by Bianca D’Arc
Hannah gave him the keys, which had already been in her hand. Carter was glad she’d been prepared to get in her car and leave without fumbling in her bag for keys. It was a good precaution for anyone to take, but especially when she knew there might be trouble. Parking lots could be dangerous places, but Hal had already interfaced with mall security to allow the unit a bit of leeway here tonight.
“Since Hal’s taking care of your ride, we get to go in the big black boat,” Carter said, ushering her toward the large SUV that was idling behind the white van.
Dan drove the white van away while Jeeves took over the wheel of the SUV, and within moments, they were pulling away from the curb. The whole operation had taken less than five minutes, and they’d managed to avoid being seen by any civilians. They’d gotten away clean.
“Good job, fellas,” Hal told them all once they were underway. “Sorry to sneak up on you like that, Sergeant Sullivan,” Hal told Hannah. “Carter became aware of the threat only an hour or two ago, and we had to act without alerting you beforehand.”
“That’s all right,” Hannah replied. “Thank you for keeping such a close eye on me. Were those two men really planning to kidnap me?”
“I’m afraid so,” Carter replied. “I heard them talking, and it was clear they’d received orders from a paymaster of some kind to grab you after work tonight. We had to act.”
Hannah felt an almost overwhelming need to push into Carter’s arms and seek reassurance, but she couldn’t do that. Not in front of his commanding officer. Especially not when Carter had made it clear they were supposed to have parted ways for good. The fact that he’d been watching over her in the mall today sent a little shiver down her spine on several counts.
First, she was kind of shocked that she hadn’t spotted him or at least felt something. Where was that famous sixth sense about being watched? She supposed she didn’t have it. Or, maybe subconsciously, she knew it was okay because it was Carter. She had to scoff inwardly at her own justifications. She hadn’t seen him at all, and that was on her. Of course, he was wearing a bit of a disguise. His hair had been silvered, and that mustache was something out of a Hollywood props department.
Second, she’d been totally unaware that the two men they’d captured had been plotting to kidnap her. Again, her awareness of her surroundings wasn’t what it should have been. She wasn’t in a war zone now, and she supposed her skills had dulled since being home, but she really should have been more aware of potential threats. Thank goodness Carter and company had been keeping as close an eye on her as they’d promised.
Which brought her to the third—and most pleasing—reason she was feeling shivery. Carter had been there for her. He’d been looking out for her, even when she was unaware of it. He’d kept his promise, and he’d kept her safe. She felt her heart melt at the thought. What a sweetheart of a guy. Her insides felt gooey with emotion as she thought of the way he and his friends had leapt into action to help her. They were all special guys, but in her book, Carter was the real hero of the hour.
It was well after dark when they finally arrived back on the island base. They’d spoken little during the trip, keeping the conversation general or pertaining to the recent action and what might come next. She didn’t bring up anything personal. Not with the other guys in the vehicle listening. She hoped she’d get a chance for a private discussion—and more—with Carter later.
“Sergeant Sullivan, if you’ll just wait here for a few minutes, we’ll get the prisoners secured first,” Hal said when they pulled to a stop in front of the barracks building she’d left just the day before.
Hannah agreed, and both Hal and Carter exited the vehicle, leaving her with the guy they called Jeeves for company. She knew his real name was Jeff, but it seemed most of the guys in the unit had nicknames that the other guys used regularly.
“If you don’t mind my saying,” Jeff spoke from the driver’s seat, “you just need to be patient a little longer. Carter is conflicted about bringing you more fully into our situation, but after the events of the day, he’s going to have to come to terms with the fact that you’re in it, no matter how much he might wish you weren’t.”
“You mean that I’m in danger because of my dealings with your unit?” She knew she was still missing something here, but she had hope she’d soon learn what it was.
“You could say that.” Jeff met her gaze in the rearview mirror, and his blue eyes were spooky. “Look, you don’t know everything, and when you do find out, Carter’s probably afraid you might bolt. I know you won’t.” How could this man—this relative stranger—be so sure of how she would react? “Ah. I see this is one of those times Rosie warned me about where it might be better to say less rather than more.” He blinked and released her gaze by looking outward, through the windshield. “Sorry. I’m still learning my way. As are we all. And you’ll understand what I’m talking about later. Once you’ve had the briefing. For now, just know that there will be a briefing, and most of your questions will be answered.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” She didn’t know why her words made Jeff laugh, but he was still chuckling when Carter came back to the vehicle and opened the door for her.
“They’re inside and under wraps,” Carter told her. “Your turn.”
Carter escorted her to the building. It was the first time they’d been somewhat alone since she’d left the island. She wanted to say things to him, but he preempted her by speaking first.
“I’m sorry, Hannah. None of us realized you were in that much danger. If we had, we’d have done things differently,” Carter told her, his voice low and full of what sounded like regret to her.
“I’m just glad you were there,” she told him. “And kicking myself for not realizing that you were.”
Carter grinned. “You weren’t meant to see me. I wouldn’t have been doing my job if you had.”
“I didn’t realize costuming and undercover work were part of your military training,” she dared teasing him.
