Danger Signals

screaming. He wanted to put his hands over his ears to shut out the sounds of screaming…yelling. But for some reason he couldn't.

'Mama! Mama!'

Somebody was saying that, sobbing-not him. It's not me, it's not me! I'm too big to cry for my mama!

But someone was. He could hear them clearly, small frightened voices whimpering. 'Mommy…'

And then, finally…like a warm blanket on a cold, cold night…like a soft sweet breeze carrying promises of summer…he heard the other voice, the one he'd been waiting for, praying for. The one he'd known all along would come and save him.

Shh… It's okay…it's gonna be okay. It's over. You're safe now. It's okay…

He felt safe, then. And he hunkered down in the warm darkness and waited for the crashing and banging and screaming and yelling to stop and the lights to turn on. Lights so bright they hurt his eyes. So bright…

He opened his eyes, but the only light was the pale wash from streetlights outside uncurtained windows.

There were arms around him, strong and gentle…a damp cheek pressed against his…a scent that reminded him of rain-fresh gardens. And a voice, one he knew, whispered the familiar words from his dream…

'Shh…it's okay, it's okay, my love. You're safe now. I'm here. Tee's here…'

Chapter 11

Ihe next time Wade woke it was to find sunlight pouring into the room through those same uncurtained windows, and Tierney raised up on one elbow with her head propped on her hand, gazing somberly down at him.

Memories of the night before came swiftly. In a voice gruff with morning and emotion, he growled, 'What?'

She hesitated while a smile came and went briefly, then answered him. 'Just looking at you.'

'And?'

'Seeing you here…like this…makes me happy.'

He lifted one hand and traced the line of her jaw with a fingertip. 'And yet, this is not a happy face. How come?'

He saw a swallow ripple her throat before she rolled away from him and sat up. clutching a rumpled sheet around herself.

'Miss Tee?'

She didn't answer.

In the silence he heard bells ringing somewhere in the distance and remembered it was Sunday. Sunday morning… And he thought of a song from a long time ago, something his parents had listened to. probably. He couldn't really recall the words to it, mostly just the way it had made him feel. Lonely…wishing again for that something he couldn't quite remember. Sunday mornin', comin' down…

'Tierney,' he began again, and she threw the reply at him over her shoulder as she stood up. breathless, almost angry. 'Because I can't let myself get too used to it.'

'Wha-Wait a minute.' He hitched himself up. lunged and caught her hand. Held it fast against her resistance. 'Okay, I'm confused here. What's wrong with getting used to me being in your bed?'

She stared at him for a long time, then relented and allowed him to reel her in. She sat slumped on the side of the bed and he took her face in his hand and turned it gently toward him. 'Why not, Tee?' The stark misery in her eyes made him feel both achy and in some deep part of him, scared. 'We're good together. In fact, we just seem to get better and better. What's wrong with making this a habit?'

She closed her eyes and turned her face away from his hand, though not before he saw the glitter of moisture through her lashes. She drew a weary-sounding breath. 'I thought we already had this conversation.'

'Sure we did.' Then, because he figured his arguments might carry more weight with her if he wasn't bare naked when he presented them, he drew his knees up and draped some covers over them. Then his arms. 'As I recall, the objections to us having a relationship had to do with my job, your 'gift' and Jeannette.'

'That's about the size of it,' she whispered thickly.

'Okay, look.' He halted and held up a hand, laughing a little as the irony of what he was doing hit him. 'This is weird,' he muttered, half to himself. 'Isn't it the guy that's supposed to be skittish about commitments?'

He rubbed a hand over the intractable stubble of his hair, then across his eyes, which had begun to burn. 'I know the odds aren't good for cops, but also I know some who've beaten them. And Jeannette seems to have become my responsibility whether you wanted her to or not. As for your…other thing, I guess I don't quite get what the problem is.'

She dashed at one eye with her fingertips, sniffed, then laughed softly. 'I can't believe this is happening. I never meant for it to. I swear. I thought-' She drew in a breath, put her hands on her knees and straightened her back. 'I want The Gift-The Curse, whatever you want to call it- to end with me. It has to end…with me.'

Wade shook his head in puzzlement, distracted by the sweet gentle curve of her spine above the sagging drape of sheet, and the alluring promise of more treasures beneath it.

'Why are you so convinced being psychic is the kiss of death for a relationship? Hell, if it's passing it on you're afraid of, we can always just use birth control.' He added that in a rough, determined voice, ruthlessly squelching the voice of instinct somewhere deep inside him that had jumped up in immediate protest.

What? No kids? What about family? Hold on a minute here!

Having felt his longing. Tierney just smiled at him and shook her head. 'Oh, Wade. I wish it were that simple, I really do.'

'It is that simple. If you want something badly enough you find a way to make it work.'

Her mind filled with images of a sweet but stubborn child. Gently she said, 'You hardly know me.'

'Maybe I know you better than you'd like to think I do. And if I don't know you as well as I'd like to, that's on you.' He stabbed a forefinger at her. 'Yeah, Tee. You think I block you? You block me. You shut me out. And I don't know why, because I don't even have the ability to read people like you do. Maybe-' he paused, and his eyes narrowed as if they hurt him '-yeah, maybe that's what's really scaring you. The idea that you'd have to open yourself up to someone. Because that's what it takes to make a relationship work, you know-you have to let someone in. Let yourself be vulnerable. Need someone.' His voice grew gruff. 'Like I needed you last night. Like you needed me when your grandmother was missing. Only in a relationship it's not just once in a while, it's all the time, twenty-four-seven. That's what makes it work. You open up for each other. You trust. You share.'

She couldn't answer him; her throat was locked up tight. After a moment, with his luminous blue eyes looking deep into hers, he said softly, 'So, it can be done, Miss Tee. Which I guess makes the question, do you want a relationship with me? At all?'

Yes…oh, yes. More than I could have believed possible.

She swallowed and looked away.

''Ha!' Wade's finger traced her spine, devastating her with goose bumps. 'You do, don't you? I knew it. You're not the only one who can-'

She whirled on him, tears smarting in her eyes-angry tears this time. 'For God's sake. Wade, use your head. Look at my family. Haven't you noticed the complete and total absence of men? We're a family of single women. Doesn't that tell you something?'

He simply looked at her, eyes tender, his smile, even clothed in morning stubble, angelic.

She wanted to throttle him.

'Jeannette, my mother, me-'

'You…are young, my dear-you just haven't found the right person yet. Hadn't. Until now. You don't know whether your mother's single or not, and anyway, you can hardly blame The Gift if she is,