Training Rain

by A. S. Fenichel

  “I see.” She tried to smile, but she didn’t think she quite managed it.

  Chapter Eight

  He hadn’t been to Louisiana in several years. His parents lived less than a hundred miles from where they were. He hoped he could keep the promise he’d made to his uncle and go see them. The notion of bringing Rain to meet his folks appealed to him. In fact, it was such a normal thing he didn’t know how his mother would react. He’d never brought a woman home to meet them.

  Will drove down the long, private road and pulled to a stop in front of his place. Whitewashed with black trim, it was small but not neglected. He paid a caretaker to come in and keep the place up and it looked as if his money was well spent. The grass was mowed and the shrubs trimmed. At least on the outside the house looked neat.

  Donnelly was still out. Will went around the car, let Yas out and tossed their prisoner over his shoulder. Jess went ahead and used the key he kept in a planter to open the door.

  The inside was also neat with only a thin layer of dust.

  Rain looked around, running her hands along the dining table and peering in the small kitchen.

  Will dropped Donnelly on the couch. “He’ll wake up soon and you can do your thing, Jess.”

  Jess winced and looked at Rain, but she didn’t seem to have heard the comment.

  Then she turned, her gaze locked with his. “What thing?”

  Will said, “What thing? Jess is the best mind bender in the business.”

  “Mind bending?”

  Jess said, “It’s a way of getting information from people.”

  “Talk about understatements,” Will said.

  “Will…”

  Will laughed and went to the door. “I’ll check on Yas and make sure we’re alone.”

  She watched him with those piercing dark eyes. “This is your house too? How many houses do you own?”

  Had she dropped the other subject? Relief washed over him. He should have told her sooner, but maybe it would be okay. “A few. None of which I ever spend any time in.”

  “No TV. There was no TV in New Orleans either.”

  “I never watch. I get enough current events on the job. On the rare occasion I get to relax, I don’t want to know what’s happening in the world. It’s never good news.” Why was she asking so many questions? Will was outside, the prisoner was unconscious, they had time and he just wanted to touch her. Well, maybe that’s not all he wanted.

  She skirted the outside of the room. It was really only a living room and kitchen but in one big room. Down a hall to the left of the front door were three bedrooms and a bathroom.

  “What are you going to do with him?”

  “Why are you all the way on the other side of the room?”

  “Because I don’t trust myself to get too close to you.”

  His heart pounded. “I’m not sure what that means. Are you backing away from me, Rain?”

  “No. I’m out of my mind. I should regret all the things I’ve done in the past two days. I killed. I should be remorseful.”

  “And?”

  “And all I can think about is how I want to be in your arms. I don’t feel bad that I took a life.”

  “He would have killed you.” He moved toward her, around the couch and cornered her in the kitchen.

  “I know. He would have killed us all if he’d had the opportunity. Maybe you were right.”

  “About what?”

  “You said I’d be a good agent.”

  “I didn’t mean that killing would come easy to you. I don’t think you’re unmoved by what you had to do. I just don’t think you’ve had time to think about it yet. When you do, you’ll have regret. You’ll wonder if you could have done something else.”

  “Do you wonder that?”

  He’d effectively trapped her against the refrigerator. She pressed her palms against his chest but didn’t push him away. He breathed in the warm, sweet scent that was uniquely Rain. “Every time.”

  “How do you live with it?”

  “I compartmentalize it and try to remember that I’m the good guy and they are not.”

  “Does that work?”

  He kissed her cheek. “Most of the time.”

  Donnelly groaned from the couch.

  “How will you get information from him?”

  “Fucking bitch drugged me.”

  “Time to go to work. Would you go get Will? And it might be better if you stayed outside until this is over.” He wished she would do as he asked, but knew she wouldn’t.

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”

  Will walked inside without having to be called. The guy had the most amazing instincts for a non-psychic. Yas padded in behind him and sat down facing their captive. The dog growled.

  “Get that mutt the fuck away from me.”

  Will went around to the back of the couch, grabbed Donnelly by the shoulders and sat him up. Jess grabbed a wooden kitchen chair and sat down in front of the man. He focused his mind on the man in front of him. He nudged him mentally. When he spoke, his New Orleans accent flowed thickly. “You need to tell us who hired you.”

  “Bradly Breckenridge.”

  “The senator?” Rain asked.

  Donnelly didn’t say a word. His face twisted as if he was in pain. Jess didn’t care about this assassin’s discomfort. He was only uncomfortable because he was fighting the process.

  Jess continued. “Why does the senator want us dead?”

  “He plans to make a run for the presidency. He’s going to use his stand against you freaks as his platform. First he’s got to reduce your numbers and then make you out to be a danger to society.”

  “How’s he going to do that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “How’s he going to make the Psi Alliance look bad?” Jess’ voice thickened with his accent and his eyes narrowed.

  “Every one of us that’s killed by one of you, he’ll plant information…”

  “What kind of information?”

  “That we’re war heroes serving our country and we were cut down in the line of duty or without provocation.”

  “How many men does he have?”

