Copper Beach

45

ABBY AWOKE TO THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SAM WAS NO LONGER in the bed. She opened her eyes and saw him standing at the window. His strong, bare shoulders were silhouetted against the moonlight. His hard face was in shadow. He was not alone. Newton was beside him, front paws braced on the windowsill. Together, both males contemplated the darkness.

Abby sat up against the pillows and wrapped her arms around her knees.

“Did you have another one of your nightmares?” she asked.

“No.” Sam looked at her. “I woke up a while ago and couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“You had a rough evening. We all did, but you endured that dreamstate experience and nearly got killed. That kind of stress takes some time to get over.”

“That’s not why I couldn’t sleep. I started thinking about some of the missing answers.”

“You said they could wait until morning. The main thing to focus on tonight is that you solved Cassidy Lawrence’s murder. That should give you some closure.”

“Closure. Good word,” Sam said. He turned away from the window and moved back toward the bed. “It does feel a lot like a door has been closed somewhere, this time for good. But there is another door still ajar. I think your stepbrother is standing on the other side.”

“Dawson?”

“We need to find that investor, the one who is pressuring him to acquire the lab book.”

“You think the investor is Lander Knox, don’t you?”

“I think there’s a strong possibility of that, yes.”

“Even if you’re right, Knox has to know the chase is over and that he lost. The lab book is no longer on the market.”

“If he’s killed two people to get it, he’s unlikely to stop now. We need to find him.”

Abby shivered. “I can call Dawson in the morning, tell him what’s going on. Maybe he’ll believe me and cooperate with us to help find the investor.”

“Yes.”

Newton dropped his front paws to the floor and trotted to the door.

“He wants to go out,” Abby said.

“And then he’ll want to come back in.”

“It’s the way of all dogs.”

Sam went to the door and opened it. “Remind me to install a dog door this week.”

Abby watched Sam and Newton disappear into the darkened hallway.

Remind me to install a dog door. She smiled. A gentle warmth spread through her. Installing a dog door sounded like a long-term plan, as if Sam was envisioning a future that included her and Newton.

She listened to the kitchen door open and close. Sam came back to the bedroom alone, got out of his pants and got into bed. He reached for Abby and drew her across his chest.

“Tonight, in the lab,” he said, “when I heard you coming down the hall and realized that I could not stop you, I think I went a little crazy.”

She framed his face between her palms and kissed him firmly on the mouth, silencing him. “No, that’s not what happened. You need to remember events correctly. What happened is that, in an emergency, you pulled on psychic energy that you did not know you possessed because you’ve never had to use that much of it before. You broke free of the trance in time. If I had been dumb enough to open that door, I would have been okay, because you clocked Gerald first.”

He put two fingers over her mouth. “You didn’t let me finish.”

She sensed his amusement and winced.

“Sorry,” she said. “So what were you going to say?”

“That when I went a little crazy trying to break free of the trance, I suddenly realized that I could use the ring to do it.”

“Really?” She pushed herself up on her elbows and peered at his ring. She could not see it in the shadows, so she jacked up her talent a little and studied the tiny aurora of energy that leaked out of the stone. “You figured out what it can do?”

“I think it acts as a kind of psychic laser.” Sam raised his hand and examined the ring. “At least that’s what happened tonight. I was able to channel my own energy through it and focus it in a way I’ve never been able to do before. I could feel the currents overwhelming Frye, setting his aura on fire.”

“You didn’t say anything to your parents tonight about using the ring.”

“Because I’m still not sure what happened. I’ll talk to Dad in the morning, though. We need to run some experiments.” Sam paused. “Very careful experiments. And I need to contact my brother and sister, warn them that the rings appear to have laserlike properties and that they can be deadly.”

“Maybe you’ll know more when I break the code on the lab book.”

“Yes.” Sam thrust his fingers into her hair and wrapped them around the back of her head. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“The lab book?”

“Not the damn lab book. The real reason I was able to pull the extra energy I needed to break the trance tonight was you.”

“Me? But I was out in the hall.”

“I knew you were there. And you were running hot. There’s a connection between us, Abby.”

“I know. It’s weird, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s love.”

She froze. Her mouth went dry. “Sam.”

“I needed some additional power, and I drew it from the link between us.”

