Primal Instinct - Janie Crouch

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him before he had a chance to... Conner had no idea what he would’ve done when he reached Adrienne.

      “Adrienne, can you excuse us for a moment? I need to discuss a text I just received with Agent Perigo out on the porch.”

      Seth grabbed Conner’s arm—hard—and began pushing him through the small living room and out the front door.

      “What?” Conner barked at him the moment the door was closed.

      “You’re asking me what?” There was obviously no text Seth wanted to show him. “I was just wondering if you wanted to arrest her. Maybe you’ve got her fingered as our killer.”

      “What?” Conner felt like a parrot.

      “Well, the way you’ve been treating her, Agent Jackass, is like she’s a perp, or at the very least some sort of hostile witness.”

      Conner rubbed his hand over his face wearily. Everything Harrington was saying was true.

      “I don’t know what the hell’s the matter with me, Seth.”

      “I don’t know either, but you’ve got to get yourself under control. She’s not the bad guy here.”

      “I know.”

      “You think this is a waste of time, Con, I get that. And to be honest, I don’t know what to believe, either. But if what she’s saying—what Chief Kelly said—is true...”

      “Then it could really be the break in the case we’ve been hoping for,” Conner finished for him.

      “You don’t like her, for whatever reason. Fine. But let’s see what she can do.”

      Conner almost corrected Seth but stopped. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Adrienne Jeffries—he hadn’t made up his mind whether he liked the little spitfire or not. But liking or disliking didn’t really seem to matter. He was affected by her. And it made him damn uncomfortable.

      “All right, I’ll behave.”

      Seth looked relieved. “Good.”

      They walked back through the door and into the kitchen.

      “Saving the world one text at a time?” Adrienne asked with one brow cocked. She had taken a seat at the table in the chair farthest away from where Conner had been sitting.

      “Something like that.” Seth smiled.

      Conner didn’t say anything. He figured opening his mouth would just get him in trouble.

      “You two must be on some pretty big case for the FBI to put you at my doorstep after all these years.”

      “We are. It’s gruesome,” Seth informed her.

      “And you were told I could help.”

      Both men nodded.

      Adrienne continued. “And when they sent you out here to bring me back, did they warn you I would tell you to go screw yourselves?”

      Chapter Three

      Adrienne could not believe it was all happening again.

      She would not let the FBI just walk in and take over her life. She was older now, wiser. And she knew the toll using her gift to help the FBI would take. She had lived through it before.

      Barely.

      She knew Special Agent Friendly and his sidekick Special Agent Hot-But-Annoying sitting at her kitchen table really had no idea what her gifts were or what her life had been like ten years ago when she had worked for the Bureau.

      Worked. Adrienne barely restrained a bark of laughter. More like duped and manipulated.

      She knew Agent Hot, excuse me, Agent Perigo was particularly skeptical. Adrienne wasn’t offended by that. But there was something about him that made her slightly crazy. She had spent the past twenty minutes itching to slap the alternating smug and hostile looks off his face. Either that or jump his bones.

      Adrienne had been downright shocked when she had returned Ruby Tuesday to the barn and found the two men standing there with Vincent. Whenever someone unfamiliar was around, Adrienne could always sense it.

      Unless they had some sort of malevolent side, she couldn’t see their thoughts, but everyone—good or bad—gave off some sort of buzz that she picked up on in her brain. With familiar people she had learned to ignore it, the way someone ignores the slight sound a computer or TV makes when it’s on but has no volume. Just the slightest buzz. The more people that were around, the louder the buzz.

      But Adrienne had heard nothing when she had walked into the barn. That’s why she had been so shocked to see the agents—she hadn’t heard their buzz.

      Nothing. As a matter of fact, she still couldn’t hear it.

      But they were here, and they wanted her help. She couldn’t afford to help them. The best thing she could do, she knew, was be cold and turn them away. But looking at Agent Perigo, she knew turning them away would not be easy.

      “Guys, I appreciate that you’ve come all the way out here. But Chief Kelly shouldn’t have sent you. Whatever your case is, I can’t help you.”

      “Adrienne...” Agent Harrington began in a cajoling tone.

      “Can’t or won’t?” Perigo interrupted Harrington and got right to the point.

      The urge to slap Perigo was itching its way through Adrienne’s palm again. “I have responsibilities here.”

      “The FBI would more than compensate you for your time. Plus, don’t you have Vincent to run things for you if you’re gone?” Perigo continued.

      “It’s not just that,” Adrienne backpedaled.

      “Then what is it, Adrienne?” Seth asked in a concerned voice. He sounded completely sincere. Adrienne wondered for a moment if he practiced that voice.

      “There’s a discomfort that comes with using my gift.” That was putting it ridiculously mildly. “Plus, like I said, I can’t—or am not willing to—uproot my life. I’m needed here.”

      Adrienne watched as the two men looked at each other across the table, communicating without speaking. Obviously there was a plan B, although it looked as though both of them found the thought of it distasteful.

      “Adrienne, we were sent here by our superiors with a directive to obtain your cooperation in our case.” Agent Harrington paused, but she knew his statement wasn’t finished. She didn’t have long to wait. “By any means available to us.”

      Adrienne looked at Harrington, then Agent Perigo, confused. “‘Any means available?’ Are you planning on making me leave the ranch at gunpoint?”

      “No. Nothing so drastic, I assure you,” Harrington responded with a smile. “But our instructions are to either bring you back with us or bring in your ranch manager, Mr. Vincent.”

      “Why Vince? What does he have to do with this?”

      Agent Perigo interjected, “Do you make a practice of hiring and cohabiting with convicted felons or fugitives on your ranch?”

      “What?” Adrienne expressed her shock before she could help herself. Not a good logistical move.

      “So you’re unaware of Mr. Vincent’s past history and that he is currently wanted in the state of Nevada for parole violation?”

      Adrienne shook her head. “I knew he had some trouble with the law a while ago. But he never offered much information about it, and I never asked.”

      Harrington leaned toward her. “Isn’t it dangerous to work and live with a man you know so little about?”

      Adrienne smiled grimly. She had never been concerned about her safety with Vince—she had known from the beginning he meant her no harm. That was one of the few good things

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