“It’s risky,” he said. “You’re resistant to empathy but not immune, especially not to a corrupted empath, and if Ms. Falcon gets her hands on you—”
“I’m not a detective anymore.” Jamey looked back to the dry dock that held her brother. “And it’s not a problem.”
Grayson stepped to her side. “Then you draw Ms. Falcon’s attention. And I’ll do the rest.”
He turned to leave. She cleared her throat. “Agent Grayson.”
He stilled expectantly, handsome face fixed on her.
Jamey cocked her head. “Are they a brother or sister?”
“Who?”
“The empath in your family tree.”
He paused, and for a long moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer. But then he finally spoke. “Brother.”
“And what’s his opinion on your career choice?”
“I doubt he has one.” Grayson’s drawl was flat as ever. “He’s dead.”
Sudden sympathy flooded her stomach. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she muttered, knowing the words weren’t enough.
“I’ve moved on,” was all Grayson said.
And then he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I still don’t get why they insist we both need to be here. I just have a weird feeling about this.
—final text message on an empath’s phone,
recovered at a San Francisco crime scene
We’re waiting for someone?
The next piece of the plan. Your sister.
Something in Reece flared with dark heat, like black lightning. “No,” he said sharply to Cora. “Me you can have. My sister’s off-limits.”
Cora laughed. “Jason Owens gouged his own eyes out because I made himwantto. You think I’ve still got limits?”
Despite her graphic words, his knees held steady, buoyed by his anger. “Leave my sister alone.”
“We all have our trigger points. Our loved ones, our heroes.” Her eyes flashed and she jerked her head toward Whitman. “Vanessa here keeps a list of them. One of mine was John.”
WasJohn. As far as Reece knew, there was still no trace of her fiancé, alive or otherwise. “Where is he?”
“I could tell you,” said Cora. “But it would make your nightmares worse.”
Not a lie. Shit. “What did you do to him?”
“Oh, Reece.” She leaned forward. “I loved him with all my heart. I would never have hurt a hair on his head. So what makes you think it was me?”
Also not lies. Reece felt his nails bite into his bare palms, and looked down to find he was clenching his hands into fists. Something dark was building at the back of his mind, like the low rumble of thunder before a summer storm.
“I’m so glad you came to see me yesterday,” Cora said conversationally, as if they were back in her office at the hospital. “After I escaped the engine room on the yacht, I knew I was different but not exactly how. But when I got my hands on Senator Hathaway, I discovered I could change her emotions as easily as changing a channel. And when she started bleeding from the eyes, I thought of your nightmares. And I wondered.”
