The Leviticus Club

by Sydney Addae

  Moving to his truck, he leaned against the grill with his arms across his chest and stared at the door of the station. Mia Haddon. He recalled the stubborn glint in her eyes while he said he wouldn’t work with her. Did she suspect he’d show up today? He wouldn’t put it past her.

  The petite hurricane stormed into his world shaking it upside down last night. Nothing would ever be the same. The mist could be controlled. Walking in dreams had a purpose. Could be beneficial.

  He rubbed his jaw as he thought of the sexy, woman with soft, creamy cinnamon skin and short light brown curls all over her head. Her eyes were an interesting shade of brown, shadowed with long dark lashes, high cheekbones, and kissable lips.

  Kissable? He snorted not caring for the direction of his thoughts. Even though she looked 10 - 15 years younger than his almost 40, she wasn’t a silly girl like the two females in the bar the other day. He sensed Mia was a go-getter. Smart, articulate and someone who most likely had a man waiting at home for her.

  Lucky guy.

  Noah appreciated the way she looked at him with that direct gaze that said I see you, the real you, and it’s okay. By not expending so much energy hiding that part of him, he was free to enjoy a simple thing like hanging out with a beautiful woman.

  A sexy, beautiful woman, who mattered. He couldn’t explain why it may have been twisted up with her ability to control the mist and freeing him from that prison. Even for one night. Or that her sense of justice, correcting wrongs were similar to his. Or the fact she kept him company in the vast world of dreams. It could be all of those reasons or none of them, he wasn’t a shrink. But nothing changed the fact that the short FBI agent mattered.

  <<<>>>

  Mia saw the Detective in the lobby and caught him before he left. “Morning, Detective.”

  “Morning.” He frowned at her. “I don’t have any new information.”

  “I do,” she said. “Have you checked to see if Mr. Green owned a weapon?”

  His gaze narrowed. “No. Did he?”

  “We should check.”

  He looked like he would argue but turned and headed to his office. “Have a seat and tell me what new information you have pertaining to my case.”

  Rather than make a smart comment about his mood or the case, she talked about the books on defense in Green’s home and his weapons.

  He sat back as he stared at the monitor. “Green had two handguns.” He shared the rest of the information regarding the gun registration.

  “The guns weren’t in the house or the van,” she said.

  He shook his head and glanced up at her. “How’d they get the drop on an armed man? That’s the whole purpose of carrying a weapon, to protect yourself.”

  “Drugs? If they someone got close enough, they could’ve shot drugs in his system before he could reach his gun.”

  “Soon as I get that report, I’ll let you know. But I’m thinking you’re onto something. Hard to understand why they took his guns after shooting him up with drugs. He was a cripple, couldn’t run.”

  “He was driving his van and could escape that way,” she reminded him, not appreciating his cutting remarks about the victim.

  “That’s possible.” He released a sigh.

  “About Green’s guns?” What did he plan to do about the missing weapons?

  “I’ll send a couple guys over to look through the house again. Maybe we overlooked something.”

  “Is there a pawn shop in town or a nearby town that buys guns?” Seriously? Why isn’t he doing the basics?

  “Yes, there is, I’ll let him know to look out for it.”

  “Detective, if someone stole those guns and sells them anywhere in this country, we need to know about it. It is important to this case.” Their gazes clashed.

  “I’ll make sure the word gets out.” He glanced at his watch, stood, stepped around her and walked out. “I’ve got another appointment and will talk with him later today.”

  <<<>>>

  Mia appreciated Noah offering to tag along with her to the pawn shops in the three adjoining counties. His large frame seemed cramped in her small rental but she didn’t want to ride in his truck, besides, he had questions.

  “How long have you been able to... you know,” he started once they hit the highway out of town. His voice had a gravelly quality to it as if he didn’t use it much.

  “Most of my life, what about you?” she asked.

