Chapter 15

Jac still felt out of it, she had no energy, even after the nap. Sandy was right, although she’d never tell her, she’d never done anything like what she’d done yesterday, and she would never do it again. Usually, it took her a few hours and a nap to feel fully charged again.

By the time Reid returned, she’d had a nap and a shower. That made her feel a bit more alert, at least.

Reid studied her for a few minutes, his eyes filled with concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She shrugged. “I guess yesterday took a lot more out of me than I thought.” She smirked. “I’ve never purposely tried to see that much all at once.”

He sat down at the table and looked over his laptop at her. “You could have told us what you were doing…” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay, maybe not, but did you have to do it all at once?”

Jac studied him for a moment. She wasn’t prepared for questions about her sight. “I think I did, yes. Each time the vision was clearer.” Leaning on her elbows, she rubbed her temples. “It was like a paint-by-numbers in a way, each time the features were more visible, although it could have something to do with the difference in time that had passed too.”

“I don’t understand—a lot, but until you look like you’re yourself again, I’m going to stay curious.”

She smirked at him. “I still feel completely drained, and I don’t like it.”

Reid got up and picked up the laptop. “Let’s take this into the couch, where you can flake and browse through profiles.”

She was touched by his concern and consideration. This was the man she was sure had no emotions, or at least none that he ever let show. The last day had shown her a different man. The way he was at the funeral, trying to shield and protect her.

“This would work better if you came to the couch.”

Jac looked up to see him leaning against the doorframe smirking at her. “Sorry, my mind wandered.”

He laughed. “That’s okay, if my mind had gone through what yours did, it would probably take a long vacation.” His phone rang. Motioning for her to go to the couch, he answered it.

Wiggling around on the couch until she found a comfortable position, she huffed out a breath. Even that tired her. Pulling the table a bit closer, she brought up the search page. Glancing down at the sketch again, she studied it. How old are you? Where do I start? Other than male, she wasn’t entirely sure what to put in the search. He looked over thirty. Decision made, she typed in thirty to forty-five and hit enter.

The enthusiasm she was already lacking flagged even more when she saw more than two hundred hits. This is going to take forever. Quickly she selected Caucasian, and it dropped down to one seventy. Better. This would take all day.

Reid watched her for a few minutes. “Brent is going to come over with the toxicology report.”

She looked up. “Oh good.”

***

Brent walked quietly into the room after Reid warned him to be quiet. He glanced back over his shoulder at Reid. “Is it normal for her to sleep this much after?”

Reid shrugged. “I don’t know.” He motioned him into the kitchen. “She said she’s never done that much all at once before.”

“Have you called a doctor?”

Reid gave him an annoyed look. “And say what? My friend is really lethargic after reading the visions from a dead woman left in the woods?”

Brent scowled. “Good point.” He glanced in at the woman sleeping on the couch again. “Has she been drinking that tea? Have you called Doctor Gains? She’s the only one that knows what she goes through.”

Reid rubbed his jaw. “Jacinda said if I try to make her drink anymore, she’s going to scream, and I’m pretty sure she meant it. My guess is Doctor Gains will be showing up as soon as she can get away.”

Brent nodded. “So, do we wake her and tell her she was right?” He pulled the papers from his pocket.

Reid glanced at her, contemplating. “I have a feeling she’d be really unhappy if we didn’t.”

Brent elbowed him. “Still afraid of her temper?”

Reid rolled his eyes and walked back over to the couch. She looked so pale and was missing something, what had Brent called it? Vibrancy? She looked so at peace; he really second-guessed himself before he bent down and lightly touched her shoulder. “Jacinda.” Her eyes slowly opened. “Brent’s here with the report.”

She smiled at him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fade on you.” She turned her head and looked at Brent standing at the end of the couch. “Hey.”

Brent smiled. “Hey, sleeping beauty.” He perched on the end of the couch. “This guy has been looking after you?”

She sat up a little bit. “Very well, actually.”

Brent nodded. “Good. Are you up to some shop talk?”

She made a small gesture with her head. “Maybe it will keep me awake.” She glanced at the screen.

Brent held up the paper. “You were right; there were traces of alcohol and a drug, commonly used for date rape in Ms. Thomas’s blood.” Jac turned her head and looked at him for a moment. The men looked at each other when she started to chew on her lip.

She briefly regarded Reid and then looked down at the sketch on the table. “I think she knew him.” Their eyebrows went up. “I don’t mean through the dating site, outside of it.”

Reid slid down to sit across from her. “Why do you say that?”

She sat up a bit more. “The others weren’t groggy or incoherent, they were completely alert.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “Her feelings were different, too. There was no panic, not like with the others…” She trailed off, closing her eyes again. Opening them, she looked at Reid. “She had so much animosity, the other’s emotions were much different. You could only have this sort of anger and hatred towards someone you knew. If it were a stranger, wouldn’t fear be more prominent?”

Reid looked at her for a moment and then at Brent. “I think she’s got something again.”

Brent nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He looked over at Jac and smiled. “We may have to keep you when all of this is done.”

Jac laughed. “I would love to help with the research part, but I think I’m done dealing with murder, thank you.”

Reid leaned forward, giving her a serious look. “After what you went through, I’m saying you are never doing that to yourself again.”

Brent gave him a shocked look, then Jac a concerned one.

Jac nodded. “He doesn’t want to have to shoot too many people.”

