Rare Find by Dale Mayer Read Free Book Online

have an argument with her cat, Tango. Apparently she left him in his cage, but she says he's wily and can get out if he has a mind to."
     
    "Great." Horrible actually. He could already feel his heart slam against his chest. "I'm actually outside walking around the property, trying to understand the setup here." It was confusing. That there were large enclosures in the back of the house was obvious. As were the howls coming from the deep expanse.
     
    Cats.
     
    Why cats? He could do dogs blindfolded. This whole cat thing...not so much. At least they were all caged.
     
    "Is she okay? Can she come home?"
     
    "She's going to, whether anyone says so or not. The thing is she is weak, susceptible to another attack. You need to help her."
     
    Ronin's stomach clenched. "Why me? I don't do this psychic stuff. That's your specialty. Why can't you help her? Besides, if she's that bad, she should stay in hospital for another couple of days."
     
    "She needs both of us. And according to mainstream medicine, she's not injured. She's run down and needs to rest. That means recovering from this episode at home."
     
    "You know she won't do it," Ronin snapped. She needed to stay safe by whatever means necessary. He understood she felt responsible for Exotic Landscape, but she had staff...good staff...and it was time for her to step back and let them carry the load.
     
    He didn't fully understand the enormity of these attacks, but he was starting too. And that scared him. Tabitha needed protection. But how could he protect her from something he couldn't see?
     
    He started toward the front of the house.
     
    "No, she won't. She cares about her animals too much. And work has always been her way of escaping the rest of the world. So she's going to go home and bury herself in work – most likely paperwork at her own house."
     
    At her house. Ronin glared at the huge monstrosity. "But she was attacked here. So how does that work?"
     
    "Not well. I'm setting up an energetic barrier. A second security system. I'm hoping it will be enough to keep her safe. Or at least good enough to be an early warning system."
     
    "What good will that do?"
     
    "If she has enough warning, she'll be able to guard herself from another attack. She does have some serious skills, but last time she had no idea what was happening until it was almost too late."
     
    "How much warning does she need?" His mind spun with the possibilities. Between Roman's security system and Stefan's psychic security system...maybe she'd be okay.
     
    "It's only the barest of what is needed." Stefan cleared his throat, and for the first time Roman heard the fatigue running through his voice. Stefan was running on empty himself. Damn.
     
    Abruptly, he said, "What can I do to help?"
     
    In a hard voice, Stefan said, "Find him. Do whatever you can do to track down this asshole."
     
    That's what he did for a living, track down perps… But how did he track down a nameless, faceless, disembodied entity?
     
    "Search Tabitha's history. Search for any and all people connected to her who might have psychic abilities."
     
    "Can't you see an energy signature, or whatever it's called, around her?" Isn't that what Stefan did? "Can't you identify him?"
     
    "Sometimes I can. Not this time. There was nothing normal about this attack. She hadn't cleared away the day's energies. She was surrounded by grief and animal energies. Both completely overwhelmed her ability to notice this entity. And I can't rule out that her attacker was using animal energy to get close to her." Stefan's voice strengthened. "In fact, that's a good possibility. In which case, this person is working with animals."
     
    "Fine, then that's where I'll—" There was a sharp click and his phone went dead. Stefan had hung up on him.
     
    "Damn." Ronin stared at the house. He had work to do.
     
    ***
     
    "Be careful with that thing. If we lose her, we've lost the biggest payday ever," Fez snarled at the forklift driver. The