“I realize there’s some kind of psychic vibe going on here. But there might be a very straightforward explanation involving the resonating frequencies of our auras. Or something.”

He touched the corner of her mouth. “I’m the expert here. If I wanted a para-physics explanation for what’s going on between us, I’d have come up with it. But I don’t need one. I love you. I have from the moment you stepped out of Dixon’s water taxi. It was as if I’d been waiting for you all of my life and you had finally decided to show up.”

Warmth and wonder sparkled through her. “Oh, Sam.”

“You were like some fabulous new crystal, glowing with unknown fire and mystery. And you were in danger, and I had so much damn baggage.”

“Well, to be fair, I had a lot of baggage, too.”

“I know. Someone was trying to grab you.”

“That wasn’t the kind of baggage I meant,” she said. “I’m talking about more serious baggage.”

“What the hell is more serious than someone trying to kidnap you?”

She cleared her throat. “I have never been one to take risks when it comes to romantic relationships.”

“Oh, yeah, right. The commitment-and-trust-issues thing.”

“Yes. But I’ve always suspected that the shrinks and the counselors were wrong. I was pretty sure that I was just waiting for the right man to walk into my life. I knew I’d recognize him, you see.”

Sam traced her bottom lip with one finger. “Did you?”

“The instant I turned and saw you coming toward me along the dock that first day. I recognized you, but I told myself I had gotten it all wrong. There was so much drama going on all around us. Everything was happening way too fast. For Pete’s sake, we had sex the first night that we were together. I never do things like that.”

“We made love that first night. Big difference.”

“Sure, but at the time all I could focus on was the weird feeling that there was some kind of psychic connection forming between us. It was very confusing. I was afraid to trust what my senses were telling me. But now I know that what was really going on was that I was falling head over heels in love with you.”

He drew her mouth down to his. Abby felt him open his senses. She responded, heightening her own talent. The kiss was dark and profound, the kind of kiss that sealed a vow.

The heat built quickly. Energy burned in the room. Sam rolled Abby onto her back and came down on top of her. She pulled him close, savoring the weight of him crushing her into the bedding. The power that charged his aura challenged and aroused and thrilled her in ways that she could not begin to explain or understand. She knew on some level that he was as compelled and captivated by her energy as she was by his.

Sam raised his head so that his mouth was only an inch or so above hers. In the shadows, his eyes heated.

“You and me,” he said. “Forever.”

She wrapped her arms around him. “Forever.”

He took her mouth again. The night burned. So did the Phoenix ring.

She awoke to the muffled whine of an impatient dog.

“Newton,” she said.

“Your turn,” Sam said into the pillow. “I let him out.”

“Okay, okay. But definitely a dog door.”

“For sure. This week.”

She got out of the warm bed, wrapped her robe around herself and slid her cold toes into her slippers. She left the bedroom, went downstairs into the kitchen and opened the door.

Newton trotted over the threshold and paused, radiating a hopeful air.

“All right,” Abby said. “You’re a hero. I guess you deserve a snack.”

She opened the bag of doggy treats, took out a goodie and tossed it to Newton. He seized it out of midair and crunched with enthusiasm.

When he was finished, they both went back upstairs. Abby heard the chimes of her phone just as she arrived in the bedroom doorway.

“What in the world?” she said.

Sam levered himself up on one elbow. “Your phone.”

“Yes, I figured that much out all by myself.”

She grabbed the phone off the bedside table and looked at the glowing screen.

“I don’t believe it,” she said. “It’s Diana.”

“At this hour?” Sam grumbled. “It’s four o’clock in the morning.”

Abby took the call.

“If this is about Dawson and that book he wanted me to find for his client…” she began.

“Abby, shut up and listen to me.” Diana’s voice rose to a near-hysterical pitch. “Dawson has been kidnapped.”

“What?” Abby’s stomach clenched. “Please tell me this is some kind of really sick joke.”

“I just got a call demanding a ransom.”

“Let me guess. The lab book?”

“He’s going to murder Dawson if you don’t give him that damned book. Dawson’s life is in your hands.”

“You said we needed a plan,” Abby said. “I just gave you one.”

“It’s a lousy plan,” Sam said.

“Got a better one?”

“No. And yours just might work if we tweak it a bit.”