by Kim Jewell
“Here, let me get a napkin from the concession stand.” Lexi reached to grab one, then turned back to Clint. She reached down to wipe up the blood, but as she did, the wound seemed to disappear, sucking the red liquid back into his hand.
Clint’s eyes were huge. “Did you just see that?” he whispered.
She nodded. “It’s gone. Does it still hurt?”
“No. Not at all.” He looked around them to see if anyone else noticed what was going on. “Come with me – let’s find a quiet seat and try it again.”
“Are you sure?” She looked up at him, worried.
“Yeah. I think my powers just expanded a little. I gotta see for sure this wasn’t just a fluke.”
They grabbed a bench in the back of the empty arcade. Clint pulled a pocket knife out of his jeans pocket and ran the blade against his left thumb. Once again a small line opened, blood came to the surface, then the cut closed up as quickly as it opened.
“Does it hurt?”
“Yeah, the cut does at first, then it goes right away as it’s vanishing. That’s so cool! I think my strength is extending to healing powers! I wonder if it would mend broken bones…”
“Oh, no you don’t. Not here, not now.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and started typing a text. “I’ll have Leesha do some research on this while we’re gone. Maybe she can find something before we get back.”
“Okay.”
She hit the send button, and a few seconds later, her phone buzzed. Lexi checked the screen and then looked up at Clint. “Give me your knife.”
“Why?”
“Leesha wants to know if you can heal others, too.”
He shook his head. “No, Lex. Not good.”
She cocked one eyebrow at him. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Fine, I’ll just use one of my dirty keys, then.”
He sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. She was way too stubborn. “Okay, here. But not too deep. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never extended my powers before.”
“It can’t be any different than me giving my powers to you, by touch.” She took the knife and ran it along the palm of her hand. It bubbled up red, almost instantly. She winced.
Clint quickly grabbed her hand in his, held it tight for a couple of seconds, then gingerly opened it up to peek. The line was gone. “I can’t believe it worked!” he shouted too loud, making a passing couple glance their way.
“Shhh!” she giggled. “That was awesome, Clint! So cool…”
She texted Leesha the results.
“Okay,” he said, standing up and pulling her with him. “Let Leesha do her nerdy research. If we’re done stabbing ourselves, what do you say we actually go in and watch the movie?”
“Sounds perfect,” she smiled.
“So,” he mused as they walked, “I’ve already hurt you, and touched you… Sam’s not going to be too happy with me.”
Lexi giggled. “And what was his rule on kissing?”
“You know… He never mentioned that!”
“And he thought he covered all his bases.”
“You’d think he’d be a little smarter with his rules.”
“Sam’s brainy, but not always so thorough.”
“I’ll have to remember that,” he smiled as they found seats in the back of the theater.
Lexi and Clint returned a few hours later, only to find Sam and Leesha still hard at work in the living room. Papers were spread haphazardly in a wide circle around them, yet both of them were intently pecking on back to back laptops. Neither one looked up as Lexi and Clint entered the room.
“What’s going on?” Lexi asked. “Wait… What’s wrong?”
“Yeah, how did it go with Trey?” Clint flopped down on the couch next to Sam, looking at his computer screen.
Leesha looked up with a look of concern pinching the area between her eyebrows. “Trey’s fine. He gave us all the information from Crain’s computers.”
“Okay,” Lex paused. “Then what’s got you worried?”
“We may have a small problem.”
“Small?” Sam scoffed.
“What problem?” both Lexi and Clint said in unison.
Leesha looked around where she was sitting and plucked up a printout, which she handed to Lexi. “Here. Tell me your initial reaction.”
Lexi scanned the news article and her face went white. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“What?” Clint asked again, reaching for the paper in Lexi’s hand.
“His name is not exactly Trey. It’s Jonathan Connor the third – he just goes by Trey as a nickname.”
“Why does that name sound familiar?” Clint asked her.
“He’s the Governor’s son.” Leesha said. “I can’t believe I didn’t put it together when I first saw the list of babies in the hospital ward. I should have recognized it right away.”
“Did he tell you this on his own?” Lexi asked, picking up more pieces of paper to read.
“Not exactly. Well, no, not at all. He gave me his last name and address, along with his other contact information. When I mapped out the address, I realized it was the Governor’s mansion.”
“So what does that mean?” Clint spoke up. “Why are you guys worried? Has he told his parents about any of this? About his powers?”
“No, not yet. But if this gets out, it’s not going to stay private very long,” Sam answered. “People like that, in high-ranking governmental positions, are likely going to get a lot of attention with news like this.”
“Give me the deets on him,” Lexi said. “Okay, so he lives here, but his parents?”
“His dad’s in the capital for most of the year, his mom travels back and forth,” Leesha answered. “Spends about half her time here as a mom, half her time in Jefferson City being the politician’s wife.”
“Why did they stay here in St. Louis? I mean, why not move to the capital?”
“His dad got elected two years ago. According to one of his interviews, this is just a stepping stone for him to Washington,” Leesha said. “I don’t get the impression he has any intention of being in Missouri for very long.”
