Almost as dead as the man in his sights.
He was exhausted and ready to catch his flight for home.
Concentrate. Business first. Always.
Anger filled the void in his soul and he tightened his finger on the trigger. Assholes like these were cockroaches. For every one he killed, there were thousands to take his place.
But he’d take out this one, let God sort the rest.
The man’s skull exploded and he folded like a puppet with its strings cut, bright blood splattered on the sand like droplets of rain. Pooling around his head.
Mouth open, eyes accusing-
Jude gasped and bolted upright, confused by the dark veil over his vision where there had been death moments before. A horrible scene in living color, vanished in an instant. Where was the dead man?
Gradually, he came to his senses. He was sitting up in bed, clutching a sheet to his sweaty chest. And he was still blind.
“Another fucking nightmare,” he muttered to himself, swiping a shaking hand down his face.
Pain throbbed at his temples, squeezed his brain in a vise. Dammit, he needed his medicine if he hoped to stave off a full-blown migraine. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, only to be broadsided by a wave of dizziness that knocked him on his ass.
He flopped onto his back, legs dangling over the side, and breathed through the sickness roiling in his belly. Too late. No way could he make it to the bathroom to get his capsule. Clutching his head, he curled onto his side in the fetal position, determined to ride it out.
Dimly, he became aware of the mattress dipping with someone’s weight. A hand smoothing his hair.
“Are you all right?” Liam asked quietly. “Do you need a pill?”
“God, yes. Please.”
“Hang tight, man.”
Jude almost groaned at the loss of the soothing touch as the other man retreated. In the bathroom, the medicine bottle rattled and the faucet ran briefly. Then Liam returned, helped him sit up, and pressed a glass into his hand.
“Thanks,” he said, voice raspy.
“No problem.”
Liam placed the capsule in his open palm and Jude downed the thing, hating the inevitable stupor to come. But it was either oblivion or puking for hours until he passed out anyway. Some choice.
Liam took the glass from him and set it on the nightstand. “Lie down again and be still.”
“Like I have another option?”
“I wish you did, my friend.”
“Me, too.”
Jude settled on his pillow and closed his eyes, giving a sigh as his friend continued stroking his hair. “Your fingers are magic.”
“You know better than anyone.”
In spite of the drill bit boring into his skull, Jude smiled. “Maybe not better than Lily.”
Liam froze. “You know?”
“I’m blind, kid, not deaf.” Damn, that had come out awfully short.
“Jude, I’m sorry. I-I-”
“What’s this?” Reaching for the other man, he found his knee and gave a reassuring squeeze. “We’ve never apologized to each other for indulging our appetites and there’s no reason to start now.”
“Yeah? Well, don’t growl at me next time.” His tone reminded Jude of a sulky boy.
“What? I did not.”
“Afraid so.”
Despite the sledgehammer pounding behind his eyes, he thought back. “Okay, maybe I did. It’s this damned headache.”
He had snarled, a little, not just because of the migraine. For some reason, knowing his friend and sometime lover had taken Lily first, four days ago, annoyed the hell out of him. No, it sort of pissed him off, truth be told. Which wasn’t fair to Liam.
“It’s all right,” Liam said, sounding mollified.
“No, I make the rules. I ought to be able to live by them. I’m the one who owes you an apology, and I’m sorry.”
“Forget it.” The hand resumed stroking his hair. “You’re in no shape to get worked up.”
“I don’t like arguing with you.”
“Shh, we didn’t argue,” Liam soothed. “Sleep.”
“Don’t know if I can.” Even as he made the claim, his body sank into the bed, the medicinal fuzz taking the edge off the pain and making his friend seem miles away. “That goddamned nightmare…”
“They’re getting worse.” A statement, not a question.
“I can’t escape them,” he said hoarsely. “They’re brutal, frightening, and they make no sense.”
“What was it this time?”
“I killed a man.” His big frame shuddered. “In cold blood. I was perched atop a building in some small desert town with a rifle and scope. Blew his brains out and the worst part was… I was glad to exterminate him.”
Liam’s voice cracked. “God, Jude.”
“The dreams aren’t always that bad.” No, sometimes they were worse. What his sweet, sensitive friend didn’t know was for the best.
“If you say so.”
He didn’t sound convinced, and Jude didn’t have the heart to lie. Instead, he drifted off to the comforting lull of Liam’s fingers raking through the strands of his hair, as he wondered what type of man dreamed of murdering other people without remorse.
And whether they were nightmares at all.
Lily glanced up from her computer to see Liam hovering in the office doorway.
He gave her a wan smile. “Emerging from e-mail hell yet?” “Getting caught up. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, I… shit,” he sighed, unhappy. “Jude won’t be working today. He had a nightmare and now he’s down with one of those bastard migraines.”
She pushed back from the screen, straightening. “Oh, no. What can I do for him?”
“Not much except to help me check on him, if you don’t mind. I’ve got to run to the store later and get groceries.”
“Of course. I’ll keep an eye on him.” She was afraid to ask the next question, but she had to know for her report to Dietz. “Have any idea what the nightmare was about?”
He nodded, mouth in a grim line. “He killed a man, in his dream. Shot him in cold blood. That’s what a lot of them are about,” he whispered, shaking his head. “Death. Killing. Sometimes at his hands, other times at someone else’s. Almost as soon as I got him home from the hospital, it started. Though they’re getting worse, and it’s harder for him to recover after each episode. It’s as though he’s being torn apart.”
She stared at Liam, stomach flipping. If she’d needed more proof, she had it-Jude’s memories were trying to return. Despite her reluctance to administer the first dose, she couldn’t delay much longer. Either Jude would remember or Dietz would call her on the carpet for neglecting her orders.
Either way, she’d be a dead woman.
She met Liam’s worried gaze. “Has he seen anyone for counseling?”
He made a face. “Jude? You’re talking about the same guy who used to vanish for weeks and reappear without an explanation. He’s not exactly the type to share secrets.”
“Right.” And thank God for that. She hated to think of some poor, unsuspecting psychiatrist being silenced by Dietz. Never mind doctor-patient confidentiality.
