The Empath (The Above and Beyond Series Book 1) (8 page)
Read The Empath (The Above and Beyond Series Book 1) Online
Authors: Jody Klaire
“And that is?”
“Where you can stick your badge.”
Frei almost smiled, almost. No doubt she was as fiery when cornered.
“What do we do about the Feds?”
Frei looked out of the window in Eli’s door. Fitzpatrick was deep in conversation with Jo, a part-time officer working an extra shift. “Fitzpatrick is a great agent. He’s pretty by-the-book but he’s sharp. He’s probably figured out that it isn’t Aeron and is looking for whoever
is
responsible.”
Eli felt a slither of something cold wriggle through his stomach. “It wouldn’t be Renee, would it?”
Frei turned and her eyes shot daggers at him, but he needed to ask it.
“I mean it. She’s in the best position. I’m only eliminating the obvious, Agent.”
Frei flinched. “I’ve known Renee for ten years, her father was a war hero. The man was a patriot right down to his boots and I trust her, but I’ll look into it.”
“Thank you.”
“Just keep Aeron out of the limelight as much as you can.” Frei opened the door.
“Can you believe it?” Jo said to a bored-looking Fitzpatrick. “I mean who knew the little freak could really harm with her mind.”
Eli wanted to crawl into a corner and hide as Frei snapped her eyes to his.
“Y’know, Bill said no, no way did she do nothing, but I heard,” Jo continued, “I heard every word from Mary. She said she hexed her roots then conjured up an accident.”
Frei glowered. “Bill and Mary?”
“Tommie’s parents.”
Eli looked out at Fitzpatrick, who was trying to ignore the comments and eat a sandwich. “Jo, go do somethin’ useful.”
Jo gave him a wide-eyed look and went into the files room.
Frei frowned at Eli. “Hexes? Accidents?”
Eli held open his office door and cast a hungry glance at Fitzpatrick’s sandwich. “There’s something about Aeron. It’ll take a while.”
Chapter 58
NOW, IF I thought that helping out and finding Tommie had earned me any kind of reprieve from the folks in town, I was sorely mistaken. The next morning, when I awoke, I could hear Renee
getting yelled at by someone outside the front door. Thinking that
she shouldn’t have to face my problems, I hurried down, only
to get stopped in my tracks by what the person was saying to her.
“You were attacked by the Unsub and at no point did you think it was a good idea to report it?”
“No, ma’am.”
I snuck up to the crack in the door and peered through. Renee was at attention, a woman nearly as tall as me with the coolest haircut I’d ever seen was dressing her down.
“You could have been killed, you could have blown the entire operation.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The blonde woman shoved her hands on her hips. “You even knew she was like her mother, didn’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“So why didn’t you tell me?”
Renee said nothing for the longest time. I was itching to get out there and support her but I was too curious about my mother—I mean seriously? Iris Lorelei was about as empathic as a stone and about as warm.
“I didn’t want to be taken off the case, ma’am.”
The blonde woman rolled her eyes. “Have you lost your mind? If you get blown, that’s it. You’ve worked your entire life to get where you are.”
Renee’s shoulders sagged. “I know, but this is more important than all of us now. Aeron can really make a difference.”
“Aeron is a freak of nature.”
I tensed at the woman’s words. She sounded like every other person in town.
“Aeron is a kind, sweet woman who hasn’t got a clue why she’s in the center of a storm.”
“What if she sees your secrets? Just like her mother did? You want to give her that much power?”
I frowned. I was really confused. Had Renee met my mother? When and why?
“She knows enough, and she’s promised not to look further.”
“And what happens when she finds out her whole life has been a lie?”
My heart started to thud, and I could hear it pumping away in my ears. My life had been a lie? Why? It was a pretty rotten lie if it was.
“She won’t. Can’t you trust me enough to do my job?”
“Not when you’re emotionally involved. Renee, the father thinks you have something to do with the murders. Hell, I half wanted to search his office for nine-eight-four.”
“What?”
The blonde woman nodded. “Oh yeah, he thinks you’re here to protect Aeron’s position as heir. He doesn’t know that we’re looking—”
“Did you see it? Nine-eight-four? Was it there?”
