by S M Olivier
“As young teens, and up until a few years ago, they knew using their gifts against each other wasn’t allowed in the house. They had to wait until they were in a controlled environment,” Will said dryly. “Then they grew up…well, in age.”
“Jaxson,” Jemmy whined from the other side of the room.
“What do you say?” Jaxson demanded smugly.
She glared at him before she said. “Boys rule and girls drool.”
I laughed aloud. Life in their house had to have been interesting.
After dinner, coffee and cupcakes were passed around and then subject of Harry came up. He started to fall asleep on Jace’s shoulder, and Alex began to observe Harry as he ate his cupcake.
My heart melted that he was so thoughtful over Harry. However, I also felt terrible that he felt the need to rush eating just in case Harry fell asleep.
Ella and Nadia asked to go across the hall to play in the dance room, and Patrick and Victoria volunteered to go watch them. Kade and Micah volunteered to collect and wash the dishes, making me proud of their initiative.
“Harry’s improved since I first met him,” Paul remarked. “So the doctor's diagnosis was incorrect.”
“It often happens in the medical profession,” Dr. Wong observed. “Most medical professionals don’t know about…well us. They can only diagnose what they know, especially since, when our gifts come in, they often mimic mental and physical disorders.”
“Alex, Blake, Lincoln, and Jace have been helping a lot,” Miranda spoke up with a smile. “Everyday we feel like we get a little bit more of our baby back.”
“How have you guys been able to do that? Guys and girl—sorry, Blake,” Kirk quickly added.
“No offense taken.” I smiled as I reached over and ran my hands through Alex’s hair.
He was starting to fade as well. A lot of late nights had finally caught up to him. Jaxson noticed his condition, too, and reached over to pick him up.
“As most of you know, Alex has the ability to enter into people thoughts, minds,” Jace supplied. “His ability is unique because he can physically enter their heads. It’s just not peering into them like Horatio’s gift. For reasons unknown to us, his siblings can…travel with him. He takes Blake, and she’s been able to use one of her gifts to defuse any of the situations that have arisen. Lincoln has been able to jump, in a way, to help as well and I’ve been there to make sure Alex and Harry feel safe and secure with anything they see, hear, and feel.”
“So Harry can see violent crimes in progress?” Terrance asked in wonder.
We had already talked to him earlier. It has been hard pretending through my second workout that I wasn’t tired.
I nodded. “And Harry’s inability to vocalize correctly, combined with his incapability of resolving the situations on his own, made him retreat to a place he felt safe. Himself. Not to mention the difficulty in determing fact from fiction. In the three days that we were helping him, we have seen things that no one should have seen, let alone a three-year-old child.”
“What situations have you seen?” Dr. Wong asked with his eyebrows knit.
“Will this count as one of my therapy sessions?” I asked sardonically.
“Blake,” Jace said in warning, giving me a pointed look.
I sighed. “Kidding,” I mumbled. “The first case was a human trafficking ring. The authorities have determined the ring had transported over a hundred and fifty people to other buyers and runners.
“The second was a serial killer. His mother was a red-haired woman who abused him as a child. The first girl to publically humiliate him as a prank was in college. A beautiful redhead. He became…unhinged and started finding attractive redheads, stalked them, kidnapped them, sexually assaulted them, and eventually, he dismembered them and buried their remains.
“Last night a woman who hadn’t taken her lithium for some time, decided she wanted her children and ex-husband back. The couple was divorced three years ago, and through neglect and her mental instabilities, the courts determined she was only allowed to do supervised visitations until she was deemed capable of caring for her children. She never showed up to her appointments. When the cops took her away last night, she kept screaming about ‘if she couldn’t have her family no one could’. She planned on kidnapping her children and killing her ex and his current wife.”
“And you found this all out by your…jaunts in Harry’s head?” Dawn asked in shock.
“Not all of it.” Jace laughed dryly. “Its been on the news. Last night was only on its local station, but the human trafficking ring and the serial killer has been on national networks.”
