“I’m warning you . . .”
“You want a battle, Gaby?” He released her and stepped back. “Well, come on, lady. Bring it. I’m more than fucking ready.”
Wow. Gaby eyed Luther up and down. Seeing that his temper was more frayed than her own, she no longer had any desire to pulverize him. “Did you drag me in here for a reason, or just to expend some anger?”
Luther’s pointing finger nearly poked her in the nose. “We’re coming to an agreement, you and I, one you’ll abide by.”
“Is that so?”
“Damn straight it is, or so help me, I’ll—”
“Arrest me, I know.” Gaby flapped a dismissive hand at him. His threats had never carried much weight, and right now, they meant less than nothing to her. “That’s your answer to every damn thing that happens, isn’t it?”
“I’ll arrest you,” Luther confirmed, “and you won’t get a chance to visit with Bliss.” He stared her in the eyes, unrelenting, firm in his resolve. “How do you think that’ll make Bliss feel? Or do you even care how she feels?”
Low blow. “Bastard,” she hissed.
“Sticks and stones, Gaby.”
Her biceps twitched with the urge to brain him. Just one solid sock, right in his handsome face. He might not be so appealing with a crooked nose.
But no, she couldn’t, wouldn’t, do that. Even now with his fury boiling over and red-hot anger tingeing the outer perimeter of his aura, shades of pure altruism encompassed him.
Luther epitomized all that was good and pure.
She, on the other hand, epitomized the cold slam of justice. “So tell me the damn terms of this agreement, and make it fast, before I lose my good humor and flatten you.”
Luther took a calming breath. “I want you to work with me on this, not on your own. That means that whatever you know, I want to know.”
Huh. He wanted to play partners? Ridiculous. “And vice versa?”
He surprised her by saying, “Yes.”
Dropping back against the wall, her eyebrows raised, Gaby blinked at him. “No shit?”
Running a hand through his hair, Luther paced away from her. For the first time, Gaby noticed his disheveled state. Wrinkles marred his untucked and sweat-stained shirt. Dirt splotched his slacks. He looked haggard and tired and fed up.
Guilt gnawed on her. But what could she have done to make any of this easier on him? She had her own hardships to deal with.
“It sickened me,” Luther said, “to find Bliss in that shape, drugged and hurt and scared half to death.”
“Me, too.”
“I keep seeing that tortured corpse on the riverbank, knowing how badly the woman suffered.”
“Me, too.”
He caught Gaby in his gaze. “I know it’s going to happen again.”
Gaby wasn’t a mind reader, but this time, she didn’t need to be. “Hold up a minute. You’re thinking it could happen to me?”
“If you keep charging in without caution—”
“I don’t do that, but even if I did, you don’t need to worry about me. It’s Bliss, and women like her—”
“Like her?”
“Helpless.” Ordinary. Normal. Real. Gaby choked down the damning words. “Women who, because of their lifestyles, are vulnerable to sick pervs like our guy who’s still running loose.” Because she’d failed.
“If it’s a guy,” Luther pointed out. “Bliss was pretty confused about it all.”
“She’ll be able to tell us more when she’s recovered.” Gaby was counting on it.
“Maybe.” Luther waved that away. “But unless I stop it, we’re going to be finding more corpses.”
“Yeah.” More likely, Gaby thought, she’d be the one to put an end to things, but she didn’t want to devalue Luther’s contribution, or his sincerity. “I take it you have something in mind?”
“If we work together, me in my official capacity, you with your street information, we have a better chance to catch the guy responsible before anyone else gets hurt, or killed.”
Hell no. Gaby’s eventual success depended largely on Luther staying unaware of the scope of her metaphysical, even supernatural, ability. But she couldn’t tell him that. “Sounds like a plan.”
He straightened, moved closer to her again. “You said I didn’t trust you. Well, I’m going to trust your word that you’ll tell me everything you find out.”
Shit. “Luther . . .”
“I’ll trust you to be careful. I’ll trust you—but you have to trust me, too.”
Damn it, did he have to drag her nonexistent integrity into this?
A voice over the PA called for Detective Cross. Luther didn’t move. He waited, and Gaby, seeing so few choices, accepted his offer. “Fine.”
He nodded and reached for the door.
When he had it open, Gaby said, “But Luther?”
He looked back.
She felt on the precipice of something insane, unimagined—something once so far out of reach that now loomed within her grasp.
If she went through the threshold, it could liberate her.
Or kill her.
Luther turned to fully face her. “What is it?”
Taking a huge leap of faith, Gaby whispered, “Believing what I tell you isn’t always going to be easy.”
For a long moment, he said nothing. Then he reached out his hand for her.
An olive branch. Acceptance. Maybe more?
Hating her own weakness, Gaby took his hand.
His fingers curled warmly around hers. One corner of his mouth lifted with humor, with relief, and with promise. “I’ve found that where you’re concerned, Gabrielle Cody, nothing ever is.”
A plump, gray-haired doctor met Luther and Gaby in the hallway outside of the room where Bliss rested. “You’re her family?”
“Not quite.” Luther showed his badge, then introduced himself.
The doctor held out a hand. “I’m Dr. Bolton. I apologize for your long wait. The patient—” He referred to a clipboard. “—Bliss, was drugged with a high dose of Midazolam.”
High dose. Gaby seethed. When she found the one responsible, she’d get her retribution.
Well, except that Luther hoped to tag along, and he might be averse to her chopping up the jerk and feeding him to the carp in the river.
Unaware of Gaby’s frothing anger, Luther asked, “Midazolam? That’s one of the date rape drugs, right?”
The doctor nodded. “It’s a powerful anesthetic used in minor surgery because it leaves patients unable to remember what has happened to them.”
Luther glanced at Gaby, then back to the doctor with frustration. “In other words, it’s perfect for kidnapping someone.”
“I’m afraid so.” Dr. Bolton took off his glasses and rubbed tired eyes. “In this patient’s case, she had an adverse reaction to the drug, which affected her breathing and caused the vomiting. We flushed out her system. Her stomach is calmer, and she’s resting easier now, but I’d like to keep her overnight for observation. I don’t expect any problems, so she should be able to go home in the morning.”
Both men excluded Gaby from their discussion, which suited her just fine. It gave her time to let her thoughts connect into some sort of coherent order.
Luther rubbed the back of his neck in a show of exhaustion. “Is Bliss able to answer some questions about the attack?”
“Physically, she’s stable. Other than some bruises and scratches, which I gather she sustained while escaping the car, she doesn’t have any serious injuries.”
“So I can talk with her?”
The doctor tapped his eyeglasses against his thigh. “It won’t hurt anything, but I don’t know how much help she can be at this point. Emotionally, she’s still very confused and upset. Midazolam often has a residual ‘hangover’ effect. Your young lady was given such a large dosage that she’s still suffering the effects of sleepiness, impaired psychomotor and cognitive functions. Overall, she seems very confused about what happened to her.”
Every word caused Gaby more pain. She could only imagine Bliss’s discomfort and fear.
“How long till her head clears enough to tell us what happened?”