The blonde woman folded her arms. “No. Lilia has no idea what it means either.”
I gripped the wall for support. Who was Lilia? And what
was
nine-eight-four?
“So what the hell do we do? If he digs around, if he asks around . . . Hell, the whole thing will come out in the open.”
The blonde woman shook her head. “It can’t. I’m running things on the outside. Why do you think I sent in Ewan?”
“What about Aeron? Doesn’t she have the right to know what the hell is going on?”
“No.”
Renee was no longer at attention and my brain felt like it was on overload.
“She’d be more supportive than you think, Ursula. She might even help.”
“Lilia doesn’t want her involved.”
“She gave up that right when she abandoned her to join us.”
The blonde woman shot Renee a look that made her snap back to attention. “Just keep her out of sight and out of the spotlight or I’ll pull you off the case.”
“She’s not just going to sit back when other people are getting killed. She’s too much like her mother.”
I stood stunned to the spot. Was Iris my mother? Iris couldn’t see, so who was my mother? Who was Lilia and who were these people?
“Great, another frickin’ hero. Just keep her away from the case.”
“And if the killer targets her?”
“Do what you’re paid to.”
Renee shoved her hands in her pockets. “And what is that? You have me blowing the whistle on prison brutality, then follow Aeron here to Oppidum. Now you’re telling me to get rid of a killer and then what? Aeron will look guilty as hell.”
The blonde woman strolled forward, pure ice flowing from her eyes. She stopped inches from Renee’s face, forcing Renee to look up at her. Her voice was calm but with threat seeping through it. “Don’t push me, Renee. I don’t care if she looks like she’s responsible. Just keep her alive and keep her out the damn way till it’s over.”
Like hell was I letting anyone talk to her like that. I grabbed hold of the handle and yanked the door open with such force that the hinges groaned. I stormed over to the blonde woman and glared down at her.
“Till what’s over?” I demanded.
Renee spun around, her face paling as she met my eyes.
“Till what’s over?” I asked again, focusing on the blonde woman.
The woman raised her chin. “It’s none of your concern.”
Like hell it wasn’t. I stepped closer and pulled myself up to all six-four. “Who the hell are you to tell me anything?”
Her blue eyes stared into mine, her face stoic. She looked bored. “Agent Ursula Frei.”
“Oh, so nine-eight-four is some kind of code for an arrogant ass? Maybe it’s code for lying through your teeth.” I shot a look at Renee, who closed her eyes.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Frei said.
I grabbed her hand before Renee could stop me. The flashes hit my mind like a barrage of bullets.
She was born in Detroit. Her parents had emigrated to the US with their work. She joined the military after graduation and passed every assessment she was given. A field officer for ten years, she was made lead on this case for the first time. Her boss trusted her implicitly, Renee trusted her the same.
“Get your hands off me,” Frei warned.
She drank too much when she was on leave, not enough to be a problem, just enough to blot out the dark spaces, the faces and names of the victims she couldn’t save, the ones they couldn’t get to.
I took my hand off. I didn’t know what the hell to think. I walked past them and strode up the road, my boots sinking in the mud. I didn’t know where I was headed but I had to do something.
“Aeron, please . . . just wait . . . listen,” Renee called after me.
I didn’t want to listen. I didn’t want to talk. Renee was protecting me, I knew that, and so was Ursula Frei, but why and from what? And why had they lied to my father and me?
“Aeron . . . don’t . . . don’t go running off . . . please just listen.”
I heard approaching squishing footfalls and Renee grabbed my arm.
I spun around and glared at her. Anger pulsed from every part of my body. I felt so pathetic, I couldn’t understand the muddle of information I had overheard.
“You want to talk? Then why don’t you start with who the hell my mother is? Because Iris Lorelei never saw a damn thing!”
Renee looked back at Frei who got into her car. She was talking on the phone to someone.
I felt like I was about to explode from frustration. “Can’t you speak for yourself?”
Renee captured my eyes—hers wide and pleading as she gripped my hand. “Listen to me. I will tell you. I promise you I will, but please, trust me.”
