Chapter Eleven #3
“Well, then, it’s settled. Bish and I will head out. Please call if there’s anything we need to know. We’ll update you as we find things. Maybe we can connect while we’re out,” Honor suggested.
She stared at Lucian, and he got it.
They wouldn’t be updating in front of Ridge, and he agreed. The man was barely hanging on.
It was time for him to get Ridge out of there. He was crying again, or trying to be oblivious about it, but it wasn’t working.
“I’m going to get Ridge settled in our office. Then, I’ll be down, Avalon. Let me take care of him.”
That worked for her.
“Take your time, Lucian. We’ll be ready when you come back down.”
Holding out his hand, Ridge reached for him.
“Come on, Baby,” he said, softly.
Only, he didn’t give a shit who heard. He knew Julian was watching him, and he’d have a talk with him later. If his relationship with Ridge was going to cause waves…
Well, that was a problem.
Only, it was a bridge he’d cross later. He knew that Julian was pretty traditional when it came to marriage.
This might push their relationship.
Oh, he hoped not.
Pulling Ridge against his side, he helped him get to his feet and get his balance.
“Bish, be safe. Don’t do anything crazy. Basically, let Honor be in charge. She’s more paranoid than you.”
She laughed, and so did Booth.
Paranoid was Honor’s middle name.
“Like what, Lucian? Hunt for a psychic killer in a town full of witches and other craziness? That kind of crazy?”
He shook his head but said nothing more as he got Ridge up to his office.
Raven was silent, but he was taking it all in.
“When you guys go into the static, Booth and I will monitor the circle to make sure it’s safe.”
That worked for Avalon.
“Thank you, Raven.”
As she stood, Tori began getting ready to go out. As the two cops headed out, and the psychics got ready to do their thing, she pulled her husband aside.
“Something occurred to me.”
He lifted a brow.
“What?” he asked.
Tori was thinking like an investigator, and not the kind who used a ghost to help solve shit. It was balls to the wall on this one and going old-school.
Her old school being a Fed.
“He’s going to want to watch us. They mentioned he’s not in the static, so that tells me he’s going to be around. He had to have stalked Wynter, since she’s not psychic. He knew to take out Ridge’s wife, to hurt Lucian. He’s up in all of our businesses.”
He lifted a brow.
Yeah, not only did he not like that, but he’d not considered it.
“We need a little help,” Tori said. “We have people who work for us willing to do the legwork. I have a thought.”
He was all ears.
“What?”
Tori went there.
“We had reporters all over us. Did you recognize them all?” she asked. “Because we know most of them here in Salem. What if he was tucked into them? What if he’s hiding in plain sight to keep track of us?”
Yep.
Now, he was even more freaked out.
If he was doing that, he knew where they lived. That was hella creepy, but it made sense.
His hunting ground was their neighborhoods.
“Tor, that’s not making me feel happy.”
Oh, she didn’t doubt that.
Still, Tori was trying to protect as many of them as possible and as quickly as possible.
“Pryce would know most, if not all of them, and that includes the ones here, and if there were any from Boston.”
Well, then, they needed Connor on deck, and hopefully, his wife.
“What do you want me to do?” Julian asked.
He was watching Avalon, and every now and again, she’d turn her head to stare at them.
And it was creepy.
It was like she knew they were talking.
Tori went there.
“Can you get them running the faces on our doorbell camera? It pointed right at the street where you went nuclear on them when we got out of the car. I bet we can get Lucian to get some camera footage from his gate, and from Ridge’s, too, so we can cover our bases.
It might be nothing, but what if it’s not? ”
That was a good point.
Immediately, he kissed his wife.
“I love you,” he said. “Never let it be said you’re just a pretty face.”
She snorted.
“I am not one hundred percent sure that is a compliment, Julian, but I’ll take it.
Have them tag ANYONE who isn’t from Salem and Boston—long term.
We know this person has been after Genesis, and I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, he would have kept his ties to wherever he was from.
While I trust Avalon, we can’t let anything slip past us. ”
She was right.
This was so smart.
This was the investigators doing their part as the psychics and Marines did theirs.
He’d bet this person was assuming they wouldn’t resort to working this like old-school detectives.
But they would.
“When this is over, I’m buying you a big present. You’re getting a new car.”
She stared at him.
“I am?”
What was this?
“Yeah, you can’t fit anymore car seats in your SUV. We need to go big with two more babies on board.”
She laughed.
“That is NOT a reward, Julian. Think something sparkly, or better yet, get me my dead back. I feel naked without them.”
He could do that.
And he would.
Bet on it.
As soon as this was over, Trey and Bethany were getting employee of the month photos, and their own parking spots.
Yeah, that’s how much he missed them, and their antics.
So.
Damn.
Much.