by Jen Talty
Oh boy. Talk about awkward. “I had a vision earlier about this meeting and he was in it.” Wasn’t a total lie and it was obvious by the way Brett cocked his left brow, he didn’t believe her.
And neither did her sister, indicated by the eye roll.
“All right,” Savanah said. “So, Chad, how are they hanging?”
Chad grimaced.
While she and her sisters were tight, Savanah and Willow tended to have wild streaks, which included a long line of men who were left tucking their tails between their legs.
“What the hell is going on?” Chad asked, standing in front of Brett with his chest bellowed out like a proud peacock. “I was told a group from the Phoenix Agency would be arriving, but I certainly wasn't expecting you with your parlor room hoaxes like you pulled earlier.”
“What hoax?” Hazel asked.
“He saw me when I remote viewed him a little while ago.”
“As in you two made a connection?” Hazel swallowed. The stories she’d read and heard regarding the collective order filtered in her brain. It was just folklore for other psychics to discuss around the table while they bonded about the one thing that made them different. “Did you speak to each other?”
“No, just eye contact,” Brett said, holding his hand out. “I think this belongs to you.”
Chad snagged the knife, shoving it in his pocket. “I don’t have time for this shit, and my men could die out there because of you crazy ass people. I don’t want you here.”
“Too bad, Chad.” Savanah waltzed by, smacking him in the chest. “Your government hired us and I’m the best there is.”
Hazel coughed. “Some modesty sister, besides Brett here has skills that would surprise even you.”
Savanah smiled. “Oh, so now you're defending the man you're sleeping with instead of blood? Nice.”
“He saved your life.” Hazel laughed. It felt so good to have her sister back, even if she had to put up with her arrogance.
They entered the cabin and immediately Brett lifted her off her feet and sat her down on a chair.
“You need to stop treating me like infant with a broken leg.” While she appreciated that he cared, this was over the top crazy.
“You probably have a concussion from hitting your head.”
Savanah laughed as she stood behind the young boy wearing army fatigues. “Our dad dropped her on her head when she was around two. Then I jumped on her from the sofa and the uncoordinated thing she is, couldn’t catch me and I knocked her head into the corner of the television. Trust me when I say she’s got a hard head and the damage has already been done.”
Hazel stood, holding her hand up when Brett protested.
He nodded, letting her pass. She wanted to get a feel for the room, and maybe she could hone in on the team, or something could spark a vision.
“Where are we on the rescue of the team?” Brett asked.
“Our second team went to the location we were given by one of you freaks, but guess what?” Chad held his hands up. “My men weren’t there.”
“I sent information to my team.” Brett scowled. “Who from the Phoenix Agency called?”
“This entire thing started as a training exercise for the Phoenix Agency to access my team remotely. I only agreed because I didn’t see how it could put my team in danger,” Chad said with an exasperated sigh.
“Because you think it's a crock of shit,” the young man in fatigues said.
“Dalton, put a lid on it and find my team.”
“Did you know about this training?” Hazel asked, sensing the tension bubbling through Brett’s pores.
“I did. Was this about three weeks ago?” Brett put his hands on his hips and drew his lips together.
“Yes, why?” Chad answered, with a narrowed stare.
"I viewed that team and my training was successful, but I wasn’t the only psychic there, and I told my leader that whoever else was there wasn’t friendly.”
“I got that message, and was told someone was watching them.” Chad scratched the back of his head.
“Who?” Hazel asked.
“Some guy by the name of Radcliffe.”
“Brett Radcliffe?” Hazel asked, catching Brett’s shocked gaze.
“Yeah why?”
“Fuck,” Brett muttered. “When was the last time you heard from this contact?”
“An hour ago,” Dalton said. “I logged it in.”
“I’m Radcliffe and an hour ago I was being held at gun point and—”
“Playing magic tricks with my fucking knife,” Chad said.
“Whether you believe in our abilities or not, you’ve got a leak,” Brett said.
“When was the first time you heard from the man posing as Brett?” Hazel asked. They’d been working the Gyeon case for two weeks, but Brett had only been around for two days.
“Yesterday evening at…” Dalton flipped through the log book. “…1640.”
“That was after the explosion,” Hazel said.
“I get the feeling all of this has been one big diversion, occupying our time, while something else is going down,” Brett said as he scanned the room.
“Shut everything down,” Chad yelled. “All comms, all radar, everything, and then work on getting a new secured system back up.”
“Do you have anything from any member of the missing team?” Hazel asked. “Anything they might have touched, or their pictures?”
“I’ve got all their files,” Chad said. “But I’m not giving you people anything. Actually, I’m going to have you detained and questioned.”
Hazel walked about the room, looking at everything, trying to pick up a feeling, anything that might lead her to a vision. Her sister did the same thing, while Brett puffed out his chest and Chad made a phone call to his superior officer.
“So, tell me sister, what was Chad doing in your vision and don’t give me some nonsense about it being about this assignment,” Savanah said, glaring at her sister.
Hazel should have known she couldn’t pull one over on her sister.
