“People who glance to the side quite a bit are usually nervous, lying or distracted. Browning will most likely look you right in the eye, trying to intimidate you, but once you’re deep into conversation, he may revert to acting in a more normal fashion.”
“Got it.” She scribbled down the info. “Next.”
“Okay. Arms crossed over his chest means defensive. Touching or rubbing his nose could mean he’s doubting you or he’s lying. Rubbing his eye is a sign of doubt. Rubbing his hands together equals anticipation.”
“Slow down.”
“Sorry.”
She scribbled hurriedly, then said, “Go on.”
“You need to remember not to over-evaluate his gestures. It’s easy enough to read them wrong, especially if he’s playing you. Keep reminding yourself that you can’t trust anything he says or any of his body language.”
“Gee whiz, coach, is there any way I can win this game?”
Derek grinned. “Not if you play fair.”
“Who said I intended to play fair?”
“You’d better not. If you do, he’ll chew you up and spit you out in little pieces. Protect yourself at all costs.”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted him. They both laughed. “Now, back to Body Language one-oh-one.”
For the next fifty minutes, they discussed body language, mind games, and went over techniques used to control emotions.
“If he says something that triggers a deep emotional response, there is a danger you’ll lose track of the conversation. If this happens, recognize what’s going on before you let it get out of control.”
Maleah nodded. “I know the signs—rapid heartbeat and breathing, as well as a desire to scream. I can handle this. Some yoga deep breathing techniques usually work for me.”
“If the deep breathing alone doesn’t work, try refocusing for a few seconds,” Derek suggested. “Just think about how you’re normally in complete control.”
“I can do that, too.”
“And when you end the interview, you really need a debriefing. You can do that yourself or I can help you. If you can talk it out with me—”
“I will. My guess is that I’ll need to vent. Besides, you’ll need to know everything about the interview anyway.”
A knock on the door interrupted his response. Instead he said, “That’s probably the pizza delivery.”
Griffin would have preferred not including Nicole in his private conversation with Sanders and Yvette. But he had allowed too many secrets to come between them and cause Nic to doubt him. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel excluded, especially when he shared confidences with Yvette. If only he had told her the complete truth in the beginning, before they married. Sanders had advised him to be completely honest with Nic; but Yvette, who had sensed Nic’s jealousy, had warned him that there was one secret he should never share with his future wife. And in all honesty, he hadn’t told her everything because he’d been afraid he would lose her. And losing Nic would be like losing his own life. She was his life. After knowing her, loving her, living with her, he knew that without her, he would cease to exist.
Even now, after Yvette and her proteges had been at Griffin’s Rest for nearly two years, Nic still had a problem with Yvette living nearby. He had tried in so many different ways to reassure her, to make her understand that she had no reason to be jealous of his love for Yvette. But if he were honest with himself, he would admit that it was the lies he had told Nic, the secrets that he had kept, that made her distrust him. And yet despite everything, Nic was still with him, loving him and standing by his side.
Sanders had chosen to walk over to the home that housed Yvette and seven young men and women who possessed rare psychic gifts. He had gone on ahead, half an hour before Griff asked Nic to join him. Yvette’s “students” were misfits, people who didn’t fit into mainstream society because they were remarkably different.
“You should talk to your wife first,” Sanders had advised Griff. “She does not want to believe that the copycat murders are connected to your past. But with the information Luke has discovered, combined with what Meredith Sinclair told us that she was able to sense after Kristi’s and Shelley’s murders, Nicole has to accept the truth.”
“Nic told me that Meredith could be wrong, even though we all know that the girl’s psychic abilities are incredibly accurate.”
“Nicole instinctively dislikes anything to do with your experiences on Amara. She does not know the whole story and yet on some instinctive level, she senses that there is a secret you are keeping from her, a secret that could destroy your marriage.”
Griff refused to consider the possibility that Nic would ever leave him, at least not permanently.
But if she ever found out about . . .
He had to make sure that never happened.
On their walk to Yvette’s home, he told Nic only that he wanted them to all be together when he told them about Luke Sentell’s most recent report. If he could spare Nic, he would. But he had alienated her too many times in the past by excluding her because he wanted to protect her.
Michelle Allen opened the door when they arrived. Griff had assigned her to live there at Yvette’s sanctuary as the in-house bodyguard for Yvette and her students.
“Dr. Meng is waiting for you in her office,” Michelle said. “Sanders is with her.”
After exchanging pleasantries with Michelle, Nic slipped her arm through his and said, “Let’s do this.”
Just as they reached the entrance to Yvette’s private office—adjacent to her living quarters and separate from the rooms on the opposite side of the house where her proteges lived—a young student came rushing out into the hall.
When she saw Nic and Griff, she stopped dead still and stared at them, her mouth wide and a startled expression on her face.
Yvette stepped out into the corridor and placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Shiloh. We’ll talk later this evening. Go back to your room now and meditate.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Shiloh rushed past Nic and Griff.
Yvette smiled, her gaze traveling slowly from Griff to Nic. “Shiloh did not realize that Sanders was here or that I was expecting more visitors. She simply needed to talk, which we will do later.”
Griff knew how hard Nic tried to like Yvette and how hard Yvette tried to be Nic’s friend. His love for both women had put each of them in an untenable position.
Once the four of them were inside Yvette’s office, Griff closed the door. He looked at Nic first, and then at Yvette and finally at Sanders.
“I received a call from Luke Sentell yesterday. I shared the information with Sanders immediately. I’ve waited until today to tell both of you because I wanted to consider every possibility and every implication. And I’ve been using Sanders as a sounding board, as I so often do.”’
“We are not going to like what you have to tell us, are we?” Yvette said.
“I agree with her on that—it has to be bad news,” Nic said.
“The rumors are still rumors,” Griff said, “but where there is smoke there is usually fire.” He paused, collecting his thoughts, considering what he had to say. “As we already know, there is supposedly a man somewhere in Europe who calls himself Malcolm York. We also know he cannot be the York that we—” he glanced quickly from Sanders to Yvette “—killed on Amara. What if any connection this Malcolm York has to the other one, we don’t know.
“Luke’s contact, who may or may not be a reliable source, sold Luke information concerning a man named Anthony Linden, a former MI6 agent who went rogue and was eliminated approximately ten years ago. According to official records, he chose suicide over capture. But it seems that not only has York risen from the dead, but so has Linden. And York hired Linden, a professional assassin, and sent him to America six months ago. Or so the story goes.”
“Oh my God,” Nic said. “This is ridiculous. The entire thing sounds like a plot invented by someone who is completely insane.”
Griff’s gaze met Yvette’s.
