Page 4

One week later…

Ronan was having the time of his life at the car wash. Half naked hotties in G-strings were spraying each other under the hot summer sunshine. More stunning men washed and buffed the Mustang, while looking at Ronan as if he were on the menu. He was in the process of getting a lesson in how to wrangle a long, thick hose, when pain exploded in his head.

“Wake the hell up!”

Jude chuckled.

Realizing his face was planted on his desk, Ronan groaned. The last thing he remembered was using his hand to keep his head up. Jude must have yanked it out from under his chin, like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. Slowly lifting his face, Ronan realized the car wash was just a dream. “What the fuck, man?”

“It’s not even lunchtime and you’re sleeping on the job.”

Jude took a seat across from Ronan and appeared to be studying his friend.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Ronan dragged his tired ass off his chair and went to the coffee machine. He poured himself a lukewarm cup from the pot he’d started hours ago and drank it down without bothering to add sugar.

“Is something wrong with the kids, or did Ten have another nightmare?”

Jude’s annoyed look morphed into one of concern.

“Both,”

Ronan muttered, as Fitzgibbon walked into the conference room.

“What the hell happened to you?”

Fitzgibbon strode to the coffee pot, and frowned when he found it empty.

“Ten had another nightmare around two this morning.”

Ronan shook his head. If he lived to be a hundred, he’d never forget the sound of Tennyson screaming. “It was so bad that he woke the kids. Everly flew into our room and was shaking Ten’s shoulder begging him to wake up. Ezra sat in the doorway and cried. I eventually managed to get everyone calmed down and back to sleep. Everyone but me. I laid awake the rest of the night ready to spring into action every time Ten flinched or muttered in his sleep.”

“Did he remember any of the dream at all this time?”

Jude asked, looking worried.

Ronan shook his head. “Not really. He had one image flash through his mind that he managed to hold onto.”

“What was it?”

Fitz asked, starting a new pot of coffee.

“A pink dress.”

Ronan spent the majority of the early morning hours trying to figure out what the hell that image meant. “I thought maybe it had to do with Everly’s Snow Ball dress from last year, but other than that, I’m at a total loss here.”

What bothered Ronan the most was that there was nothing he could do to help his husband. Over the years he’d become a better, more attentive, husband, but there were still some things that not even Ronan could conquer, this string of nightmares being the latest in that line.

“What if the dress is metaphorical?”

Jude asked, looking thoughtful.

Ronan shot Jude a questioning look. “I’m much too sleep deprived for words with five syllables. You wanna dumb that down for me?”

“Maybe the pink dress symbolizes something else?”

Jude suggested. “Pink usually stands for femininity, compassion and innocence, and of course it’s a girl’s color. Maybe the dream is about Everly and something that’s in her future?”

“That’s not half bad,”

Fitz said. “I was thinking along the same lines.”

Ronan sighed. “The idea has promise, but doesn’t give me a whole lot of hope that we’ll be able to handle what’s to come.”

“I second that,”

a weary-looking Tennyson said from the doorway to the office. “Got a minute?”

“Yeah, do you want the guys to leave or for us to go to your reading room?”

He didn’t think it was possible, but Ten looked worse now than he had when they’d gotten up. His skin was pale, which made the dark circles under his eyes look more pronounced. His usually lively dark eyes were dull.

“I’d like to talk to all of you, if that’s okay?”

“Sure,”

Fitzgibbon said, taking his usual seat at the conference table, while Ronan ushered Tennyson into the seat he’d just vacated. Before sitting down himself, Ronan grabbed a bottle of water for Tennyson, who really looked like something the cat dragged in. The dark circles under his husband’s eyes combined with Ten’s unruly hair reminded Ronan of the days when they voluntarily sacrificed sleep for sex. Now, he’d give anything for Ten to get a decent night’s rest. “What’s up?”

“According to Cope, my dream was a vision,”

Ten began.

Not exactly breaking news, Ronan thought to himself. “Was he able to get a clearer picture on what the vision is trying to tell you?”

“Sort of.”

Ten nibbled at his bottom lip, which Ronan knew meant his husband was scared and trying to marshal his thoughts into something that wouldn’t send Ronan and the other detectives through the roof.

“What did Cope see?”

Jude asked, looking as anxious as he sounded.

Ten cleared his throat and focused his eyes on Ronan. “Death.”

“What?”

Ronan asked. His heart pounded like a jackhammer in his chest. Black spots danced in front of his eyes and he felt faint. “Whose death?”

