Conduit (An Emily Monroe Novel) Page 6

  “Dad thinks I could have gotten an acquittal instead of going for the NGRI defense.”

  “Could you have?”

  Nathan looked around their immediate area for any snoops. He lowered his voice. “Since it will be leaked to the press tonight for tomorrow’s headlines, Waschevski has emphysema. Heavy smoker since his teenage years. With any luck, he’ll be gone long before his first two years are up. Could I have gotten him acquitted? Who knows? But maybe I didn’t want to take a chance the bastard would survive too long out there in the real world. You should tell Uncle Leo that not all defense attorneys are bad ones,” Nathan said with a wink.

  “You always had a bigger heart than your dad.”

  “Which is why I’ll someday own this place, but never make partner while Dad is still kicking,” Nathan said. His eyes traveled down Emily’s form-fitting black dress and back up to her face. The tone of his voice transitioned from that of professional banter to the low bass that he used to woo and charm. “You know you’ve never looked as beautiful as you do tonight. Maybe in a little bit we can ditch this party and—”

  “How’s Trisha doing?” Emily asked. “I haven’t seen her yet tonight.”

  “She’s a distraction, Em. Nothing more.” His hushed tone quickly extinguished any lightheartedness in their discussion.

  Emily hesitated before responding. Nathan still had his mind set on her, and he reminded her of that every time their paths crossed. His flighty romance with Trisha Mathers was well known within their circles as a farce. The only one who didn’t seem to know it was Trisha, or more likely, she feigned ignorance to stay in Nathan’s good graces. He had a lot more going for him than his looks and killer charm. Some women would put up with anything to marry a man with that much money.

  “I’m sorry, Em,” Nathan said. “I know I shouldn’t say things like that. Trisha is a good girl who deserves better, and you’ve made your choices clear. Sometimes, I just can’t help myself around you, but I suppose you already know that.”

  Emily smiled and extended her hand toward him. “Friends?”

  A smile crawled across his face. Instead of accepting her hand, he wrapped his arms around her. “Friends don’t shake hands,” he whispered.

  “Well, isn’t this a cozy reunion?”

  Emily broke away from Nathan and frowned at Cassie, who chuckled at her own words. Cassie pushed her way in front of Nathan and enveloped him in a large hug, leaving the man who accompanied her standing next to Emily.

  “Cassie,” Nathan said. After releasing her from his arms, he pecked her cheek. “Still as ornery and gorgeous as ever.”

  “I always did like you, Nate,” Cassie said, with a wistful smile. “You have excellent taste in women.”

  “I wish you would tell that to Emily,” Nathan said.

  “Now, now,” Cassie said. “Don’t put me in the middle of your little lover’s spat.”

  Emily glared at her and stopped her leg from kicking Cassie to get her to shut up.

  Cassie’s date reached his hand out to Emily, inadvertently stopping her from assaulting Cassie in a roomful of witnesses. “I’m Stephen Gaines,” he said.

  Emily accepted his firm handshake. “Emily Monroe,” she said. Emily examined Stephen while he turned to Nathan and shook his hand as well. Dressed in a black tuxedo, like every other man in the room besides Nathan, Stephen appeared to be a typical date of Cassie’s. Tall, blond, with the same chiseled features that adorned hundreds of cheap romance novels, but in his handshake, she picked up on something Cassie had yet to discover.

  She swallowed the last of her wine and turned to Cassie. “I met a potential client you might be interested in hearing about.” She smiled at Nathan and Stephen. “You boys don’t mind if we talk shop for a few minutes, do you?”

  Nathan and Stephen both shook their heads. “We’ll be right here when you’re done,” Nathan said.

  Cassie turned on her heels and matched Emily’s brisk pace toward the bar. When they reached the bar, she asked, “So what do you think of my new man? Handsome, isn’t he? He’s the most successful chiropractor in his office and he drives a Porsche—”

  “And his wife thinks he’s playing poker with friends tonight,” Emily said.

  Cassie whirled around to face Emily. “Did you say wife?”

  Emily placed her empty wine glass on the bar. “I’m sorry. I picked up on it when I shook his hand. He’s worried Jim might call his house because his wife thinks they’re together.”

  “Jim’s his best friend.” Cassie shook her head in defeat. “I guess that means I’m not going home with him tonight. I really need to start checking court records on these guys before the first date.”

  “I’m sorry, Cass. Four dates with the same guy is a major accomplishment for you.”

  “That’s just plain mean.”

  “But you were practically married to this one! If you really like him you could always start a polygamist colony.”

  “Hey, he might have proposed tonight if you hadn’t ruined it,” Cassie said. She sighed and looked in Stephen’s direction. “I guess I’ll finish out the night and tell him off when he takes me home. No need to raise a stink in the midst of this company.”

  Emily smiled. “Good girl.”

  “And what about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “You could do worse for yourself than Nate,” Cassie said in a quiet tone. “Poor sap’s drooling all over you. I’m sure the gossip mill will be churning first thing tomorrow morning. Good thing Trisha isn’t here to see it.”

