by Liz Wolfe
“Let me see some identification.” He still held the gun on them.
Shelby slowly pulled her FSA ID from her pocket with two fingers and handed it to him. He stared at it a moment and then lowered his gun, sagging a little. That’s when she noticed the bloody tear in his pants’ leg.
“What happened?” Shelby asked, nodding to his leg.
“Bastards shot me while I was getting away.” Chase moved to half sit on the corner of the desk.
“Me too.” She turned to Mac. “You want to take a look at that?”
Mac moved to kneel next to Chase. He pulled apart the torn fabric and inspected the gash. “The bullet cut a pretty deep gouge. Must hurt.”
“I’ve had worse.” Chase shrugged. “So, what are you two doing here?”
“Same as you, I suspect. Looking for a clue as to where they took Shannon.”
“I’ve been through everything here. Nothing.”
“Then we have to look another way.”
“How do we do that?” Mac asked.
“We find out who owns this building. If they leased it, we might be able to find them by whatever information they gave the leasing company, or by the checks they used to pay the rent.”
“What if they own it?” Chase asked.
“Then we trace them through that paper work.” She looked from Mac to Chase, knowing they weren’t going to like what she had to say. “Unfortunately, that can take some time.”
“We don’t have time.” Mac shook his head. “They don’t have time.”
“I know. The FSA and FBI have probably already done a lot of the work on this. Hopefully, that’ll speed everything up.”
“They?” Chase asked. “They took people besides Shannon?”
“Shannon’s son, Sam, and another woman.” Chase nodded but said nothing. Shelby decided she’d let Shannon explain.
“How did you escape?” she asked him.
“Wasn’t that hard. They came in a couple of days ago in a heated rush. I could hear a lot of activity, and I figured that might be my chance to get out. After a while, they sent some rookie security guard to get me.” Chase shrugged and grinned. “He wasn’t much of a challenge.”
“You’re Marine Force Recon, aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“That explains how you got into The Center initially and how you got out.”
“Chase, why did you come here? How did you even know that Shannon was here?” Mac leaned against the credenza and crossed his arms over his chest. “Had you been in touch with her?”
Chase glanced down and shrugged. He then looked back at Mac. “No, I hadn’t heard from her since I went into the Marines.”
Mac lifted his eyebrows, and Shelby watched the interplay with interest. Chase looked like he really didn’t want to say something, but had to.
“I had a feeling,” he mumbled.
“A feeling?” she asked.
“Actually, it was more than a feeling, wasn’t it?” Mac spoke softly, as if he didn’t want to upset Chase.
“Yeah, it was more than a feeling,” Chase admitted with a sigh. “Shannon and I always had this connection.”
“Can you communicate with her?”
“Some.” Chase shifted again.
“How much?” Mac demanded.
“I don’t know. I mean, we used to do it a lot. Not words or anything, but feelings, emotions.” Chase stood and grimaced a bit from the pain in his leg. “But that pretty much ended when I left. Until about a month ago.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how to explain it. I just had this feeling that she was in trouble, that she needed me.”
“So you came here?”
Chase nodded. “I talked to some of her friends. They didn’t know much except that she’d been coming to The Center for a while. So I decided to check them out. They said they didn’t know what had happened to her, but I knew they were lying.”
“You knew? How?” she asked.
“It’s just something I can do.” Chase shrugged and looked embarrassed. “I can read emotions in people.”
“So, you hung around?”
“I hung around. They were looking for volunteers for psychic research, so I signed up. I knew I had enough ability to keep them interested for a while. And I figured that would give me a chance to find her.”
They all stood silent for a moment. Shelby guessed Mac was considering what Chase had told them. She was just amazed. Psychic stuff wasn’t something she’d ever dealt with or even thought much about. Go figure.
“If we’re done here, I’d like to get someplace where I can clean up his leg.” Mac shot her a look. “I’m fairly certain taking him to a hospital is out of the question.”
