Blood Dreams

came out of the pool. Which has a clogged drain, I'm sorry to say.'

'I doubt that was literal, Hollis. That the remains of whoever she meant will be found in the pool.'

'Well, Jordan was spooked enough that I'll bet he's there at dawn with the pool people-and the forensics unit. So we'll know soon enough what's in that drain.'

' Considering what was at the crime scene, I'd expect more of the same.'

'Yeah. Dammit.' Hollis brooded, then said, 'All these obvious changes in his M.O. Either he's getting sloppy or… or what?'

'Or something's happened, either to him or in his life. It could be the move from Boston. It could be something else. But whatever it is, it's having a profound effect on him and could influence both whom he kills and how he kills from this point on.'

'Hmm. What do you know that you aren't telling me?'

Bishop didn't bother to deny it. 'Nothing that could help you in the investigation.'

'Uh-huh. You do realize that secrecy of yours is going to come back and bite you on the ass one of these days?'

'Maybe. But not today.'

Hollis was tempted to say that today was almost over and what about tomorrow, but she didn't push it-even while she was wryly amused by her own trust in him.

She didn't trust easily these days.

'You'll have the new profile ASAP,' Bishop was saying. 'In the meantime, be careful. You might not fit the victim profile so far, but neither does Dani, and he's made it clear he wants her. Everything we think we know about him could be changing-or be just plain wrong.'

'Gotcha.' It was, Hollis decided as she ended the call and closed her phone, not the most reassuring of reminders.

Especially given Dani's vision dream.

Chapter Thirteen

DANI DIDN'T REALLY want to sleep that night, mostly because she didn't want to dream. The brain-storming session with Hollis and Paris had produced nothing useful, as far as they could tell, and the knowledge that Bishop was completely rewriting his profile of the killer had done nothing to help. The opposite, in fact.

Maybe that was why both Paris and Hollis suggested that she bring them into her dreams.

'Have you ever taken two people in at once?' Hollis asked curiously.

Dani shook her head. 'I'm not sure I can even do that.' Hollis sipped her wine and then lifted the glass in a little salute. 'Well, I'm game if you decide to try. If you happen to pull us into the vision dream, we can at least try to remember all the details we can, maybe some you've missed.'

'And if it's just an ordinary, everyday dream?'

Paris said with a grin, 'Then we get to be voyeurs.'

'Dammit, Paris!'

Hollis said, 'Let me guess. Marc?'

Dani cleared her throat. ' Paris thinks she's being funny. It was just one time; I don't even know why I dreamed about him that night, because I hadn't seen him in years.'

'Did it ever occur to you,' Paris said, 'that it might be my doing? That you dreamed about Marc that night, I mean.'

'What? How could it be?'

'Something Maggie suggested I try, not long after we first signed on with Haven.' Paris held up a hand before Dani could find the words she was obviously seeking. 'Don't blame her. The suggestion was that I think of something or someone you had a strong connection to and hold that in my mind as I went to sleep on a night when we had planned to dream-walk. So I did.'

'Marc?'

'Well, you were so determined not to talk about him that I knew you still had feelings for him. So I thought about him.' She smiled slightly. 'Didn't quite expect to find myself in such a passionate dream, but-'

'Jesus, Paris.' Dani felt her face get hot and silently thanked the universe that she had been able to bring that dream to an end rather quickly. Or, at least, shove Paris out of it. And why had she been dreaming erotic dreams about Marc, anyway? She'd gotten him out of her system by then.

She had.

Hollis said, 'Let's not think about Marc tonight, okay? It's not that I'd deprive you, Dani, it's just-'

Dani held up a hand. 'No explanations necessary, really. Look, guys, I don't even know if I can take both of you in.'

'Give it a try,' Hollis suggested. She drained her wineglass and added, 'One of Bishop's many theories is that when you have enough psychics in the same small area, especially if they're all focused on the same case, their energies sort of… overlap. All kinds of weird things can happen, but what usually does, in our experience, is that abilities begin to shift, to change. So, even if you aren't successful in taking us into your dreams, the effort itself might help us or might help your abilities to evolve.'

Serious now, Paris said, 'Help us how?'

'Well, we're all involved in this investigation. Trying to figure out who our killer is, where he is. The subconscious is damn powerful, especially a psychic's subconscious, and when it's set free of the arbitrary restraints and limitations we put on our minds and abilities while we're awake… anything can happen.'

Limits. What are mine? Dani wondered. It was a question she hadn't really considered, even when asked to do so.

Paris said, 'When you say anything, I have to wonder if it's always a good thing.'

Hollis shook her head without hesitation. 'No, there's a risk. There's always a risk when we use our abilities. And dreams are a kind of no-man's land, especially for psychics. Energies can interact in ways we can't predict.'

Dani sighed. 'Tell me again how that could ever be viewed as a good thing?'

'You know how,' Hollis replied promptly. 'Whether we like it or not, our abilities evolve. As we use them, as we try to use them, as we test our limits. Now, personally, I don't like walking in cemeteries. Anymore. But I do it now and then, because I don't want there to be a place where I'm afraid to use my abilities.'

'I dream whether I want to or not,' Dani said.

'But you choose whether to take others into your dreams. I'm betting you haven't done it very many times in your entire life. True?'

'True enough.'

'And most of those when we were kids,' Paris offered.

With a shrug, Hollis said, 'If you don't use a muscle, it atrophies. Not something you want to happen to a muscle that could save your life one day. Your decision, of course, but it's all about control for most of us.'

'I don't know,' Dani said finally. 'I'll think about it.'

She hadn't wanted to admit that the very idea of bringing anyone else into a vision dream-especially this one-scared her in a way she couldn't really explain.

* * * *

Still, as she tossed and turned that night, she was very aware of the sheriff's department cruiser that had escorted them home and would remain parked outside, with Marc's deputies keeping watch over her despite her protests. That reminder of potential danger was added incentive to test her limits.