Free PRIMAL INSTINCT by JANIE CROUGH Page A

responded.
    He could admit to himself that his instantaneous response in coming to her aid without knowing details was pretty odd behavior, especially since he had all but called her a phony and a liar over the past couple of days.
    But he had known— known —when she had called today that the situation was dire from the very beginning. She had needed him to help her, but he couldn’t get there quickly enough, so he had sent Seth, who had been closer.
    And thank God, if the perp had been drawing a weapon when Seth had arrived.
    Conner took the washcloth gently away from Adrienne’s hand and wrist, and dipped it in the cold water again. Wringing it out, he placed it back on her arm.
    “So you knew he was going to kill her?” Conner asked.
    “Yes. That’s what I was certain about most of all. He was definitely planning to kill her and the man she was with.”
    Conner nodded but didn’t say anything else. She had obviously been through a lot already today. He didn’t want to say anything that would come across as combative.
    “You could hear what he was thinking?”
    Adrienne nodded gingerly. “It was like he was screaming his thoughts right in my ears. And I could see what he was seeing.”
    “You could actually see him?”
    “Not see him, exactly. More like see things through his eyes.”
    Conner nodded to encourage her.
    “I know he went into some other coffee shops looking for them before coming here.”
    Conner made a mental note to check into that. Maybe somebody would remember seeing the guy.
    “When he couldn’t find them,” Adrienne continued, “he got more and more furious.”
    “When did you call me?”
    “As soon as I realized he was going to make it here to this coffeehouse soon. I wasn’t sure how long I had before he did, but I knew it wouldn’t be very long.”
    She looked away, over toward the table where the couple had been sitting.
    “I called you while the guy was having a momentarily sane period, when he walked into another coffeehouse. He had to put his rage and malice aside, and concentrate on seeing if she was there. That’s what allowed me to pull it together long enough to call. I’m glad your number was in my phone, or I never would’ve gotten through to anyone.”
    “Why didn’t you call 9-1-1?”
    Adrienne gave a quiet bark of unamused laughter. “And told them what? That there was a man coming up the street, and I knew he planned to kill someone?”
    No, that probably would not have gone over well with the 9-1-1 dispatcher. A city the size of San Francisco got a variety of prank calls every day. Even though they would’ve sent out a patrol unit as standard procedure, it would not have been a priority and wouldn’t have been quick.
    “Nine-one-one would still have sent a squad car. Or you could’ve lied and said he was already here.”
    Adrienne nodded. “Yeah, but I wasn’t thinking too clearly at the time. Just trying to engage in normal functions, like breathing and staying upright, was taking all my concentration.”
    Conner remembered the terrified tenor of Adrienne’s voice when she had called. The hesitation and breathlessness in how she’d talked. He realized now how difficult even their very short conversation had been for her.
    “I’m glad you called me.” Conner reached over and stroked her elbow far from the area affected by the burn.
    Adrienne smiled tiredly at him. “I’m glad you believed me.”
    Conner shrugged. He wasn’t sure he believed, exactly, but he had acted.
    “Losing you in the middle of a sentence like that scared me. What happened?”
    “The guy was furious when he realized the woman was not in the coffee shop down the block. He was so intent on hurting her—it was like a bomb went off in my head.”
    “Is that when your nose started bleeding?”
    Adrienne brought a corner of the washcloth on her arm up to her nose, wiping the dried blood. “I guess so. I know that’s when I decided I had to get over to the couple and try to