by Kay Hooper
“What?”
Leigh nodded. “Fifteen that we know of.”
“How many did you get to in time?”
“Three. Not counting you.”
“The others…they were taken?”
Leigh nodded again. “One of them was snatched almost under Brodie’s nose. He wasn’t happy.”
With a grunt, Brodie said, “I hate to lose.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Cait told him loyally. “The guy couldn’t bring himself to believe he could be involved in something so bizarre. He just didn’t believe in the threat against him.”
“We lose some because of that,” Brodie agreed. “Psychic abilities vary; sometimes the people we’re trying to help have no way of knowing the truth of what we try to tell them. They don’t know they can trust us. So they run. Right into one of Duran’s traps.” He looked at Sarah. “That’s why we had to be so careful with you, why we held back the couple of times we got close enough to make contact. It was my decision, and I’ve learned never to approach a wary psychic in the dark. Makes a bad first impression.”
Sarah smiled slightly. “Yes, it would have.”
He nodded. “But we’re here now. You do know you can trust us, or at least you’re giving us the benefit of the doubt. And you do know what we’re up against.”
Softly, Cait said, “And you know, now, how valuable you are.”
Sarah drew a deep breath. “If all this was intended to persuade me not to go after Tucker—it failed.”
“Sarah, you can’t fight them.” Brodie’s voice was steady.
“I can try.”
“You’ll lose. They’ll take you and kill Mackenzie. They’re just waiting for you to come after him. You know that. He’s bait.”
She stared at him for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Leigh. “I came here hoping you could tell me some way to fight them. Teach me how to use my abilities against them.”
“I don’t know how, Sarah. I’m sorry. I can help you learn to use your abilities, but that will take time. It’s a matter of concentration, of focus. Of learning how to tap into those places deep inside you—and outside you.”
“The crossroads. I already found it.”
For the first time, Leigh was obviously surprised. “The crossroads?”
A bit impatiently, Sarah said, “That place we all pass through, the—the junction of past, present, and future.”
“You tapped into that?”
“Yes. Tucker needed to know something and…and I just reached out to find it for him.” For the first time, she realized that each time she had found a new use for her abilities, it was because Tucker had asked it of her or needed it of her.
“And you found it? Something…from the past?”
Sarah nodded. “Someone he knew a long time ago. I had to find out what had happened to her.”
Brodie turned his frowning gaze to Leigh. “That doesn’t sound like what I’d expect from a precognitive psychic.”
“No,” Leigh said slowly, still staring at Sarah. “It isn’t. Sarah, can you tap into that place at will?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really know how I found it the first time. It was…for Tucker.”
“You’re in love with Tucker.”
It wasn’t a question, but Sarah found herself nodding even as she felt the shock of awareness. Yes. I’m in love with him.
“You two are lovers?”
Cait, a bit uncomfortably, murmured, “Surely that isn’t important?”
Leigh didn’t even look at her. “It’s vital. Sarah?”
Again, she nodded. “But just…one night. Last night. Before they got to him.”
“I wonder if that was by accident or design,” Leigh murmured.
Brodie was still looking at her. “Why’s it important?”
“It’s important because unless I miss my guess, there’s now an unbreakable link between Sarah and Tucker. Sarah, can you sense him right now?”
“Yes. Just faintly, on the edge of my awareness. He’s sleeping now, or unconscious. He woke up once, briefly. It was cold and dark, and somebody was watching him.” She shivered, remembering.
“Could you sense him like this before last night?”
“No. Though I did…hear…him thinking about me last night before we…before we became lovers.”
After a moment, Leigh looked at Brodie. “We don’t have a choice. If we want to save Sarah, we have to save Tucker as well.”
“Why?” He glanced at Sarah. “I don’t mean to sound cruel, but my job is to protect you—not Mackenzie.”
“He’s single-minded,” Cait murmured.
“I didn’t ask you to protect me,” Sarah reminded him. “If it comes to that, you haven’t been—Tucker has. So he’s been doing your job.”
“He’s been dragging your ass all over the country is what he’s been doing, bouncing around like a tennis ball. He should have sat tight in Richmond and made so much noise the other side wouldn’t have dared to move against you.”
“We didn’t know who we could trust,” Sarah snapped, not bothering to explain that their ultimate destination had been decided by her own budding but then inexplicable instincts. “And hindsight is twenty-twenty.”
“You two stop arguing.” Leigh’s voice was mild. “Brodie, we have to go after Tucker. If Sarah doesn’t take the bait and come after him, they’ll kill him, right?”
Brodie nodded. “Not much doubt about that. They don’t leave anybody alive who could testify to illegal acts such as kidnapping.”
Leigh glanced at Sarah, then looked back at Brodie. “If they kill him, they’ll sever the tie between him and Sarah. From what Sarah’s been telling us, I believe that the tie is deeper than you can imagine and now is absolutely vital to her existence.”
Brodie stared at her. “He dies…she dies. That’s what you’re saying.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
It should have shocked Sarah, but instead she felt only a faintly unsettled but unquestioning certainty that Leigh was right. She had never thought much about the term soul mates, but she knew now that that was what she and Tucker were. They were connected, mated at the soul, and neither of them would be able to survive now without the other.
