"did dr. metzger's wife die?"

chapter 10

carol slumped a little in her chair at the tavern as she was aware of ryan's intense gaze on her. she had found no satisfaction in having been right where dr. metzger's wife was concerned. she only wished he'd saved her before carol's vision had come true.

"yes, his wife died. not immediately. three days later, she drove into denver, or was on her way to denver, when her suv slid on ice and she hit a tree. she was in a coma for a couple of days, and then she and her unborn child died."

when ryan didn't speak, she added, "it's not an exact science. i didn't know when it would occur. but usually when i get a vision, it's something that will happen pretty soon."

she gritted her teeth and swallowed the bitterness that came with knowing something bad was going to occur and that she couldn't do anything about it.

"mom tried to keep it from me, not wanting to upset me. but i'd been looking for the news story, hoping that if it did come to pass, mom would finally believe me. we never talked about it though. i guess i was always afraid she might think it would be a good idea to have me committed."

ryan reached out and took hold of carol's hand and squeezed. although she thought she wouldn't appreciate it, she loved the way he gave her a little of the solace she could have used years earlier. but then again, as much as she tried to tell herself she could deal with it, maybe she really wasn't doing that great a job still.

"hell, carol, i had no idea."

"yeah, well, no one does who doesn't live with an early warning system in their heads."

"what happened to the doctor?"

"dr. metzger moved away from denver, and i always wondered what he thought of my abilities then. maybe if he had another patient who 'suffered' from my kind of delusions, he would treat them with more respect. give them the benefit of the doubt. and maybe if he'd listened to me, he could have saved his wife and unborn child. i don't know. i wanted to save them in the worst way, but no one would have ever believed me."

ryan frowned but didn't release her hand. "can the future be altered?"

"i don't know for sure. my visions are hazy, not fully developed for the most part. so i suppose that in those cases, the truth of the matter hasn't really been revealed."

"do you always foresee something bad?"

she ran her free hand over her chilled glass. "no. it causes problems with christmas presents and keeping them secret. especially from me."

"because you can touch an object and know something about its contents?"

"sometimes its history. i can see flashes of who had touched it and why. sometimes a glimpse of the department where the item was purchased."

that brought a sexy smile to ryan's lips, and his thumb stroked her hand with a gentle caress. that little stroke and the smile on his lips made butterflies flutter about in her stomach.

"wish i could read minds," she said.

he chuckled. "i can imagine you might sense some impressions others wouldn't want you to know about." but then his expression turned dark and he changed topics. "who is the red who was skulking around darien's house? is he after you or lelandi? or something else entirely?"

at least he was done questioning her about her psychic abilities. "lelandi thinks it might be the brother or a cousin of the one who bit me. the men are named connor and north."

ryan closed his gaping mouth and sat very still. "i thought they had all died. hell, one of them wants you for revenge."

"or lelandi. or maybe he just wants me. not for revenge. just as a mate." she shrugged like it didn't matter. although it did. she definitely didn't want anything to do with lelandi's old pack. she sure didn't want to be thought of as someone's possession because his brother or cousin had turned her.

ryan glanced at darien, who was still seated across the tavern with lelandi and his brothers. "you said that darien ordered the bachelor males to guard you?"

"yep. who else?"

grinding his teeth, ryan scowled. "they're not trained for this kind of work. mervin's a damned barber. avery? he sells gas at the local station."

"he owns the gas station and convenience store."

ryan ignored the comment. "and christian? he's a used car salesman."

"manager and owner of previously loved cars. at least two of the cars he has for sale are new."

ryan shook his head. "right. not one of them is qualified to protect you."

"i'll just have to take my chances. besides, any of them just has to shift, and that takes care of that." at least she figured it did. they all had very wicked canines when needed.

"we're all hunters when in our wolf form, carol. that's not what i'm referring to. in their human occupations, they don't normally hunt killers."

she reached over and patted his hand. "i'm sure i'll be fine."