I pulled my hand away, surprised that no vision had hit when Renee touched me. “Trust you? Your . . . whatever she is . . . just said how she lied to my father and me and how Lilia doesn’t want me involved.”
Renee tilted her head. “You can’t see it?”
“See what?”
Renee took my hand again. I stared at her. “Nothing?”
I shook my head.
“So it’s true.” Renee frowned. “You can’t see anything to do with yourself.”
I pulled my hand away. “I told you that. I’m not the one lyin’.”
Renee glanced back at Frei. “She’s my boss. We aren’t even supposed to be here, but we are, as a favor.”
“Why?”
Renee walked to the river bank, scooped up some stones and threw them into the water. “Lilia asked us. We’re her team. She handpicked us almost, mentored us, made us a great team.”
“I thought you were protection.”
Renee nodded. “I am. She sees things. I go in to keep the POI safe and there’s a team . . . they investigate while I protect.”
I crossed my arms. “So who do you work for?”
Renee shook her finger. “You know I can’t say.”
“Then who is Lilia?” My heart skipped as I said it. “Wait . . . you said . . . Lilia . . . she sees things.” I shook my head and strode away from her.
“Aeron . . . where are you going?”
I stopped and turned around with my hands on my hips. “You comin’?”
Renee looked back at Frei, who was still deep in conversation. “Where are we going?”
I turned back around and marched on as Renee hurried to keep up. “To find my father. He’s got a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”
Chapter 59
ELI SAT IN the cruiser, dabbing at his mouth. He’d lost his lunch moments before and he hadn’t been the only one. They’d found Chelsea. He’d wished like hell that they hadn’t. In all his years, he’d seen some things, but this, this was beyond evil. This was . . . well, he didn’t know what the hell to call it.
“You got anything, Jeff?” Eli called out.
Jeff peeled his gloves off and threw them on the ground. “Nothing. Shoot. It’s too much. Hell, I can’t—”
“Then let us.” Frei walked toward them with two men.
One Eli recognized as Fitzpatrick and the other looked like an ME.
“Doctor Jeff Deed, I’m Agent Ursula Frei. This is Agent Ewan Fitzpatrick and Doctor Neil Grant. We’d like to take a look.”
Jeff stepped away from the body, looking beyond relieved. “All yours.”
Eli frowned. “This FBI now?”
Frei nodded. “Yes, we’ll need to look at the files.”
Eli sighed and looked at Jeff and the other officers. They were all country cops. They did road accidents, tourist problems, mountain rescues . . . Hell, some of them were even smoke jumpers during the summer season. In a few weeks they’d be off, hurling themselves into the line of fire all over the States.
No doubting most of the guys were heroes but this was home. Every one of them knew the Borland family. The smoke jumpers especially. Kay Borland was the fire chief and a damn good one.
Jim, the father was well loved. The guy had been a firefighter too until his accident. There wasn’t a nicer family in Oppidum. A nice family, who he would have to find a way of explaining why their little girl, Chelsea, wasn’t coming home.
“The files, Chief.” Frei had her arms crossed, wearing her impatience like a coat.
Eli opened his mouth to snap at her and met her eyes. He saw deep compassion beneath the steely bluster. “Sure. I’ll get Sam to give them to Fitzpatrick.”
“That will be helpful. Is there anything you’re waiting on?”
Eli frowned and looked at Jeff. “Did you get the results from Michael’s find yet?”
“What find?” Jeff called back.
Eli rubbed his chin. “Michael’s—the fibers from the tree.”
Jeff dropped his gaze to the ground.
“What?” Eli asked.
“Michael was found yesterday. It was a mess.”
Eli tried to quell the pang of loss in his heart. Michael was yet another victim, another name. Hell, he needed a whiskey.
He turned to Frei. “Guess there’s nothing then.”
Frei put her hands on her hips, her jacket pulled back like wings. “Why did he have evidence on him?”
“I’d say you’d need to ask him but in the circumstances . . .”
Frei gazed at the two other Feds who were examining Chelsea. “Do you remember where the evidence was taken?”