“So what’s the plan with Harry when they leave for this weekend?” Paul asked with concern.
“Well, we were hoping,” Greg looked over at Will before he continued, “that some of you would be willing to help us out. Alex, Blake, Lincoln, and Jace need a break, too. We figured there’s enough gifted here that can help out in the long run.”
“The problem is that we know that Blake and Alex are completely unique in their abilities so maybe we can figure out another solution,” Will added.
“If Alex just keeps the door open, I can teleport to the location Harry goes,” Micah spoke up with the cart to collect more dishes. “Depending on the situation, I can determine who or what we need.”
“We don’t know where these crimes are occurring and your range may not reach that far,” Will said apologetically.
Kade came into the room and exchanged a look with his brother. Micah shook his head and gave him a pointed look. It was clear they were hiding something.
Kade cleared his throat. “About that−”
“I took Patrick and Vick to the Eiffel tower two weeks ago,” Micah hurriedly explained. “And a few days ago, I took Vick to see her mom’s grave in New Jersey. Her dad kept promising to take her, but…he kept flaking.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” Remy said sternly, giving Micah a pointed look.
Micah blushed red and ducked his head. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled.
“I can cloak the team when Blake, Alex, Lincoln, and Jace aren’t available,” Miranda spoke up. “I’m up anyway, every night, until Harry finally sleeps peacefully.”
The snarky side of me wanted to snort and commend her for being there for at least one of us.
“I can go as well,” Dr. Wong stated.
“You know I can be counted on whenever you need me. I’m not sure my manipulation with earth will come in handy, but I’m down,” Terrance added.
“One team,” Marcel piped up.
“One fight,” most of us answered back.
Talk about Harry had abated, and we all went back to our cupcakes and coffee in quiet conversation around the table, when suddenly Darren spoke up.
“What about the halo?” Darren asked hesitantly. “One night when he’s sleeping, we can measure his brain activity and learn how to stop the…door from even opening.”
“Hmm,” Greg began to contemplate the idea as Drake, Remy, and I looked at each other in concern.
“That’s brilliant,” Paul spoke up.
“It’s definitely an option to be looked into,” Kirk agreed.
Remy cleared his throat. “In theory, it’s great. In practice, I don’t like it. A few of us were discussing this earlier, and we came to the conclusion that we don’t know what the long-term effects the halos may have yet. We know it’s painful if the gifted were to try and use their gifts. Electric currents zap them. Harry’s ability isn’t voluntary. If he’s repetitively shocked, who knows what that can do to him in the long run. We don’t want him afraid of his gift or to fear sleep even more than he already does. It’s one thing for us to use it on people that are guilty of causing harm instead of good with their gifts, but if it were my child, I would find another way to help him.”
Darren looked slightly embarrassed.
Jace immediately spoke up. “It was a great idea, man. We thought of the same solution. We just had
time to discuss it. We do have a project we would like you to work on, though.”
He looked over at me and Drake. I nodded, knowing where he was going with this conversation.
“What’s that?” Darren asked eagerly.
“Well, Jemmy will have to agree.” Jace smirked at Jemmy, then looked back at Darren. “We know Gavin is great with coding, but we heard you used to be a hacker.”
Darren flushed once more before looking at Paul. “I used to be until Uncle Paul hired me.”
I was surprised by this revelation. I never even knew they were related. From a few other expressions around the table, it was news to most of us.
“Well, with Jemmy’s ability to manipulate electricity, we were thinking with the proper training, and if she knows what you are looking for, she could possibly track this hacker,” Jace explained. “Catch him or her at their own game.”
Darren snorted with laughter and then quickly turned his eyes to Jemmy. She was openly glaring at him. “It’s not that simple, plus…” He coughed. “She really doesn’t…I mean, she…”
“Go ahead and say it, Nerd.” Jemmy glared at him. “I’m not book smart in the traditional sense. I’ll have you know, before I made my connection I was able to get free music off of Itunes. Now that I’m stronger I’m sure I can learn.”