Actually, she’d have been pleased to dump Chase in a nice safe hospital. The last thing she needed was someone getting in her way. She already had enough obstacles.
“No hospital.” Chase stood again, and Shelby could see him gritting his teeth against the pain.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Mac asked.
Shelby punched the redial button on her cell phone and waited for Ethan to answer.
“Shelby. Did you find anything?”
“Yeah, I found Chase. Unfortunately I didn’t find a single clue as to where they’ve taken Zoe, Shannon, and Sam.”
“Nothing?”
“Not a damn thing. They took all the hard drives out of the computers, no papers around. But they left a lot of very expensive equipment. Maybe they’re planning on coming back for it.”
“And they left Chase.”
“Well, they didn’t really leave him. He escaped while they were getting ready to leave. Then he just hid out and kept looking in The Center for a clue as to where they’d gone.”
Ethan cursed vividly. “So, we’ve lost them again.”
“Only for now. I need you to find out what the FSA and the FBI know about them. Did they own this building? Did they lease it? We might be able to track them through a paper trail.”
“I’ll see what I can find out. I’m sure they buried everything in dummy corporations, so it’ll take a while to find anything.”
“Crack the whip, Ethan. We’re dead in the water until we know where they are.”
“Yes, Ms. Garrett, we can do that for you.” Paige Blackwell stifled a sigh and rolled her eyes since there was no one in the small offices of Parker Security and Investigation to see her. Another woman who was sure her husband was having an affair. “Absolutely, I’ll get on it as soon as you come down and sign the contract.” Paige held the phone away from her ear for a few seconds to get some relief from the woman’s sobbing hysteria. “Fine, I’ll see you then.” She replaced the phone as the door opened to admit a petite woman dressed in jeans and a tee shirt.
The woman’s eyes darted around the office, and she tossed a long red braid over her shoulder. “I’d like to see Shelby Parker.”
“Ms. Parker is out of the office. May I help you with something?” Paige stood and pulled herself up to her full five feet nine inches. The woman had to look up at her as she walked to the desk, but didn’t seem the least bit intimidated.
“Are you her secretary?”
“No. I’m her partner.” Well, not really a partner—yet. “What did you want to see her about?”
“It’s personal.”
“I see.” It was always personal. “She’s out of town on a case right now. I don’t know when to expect her back.”
“Oh, I thought it was over, and she’d be back. Do you know how to reach her?”
“I might,” Paige said. “If you tell me who you are and what this is all about.”
“Just tell her Zoe Drummond needs to talk to her. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Wait!” Paige almost yelled. “Zoe? The one she got out of The Center?”
“You know about that?”
“Well, I am her partner.” She really needed to stop lying about that. “Anyway, Shelby emails in her case reports whenever she has the c
hance, and I read them. The last one indicated that you and the others had been taken by The Center again.”
“I got away, but they got Shannon and Sam.”
“Hold on. She’s going to want to talk to you.” Paige lifted the phone receiver and punched in the speed dial number for Shelby’s cell phone. After a few rings, she got Shelby’s voice mail. “Shelby, Paige here. Call me. Soon.”
“Where are you staying?”
“I don’t know yet. I just got off the plane this morning. I guess I’ll get a hotel room.”
“No need.” Paige waved her hand. “You can stay with me. I have an extra bed.”
“No, that’s all right.”
“It’s necessary. Shelby might call me at anytime.” Paige pressed the phone button to send all calls to voice mail and picked up her purse. “I was just about to close up.
We’ll go to my place and order a pizza. Shelby will probably call soon.” She wasn’t about to let Zoe out of her sight.
“All right. No anchovies though.”
“Deal.” Paige closed up the office and led Zoe the four blocks to her loft apartment over The Zen Tea Garden and Bookstore.
“Nice place,” Zoe said as Paige dropped her purse and mail on the small table next to the door.
