Free Wolf Protector by Milly Taiden Page A

wounds, and I can tell by the style that both women were definitely killed by the same person. Not to mention I know they were both killed by the same person,” she said absently and stared at the picture of Lisa’s body.
    His gaze connected with Ramirez’s, who frowned at her last sentence. Trent’s next item on the agenda was finding out more about how she got her information. The dark circles under her eyes indicated she was exhausted, but her voice and speech were clear and concise. He had the urge to grab her and hold her. She looked so vulnerable, staring at the dead girl’s photo.
    “We also know that Gina babysat for professors at the college on certain nights.” Ramirez bounced on the bed. What, was he four?
    “Right,” Erica said, snapping out of her trance. “So what we need to find out is if any of those professors were linked with both victims. I know we have an ex-boyfriend we need to go question, but I want to know if there is anyone else the girls might have in common.”
    Trent could see the wheels turning behind her tired eyes. If the killer wasn’t the ex-boyfriend, who else could have access to both women and have a motive to kill them?
    “Alright.” Ramirez put the papers back in the files on Erica’s bed. Once he’d cleaned the bed of the multitude of pictures and notes, he placed the remaining documents on the chair by the stacked table. He walked to the door. “I’m going to go make some calls. Find out more and give Donovan a shout-out to see if she’s got anything on the social media side.”
    Trent watched him leave. Once the door shut behind Ramirez, he turned back to Erica. She stared at Gina Torres’ photo. Because she’d been staring at it, Ramirez had left it behind on Erica’s bed when he’d cleaned up. Thankfully she hadn’t decided to touch the thing.
    Trent took a deep breath and decided to ask the question that had been burning his tongue for the past two days. “So how exactly does it work?”
    She lifted her gaze from the photo and blinked at him with a puzzled look. “How does what work?”
    “Whatever it is you do to find out about the victims.” He saw her start to shake her head in a negative and continued, “I know it has to do with touching their things, but I can’t figure out what it is you see.” He grabbed the photo and placed it back in the corresponding file. Somehow he knew if he left it out she’d continue to stare at it.
    She gulped and clenched her hands into fists. Finally after a few moments, she looked back up at him. The anguish he saw in her eyes made him go to her, grab her hands, and hold them in his own.
    “Tell me.” He drew circles on her palms with his thumbs, hoping to help calm the distress he saw on her face. The scent of her anxiety diminished with each stroke of his thumb.
    She took a deep breath. “It’s very simple, really. I touch something of the victim’s, and I see their last moments alive. It could be anything from how they got killed to who killed them. Whatever they saw, I see. If it’s a missing person who’s not dead, it’s usually their last lucid memory from a few hours past. I don’t see things in real time, which is why it’s so important that when I see someone still alive, we try to find them that way.”
    He thought about what she said for a moment. “Do you feel their pain too?”
    She jerked, turning back to him, and nodded. “Yes.”
    Fuck. No wonder she’d been crying every time she touched the victims’ stuff. She was reliving their deaths in full color, complete with a side of physical and emotional torture.
    “How long have you had this…ability?” He wanted to know more about the woman who fascinated him like no other ever had. He needed to get to know her before he bound her to him.
    “Always.” She pulled her hands from his grasp and started to pace. He was sure she didn’t even realize she was doing it.
    “Is that why people think you profile?” That was what Brock told