“That’s child’s play, though.” Darren snorted.
“She did it with just a few strokes of a key,” Gavin defended. “She honestly won’t need that much help.”
Jemmy shot him a grateful smile.
“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Paul said in amusement before he gave Darren a pointed look. “If we’re doing this, I don’t want to find out you transferred any money anywhere. Focus on the mission.”
“I did that only once.” Darren nervously pushed his glasses up, but he couldn’t hide his smirk.
“What did you do?” Jaxson asked in enthrallment. Up until this point, he only saw Darren as a nerd—not in the mean way, more in the ‘you can’t possibly be cool by Jaxson’s definition’ way.
Jaxson had a good working relationship with him and they constantly…teased each other, but he never volunteered to hang out with him. Remy, Noah, and Troy had been known to go down to Darren’s lair from time to time and play video games, but Jaxson never bothered to go. If he did anything on an epic hoax scale, Darren was going to gain so many points for it.
“Darren,” Paul said in warning.
“I only…borrowed one dollar from every bank account in the…world and transferred it to an offshore bank account,” Darren continued with a smile.
Paul sighed, and I heard surprised laughter scattered around the room.
“You’re lucky my friend caught it, and no one else did,” Paul said wryly.
“No way!” Jaxson gushed like he had a schoolgirl crush. “How much did you steal?”
Darren just gave him a mysterious smile.
“You let a criminal work for you?” The SC guy, Sherman, asked with a slight frown.
I had found out over the course of dinner that Sherman was Kirk’s right-hand man and could disappear like Victoria, but he had perfected his ability. He was also marked and hadn’t found his connected yet. He seemed like a decent guy, but he did seem a little…uptight. He was also a cop and had taken a leave of absence to be with Kirk.
“You’ll be surprised how many…criminals get a pardon from the government if they are proved to be useful, and he has been,” Paul stated matter of factly. “He is monitored and hasn’t strayed now that he has a place to stay; he’s with family and has a great income coming in.”
Alex jerked awake. “It’s time,” he said with a frown right before Harry started to stir fitfully.
Chapter 27
“This is so bizarre,” I said in mock exasperation as I watched everyone file into the school bus.
It was the afternoon of Alex’s birthday, and the bus had arrived right after our duty day had ended. The invitations had everyone meeting us in the parking garage so we could walk to the parking lot that was used for all our deliveries and such.
“This is amazing!” Jaxson laughed contradicting me. “This will be Alex’s best birthday ever, and one he’ll never forget.”
I nodded. “True.”
“Your Jeep’s ready and waiting.” Remy stated walking up to my other side.
“Have we heard from Troy?” I asked with a frown. He should have been back an hour ago.
After deciding that he was getting the larger helicopter, he left two days ago to go pick it up with his mechanic. The seller lied and said it was in perfect condition. Troy made him reduce the price significantly. Then his mechanic had to figure out the issues with it. Luckily, it wasn’t a huge matter and wasn’t too terribly time-consuming, but it was highly inconvenient. The parts had been ordered and arrived yesterday. The mechanic was supposed to have it completed by today.
“He said he’s running late and he’ll meet us there,” Remy explained. “Ready to go?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
Jaxson began to follow us, and Remy stopped short. “What are you doing?”
“Going with you.” Jaxson shrugged as if it was a given.
“Nuh uh.” Remy laughed. “You have bus duty.”
“Not fair,” Jaxson pouted. “How did I get the short end of the stick?”
“You’re the youngest,” Remy said smugly.
Jaxson mock glared at us and pretended to stomp off.
“See you there!” Pops pulled up beside us with Greg and Harry riding with him.
We were taking one of the larger SUVs and my jeep. Remy and I were going to stop to pick up the cake on the way in, and Pops was bringing the SUV for all the presents. The bus was almost packed full.