“Plus,” Sam continued, “I dug up a medical record on his younger sister. There’s not much about her in the news. She was born with Downs Syndrome and attends a special school here in St. Louis. I suspect keeping the family here was more about the sister and her needs than it was about the rest of the family.”
“So, when you say Washington…” Clint started to ask.
“The political analysts are already forecasting he’ll announce his candidacy for President in the fall,” Sam answered before Clint could finish his thought.
“Shit. And now all of a sudden we’re not just dealing with the Governor’s son, we’re looking at nationwide campaign trails. They’ll be digging into everything about his dad.”
Lexi paced the length of the room. “Well, it explains why he’s been hesitant to come forward and trust anyone with his secret. He probably can’t afford to drag his family into some kind of scandal. It also explains how he’s able to stalk us and Crain at all hours of the day and night. He can’t have much supervision at home.”
“No,” Leesha confirmed. “When his mom’s away, there’s a housekeeping staff, and a teacher who home schools him during the week. He’s pretty much got total freedom.”
“And you’ve not talked to him about any of this?”
“Not yet. Sam and I are still putting the pieces together. He just left here about an hour ago.”
“How did you leave everything with Trey?” Lexi asked. “Is he coming back?”
“Yeah, tomorrow afternoon. We need to plan for Jade’s doctor appointment.”
Lexi turned to Sam. “What did you find out from Crain’s computer files?”
“Nothing yet,” he sighed. “We haven’t even cracked into them yet. We got sidetracked by this political grenade. I honestly don’t know how to handle this.”
&n
bsp; “What time will Trey be here tomorrow?” Lexi asked.
“Early afternoon, why?” Leesha asked her.
“Give me all the information you’ve gathered on him and his family. We need to get to know him as much as possible, figure out if we can trust him. And his family, if that comes into play. I’m the people person, I’ll take care of Trey. Sam, you’re the data nerd – you work on Crain’s files.”
Sam shot his sister a dirty look.
“What do you want me to do?” Leesha asked.
“First, call Jade and give her as much of an update as we have for now. Then put your head together with Sam and give us a report on Crain’s research.”
“What about me?” Clint asked.
“Can you ride over to Trey’s house and see if Crain is tracking him in any way? Surveillance cameras, bugs, you know…”
“Sure.”
“You better call him first, let him know you’re coming. There’s no sense in tipping off the Governor’s staff that we’re running a sweep on his property.”
“Do you think Crain knows about him?”
The room was silent while everyone thought about this.
“I don’t think so,” Sam answered. “Remember how he sent Clint to us, when he tracked him down? I think his plan all along was to bring us together. I don’t think he sent Trey to us. It sounds like he really did find us on his own.”
“I agree with Sam,” Leesha said. “I don’t think he knows about Trey. I don’t think he knows about Jade, either. We’ll find out more once we start digging into his files, if he’s got any records on Trey or his family. But in the meantime, Clint – you’ll probably be the quickest way to find out. If you find tracking devices, that will be our first clue.”
“I’m on it. What’s his number?” He punched it into his phone and grabbed his helmet. “I’ll call him on the way.”
Chapter Forty
Clint pulled up to a giant, black wrought-iron fence. It had an electronic lock and an intercom podium stationed to the left side of the driveway.
Holy crap. I thought this stuff was only in the movies.
A crackly, static sound came over the speaker. “Conner residence. State your name and business, please.”
“Hi. Uh… I’m Clint McKay and I’m here to see Trey Connor.”
“Is he expecting you?”
“Yes.”
“Just one moment.”
Clint sat there about forty-five seconds, which felt more like three hours, wondering what was going to happen next. From what he could see of the property, the vast difference between Trey’s life and his didn’t escape his notice.
And I thought Jade’s house was nice. Even Sam and Lexi’s, but what a huge change to see a mansion like this. How random, that we’re all connected just by being at the same place at the same time seventeen years ago…
The scratchy radio broke the silence again as Clint heard the lock on the gate open. The sounds of hydraulic gears filled the air as the voice in the speaker said: “Proceed through the gate to the porte-cochere.”
The porta what?
He eased the cycle into the massive circular, cobblestone driveway. A light turned on over the giant entrance doorway and he saw Trey step out onto the porch. He cut the engine and leaned the Harley onto its kickstand.
“You’re not going to strangle me again, this time, are you?” Trey’s half-grin looked much more relaxed than he seemed earlier in the afternoon.
“Nah, man. Sorry about that. You just gotta try and understand… You were spying on my friends, and I didn’t know why.”
“Yeah, I get it. I do…” He paused. “It’s nice you’ve got kids like you that you can hang with. I never had anyone I could trust with any of this.”
“Well, now you do,” Clint said.
“So you’re here to do, well, exactly what?”
Clint looked around them, above to the awning overhead. There were security cameras installed already, which is exactly what he had expected. Of course a house like this would be properly protected. The difficulty now would be determining if there were any rogue electronics hidden along with the original ones.
