Brodie was still frowning, though he didn’t seem bewildered, just thoughtful. “I’ll make a note—for future reference. So…we have to get in there and get to Mackenzie before any of them touch you. What about him? I assume they’ve touched him already.”

“He isn’t a strong enough psychic for them to sense,” Sarah said slowly. “And he doesn’t yet realize he can tap into my abilities. As long as he doesn’t know that, doesn’t do that, they can touch him without sensing the connection. But…”

“But?”

“They’ve got him drugged. But if the drug wears off and he becomes conscious, he’ll reach out to me.”

“You’re sure of that?” Leigh asked.

Sarah nodded. “Positive. When he became briefly conscious hours ago, I reached out to him. If I’d realized…but I didn’t. I just wanted to touch him, to make sure he was all right. And just before they drugged him again, he realized what was happening. When he can think clearly again, he’ll try to reach me. And I can’t close that door.” I wouldn’t even if I could.

“So they’ll know about the connection if they touch him when he’s conscious.”

“Yes.”

“And will immediately kill him.”

“Yes.”

Brodie raked the fingers of one hand through his hair. “Great. Just great. We have to get past their guards without any of them touching you in any way, get our hands on Mackenzie, get him and you out of there without any of them grabbing or even touching either of you, and get away with our hides intact. And all that’s assuming we can sneak in and out and that Mackenzie doesn’t wake up and give away the show.”

“That’s what we have to do.”

Cait said, “But if you’re such a threat to them, won’t they just keep coming after you? I mean, even if we can get Tucker away from them, it won’t be over, will it?”

“No,” Brodie said.

“Duran always backs off once he’s missed his chance,” Leigh disagreed. “Sarah will have to be careful, of course, because we do know they tend to keep tabs on us. Every time I participate in one of the psychic fairs in the area, or meet some reporter for an interview, I can feel one of them nearby. But I haven’t had to look over my shoulder in years.”

“And I think that’s a mistake,” Brodie said flatly.

Leigh smiled at him. “You worry too much.”

“It’s my job to worry.” He looked at Sarah. “I’m plenty worried now. Even with a back door they don’t know about, finding Mackenzie sounds like finding the center of a maze in pitch darkness—without touching any of the walls.”

Sarah looked at him with a certain amount of sympathy but said reassuringly, “I have an idea. I think.”

He eyed her. “Glad to hear it. Because I’m fresh out.”

“Do you think you could get your hands on a few pairs of those infrared glasses I’ve seen soldiers wear in the movies? The kind that let you see in the dark?”

His brows rose, but Brodie said, “Given a few hours, I think I might be able to do that.”

“Good. I don’t know how many we’ll need—enough for all of you.” Almost absently, she added, “They like the dark, and they can see in it better than we can. I guess they have the glasses too, or something like them.”

Brodie shook his head slightly but brought her back to the point. “Enough glasses for all of us. Okay. What about you? Please don’t tell me you’re planning to just walk into the trap?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Goddammit, Sarah—”

“It’s the only way, Brodie. All their attention has to be on me, or you won’t be able to get to Tucker. But don’t worry, I don’t have a death wish.” She glanced at Leigh, who was smiling. “Not anymore.”

“If that’s supposed to make sense,” Brodie said, “it doesn’t.”

“That’s okay. It makes sense to me.” Sarah began to lean forward to tell them all what she had in mind, but when her hand came to rest on her thigh, she felt something peculiar. She looked down and, as she lifted her hand slowly, saw the sticky white threads clinging to her fingers and to the denim covering her thigh.

It was just where she had wiped her hand in the cellar of the church.

Where she had not physically been.

“Sarah? What is it?” Brodie asked.

“Cobwebs,” she murmured. She looked at him and the others, saw their puzzlement, and said slowly, “I think I have another plan.”

Cait slipped out of the house through the patio door and felt rather than heard Brodie glide up beside her. “My turn to stand watch,” she said in a low voice. “It’s nearly three.” She paused, looking up at him as her eyes adjusted to the dark, then said, “But I don’t know why we’re doing this. You said nobody’s been watching Leigh.”

“As far as we know, that’s true.” His voice was as low as hers. “But they’ve been on Sarah ever since she left Richmond, so it’s at least possible they know she’s here. And I wouldn’t put it past Duran to make his move tonight while we’re trying to get rested and ready for tomorrow. So stay alert, Cait. Keep your gun handy, and don’t hesitate to raise the alarm if you even suspect something is wrong. If there’s one thing they hate, it’s attention, but it’s something we can deal with; explaining a few gunshots to the police is a small price to pay for caution, and it’s a hell of a lot better than having another psychic taken from under our noses.”

Cait nodded. “Don’t worry, I know the drill.”

“I know you do.” Still, he sounded restless, and unease was reflected in his next words when he said, “I think I’ll take one more walk around the area, just to be sure—”

“Go to bed, Brodie.” She stared up at his shadowy face and wished she had the nerve to suggest she join him there. “You haven’t slept more than two or three hours a night since we got on to Sarah, and you’ll need to be rested when we go after Tucker tomorrow. I can handle this.”

He hesitated a moment longer, but finally nodded. “Yeah, I’m beat.”

The admission surprised Cait, but she had the sense not to say so. “See you in the morning.”

“Right.”

When she was alone outside, Cait automatically adjusted the pistol stuck inside her belt at the small of her back and started to walk the perimeter—Leigh’s front and back yard. There was no moon, but there were numerous streetlights in the neighborhood, and they lent the area enough light for her to see fairly well.

Either there were no dogs nearby or else they were no more disturbed by Cait’s almost silent movements than they had been Brodie’s, because no barking greeted her as she made her cautious way around the property. In fact, she heard no sounds at all, other than the usual peaceful night sounds.

She didn’t think too much, just did what she’d been taught to do. Move slowly and quietly, watch everything, and stay alert. But as time passed, inevitably, she grew a little bored and found her mind wandering even as she completed yet another walk around the house.

Which was why she nearly jumped out of her skin when a man stepped out of the tall shrubs in front of her not two feet from Leigh’s front walkway.

“Shit!”

He chuckled. “Sorry—I thought you saw me coming. You’re Cait, right?”

Her hand on the pistol’s grip relaxed. “Yeah. And you’re—Nick? Tim? I knew Brodie called in reinforcements, but we weren’t expecting you until morning.”

“Traffic was light.” He stepped closer, his smile a slash of white in the darkness.

There was absolutely no indication that anything was wrong, but in her head, suddenly, Cait heard Brodie’s implacable words.

Never trust anybody who comes to you in the dark.

She tried to pull her gun, but it never even cleared her belt.

Sarah woke suddenly, her heart pounding. She had no idea what was wrong, but something was, something was terribly wrong: There had been a scream in her mind. She threw back the covers and got out of bed, not bothering to find her shoes or put anything on over the white sleep shirt. And she didn’t turn on the light.