I stepped aside as she hurried past me, and walked out the door without another word.
Damn, way to make an entrance…and an exit too.
I looked at Lily and Freya first. “I have no idea what she’s talking about, but I have no reason to believe she’s lying about this.”
“Maybe you really should call Ms. Hendricks to confirm,” Freya suggested.
I thought about that, glancing at Lexi, thinking about the implications of us possibly having a lead. “No, I believe her. And if this is for real, then I need to go.” I gave Lexi an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “I understand. I just want to help. But she’s right. My face is too recognizable. Especially for a mission like what she’s suggesting.”
“You know what she’s talking about?”
Lexi shrugged. “I mean, it sounds like something that will involve you going into public. She can read minds so there’s a lot she can uncover just by walking around in broad daylight.”
Shit, yeah, that made total sense.
I went ahead and gave Lexi a quick side-hug, followed by giving Freya and Lily one last quick kiss, and then headed out to the car. Winter was at the wheel, the engine running, patiently waiting for me to get in. Or impatiently? Hard to say by her neutral expression, but when we peeled away, I suspected she might have grown a little impatient.
However, when Winter’s almost painfully-flat stomach growled underneath her loose-fitting black shirt, I asked if she’d eaten yet today, only to clarify if she was hungry since I knew that might be the wrong question to ask.
Sure enough, she was about to respond, but then hesitated.
“Yes,” she finally admitted. “I’m hungry.”
“Then let’s stop someplace, get you food, and switch spots. You can eat on the way.” When she didn’t respond, I continued. “Seriously, there’s no way this is so urgent you can’t get something to eat.”
“Fine.”
I grinned. “And if you have to pee, then go inside and take care of it,” I added, my tone sarcastic and playful.
She rolled her eyes.
When we got to a fast-food joint, I was surprised when she parked the car and told me what she wanted by listing off three meal numbers. She then instructed me to go through the drive-through, only to climb out and head inside…
To go pee.
Shit, seriously?
By the time I rolled around, her orders sitting on the passenger’s seat, she was already waiting for me, quickly grabbing the bags and hopping in.
“Let’s go,” she said simply, ignoring the look I was giving her.
I smirked and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street. She then proceeded to wolf down her orders on the way, not answering any of my questions since she seemed pretty adamant about not talking with her mouth full. Granted, she didn’t exactly eat faster than most people, just more, so I could understand her wanting to make sure she finished her three large meals before we got there.
Still, I had questions.
Finally, she stopped after swallowing just long enough to speak. “Look, I know about as much as you do at this point, and nothing else is relevant right now.”
And with that, she resumed her three orders, which was honestly probably enough calories to last someone two days from this one meal – if I was being honest with how unhealthy and calorie-packed fast-food was.
Seriously though, how was this chick so skinny? And how did she even have a chest with so little fat everywhere else? I mean, it wasn’t huge by any means, but she was at least a B-cup.
Welp, that earned me a glare.
Her fault for reading my mind.
Another eye roll.
This was kind of fun.
Although, her comment was a little insightful into her personality – ‘nothing else is relevant right now.’ For whatever reason, she didn’t like to be excessive, and she also didn’t like to waste time. It seemed like a lot of her responses to questions where one-word answers, so long as a single ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ would get the job done.
Probably also was necessary in order to answer people’s quick thoughts, since a person’s capacity to think was significantly faster than their capacity to verbalize those words.
Finally, she swallowed her last bite and took a sharp breath, abruptly looking at me with a serious expression, with her tone coming out significantly more irritated than I was expecting. Almost harsh.
“Do you have any idea how many situations I’ve been in, where mere seconds would have made a difference?”
I looked at her in surprise, completely shocked by how aggressive she suddenly was.
“A lot,” she continued, beginning to sound sarcastic. “Literally, life and death – the difference just a few seconds. So, forgive me for making this my only priority right now, even if it’s a long-shot.”
Damn.
“Okay, I get it. Sorry.”
Her expression immediately softened as she looked away. “No, I’m sorry.” She sighed. “We just passed someone who was pissed , and I…” Her voice trailed off.
My eyes widened in shock. Without thinking about it, I reached out with my second-sight, finding some guy a few cars back silently yelling at his dashboard, probably to someone on the phone, his face bright red with rage.
Shit.
I put the car in autopilot, since the car’s AI would assume the destination at this point, and turned toward her.
“Winter, I…”
I didn’t know what to say.
She turned her head fully away, looking out the window. “It’s fine.”
No, it wasn’t fine, but I couldn’t exactly say that. “Can I help?”
She flinched, not responding.
“Can I help?” I repeated more seriously.
She hesitated, before speaking softly, her gaze still turned away. “Emotions and thoughts are pretty closely intertwined. If I’m latched onto someone close by, then it helps.” She looked back at me, her pale green eyes vulnerable. “It helps a lot.”
Now I was confused.
“But I thought you said–”
“Temporary,” she interjected. “I told you it was temporary. It wears off unless I put in the effort to maintain it.”