  “According to him, Trisha is a distraction.”

  “Everyone knows that,” Cassie said. “Including you.”

  Emily opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Someone watched her, but it was more than a feeling of eyes crawling over her. An invisible person stood right next to her, invading her personal space and snooping around her mind. Emily rubbed her arms, which had chilled in just a few seconds.

  Cassie touched Emily’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  Emily ignored her question and looked around the room. She took inventory of all the people she could see, but no one seemed out of place among the small groups of overdressed legal moguls discussing business and touting victories. Studying the faces in her immediate vicinity, she recognized quite a few of the people, and those she did not know appeared harmless.

  “Emily?”

  The invisible entity still by her side, Emily’s airway constricted and her breathing shallowed. The walls pulsated and closed in on her mind, though the person posed no danger. Their warm presence comforted her, but the close confines in which they held her also alarmed her, throwing her into panic mode. She needed to find the source of the disturbance and end it.

  She continued scanning the room. A man with a purple bowtie stood out in another group of lawyers to her left. A large laugh bounced through the room, coming from a gangly man at least a head taller than the others around him. Her eyes followed him as he jetted about the party, joining in the conversations of others for a few seconds before moving to invade another group.

  Emily’s eyes landed on an ostentatious woman, whose feathered boa adorned her red dress. The woman chatted with those around her while waiting in line at the bar in the back of the room. The invisible person pulled Emily in the direction of the woman, but there were too many people at the bar to know who called to her. No matter where Emily looked, her eyes always went back to the woman.

  “Let me get you some water,” Cassie said.

  Emily gave a slight nod and turned to say something. Before she could open her mouth, the woman in the red dress moved in her peripheral vision. Emily swung her eyes to the bar, now in full view.

  A man leaned against the bar, facing toward Emily. He showed her a genuine smile, and her heart rate picked up speed. While most women might notice him for his good looks and captivating smile, he caught Emily’s attention for a much different reason. Though standing across a crowded roo
m, Emily felt him right next to her.

  Cassie returned with a small glass of water. “Emily, what is going on with you? This is the second time today you’ve—”

  “I’ll be right back,” Emily said. She brushed past Cassie and moved toward the man at the bar in the back of the room.

  “Good evening,” the man said when Emily reached him.

  “Stop it,” Emily said.

  The man tilted his head. “Stop what?”

  “Whatever it is you’re doing to me,” she said. “You need to stop it now.”

  A nervous chuckle left the man’s lips. “I’m not sure I know what—”

  “You do too know what I’m talking about,” Emily said. “We both know what you’re doing, so stop.”

  His smile fell. “Okay. I’m sorry for—”

  Emily didn’t wait for him to finish. She turned around and headed toward the front doors. She breezed past the doormen and the crisp spring air bit her skin through the light material of her dress. A handful of guests braved the outdoors, most with coats on. Rubbing her chilled, bare arms, she wished she’d had the foresight to get her coat before going outside. She slowed her walk and smiled at the other guests.

  She moved to the bottom of the steps and peered out at downtown Wichita. After the claustrophobia of the man crowding her mind, the tranquility of the darkened streets and glow of the night’s stars freed her from captivity.

  Leaning against the handrail, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the fresh Kansas air that only came before and after a good rain. The sky would spit out sporadic drops of moisture while springtime held onto the city over the next few months. Then the summer thunderstorms, Emily’s favorite type of rain, would begin. She loved the way rain cleansed the earth, and there was no better place to be in the world than in Kansas when it rained. Tonight, the mere smell of it calmed her jumping nerves.

  She needed a moment like this to gather her wits before going back inside the madhouse and facing more of Nathan’s advances. She cautioned herself against additional glasses of wine. Too much alcohol would skew her judgment and cause her to end the night in his bed, a mistake she would never make while sober.

  Emily’s eyes flew open. Her throat tightened and again a presence came over her that she couldn’t explain. She did not recognize this new feeling as being the attractive man at the bar. That man had a much different presence than this invisible specter. This menacing force seemed to smother her and darkness slithered into her mind.

  Her eyes darted about as she tried to locate the source of her fear, yet the streets were empty except for an occasional passing car. The only sounds she heard came from the soiree behind her.

  “Excuse me, miss?”

  Her heart jumped into her throat again and she spun around. The man from the bar smiled at her. Emily’s anger grew, fueled by her panic at the unexplained malicious presence. “And now you’ve followed me outside,” she said. “Would you like my home address so we can start the stalking the proper way?”

  The man ran a hand through his hair, which Emily thought might be more disheveled than Nathan’s hair outside of these fancy gatherings. Though combed with a sense of seriousness, defiant longer strands of mahogany attempted to curl at the ends above his ears. “You didn’t let me apologize and that’s something I need to do.”

  Emily bit her inside cheek and tightened her mouth in case any more sarcasm attempted to emerge unchecked. “Go ahead.”

  A corner of the man’s mouth turned upward toward green eyes that glimmered under the lights of the front entryway. “Thank you. What I was saying is I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I didn’t realize—”

  “That I’m like you?”