“I’ll tell you if you tell me how you know him.”
“Remember the guy I was screwing last summer?”
“There were two men last summer.”
“Not at the same time, geez. I do have a girl code. Anyway, he was the one who freaked out when I told him what I was, proved it, and then told him he had abilities as well.” Savanah arched a brow.
“You thought he had a little bit of everything, with nothing developed at all.”
Savanah nodded. “And he’s blocking himself, which is weird because deep down I think he knows what he can do.”
“Not uncommon for some people to reject their gifts,” Hazel said, glancing over her shoulder. “Not everyone was raised by people who have gifts and who encouraged them.”
Chad was on the phone, shaking his head, constantly trying to interrupt whoever was on the other end, however, all he could get in were a few ‘buts’ and ‘whys’.
An overwhelming sense of dread prickled her skin. A faint swarm of color entered her mind, but every time she tried to pull the vision in, it got sucked away like a speck of dust being grabbed by the vacuum.
“Now tell me your vision,” Savanah said.
“The four of us were at a big table with four men. One was Brett, one was Chad, and I don’t know the other two.”
Savanah smiled.
“Don’t go there. We’re not the collective order. And if we were, that would mean that Chad over there is your soul-mate and from what I recall, the last time you saw him, you were not too kind to his jewels, and then said, and I quote, ‘If I never see that man again, it will be too soon’.”
Savanah frowned.
Of all the men Savanah had dated, Chad had been one of the few she ever talked about bringing home to meet the sisters. He’d also been the only one that brought tears to Savanah’s eyes.
Hazel rested her hand on the back of Dalton’s chair and immediately her vision blurred befor
e a blast of green and red raced in her mind, followed by an image of a young man… an explosion… but the swirls kept her from seeing anymore, and then a presence pushed her out of the premonition.
She raised her finger to her lips, sensing whoever was in her vision, was also in this room.
Brett came up behind her, draping his arm over her shoulder. “I think Savanah and I should try to view the missing team.”
“Works for me,” Savanah said.
Brett turned and cupped Hazel’s face. “Pull me out if you need me back here, okay?” He stared into her eyes for a long moment, as if to search for something, or perhaps to try to tell her something. He had a plan, but she didn’t know what it was. Not yet anyway.
Brett and Savanah each took a seat, closing their eyes. Hazel stood behind them, a hand on each shoulder, as requested by Brett. She tried to expunge the negative energy coming from Chad, who paced in the background, muttering how much this entire thing was hogwash.
She felt bad for the man as it was painfully obvious he took the loss of the team as his personal failure. He was also strung tighter than shrink wrap and she sensed his fear over what really went on inside his head. It had to be hard to possess such gifts and not know how to use them.
In her mind, she saw both Brett and Savanah walking in a lush green forest with only the moonlight and each other to guide them. She sensed their mental contact with each other, as well as their pull back to her.
But she also felt another presence. Not a powerful one, but one that was very close and one that tried desperately to block any psychic contact inside and outside these cabin walls.
“What are they doing?” Chad asked quietly as he stood next to her, arms folded across his chest.
“Looking for your men.”
“I don’t believe any of this.”
“I think you do or we wouldn’t be standing here like this whispering.”
“Comms are secure, sir,” Dalton said. “Transmitting the new location of the last known coordinates of the team.”
In her mind, Hazel saw Brett turn and give her the cut signal.
“Stop transmission,” she said.
“Why?” Chad asked.
“Because whoever he’s talking to isn’t a friend of the US Navy.”
No sooner did the words leave her mouth, did the secure phone on Dalton’s desk rang.
“Put it on speaker,” Chad said.
“This is Warrant Officer Dalton speaking.”
“This is Brett Radcliffe from the Phoenix Agency.”
Brett twitched and his shoulder tensed. She squeezed it and he relaxed a little.
“I’ve got new information about the SEAL team,” the voice over the speaker bellowed. “They are twenty miles southeast of Kumchon.”
“Thank you for your help,” Chad said. “Are you still viewing the team?”
“No sir,” the voice said. “But I assure you the team is safe and waiting instructions for extraction.”
“We’ll get them the details, thanks.” Chad turned and paced.
“I can get it to them faster,” the voice said.
Brett’s body shivered as he stood, shaking his head. “We appreciate the offer, but we’ve got it under control.” He reached over and ended the call. “It’s an ambush and Dalton here is a traitor.”
“What the fuck?” Dalton bolted upright, sending his chair rolling across the room. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m the man who just viewed the guy who claims to be me, but who is really your older brother.” Brett aimed his weapon at the young man.
“This is bullshit.” Dalton held his hands to the side, palms up. “You don’t have the right to barge in here and accuse me of anything. Besides, if I was part of this why wouldn’t I have given whoever that was, some kind of signal that you were here?"
“Didn’t have enough time, or he didn’t get it, any number of reasons,” Hazel said.
“Chad, get someone over to 879 Hucklebee Ave, Unit 7, Troy, New York.”