If someone was going to die, why the hell had Ten kept this thing a secret?

“Sit,”

Jude said, softly. “Let Ten explain and then we’ll make a plan. Your husband is going to need you to be at your very best, right?”

Ronan nodded. His hands shook and it was hard to catch his breath. He knew Jude was right, that he needed to calm down, so that he could help, rather than hurt the situation, but all Ronan could see in his mind’s eyes, was worst-case scenarios, the last of which was Tennyson in his best black suit, lying motionless in a coffin. After a few deep breaths, he felt a bit more in control of himself. “Tell us the rest.”

Reaching for Ronan’s hand, Ten took a deep breath. “Cope couldn’t see much. He said there were people around us but didn’t know if they were friend or foe.”

“Where were you? Where was I? What about the kids, were they with you? Were you scared for their safety?”

Ronan’s mind spun with a hundred more questions. Fitzgibbon’s hand squeezing his shoulder, kept Ronan from asking them all.

“Let Ten finish,”

Fitz said gently.

“That’s all Cope saw.”

Ten’s voice was tinged with desolation, as if a horrible outcome was a foregone conclusion.

While Ronan tried to get himself together, Jude was typing a frantic message on his phone. Seconds later, Cope walked into the room.

“What did you see?”

Ronan demanded. “Where was Tennyson? Was anyone else in the vision? Could you see the time of year? Were the kids safe?”

Another shoulder squeeze stopped Ronan’s questions.

“We’ve all known there’s been something bothering Ten for the last week. During that time, I’ve done my best to read him and try to figure out what’s bother Tennyson. I wasn’t getting any answers until this morning.”

Cope paused, his eyes on Ronan, as if he were expecting the detective to start peppering him with questions again.

Ronan gasped for breath, praying Cope would hurry the fuck up and just tell them all what he saw.

When Ronan remained silent, Cope continued, “Like I said, people were all around us in close quarters, like in a crowded store or a subway train. I didn’t feel anything threatening about the people. It could be one of the people had a grudge against Ten or was going to hurt him in some way. I didn’t recognize anyone and the kids weren’t there.”

“That doesn’t give us a lot to go on,”

Fitz said on a sigh.

Cope shook his head sadly, seeming to agree with Fitzgibbon. “The vision seemed to only be a moment in time. What I was seeing was there and gone in a flash, but my gift told me Ten was dead scared. When I tried to push my gift further, everything stopped.”

“What do you mean, everything stopped?”

Ronan asked, feeling more confused than ever.

“The vision faded and my gift went blank. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to gather more information that would help us figure out what the hell is going on here.”

Cope reached a shaking hand out to Jude, who took it in both of his.

“Did you get the feeling something or someone was trying to stop you from seeing more than you did?”

Jude asked, looking scared.

“I don’t know. It all happened too fast. I wish I were a better witness.”

Cope wore a distressed look.

“You’re doing just fine,”

Jude said.

Ronan disagreed. There were two other psychics sitting downstairs and the fact that no one else saw anything or was able to provide more information on his husband’s possible death was absolutely infuriating. His hands bunched into fists and he felt his anger rising.

“Take a breath,”

Ten said softly. “Carson and Cole didn’t see or sense anything. Neither has Everly. It’s no one’s fault, Ronan. We have to move forward and hope more information comes to light.”

“So we just wait for some unknown assailant to shoot or stab one of us? For some rogue wave to sweep you out to sea or an out-of-control car to flatten the kids? For you to fall down the stairs or die in a house fire?”

Ronan was out of control and he knew it. He wanted to punch something. To scream and slam things around and demand that Cope find the answers they needed to stop whatever had its sights set on Tennyson and their family.

“All we can do is wait,”

Ten said. “I’ll talk to Everly when she gets home from school and see if there’s anything she’s been able to see. I’ve also got a call out to Madam Aurora. In the meantime, River’s family gets here in a few days. Let’s focus on that and the upcoming circus performance, okay?”

“Okay, Ronan agreed, lying through his teeth. Nothing was okay. Nothing was going to be okay until he was able to save Ten from the unknown horror stalking his husband. Hell, for all Ronan knew who or whatever the danger was could be coming for him and the kids. For their friends and neighbors, as well.

As much as Ronan hated to agree with Tennyson’s suggestion, all they could do was wait. But make no mistake, Ronan would be ready and waiting for whatever the hell was coming for his husband.