  “I don’t know.” It must have been the truth.

  “Does he have command of the US forces?”

  “I don’t know, but if he did I doubt he’d hesitate to use them.”

  “Why are we the senator’s target?” This question came from Rain.

  Jess nudged Donnelly’s mind for an answer.

  “He has a kid who is psychic.”

  It wasn’t an answer. Jess pushed harder.

  Donnelly’s eyes closed under the strain, but he couldn’t help answering. “He hates the idea of his kid being different. Keeps him locked in a mental institution under sedation.”

  Jess nodded to Will who stabbed the guy with another needle in the neck this time. Donnelly only got half a scream out before his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell over almost immediately.

  “Did you kill him?”

  Will grinned. “No. He’s just unconscious. We’ll leave him here and have someone bring him back to Nevada for more questioning.”

  Jess knew what he would be facing as soon as he turned toward Rain. Everything they had learned about Senator Breckenridge would help them and the other agents to stay alive, but she would not want to talk about that. He should have told her sooner. He should have confessed his mistake. No. It wasn’t a mistake. He’d done what was necessary. Shit.

  Rain’s gaze remained fixed on him and he didn’t turn away.

  Will cleared his throat. “Um, I’m just going to take Yas out for another walk and give you two a few minutes.”

  The screen door slammed closed behind him.

  She didn’t say a word and the silence was worse than the yelling he deserved.

  “Just let me explain.”

  “Did you use whatever you just used on him, on me?”

&nb
sp; His heart sank. “Cher.”

  Her eyes widened and the color drained out of her face. “Oh my god, you did.”

  She turned away, stumbled slightly and reached out to grab the wall between the living room and the kitchen.

  Jess rushed over and reached for her.

  She turned unexpectedly. Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare touch me.”

  He wanted to reassure her. He tried to establish the link they had shared the night before, but she blocked him. In fact she was blocking all of his psi abilities. “Rain, I wanted to tell you. I tried to tell you this morning.”

  She backed away toward the door never taking her eyes or her concentration from him. “Tell me what, that you manipulated me, forced my compliance, used mind bending to get what you wanted?”

  “You’re overreacting.” He knew the minute he said it that it was the wrong thing to say.

  Her eyes grew even wider. “I’m overreacting? I thought we had something special. I thought you cared for me. Now I don’t even know if my feelings are my own or you just wanted to get me into bed.”

  His own temper started to rise. “I did nothing to alter your feelings for me.”

  “What did you do then? How much of what happened last night was your doing?” She leaned against the wall not far from the exit. Ready to make a quick escape if need be.

  He sat down at the kitchen table and ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t like that she’d cut off the use of his abilities. He was flying blind. Normally he’d be able to sense her emotional state and subdue her more irrational thoughts. “Let me be really clear. I did nothing last night. That was all you. If you have feelings for me, they are your own. I swear it. I told you how I feel.”

  “Then what were you going to tell me this morning?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “In Yellowstone, when you wanted to leave, I coerced you to stay.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him. “What else?”

  He didn’t need to be psychic to see that the trust he had established with her was gone, or at least hanging by a thread. His chest ached with the knowledge that he had caused the rift. The only thing he could do was tell her the truth. He was sick, knowing it wouldn’t be enough.

  “I eased your panic when you freaked out in the field that day and convinced you that you could do this. But it was not a lie. You can do this. Look at how fantastic you were this morning. Plus, I only stopped impulses, not what you really want, just knee-jerk reaction.”

  She pushed off the wall. “How can I trust you?”

  He got up and crossed to her, taking hold of her shoulders. “Everything I did was in your best interest.”

  “You took away my free will.”

  “No. I don’t have that kind of power.”

  “I can never trust you.” Her voice cracked.

  “Rain, I love you. Don’t do this.” His chest ached as she pulled away, turning her back to him.

  “I’ll finish the mission. Then we’ll go our separate ways.”

  His throat was constricted painfully. “I wish you would reconsider.”

  She stepped out the door and he knew he’d lost the one woman who’d ever really meant anything to him. The problem was, if he had it to do over again, he couldn’t think of what he would do differently. His heart ached at her rejection, but he’d have lost her much earlier if he hadn’t bent her decision to leave Yellowstone. He couldn’t win. He had to find a way.

  Rain squinted in the bright Louisiana sun until her eyes adjusted. Yas trotted over and licked her fingers. Will sat on top of the post-and-rail fence with his rifle across his knees. He didn’t turn as she approached.

  “It’s not easy to have both lives.” His words sounded sage, but he still wore the happy expression that was his signature.

  She looked up at his square jaw and the angular lines of his face. “Can I ask you something, Will?”

  “Sure.”

  “How can you be so happy when you do what you do?”

  “You mean when my job is to kill people?”

  She cringed at the openness of his words and climbed up to sit on the fence next to him. “Yes. Doesn’t it bother you?”

  His lips turned down for a moment. “I’m not killing Joe the baker or Jane the schoolteacher, Rain. The people I’m assigned to kill are not good people. I have refused jobs I thought were morally wrong. I see it as protecting my friends and my country.”