Hazel continued to rest her hand on Savanah’s shoulder as images of a bloody battlefield filled her mind. Four dead bodies, and two unconscious men with barely a heartbeat. She shuddered as the images changed with another possible outcome where all the men died and then a quick flash of the large table with her sisters, Brett, Chad, and one man, the other one fading like the blue sky as it succumbs to the night.
Her view then merged with Savanah’s view of an empty military camp.
Hazel’s heart sank.
The team, for now, was lost.
And perhaps, one of the collective order was gone forever.
Somehow, Hazel had become a believer and she knew deep in her bones that she had to bring the four brothers together, so they could all take their rightful place and help restore order and balance in the psychic realm.
“Captain? Are you really going to let these people waltz in here and accuse me of being a traitor?” Dalton asked in a high-pitched tone.
Chad scrunched his face as he sat down behind his desk and pounded at the keyboard.
She could certainly understand his frustration and concern when young men’s lives were at stake, but it was the battle between believing in what he was and what he knew, that rocked her emotional core. The collective order had always been an old wives’ tale. Something people like her talked about in theory to explain their purpose and existence.
“I’m out of here,” Dalton said as he took a step toward the door.
“Sit down,” Chad yelled.
Brett physically blocked Dalton, while Hazel made her way to Chad’s desk, sensing his desire to make sense of everything.
Before she could look at his screen, he bolted up right. “Get out. Everyone out now.” He raced across the room, knocking chairs over, and scooped Savanah up in his arms. “Now!”
Hazel pushed open the front door, holding steady as everyone flew from the cabin. Brett took her by the hand as they ran twenty paces, following Chad.
Bam!
Ka-Boom!
The air heated as Brett tackled her to the ground, covering her body as pieces of the cabin and other debris few by.
A few minutes ticked by as she lay on the ground, holding her hands over her head, waiting for her ears to stop ringing.
“Get off me, asshole,” Savanah yelled. “Why the fuck did you—”
“Excuse me for saving your life,” Chad muttered.
Hazel wiped the hair from her face and looked up Brett. “This is the second time we nearly got blown up in less than two days.”
“Hopefully it will be the last time.”
Chapter 11
BRETT LEANED AGAINST the windowsill in the conference room located in a small building on the Army Reserve, thankful that Chad allowed him to be involved in the interrogation of Dalton.
“Where is my team?” Chad said with an even tone, leaning over the table, knuckles turning white as he pressed them against the wood.
“I have no idea,” Dalton said.
“Right. Just like you didn’t know the bomb was real,” Brett said.
“How many times do I have to tell you that I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t agree to help whoever these assholes are, they would kill my brother, and considering he wasn’t in the apartment when you sent someone there, I suspect he’s already dead.”
“Let’s start from the beginning.” Brett pushed from the windowsill and moved slowly across the room, pulling back the chair across from Dalton.
“We’ve been over this twice.” Dalton tossed his hands wide leaning back in his chair.
“Any other abilities besides being telepathic?” Brett asked, ignoring Chad's grunt from the other end of the room.
“No and before you ask, my brother has precognition, but not visions, just feelings.”
“So, how did he get hooked up with a North Korean Operative?”
“I really don’t know, other than my brother always used his power to make money, which I think is f
undamentally wrong, but he’s still my brother and I wasn’t about to let him die.”
“So, you commit treason over coming to your superior officer, asking for help,” Chad said.
Dalton narrowed his eyes. “Are you kidding me? Like you’d believe anything I said about my abilities, my brother, and what the Korean’s wanted him to do.”
Brett rubbed the back of his neck. He understood Chad’s reluctance, but what he didn’t understand was why or how he could sense every emotion Chad felt, right down to the anger and resentment over his abilities. The wave of rage hit Brett so hard, he nearly succumbed to it himself.
“You do realize you will be court-martialed and spend the rest of your life in prison for treason,” Chad said. “That’s a big price to pay just because I don’t believe in psychics.”
“It’s not just my brother,” Dalton said, dropping his hands to his face. He let out a guttural sob. “They have my girlfriend and they just killed her.”
“How do you know that?” Brett asked.
“Because she’s telepathic too and I…I…” the boy dropped his head to the table and continued to cry uncontrollably.
“Fuck,” Chad said right before he stepped from the conference room, slamming the door shut.
A swirling of shame, fear, guilt, and rage prickled at Brett. He swallowed. Chad was a ticking time bomb and a cocktail for psychic disaster.
“I’m sorry, kid.” Brett squeezed his shoulder. “I know you’re hurting, but is there anything you can tell me that will help us find those missing SEAL’s.?"
Dalton lifted his head, wiping the tears away. “I’ve told you everything, but now that I have nothing to lose, I’ll do whatever it takes to catch those bastards. I know I’ll be spending my life in prison, but it doesn’t matter. Not now.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Brett left the boy to his misery.
Once outside the conference room, he made his way down the long corridor and out the front of the building where Hazel, her sister, and Chad had gathered around a picnic table. In the distance, he saw the torn apart cabin, smoke still lingering over what was left. He’d been hired to find Savanah.
Mission complete.
But that didn’t make him feel better. Not even close.