Kay Hooper - Stealing Shadows

Matt shook his head. "One of my deputies is bringing them out here. What makes you think you'll be able to connect with Vasek using the boots when the flower didn't even get you close?"

"Because he's been using them as a conduit." Cassie drew a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm and centered, trying to save her energy. "I don't know if it'll work, Matt. But I have to try."

Matt didn't ask if she'd tried to contact Ben telepathi-cally. He knew she had, and had failed, and her desolation had been so painful to see that he had turned away.

He looked at the FBI agent and said, "What I can't understand is this. If he did all this to impress Cassie, then how does grabbing Ben and suddenly going silent figure into his plans? Is it because we caught Mike? Because his tool isn't available any longer?"

Bishop's gaze was on Cassie. "He grabbed Ryan out of pure jealousy, I'd say. It's been fairly obvious in the last few days that Cassie's in love with him, and that he had elected himself her protector." She flinched but said nothing.

Matt asked bluntly, "Then why not just kill Ben outright? Why take him alive?"

Even with a face as unexpressive as granite, it was still obvious that Bishop didn't want to answer that question. But finally, softly, he did. "Because he wants to play with him for a while. To appease his jealousy and to punish Cassie."

Cassie made a smothered little sound, then said, "I'm going to shut Max up in the kitchen before the deputy gets here," and hurriedly led the dog from the room.

"Next time," Matt said grimly to Bishop, "just tell me it's a dumb question, all right?"

"All right. Any luck with those tire tracks?" "I've got people combing both sides of that road trying to pick them up again. With so much sleet and mud, we've at least got a shot." He fell silent for several minutes, then said, "Do you think Ben's still alive?" "Yes."

Matt looked at him curiously. "Why?" "Because a cat likes to torment its prey before it kills it."

"I'm sorry I asked."

Bishop shook his head. "It won't be physical torture, not at first. From what I know of Vasek, he'll want to talk, brag about what he was able to do, probably try to show himself off as a better match for Cassie. Plus, it should throw him off stride to have a male victim. Ryan can work that to his advantage if he's smart enough to use it."

Matt hoped his friend was smart enough.

When Cassie came back into the living room a few minutes later, she was calm again. And if the two men noticed that her eyes were red-rimmed, neither commented.

"Where's that deputy?" she demanded of Matt.

"Another five minutes, Cassie. Be patient."

"I can't be patient."

"Try. And when the boots are here, assuming they work for you, what do you mean to do? If Vasek is as strong as you claim, how the hell can you get into his mind without his knowing?"

"I will, that's all." Her voice was flat. "I just will."

Matt might have continued to object, but the phone rang just then and he went quickly to answer it. "I told everybody to shut off the walkie-talkies. The damn things can be heard for miles," he muttered in an explanation nobody asked for.

He said hello, then "yeah" a couple of times. Cassie watched him and without even trying caught a few flashes of a narrow dirt road and an old house in the distance. A knock on the door distracted her, and by the time Bishop answered it and brought one of Matt's deputies into the living room, the sheriff was hanging up the phone.

"They've found the place," she said to Matt.

"Maybe." He was more grim than hopeful. "The tire tracks match, and they lead to what's supposed to be a deserted house. It would help if we could have verification."

Cassie took the pair of gleaming snakeskin boots from the young deputy, who looked bewildered but gave them up without a protest.

Matt said to him, "Stand there in the doorway and keep your mouth shut, Danny."

"Yes, sir."

Cassie sat down on the sofa, holding the boots in her hands and staring at them.

Remembering what Ben usually did, Matt asked, "Will you need a lifeline?"

"Not for this. I just want to see if I can…" She closed her eyes and after a moment murmured, "I can get in. There's one part of his mind he's not guarding, the part that used to be connected to Mike Shaw. It isn't a large doorway, but it's there. And it's big enough."

"Can you tell me where he is, what he's doing?" Matt asked.

She frowned slightly, then started and opened her eyes. "He almost caught me. He's quick. Very quick." She chewed on her bottom lip as she set the boots on the coffee table. Her voice was steady when she said, "I wasn't deep enough to see through his eyes. But for an instant he thought about where he was, and I saw the same house I saw in your mind, Matt."

"I was afraid of that. The house is very isolated, Cassie, practically out in the middle of a field," the sheriff said. "No cover at all." His brooding gaze shifted to Bishop. "If Vasek sees us coming, he could hold us off indefinitely. With Ben as his hostage. And if he's armed – "

"He usually is," Bishop said.

"Shit. I just don't see how we can catch him by surprise. If we go in in force, he'll easily see us coming, and have plenty of time to – "

Cassie lifted a hand to cut him off, unwilling to hear possibilities. She got to her feet and went to stand by the fireplace, already feeling cold. "He won't see you coming. I'll distract him."

"How?" Bishop demanded.

She looked at the agent. "I'll give him something else to think about. Me."

"So," Ben said, "your only way of dealing with a rival is to cut his throat, huh?"

"Not my only way. Just the best way. You have to be out of Cassie's life."

"And then she'll tumble into your arms? I don't think so."

"She will come to me quite willingly, Judge," the madman said. "Once I take care of you. Once she learns the lesson."

"The lesson being?"

"That she belongs to me. That I will not tolerate anyone else in her life. Not a lover, certainly. And if, once you're gone, she still fails to understand and I have to kill two or three of the people she considers friends, well, I'm sure that will get the point across." His smile widened. "Don't you agree?"

"You can't," Bishop said.

"I know you'd like to believe that, but – "

Bishop stepped toward her and grabbed her wrist to stop her when she would have turned away. "That isn't what I mean," he said roughly.

Matt saw Cassie go still, saw her stare up at the agent with surprise and something else, something he couldn't define, the emotion flitting across her delicate face like a shadow. Then Bishop was speaking again, an edge to his voice, and the moment passed.

"If you touch his mind openly, go through that narrow doorway he used with Shaw, the connection is his as well as yours. He can hold on to it. Pull you even deeper. Close off the way behind you. And what happens if the cops shoot him – kill him? We both know that's what's likely to happen, because Vasek won't let himself be taken alive. He'll make damned sure they have to kill him. And he won't let go of you. You'll be in too deep, Cassie."

Matt said, "Too deep? You mean she won't be able to get out? Even if he dies?"

Bishop released Cassie's wrist. "He could hang on even while he dies. And pull her with him."

"You don't know that." Cassie massaged her wrist absently, not looking at either of the men. "At best, it's all theoretical. Besides, I'm strong enough to pull away."

"You don't know that," Bishop retorted. "This man, this monster, is obsessed with you, Cassie. He followed you across three thousand miles, and when he found you, he methodically destroyed what was left of Mike Shaw's mind so he'd have a tool he could use to get your attention without exposing himself. He designed all of this, set up the situation to involve you, impress you with his cunning. Do you really think if you drop your guards and expose yourself, walk willingly into his mind, that he'll ever let go of you?"