He looked back up at Trey. “The surveillance,” he said, nodding towards the camera just six feet away. “Does it have audio?”
“No, just the video.”
“Okay, good. I’m just trying to figure out if Crain has any kind of tracking device or other surveillance attached to you or your family. We need to know if he knows about you.”
“Why do you think he’d be tracking me?”
“He’s been tracking all of us for quite some time now. It’s what tipped us off that he may not be such a nice guy.”
“Do you think my family’s in danger?”
“I don’t know yet,” Clint answered honestly, then finally registered the worried look in Trey’s expression. “Don’t jump to conclusions yet. Hopefully he hasn’t tracked you down yet, so you’re safe. Can you show me where your car is? I want to start there.”
“Sure, follow me.”
They walked in silence for a while, as they made their way to the five-car garage, a building separate from the main mansion. Trey took them through a side door and pointed to a shiny, red Hummer. “That one’s mine over there.”
Clint raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been following us in that? How did I not notice that thing?”
Trey laughed. “No, I’ve been taking the pickup our gardener uses to move things. It’s much less showy.”
“Good move,” Clint said. “Well, I’ll want to check both vehicles, then.”
“Can you check all of them? Just in case? I mean… I just don’t want to think he’s following my mother or anything.”
“Sure, man. No problem. You got a flashlight I can borrow?”
Trey handed him a Maglite. “So, can I ask about your powers?”
“Sure,” Clint answered as he slid himself under the front of the Hummer. “I guess we didn’t give you much of a chance to ask anything of us. Though it sounds like you know pretty much everything anyway. How much have you seen?”
“Bits and pieces. I’ve obviously seen Lexi’s invisibility in action. Or not seen it, if that makes any sense. Most everything else I’ve just read in your journal entries. So, uh… your super strength?”
Clint poked his head out from underneath the vehicle, grinning. “You wanna see?”
“Yeah!”
“Are there cameras inside the garage?”
“Oh, right. Yes, in the corner behind me.”
“Anyone manning the surveillance?”
“Of course. We’ve got a 24-hour security staff.”
Clint’s head jerked out further, his eyebrows knit together. “How are you going to explain me – this – to them, then?”
Trey shuffled his feet back and forth. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I’ve never had to worry about covering for anyone else but myself before.”
“This one’s clean,” Clint said as he pulled himself upright. “How long have you been covering? I mean, how long have you known about your powers?”
“A little over a year.”
“And you haven’t told anyone?”
“Nope.”
“Why not? How come you haven’t told your folks?”
Trey shrugged. “Well, it’s kind of complicated.”
“Look, we know your dad’s the Governor.”
His eyes shot upward. “How’d you know that?”
“It doesn’t take Sam and Leesha too long to find anything, once they start researching. They’re both really smart, and quick on the computer.”
“Oh. Wow, are they pissed at me for not telling them right away?”
“No, not pissed. But they’re a little worried about how big of a story this could be if it gets out, you being the son of a governmental official and all.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“Did you keep it quiet for your dad? For political reasons?”
“Well, not exactly
. I mean, there’s that. But it had more to do with my little sister.”
“Downs, right?”
Surprised snapped back onto Trey’s face, then it faded as he understood. “They really are good, aren’t they?”
“The best. But you can trust them. All of us – we’re in this together. Tell me about your sister.”
His face softened. “She’s really sweet. Her name is Macie and she’s four years old.” He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. “Here, here’s a picture of her.”
Clint looked down. “She’s cute. She doesn’t look much like you…”
“No, other than we have the same red hair. Her face pretty much looks like a typical Downs kid.”
“I don’t know much about it… The disease,” Clint stammered, embarrassed.
“It’s not a disease; it’s a syndrome. Basically she was born with one extra chromosome, which makes her mentally slower than normal humans. Well, there’s a more scientific explanation-”
“Yeah,” Clint grinned. “Just give me the dummy version. I’m a little slow too, when it comes to science and chromosomes, or whatever you called it.”
“Ha, right. Okay. Well, anyway, Mom blames herself because she had Macie so late in life. It happens more for older mothers, for some reason. She and Dad weren’t trying to get pregnant – it was totally a surprise. Dad was in the early stages of his state campaign when they found out. I think it was two weeks before he started talking to Mom again, he was so mad.”
“Why?”
“He was worried about it ruining his chances for the office. Then they had her, right before the primary election, and found out about the Downs diagnosis. He went ballistic again. In the end, he said it was the pity votes that pushed him over the edge and won the election for him.”
Clint looked at him sideways, not really sure what to say.
“Yeah, I know that sounds bad. He’s not all that horrible. He’s just very driven, and he has a funny way of coping with things beyond his control.”
“Oh. So that’s why you haven’t told them?”
“No, not exactly. It’s just… Well, Mom’s had a hard time dealing with her guilt over Macie, and trying to find the best care for her. I don’t have the heart to tell her I’m not normal, too. It’d kill her.”