Chapter 12
Zach watched Skye at the police station, concerned.
She was thoughtful when they had finally returned to the precinct, and when Gavin drove them back to their quarters.
They were all tired, of course. Exhausted.
But while they hadn’t solved the mystery of what the hell the perpetrators were up to, they had stopped a girl from dying and had gotten a man to the hospital, when a few more hours of lying in the brush without help might have cost him his life.
And there were the very cryptic things they were learning from Nick Sandoval, the tour guide.
“Gavin, were you able to get in to speak with the tour guide yet?” Skye asked when they parked in front of the house.
He nodded. “I did. And here’s what is truly horrible—and not in the least helpful.
He believes everything he’s saying to us.
Evil is really alive and well in Salem; it was real back in 1692; and most of us—including the couple who owns the tour company—are in league with the devil.
In his mind, it started with the witch trials—and it was the devil who tamped it all down.
The devil was furious that his reign on earth was being stopped; and since then, he’s been turning people in this area so that they do his bidding. ”
Skye shook her head. “How does someone ever become that gullible, that twisted?”
“Well, you can take a stab at him tomorrow,” Gavin said. “We’re holding him as long as we legally can before arraignment—he won’t be getting back out there.”
“Thanks, yeah, I would like to try talking to him tomorrow,” Skye said.
Zach thanked Gavin and headed for the house, holding the door open when Skye exited the car and came up behind him.
“Okay,” he said, once they were in and the alarm was keyed in on the door. “What? What is bothering you so much?”
“Nothing.”
“You can’t lie to me.”
“No, no, it’s just that … my mind is really being torn apart.
I know that it’s a good thing we kept Cathy alive.
It was the right thing. It’s just if she hadn’t taken too many of those pills, and if we’d just been able to go wherever Nick was taking her, we might have had a chance to break the whole thing sky high! ”
“But we did the right thing. And seriously, Skye! The real driver owes his life to you. So be glad, be happy, that we managed something good—especially because of you,” Zach told her.
She smiled at him. “Thanks for that. Logically, I know everything you’re saying is right. It’s not the logic that’s driving me so crazy.”
Zach was not sure what he was thinking now; he had always behaved in a perfectly professional manner with all co-workers.
He stepped forward, drawing her into his arms. He looked down into her eyes, speaking softly.
“It’s frustrating. Cases will be frustrating.
It’s amazing to work with the truth between both of us regarding the, um, special things we can see and do sometimes; but even with three people now, each having a bit of a different sixth sense, cases don’t just solve immediately.
Ask Jackson, ask Angela, or ask any of their other agents.
Cases can take time. But we may just solve this one, when others couldn’t, before a real catastrophe does take place. ”
She looked up into his eyes, listened, and smiled slowly, leaning her head against his chest for a moment.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You’ll be there for me, too,” he told her.
She drew back at last, nodding. “You know,” she said lightly, “I actually like you! Hadn’t been sure that I was going to!”
“Well, I can beat that,” he told her. “I like you and admire you a whole lot, and I wasn’t sure at all that I was going to.”
She laughed at that and said, “Okay, thanks. So … bed. No. After today, a shower and bed. And then sleep and breakfast! I do want to talk to Nick Sandoval tomorrow.”
He nodded, heading into the kitchen for a bottle of water to take to bed.
“Water! A gallon of something stronger might be good right now,” Skye called after him.
“I can go out and get you—”
She laughed. “No, no, not tonight. I’m joking. But you can grab me a bottle, too.”
He did so, tossing it to her, grinning, and saying good night as she turned to walk into her own room.
She was right about one thing: He had a lot of forest to wash off!
Hot water was good. He stood under it a long time, feeling the heat steam away the tension that had built up in his muscles.
But the events of the night kept playing out before his eyes.
It was good that they had been on the tour.
If they hadn’t been, Nick Sandoval would have taken the girl through the forest. No one would have known the driver’s distress hadn’t been bought and paid for—and no one would have realized that the guide and the girl were gone until it was too late.
And yet …
It was true. If only they’d been able to follow the pair, they might have truly gotten to the bottom of what was going on.
