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Chapter Thirty-four

“I’m telling you, this is a really bad idea,” Gideon said. He wheeled the SUV into the parking space behind the Cactus Garden Motel, braked to a sharp halt, shut down the engine, and turned in the seat. “You don’t know what you’re suggesting. You saw what I did to those men back there at the hotel.”

“Calm down and think about this,” Amelia said.

“Do not tell me to calm down. You’re the one who is going off the deep end here.”

“You said that handling our psychic senses is all about control.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“Have you ever tried to put someone into a lucid dream? The kind of dream the dreamer controls?”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“Have you ever tried to make someone hallucinate on demand?”

“It’s not the kind of talent you can run experiments with.”

“You don’t know that because you’ve never tried to run the experiments,” she said. “I’m suggesting that we could work together to guide me through my lost memories.”

“What the hell makes you think that’s possible?”

“I’m almost certain your talent is a form of hypnosis. That’s why you were able to pull me out of the nightmare using my name. If I’m right, you have more control over your talent than you realize.”

“What the hell makes you think that?”

“I’ve seen your aura, Gideon. I’m looking at it right now. My intuition tells me you have all the power you need to control your psychic senses.”

He was aware that his left hand was clenched very tightly around the steering wheel. But she was getting to him. How many times had he wondered if there was some other use for his talent?

“What if you’re wrong?” he asked quietly.

“We’ll take it slow. You’ll be in control. If you think things are going sideways you can just stop.”

“My talent doesn’t work that way.”

“Here’s the thing that I’m pretty sure will make all the difference: I won’t be a target. I will be a willing participant in the experiment. Hey, I survived one test run tonight and it worked. I got some memories back accidentally. Imagine what might be possible if we worked together to recover the rest.”

“Damn it, Amelia—”

“Please, Gideon. Just give it a try. I’m begging you. Tonight, at the hotel, I almost saw the face of the man who stole a night of my life. A man who is responsible for killing who knows how many people in the course of his so-called experiments. And now he’s trying to kidnap me. I need answers. So do my friends.”

He ought to say no. He knew that. But she was right about one thing. She had bounced back swiftly tonight after he had hit her with a shot of his talent—and she had recovered what she was certain were genuine memories. If they went about it slowly he might be able to calibrate his talent.

“This is a really stupid idea,” he said.

Amelia glowed. “I knew you’d agree. Don’t worry. It will work.”