Part 13 (1/2)

He gave her his most intimidating stare. She didn't even blink. He broke first, leaning over the desk under the guise of opening a file. ”You'll need to fil out your official report, but right now, I need your impressions on the kidnapper.”

Taige's mouth thinned out in a flat line, and she shook her head. ”Can't. Already told you that. I didn't so much as get one look at him. That place, it's like it's been wiped clean of his touch. I can feel the evil of him, but not him.”

Jones looked up, and she saw a muscle ticking in his jaw. ”You got nothing?”

SHE waited until Jones disappeared into the bathroom before she slipped out of the office and made her way down the crowded hal way. She kept her chin up, shoulders back, and she took a minute to loop the lanyard holding her badge in place around her neck. It displayed her official identification with the FBI and that, coupled with her confident stride, kept anybody from stopping her as she sought out Jillian and Cullen.

It didn't take long. Busy as it was, the county emergency room was small. She sensed Cullen's presence before she actually saw him and turned to find him sitting behind a curtain that partially blocked him from view. Keeping quiet, she moved to the curtain, intending only to glance in and see Jillian for herself. After dreaming of this girl for more than a decade, for longer than Jillian had even been alive, it was hard to believe those dreams might actually be over.

Very hard.

But Jillian lay on the bed, her pretty little face peaceful, once more the soft, fragile ivory that Taige remembered from her dreams and no longer stained with the hot red flush that had come from the heat and dehydration. Cautious, Taige lowered her s.h.i.+elds and reached out to Jillian.

The girl slept with the deep, dreamless sleep of the exhausted. Taige didn't sense any torment, any bad dreams, or any fear. All she could pick up was a sense of peace now that Jillian had her dad with her. The bad dreams would come, of that Taige had no doubt.

Hopefully, it would be a while. The mind had a way of protecting itself, and maybe Jillian would forget for a while, at least until she was a little older, a little more ready to deal with what had happened.

Taige certainly hoped so.

”Hey.”

Startled, she turned her head and saw that Cullen had opened his eyes. He stared at her, his lids hanging low over his eyes. ”You look exhausted,” she said.

His lips quirked in a smile. ”You, too.”

Nodding toward Jillian, she asked, ”She woken up yet?”

Cullen shrugged. ”For a minute. Saw me and told me she knew I'd find her. Then she went back to sleep and hasn't woken up since. The doctor said not to worry.” His mouth twisted in a sullen scowl. ”How in the h.e.l.l can I not worry?”

He glanced at Jillian and then stood up slowly, arching his back and groaning a little. He slid out of the small, curtained room and leaned his shoulder up against the wall, staring at Taige with intense eyes. ”I don't how to say thank you.”

Taige wished she could move away a little, get some distance between them, but she couldn't, even though she tried to make herself. Her body seemed to be reaching out to his, and it was all she could do not to touch him. She'd made it this long without touching him, but that had been because she'd been focused on Jillian and saving her. Now that Jillian was safe, it was harder.

Quietly, she said, ”You don't need to say thanks for anything, Cullen.” She glanced back at Jillian and sighed. A faint smile, almost amazed, curved her lips. The relief she felt was unreal. ”It's kind of hard to believe all of this is over. I've seen her face so many times.

I'm just glad she's finally safe.”

Cullen's eyes darkened. ”You saved her life, Taige. Saved mine-it would have killed me if anything happened to her. I owe you a h.e.l.l of a lot more than thanks.” He looked away for a minute, hooked his thumbs in his pockets. A harsh breath escaped him, and he looked back at her. Under the thick fringe of his lashes, his eyes were stormy. ”One thing I do owe you is an apology. What I did to you when you came to see me about Mom, it was wrong. All of it. For blaming you.” A faint rush of blood darkened his tanned face.

”And for what happened before you left.”

She swallowed. The knot in her throat was going to choke her; she knew it. Taige turned away from him, nervously toying with one of her braids. ”It's over with, Cullen. It doesn't matter now.”

His voice was rough as he murmured, ”The h.e.l.l it doesn't.” His hand curved over her shoulder and he turned her to face him. He cupped her chin in his hand. The feel of his hand, callused and warm, against her flesh brought a rush of sensation. All at once, it eased the ache that had lived inside her for years-and added to it. She tried to pull away, and Cullen's eyes narrowed.

He glanced over her shoulder at Jillian, and then he grabbed Taige's hand, guiding her to the smal room across the hal . It was outfitted with a TV, a c.o.ke machine, and four chairs. Her bathroom at home was bigger than this, and as Cul en tugged her inside, she felt panic closing in on her. Jerking her hand away from him, she put as much distance between them as she could. It wasn't much. She figured she could climb onto one of the chairs and get a few more inches between them, but she wasn't willing to go that far-yet.

