Conduit (An Emily Monroe Novel) Read online

  It was a simpler time, he thought. This case had changed him, changed Shawn, and had even changed Barbara. Now he had brought Cassie and Emily into the mix. He hated including them in this, though they were perfect for the job. He didn’t want them damaged by this case like everyone else who touched it, and he prayed he hadn’t made a mistake.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Emily’s foot rapped against the floorboard of the car to the soft beat of the radio. Every few seconds she stole a glance at the clock on the dashboard. The numbers were closing in on six o’clock with alarming speed. Each city block they drove seemed to take years, with her nerves jumping through her body and her head spinning at the thought of having dinner with Jake.

  Cassie and Emily spent the first ten minutes after the memorial service discussing their findings. While meeting a large number of Diane’s friends, Cassie learned nothing new. Emily shared the information that Diane’s aunt Tara was not only the black sheep of the family, but also psychic. Though an interesting and coincidental tidbit, they concluded it had nothing to do with the case.

  The last several minutes of their drive were in silence. Emily wondered if she had made a mistake not sharing with Cassie that she had a date, but if she told Cassie, it would result in endless questions. She only hoped Jake was late in picking her up so she could avoid a last minute inquisition.

  No such luck, Emily thought, as they pulled into the parking lot of Monroe & Reid Investigators. A black Jeep sat in the parking lot with dimmed headlights. “Who is that?” Cassie asked, leaning in closer to the dashboard and squinting. She steered the car into an empty space near the Jeep, where they could see the driver.

  Emily rubbed the back of her flushed neck and squirmed in her seat. “It’s just—”

  “Hey, I remember that guy.” She turned to Emily. “That’s the guy you talked to at the party last night. Then you went outside and came back in to talk with us. I thought you said it was small talk with a potential client.”

  “I, uh...I may have exaggerated the smallness of the talk.”

  “You talked to him long enough to set up a date? That’s fast work considering you spoke to him for less than a minute at the bar.”

  “We talked outside, too. Then he came by the office this morning to continue our conversation.”

  Surprise overtook Cassie’s face. “We just spent the whole afternoon together. When were you planning on divulging this crucial information?”

  “I was hoping tomorrow after I knew if dinner went well.”

  Cassie peered around Emily to get another look at Jake. “By the looks of him, I think it will go just fine. At least it better go good. I take back everything I ever said about you getting back together with Nate.”

  “Dinner won’t go very well if I never get in his Jeep,” Emily said.

  “Oh! Yes, go, get out of here!”

  Emily climbed out of the car. She rolled her eyes at the sound of the passenger side window rolling down.

  “Don’t stay up too late.” Cassie grinned at her through the open window. “It is a work night.”

  “It’s always a work night, but I’ll be home and tucked into bed at a reasonable hour, Mom.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jake couldn’t stop smiling when he saw Emily pulling up in the parking lot. Her friend driving the car was unexpected, but he guessed from their gestures and discussion that her friend also wasn’t expecting him. He recognized her from their company website as the “Reid” in Monroe & Reid, but she was much more than that. Their closeness in their exchange combined with the way her friend stole glances in his direction told him they were best friends.

  Emily exited the vehicle after a couple of minutes and made her way over to his Jeep. She lifted her hand in a little wave, walked around the back, and opened the passenger side door. Her bright smile, as little as she had shown it to him, was just as he remembered. It was the first thing he had noticed when he saw her across the room at the party last night. He wanted to keep that smile just where it was for the remainder of the evening.

  “Hi there,” she said.

  As she climbed into the Jeep, he noticed she was wearing a black pencil skirt that stopped just above her knees and a short-sleeve, white button-down blouse. “Hi there, yourself,” he said. He gestured to his jeans. “I’m afraid I am greatly underdressed for dinner.”

  An embarrassed laugh accompanied the crimson on her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said. She tucked a strand of her golden, dark blonde hair behind her ear and gazed at him with large, grey eyes. “I’m actually overdressed. We just came from a wake and because we were running late, I didn’t get a chance to change.”

  Jake’s expression sobered. “Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. Was it someone close?”

  “No, I didn’t know them. Um, it was for a case.”

  “You went to a wake for a case? That’s a pretty exciting business you run there.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “I take it that was your business partner who is also your best friend?”

  “Yes, Cassie Reid.” She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. A crooked smile took over her lips. “How did you know that? Are you stalking me again?”

  Jake chuckled. “I saw her picture on your website. As far as knowing you’re best friends, I’m a jury consultant, remember? I get paid to read body language and make perceptive deductions.”

  “I’ll have to remember that. So where are we headed?”

  He started the engine. “I was thinking of that new Mexican restaurant over on 29th Street?”

  “Perfect. I love a good margarita.”

  “Then I’ll buy you a grande.”

  “After my day, make it two.” Emily shook her finger at him. “Remember, this is an apology dinner.”

  Jake smiled. “That it is, but only so long as you stop holding the apology over my head after tonight.”

