Ghostwalker 06 - Predatory Game

Power surged in the room. Energy. She glimpsed Jesse’s right hand curling slowly into a huge fist.
    Jess Calhoun was no SEAL. At least he was no ordinary SEAL. For a moment she couldn’t breathe.
    Even her brain froze. He moved the walls, the floor, and the objects on the table. He had to be involved—very involved—in the GhostWalker project. And anyone in that project—anyone who knew about that project—was her mortal enemy. She had never had pain around him, never had to worry about headaches and the problems that came with psychic abilities. She thought it was the house, or the fact that they just fit, but he had to be an anchor, a GhostWalker who drew energy away from others.
    He had to be trained. And very skilled. They’d lived in the same house for months and she’d never suspected. She always knew when a GhostWalker was close. They gave off a different energy field.
    Damn. Her gaze slid to the window, the door, calculating the distance. And what about her emergency pack with her money and her important things? Could she get to it? Did she dare take the time? Did she have time to pack everything that mattered?
    If Patsy went down, Jess would concentrate his attention there and that would give her an opening to escape. Did he suspect she knew? She had to act natural. Had to appear as if she was only concerned for Patsy and her safety. And what had really happened? Saber shook her head, trying to clear her brain.
    Patsy had a bug in her pocket tuned to Jess, not Saber, so what did that mean? She had to think.
    “I’ll be right back.” Saber flashed a small sign to Jess, hoping he would just let her walk out.
    “Where are you going?” Patsy caught at her hand.
    “I need to take a quick look at your car, honey,” Saber said. “It’ll just take a minute.” Because if Patsy was telling the truth there would be evidence.
    Jess gathered his sister close. “You’re all right, Patsy.”
    “I know, it’s just that it was so weird that it was right in that same spot where I lost David, almost as if it were meant to be.”
    Saber was on her way out of the room, but the floor rolled and she turned back to see the horror on Jess’s face.He looked stricken. Pale. She couldn’t bear it, even though she was terrified that he was her enemy.

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    “Patsy, don’t say that,” Jess snapped. “I mean it. You’re not meant to die because David did. That’s bullshit and you know it.”
    He glanced up at Saber and motioned her to check the car. She realized his fear was no act. He was genuinely afraid Patsy had nearly driven off the cliff on purpose.
    She hurried through the house to the front, where Patsy liked to park her car. The sleek fire engine red convertible suited Jess’s sister. Saber walked around the car until she came to the rear bumper. Black paint, scrapes, and dents marred both the bumper and the rear end of the car on the left side. The car had definitely been hit, and fairly hard. It would have put the convertible into a spin. Patsy had been lucky.
    On one hand Jess was a GhostWalker and the two of them being in the same place at the same time couldn’t be a coincidence. On the other hand, Patsy’s car had been hit and she had come in wearing a bug tuned specifically to look for Jess’s tones. He was conducting some covert investigation that was riling people up everywhere, which meant he was probably in more trouble than she was. If she had any brains at all, she’d leave.
    “You’re stupid, Saber,” she murmured aloud. “Stupid.”
    She’d stayed ahead of Whitney by being smart, by being on the move and leaving no trace behind. She knew how to conceal herself right out in the open, and she was still free because she always—always—played it smart. So what was she doing considering walking back into that house?
    She stood in the front yard, staring at Jess’s house, her heart pounding, and realized the truth. She loved him. She had let herself fall in love with him. And he was her enemy. Did he know about her? How could he not? There was no such thing as coincidence, not in her world. How many men and women had Whitney actually experimented on, opening their minds and removing their filters, enhancing their psychic abilities and genetically altering them? Certainly the chances of accidentally running into one in Sheridan, Wyoming, were very small.
    “Leave, Saber. Walk into the house, pack your