“You’d be amazed the kind of things this unit gets up to,” he told her.
They entered the building and found a small reception committee waiting for Hannah, consisting of Rose and Casey. They took her under their wings and cooed over her close call all the way to the mess hall, much to Carter’s amusement. Hal came up beside him, and they watched the women retreat toward the back of the building.
“Your Hannah’s made of stern stuff. I don’t think Casey understands her, but she likes her, nonetheless,” Hal reported.
Casey was a civilian all the way, like Rose, only without any sort of special ability of her own that made things with this unit a little easier to bear. Rose saw the future, like her fiancé, Jeff. Carter thought her extrasensory ability to know things had helped her settle into the group more easily than it would have been otherwise. Casey, on the other hand, had known Hal all her life. Hal had been her older brother’s best friend since they were kids. It was obvious she loved every little thing about Hal and trusted him with her life. She also knew his past and his motivations probably better than anyone else. That had to have helped her accept the strangeness that was their lives now.
By contrast, Carter and Hannah had only just met. They had no long history to draw on. She also didn’t have any sort of extrasensory ability, so there was no common ground on that score. How could things work out between them without some kind of basis? Carter just didn’t know, and it was a major stumbling block to any sort of future with her, as far as he was concerned.
“I’m glad Hannah’s made friends,” Carter answered his commanding officer and friend, noncommittally. Hal gave him a sharp look.
“I think we’re going to have to bring her more fully into our confidence,” Hal said in a serious tone.
Carter met his gaze. “Are you sure that’s wise?”
“Jeeves and Rose seem to think it’s a given,” Hal answered, surprising Carter. “I’ve been on the fence about letting anyone else know too much about what h
appened to us, but I’ve also been talking to the base commander. Kinkaid is a man who knows how to keep a secret, and he seems to think that if ours is shared only with select people, chosen for their loyalty and honor, then we’ll be okay. Our resident psychics agree.” Hal sighed and rubbed a tired hand over his eyes. “I never expected any of this when I was tapped to command this special forward operating unit, but you’re all adapting and overcoming, like good little soldiers, so I need to do the same. That includes the fact that I know you can’t all go solo for the rest of your lives. You need wives and girlfriends. I’m lucky. I have Casey. But the rest of you… Frankly, I worry about you guys like you were my kid brothers or something.”
“We appreciate that, Captain,” Carter told his slightly commanding officer.
Carter was uncomfortably aware of the fact that Hal was talking about wives. Permanent partners for himself and the rest of the crew. Though, to be fair, after spending a day or two and just one amazing night with Hannah, Carter was also thinking along more permanent lines. And wasn’t that scary as hell?
The rest of the guys came in, ending the conversation with Hal, and Carter wasn’t sure if he was glad or not for the interruption. He did know he had a job to do, however, and it was past time to get started on that. Hannah was in good hands. Probably eating dinner with the other ladies, since it was well past suppertime. The guys had snacked on the go, and they’d eat later. The kitchen had been alerted to set up a cold buffet of sandwiches they could take out and nosh on later.
That was one nice part about having a base to work out of. Usually, when they were in the field, they had to make do with ration packs or whatever they could cobble together. Here, the base commander had given them support staff, including a kitchen crew that came in to feed them three times a day. It was cozy compared to what they were used to in the real world.
Carter and some of the other guys spent the rest of the evening trying to get information out of their prisoners. They were careful to use only English, not alerting the men they were holding to the fact that most of the team spoke various Middle Eastern dialects, and, in fact, Carter spoke them all. There wasn’t a language he’d heard yet that he couldn’t understand and speak, since his encounter with the djinn in the Tower of Babel. That’s what he had concluded it was, after all. The other guys had different theories, but for Carter, that seemed the only thing that made any sense.
CHAPTER NINE
The colorfully-dressed man in that desert tower had to have been an ancient genie, but they hadn’t had to rub a lamp or gotten three wishes. No, this magical being had had an agenda of his own, and after questioning them and learning what he’d wanted to know, he’d decided very deliberately to give them parting gifts without their knowledge or participation. Without even telling them. They’d had to figure it out the hard way when things started getting weird.
In Carter’s case, he’d received the gift of language, hence his belief that the tower had been the actual Tower of Babel. It was almost a given that Rick, the doctor, would become a healer after their encounter, but some of the other guys’ abilities were a bit more obscure. Zeke, for example. He’d been one of the first into the tower, alongside Wil, who could now control the weather. Zeke was an archaeologist, and now, he had the ability to see the history of an object just by touching it. He was somewhat empathic with people, too.
He had come out with some freaky visions of things that had happened in Carter’s childhood the one time they’d been working with the medical team stationed in the building next door. They had wanted to map the extent of Zeke’s new powers, but they needed test subjects, and Carter had been volunteered. Zeke had just touched Carter’s arm and had immediately been struck with a vision of Carter’s childhood. An incident where he’d been beaten up by a group of older kids that had firmed his resolve to study martial arts and become as strong as possible, so that when he was older, he could stop bullies from hurting kids like himself.
