Predatory Game (GhostWalkers #6)(88)
Author: Christine Feehan

“I’ll be all right.” She had to leave fast or she was going to notice he was in trouble.

“Your friends will be hanging out tonight, right? Watching over you?”

The anxiety in her voice turned his heart over. “Yes. Now go, Saber. I’ll be listening.”

She smiled at him and hurried out the kitchen door to the garage.

Jess put his head down on the table and prepared himself for a long night.

Chapter 18

“Hey!” Brian frowned as he strode across the floor, reached for Saber’s chin, and lifted it so he could inspect her face before she could jerk free. “What happened to your face? Who hit you?”

Saber touched her cheek. “I forgot about that. It looks worse than it is, Brian. Some…people attacked Patsy, and Jess and I happened along and there was a bit of a fight.”

Brian’s eyebrow shot up. “You got in a fight? And the boss? Is he all right? Who would fight someone in a wheelchair? And who would attack Patsy? She’s the sweetest woman in the world. Is she all right?”

Saber laughed and sank into a chair. “Do you have any more questions?”

“A dozen or so.” Brian gave her a reluctant answering smile. “But tell me if Patsy’s all right.”

“Yes. She’s in the hospital. She had a heart attack.”

Brian’s color paled. “A heart attack? But, she’s too young.”

“I think she had a heart problem and with the assault on her, her heart couldn’t take it and reacted. She’s in the hospital and she’s better.”

His boyish good looks suddenly hardened, and for one brief second he looked scary. “Who attacked her?”

Saber shrugged, trying to appear casual. “I have no idea who they were.” Usually she liked the radio station at night, sitting in the booth, talking to unseen listeners, but she was so tired and so many things had gone so wrong, that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come in to work. Now she was looking at Brian as if he were a suspect. “Do you know Patsy very well? I didn’t think she came to the station that much.”

“Actually Jess interviewed me for the job at his home, not here at the station, and Patsy was there. I was new in town and she had coffee with me a couple of times. Not like a date or anything, she was just being nice to me. But I like her.”

Saber grinned at him.

Brian raked a hand through his hair. “Not like that. Don’t start. And at least tell me if Calhoun is all right. He must have been really upset over his sister being attacked.”

Saber settled into her familiar chair. “Yeah, you could say he was upset. He’s pretty amazing for being in a wheelchair. I was impressed.” She tapped the mike, a habit she couldn’t break, her restless fingers moving everything around within reach. “It feels good to be back.”

“That nutcase that keeps calling you,” Brian said, “I’ve been listening to the tapes over and over and he’s distorting his voice, not a lot, but enough that I’m beginning to think that it’s someone you know. And some of the calls were prerecorded.”

Saber’s head snapped up. “What do you mean, prerecorded?”

“I don’t think he’s there. I think…” He broke off abruptly and shook his head.

“Oh no, you don’t. You can’t just stop there. This whack job records his distorted voice on tape and then calls the station and uses the recording?” That made no sense at all.

“I think he arranges for the phone to call in automatically, like the telemarketers, and when the phone on our end answers, the recording kicks on.”

“Why would he do that?”

“You tell me.”

Frustrated, Saber glared at him. “You’re driving me crazy. Men are crazy. Whoever said they were the logical sex? You’ve obviously been thinking about this and you must have a theory.”

“I’m not stupid enough to tell it to you, because it’s so farfetched. Figure it out yourself and tell me what you come up with.” He glanced at the clock. “You’re on in five.”

Brian had jinxed her for the entire night. She just couldn’t get into her normal rhythm. It wasn’t a bad show, but she didn’t shine, that was for sure. Why would someone use a device to make a call demanding to talk to her? What if she’d agreed to talk to him? What if he’d gotten past Brian? So the object of the phone call hadn’t really been to talk to her at all.

Whoever had broken into her house likely would be the same nut. Surely, there couldn’t be two separate people fixating on her. So why would he call and not be on the other end of the phone to talk to her if she took his call?

Her gaze strayed to Brian several times over the course of the next few hours, her body slowly growing tense. She studied his face. He had a boyish face, laugh lines around his eyes, his mouth always ready to smile. But when she really examined him, it occurred to her that those boyish good looks could be hiding something much more sinister beneath. Goose bumps raised along her skin.

She did another short broadcast, talking about nothing she could remember, her mind suddenly consumed with the reality that Brian moved with grace and carried himself like a man who could handle himself. And what did she really know about him? He’d arrived in town right before she had. And he saw Patsy occasionally. Her pulse thundered in her ears and her mouth went dry.

Had he said that to subtly warn her that he could hurt Patsy anytime he wanted? When had she let her guard down enough to stop being suspicious of everyone around her? She snuck another look at him-the set of his shoulders, the smooth way he moved. He was good at his work, easy to work with, he fit in.

What was she thinking? Where was she going with this and why was she suddenly tense and apprehensive? She bit down hard on her lip, distracted enough that she nearly missed her cue. At Brian’s frantic signals, she sent her soft, whispery siren’s voice out over the airwaves, gave a little commentary, and introduced the next run of songs. All the while her mind was turning over the puzzle, trying to piece together an answer.

Feeling Brian’s gaze on her, she turned and glared at him through the glass. She signaled him to come into the booth. Brian sauntered in, looking cockier than ever.

“I want to hear your theory.”

“What’s yours?” he countered.

“If I know him, obviously he’d have to disguise his voice.”

Brian nodded. “My feelings exactly.” He leaned one hip lazily against the console and regarded her from his lofty height.