  “You can kill a man a mile off. You must have some conscience about that.”

  “With the right conditions longer than that.”

  She couldn’t help being impressed. “How much longer?”

  He shrugged. “Mile and a half, maybe with the right wind, temperature, elevation. It all factors in.”

  “You really don’t care about the people you kill?”

  “I care, Rain. I separate me from the kill. If I didn’t it would leave me a very unhappy man. I have a skill. A very small percentage of people on the planet can do what I do or what you do for that matter. If I ignore the gifts that were given to me by a higher force, then I deny my purpose for being here. Just like if you stay on the reservation, you would be spitting in the face of your god. You have skills because you are needed to use them. I can shoot the way I do because the world has a need for that skill. I try my best to use my gift for good.”

  “You have an interesting view.” She wanted to scoff at him, but everything he said hit home.

  “Our lives are our own. If you’re miserable, it’s because you chose that path. I choose to be happy. You should give Jess a break. He might not have done everything the way you would have, but his intentions were good.”

  “I’m not sure if I believe that.” Her stomach knotted.

  Will jumped down as the sound of a car approaching broke the silence. He shrugged. “You can walk away, believe him or dig for the truth. Your choice. Try to remember they’ve been using their psi abilities all the time for years. It’s sometimes hard for them to know when to just deal with things the way the rest of us do.”

  “You sound as if you’re speaking from experience.”

  Will just smiled and turned toward the two black SUVs pulling down the drive. The Psi Alliance agents who stepped out were familiar to her. They had both been present in Las Vegas.

  With very little conversation, Parker Phillips and Brady Cummings collected Donnelly and drove off in one of the vehicles. Will got in the other. “I’ll go retrieve my plane so we can fly back to Nevada. We can debrief Josh and Tessa on everything we’ve learned and plan our next step.”

  Jess locked the house. “We’ll meet you at the airstrip in Opelousas tonight. Call when you’re airborne.”

  “Will do.” Will gave Rain a knowing smile and drove down the dirt road away from them.

  Jess carried both their bags and tossed them in the car.

  “There must be a closer airfield. What’s in Opelousas?” Rain asked.

  “My parents.”

  “I am not going to meet your parents.”

  She kept him blocked, but she could see the disappointment and even a bit of anger in his eyes. He shrugged. “I made a promise and I intend to keep it. You can wait in the car if you want, though I seriously doubt Amalee will stand for that.”

  If she was honest with herself, she was curious about the people who had raised Jessé McMean. He was such an odd combination of gentleness and deception. Of course she didn’t tell him that. In fact, she didn’t say a word as she opened the back door for Yas, closed the door and got in the front.

  He drove fast. She said nothing. They got on Route 49 and it was a straight shot north to the Louisiana town where his parents had lived for the last ten years. She knew this because, although she was silent, Jess had barely stopped talking since they pulled onto the highway.

  “I grew up on the bayou until the Agency came to collect me. My father is a salesman and a good one. He’s sold everything from cars to vacuum cleaners, even bibles for a while. Still, they we
re just making ends meet. When I started with the Agency and it was obvious I wouldn’t be coming back to live, they moved to a nice little community not too far from what they were used to.”

  He paused for a long time. “My father’s Irish.”

  She wanted to keep quiet, but the statement was so ridiculous. She couldn’t keep the sarcasm from dripping out. “I figured with a name like McMean.”

  “No. I mean he’s really Irish. Well, you’ll see in a little while.”

  “Are you nervous because I’m meeting them or because you haven’t been home in a long time?” Why did you ask him that? You don’t care. But she did. That was the problem.

  She’d kept him blocked for most of the trip but then it occurred to her that she was handicapping him. What if they were attacked? They would have no warning from his psi senses. She lifted her block, but kept her mind shielded.

  He smiled. “Both, I guess.”

  “Just because I’m not blocking you doesn’t mean you have leave to go poking around in my head. Don’t you dare manipulate me.” She was a shrew. She hated the tone, but she was hurt and angry and she couldn’t help it.

  “I promise you I will never manipulate you again. I will only use my psi abilities to protect you. You have my word.”

  “Fine.” She didn’t want to believe him. Damn him.

  He reached across the console and took her hand. Her head said, don’t let him touch you, but her heart loved the feel of his calloused fingers rubbing hers. “I’m sorry, cher. If I hadn’t known you’d be making a mistake going back to the reservation, I would never have done it. I didn’t want you to live your life regretting a bad decision.”

  She disengaged her hand from his. “It wasn’t your call.”

  He nodded and they spent the remaining half hour in silence. The suburban neighborhood was an array of simple but nice homes with neat lawns and gardens. They pulled in the driveway and stepped out of the car. Early February in southern Louisiana was a long way from the cold of Yellowstone National Park. The comfortable mid-fifty-degree temperatures only required a light sweater.

  Rain tried to picture Jess growing up there. Of course he hadn’t. He was too wild for this kind of order. The swamps suited him much better. A couple alighted from the house, both wearing grins. They rushed down the driveway toward Jess.