Zeke had read the situation and every emotional nuance of Carter’s nine-year-old self. It had been a little embarrassing at first, but Zeke hadn’t spread the information around, and nobody had teased Carter about it after the fact. They’d all been learning to have even more discretion than they usually had to employ since getting these new powers.
Jeeves, for one, had agonized over how much to share of his visions of the future. Carter knew that was one of the reasons Jeff had sought Rose’s help in the first place. She’d had the gift of clairvoyance all her life, and she had more experience with knowing how much was too much for someone to know about their future. Since Jeff had been working with Rose, he’d been much steadier. Everybody had noticed it. Rose had been really good for Jeff, and most of the other guys envied them their relationship.
Hal, too, had paired up since returning to the States. It was a little different for them, of course. Hal had been in love with his best friend’s sister for years. Casey had been in love with Hal, too. And Hal’s gift had seemed so very dangerous to his life at first. He was the unit’s strong man. He could lift incredibly heavy objects, and he’d even stopped a speeding car that had been about to hit Casey a few weeks back.
When they’d finally gotten together, they had a long history of friendship and love to build on. The guys all wanted Hal to find happiness—just in case his new power caused his death. Every time Hal used his super-strength, he went into a state of near-coma for hours afterward. The more strength required, the longer he needed to recover. They’d all feared that someday, the cost would be too high, and Hal wouldn’t come back from the coma.
But reuniting with Casey—and marrying her shortly after—had seemed to stabilize Hal. Rose had foreseen a long and happy life for Hal and Casey, which had been a big relief to everyone in the unit. The guys were a tight-knit group, even if they had been put together based on their academic specialties. They’d bonded over time in the desert, and the tower experience had solidified that relationship. They were family now.
Zeke was sitting at a table, the prisoners’ belongings laid out in front of him. The two men had been searched and left only with their clothing. No shoes, belts or anything that they could use to harm themselves or anyone else. They’d been put into separate rooms. Cells, really. Jeff had directed them to build these rooms when they’d been remodeling.
They’d had a lot of downtime when they first arrived back in the States and not much to do on the island. The base commander had made construction materials available and told them they could remodel their building as they saw fit, since it hadn’t been used in years and needed a good coat of paint, as he put it.
It had needed a lot more than paint, but the guys had enjoyed doing the work. They’d turned their talents toward design and made a cozy nest for themselves. Jeff had insisted on at least two holding cells, and Hal hadn’t argued. They’d all come to respect Jeff’s foresight, and if he said they needed two cells, by golly, they were going to build two cells. They’d had the time and the materials. Plus, there was plenty of room in the old building they’d been given to work with.
They’d spruced up their own living areas first, but there were other parts of the building still under construction, and the guys worked on them as time allowed. If they were here long enough, they’d make a nice little home out of the old place, Carter knew. For now, they had just what they needed, including the two cells and a specially designed interrogation room, along with a few other specialized chambers that could be used for investigations.
This was one. An evidence room, of sorts, with a few instruments that might be useful in analysis. There was a microscope and some fingerprinting equipment. Carter didn’t know what it all was. That wasn’t his specialty. But other men in the unit had the training and scientific background that could prove useful in forensic analysis.
Zeke added his own supernatural ability to the mix. He’d been tasked to touch each of the items from the prisoners, to try to get a read on anything they might have been involved in recen
tly. Like any good scientist, Zeke was being methodical in his approach, having directed the other guys to lay everything out, piece by piece, nothing touching anything else. He’d numbered every item, and Wil was standing by to take notes as Zeke handled each item in turn.
Hal and Carter were present to witness and as backup, should Zeke run into trouble. He’d had a couple of incidents overseas when he’d touched something really old or with a very violent past. He’d passed out a few times until he’d learned how to shut his senses down a bit so he wasn’t so open to every little thing.
He’d be dropping all his defenses now, and he would be vulnerable. They didn’t expect any of these items would trigger an episode, but it was wise to be cautious, because some things that looked innocent on the surface were hazardous underneath. They’d learned that the hard way.
“Nothing exciting from the jacket,” Zeke reported. He’d started by touching the first item on their list, a new-looking designer jacket. “It was stolen from a high-end boutique last week.”
“Classy,” Hal murmured as Zeke moved on to the next item, a pair of sunglasses.
“These came from the mall kiosk. Also stolen when the clerk was distracted by this guy’s accomplice. They’re good at the snatch and grab,” Zeke observed, putting the sunglasses down before touching a pen that had been in one of the men’s pockets. Zeke started, jumping a little in his chair.
“What is it?” Hal asked.
“This was used to write some kind of…manifesto, I guess you would call it. Ranting and raving about the decadent West and the thieves that live here. Damn. This guy hates America and all the Western countries, really, but he’s got a special hard-on for the U.S.,” Zeke said before carefully removing his fingers from the pen.
Carter noted that Zeke’s face was a bit pale. Whatever he’d seen or felt from that innocent-looking pen had been intense. Zeke paused a moment before going on to the wallet. The leather billfold had been emptied of its contents, which were elsewhere on the table.