“Except?” Joe’s hands were on her shoulders, and he was staring at her intently.
She looked up at him. His hold was so strong that she almost protested, because in another second he would probably cause bruises. He was a strong guy and still spent a lot of time in the gym, and she was feeling the results. But he was so intent, and he seemed so desperate, that she held her tongue.
“Except that she has to play his way. She has to be afraid, but…she has to understand that he’s all-powerful. She has to worship him. And if she goes against him, if she tries to escape, then she has to pay the price.”
His fingers tightened again, twitched.
“Ro, can you see him? Think, Rowenna. Concentrate. Can you see his face?”
There was an image in her mind. Something…
“Ro?”
She shook her head. “No, I can’t see his face. You know what I am seeing? One of those ugly devil masks Adam and Eve are selling.” She winced as his hold tightened painfully. “Joe, let go. You’re hurting me.”
The sudden blaring of a horn startled them both. Joe released her, a look of apology on his face, and stepped back. They heard a car door slam, and seconds later Jeremy came striding through the corn, heedless of the stalks, crashing through them as he raced toward them.
His face was tight with anxiety as he came to a dead stop five feet away and stared at her. She saw that his hands were knotted into fists as his sides.
“Jeremy,” she said. “Hi.”
“What the hell are you doing out here?” he demanded.
“She’s with me,” Joe said.
“You’re supposed to be at the museum,” Jeremy told her accusingly, completely ignoring the older man. “I couldn’t believe it when Dan said you’d come out here.”
“I said she’s with me,” Joe repeated.
“It’s not safe for you to be running around out here in the cornfields,” Jeremy challenged, staring her straight in the eyes.
“You said you’d be at the museum,” he went on. “That you’d be there, in town, waiting for me.”
“Jeremy, I’m with Joe,” she said placatingly, wondering where all this anger was coming from.
He turned from her to Joe, as if noticing him for the first time, his eyes thunderous. “Why would you bring her out here?” he demanded.
“Hey, simmer down. This is my home, my stomping ground. I’m the law here, and Ro’s here to help me. I’ve known her practically all her life—you two have just become friends. Or whatever,” he added with a glower. “So don’t go all ballistic on me, son. If anyone doesn’t belong here, it’s you.”
Jeremy didn’t back down. He stood his ground, arms crossed over his chest. “Night is almost here. You may be a big strong cop, maybe a crack shot, but once it’s dark out here…Joe, the killer is a clever man, maybe even an illusionist. Cop or not, it isn’t safe for Rowenna to be out here.”
“It’s daylight,” Joe pointed out.
“It’s three-thirty, and night comes fast.”
“Excuse me, both of you,” Rowenna snapped, striding past Joe to confront Jeremy. “I was going back to the museum. I would have met you there, just as planned. Joe and I have been doing this kind of thing for a long time. And, by the way, he is a crack shot.”
“Crack shot—or crackpot?” Jeremy said heatedly, looking past her to Joe. “You can’t use her this way—it’s dangerous. You’ll get the killer thinking she really can see things, and then he’ll target her, make her his next victim.”
“But I can help!” Rowenna insisted. She looked at the two of them, staring at one another, nostrils practically flaring. She had a sudden image of the two of them stomping the ground and rushing each other like a couple of angry bulls.
“Both of you, stop. Jeremy, the killer isn’t going to think anything, because he doesn’t even know I exist—Joe and I came out here alone. I know you’re just worried about me, and I’m grateful. I’m also legally sane, over twenty-one and more than capable of taking care of myself.” She marched past him, trembling—but whether with anger or fear, she honestly didn’t know—and headed for the road.
She could hear the two men pushing their way through the whispering stalks in her wake.
Jeremy spoke first. “Wait! I’ll take you back to town.”
“Hey, she came out here with me,” Joe said firmly.
She spun around. “Screw you both! You’re acting like a couple of five-year-olds. I’m hitchhiking.”
Even as she said it, she knew perfectly well that she had no intention of hitchhiking.
She had far too strong an instinct for self-preservation.
“No, no, wait. Ride back with Joe, and I’ll follow,” Jeremy said, catching up to her.
“No. It’s okay. Go with Flynn and I’ll follow,” Joe said.
“Look, it doesn’t matter,” Jeremy said. “Maybe I was overreacting, but come on, Joe. You’d overreact, too, if you knew that Rowenna and I were at the scene of such butchery…. Especially after this morning.”