“I like it.” Paige looked around her large, single room apartment. “I refurbished it myself. Used to be some kind of sweatshop, I think.” Paige picked up the phone and punched in the number for pizza delivery. “Make yourself at home. You want a beer?”
“Sure.” Zoe accepted a beer from Paige and walked over to the large windows that ran along the street side of the apartment.
Paige placed the order for the pizza, and then sat on the sofa and pulled out a roll of blueprints, spreading them across the coffee table. Zoe didn’t seem to be the talkative type, and Paige decided to let her settle in while they waited for the pizza and for Shelby to call.
“What are those?”
Paige jumped, startled at Zoe’s voice. She hadn’t heard her move across the apartment to stand next to the coffee table. Must be her size, Paige decided. Zoe was decidedly tiny.
“A client wants us to recommend an electronic security system. From the layout he’s got, I’m thinking he probably needs a Zenador Maximum system.” Paige hunkered over the floor plans to hide her smirk.
“That would work on the doors, but the Zenador is a little weak when it comes to window access. He’s got a lot of floor-to-ceiling glass, even on the first floor. You’d do better with a Tricor system. It works on pressure sensitivity and has the best motion detection.”
Paige gaped at her. “How do you know that?”
Shannon stood at the small, barred window of the sterile, chilly room and stared out at the pine trees just beyond the high walls. She didn’t even know exactly where they were. Somewhere in Washington State. She could see Mt. Rainier to the northeast and Mt. St. Helens to the south. She’d memorized the way they’d traveled after they left the plane. But it wasn’t going to do her any good if she couldn’t get out.
Part of her mind just didn’t want to accept that they’d taken her and Sam. Again. If the FSA and FBI couldn’t keep them safe, then what was going to happen to her and her son?
The worst was not knowing where they’d put Sam. As soon as they’d entered the big, gray building, they’d taken Sam away from her. She tentatively reached out to him with her mind. A smile spread across her lips when she touched the bright, energetic essence of the four-year-old.
“Mommy. Where are you?”
“I’m here, Sam. Are you okay?”
“I miss you. I don’t like these people. ”
“I know, honey. I’ll find a way to get us out of here. ”
“Mac’s going to come for us. And Bear too. ”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I saw it, Mommy. They’ll come. ”
“I love you, Sam.”
Shannon broke the connection with her son, worried that if she held it too long, someone would know that she could communicate with him.
Tears filled her eyes and slipped down her cheeks. She just wanted her little boy back. And to escape from this place and these mad people. She thought of Sam again and envisioned his white-blond hair and big, blue eyes. He looked so much like his father. Oh, God, Chase. I wish you were here now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“I know where Shannon is.”
Mac and Shelby both turned to stare at Chase. “How could you know where she is?” she asked, thinking that maybe the stress had gotten to him. Mac seemed to take it at face value.
“Where?” Mac asked.
“I don’t know exactly, but Mt. Rainier is to the east and Mt. St. Helens is to the south.” Chase looked down, seemed to realize that he was only wearing boxer briefs and an undershirt, and blushed. “I’ll be right back.”
After he’d closed the door to the bedroom, Shelby turned to Mac. “Is this possible?”
“Oh, absolutely. Chase said he and Shannon had a deep connection. He knew that she was in trouble of some kind. Now that Shannon knows Chase is in the picture, she’s probably sending out very specific messages to him.”
“Unbelievable.” Shelby shook her head. Chase hurried out of the bedroom again, this time fully dressed in his dirty fatigues.
“What exactly do you know, and how?” Mac asked.
“I was almost asleep. Just lying there, drifting, you know? Then I started to get these pictures.” Chase paced across the room and back again. “At first, I just thought I was starting to dream, but it felt different.” Chase shrugged and grinned. “This must sound kind of crazy.”