Eli nodded. “Sure. You think you might get something?”
Frei shrugged, her hawk-like focus watching every action the agents made. “It’s worth a shot.”
Eli’s radio crackled on his shoulder. “What is it, Skip?”
“There’s a disturbance at your place.”
Eli’s entire body shook and he turned away from Frei. “What?”
“Yeah,” Skip said. “Looks like Aeron went to see you and she and Jenny have gotten into it.”
Eli flashed Frei a look and headed to his cruiser . “I’m on my way. Keep everyone else on this case.”
“Will do.”
Eli got into the car and Frei leaned in through his open window. “You can ride along and we’ll go out to the spot after, if you want?”
Frei nodded. “Maybe a good idea.”
Frei got in the car and Eli tried not to grip the wheel so tightly. What was Aeron doing going to his place? Why would she go there? He hadn’t had a chance to tell her about Jenny, or about the girls.
This wasn’t how he wanted her to find out. He had two days locked up in the storm with her and he hadn’t been able to find the words. Now, she was getting it from Jenny of all people. And if there was one person in Oppidum that Aeron had always hated, it was Jenny.
Chapter 60
AS RENEE AND I got to my father’s house, I slowed my pace to a crawl. What I was supposed to feel about the place, I didn’t know. Everything about it seemed to remind me how badly I didn’t belong. My mother, or whoever the woman had been, had never welcomed me. The hedges had always been immaculate, nothing could be out of place. Memories crept into my mind. Memories of being escorted out of the front door and down the path by my father. I’d been a scared, freaked-out kid back then and Iris hadn’t given a damn. She’d been more than happy to turn her back on me and walk away. What had I done to her to deserve that?
Renee was hovering behind me, her need to try and calm me pulsating from her. Not wanting to give in, I stared up at the house. I was pretty thankful that he’d spent the storm with us. The entire top half of the house was missing, leaving only the stone ground level.
I met Renee’s eyes and she blew the air out from her cheeks.
“Cruiser’s not here,” I said, looking around. Odd, although my father wasn’t inside, someone was . . . well, a few people.
I marched up to the front door and knocked, thinking that it could be workmen or wait, did I sense kids?
The fear and panic shot through my veins like venom. There were two girls in the house, two young girls. Was my father the—?
The door opened. “Yes?”
I scowled at the sight of Jenny McAllister standing in the doorway like she owned the damn place. “Where’s my father?”
Jenny folded her arms.
I folded mine.
“He’s at work.”
“Then why the hell are you here?” I asked, storming past her.
The house was a mess, the wooden floor sticky and slimy. The walls looked no better than Nan’s cabin had. The entire place had been flooded out. Weird, the décor was so different. Had he redecorated? I got to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway and stared. Two girls, young girls, the spittin’ image of my father, sat at the kitchen table. They stared at me with eyes wide with surprise and fear.
“You’re not welcome here,” Jenny snapped as she pushed past me and stood in front of the girls.
I shoved down my confusion. “I have more right to be here than you.”
“Aeron, maybe we should leave . . . go to city hall,” Renee said from behind me.
I stiffened with anger. Like hell was I going anywhere. “No!”
The girls cowered and Jenny knelt between them at the table and put her arms around them.
Why did they look like my father? How could they look like my father? My mother, well, Iris, had been older than him, no way could she have had those girls.
Jenny lifted up her left hand, wedding band in full view. “Oh, I have the right.”
“Why the hell would he marry a tramp like you?”
Renee touched my arm.
I pulled away and glared at Jenny. “What did you bribe him with?”
Jenny stood, stomped across the kitchen, and slapped me, hard, across the face. “Unlike you, I don’t have to bribe people to get love.” She glanced at Renee.
The only thing that stopped me tearing her head off were the two little girls, watching, afraid. I could sense them and what made it worse, they could sense me.
“Girls, go in the other room.” Jenny’s tone was soft with them, gentle.
The children sat frozen, eyes darting between Jenny and me.
I looked them both in the eyes with a “trust me” expression. I wouldn’t harm their mother . . . much.