”Can't you look at me?”

She shot him a look over her shoulder and then focused her attention on the wall in front of her with an intensity that bordered on ridiculous. She heard him coming up behind her, and everything inside her went on red alert. Cullen sighed, and she felt the warm caress of his breath just before he reached up and cupped her shoulders, slowly turning her around. She wouldn't look at him. Instead, she focused on the faded white cotton that stretched over his chest.

”It does matter,” he said softly. ”Don't look at me and expect me to believe that you aren't still p.i.s.sed off at me. You've hardly looked at me. You won't speak to me unless you have to, and any time I come within three feet of you, you move away.”

Her voice was hoa.r.s.e as she murmured, ”I'm not p.i.s.sed off at you, Cullen.” Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and looked up at his face. d.a.m.n-that face. It had haunted her dreams ever since that gray November day, and she knew it would haunt her for the rest of her life. As she stared at him, Taige realized that she'd been right. She had always suspected she'd never get over Cullen, and she'd been right. ”Never have been, really.”

His hand came up, and she braced herself, but whether she was trying to keep herself from pulling away or from leaning toward him, she didn't know. Gently, he traced his finger along the line of her mouth. ”You really are amazing,” he murmured.

Her throat went tight. A bittersweet ache spread through her as she remembered a time when he had said that and held her in his arms and made love to her. Apparently, she wasn't amazing enough. If she was as special as he'd always made her feel, he would have stayed with her . . . right? She would have been able to help his mom, and him.

”I did it again,” he said, his voice tense. He cupped her chin and forced her to look at him. ”What did I say this time?” he asked, his voice hollow.

Taige lied. ”Nothing.”

”Then why do you keep looking away from me?”

She glanced over his shoulder, through the gla.s.s wal that allowed them a full view of Jillian's bed. The curtain was still half-open, enough that Taige could see the girl sleeping.

d.a.m.n. Too much to hope for that Jillian might have woken up. She touched her tongue to her lip and tried to find some answer that would satisfy him without making her look like the hopeless idiot she knew she must be. ”It's nothing you did or said,” she finally told him. The little white lie wasn't going to kil her, right? ”This is just really-awkward.”

He brushed his thumb over her lips, and his gaze settled on her mouth. For a second, she thought he might kiss her. He didn't, though, and she couldn't decide if she was grateful or disappointed. He let go of her chin, but he didn't move away. Instead, he feathered a gentle caress over the swollen, discolored skin of her left eye. ”How did this happen?”

With a faint grin, she said, ”A p.i.s.sed-off jerk who didn't like me interrupting his plans.”

His eyes narrowed down to slits, and the force of his anger hit her like a tidal wave.

Trying to lessen the impact, she moved away so that he wasn't touching her.

”And your hand?”

She shot him a mischievous glance over her shoulder. ”That happened because I didn't like him hitting me. I popped him and managed to fracture a bone in my hand.” She wiggled her fingers a little and winced at the resulting pain. ”Doesn't seem fair that he pops me one but when I get him, I break a bone. You males have heads like granite.”

Her gaze was drawn to the child sleeping on the other side of the gla.s.s. ”She's a special girl, you know.”

Cullen stroked a hand down Taige's hair, a familiar gesture that managed to drive another razor-sharp shard into her already broken heart. His voice was a little deeper, a little rougher than normal. ”Believe me, n.o.body could be more aware of that than me.”

With a grimace, Taige murmured, ”I don't know.” Jones hadn't shown up, but she knew it was just a matter of time. He knew there was something strange about Cullen's daughter, otherwise he probably wouldn't be on this case. Strange was his specialty. Taige wasn't so certain that boded wel for the little girl. ”Jones is going to want to talk to her.”

”He's already tried.” A weird sense of dej vu moved through her as he added, ”That boss of yours is an a.s.shole. He wants to talk to her, but neither the doctor nor I are willing to let him wake her. He wasn't too thrilled with it.”

Shaking it off, she glanced up at him and said, ”He wil need to talk to her.”

Cullen blew out a harsh breath. ”Yeah. I know. And if she can, I want her to help. I don't want another parent going through . . .” His gaze locked with hers.

The weird sense of dej vu exploded into something else entirely. Something that shook her to the core. His eyes narrowed, and he reached up, caught her chin in his hand, staring at her.

She was pale, and Cul en thought she looked every bit as shaken as he felt. ”The dreams,” he muttered. He caught her face in his hands and forced her to look at him, staring into her pale gray eyes. The ugly, dark bruise around her left eye made her iris seem that much paler, and as he watched, the pupil flared, enlarging until just a sliver of gray was visible.