Sizzle and Burn (24 page)

“And turned her into the perfect woman,” Raine whispered.

He folded one arm behind his head. “Until she tried to poison me. Amazing how a little thing like that can ruin an otherwise ideal relationship.”

“Guess there’s just no pleasing some men.”

Her lips twitched at the corners and the tension inside him eased.

“Call me picky,” he agreed.

“You said she tried to kill you because she was afraid you were getting suspicious of her?”

“Yes.”

“What was the point? If the plan had failed, why take the risk of murdering a Jones? She must have known J&J and the Council wouldn’t stop until they caught her.”

“She was desperate. I told you, failure is not an option in Nightshade. The poison she used would have imitated a heart attack. She hoped that if I died of natural causes, her handlers would not hold her responsible.”

“Tough crowd.”

“Very tough.”

Raine pulled her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around them. “Does everyone in the Society know what happened between you and Jenna?”

“No. The entire affair was hushed up by the Master, the Council and J&J. The official story is that my fiancée committed suicide.”

“Which is the truth,” Raine said.

“Sort of. As far as I’m concerned, though, Nightshade murdered its own agent.”

Raine studied him with troubled eyes. “You had one heck of a close call.”

He smiled grimly. “Perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“You really didn’t love her?”

“I was dazzled for a while,” he admitted. “But eventually I had to face the fact that there was something missing.”

“It shook your self-confidence, though, didn’t it? Made you question your own intuition.”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “In a much less extreme way, that’s what happened to me after the debacle with Bradley. I keep wondering how I could have convinced myself that he was Mr. Perfect.”

He reached up and caught her wrist. “You’re sure he’s not?”

She smiled. “Not a doubt in my mind.”

He tugged her gently down onto the bed and levered himself up on his elbow.

“No doubt in my mind, either,” he said.

He lowered himself along the soft, warm length of her.

He made love to her slowly in the dawn light, savoring the sheer pleasure of watching her eyes grow hot and unfocused with passion. When she turned to molten fire in his arms he sank deeply into her. Her legs closed around him and the bedroom was suddenly filled with the effervescent energy of life.

Thirty-eight

T
hey ate vibrant red raspberries with their whole wheat toast and peanut butter. Zack made coffee for himself. Raine prepared tea and privately concluded that it was one of the finest meals of her entire life, maybe the best. She knew she would treasure forever the warmth and intimacy that pervaded the kitchen.

“You know,” Zack said, munching a bite of toast, “I think I could get used to peanut butter for breakfast.”

She could certainly get used to seeing him sitting across from her at the breakfast table, she thought. A pang of wistfulness whispered through her.
Don’t go there
.

The doorbell rang an hour later, just after she put the last of the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher.

“I’ll get it,” Zack said, setting down his coffee cup. “It’s probably Mitchell. He must have heard about the incident at the club last night.”

She straightened. “I thought he said something about driving up to Shelbyville today.”

“Maybe he changed his mind.”

Robin and Batman trotted after Zack, evidently anticipating another new game.

She listened to the sound of the front door being opened. Zack greeted someone. The next thing she heard was a woman’s voice, charming and vivacious.

“Oh, how cute,” the woman said warmly. “I adore cats.”

“I’m allergic to them,” a second woman stated.

She walked into the living room. A petite woman in snug black jeans, high-heeled boots and a black turtleneck stood chatting with Zack. She had delicate, elegantly fashioned features and vivid eyes. Her face was framed by a wild mane of amber brown curls. A large chunk of turquoise hanging from a silver chain reflected the color of her eyes.

“Cassidy Cutler,” she said to Raine before Zack could explain who she was. She waved a hand at the woman standing a little behind her. “And this is my assistant, Niki Plumer.”

“How do you do, Miss Tallentyre,” Niki Plumer said. She eyed Robin and Batman uneasily.

Niki was taller than Cassidy and a few years older, probably thirty-six or thirty-seven. She was dressed in a rumpled-looking pantsuit. Tortoiseshell glasses framed her dark eyes. She clutched a heavy-looking leather briefcase in one hand and wore a perpetually harried air.

Raine scooped up Batman and Robin. “I’ll put them in the library,” she said.

