He snagged her hand back in his. "It's all right, Kate. Together we can solve this, I know we can."

There was that confidence again. Once upon a time, before last week, she used to feel that way about life as well. Kate looked around the clearing with its looming shadows and skittish breezes rustling the trees. Blake could be out there, right now, watching.

"Are you upset with me for telling you how I feel?" he asked as she led him from the darkness back onto the path.

"Not upset. Just surprised. You don't know anything about me, about the person I was before last week."

"Sure I do. You're brave and strong and smart. You listen to people and look at what really is going on around you, not just what you want to see or what would be convenient to see. You never take the easy way if it would leave the job half-done or make someone else's life tougher. You have no idea how to wash windows and don't own a mop or an iron and your most prized possession is an autographed picture of Lynn Swann with a man I'm guessing is your father."

She stopped him. "How did you know that?"

"The iron? That was easy-"

"No, about the picture."

"It's the only clean thing in your apartment." The grin he gave her made his eyes crinkle, sparkle with life. She had to work hard to resist the impulse to wrap her arms around him again, to run away, take him someplace warm and safe, far away from this nightmare that her life had become.

"My mom took that picture when she and Dad ran into Lynn Swann at the airport. They were going to Arizona." She smiled with the memory. Her mom wanted to see the Grand Canyon before she died. Only vacation Kate could remember her parents ever taking alone, just the two of them. "When she got the picture developed, she sent it to Mr. Swann and asked him to autograph it. He sent it back, but it was too late, she was gone already."

She broke off. Those last few months, it seemed as if her mother had spent more time preparing the rest of the family for what was to come, taking care of them, than she had spent in preparing herself. As if she had a checklist to finish before time ran out. But time caught up with her before she finished everything.

Kate couldn't help but wonder if her mom had felt the same sense of panic, of time running short that she did now.

Josh said nothing, his thumb caressing her hand as they stood on the sidewalk outside his house, the last remnants of the setting sun casting them in deep velvet shadows. Kate was grateful for his silence, if he'd tried to comfort her, she probably would have fallen apart. Funny, how after all these years, feelings like this could still sneak up on her. She sniffed hard, regained control.

She looked up at him, gave him a tiny smile. "I think she would have liked you."

He bent close, kissed her on the forehead. They strolled the last few steps arm in arm.

Blake watched out the sidelight, inching the sheer curtain aside with the Taurus' muzzle. The sun was setting, made the steel barrel glint like something out of the movies.

It felt like something out of the movies, the way things were falling into place. The hardest part of gaining access to Lightner's house was breaking into his neighbor's and crossing through her cluttered basement without breaking something.

Now here he was ready and waiting. And here they came, looking like something out of a cheesy love story, holding hands like a couple of kids, the dog walking along beside them.

Anger flared through Blake at the sight. O'Hern was his and his alone.

The dog ran up the steps, a black streak, lunging at the door as if he saw Blake.

Maybe he would finish it all here tonight. Forget the cemetery.

Hershey bounded up the porch steps and began prancing in front of the door. Kate looked up at the amiable dog and couldn't help but smile. Josh held her hand as they climbed the steps. It all felt so normal, so natural. A man, a woman, a dog, coming home out of a cold, November night. A man, a woman, a home. A man in love. With her.

A man she loved? Kate backed away from the thought without examining it too closely. Josh's hand felt so warm in hers, so strong and safe. Couldn't she take a moment to enjoy that? To bask in the glow of what he had told her.

Josh fell as the crack of a gunshot split the silence. Blood blossomed over the back of his jacket. Hershey howled, rushed to his master's side. Carter's voice called her name, shouting at her to take cover, as he ran across the street. Kate turned to look for the shooter, to target the direction of danger, her Baretta in her hand. Another shot, where did it come from? Carter was down, sprawled on the pavement. A low noise came from Josh. She dropped her gun, tried one-handed to pull him up the steps to safety when pain ripped through her chest. She toppled forward, her vision darkening as laughter rang through the air.

CHAPTER 34.

"Kate. Kate." Josh's voice broke through the dark abyss she had fallen into.

"What's wrong with her?" Carter sounded anxious, scared even. Very unlike him. How had he gotten there? "Want me to call 911?"

