Lover Beware

thing—whatever that is…” She gave a throaty laugh. “I have to work the actual crime scenes. I experience the crime through whatever negative energy remains at the scene. We got lucky with Barker. I was able to witness her attacker precisely through her eyes. Which is why I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Angel Gonzales attacked her. I recognized him immediately.”
    She swallowed. “FYI. It’s hell, Jerry. The fear, the pain…it’s all there. Here.” She pointed to her head. “The focus I must call upon is depleting and horrifying. I’m green yet. Very green. It doesn’t come easy. I’m not a seer who reads minds. I don’t look into crystal balls and predict the future. It’s the evil I tap in to. And each time I do, I feel as if I’m being murdered myself…or, more horrifying, perpetrating the murder, if I’m lucky enough to grab on to the assailant’s thoughts.”
    She briefly covered her eyes with one hand. “I become the assailant. I feel his thrill, his fury, his sickness. The focus it takes to go there…it’s not easy. If it were, I’d go mad. Every human being I meet on the streets—can you imagine the infiltration of wickedness that would bombard me? Look around us—the sickos who are walking our streets. Our next-door neighbors whose closets are full of skeletons. It’s gotten to where I’m afraid to look into people’s eyes—afraid of what I’ll see there. That’s where Montgomery comes in—the training of focus. Tempering this so-called gift so I can lead some form of a normal existence. I choose whose minds I wish to crawl into. This is a job. I refuse to allow it to annihilate my existence. Were I suddenly unable to control that focus…my life would become a constant terrifying nightmare. Hell. Total hell surrounded by impending doom and evil.”
    His arm slid around her shoulders, and he pulled her close. “Christ. I had no idea.” Jerry kissed her brow, which was damp with sweat. The fog embraced them, chilling despite the heat of the night.
    As they remained silent for a long while, the lights from the passing cars became little more than dim strips of vaporous illumination, and radio music and the distant wails of police sirens were muted by the heavy damp gray blanket of mist.
    Anna felt her body go limp against his—her confession leaving her weak with relief. Tears stung her eyes at the knowledge that, at long last, she had a shoulder for support—someone who gave a damn about the circumstances which had become a burden that weighed more heavily upon her with each passing case. Once, she had obsessively embraced the FBI like a lover. Now she feared it—not the agency—but what had become, or was becoming, of her.
    A car parked at the curve and a man got out. Anna recognized him immediately as he moved toward them through the fog. Eric Damascus, J.D.’s brother, Senator Strong’s legislative director. She didn’t like him. Never had.
    Jerry released her, and she pulled away and dug into her purse for another cigarette as Damascus moved up the sidewalk.
    “Shit,” Jerry said. “Here comes trouble.”
    “Costos, how’s it going?” Eric glanced at Anna. “Agent Anna. Long time no see. What brings you back to New Orleans?”
    She gave him a flat smile but didn’t return his look. Damascus was a Grade A number one jerk. Always had been. As Senator Jack Strong’s newly appointed legislative director, he would sell his own mother’s soul to the devil if he thought it would win him points with the senator and pave the way for Eric’s own rise through the political ranks.
    As Anna refused to acknowledge him with so much as a glance, Eric turned his attention back on Jerry. “I understand you’ve finally got a break on the killer.”
    “Who told you that? Senator Strong?”
    “My dad, as a matter of fact.”
    “Word travels fast.”
    “Why not, when it involves catching the man who murdered the governor’s grandchildren.” He moved to the door. “Donovan in his office?”
    “Donovan’s not telling you shit. If he does, I’ll have his shield. And by the way, how is J.D. holding up?”
    “How the hell would I know?”
    “Because he’s your brother?”
    Eric smirked and entered the building. Jerry shook his head. “That guy’s a fucking snake.”
    “So is Jack Strong.”
    “I’ll have a word with Killroy. I suspect he called Charles Damascus the minute we put an APB on Barker’s suspect.”
    “Killroy your snitch?”
    Jerry