  True, she lived an abnormally long time. At the age of four or five, she’d been taken to the Liege compound. The operations started early and stopped when she when she started her menstrual cycle. The repeated rapes happened shortly after. Then the pregnancy and delivery. She remained a few more years before escaping with Thomas and a few others.

  “Just started for me this year. Metal from an explosive lodged in my brain, induced coma. After the surgery everything was different. Always had dreams but they were stronger, more vibrant, and then I was pulled into them.” He paused as if he said too much. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “Saw people I knew, friends who had died. Spent time watching them, learning stuff, went to places I’ve never been, saw things I wished I hadn’t. Then the mist started, changed things again. It’s harder to go places, hurts now, and drains me. That ever happen to you?”

  The drive to the first pawn shop was an hour and a half out of town, more than enough time for Noah to ask questions and her to answer.

  “No. When I dream walk, it’s usually based on something I’ve seen during the day that triggers it. Even then, it’s limited to the immediate area that I’ve already seen. Nowhere near what you can do. You said you could go back decades, that’s awesome. How did you develop it?” And if you could access the days after they took my child, I’d be overjoyed.

  He snorted but seemed to relax a bit, wasn’t as stiff as when they started. “Develop it? It just happens, does its own thing. Wrecks my sleep. Can’t get out of bed some days, steals my strength. I wouldn’t say I developed anything, more like sitting in the passenger seat along for the ride, taking in the sights.” He huffed. “Fucked up, really fucked up.”

  She hadn’t experienced any of that but then again she wasn’t as strong as him either.

  “Any ideas how to stop it?” he asked. She felt the heat of his gaze on the side of her face.

  “If I did we’d all have done it by now.” She bit her lip and hoped he didn’t ask about her friends.

  “We? There’s more of you? In the FBI?” He turned in the seat to face her. “There’s a group of people with shit like me working in the FBI?” Shocked surprised laced his voice.

  She cleared her throat. “A special group for special assignments from time to time.”

  “Really?” He looked at his hands for a few seconds. “How does that work? Did they come looking for you? Ran tests? Did you sign up? I mean, this dream thing is so out of the box, it’s hard to believe you go through regular channels.”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Thomas gets the jobs, handles the assignments. He brought me in. He’s flying in and will be here later today.”

  “How many?”

  She thought of Lizzy and sent a prayer for her full recovery. “Six.”

  He whistled. “Thought there’d be more.”

  “No question there is. Making commitments to use your gifts for the greater good is the real challenge. Not everyone wants to be identified as gifted or an oddball.” She smiled.

  “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

  When he didn’t say anything for a few seconds she glanced at him. “Come from a big family?”

  “Not really. My mom died when I was in basic. Have no idea who my old man is. Half-brother lives in Alaska with his wife, no kids. He’s 12 years younger, we were never really close. My cousin is like a brother and the only family I have. You?”

  She swallowed hard and gave her standard answer. “The team’s my family.”

  He asked no more questions and she was grateful when they pulled into the par
king lot of the first pawn shop. The Detective hadn’t reached out to the owner yet, fortunately, there had been no guns purchased, or sold in over a month. After giving the owner her card to contact her in case someone came in with the revolver, they headed to the next pawn shop in the next county.

  “Why didn’t you call and ask if the gun had been turned in?” Noah asked as they pulled onto the highway.

  “I can pick up more in person.” She had to be careful not to over-share anything that would put the team at risk. Although he seemed okay, Thomas had to check him out to ensure he wasn’t a threat.

  “Like what?”

  “Scents, residual energy, deceit, some I can get over the phone, but not most. Plus I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.” She shrugged. “Just more efficient to deal face to face.”

  “Wait, you can tell if someone’s lying?”

  “Deceit has a certain smell and ting in the voice so it’s fairly easy to detect,” she said.

  “Bet that comes in handy in your line of work... must be hell in your social life.”

  She glanced at him as she stopped at the light. “Why?”

  “Means people need to always be on the up and up, honest around you,” he said watching her closely.

  “Why wouldn’t they?”

  He shrugged.