Kate was drowning in darkness, thick tendrils of blood sucking her in, weighing her down. Her limbs had vanished, there was no pain, just an absence of feeling as if she'd been divorced from her body.

"No. Just help me get her inside."

Was that really Josh? Was he all right?

Anxiety, a need to see for herself that Josh was safe and whole, pulled her back from the void. Strong hands carried her inside, she heard Hershey's paws clicking on the wood floors, then felt the supple leather of Josh's couch. Mustering the energy to open her eyes, Kate looked around.

Josh knelt beside her, his fingers on her wrist, taking her pulse. Her heart rate fluttered. There was no blood; he wasn't hurt. Carter stood behind him, one hand on his service weapon, the other holding Hershey's collar. The dog was whimpering, trying to pull away and get to Kate.

"I'm fine," she told Josh, ignoring her head-rush as she sat up. "Carter, did you get him? The shooter?" Carter frowned at her as if she wasn't making sense. She supposed she wasn't, not to him. "Blake, did you catch him?"

Josh sat on his heels. "Kate, there was no shooter. Nobody except Carter getting out of his car right before you fainted."

"You know damn well I didn't faint." She appreciated his efforts to protect her, but she had to warn Carter of the danger he was in. They were all in.

Carter arched an eyebrow at her, then turned to Josh. "These things, what you told me in the hospital, they're for real?"

Kate answered for herself. "Yes. Don't make me try to explain them, because I can't."

Carter pursed his lips. He scrutinized her over the tops of his glasses, his brow wrinkled. "Hmmph."

"I saw the three of us, outside, Hershey's there as well. Blake shoots us. All." Carter straightened at that. Josh squeezed her hand, and she pulled it away, turned to him. "Josh, you can't stay here."

"Like hell I can't."

"You have to leave."

"This," Carter gestured to the couch, "happen every time you have one of these premonitions?"

Kate looked down at the floor; she knew what he was asking. "Yeah. I kind of black out for a few minutes when they happen."

"You should have told me."

"And have you treat me like a freak like Phil Conrad did when I tried to warn him? Besides, no one would trust anything I say if they think my head's messed up."

"I do."

Words couldn't explain how good it felt to have someone she respected, a fellow cop, say that to her right now. Especially since the topic of her visions was off-limits with Josh. Some of the weight that bunched her shoulder muscles eased and her eyes stung with sudden, unbidden tears. She blinked them back. "Thanks, Carter."

"You know what else this means?"

She nodded solemnly. "I was planning to hand in my shield once we catch Blake. Of course, it doesn't matter now that I'm suspended anyway." She blew out her breath. "Is the circus in town? Maybe I could get a job telling fortunes."

"Let's concentrate on getting Blake first, okay?" Carter said. "She's right, doc. You do have to leave."

"I really wish you people would stop trying to order me around in my own house!"

Josh's face was tight with anger, but Kate knew Carter was right. And not because of her vision. "Damn, I should have realized-"

"As soon as Cohen told me you saw the shooter in the hospital-" Carter put in.

Josh was looking from one to the other. "Want to translate?"

"I'm an idiot, should've thought of it sooner," Kate said. Would have if she hadn't been distracted by Josh. "I saw Blake when I was in the ICU. Dressed as a security guard. Which means he knows you, Josh."

Comprehension dawned on his face. "If he knows who I am and he saw me at your apartment-"

"Then, odds are, he'll be coming here, looking for Kate," Carter finished. "Cohen disagrees, said Blake would've hit last night if he was going to come after you here. Still thinks our best bet is the wing-ding at your brother's tomorrow. But I'd feel a lot better if you two were out of here tonight. I don't have the man power to cover this place, they're all setting up on Michael's house."

"It's better this way." She reached for Josh's hand, hoping he understood how sorry she was to subject him to this. Anger she could take, but he looked stricken. He intertwined his fingers with hers. Kate tried to reassure him. "It'll just be until we get Blake."

"We'll go together?" he asked, his stare so intense that it sent a surge of warmth flooding over her.

"Yes." She disguised her lie in the single syllable. In every vision, he'd been with her when he died. Kate would see him safe tonight, then leave. It was the only way.