“Oh, please don’t worry about the cats,” Cassidy said quickly.

“I’ll be right back,” Raine assured her.

Niki gave her a pathetically grateful look.

She hurried down the hall and deposited Batman and Robin in the library. They were not pleased.

When she returned to the living room, Cassidy and Niki were seated on the sofa.

“I’ll get some coffee,” Zack said.

Cassidy turned to Raine.

“Bradley has told me so much about you,” she said. “I’m thrilled to meet you. I’ve never talked to a genuine psychic before. Bradley says you do amazing things at crime scenes.”

Out of the corner of her eye Raine saw Zack emerge from the kitchen. She knew he was working hard to conceal his amusement. She ignored him and Cassidy’s comment.

“What can I do for you?” she asked, keeping her voice smooth and cool.

“I apologize for showing up unannounced like this,” Cassidy said. “As I just told Mr. Jones, I hope I’m not interrupting breakfast. I took a chance coming here early today because I wanted to catch you before you went to work. Bradley mentioned that you own a costume rental shop here in town.”

“You want my help with the book you’re writing about Bradley,” Raine said.

Cassidy did not seem the least bit disconcerted by the directness of the statement.

“Yes, I do,” she said, assuming a more businesslike tone. “What’s more, I’m prepared to make it worth your while.” Her brows rose in gentle disapproval. “I understand that Bradley never compensated you for assisting him with those cold cases.”

“I didn’t do it for the money,” Raine said quickly.

“Obviously. But I believe in paying for services rendered. And, believe me, given the advance my agent got for this book, I can afford to make it worth your while to take part in the project.”

“I’m a little busy at the moment, Miss Cutler.”

“I understand. Bradley told me that there was a recent death in the family. Please accept my condolences.”

“Thank you.”

Cassidy folded her hands in her lap and looked at Raine with a very serious expression. “I also realize that you use your psychic talents not for money but because you feel a responsibility to help the families of the victims find closure. All I’m asking is that you help Bradley give that peace of mind to the Dellingham family. You are the only one with the power to do it.”

The damn guilt card,
Raine thought.

“I’m afraid I don’t have the time right now,” she said. She knew she sounded weak.

Righteous indignation seemed to crackle through Cassidy. Her chin came up, her shoulders stiffened and steel glinted in her eyes. “I’m afraid that’s exactly what the Dellingham family has heard from law enforcement for the past five years, Raine. Are you going to shatter their hopes again?”

Raine snapped out of her guilt trance. She smiled coolly. “We just went over the part where you stand to make a lot of money on this book project, remember? That’s the real reason you’re here today, isn’t it?”

Cassidy’s mouth tightened. “I won’t deny that I make money on my books, but that isn’t the main reason I write them. I would have written crime fiction, not true crime, if money was the only thing that interested me. I write my books for the same reason that you assist Bradley. I, too, feel compelled to speak for the forgotten victims.”

Another wave of guilt rolled through Raine. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to imply that you don’t have a personal interest in the cases.”

Cassidy’s expression softened. “There’s another reason I do what I do. We, as a society, need to examine criminal behavior and figure out ways to identify and deal with vicious psychopaths before they slaughter their victims. Do you know what Lynda Dellingham’s murder did to that family? It absolutely shattered those poor people.”

“I’m not saying that you don’t have a calling to write true crime,” Raine said hastily. Damn it, she was feeling the pressure, the way she had when Bradley tried to talk her into helping him.

“I’ll be honest,” Cassidy said. “I won’t pretend I wasn’t skeptical when Bradley told me that you claim to be psychic. You can’t blame me. In my line I meet a lot of frauds. In fact, I even wrote a book about a fake psychic.”

“
Cruel Visions
,” Raine said.

Cassidy blinked, pleased. “You read it?”

“Yes.” She had read it in the hope of finding someone like herself, someone who understood. But the psychic in the book was, indeed, a phony.

“Well, then, you know where I was coming from when Bradley told me that you claim to hear voices,” Cassidy said. “He tries to tell himself that you simply have special powers of observation and that you can pick up tiny details at a crime scene that others miss. But I believe you’re the real deal, Raine, and I want to write about you and your gift. I want to follow you and Bradley and tell the story of bringing justice to the Dellingham family.”

