Shadow Protector
Jenna Ryan
www.millsandboon.co.uk
MILLS & BOON
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Copyright
About the Author
JENNA RYAN started making up stories before she could read or write. Growing up, romance alone always had a strong appeal, but romantic suspense was the perfect fit. She tried out a number of different careers, including modelling, interior design and travel, but writing has always been her one true love. That and her long-time partner, Rod.
Inspired from book to book by her sister Kathy, she lives in a rural setting fifteen minutes from the city of Victoria, British Columbia. Its taken a lot of years, but shes finally slowed the frantic pace and adopted a West Coast mindset. Stay active, stay healthy, keep it simple. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the read. All of that works for her, but what she continues to enjoy most is writing stories she loves. She also loves reader feedback. E-mail her at jacquigoff@shaw.ca or visit Jenna Ryan on Facebook.
To Samoa and Serendipity.
Part of the new Lucky Seven.
Prologue
The dream unfolded piece by resistant piece in Serafina Hudsons sleeping mind.
She heard disembodied voices overlapping inside a viscous black fog. They murmured words like death and danger and serial killer.
The mood altered. The voices grew louder. Fear slithered in, making the blackness cold.
Where was she? Sera wondered. Why couldnt she see?
We look inside too much, Sera. Thats our problem and our burden. It isnt all about the mind
Andreas voice joined the mix. But that was impossible
Because corpses couldnt speak!
Reality swept in, churning, swirling, spinning the black into blood red. Like the pool of blood her friend and colleague had been lying in on their office floor.
Sera remembered a slow, painful rise from dark to light. Thered been people everywhere, most of them wearing uniforms, all of them unfamiliar to her. Except for Len, the security guard. And Andrea.
Click into clinical mode. She was a doctor. Shed seen blood before.
Just not pooled around a body.
She swore three times. The hands vanished. Lights flashed red and blue. Shed be fine, a stranger promised. As for Andrea
The voices stopped abruptly. The lights blurred. Her mind stuttered then seemed to wink out.
Try to remember, Dr. Hudson
The mental prod repeated with an eerie echo. A mans face, hazy at first, solidified. He had creased, careworn features. He looked sixty and tough, yet she sensed an underlying kindness.
She also knew a cop when she saw one.
Im sorry your colleagues dead, Doctor. I wish I could change that, but I cant. Neither can you.
Had she thought the man was kind?
You need to concentrate, he pressed. We found a white bandanna at the murder scene. Its the signature of a serial killer. A phantom. You saw the person who did thiswere sure of it. You called Security. You screamed. The guard was down the hall, less than ten seconds away. He thought you were both dead when he found you
His voice trailed off. This really was a nightmare, Sera decided. Maybe if she did as the cop suggested and concentrated, she could erase some of the more gruesome aspects.
Determined, she willed the man away, shut out the blurred lights and, because she knew it was important, concentrated on the throbbing pain at the base of her skull.
For a heartbeat, the world went dark.
When it relit, she was being ushered through a door. And, damn, there he was again. The careworn cop.
Youll be safe here, Doctor. Leo and I have been partners for twenty years. We havent lost a witness yet.
She was a witness? Her mind snapped to attention. Had she seen Andreas killer? Please, God, no, had she watched her die?
The walls and fixtures distorted. Two men spoke in the distance.
Captain thinks theres a leak at headquarters, Leo. I agree with him.
Youre a pair of old ladies.
She saw him. I know she did. If we can buy her enough time, shell remember, and well have that bastard Blindfold Killer cold
The image of a white bandanna floated in. It fell over Andreas lifeless, staring eyes.
Seras mind gave a single convulsive shudder that had her surging upright in bed.
Sera!
The cops voice cracked the night shadows like a whip. He caught her by the shoulders, held her steady and stared into her eyes. Are you awake?
Was she?
Seras heart settled as the image of Andreas rigid features faded.
Yes. She breathed in, then out. I had a nightmare.
You only had the beginnings of one, Doc. Worst parts still to come.
Instinct had her bracing. Theres worse than my nightmare?
Theres a leak in the department. Ive suspected it for a while. Im sure of it now. My partners been killed. This place isnt safe.
Questions raced through Seras head, too many to ask. She wanted this to be part of her dream, but she knew it wasnt.
Two people were dead, and if the man whod murdered them had his way, shed be joining them. Shed been there the night hed murdered Andrea. Shed seen his face.
All she had to do now was remember it.
Chapter One
Youre the psychiatrist, Doc. You tell me whats going on in this guys pathetic excuse for a brain.