Josh nodded, turned back to Carter who was staring at them with a knowing smile that made Kate blush. "I'll grab some things and call Mrs. Kertesz from next door to look after Hershey."

He went upstairs, Hershey trailing after him. Carter cleared his throat. "These visions? Can you make them happen? Tell us where Blake is now or where he's going to strike next?"

She shook her head vehemently. He had no idea what he was asking, what it felt like when she experienced one, to have it echoing in her mind for hours after. As if her brain had been pushed through a meat grinder, shredded and stuffed back inside her head. "No. I tried, it didn't work."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We're going to nail this bastard."

Kate wished he sounded more certain. It seemed as if Blake were calling all the shots, moving them around like chess pieces on his board.

CHAPTER 33.

One thing Kate was learning about her surgeon: he was almost as stubborn as she was. After conceding to moving to a hotel downtown, the same one Ramsey and Cohen were at, he now insisted on going with her to Michael's tomorrow.

They had argued circles around each other, each refusing to yield, until it was time to leave for dinner with Tony. Well, mainly she had argued, Josh had mostly ignored what she was saying to ask silly questions like what color her prom dress had been.

"What is with you Pittsburghers and the damned raggedy kitchen chairs left in the street," he muttered as he circled the block searching for a parking space. "Can't you just double park like normal people?"

"It's tradition."

"Hmpf. No one even has the decency to steal the damn things much less take the parking space they reserve." He spied a spot ahead and pulled in. "So, anyway, after Michael's tomorrow, we can head out to Ohio. My grandparents' farm. Peace and quiet, no reporters or Turner or obsessed killers."

She stared at him, speechless. "A farm? What the hell am I going to do on a freaking farm?"

"Trust me," he said, getting out of the car. "You'll love it there."

The man was so damned frustrating, always had to be in control of everything. She didn't like the way he distracted her, not when she needed to focus on doing everything possible to stop Blake.

They were a block away from The Thai House. It wasn't really a house, more like part of a basement, Kate informed Josh as she directed him to the small, dilapidated building on Negley. She noticed he kept looking back over his shoulder, even though he had activated the car alarm.

"Don't worry, it'll be there when we get back," she assured him.

His eyes tightened before he gave her an absent nod and she realized it wasn't the bad neighborhood he was worried about.

Her arm and shoulder were still sore, kind of a low throb like the constant body ache that came with the flu. Josh seemed instinctively to understand, because he wrapped his arm around her, supporting her elbow, easing the strain from her shoulder as they walked. Damn the man. Didn't he see she was trying her best to stay angry with him, stubborn fool that he was?

Despite their disagreement, Kate felt better than she had in days. Something about the way Josh looked at her, it made her catch her breath, gave her a feeling of power. As if she could do anything, even stop a killer, get her life back-a life with Josh, perhaps?

One thing at a time, O'Hern.

"You're gonna love the food here. The atmosphere isn't much, but that's okay *cause it keeps the tourist trade out," she told him, hoping that he didn't realize that she was talking so much because she was nervous. Not about being with him, but about what would come after dinner. She was determined to leave him. Tonight.

She led him down a cement stairway. The signs in the storefronts above them advertised a consignment shop and an oriental grocery.

"Did you know Anne Ramsey is a psychologist?" Josh asked as they waited for a table.

"Yeah, she told me."

"Did you tell her about your visions?"

She looked at him sharply. "No. You didn't, did you?"

"Of course not. But she gave me her number. I think you should call her."

"Why? I'm not crazy. What's she going to do?"

"Still-"

"I said I was fine. Just drop it. We agreed that we're not going to talk about any of that during dinner, remember?"

All Kate wanted was a few hours to pretend she was a normal woman enjoying the company of a man she cared deeply for. A few hours free of worries about dead cops or the madman stalking her, free of concerns about her mental status. Was that so much to ask for?

The young waitress showed them to a booth. Tony joined them a few minutes later.

"Nothing," he announced, before even taking his jacket off. "Not a damn thing from my guy in Internal Affairs." He beckoned to the waitress. "Give me a Canadian Club, please," he asked, then noticed that no one else had drinks. "What do you guys want?"

Kate smiled. "One of Tony's many accomplishments is that he can get served anywhere, anytime-even at a Steelers' game when it's fourth and one."