Sudden Attraction

He swept them into a pile now, putting them into a desk drawer.

He didn’t want Gabriella poking around his research, for her sake as well as his. The less she knew about the New Jersey mob, the better.

Of course, she’d been poking around in his mind, he reminded himself. Which meant she already knew too much.

Turning, he said, “I’m sorry about your mother.”

“Thank you. Or whatever you’re supposed to say.”

“That works. Why don’t you sit down,” he offered, thinking how lame that sounded.

Without comment, she took one of the easy chairs facing the sofa.

He leaned his hips against the kitchen counter, trying to look as if he wasn’t studying her, seeing in person what he’d only seen in his mind. Her short blond hair framed a narrow face, and her large, expressive eyes were either green or blue. She was staring back, taking his measure with as much interest. He knew his dark hair was too long and that he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days. Probably he looked like a criminal. Which might be what she was already thinking.

To break the silence, he asked, “Can I get you something? A beer? I’ve got some from the local brewery.”

She pursed her lips. “Okay. Maybe I could use one.”

“Yeah, I guess you had a rough day.”

“Uh-huh.”

It was a strange conversation, two people who should know nothing about each other. But not really. Not when they’d suddenly gotten inside each other’s heads.

Although he wanted to ask, that mind to mind thing ever happen to you before? he hadn’t worked up the nerve yet.

He pulled out two bottles out of the refrigerator and twisted off the caps.

“Do you want a glass?”

“No, this is fine.”

He moved back to the living area and set one of the bottles on the coffee table, then lowered himself to the other easy chair.

Outside the rain pounded down, giving him a feeling of two people meeting at the end of the world, like in the science fiction stories he’d read as a kid. Science fiction had appealed to him, maybe because he’d been disappointed with reality.

They each took a sip of beer.

Although he’d turned on a couple of battery lights, he thought the conversation might go better in semidarkness.

She ran her finger around the outside of the beer bottle before breaking the silence. “What happened out there?”

He winced. “I thought you were sneaking up on me.”

“Lucky you didn’t shoot me.”

“Yeah.”

“That was a gun I felt in your waistband.”

“Yeah,” he said again, pulling it out and setting it on the table between them.

She stared down at it and took another sip of beer before saying, “I didn’t mean—why did you tackle me. I meant—what happened when we touched?”

She’d been brave enough to ask the question. All he could say was, “We read each other’s thoughts and memories.”

“Which should be impossible.” She added, “So the next question is—how did it happen?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.” The silence stretched again before he asked, “Do you have some psychic ability?”

She hesitated. “Not that you could … document.”

“Which means what?”

She raised one shoulder. “It means, there were times when I got a glimpse of the future.”

“Like what?”

“My mom called this afternoon. I knew it was going to be her, and I sensed that something bad …” Her voice trailed off, and she started again, “Something bad was going to happen. I didn’t know she was going to … die.” Her voice cracked, and he could see she was struggling not to cry.

He wanted to cross the room and put his arms around her, pull her close and stroke her back, her hair. But he stayed where he was.

When it looked as if she’d regained control, he said, “And you feel guilty about not dropping everything and coming here.”

“Yes.”

“But you were too far away to change what happened.”

“That doesn’t make it better.”

He nodded.

“What about you?” she asked. “I mean have you had psychic experiences?”

He tried to answer as honestly as he could. “I’m an investigative journalist.”

“Working on a book that will blow Rudy Maglioni’s New Jersey mob operation wide open.”

“Yeah. But let’s not get sidetracked,” he said in a tight voice.

“Okay.”

“I always thought that I had better than average instincts for stories. Good instincts for interviews. I’ve got a pretty good idea when someone’s lying to me. I know when I can push them to say more than they intended. I know when letting the silence stretch will make them jump to fill the vacuum.”

“Useful.”

“But nothing like … that thing outside has ever happened to me.”