The Missing

downstairs and wait for me?”
    “Taige?”
    She shook her head. “I’ll be right along.”
    Dez left without asking, and without once meeting Jones’s wide, shocked eyes. He clutched at his throat, trying to speak, but he didn’t have the air. His face was rapidly turning a fascinating shade of red. “You’ll leave her alone,” Taige said clearly. “You will not speak to her. You will not project thoughts to her—and don’t hand me the line that you’re not psychic. You don’t have to be psychic to think very loudly. You’re not recruiting her, Jones. She’s just a kid.”
    His eyes bulged in his face, and with a sulk, Taige let go and watched as he sucked in harsh, desperate gasps of air. “She won’t always be a child, Taige.”
    “Maybe not, but for as long as she can, she’s going to stay that way. And even when she’s not a child, you’re not coming after her the way you came after me.”
    Smoothing a hand down his dark gray suit, Taylor gave her an arrogant grin. He’d recovered fast enough, but that was Taylor Jones for you. The man was a born politician, even if he hadn’t made those forays yet; he landed on his feet like a damn cat. “And if she decides she wants what I can offer?”
    “A stressful, heartbreaking job?” she asked sarcastically. “Oh, however could she pass that up?”
    Jones looked at her. For once, he dropped his company face, and she saw the intensity that she’d always suspected lurked under his surface. “The chance to use that gift to help mankind. Like you’ve done.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Without even seeing it, she already knew what it was. The letter she’d sent to him telling him that she no longer wished to work for him in any way, formal or informal. “I don’t care what this letter says, Taige. It’s a compulsion, my dear. You can’t help it; you need to help. She won’t be any different.”
    Taige wasn’t making any bets on that one way or the other, because she suspected he just might be right. “Regardless, it will be her choice.”
    “She’s going to need help with her gift.”
    “Nothing that I can’t handle.” She heard a knock at the door, and when the door opened, and the wedding coordinator peeked inside, Taige breathed out a sigh of relief. A good reason to get the hell away from Jones before she punched him.
    “It’s time!” The woman—Taige had forgotten her name—bustled inside and circled around Taige, oblivious to the tension in the air.
    Taige’s gaze cut back to Taylor’s face. “You pull a stunt like that around Jillian again, Jones, and you and me are going to go a couple rounds.” With a mean smile, she said, “You’ve been riding a desk awhile now. You really don’t want to go one on one with me.” Lowering her voice, she leaned in and whispered, “I do fight dirty . . .” She reiterated her words with one hard, psychic surge that closed ever so briefly around Jones’s throat.
    Pulling back, she gave the wedding coordinator a wide smile. The woman had finally picked up on the tension between Taige and Jones, and her smile slipped a notch or two. “Is everything all right, dear?”
    Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Jones reach up, rub his throat. He eyed her with just a little bit of wariness. Looking back at the wedding coordinator with a smug smile, she said, “It is now.”
    Watching as the two women left the room, Jones swallowed, and the resulting pain was enough to have him swearing in fury. He bit it back, though, and just sighed, rocking on his heels and staring after Taige consideringly until she disappeared around a corner. She’d meant every word she said. Jones would have to be blind not to see the fierce protectiveness that had darkened her eyes.
    He should have known she’d already comfortably settled into mama mode.
    It was all right, though. Jillian’s gift was strong. No, he wasn’t a psychic, but he knew power. Jillian’s mind was trying to protect her, trying to shut the gift down. It wouldn’t work, though. And as long as Taige was around to control things if the girl’s control wasn’t up to snuff, he could wait.
    He had plenty of time.

    “I can’t believe we just left without saying anything,” Taige said.

    Cullen grinned at her. “I can’t believe I didn’t get you out of there sooner.”
    The boat was docked at a private marina just a mile down the highway from Cullen’s house. Just like the wedding, he’d handled