“Not at all, Chase.” Mac quirked an eyebrow, poured a cup of coffee, and handed it to Shelby. She wasn’t sure if he was the kind of guy who bothered to notice that she drank it endlessly, or if he just figured it would be a way to keep her mouth occupied for a few minutes. She knew what the eyebrow quirk was about, though.
“After a few minutes, I realized that it felt like Shannon. And she was sending the images in a loop. First there was a large, gray building with a wall around it, then a snow-capped mountain, and then Mt. St. Helens. I recognized it from pictures of when it erupted.”
“And you’re convinced she’s there?” Shelby asked, in spite of Mac’s warning glance.
“Absolutely.”
“The snow-capped mountain could have been Mt. Rainier.” Shelby opened up her laptop and turned it on. “Is she sending you pictures of what she’s seeing?” She opened her browser, did a search on Mt. Rainier, and clicked on a photo.
“That’s it, but from a different angle. Chase pointed to a spot on the map. “It was more like it might look from here. How soon can we get there?”
“Hold on, cowboy. What do you mean ‘we’?” Shelby held up a hand. “There’s no way you’re going there with me.”
“There’s no way I’m not.” Chase straightened and clasped his hands behind his back in a military stance. Respectful but determined.
“We could use him, Shelby,” Mac said.
“We?” She lifted an eyebrow at him. “You aren’t going either.”
“Why not?”
“This is my op. I don’t work with partners. Besides, neither one of you is trained for this.”
Mac frowned. “You think I’m not capable? I did complete the basic field agent training at Quantico.”
“I’m Force Recon. I’m trained for anything,” Chase said, taking some of the wind out of Mac’s sails.
“Training at Quantico is not the same as being on a dangerous op.” Shelby looked at Chase. “And I know that you are well-trained and experienced, but not for this.”
“Actually, I don’t see how you can do this without us,” Mac said mildly as he poured a cup of coffee for himself.
“How’s that?” She leaned back in the chair and folded her arms across her chest.
“You need Chase to help you pinpoint where they are holding Zoe, Shannon, and Sam,” Mac pointed out.
“And what do I need you for?”
Mac turned so Chase couldn’t see his face and waggled his eyebrows at her. Shelby frowned to prevent a fit of giggles.
“Actually, I have the most firsthand knowledge of Carlson and Thomas, and I might be able to increase the communication between Shannon and Chase.”
Shelby could have argued, but what was the point? Mac was right. She could use both of them and would probably need them at some stage. Especially since she was about to cut Ethan out of the loop.
“Mac, you take Chase out and do some shopping. Get whatever clothes you’ll need for a week. It’ll still be chilly at times up there, so shop accordingly. I have to make some calls, and then we’ll leave.” After Mac and Chase left, she punched in Ethan’s number.
“Got anything yet?”
Ethan sighed, and she could visualize him rubbing the furrows on his forehead. “I told you it would take some time.”
“I know.” Shelby hesitated. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Ethan, I’ve decided that I need to go alone on this for now.”
“Go alone?” Ethan chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “That’s ridiculous. And unnecessary.”
“I think it’s the only way. I’m not saying you’re leaking information deliberately, but everything I’ve told you has gotten back to The Center.”
She waited a few seconds, but Ethan was silent. “It’s the only way until you find the leak.”
Ethan sighed heavily. “I understand, but I don’t think it’s a good idea, Shelby.”
“I don’t like it myself, but I don’t see any other way.”
“Do you have a lead on them? Did you find something?”
Shelby said nothing, and it was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.
“Where will you be going?”
“I’m not telling you. I can’t risk it this time. You just find the leak.”
“I don’t like you being out there with no backup.”
“There’s no other way. Listen, I’ll call in. See how things are on your end.”
“I’ll find the leak, Shelby.”
Ethan disconnected, and she felt like she was adrift at sea. Suddenly everything was different. She’d worked ops alone for years at the FSA. But Ethan had always been there with resources, intel—whatever she needed to get the job done. Now, she not only didn’t have that, she had Chase and Mac along for the ride.