Brent looked at his partner again. “Shoot…”

“I said I wanted to, not that I would.”

Brent let out a breath. “I don’t want to know.” He sat down and looked at the sketch sitting on the table. “This who we want?”

Reid nodded. “Most definitely.” He motioned towards the laptop. “We’re checking the male profiles to see if he’s in it there.” He knew Brent would think the same thing; the chances of finding him that way were slim.

Brent glanced from the sketch back to him. “Can he have an unpublished profile and still contact women?”

Reid looked at Jac.

She shook her head. “No, you can look but not make contact.”

Brent sat back. “So, where do we go from here?”

Reid rubbed his jaw again. “We have to hope he’s got a visible profile.”

Brent blew out a breath. “Okay then, let me get a copy of this sketch. I can look and hold down the fort at the office.”

Reid sat up again. “Sounds good, you go get a copy while we have something to eat.”

Jac just looked at him. She chewed her lip for a minute, causing both men to stop and watch her again. “You guys have to stop doing that.” Brent winked at her. “Is there…” She looked down at the sketch again. “Can we find out if Ms. Thomas had, I’m not sure, a bad investment that resulted in a large money loss.” She sighed. “I’m not sure what I’m thinking, but I just know there has to be a connection there.”

Brent rubbed his jaw in thought. “She must have had an accountant. I can check it out.”

Reid nodded. “Do that, and we’ll continue the profiles.” He grinned at Jac. “Now, I’ll get you something to eat.”

Jac grimaced. “No more tea.”

He laughed as he walked towards the kitchen.

Jac threw up her hands. “I can’t look at another one.”

Reid nodded from his slumped position on the couch. “Neither can I.”

She sat forward in the chair, pushing the laptop to the center of the table. “I can’t believe we went through that whole group.” She rubbed her face. “How is Brent doing?”

Reid smirked. “He was going to finish up the twenty-five to thirty age groups and go home. His only comment was that there really are a lot of slimy guys out there.”

She giggled. “Well, if you were a woman, you’d already know this.”

His eyebrows went up. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

She nodded. “Oh yes. The joys of love and infidelity.”

He looked at her for a moment. “Been there, done that.” Her jaw dropped. He held up his hands. “I was the victim.”

Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry.” The phone rang, making her lose what she was going to say next. Stretching over, she picked it up. “Hello.”

“Hi, sorry I didn’t get there. The last twenty-four hours have been straight out of an action movie.”

She grinned. “That’s okay, doctor, everything is fine here.”

“That sexy detective still hanging around?”

“Yes. We’ve been working on the case.”

“What happened to relaxing?”

Jac frowned. “I’ve been napping off and on all day.”

“I wondered how this would affect you. Let me know how you are in the morning, and if you’re not back to normal, we should think about a doctor.”

Jac grinned at the concern in her voice. “Yeah, that will happen.” She smirked.

“I know, I know. Okay, I have to go lie down, or I’m going to fall down.”

Jac nodded. “I understand, get some rest.” She hung up the phone and smiled over at Reid. “Sandy is just getting to bed now from yesterday.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And I thought my job was tops at depriving me of that much sleep.”

She shrugged. “She’s just dedicated to her patients.” Scowling at the laptop, she sighed. “I think I’ve had enough research for one day.”

He nodded. “Yeah, when leads dry up, it gets a little tiresome. I’m sure you’ve run into that before though.”

“Most of the time, the research I’m doing it easy to trace, it occasionally gets tedious.” She stretched. “Now I’m stiff from just sitting around all day.” He just sat there watching her in an odd way. She tilted her head and looked at him. “What?”

He blinked and then raised his hands. “Last night, I thought of so many questions, and now when I’d like to ask one, I can’t even remember any.” He studied his hands he’d clasped together. “I really don’t buy into stuff like this, normally.”

She chuckled. “That’s good. Having your feet planted firmly on the ground would be good in your line of work, I’m sure you see a lot of real nut cases.”

He grimaced. “Oh, yeah. If I hadn’t been with you yesterday, you would have fit into that nut case category too for a bit.”

She smiled. “That’s okay, really. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

He sat back and blew out a long breath while studying her. “No, I guess not.” She sat there watching him. “It’s been a hard road, hasn’t it?”

She cast her eyes down at the floor for a few seconds, then back at him. “Yes, it has. I’ve had to give up everything and everyone more than once, and I can’t tell you how happy I am that you and Brent didn’t try to take me to the mental hospital last night.”

He realized at that moment, that no matter what he’d been through in his life, it would never compare to the heartache she’d suffered. Suffered all because she wasn’t what the rest of the world considered normal. “Do you have family anywhere?”

She shook her head. “There was only my parents, and I lost them to a boating accident almost ten years ago now.”

“No other relatives?”

“Not that I know of.” Her voice was clipped, letting him know she didn’t want to discuss it.

“I’m all that’s left too.” It startled him that he’d told her, he never really told anyone that in that way.

She frowned. “It sucks, doesn’t it?”

He shrugged. “At times. All the guys complain about family things they have to go to and sometimes I think they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“No, they don’t. Until I met Sandy, I really had no one.”

Reid nodded. Reaching over, he closed the laptop. “Feel like going for a walk? If I don’t breathe in some fresh air soon, I’m going to go crazy.”

She thought about it for a moment. “I’d like that.”