Sig Rayburn pushed on his forehead as if to compress his thoughts. Pain, worry, even a hint of fear had clouded his eyes during the two-day drive from San Francisco. The long, hot drive that currently had them blasting along Wyomings I25 in his rusty brown Ford.
Sera searched for another vent. Murderers usually have agendas, but thats not a given. I worked with a man once who liked watching people die. He said it gave him a buzz.
Sexual?
Probably, although victim gender didnt matter. Neither did age or appearance. She paused, sat back, sighed. Sig, where are we going?
He pushed harder. Tenth time youve asked me that since we left the motel this morning. Im still not gonna tell you.
Which says to me you dont know yourself, you think your cars bugged or youre weirdly superstitious. Youre too good a cop to drive a bugged car, and you strike me as a man who always has a destination in mind, so Ill go with superstition and point out that wearing the same ratty T-shirt for three days straight at the safe house still didnt help the Giants win their series against the Dodgers.
Got em close, though. Final game, eleventh inning. One little error in the outfield and poof, streak done.
The clouds rolled through his eyes again. Reaching over, Sera squeezed his arm. Im really sorry about your partners death.
Not your fault, Doc. You didnt fire the bullet that took out the back half of his skull. Didnt slit your friends throat either. He slanted her a speculative look. You know who did, though. Thats why were doing this. You need time, distance and a safe place to unlock whats hidden inside that pretty head of yours. No offense, he added gruffly. I know you have impressive credentials.
None taken, and theyre not as impressive as Andreas were. Setting aside a twinge of guilt, Sera fanned her face with a Wyoming road map. Im pretty sure it wont jinx anything if you tell me our destination.
Sig waved at a buzzing fly. Youre wrong, Doc. Leo carried a lucky rock from Sedona the whole time we worked together. Kept it in his pocket with his loose change. When we found him in that alley, the change was there, but the rock wasnt. Dont talk to me about jinxes.
Yes, but
My nephew gave him that rock. Gave me one, too. Only time I left it behind, I took a bullet in my right calf.
Wheres your rock now?
He jerked his head. Backseat. Jacket pocket. When she didnt respond, he cocked a brow. You think Im nuts, dont you?
I dont analyze every idiosyncrasy, Sig.
Uh-huh. But the challenge lingered. You gonna tell me you dont have a quirk or two?
Oh, I have lots. She smiled. But, no, Im not going to tell you about them.
A rusty laugh preceded a gruff, One things sure, Doc. Leos gone, and he shouldnt be. No one better in the country at spotting or shaking a tail than him. Except With a glance at the distant Big Horn Mountains, he lapsed into silence.
Sera left him to his thoughts. His partner and friend was dead. Who better to understand how he felt than her? Even though
She and Andrea hadnt been friends so much as friendly rivals. Theyd known each other since they were five years old, but it was circumstance that had truly defined their relationship. Coincidence had also played its wily hand. From where theyd startednot a pretty pictureto where theyd ended upas psychiatrists whod obtained their degrees within months of each otherthe outcome read like a small universal anomaly to Sera.
She closed her eyes and let the memories in. The murderer had left Andrea face up and staring at the shadowed ceiling. Through a swarm of police and medical workers, shed looked like a broken dollher skin chalk white, her features frozen in a mask of astonished horror.
Pain stabbed, swift and sure, and made her open her eyes.
Youre doing it again, arent you? Sig demanded. Trying to smash down that wall in your brain.
She regarded the impressive peaks of the Big Horns. Its like Im in an all-black room and theres a strobe light flashing at random intervals. I get split-second glimpses of things I dont understand, then its back to black, and I want to scream, because no matter how hard I try, I cant make sense of them.
Could be youre trying too hard.
She slid him a vaguely humorous look. Your names Rayburn, right, not Freud?
What, youve never said that to a patient?
Not any more.
Sig went back to pushing on his forehead while Sera contemplated the landscape. The scenery was magnificent, as was the clear, blue sky. July in Wyoming was all about pine forests, spectacular mountain ranges and wide-open vistas that possessed a beauty all their own.
She felt a tease on the edge of her brain and tipped her head from side to side in an effort to center it. One image, thats all she needed to extract. Unfortunately, research suggested that forcing a resistant memory tended to be as effective as striking a nail with a feather.
She watched a pair of hawks glide in a wide arc beneath a cloudless stretch of sky.
Whats that look for? Sig asked.
I have a look?
Like youd rather be riding a cable car.
A smile tugged on her lips. My face isnt that readable, Detective.
Hell it isnt. Youre sleek, sophisticated and polished. You probably wear high heels to the grocery store. I dont mean to sound patronizing, but I have to warn you, where were headed, the only place youll see five stars is in the night sky.