Whatever else destiny intended for them, it was clear they were meant to be together.
Somewhat grimly, Brodie said, “I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff since getting involved in this, but I’ve never seen two people bound together because of a psychic link. Not to the death.”
“If they kill Tucker,” Leigh said quietly, “there’ll be evidence enough to convince even you.”
After a moment, he leaned back in his chair and, morosely, said, “Shit.”
“There is a plus side to this,” Leigh told him.
“Oh, yeah? I’d love to hear it.”
“Sarah will have his strength as well as her own to draw on.”
Sarah frowned. “That makes me sound…like a parasite.”
Leigh shook her head. “Hardly that. The connection between you and Tucker runs both ways; eventually, he’ll be able to tap into your abilities as easily as you do.”
“A remote-controlled psychic,” Brodie muttered.
“More or less,” Leigh agreed. “Sarah, you two are a team. Two halves of a very powerful whole. And that might just give us an unexpected edge over the other side.”
It was Cait who said, “But if they used a psychic to control Tucker’s mind, won’t that person be aware of the connection?”
“I doubt it. I wasn’t aware of it, even after Sarah looked into my mind. It’s too deep to be seen or sensed, and so rare that no one would think to look for it.”
“What about when they use it?” Brodie asked, intent now and not so dour about the situation. “Won’t it be obvious then? To another psychic, I mean.”
“It might well be obvious even to a nonpsychic.” Leigh frowned and shook her head. “The problem is knowing how all that power will…manifest itself. Sarah isn�
�t the usual sort of precognitive psychic, and her ability to tap into that place she calls the crossroads makes her unique.”
“It does?” Sarah asked.
“It definitely does. Sarah, in all these years, I’ve never known another psychic able to do that. We’ve theorized that such a place exists, but to my knowledge, no one has ever found it. Besides which, psychics tend to…specialize. I’m a telepath, as unable to see the future as Brodie or Cait is. I read thoughts, period. A precognitive psychic sees the future. An empathic psychic senses emotions, often through physical contact or objects. A telekinetic psychic is able to move or influence objects. And so on. But you…”
“I’ve seen the future.”
“Yes. But you’re also a telepath, a strong one. I believe you’re able to send as easily as you receive. And if you are able to tap into this ‘crossroads’ you describe, then all of time is open to you. It may take you a lifetime to learn how to use the ability, but once you do…”
“Interesting possibilities,” Brodie drawled.
Sarah decided not to think about the possibilities. Not now. There was already too much to take in, to understand; she focused on the most important thing in her life, and held him before her like a lodestar.
“I don’t care about that. All I care about is getting Tucker away from those people.”
“Which opens up a whole new set of possibilities,” Brodie said, not drawling now. “Most of them unpleasant.”
“I’m not asking you to help me,” Sarah told him. “This is not your problem, so don’t worry about it. It’s not your fight.”
Brodie linked his fingers together over his middle and looked at her expressionlessly. “Not my fight. Why don’t you take a quick look inside me, psychic. Then say that again.”
Sarah didn’t intend to do it, but by now it really was like using another of her senses, like turning her head to listen or moving her eyes to watch: virtually automatic and without conscious effort.
What she saw was like scenes of a movie flickering past rapidly, scenes with abrupt cuts and odd angles, sometimes with sound and sometimes without—but always with tearing emotions. As she had with Leigh, she saw violence and danger and lost friends, but Brodie had lost much more than that. He had lost part of himself, and it had left him filled with rage and grief and a deadly, implacable determination to defeat the other side.
Sarah pulled herself out of the dark fury of his mind, more shaken than she had ever been before. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him, at that handsome, expressionless face and those sentry eyes, and wondered how he could keep going when he was carrying around with him such a terrible burden of pain.
“Because I have to,” he said softly. Then he looked at Leigh, and added in a more normal voice, “You’re right. She’s damned powerful. And she can send. Her voice was so clear in my mind it was as if I heard it out loud.”
Sarah looked away from him, still shaken and conscious once more of what looking into another mind had taken out of her. She found Cait watching her and, even weary and not much interested, she saw a flicker of jealousy in the younger woman’s eyes.
She didn’t like me in Brodie’s mind. I wonder if he knows…
She kept those thoughts to herself, wondering for the first time whether it was even possible for her, now, to shut off that other sense.
“Sarah, you need to eat something. We all do.” Leigh looked at her watch. “It’s suppertime anyway. You stay here and rest a bit, and we’ll get something started in the kitchen. Then we’ll talk about what we’re going to do. All right?”
Sarah nodded. “Brodie?”
He looked at her as he rose to his feet. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
He smiled slightly. “Don’t worry about it.”
He and the others went into the kitchen and very soon were working together to prepare the meal. Brodie gathered the ingredients for a salad and began chopping vegetables, and when he spoke to Leigh, it was in a low voice.
“That took a lot out of her. And I was wide open, not fighting at all. What happens when somebody fights her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is she strong enough for this?”
