The side of his head burst in a shower of blood and bone and brain matter.
Pandemonium broke out amongst the reporters who ran in every direction, screaming and crying. The camera jostled wildly as the operator tried to push his way through the crowd.
The station cut away from the bloody body of McArthur, changing to a newscaster sitting at her desk as she stared in horror at a monitor. “I, uhh…”
Drew turned to me, mouth agape, phone hanging by his side. “Holy shit.”
I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t every day that you witnessed the suicide of a senator, let alone had it broadcasted to the entire country. For a moment, I wondered if the whole thing was a publicity stunt by NBC.
The person on the other end of the call to Drew shouted. He raised it to his ear again. “Sorry, what was that? What? Jesus Christ. What’s the address?” He ended the call and dropped the cell into his pocket.
He stared at the floor for a few seconds.
“What is it?” I asked.
“They found the senator’s wife and two children murdered at their house. It looks like he did it. The way he killed them was brutal.”
Once again, I was at a loss for words. Guess it wasn’t a stunt after all.
Drew snapped out of it and walked to the door. “Let’s go. Their house is just south of the city.”
“What? Why would I go with you?”
“One, because I might be able to use your unique talents to figure this thing out. And two, I don’t want you leaving my sight until we figure out why the feds are looking for you.”
I didn’t want the feds getting their hands on me either. Drew and I had discussed at length what would happen if the government found out about what I could do. Sitting in a white room with electrodes sticking out of my head didn’t sound like fun.
“How can I help you solve this? The murderer just shot himself on live TV.”
Ever since I’d come back to the city with Drew, he would occasionally call me down to the station to help him out with suspects. If he had a feeling that someone had committed a crime, but he couldn’t get them to confess, he would have me come in and give their mind a quick scan.
Needless to say, since I’d started doing that, Drew’s arrest and conviction rate had gone through the roof. Not only could I tell if they’d done it, but I could give Drew all the details of the crime. I could name accomplices, locations of murder weapons, passwords to computers, and anything else that could lead to solid evidence for their prosecution.
At the rate we were going, Drew would be the police commissioner by the time he was thirty-five.
And to be honest, it helped give my life a little purpose. I was doing something useful for a change. I’d also helped get several innocent people set free. Some of the detectives working with Drew hated him because he would screw their cases up.
Sometimes they would get fixated on a suspect, and I would come in and tell Drew that it wasn’t him. He couldn’t tell his colleagues how he knew they were innocent, only that they definitely were. Contradicting senior detectives normally wasn’t good for your career, but Drew’s record spoke for itself.
In this case, I didn’t think I could provide much help. Judging from the blood covering Senator McArthur, he was the one who’d killed his family.
And that dude just shot himself.
Case closed.
Drew glared at me. “We don’t have time to argue right now. The whole country is going to lose their fucking minds over this McArthur thing. Now come on.”
“While I appreciate that you think I need a babysitter, I’m pretty sure that I can manage by myself.” I put some shoes on. They were a size and half too small and they made my toes angle into each other, but I made do. “Besides, I need to get some food. These muscles won’t feed themselves.”
I followed him into the hallway, not bothering to lock the door behind us. If someone wanted my dirty undies, they could have them. One positive thing about being poor as dirt was that you didn’t have to worry about someone stealing your stuff.
“Seriously, Ash, I could use some help getting this sorted ASAP. The pressure to figure out what happened to the senator is going to be out of control.”
We descended all three flights of stairs in a hurry, half-racing by the time we got to the bottom.
I held two fingers to my temples and pretended to focus, squeezing my eyes shut. “I think I’m seeing something… yes! The senator did it.”
“You’re such an ass.” Drew pushed through the broken front door of my apartment building and stepped into the street. It hadn’t worked since I’d moved in. Hell, I’d never even seen the landlord.
That didn’t stop the bastard from cashing my rent checks though.
“The senator shot himself, and his family is already dead. What do you want me to do? I can hear people’s thoughts, not talk to ghosts.”