  “There aren’t too many of us, you know.”

  “Why were you doing that to me? You were in my mind, which I didn’t even know was possible. You shouldn’t force your way into someone’s head like that. It’s...unethical.”

  The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Unethical? Are you with the psychic police?”

  Emily scoured the nearest bystanders, but it did not appear any of the other guests heard the man’s words. “Will you keep your voice down?”

  “Oh, I get it. You’re one of those silent types.” He leaned into her and lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, I won’t let your secret out.”

  “I have my career to think about.” Emily shook her head and wondered why she bothered trying to justify anything to a stranger. “Never mind. I don’t need to explain my actions to you.”

  “But I need to explain myself to you. I’m sensing a slight contradiction.”

  “I don’t use my abilities unethically.”

  “There’s that word again. You must be a lawyer.”

  “I’m a private investigator.”

  “Then I might need your services one day. What investigating firm are you with?”

  “I own Monroe & Reid Investigators.” As soon as the words trickled out, Emily questioned why she would reveal personal information to the man standing before her.

  “I’m a jury consultant,” he said. “I could use a good private investigator on some cases, especially someone with your talents.”

  “I’m sure you’re very successful on your own with the way you push yourself on others.”

  The man shrugged. “I guess you could categorize me as successful. I signed on to work with Nathan Wolk a few months ago, and that’s a tough guy to work for. I might need help from time to time.”

  “Nathan Wolk,” Emily muttered. “Should’ve guessed.”

  “What?”

  Emily shook her head in response.

  “Can you honestly tell me you’ve never used your abilities on the unsuspecting?”

  Emily thought about her handshake with Stephen. “Sometimes information leaks out to me. I don’t typically push myself into someone’s mind.”

  “Don’t typically? That means you have done it before.”

  “I have never done what you just did to me, and I’ve certainly never done it at a party to some poor soul across the room who...” Emily paused mid-sentence. “What were you doing in my head?”

  The man looked away from her.

  Emily glared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding. You were using your gift to get in my head so you could pick me up?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m not sure what happened exactly or why it happened. I just saw you standing at the bar with your friend and the next thing I knew—”

  “Have you ever been married?”

  “No, but—”

  “I can see your master plan to manipulate women by using your gift against them has worked perfectly.”

  “Maybe I simply haven’t met the right girl yet. I know what you think, but I’m really not a bad guy. I didn’t even realize what I—”

  “So you’re not a bad guy, but you use your powers for evil,” Emily interrupted without listening to his words.

  “I’m not...look, can we start over? You’ve completely got the wrong impression of me.”

  “And I prefer to keep it like that. Have a good night—”

  “Jake.” He thrust out his hand. “Jake Hanley.”

  Emily ignored his attempt at being friendly and crossed her arms without shaking his hand. “Have a good night, Mr. Hanley. Try to leave the other guests alone with their thoughts, if you can manage.” She turned and walked back into the party.

  Chapter Six

  The connection between them growing stronger, David Noakes sensed Emily a few seconds before she emerged from the Wolk, Trotter & Wolk office building. Through his binoculars, Emily’s expression of hesitation and realization confirmed she also sensed him. Her expression pleased David, and he closed his eyes to reach out to her. For a moment, he connected with her mind. Euphoria overcame him as he tasted what it would be like when they were finally together.

  Then the other man strolled out after her and engaged her in conversation. Emily shoved David from her mind to talk to the man. David had no
t seen him before, but his presence infuriated him. How dare this stranger talk to Emily, approaching her at a party like a slab of meat hanging from a butcher’s storefront?

  Emily would never buy into his charade. She was much more intelligent than that and she deserved the utmost respect. Once they were together, David would treat her better than anyone ever could, always remaining in awe of her strong psychic abilities and subtle beauty.

  David tried to read the man, but as he discovered in his early years, his abilities did not work well on males. Through his years of research, David learned it was not uncommon to have gender-biased abilities. Men and women seemed to project on different psychic frequencies, and most psychics were only able to pick up on one frequency or the other. David could only use his abilities on women.

  The man continued speaking to Emily and undermined David’s psychic journey into her mind. Emily would refuse the man. She had to know that something greater awaited her if she could be patient just a little longer. David had no reason to think she wouldn’t wait for him to finish breaking through. After all, she had sensed David tonight and readily accepted him into her mind.

  As David watched through the binoculars, Emily turned her head so he could better see her face. Her look of rebuke toward the other man thrilled David. This man didn’t concern him. She knew better than to waste her time on some random man. They were now connected and only death could break their bond.

  Despite the growing connection, their bond needed to be strengthened for her to come to him. Jillian Waters would take their connection to a greater level and bring him one step closer to Emily. It was time for Jillian to make her sacrifice.

  Chapter Seven

  Emily woke with a slight wine hangover the next morning. Her alarm agitated the headache that started drilling into her temples before she woke. With her eyes still closed, she slapped around for the snooze button and silenced the loud buzzing. She rolled over several times in her bed to find a comfortable, sleep-inducing position, but sleep eluded her.