Leigh shook her head. “I just don’t know. If she can borrow some of Tucker’s strength…if she gets mad enough, or scared enough…if she finally believes that she can change the future she saw for herself…then maybe.”
Brodie grunted. “We’d better come up with a hell of a plan.”
“Is Murphy close by?”
“Close enough. Figure we’ll need her?”
“Her. And an army, if we can raise one.”
FIFTEEN
Cait felt very much like the new kid on the block. Brodie and Leigh had worked together before and were comfortable despite their differing beliefs on some topics; they didn’t consciously shut her out, it was just that they were long accustomed to discussing things between themselves.
And Cait was conscious of her own inexperience, her lack of history in this. She was a new recruit, actively involved for only the last six months; her brother had been one of those people who became psychic because of head injuries in the last year or so, and it had been Brodie who had contacted him and made sure the other side didn’t get their hands on him.
During those dangerous and exciting weeks, Cait had decided that she wanted to work with these people. Brodie had been reluctant, telling her she was too young and should finish college before deciding what to do with her life, but she had been determined—and he’d had to admit they could not afford to turn down anyone who wanted to help. Besides, there was someone else Brodie reported to, someone who made certain decisions, and that person had decided that Cait could be of use.
She didn’t know who that was. Truth to tell, she knew blessed little about how this loosely organized group of people operated. According to Brodie, the number of people who knew most of the details could be counted on the fingers of one hand. As for the rest, they knew what they needed to know, and not a single detail more than that.
Which was fine for Brodie; unless Cait missed her guess, he was one of those few who knew everything. And his history with the group went back several years, possibly as many as ten. Cait wasn’t sure about that, but she knew he’d been involved in this for a long time. And though he didn’t talk about it—to her, at least—she had guessed that he was in this because something bad had happened to somebody he’d loved.
Of course, Sarah knew all about that. She had looked into his mind minutes ago, accepting his open invitation to do so, and she had seen all his pain. It had been on her face when she was done, a reflection of great anguish, and in her peculiarly dark eyes had been sadness and compassion and understanding.
Cait wanted that understanding, and it really bugged her that Sarah had gotten it—on a silver platter, so to speak. Hard as she’d tried in the last months, Cait hadn’t been able to get past Brodie’s guards, and he had sure as hell never thrown himself open to her in any way. Not that she was in the least psychic, but still. He treated her rather like a baby sister—when he wasn’t coming down on her like a ton of bricks for carelessness or forgetting some rule or other—and as far as she could tell, that was exactly the way he saw her. As a troublesome kid.
It was very annoying. And annoying to be working her ass off in the kitchen while he and Leigh discussed other people she didn’t know and tried to decide between themselves who they could call on for help.
“We probably don’t have much time,” Leigh was saying as she checked on potatoes fast-baking in the microwave. “Sarah isn’t going to be willing to wait much longer.”
“I know,” Brodie said. “And that limits our options. If we figure tonight is a wash—and I sure as hell don’t like the idea of moving against them at night—and that we move early tomorrow, that gives us only a few hours to make whatever preparations we can. Murphy can get here by morning. Maybe Nick and Tim. Nobody else I can think of.”
Le
igh said casually, “How about Josh? He could get here in time. He could raise an army in time.”
Brodie shook his head. “No way. Duran’s too close, and I don’t want him to get so much as a whiff of Josh. No, this time it’s just us. And that isn’t much of an army, Leigh.”
“No, it’s not. On the other hand, we don’t know what we’re facing. When Sarah’s rested and eaten, we’ll see if she can give us some idea of where they’re holding Tucker, and maybe even the number of people holding him. Surely Duran wouldn’t commit more than half a dozen of his people to this. He has other irons in the fire, and I would be very surprised if he really knows Sarah’s potential value to him.”
Brodie frowned. “Now that I think about it, it’s not really like Duran to use bait to get a psychic to come to him. He tends to favor sending his goons in the dead of night to quietly remove people. Or to arrange some kind of convenient accident for them.”
“Maybe he’s feeling the pressure.”
“Maybe.” Brodie shrugged. “But if the bastard is anything, he’s deliberate; I’ve never known him to rush into anything.”
“The steaks are almost done,” Cait announced.
“The plates are in that cabinet over there, Cait. Brodie, what about weapons?”
“Compared to the other side, we’re seriously underarmed. Always have been. And we’re hamstrung by the fact that we don’t have any kind of official status or authority. We can’t just rush in and start blasting, as good as that might feel to some of us. Plus, we don’t want the kind of violence that makes headlines any more than Duran does. The only defense we have if bodies start turning up is not going to be believed, and our credibility is shot once we start talking about some vast conspiracy we can’t prove exists.” He shook his head. “No, we have to be very, very careful. In any kind of a showdown with Duran and his goons, we are critically handicapped.”
Cait tuned them out, feeling even more frustrated. She had nothing to contribute, that was the problem. She was still learning how to handle weapons, and she didn’t have the first idea how to plan for some kind of dramatic confrontation with the bad guys.