  She bit her bottom lip and reciprocated the smile. “Deal.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  David lifted his glass and swallowed the last bit of Maker’s Mark. Though he wanted to have another drink, the bottle was already half-empty. At the sink he rinsed out his glass and placed it in the sink. In moderation, alcohol had a positive effect on his abilities. It helped loosen his mind and remove inhibitions. If he indulged too much, the same alcohol impeded his gift to the point where it stopped functioning until he was out of a drunken state.

  His experiments helped him learn how to use alcohol to his benefit, as well as so many other things. All of his time spent on other women, trying to attract their attention through conduits, had led up to this moment, to Emily. She had been his destiny before he knew she existed, and Jillian would help him get closer to her.

  David shuffled to the kitchen table and picked up the knife, his instrument to help him communicate with Emily. With the last two kills she heard him, and with the next ones their connection would grow. He theorized that, starting with Jillian, it would take three more for her to find him. Then they could be together.

  He smiled at the thought and headed toward the basement door. This was the part of his work he enjoyed, when he melded his abilities with his chosen conduit and they worked together to make Emily hear them. Jillian might be not as smart as most of his other women, but she was one of the strongest conduits he had come across. She also looked like a hell of a screamer, which would make him enjoy their time together even more.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Much to Jake’s satisfaction, Emily’s addictive smile stayed on her face for most of the evening. The more he saw it, the more it affected him, on both emotional and physical levels. His weightless heart bounced around in his chest and raced a little faster every time the corners of her mouth lifted toward her soulful grey eyes.

  He had enjoyed the evening more than any other in recent memory and he hated for it to come to an end. As the waiter cleared off their plates, he feared that at any moment Emily would stand up, have him drive her back to her of
fice, and quite possibly walk out of his life.

  Jake had never lacked in confidence, but Emily made him doubt everything. Watching her sip the last of her small strawberry margarita, he recognized something special in her. He just wanted to keep her around as long as he could without screwing it up.

  “Are you sure you don’t want a second one?” he asked, wishing she would say yes to ensure more time with her. “You’re a long way off from two grandes.”

  Emily shook her head. “As nice as it sounds, I really can’t. I still have to drive home tonight.”

  “That’s why I’m sticking with soda,” he said, shaking his glass. “Though a tall, cold cerveza sounds great right about now.”

  “Next time you have a beer and I’ll take the soda.”

  He was glad to hear those words, a loose commitment to a second date. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Emily bobbed the straw up and down in her glass and her smile faded.

  “What’s on your mind?” Jake asked.

  She moistened her lips and lifted her eyes. “I haven’t met a lot of people like us before. I’m curious, how did you know? I mean, how did you find out about your gift?”

  “Well, to be honest it was my sister who knew first.”

  “Your sister?”

  “My twin sister. She had the same gift that we do.” Jake smiled at his memories. “Janie was always the smarter one. She picked up on things much quicker than I ever could. Just before we turned twelve, she brought to my attention that something was off with us. We both sensed things that we shouldn’t have been able to, but being a typical boy, I ignored it. She explored it and dragged me along for the ride.”

  Emily laughed. “Sounds like a smart girl indeed.” She furrowed her brow. “You used the past tense when you talked about her.”

  Jake hesitated. He had not meant for the date to take such a serious turn. Such topics were usually left for later down the road, if ever at all, but his painful memories were safe in Emily’s caring hands and he didn’t mind sharing with her.

  “Janie was in a car accident with my mom when we were fourteen. They were the middle car in a five car pileup. A semi was behind them. She, uh...” Jake took a deep breath to steel against the always raw memory. “Janie didn’t make it.”

  “Oh no, Jake. Did your mom survive?”

  “She did, but she was paralyzed. My dad couldn’t handle Janie’s death or taking care of Mom. Their marriage was on the rocks at the time anyway, they were always fighting. He left without much to say to either of us. It was like we had both died in the crash with Janie. Mom did die about five years later from a stroke. I’m still not sure where my dad went off to.”

  Emily put her hand over her mouth. “That must have been horrible for you.”

  “Some days it’s still hard thinking about it. I was mourning Janie and angry with my dad for taking off. For the first year we had a nurse come to help, but with Dad gone, the money ran out fast. Taking care of Mom without help was difficult enough, but I worked two afterschool jobs just to help make ends meet. It didn’t leave much room for the usual teenage boy antics.”

  “I can imagine,” Emily said.

  “Since I didn’t have time to hang out with my friends outside of school, all of them disappeared over time. Before the accident, life was much different, but afterward that one event consumed my whole life.” Jake cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. It was time for a change of subject. “How did you first find out about your gift?”

  “It was much like you and your sister. I was ten when I started hearing things.”

  “An early bloomer,” Jake said.

  “If you can call it that. I’m not sure exactly when we are supposed to bloom. I was too scared to tell anyone because I thought I was going crazy, but my Aunt Susan was like me and she recognized what was going on. She took me under her wing.”

  “It’s good you have someone like her.”

  “And I wish I still did. She died ten years ago. I needed so much more time with her, but the time we had is very precious to me.”