  “Lies are a waste of time and energy, we don’t bother. Do you?” she asked.

  “What?” He looked at her.

  “Lie?”

  “Sometimes. Working on it though. Gotta find a way, to be honest, and not hurt someone’s feelings. That sucks,” he said with feeling.

  She wondered what put that frown on his face. “Painful truth is better than a lie, always,” she said.

  “Makes sense if you can detect a lie,” he said looking out the window.

  “Also when you’re certain a person never lies, you don’t question what they say. Makes for a smoother life in the end, don’t you think?” she asked.

  Noah scratched his head and looked out the window. “Sure does.” He thought of the female in the bar the other day. Why hadn’t he told her he wasn’t interested? It was the truth. Why hadn’t he told Dr. Higgins he recognized people in his dreams? He didn’t want to deal with the fallout of their feelings being hurt.

  In the good doctor’s case, she’d been so upset she left the room for over 10 minutes because he told half the truth. Would it have been better to have told her the full truth? Somehow he didn’t think so. Most people really couldn’t handle the truth.

  “Is everyone on your team, like me... like us? With some kind of gift?” Last night had been phenomenal. He woke energized with total recall.

  This morning he sensed a call of purpose similar to when he enlisted. For the first time ever, he didn’t feel weird or like he was losing his mind.

  She nodded and chuckled. “Yeah, a bunch of mutts, mutated mutts, get it?”

  Hearing the word “mutated” stunned him.

  “Hey, it’s a joke,” she said softly.

  He nodded. “Good name, appropriate I suppose. Mostly women or men on the team?”

  “Even, three and three.”

  “Are they all coming here?” She was easy to talk to and really pretty. Driving around with her wasn’t a bad way to spend a few hours, not at all.

  “Doubt it. They’re finishing up a job out of the country,” she said.

  “Yeah?” He paused. “What kind of gifts do they have.”

  “That I can’t say. Wait, and see.”

  Noah glanced at her, saw her smile and relaxed further. He wanted to walk through more dreams with her, ask her to teach him to control the mist. He wanted to see how far he could go and perhaps do more than observe. Her being in his dream last night opened a whole new vista he wanted to explore.

  CHAPTER 8

  THOMAS AND TIP MET her in the hotel restaurant after she and Noah returned from the pawn shops. Their plates had just arrived when she sensed Thomas’ presence. Mia breathed a sigh of relief. He could answer Noah’s questions and provide direction for the job. Maybe now she could finish her steak, potato, and cheesecake.

  “Hello,” Thomas said as he reached their table. Both men were almost a foot taller than her 5’4”. Thomas could’ve been a successful linebacker in the NFL with his wide barrel chest, tree trunk sized thighs and wide neck. His no-fucks-to-give aura typically caused men to scurry out of his way without him speaking.

  Noah stilled, looked up into Thomas’ face and then at Tip. He didn’t respond to the greeting, not yet anyway.

  “Hey Princess,” Tip said teasing her as he always did since she told him she was a descendant of the Queen of Sheba several decades ago. He was almost as pale as Thomas with a smaller muscular build, dreamy green eyes, and dimpled chin. His easy-going personality made him her favorite.

  “Hi, guys.” She smiled up at them. “This is Noah. Noah, my team-mates, Thomas and Tip.” She frowned. “Do you have a last name, Tip?”

  He grinned as he glanced at her. “Not that I know of. Been Tip all my life.”

  “Can we join you?” Thomas asked, watching Noah.

  Noah looked at Mia.

  Men. “Sure. You just got in?” She asked as they took the empty seats between her and Noah.

  “Yeah. What did you learn?” Thomas looked at her, capturing her gaze with his penetrating silver-blue eyes.

  She told him about her discussion with the Detective.

  Thomas nodded. “Tip will go look at the van, and then the house again. Anything else?”

  “Not yet,” she said.

  He looked at Noah. “Former military?”

  Noah nodded.

  “PTSD?”