Jenny shoved me hard out of the kitchen, screaming at me about hurting her kids. Like a possessed woman, she rammed me out of the house onto the lawn before I could get a foothold.
“What the hell are you on about?” I threw the flailing psycho off me.
Jenny straightened and clenched her fist. “You’re not taking them too. I’ll kill you myself.”
She raked my cheek with her nails.
I grabbed her hands. “Why would I harm them?”
Jenny caught me in the stomach with her knee, the wind sucked from my gut.
“Murderer!” she yelled, picking up a rock.
I scrabbled out the way. Renee caught Jenny’s hand and wrestled her to the ground.
“She’s a lunatic,” I said. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Murderer!” Jenny yelled louder.
I saw my father pull up out of the corner of my eye as Jenny whacked Renee in the face with her elbow and launched herself at me again.
My father ran across the yard, trailed by Frei. “Cut it out, woman!” He caught Jenny effortlessly and gripped her hands.
Jenny struggled against him like a trapped cat. “Murderer. She was after the girls, I saw her eyes. You were after them.”
I laughed at her pathetic accusations, but my father’s temper was above boiling point. I’d never seen him talk to a woman like this before.
“Get the hell in the house and not another word!” My father’s voice was as cold as his expression.
Jenny wriggled.
He tightened his grip. “Don’t think I won’t, Jenny.”
All the fight drained from Jenny’s eyes. “All right. Let go.”
My father let go of her hands and she ran into the house, sobbing.
My father turned to me, the anger still pulsing. “What happened?”
“What didn’t happen?” I asked. “When did you shack up with a girl?”
My father narrowed his eyes. “You don’t get to judge me, girl.”
“Don’t I? Is that because I’m a murderer or a freak, or maybe it’s because you were just waiting to marry a child?”
“She’s thirty, Aeron.”
“And those girls are what? Eight? You knock up a twenty-one-year-old kid. Nice, Daddy, real nice.”
My father picked up the rock and hurled it against the wall with such a force that it exploded.
“Yeah, that’s right. Pick someone who is too scared to fight back.”
“Don’t push me, girl.”
I stepped forward, my full height, my anger like a wave of rage crashing from every pore. “Or what? What will you do? Lock me up. Disown me. Lie to me? Or wait, no, you’ve already done all that.”
My father flinched.
“Oh, yeah, Daddy. Lilia. I know all about her.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Dare what? Pretend that some strange woman was my mother, a woman who hated me. Do you know how it feels growing up thinking your own mother despises you?” I picked up a fallen branch from the ground, swung it at his cruiser, and smashed the windshield. “Do you know how it feels to have a father who can’t even bear to look at you!”
I swung again and smashed the side window.
“Jenny. You pick Jenny. Was that for me too? Just to punish me? Was it?”
My father went to grab for me and I hit him, full tilt in the shoulder, sending him sprawling onto the grass.
“Don’t touch me. Don’t you ever touch me.” I swung the branch one last time and hurled it across the road. “You stay the hell away from me.”
I strode down the road, tears pumping from my eyes, angry tears, distraught tears, hateful tears. Who was I to ever think anyone could love me?
RENEE GROANED AS Frei checked out her throbbing cheek. She had to give it to Jenny, she had a pretty good right hook.
“Why the shiner?” Frei asked.
Renee flinched. “Jenny objected to me stopping her from killing Aeron.”
“What?” Eli pulled himself out of the flowerbed.
“She picked up the rock, she was going to kill her,” Renee said.
Frei prodded Renee’s face with her thumb and Renee yelped. “She nearly broke your cheekbone.”
“She nearly broke Aeron’s skull,” Renee said.
Frei growled.
Renee sighed. For nearly ten years, she and Frei had been through hell, back, and everywhere in between.
“Why would your wife attack Aeron?” Frei asked.
Eli put his hands on his hips. “Are you kidding me? Apart from the fact everyone thinks she’s butchering children? There are times when I’d like to wring her neck myself.”
Renee groaned. Baiting Frei was never a good idea, and telling her that you wanted to wring the POI’s neck was even worse. She didn’t do humor.
Frei folded her arms. “Really? Maybe I should start looking into where you were during these murders?”