.”

“I hope I don’t live to regret this.”

“Thanks.” Cia smiled then turned to Kade. “Come on. We need to get there before the scene is too stomped over.”

“You expecting to find evidence this time?”

Cia cut her eyes to Delilah. “No, I’m expecting to find a message.”