"you'll have a premonition, and it will save you." he ground out the words, as if he couldn't believe she'd be that naive.

"like i had about being one of you?" she raised her brows. "no. the premonitions are annoyingly unpredictable. so if i were to have one, it wouldn't mean it would help keep me safe."

his lips parted, and then he tilted his head to the side, a strange look on his face. "have you had any lately?"

"not that you would believe." she took a long sip of her drink to steady her nerves.

she wanted to tell someone who would believe her because she knew something horrible was going to come to at least a few of the people in the pack and they would have to figure out a way to stop it. but hell, if people who normally believed her wouldn't about this, no way would a p.i. trust her visions when he didn't think her capable of having such abilities.

she shook her head. no. until she saw more of the dilemma, she couldn't solicit anyone's help.

ryan had never considered that carol would have been plagued by visions when she was young and that her parents would have sent her to a psychiatrist for it. hell. the bastard should have had his license revoked for the way he'd treated carol. ryan hated seeing how much the earlier experience had affected her, even though she had fought revealing her feelings.

if she was as young as seven when she began having visions, she might truly have abilities. he shook his head at himself. as an investigator, he had to look into this new lead before he began jumping to unsubstantiated conclusions.

he was also torn over the new information concerning the red who could be stalking the women. he really thought it was that cousin of lelandi's, ural, and no real problem. the guy was a nuisance but not a threat.

if it was the brother or cousin of the one who had bitten carol, was he after her? or lelandi? either would be a prime target for a disgruntled pack that had lost a battle with the grays. and both male reds could be dangerous.

darien would ensure that lelandi had the utmost security as the pack leader's mate, and he stayed with her all night, so no problem there. but carol... darien couldn't be serious about having the lame betas serve as bodyguards for her. and the notion that any of the others would stay with carol during the night... hell, that got his blood pressure up.

but something more was troubling her. something had been bothering her in the truck when they'd parked at the tavern. and she wasn't sleeping, although ryan hadn't meant to upset her when he mentioned it. he couldn't help but notice the circles under her eyes, and he wanted to know what was disturbing her sleep so much. after he mentioned it, he figured he hadn't quite posed the question in a manner meant to solicit the truth. instead, he'd antagonized her.

might as well get this over with and ask what she thought she'd envisioned, while he tried to keep an open mind. he tilted his chin down slightly, and with his most-or at least what he hoped was his most-reassuring expression, he said, "i'm a reasonable man. try me."

she studied him for several long seconds, and he wondered what tale she'd come up with. she finally took a deep breath and seemed to come to the conclusion that she might as well talk. humor him, maybe. "darien shape-shifts but can't shift back to his human form. lelandi's worried sick about it, but i haven't a clue as to what to do."

what she thought she'd envisioned wasn't possible. he didn't say anything, and the look on her face said she knew she'd wasted her breath on him.

"you've told them?" he wondered how they had reacted to the news. not that it would persuade him to believe in something he truly couldn't wrap his mind around.

"of course not. i mean, not darien. lelandi, yes." but from the bleak expression on carol's face, he assumed lelandi hadn't believed her. he wished that she had, for carol's sake.

"she didn't think what you had to say had any merit." ryan folded his arms, suspecting lelandi didn't believe her for the same reason he didn't. what carol thought she saw just couldn't happen. probably nightmares brought on by all the changes in her life recently.

she finished her drink and stared at the table, and he figured he might have upset her, which he'd had no intention of doing, by bringing up the subject of recent visions.

ryan let out a heavy sigh. "carol, is this nightmare you're having about darien not being able to shift back what's troubling you and keeping you from shifting? and consequently keeping you from sleeping nights? because i've got to tell you that lelandi's case, where she was afraid her brother would die and she couldn't shift back, is the only case i've ever heard of."

carol smiled as if he was so off base it amused her in a cynical way, and then she leaned back against her chair and promptly changed the topic.