Sense of Evil - Kay Hooper [111]
“You didn't hand over all control. You just let him shut off your abilities.”
“Why?”
“Maybe to find out if he could.”
Isabel stared at her, baffled. “Okay, if that's Bishop stuff, it doesn't make sense. I mean even more than his stuff sometimes doesn't make sense.”
“You're a strong woman, Isabel. You don't want to be dominated, but you do want to be matched, if only subconsciously. I think you felt Rafe reaching through this link you guys have, and I think you needed to know, before you decided whether to commit yourself, before you could take that leap of faith, just how strong he was.”
“And now that I do know, O wise one?”
Hollis smiled faintly at what was only a token stab at mockery. “Now you know he matches you. He has as much strength of will as you, possibly as much psychic ability as you, and is certainly as stubborn as you.”
“So?”
“So stop fighting him. You haven't said, but I'm willing to bet Paige told you that the two of you would have to work together to control his shield.”
“Rookies,” Isabel muttered.
“I'm right.”
“Yeah.”
“Then I'd say there's one last little bit of control you'll have to give up. You'll have to stop trying to control the relationship. To guide, or aim, or shape it—whatever it is you've been trying to do since the moment you met Rafe. If you'll forgive the cliché, we don't master love, it masters us. The more you struggle against it, the tighter those hobbles are going to be.”
“This should not be about my relationship with him,” Isabel said in a last-ditch effort. “Four women are dead in Hastings, five if you count Hope Tessneer, and more are missing. It can't all hinge on my love life, it just can't.”
“Human relationships are at the heart of everything, you know that. You said yourself they were at the heart of this case. It's about relationships, you said.”
“Maybe I didn't know what I was talking about.”
“You knew. You know. Relationships matter, Isabel. History's been changed by them, armies toppled, societies rebuilt.”
Isabel was silent, frowning toward the bloody ground.
“They have power. Human relationships have power. Family. Friends. Lovers. The closer and more intimate the relationship, the more power it can and does generate. Use that energy. And use it wisely.”
“To break through Rafe's shield?”
“No. To make it your own.”
“Got it?” Rafe asked, meeting up with Mallory in the bullpen at the station.
“Yeah, not that it's helpful. The call Emily received was from a pay phone in town. One of the few remaining pay phones in use.”
“Doesn't miss a trick, our guy.”
“No. I've got T.J. checking out the phone, but I'm betting she'll either find a million prints or none at all.”
“I'll cover that bet. Come on, let's get back out to the scene.”
“Isabel and Hollis still out there?”
He nodded, leading the way from the station. “Pablo and Bobby are keeping an eye on them.”
“I'll bet Isabel loves that.”
“Frankly, I don't give a shit how she feels about it at this point. She's a target, and I have a strong hunch she's next on his hit list.”
Mallory looked at him curiously as they got into his Jeep. “Why?”
“Word's getting out. I've had at least two calls from media and one from the town council today asking if it's true we've got a psychic investigator working the case.”
“Lovely.”
“And the reporter who replaced Cheryl Bayne was one of those calls; he's looking to make a reputation for himself, and it's obvious. His predecessor missing and a psychic working the case? Sounds like a dandy story to him.”
“He's going to broadcast that?”
“On today's six o'clock news, he says.”
“Shit.”
Rafe shrugged. “At this point, I don't think he'll report anything the killer doesn't already know. That's what worries me. If I were him, the killer, I'd go after Isabel, and I wouldn't wait a week to do it. I'm assuming he's thinking the same way.”
Mallory sighed and