“See you there.” I smiled and waved before I took Remy’s hand in mine. “I can’t wait for it to get nicer so you can teach me how to ride.” I pulled my hat lower on my head.
I thought about my poor bike sitting in the parking garage with barely any miles on it. Sometimes I would go out there and just sit on it, imagining the feeling of freedom I had felt on the back of Remy’s bike, eagerly anticipating the day, I could ride my own.
Remy chuckled. “Me too. This snow is ridiculous.”
“We do see a lot of it here.”
“Wait up!” Lincoln called from behind us.
We turned and looked at him. I looked up at Remy, and he shrugged.
“I have to pick up those GoPros at the post office, mind if I tag along?” he asked as he caught up.
“Come on.” I motioned for him.
“Come at your own risk,” Remy warned. “This is Blake’s second time driving her Jeep.”
“Hey, I’m an excellent driver,” I insisted. “My first time behind the wheel a long distance ride, too.” I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.
“Why are you just now learning how to drive?” Lincoln asked in confusion. “Didn’t you learn your sophomore year like the rest of us?”
I shook my head and took a deep breath. “No,” I began to explain. “My stepmother had a drug problem. I would have never gotten the required hours of driving. Not to mention, she would have found a way to sell anything I drove.”
We reached the Jeep, and I climbed into the warm vehicle.
“I’m the instructor,” I heard Remy say smugly. “You can climb in the back.”
“No biggie.” Lincoln shrugged nonchalantly before he climbed into the back seat.
“How often does Lincoln Hudgens have to ride in the back if it’s not in a limo?” I teased.
“Never,” Lincoln said with a smirk. “So your stepmother seemed to be a real winner.”
“Oh, she is.” I snorted. I put the Jeep in drive and started to pull out.
“It still smells like a new car in here,” Lincoln breathed in.
Over the last few days, he seemed to strike up more small talk. He even hung out with the boys one night when I had a late session with Dr. Wong. I hated it—therapy, not
the fact that the guys were hanging out and seemingly getting along. Something within me secretly enjoyed it. It almost felt natural the way he fit in. I didn’t want to look too deeply into my feelings of comfort and contentment.
“I got it for my birthday,” I explained to him with a smile.
“And you said Alex was going to be spoiled,” Lincoln quipped.
“I learned the hard way how to appreciate what’s been given to me,” I bantered back. “The kids may have had hard beginnings, but I’ve seen how…they take things for granted. We told Ella not to have any food or drinks around her keyboard, and she spilled juice on it yesterday. When I asked her why she didn’t listen, she shrugged and said Pops would buy her a new one.”
“Blake forgot to mention her bike, too,” Remy teased me.
Lincoln whistled. “Let me guess, bike from Shotgun, and Jeep from Jac Man?”
These nicknames annoyed most of the guys, but I secretly found it hilarious. You would think with having Noah and Jaxson around for so long, they would have learned to not let the little things bother them. Surprisingly enough, No-Action Jaxson and Arkless (Noah) didn’t mind theirs too terribly. Chef Boyardre (Drake) was indifferent to it all. Helen (AKA Troy, like Helen of Troy), Shotgun, and Jac Man weren’t too pleased with their nicknames, though.
I laughed. “You got half of it right. Pops got me the Jeep.”
“What kind of bike?” Lincoln asked. “I have a few myself, actually.”
I looked over at Remy and laughed. I had no clue. All I knew was that it was a Harley.
“Just a little Harley Sportster. I figured it would work until she got the hang of riding,” Remy stated with a fond smile at me. “What kind do you have?”
“An old 1958 Harley Davidson Panhead and a couple of custom bikes.” Lincoln nodded. “We should have a few hours on Saturday to take a ride. I can even have a friend of mine bring over their bikes. I’m pretty sure they have a Sportster you can practice on, Blake.”
“That would be awesome,” I replied enthusiastically.
“I wouldn’t mind a ride” Remy admitted. “I just had my bar manager check on my place and my toys.”