“You don’t understand,” Raine said. “The last thing I want is to have my name show up in one of your books.”

Cassidy softened visibly. “I respect that. I promise I’ll use a pseudonym for you.”

“I don’t think that would work. It would be too easy for bloggers or the tabloids to figure out my identity.”

Cassidy leaned forward earnestly. “I guarantee I’ll preserve your anonymity. Trust me. I have always protected the identities of my sources.”

“No,” Raine said. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t want to get involved in the project.”

For the first time, Cassidy displayed a hint of impatience. Raine could tell that the slight shift in mood worried Niki. She watched her boss with an uneasy expression.

Cassidy drummed her fingers on the black leather sofa cushion and fixed Raine with a determined look. “The problem is Bradley, isn’t it?”

“No,” Raine said.

“I understand.” She flicked a quick glance at Zack and then turned back to Raine. “Bradley explained that you misinterpreted his friendship. Read more into it than was there. Don’t worry about it. These things happen.”

Raine glanced at her watch and jumped to her feet. “You’ll have to excuse me. I’ve got to go to my shop now. Good luck with your writing project.”

Cassidy made no move to rise from the sofa.

Niki was starting to look downright nervous. She blinked several times and cleared her throat. “Uh, perhaps we should leave, Miss Cutler. Don’t forget you’re supposed to call your agent at nine.”

Cassidy hesitated a few seconds longer, clearly annoyed. Raine contemplated throwing her out bodily. It wouldn’t be difficult. She had the advantage of height and weight.

But Cassidy finally seemed to comprehend that the situation had become awkward. She rose reluctantly and held out a hand to Niki.

“Card,” she said brusquely.

Niki hastily opened the leather briefcase and took out a gold card holder. She extracted a business card and placed it in Cassidy’s outstretched palm.

Cassidy handed the card to Raine. “I want you to think about this, Raine. Regardless of the status of your personal relationship, you and Bradley share a very special working partnership, one that enables both of you to make a unique contribution to justice. Please keep my card. When you’re ready to consider my offer, give me a call at that number. It’s my cell phone.”

Raine took the card. It seemed the quickest way to get Cassidy out of the condo.

Zack was already in the foyer, opening the door. Cassidy walked outside very quickly. Niki threw Raine an apologetic grin and followed.

Zack closed the door and looked at Raine. “That is one very determined woman.”

“She thinks the reason I won’t help with the project is because of what happened between me and Bradley,” she said.

“I know.”

“That’s got nothing to do with it. I just don’t want to take the risk that I’ll end up named in her book.”

“You don’t trust her to keep you anonymous?”

“Nope. My cover would start falling apart the first time a blogger got curious.”

“Got a hunch you’re right.”

Raine looked at him. “What’s the next step in your investigation?”

“Well, to begin with, you’re not going in to work today. I assume Pandora can handle the shop?”

“Yes. What are we going to do?”

“I think it’s time we talk to the last people to see Vella Tallentyre alive.”

Thirty-nine

D
r. Baxter Ogilvey looked at Raine across the expanse of a desk piled high with files, papers and scholarly journals. He was the director of St. Damian’s Psychiatric Hospital. Over the course of the year that Vella had been a patient at the hospital Raine had come to like and respect him.

He was a compassionate man steeped in traditional medical and psychiatric practices. She knew that he’d never had a clue as to the true nature of Vella’s mental illness. To fully comprehend her pathology, he would have been forced to believe that Vella possessed psychic senses. Raine knew that he had never been able to make that leap. To the end Ogilvey had considered Vella’s claim of hearing voices a symptom of her illness.

Nevertheless his approach to what had to have been one of his more unusual and challenging cases had been surprisingly open-minded and wide-ranging. It had included nutritional aspects such as vitamin supplements as well as cutting-edge psychotropic medications, traditional talk therapy and, above all, a tranquil environment. Raine knew that she would always be grateful to him. Ogilvey had done what she and Gordon and Andrew had been unable to do on their own in the past year. He had given Vella a degree of mental and emotional peace for the first time in years.