He exited the shower and dried off, then realized that he had finished his bottle of water already; perhaps because of the steam in the shower, he wanted another one.
He walked out into the hall between the rooms.
And there was Skye, coming from her room as he was coming from his. She, too, was wearing a towel.
“Um, sorry, I was just going for more water,” he said.
“Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just going for more water, too!” she said.
They were barely a foot from one another.
She smelled like the clean scent of her soap; something that wasn’t too sweet, far more perfect, like the beauty of a summer day when the sun was casting down on grass and flowers.
Her hair streamed somewhat wildly around her face, washed and dried, but still a halo of stunning color falling around her shoulders.
“Water,” she murmured.
“Honestly, water,” he said.
“Yeah, me too, but …”
She took the single step that separated them, placing a hand on his chest. She looked up into his eyes.
“Providence?” she asked softly.
“The most stunning coincidence known to man!” he agreed. And that was it; it was all that he needed. He’d learned to read her eyes in the pursuit of their case, and he knew that he was reading her right at that moment.
And from there … it was the most natural thing in the world.
His arms slipped around her. Their mouths met, a touch of exploration; then something deepened passionately and, in that passion, their towels fell to the floor; the lengths of their bodies touched and a fire, which was like eternal lightning, streamed into his body.
He broke away from the hunger of their kisses long enough to whisper, “My room or yours?”
And she laughed softly. “Who the hell cares?” she answered lightly. “Whichever is closer!”
And it was amazing, so natural, so sweet and easy; the hunger and the urgency mixed with laughter and ease and maybe more … maybe caring, respect …
“Okay, I’m bigger!” he said, sweeping her off her feet and into his arms. “My room is at least six inches closer!”
Her eyes. He could lose himself entirely in her eyes.
They fell to the bed together and there was an incredible moment when he lay over her, his weight hiked on his arms, when they just looked at each other and knew—knew that they had both felt it, something building, unexpected, but forming between them.
Then their lips met again, passionately, hungrily, and then they moved …
Kisses, whispers, touches—the sweetest foreplay.
Intimate, incredible. And at last, they were together; and as it seemed in all things, they could soar together until the best conclusion joined with all else.
And then they lay, side by side, panting, smiling, with no regrets touching either soul.
Skye adjusted comfortably against him.
They lay together, her head rested upon his chest, an arm around him as he stared at the ceiling and threaded his fingers through her hair.
“I’m sorry. This is so crazy,” she murmured. “You know, I didn’t mean to take advantage of you. I swear, I was just going for water!”
He laughed softly. “I could repeat that, word for word. Or I could point out that what is happening between us is not crazy at all; it’s rather perfectly normal,” Zach said softly.
He felt her smile. “Weirdos attract?” she asked.
“Healthy young human beings attract,” he told her.
“And the attraction is enhanced even beyond the natural physical desire, because honesty is a beautiful thing; and enjoying something that is beautiful and natural, without worrying about the lies you may tell in the future, is exceptionally”—he eased himself down and around so that he could look at her for a moment—“sexy and sensual and,” he added softly, meeting her eyes, “wonderful.”
She smiled.
“I guess now is when I say that this isn’t something that I usually do,” he shared.
“Ditto. But …”
“Okay, honesty. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be a part of this at the beginning. When I was informed that I was having an interview with Jackson, Adam, and Angela, I thought I’d figured out how to work in a way that I could use what I could do without letting the truth out—”
“Ah! Manipulate evidence,” she playfully interrupted.
“No, I don’t believe in manipulating evidence. I really believe in the law. Speaking of which, in the late 1600s—John Locke, English philosopher and physician—”
“‘Wherever law ends, tyranny begins,’” Skye finished for him.
“Exactly.”
“I was scared, too,” she admitted.
“Well, I wasn’t scared—”
“Ah, come on.”
“Maybe a little. And when I heard that I was meeting with you, despite everything, I guess I had …”
“I was suspicious of you, too,” Skye told him. “Worried. I meant to observe and keep a very careful distance.”
“We’re not very distant,” he said jokingly.
“Not at all!” she agreed. “It’s amazing how things change! Now, all I want to do is crawl all over you!”
He grinned. “Please feel free.”