The humidity enveloped us as we moved to the sidewalk. Waves of heat baked off the concrete, making me sweat in a matter of seconds. The reflection from the windshield of a black SUV across the street forced me to squint as I took in the dilapidated neighborhood.
“And what about the—?” Drew cut himself off, his eyes growing wide as he peered over my shoulder.
I turned around and followed his gaze down the sidewalk.
Sammy, the woman from the bank robbery, walked toward us, a big grin on her face. She waved at me. “Hey, you.”
She wore a tight t-shirt that showed off her rather large assets. My eyes gravitated toward them again. I had to fight to focus on her face. She wore tiny shorts and low heels. A purse draped over her shoulder.
I was a big fan of her wardrobe.
“Hey there, Sammy. What are you doing here?” I glanced back at Drew and lowered my voice. “And you were telling me I shouldn’t have gone into that bank. I love the spoils of war.”
“What good are those going to do you with that cartoon shirt you’re wearing? And you smell like a toilet at a bar,” Drew whispered back. He puffed his chest out as she approached.
“I’m looking for you. My hero ran off before I could talk to him.” She gave me a big hug before releasing me and looking at Drew. “Nice to see you again, Detective.”
“You too, Ms. Moore.”
“You two know each other?” I could have searched the answer out in her head, but I didn’t like to invade people’s privacy if I could help it. In the evenings, when fatigue settled in from a long day of constantly barricading my mental defenses, I couldn’t help it. But in the mornings, I tried to behave myself.
Besides, the amount of awful shit you saw inside the head of even the nicest person could really screw you up. Everyone had thoughts that they weren’t proud of or wanted to keep private.
There was a reason for that.
People were fucked up.
“We met at the station last night.” Drew’s shaved head reddened as he appraised her.
“He was very nice.”
I nodded at Drew’s car. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Hunh? Oh, yeah.” He looked from me to Sammy and back again. “I really think you should come with me.”
“Bye, bye. Have fun at work.” I turned back to Samantha. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”
Drew mumbled to himself as he walked around to the driver’s side. He gave us a baleful look before plopping into the seat.
Sammy beamed up at me. Though she was tall for a woman, probably close to six feet, she still had to look up. “I thought you had to live around here if you were walking down the street with a case of beer. So I’ve been looking around for you.”
“You’ve been walking around the block, hoping to see me?”
Drew peeled out, a flashing light stuck on his dash. He thought, No way can you get her number.
“Yup!” She bounced a little as she spoke to me.
I appreciated it very much.
“You never told me your name. I couldn’t let my hero go nameless.”
“Asher Benson. Call me Ash.” I stuck my hand out, but she brushed it aside and gave me another hug.
I really appreciated that.
“Thank you so much, Ash. What you did was so brave. I still can’t believe it.”
“Yeah, well.” I wasn’t really sure what to say to that, so I just kept hugging her back. She smelled so good.
And that made me realize that I hadn’t showered since yesterday morning. There had been weight lifting, jiu-jitsu class, and copious amounts of shitty beer since that time. I let her go and took a step back, creating a buffer zone between us.
I half expected to see flies buzzing around me.
Sammy’s smile faded a bit as she looked from my wrinkled, ridiculous shirt to my rundown apartment building. “Is this where you live?”
“Unfortunately.”
Why couldn’t I have met this girl at the gym? At least my obnoxious shirt would fit in there. I would probably smell better too. And now she saw the dump I lived in. That was a trifecta of crap I hadn’t really wanted to land in.
“It’s nice.” Her face flushed slightly as she looked back at me. “When I saw you yesterday, I thought you might have been homeless.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, you were drinking a beer when you walked in the door. The only people I ever see drinking in the streets are homeless.”
Holy shit. I sucked. A beautiful woman, whose life I saved yesterday, thought I looked homeless. Awesome.
I laughed that off as if it were no big deal. “I’m not homeless, just had a bad run of luck.”