“Is that hard to do?” I asked seriously.
“No. Easy.”
My brow furrowed. “Then why?”
She sighed and looked away again. “Because you expressed displeasure to the idea.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Has that ever stopped you before?”
“Usually, no.”
Was she serious? Was it because I asked her to be respectful, since I was being respectful to her? Did she take that to mean a lot more than how she was talking about the women in my life?
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. We were almost to the office, the car pulling off the interstate now. It was only a short trip down the paved road leading up to the massive building in the near distance. Barely a minute tops, at this slower speed.
“Winter, I honestly don’t think I’m the best person to help you, since I’m not sure I’m that stable myself.” I paused when she looked at me, her expression unreadable. “But I think it’s important you remain as stable as possible for this job we’re going to be doing. So please. If it will help you, then do your thing.”
She hesitated. “And what about afterward?”
I shrugged, taking control of the vehicle again so I could park out front. “I mean, I guess that’s up to you. It’s your superpower, so if you feel like I’m a good pick, then do it. But don’t not do it, because you think I won’t like it. Do whatever you need to do to feel stable yourself. If you want to latch onto me, or whatever it is you’re doing, then just do it.” I sighed. “Whenever you want. For however long you want.”
She looked away. “Okay.”
“Are you going to do it?” I asked, uncertain if she was acknowledging
my statement or agreeing.
“Already did.”
Wow, seriously? Just like that? I supposed it made sense, considering I never felt it the first time to begin with.
“So,” I continued, a hint of playfulness in my tone. “If I got back on the interstate to chase down that enraged guy, then what?”
She rolled her eyes, focusing on me. “Then, I’d be fine.”
“Really?” I said skeptically.
“Yes.”
I just shook my head in disbelief, opening up my door to get out. Winter joined me, and we began walking toward the steps to enter the building.
It was strange to think that all it took was for her to supposedly latch onto me, and suddenly she would have been fine just a few moments ago. She wouldn’t have blown up. Although, I had to admit I was glad to hear her perspective on things, even if it came out harsh.
This situation mattered to her, and she was taking it very seriously, even if her urgent reaction might be unwarranted for this particular assignment.
Knowing we needed to meet Jackie in her office, we headed up the elevator after getting inside, with there being a surprising amount of activity for a Saturday. Then again, I recalled Lexi saying that people had a Wednesday to Saturday shift, as well as there being those with Sunday to Wednesday shifts, indicating that they were open every day of the week.
For some supers here, this was just a normal workday to them.
Once we got to the office, I saw that nearly half the office was empty, but I still got a few ‘Hi’s’ and ‘Hey Sam’s’ as well as a ton of gawking in Winter’s direction. I mean, she was objectively hot. And it was doubtful her goth appearance was the reason heads were turning, because we had a guy with stark red hair who loved his hornets, and plenty of others who had odd colored reality enhancement contacts, or other things that made them look a little different.
Not to mention, my glowing shifting blue eyes were far crazier than Winter’s black lips.
That being said, yeah, she got a lot of stares.
Unfortunately, just as I was getting ready to knock on Jackie’s door, it swung open abruptly with Radley of all people storming out. He immediately halted in his tracks, since we were blocking his way, looking at me for half a second in confusion, like he just wasn’t expecting me to be here. His gaze then abruptly shifted to Winter, openly gawking at her for way too long, as if he was mesmerized by her pale green gaze for a few seconds, only to turn to look at me with a scowl.
Winter unexpectedly spoke up, her tone and expression nearly emotionless.
“Yes. I am.”
Radley immediately looked at her in confusion, prompting her to speak again.
“Yes. I can.”
His shock then transitioned to anger, and I immediately was afraid Winter was going to be affected, but surprisingly her expression remained neutral. Did the latching thing really work that well? It must, because this guy was about to blow up, and she seemed perfectly fine.
Deciding it was best to move out of the way, so that the pissed-off Radley could be free to leave instead of making a bad decision, he glared at me again, only to begin marching past me.
Instantly , all of the wiry muscles in Winter’s body rippled like a spring being unleashed, and she swung around at the speed of lightning. Her fist barreled straight into the side of Radley’s head, rocketing him directly through several dozen desks, sending him flying almost to the other side of the room.
Monitors, keyboards, tablets, papers, and furniture went flying everywhere like a small bomb had gone off.
Several people screamed.
Once the debris began settling, it became obvious that no one seemed to be hurt, including Radley, since he was a Cinderblock.
Instead, he just looked stunned, sitting up with a bewildered expression, seeming almost confused by the fact that he’d just been launched across the room like a ragdoll.
Winter raised her voice to be heard, but kept it just as even as before.
“That’s why. You’re weak. And selfish.”
Jackie suddenly popped out of her office, just as shocked as everyone else. “What in the hell happened out here?!” she demanded.
Winter immediately turned toward her. “I’ll do this job for free.”
