Tapestry of the Past by Alvania Scarborough Read Free Book Online

fashion. She stifled a harsh laugh. Oh God, logical. She wanted to use logic to explain the illogical. Her head dropped forward until she could rest her chin on the pillow. Okay, so logic was out. What next? Somehow, she had to find a way to make Gabriel accept the unacceptable.
    How?
    Gabriel Steele preferred to operate with facts, that much was clear. Not with dreams come to life. What about intuition? Instinct? Most folks accepted the occasional flash of gut instinct. Even law enforcement officers. Former law enforcement officers, she corrected herself. Gabriel was retired. She huffed out a short, nervous breath. “Some details in my visions rely on instinctive knowledge, not physical.”
    He just stared at her. The silence grated on her nerves, stringing them tight until she wanted to scream. “I’ll accept that for the moment.” All her muscles went weak even as she knew without the slightest doubt that Gabriel would return to the subject later. “What was the weather like?”
    What an odd question. Still, relieved he wasn’t pressing her further on how she gained her knowledge, she answered without hesitation. “It was foggy. A heavy dew coated the dead grass. Moisture beaded on her face. Gray. Everything was gray. The sky, the water, the trees.” She licked her lips. “Even her skin was gray.”
    “Do you remember seeing a car?”
    Lost in the image, it took a moment for Kalesia to understand the question. “What? No, I don’t think so. The pond is too far from the track to see a vehicle, though.”
    He scribbled on the pad before prodding, “Was the body placed at the site?”
    It worried her that she didn’t know where he was going with his line of questioning. She hesitated before answering. “No. She was killed there.”
    “Is this something else you just ‘know’?” The question was slid in with skillful precision.
    Her mind went blank for a second as what he said registered. It became hard to breathe. Pain waited in the wings. She shoved it down deeper. “Why do you insist on baiting me?” Chest tight, she struggled with a feeling of betrayal. A betrayal she had no right to feel. Gabriel Steele was nothing if not upfront about his disbelief of visions. She hugged the pillow to her chest with a desperate strength, until the muted pattern was imprinted in her skin. God help her, she felt tight, itchy and ready to come apart any second. “You’re supposed to be helping me. I’m not up to any snide digs right now,” she warned.
    Across from her, Gabriel surged to his feet. In less than a blink of the eye, he was looming over her, large hands planted on the arms of her chair. Pushing his face into hers, he growled, “Lady, you’d better be up to them because if someone really is trying to kill you, this is kindergarten compared to how it’s going to get.” He was so close each word sent a wave of moist heat over her face. “You came to me. You wanted my protection and help. My skills and ability to keep you alive.” A muscle jerked in his jaw. “If you want my help, you’ll do it my way.”
    How could eyes the color of liquid mercury be so cold? Pinned in place by that frozen gaze, Kalesia stared up at him, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.
    “Understand?”
    Her instinctive protest stilled at the aura of suppressed violence that shimmered around him. This was no dime store cop blustering but a lethal, dangerous predator laying down the law.
    She had two choices—accept his methods and cooperate, or walk out the door. Her first instinct had been right. Gabriel Steele was no alley cat open to coaxing but a full-fledged jungle cat with a taste for blood.
    She unstuck her tongue. “I know because I saw scuff marks and felt my knees hit the mud.” At her surrender, the large form relaxed, a subtle release of tension that took his muscles from poised for battle to merely alert. “And because I sensed violence at the scene. Part of it is physical and part is like being certain