  Noah frowned and didn’t answer. He looked at Mia and her heart plummeted. She hoped he would be different, strong enough to deal with Thomas and the others. If he became offended with these two... whoa.

  What are you thinking? It had been nice working with him, no one else on the team had ever dream walked. Whenever the gift kicked in, it could be a lonely experience.

  “Why?” Noah asked, reverting to the man she met the first day, giving monosyllabic answers.

  Thomas shrugged. “Just curious, you have that look of a man wrongly diagnosed. Been there myself, know what it’s like.” He turned to Mia. “Address for the van and house?”

  She sent it to him and Tip via text.

  Thomas’ phone beeped. He read his text and cursed. “Another body dropped. Found in Tennessee 48-hours ago. Another cripple,” he growled and looked at Tip. “Hit the van and the house and prepare to fly to Tennessee.”

  Surprised that Tip would act as a scout, Mia stared at Thomas while Tip stood.

  “Got it. Nice meeting you,” Tip told Noah and grinned down at her. “See you around, Princess. Duty calls.”

  She smiled but glanced at Noah’s blank face. It was as if the entire morning they spent together never happened. Damn it. She would have to wait to discuss going back in time to the Liege Compound to get answers about her son or daughter. “Later, Tip,” she said.

  Thomas stared at the wall for several moments. “What’re we missing?”

  Mia and Noah had been discussing that in the car.

  “We briefly touched on the Middle East stonings the other night. Is it possible they have a sect here?” she asked.

  To his credit, Thomas thought about it a minute or two longer than when she realized it was a bad idea.

  “I don’t see it,” he said, looked at Noah. “What do you think?”

  “I don’t see it either,” Noah said and then clenched his jaws. “Did you tell him?” he asked her. “Did you tell him about... you know?”

  Mia’s eyes widened. “What?”

  Noah stood and walked out without a backward glance.

  Another one bites the dust. She glared at Thomas. “You had to go there, didn’t you?”

  He met her unflinching gaze. “Five days, four-and-a-half to go. If he has information, we need it. He’s the real
deal, Mia and we need him. Don’t think he realizes his gift —”

  “I know he’s the real deal, Thomas. But this is new for him. He thought he was going crazy and is just beginning to believe that’s not the case. He may work with us if he trusts what and who we are,” she said. Sometimes Thomas acted like a bull in a china-shop. There was no reason to ask Noah’s opinion if it wasn’t freely given.

  Thomas stroked his clean-shaven, square chin and stared at the table. The waiter placed a glass of water beside him. “Can I get you anything?”

  “No,” Thomas snapped without looking up.

  Mia offered the waiter a brief smile when he looked surprised at Thomas’ rudeness. The man often forgot the basics they had been forced to learn to fit in with the changing world.

  “I’m done, thank you,” she said, earning a small smile from the waiter. She’d be sure to leave him a large tip.

  As soon as the waiter cleared the table and left, Thomas looked at her, his gaze an eery gray. “Hate groups.”

  “Hate groups?” She tried to catch up. “What about them?”

  He stood. “I need to check a few things out. Have Noah walk through the scene again, try to look into the van on the day of the murder. Help him to see more.” He strode out.

  <<<>>>

  Mia had no idea how to reach Noah and hated Thomas pushed him away before she could learn more about him personally. She pulled out her phone to contact Thomas.

  “I don’t know how to reach him,” she said when he answered.

  “I’ll send his address.” He hung up before she could say anything else.

  She headed toward her car as her phone beeped with Noah’s address. Following the GPS instructions, she drove out of town where the landscape changed. She saw cows, horses, ranches, and farms. It was quiet, peaceful. Eventually, she turned down a dirt road which stopped in front of a large ranch style home with a wide porch. Seeing Noah’s truck, she stepped out and headed toward the porch.

  He opened it before she knocked.

  “What?”

  Mia blinked at his growly tone. “What do you mean, what?”

  “Why are you here? I don’t want anything to do with you, didn’t you get that?”