Primal Instinct. Janie Crouch

are clear. We’re either to bring you in or bring Rick Vincent in. You choose.”

      Adrienne could feel temper rising up through her body. Obviously nobody in the FBI had changed in the past decade. They still didn’t care who they used—or used up—to get what they wanted.

      “Common blackmail? Is that what the FBI has resorted to?” It was all she could do to keep her fist from banging down on the table.

      Harrington reached a hand out toward her, but she jerked back in her seat. “Ms. Jeffries.”

      At least he had the sense to revert to last names if they were going to use blackmail.

      “We have to uphold the law. There is a warrant out for Mr. Vincent’s arrest.”

      “That you will conveniently overlook if I agree to help the FBI on the case.”

      Agent Harrington cleared his throat. “Let’s just say, if we had your help on the case, we would probably be so busy, we may totally forget we even saw Rick Vincent here.”

      Adrienne was too angry to say anything. She did not want to be forced back into helping the FBI but couldn’t stand the thought of Vincent going to prison. The older man had no evil in him whatsoever. Whatever crime he had committed, it was in a past far behind him. Now he was kind and helpful and wonderful with the horses, if a little gruff with people.

      They sat in silence for long moments. Adrienne had no idea what the FBI agents were thinking, but they wisely did not give voice to their thoughts. She glanced at Harrington first but found him looking down at his hands. She then glanced over at Agent Perigo with hesitation, unsure of what she would find.

      He met her eyes directly. Instead of the hostility she had expected to see, she found sincerity and the slightest hint of compassion. No matter what he thought of her abilities, or her personally, he obviously found this stalemate distasteful.

      And he had the most gorgeous green eyes she had ever seen. Just the slightest hint of gold in them. For the first time Adrienne wished she had met Agent Perigo under different circumstances. Wished he didn’t work for an organization that was sure to leave her broken by the time this was all over.

      Adrienne looked away from Agent Perigo’s piercing eyes and down at her kitchen table. She couldn’t see any way out of this. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to Vincent, as long as there were any other options. Plus she was older now, wiser, more able to protect herself from the FBI. Because she had no doubt that what had happened before, ten years ago, would happen again if she wasn’t careful. The solution was making sure it didn’t repeat itself.

      Of course she had no idea how to do that.

      She looked up from the scarred kitchen table, hoping she didn’t resemble it by the time this was all over.

      “Okay, fine. I’ll help you.”

      An hour later, just before lunch, Adrienne watched Agents Perigo and Harrington drive away. She had been given instructions about where and when to report tomorrow, and had assured them she would be there. Then, just before leaving, Agent Perigo made a special trip out to the barn to say goodbye to Vincent. All for Adrienne’s benefit.

      Jackass. Obviously, she had been mistaken about any compassion she had seen in him.

      Vince immediately knew something was up.

      “That FBI agent came out to the barn to say goodbye to me,” the older man stated as he washed his hands for lunch. “Seemed a mite odd.”

      Adrienne rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know. If it helps, I think it was a gesture meant for me, not you.”

      “We never really talked much about you working for the FBI.”

      Adrienne began making each of them a sandwich. “I worked for them briefly years ago. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Not something I discuss much.”

      “I’ve found, in my general experience, that anything having to do with law enforcement is not a pleasant experience.”

      Adrienne smiled at that. Although her and Vince’s experiences with law enforcement were different, the resulting feelings were the same.

      “And now they want you to come back and work for them again?” the older man asked.

      Adrienne slapped mustard onto the sandwich and rubbed it around with more force than necessary. “That pretty much sums it up.”

      “But you don’t want to go back to work for them.”

      “My life is here. My responsibilities are here.” More mustard was slapped on the other piece of bread.

      “Well now, you know I can handle everything around here if you needed to go off somewhere. This place isn’t so big that one person can’t hold down the fort for a while. You did it for long enough before I came along.”

      “I know you can handle it, Vince. I’m not sure what I would’ve done without you for the past year.” She smiled gently at him.

      The older man blushed and looked away. Nothing thrilled Vince less than talking about feelings, Adrienne knew.

      “Vince, I know you had trouble with the law in your past, but I’ve known from the beginning that you were someone I could trust. Whatever happened in the past isn’t important to me. You’ve been a godsend.” She handed him a sandwich.

      “Well, you know that goes both ways.” Vince took a big bite of his sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. “Why do I get the feeling all of this conversation has to do with those FBI agents?”

      Adrienne sighed. “It looks like I’m going to need you to keep things afloat for me here for a little bit.”

      “While you go help the FBI.”

      “Yeah.”

      “What exactly do you, or did you do, for them?”

      Adrienne pushed her sandwich around on her plate. How was she supposed to explain this? “I guess I was kind of a profiler for them.”

      Vince grunted in agreement the way he often did. He didn’t look at all surprised. “I figured it was something like that, given your...” He waved his hand in circles above his head.

      Adrienne was shocked. She had no idea Vince was aware of her gift. They had never talked about it. “You knew?”

      “Not at first. As a matter of fact, when you initially hired me, I thought you were a little reckless. What woman hires someone completely unknown, then invites him a few weeks later to move into the house with her?”

      “Vince, you were sleeping out in the barn!”

      “I know, I know. Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for your invite. But I could’ve been dangerous.” Vince shook his head.

      “I knew you weren’t.”

      Vince grunted in agreement again. “Then I saw over the next few months how patient you were with almost everybody. Even some of the brattiest or angriest kids who came out here to work. You were always kind and gentle, when I wanted to throw some of them out on their ears.”

      Vince put down his sandwich and looked Adrienne right in the eye. “Then that blond guy showed up last July. He seemed polite and charming. All the college girls were sighing over him and his good looks. You came out of the house, glanced at him for five seconds, and asked him to leave and never come back.”

      Adrienne remembered very clearly the appearance of the young man, probably twenty or twenty-one years old. Like Vince said, he had blond hair, blue eyes— all-American good looks. Seemed amiable and charismatic, at least on the outside.

      But the thoughts in his mind were utterly sinister. A malevolence that only Adrienne could pick up on had permeated the air around the young man. The things he thought of doing to the female students who had worked at Adrienne’s ranch—to Adrienne herself, once he had seen her—made Adrienne’s stomach churn. She had immediately