  “That’s awful,” Jake said. “It sounds like we’ve been through a lot of similar things in our lives. What about your parents? Did they have this thing? Couldn’t you talk to them about it?”

  “My mom assumed we were both nuts. She still does.” Emily’s forehead wrinkled and she averted her eyes. “I don’t know my dad. Mom was quite the alcoholic until a few years ago. She drove him away with her drinking when I was almost four. Although I wish he had kept in touch with me, I don’t necessarily blame him for leaving her. She is very difficult to deal with.”

  “Do you still speak with your mom?” Jake asked.

  “Yes, although she’d rather I didn’t. She has early onset Alzheimer’s with dementia and lives in an assisted living facility. If I hadn’t put her there, the alcohol would have killed her. I still visit her every couple weeks, but when she recognizes me in a lucid moment, she usually curses at me and throws things. Books, flower pots, utensils. Whatever is nearby and can fly is tossed in my general direction.”

  “Emily, that’s horrible. You shouldn’t have to put up with all that.”

  “It’s okay. It’s the way life is and I deal with it the best I can.” Emily grimaced. “I’m sorry. This isn’t typical first date conversation.”

  “We’re not your typical people.”

  Emily raised her water glass and nodded in agreement. After taking a small sip, she said, “Despite our unusual lives, you seem to have done very well for yourself. Jury consultant for Nathan Wolk. That’s not an easy job to come by. It’s not like he advertises for employees on Craigslist, so you must have made someone very happy to even be considered. I’m sure Janie would be impressed.”

  “I would hope so. Speaking of which, I understand I’m on dangerous territory.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m on a date with the ex-girlfriend of the big boss.” Jake shook his head. “That may be a fireable offense.”

  “I know you didn’t gain that knowledge using your jury consultant training. How did you find out?”

  “After I came to see you, I went to the office for a little bit and your name was being batted around like a baseball during spring training. Seems a lot of people consider your relationship a thing of legend.”

  “Legend meaning in the past.” She took a long drink of her margarita. “We were together for about a year and a half, but it’s been over for several months now. If he even considers firing you for being on a date with me, I will have a lot to say about it.”

  “Good to know you not only have my back, but you have that kind of pull to save my job.”

  “We’re still friends and probably always will be, but nothing more.” She gave him a wistful glance. “I hope that isn’t a problem for you.”

  Jake took her hand and locked eyes with her. “It shouldn’t cause too much trouble.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Jillian’s palpable fear filled the room as soon as David shut the basement door behind him. She sat cross-legged on the cement floor with her hands restrained behind her back. She made several garbled sounds through the duct tape covering her mouth.

  Walking toward her, David waved his knife back and forth as a greeting. He wanted her to be fully aware of her fate. She would soon find out how long it would take to reach the end.

  Attempting to stand up, she managed to get up on her knees, but fell over and landed on her side. Tears streaked down her dirty face and she tried to get back up, only to fall again. She gave into her helplessness, and David watched the visible change in her eyes. They appeared almost blank, as if her soul had already departed her body in anticipation of death. He had seen this look before and it enthralled him. Jillian had lost all hope of escape.

  Her emotionless stare would soon change again, this time contorted by pain. With the first plunge of his knife, the first slice across her skin, she would understand that death wouldn’t come easily. All the fear buil
t up in her body over the past several hours would come to the surface and mix with pain, creating a balanced psychic force with which to reach out to Emily. As long as Emily heard her screams in the moment she called out, he would achieve his objective for Jillian.

  David knelt beside her and teased her skin with his knife. He ran the tip of the blade over her bare forearm and jumped it over the short sleeve of her work uniform, up to her face. As the knife drew closer to her eyes, they grew wider and the tears revved up to full speed.

  He moistened his lips and turned the blade until it was flush against Jillian’s cheek, all while watching the fear in her eyes. The knife bit into her cheek with a slight amount of pressure before he pulled it back.

  Jillian’s muffled scream behind the duct tape told him he accurately assessed how loud she would be when he got started. Droplets of blood lined the wound the knife left behind, a shallow, diagonal slit from the top of her cheek and pointed toward her earlobe.

  He tugged at the edge of the duct tape until he got a corner loose, and yanked it off her mouth as fast as he could. She screamed again. David closed his eyes and reveled in the idea that smallest gestures, a slip of the knife or pulling off of duct tape, caused her every bit of pain she deserved.

  “Please don’t kill me,” Jillian said. “If you let me go I won’t tell anyone where I was or what you look like. Just please don’t kill me.”

  David lifted Jillian to a sitting position. He sat down on the cold tiles in front of her. He had heard so many different reasons from women why they should live, why their lives meant so much that the world could not possibly continue turning without them in it. The excuses, all of them pathetic and inconsequential, irritated him.

  Still, he decided to allow Jillian some hope. If she had hope, it would make her death all the sweeter. “Why, Jillian?” he asked. He kept his tone soft and warm to lull her into a sense of security. “Why should I spare you? What do you offer the world that is so important?”