“Can I buy you a coffee or something?” Sammy shuffled her feet and looked down at them.
“That would be great. There’s a bagel shop down the road—want to go there?”
Sammy’s eyes locked onto mine, and I could’ve sworn I saw a twinkle in them. Against all odds, I felt confident that she was into me. Maybe I should have run into dangerous situations more often.
The coffee shop was small, but cozy. I’d never been inside it before because my budget didn’t allow for little things like food or flavored beverages without alcohol in them. We each grabbed a small coffee and sat at a table in the back corner.
The smell of baked goods made my stomach rumble.
“So you’re an alcoholic?” Sammy blurted out twenty seconds after we sat down.
I choked on my coffee, spraying drops of it on the table. Very sexy. Maybe I should’ve just farted and really shown how pathetic I was at talking to women.
Sammy frowned. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t very nice.”
“No, it’s fine. I did walk into a bank while pounding beers. I wouldn’t say that I have a drinking problem in the traditional sense. The alcohol helps me cope with certain, uh, issues.”
I wanted to smack myself in the forehead. That was the definition of being an alcoholic. Telling a beautiful woman that I needed booze to cope with life’s problems wasn’t the best way to keep her interest piqued. I was striking out left and right.
“I understand.” Sammy nodded and looked down at her coffee, clearly uncomfortable.
“No, it’s not like that,” I said. “I’m a vet and—” I cut myself off when I saw a black SUV parked across the street. I could only see the back end of it, but it appeared to be remarkably similar to the one I’d spotted outside of my apartment building.
“Ash?” Sammy asked. She followed my gaze for a moment before turning back to me. “What is it?”
I shook my head, focusing my attention back on her. There were probably a thousand black SUVs driving around the city at any given point. “Nothing. Anyway, what do you do?”
I wanted to get off the topic of my drinking. It was hard to explain to people why I needed to imbibe so much without telling them about my affliction.
“Nothing special. I work in a doctor’s office, dealing with insurance companies and patients.”
“Sounds horribly boring.”
“It is.”
I resisted the urge to look at her breasts again. The damn things were like magic. They were sapping my willpower like a Dementor from Harry Potter. “Do you live nearby? You’re way too pretty to hang around a dump like this neighborhood.”
She blushed again.
I liked that I could do that to her.
“You’re sweet. My apartment is a few blocks down the street, just off Pratt. It’s not far away, but the area doesn’t feel as… rundown.”
“This place blows. I don’t live here because I want to.”
The barista behind the counter looked over at us, glowering at me.
I shrugged. “Sorry, but it sucks here.”
Certain parts of Baltimore were little more than warzones. If you drove through almost any section of the city, you’d go from being perfectly safe to speeding through red lights so you didn’t get carjacked. It was odd to see the disparities in wealth and status from block to block.
“So you were a soldier?” Sammy tilted her head as she talked to me. It was a look of concern that I’d become accustomed to since my discharge.
“Yup. Did two tours in the Middle East—one each in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
“When did you get out?”
“About five years ago.” I tapped on my temple. “A terrorist with an IED decided that I’d spent enough time serving my country.”
Sammy reached out and put her hand on top of mine.
Electric shocks ran through my skin. It had been so long since I’d felt a soft, gentle touch like that. I had to fight against a shudder of ecstasy.
“It’s so awful what you guys have to go through.” Sammy let the touch linger for a few seconds before retracting her hand. “Is that why you drink?”
I shrugged, but didn’t say anything. I understood then that she’d come to find me so that she could help me in some way. She thought I was a homeless alcoholic, who walked around smelling like a urinal. It was thoughtful, but I didn’t need any help.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t pry,” she said.
“It’s OK.”
“I do have one more question, if you don’t mind?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“How did you know my name in the bank last night?”
Shit. I should have seen that question coming, but I was too mesmerized by boobs. “I’m a good guesser.” I looked at my wrist, which didn’t have a watch on it. “Look at the time. I should get back to my hole in the wall and take a shower.”
