Dani Justice was the only person living who had firsthand experience with at least some of the thoughts in this twisted monster's mind. And was, moreover, possibly the only person who had ever hurt him in a psychic sense.
And therein lay the danger.
Dani was someone else too easily recognizable to Samuel, and she, unlike Hollis, posed a very real and deadly threat to him. Hollis he wouldn't be happy about; Dani might be able to destroy him, and that was a threat that could push him over the edge.
'Call me,' Dani had said to Bishop. 'If it comes to that. If you need me there. Call me. In the meantime, I'll keep practicing.'
'What about Marc?' Bishop had asked, referring to the man with whom she was in the process of forming a unique partnership.
'Marc understands the stakes. And he knows how I feel about finishing this, once and for all. Call me, Bishop. If you need me.'
Hollis hoped they wouldn't need Dani. As remarkable as her ability was, Dani had not faced Samuel in a literal sense, had not pitted her strength against his directly. What she had done in Venture had been self-defense, not an offensive attack.
Facing him here would be something very different.
Something deadly.
'He recharges,' Hollis said aloud to herself as she stared down at a detailed drawing of the church Sarah had managed to get out to them weeks before. She fixed her gaze on the third-floor layout and Samuel's suite of rooms in the rear of the building. 'He controls. He kills. Why does he kill? Because he can? Because he wants to? Because he has to? Why'
The physical reaction was always the same. All the fine hairs on her body stood out as though electrical energy filled the room, and goose bumps rose on her flesh as if someone had suddenly opened a door into winter. And there was, still, a jolt of fear, a sense that some doors were really never intended to be opened by the living. Not, at least, without some dreadful cost.
Hollis looked up slowly.
The woman was young, pretty, with long fair hair, and her expression was unhappy.
Possibly because she was dead.
But she looked alive, looked flesh-and-blood real; Hollis had the uneasy suspicion that if she could reach across the table and touch this spirit, the woman would feel just as alive as she looked. Hollis always had that notion and probably would untilifshe put it to the test.
'I told you to look for her in the water. Why didn't you listen?' Her voice was low, anxious.
Hollis ignored the question to ask one of her own. 'Who are you?'
'Andrea.'
'Andrea who?'
'You have to look for her in the water.'
'Look for who in the water?' Hollis countered, trying for once to get at least a few bits of useful information she could focus on.
'Ruby.'
'Is Ruby in the water now?'
'I told you.'
'You told me more than three months ago.'
Andrea's expression turned uncertain. 'Three months ago.'
'Three months ago and in another town. Another state. I saw you in Venture, Georgia. At a murder scene. We're in North Carolina now. Don't you know when you are? Where you are?'
A breath of a laugh escaped Andrea. 'I'm in hell, I think.'
'Andrea, when did you die?'
'You don't know about me yet.' She said it in an odd, automatic way, as if reciting something memorized.
'You said that before. In Venture.'
'Did I?'
'Yes. When did you die?'
'Before.'
'Andrea'
'It's my fault. What he's doing. I should have made him understand. I should have He's made it so much worse, and it's all my fault.'
'What's your fault?' Hollis's question was more insistent, because she could see that Andrea was fading, losing substance and energy, and knew the contact would last only seconds longer.
But Andrea was shaking her head. 'Please, look for her in the water. Help Ruby.'
Hollis drew a quick breath. 'If she's already in the water, then I can't help her.'
'You can. You have to. All of you have to.' Even her voice was fading, the final words holding a curiously hollow sound. 'You need her help to stop him.'
Hollis stared at the empty space on the other side of the table, vaguely aware that the room was a normal temperature again and that the sensation of a live current in the air was gone. She pulled a legal pad from under one of the maps and made several quick notes, jotting down what had been said while it was still fresh in her mind.
Then, conscious of a nagging uneasiness, she searched among the folders for the right one and from it pulled a list of names Sarah had provided for them. Members of the Church of the Everlasting Sin.
One of Sarah's goals once inside the church had been to both compile this list and provide basic information about each person, trying to determine which of Samuel's followers might possibly be active or latent psychics. She had placed a check beside possible latent psychics and added a star if she had sensed a particular strength or awareness of their ability in the person.
There were a score of checks, which was an extraordinarily high percentage of potential psychic ability for such a small community. Several names boasted question marks. But there were no more than four names with stars beside them. Hollis ran her finger slowly down the list and was almost at the bottom when she found it.
Ruby Campbell had a check beside her name. And three stars.
She was twelve years old.
'I hesitate to interrupt the brooding,' Tessa said, 'but we really don't have time for it.'
Sawyer felt his eyebrows climbing as he looked at her. 'Well, forgive me for needing a minute or two to let it all soak in.' She had spent the past ten minutes or so telling him about the Special Crimes Unit, the very concept of which he was having a hard time dealing with.
'I really am sorry. I know it's a lotHaven, the SCU, what we believe about Samuel and his church. And you have every right to feel overwhelmed. You also have every right to mistrust me, and I wouldn't blame you if you did. But I'm afraid I need to knownowwhether I made a mistake in confiding in you.'
'Wasn't sanctioned, huh?'
'It's not quite like that. Field operatives make judgment calls all the time, and one of those is often whetherand whento take local law enforcement into our confidence. Nobody's going to second-guess me for making that decision. But I need to know if it was the right one.'
After a moment, he said, 'I honestly don't know how I feel about any of this, Tessa. But I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't happy to know that I'm not the only one suspicious of Samuel and his church.'
'Good enough.'
'Is it?' He didn't want to be accused again of brooding but couldn't do anything about the frown he knew he was wearing. 'If Samuel is even half of what you say he is, then I'm a bit doubtful of my own control, myWhat did you call it? Shields?my ability to keep him from sensing my thoughts. I don't know if I can keep your secrets.'
'Just try to concentrate on your own suspicions of him whenever you're around him. That's no secret to him and could very well keep him from delving deeper.'