Jackie gawked at her for half a second, before she stood up straight and composed herself. She then smiled. “Okay, no big deal then.” She glared in Radley’s direction. “And you, start cleaning this mess up!”
“B-But–” he attempted.
“I don’t want to hear it,” she snapped. “Ms. Fowler is a guest here. If you provoked her into hitting you, then this is your responsibility.”
He gawked at her, completely in disbelief, only to look away. “Yes, ma’am.”
Holy shit. Was this really happening right now? And how much did they pay Winter for this to suddenly be ‘no big deal?’ And how in the hell did I not know Winter was so strong?
Like seriously. Damn.
Jackie focused on the two of us again, ushering us into her office. We followed her inside, and she closed the door, only to surprise me by sincerely apologizing to Winter.
In response, the badass just shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s fine. Please give us the details.”
Jackie nodded, moving to her desk to do just that. She proceeded to hand me a single page paper document, while beginning to explain. “As I’m sure you’re aware, we haven’t had a problem identifying most of the perpetrators in these attacks. The problem is making a connection to the target. Thus far, we’ve had virtually no leads, and the possible lead we’ve discovered is a dead-end.” She paused, looking at Winter. “However, what’s a dead-end for us might not be one for you.”
“Yes,” Winter agreed. “What did you find?”
Jackie nodded. “The guy who took Lexi’s younger sister on that date used his real name, so discovering his identity was simple. More so than we anticipated. Unfortunately, we were never able to identify the man who attacked at the mall, because Ms. Dodson basically cremated him to ashes, and the security cameras went off for thirty minutes during that time. However, we were also easily able to identify the airport worker who handed Lexi a bomb.”
“And?” Winter prompted, seeming a little impatient. I suspected that being able to hear Jackie’s thoughts meant she was more up to date than I was at this point, and that Jackie was taking the time to explain things verbally for my sake.
“And,” Jackie continued with a nod of understanding to speed things up. “Cross-referencing their lives, including locations they’ve both visited – which is not as an improbable occurrence as you might suspect, when dealing with two people who live in the same city – we discovered something that stuck out to us.” She paused. “They visited the same out-of-state hospital. Grandview Memorial.”
“And that’s a lead?” I asked seriously. “That they visited the same hospital?”
Jackie gave me a sympathetic look. “We did look into it, including getting a court order to view the records of all the patients admitted during those timeframes, and there’s nothing notable. And yes, you’re correct that it could just be a coincidence. This kind of thing actually happens a lot. It’s kind of like the birthday paradox.”
“What’s that?” I asked in confusion.
Winter answered for her, clearly impatient now. “It’s a counter-intuitive statistical fact. If you have a group of twenty-three people in a room, then there is a fifty percent chance that at least two people were born on the same day of the year. If you have a group of seventy-five people, then it’s virtually a hundred percent chance.” She scoffed, glancing at me. “You’ve probably noticed it before. I’m sure that at least two people at your old job had the same birthday. Point is, it’s not much of a lead.”
“For us,” Jackie corrected her. “For you–”
Winter cut her off. “Is that really all you have? I was hoping for more than this. What are the timeframes? When, and how often, did these people visit?”
/> Jackie didn’t respond verbally, but Winter’s eyes narrowed.
Her tone was immediately harsh. “So, then this really is just a coincidence. They both had family hospitalized there. This is bullshit. Maybe I should make you pay me, for wasting my time.”
I could understand Winter’s frustration, but I was worried that someone else was influencing her.
Instantly, she glared at me, like I’d sincerely offended her.
“I still have my own emotions too,” she snapped, only to glare at Jackie. “And this is bullshit.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied sincerely. “It’s really all we have at this point.”
Winter ground her teeth. “Yeah, well it’s better than nothing, I guess. That it? Just go visit this place and snoop around?”
Jackie nodded.
“Fine.” Winter looked at me. “Let’s go.”
I stared at her as she proceeded to snatch the paper from my hand, which had the address, and then marched out of the room.
Damn. This was going to be a fun car ride.
Yes, that was sarcasm.
Before I left, Jackie gave me one last reminder, regarding the mission.
“Sam, I know it’s a long shot, but in the event you do come across this terrorist, it’s ‘kill on sight.’ Just the same as if it were some terrorist threatening us overseas. We’ll take care of everything else afterward.”
I nodded, and politely gave my new boss a quick farewell, along with a sincere thanks even though this probably wasn’t going to turn up anything. I then rushed to follow after Winter, who was already almost about to exit the huge office.
Jeez, she was fast when she wanted to be. And obviously strong as hell too.
Radley was still picking up stuff, and actually had several other coworkers helping him, but I ignored them all as I jogged to try to catch up to her. However, by the time I got to the elevator, I discovered her waiting for me, her expression neutral, seeming to have collected herself already.
“It helps being latched onto you,” she explained without looking at me, just now pushing the button to get an elevator to begin heading our way. “I’m still frustrated, but you’re evening me out.”
The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Page 25