I coaxed her toward the door as she kept at it.
“How could you guess that? I’m not sure I’m buying what you’re selling, Ash.” She touched my arm.
I thought I might die right there. What was it about this woman that was driving me so crazy? Was it merely how long it had been since the last time I got laid?
The vehicle across the street caught my eye again as we stepped outside. It was definitely the same one. Something felt off about it.
We went to the right, heading back in the direction of my apartment.
“Are you all right? You seem a little jumpy.” Sammy took a few quick steps to catch up to me.
“I’m fine. Guess I’m still on edge from last night,” I lied.
She kept giving me quick glances, worry lines etched between her eyes.
“What?” I asked after the third concerned look she gave me.
“Can I help you at all? I get the feeling you’ve had a run of bad luck. I mean, I already know how great of a guy you are. You ran into a bank to stop a robbery. But you have a sadness in your eyes.”
I inspected her face, searching for any signs of pity. That was the one thing I couldn’t stand. I didn’t take charity, and I didn’t want pity. I didn’t see either in her eyes.
“Can I call you some time?” I decided to go for it, although I used the worst line possible. I didn’t have a phone, so calling her would be an issue. There was no way I could use Drew’s because his girlfriend would go nuclear if she saw another woman’s number on his phone.
A broad grin lit up her face. Dimples appeared on each side of her smile, making her even cuter. “I would really like that.”
I had a strong urge to dance in the middle of the sidewalk. I should have gone down in the record books for securing a date with such an attractive woman while looking and smelling like hell. Someone needed to call Guinness.
The SUV rolled down the street toward us, moving slowly.
My jaw set as I watched it over my shoulder. Whoever sat behind the wheel was following me.
I lowered my mental barriers and let my mind wander out. My thoughts stretched toward the vehicle, probing the consciousness of the driver.
Three people were in there. I felt their presence, but I couldn’t grab onto their thoughts as I always did.
It was as if my ability had run into a brick wall in their heads.
A void filled the space where their memories, thoughts, and emotions should have been. I felt them, but couldn’t interact.
That scared me more than anything else did at that moment. Since the first echo had pinged around inside of my head, I hadn’t encountered a single person I couldn’t read.
Now there were three people following me who I couldn’t engage with. What did that mean? Who were they? How were they blocking me?
I picked up my pace, taking long strides.
Sammy struggled to keep up. “What’s the rush?”
“Don’t look back, but someone is following me.”
She started to turn around when I grabbed her arm, pulling her forward.
“Just keep walking.”
“But why would someone follow us?”
“They’re following me, not you. Do you have a cell phone?”
“Yeah, why?” She pulled her purse from her shoulder and dug through it.
“Call Drew and tell him that the feds found me. He’ll understand what that means. Tell him to find me.” I recited his number and made her repeat it back to me. “Now keep walking. I’m going to see what these assholes want.”
Sammy dialed Drew’s number. “I don’t understand what’s going on, Ash.”
“I don’t either, but I know that you shouldn’t be here to find out.” I stopped walking and nodded down the sidewalk. “Keep going.”
I turned around in time to see the SUV stop at the curb.
Sammy continued walking with the phone held up to her ear. She kept glancing over her shoulder.
One of the rear doors of the vehicle opened.
A man in a gray suit stepped out. He wore dark sunglasses and had a short, tight haircut. His posture and square, set jaw oozed confidence.
The other doors opened, and two more men stepped out. They were similarly dressed, though the man in the front passenger seat wore a black suit. He was taller and slightly more muscular than the others were.
He had a thousand-yard stare that only came from guys who’d seen some serious shit. The expressionless, distant gaze was something I’d seen before. When you spent enough time overseas, you would occasionally run into men like this. They were Special Forces or spooks of some kind.
They would land in a small helicopter, talk to the base commander, and then disappear again. No one ever knew who they were or what they were doing.
These guys had that look.
“You need to come with us, Lieutenant,” the man in black said.