Tori sighed heavily. “Fine. But I’m just saying, Superhero X wouldn’t have stopped like this last night. And that was in the snow.”
Joe barked his surprised laughter. A second later, he tackled her.
After a fabulous minute of roving, groping hands and hot, wet kisses, Tori’s phone beeped that she had a text message.
“Ignore it,” Joe whispered in between kisses. He pulled her pants down and unbuckled his own.
Tori pushed their clothes aside and pulled her husband down on top of her. Oh yes! She’d missed him so much.
The phone beeped again.
“Let me make sure it’s nothing important.” Tori kept kissing him as she tried to find her phone. Two texts from Lexie asking if she’d picked up Ben from school. Tori texted “no” and went back to what she was doing. She wondered for a moment if she should worry about her power doing something weird while they were making love.
Joe shifted slightly and Tori thought she might explode. This was going to be the best make-up sex ever!
Two minutes later, her phone rang.
But they needed one more minute. Just one more. Yes! Oh. My. Gosh.
They were trying to catch their breath, still kissing and tasting and touching, when Joe’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and growled.
“Yeah, Dad?” Joe frowned and looked at Tori. “Yeah, she’s with me. We’re at the house.” He pulled away from Tori and motioned for her to get dressed. “We’ll be right there.”
CHAPTER 18
THE moment Joe stopped the truck, Tori ran through the snowy yard and into the house. The connection between her and Lexie had always been strong, but when her sister lost control of her empathic abilities, the bond became a stranglehold.
She tripped trying to get her boots off. She pushed past Owen and Hannah as she raced through their kitchen into the living room. She didn’t have to be told where her sister was. Lexie pulled Tori like steel to a magnet.
Lexie huddled on the floor against the couch, rocking back and forth. As soon as their eyes met, a wave of torment hit Tori like a physical force. She stumbled and fell, scrambling the last few feet on her knees, crying the whole way. At Lexie’s side, Tori tried to remember what to do. Her sister’s anguish rolled through the room in waves. Tori could barely think past this overwhelming despair.
The last time Lexie had a reaction like this was the day their parents made her give up her son Charlie for adoption. Tori closed her eyes against the pain in that memory. She didn’t want to feed her sister’s anxiety. Lexie wasn’t telepathic, she couldn’t read people’s thoughts, but she could read their emotions. She could also direct her feelings toward those around her. That’s the crushing weight anyone nearby would feel.
Tori took Lexie’s hand. She smoothed her sister’s hair away from her face. Calming, gentle touches. That’s right, she remembered now. She sniffled and wiped her face on her sleeve. She had to stop crying. Tori took a few deep, cleansing breaths. She focused on the calm center in the deepest part of her heart, the place where she believed with all her being that God had a plan for them, strange abilities and all.
Please help us, Father God. Please, please, please.
Tori settled in closer and leaned her forehead against her sister’s temple. “We’re going to find Ben, Lex,” she whispered. Joe had told her Ben was missing, but sitting here near her sister she knew it was worse than that. He was still close enough for Lexie to feel him, including his pain.
“We’ll find him,” she murmured, “but first we have to relax. Shh… Remember how we did this before?”
Lexie had a wall up around her misery. Tori could feel it like a barrier between them. The only way she could get Lexie out of her fortress was to go inside and lead her out. Tori pushed aside the fear that threatened to surface, a memory of the bad times after Charlie was taken away. She took one more deep breath and knocked on the wall.
“Lexie, let me in.”
Pain ripped through Tori’s chest. She cried out with the shock of it. She began to weep in earnest. A door in the wall started to open, then slammed shut. Someone wrenched her away from Lexie and the pain eased dramatically.
Tori opened her eyes to find Joe holding her close. The muscles in his face tightened as he struggled against his falling tears. That was Lexie’s doing. Her emotions radiated out and affected everyone within twenty or thirty feet. Tori vaguely remembered that Hannah and Owen were crying when she pushed past them in the kitchen.
“It’s okay, Joe,” Tori said. She tried to sound soothing, fighting her sobs. “We’ve done this before.”
“I’m not leaving you.” Joe tightened his embrace. “What’s happening?”
Tori had done enough research to find a word for it. “She’s an empath.”
She looked up to see a tough-looking, dark-haired man standing nearby, the muscles in his face tight like he was grinding his teeth. He was trying not to cry.
“I’m Mickey, Joe’s friend. How can we help?” he asked.
“Just leave us alone. Please. I know what to do.” Tori struggled out of Joe’s grip.
Joe shook his head. “No. I’m not leaving. She’s hurting you.”
Tori started to argue, then conceded. “She doesn’t mean to.”
“Can we absorb some of the energy?” Mickey asked. “Will that help?”
No one had ever offered to help before. This man seemed to understand the problem in a way no one else had. His idea had merit. The more Tori thought about it, the more she thought Mickey might be onto something. If Tori only had to deal with a third of Lexie’s pain…
“It’ll hurt.”
Both men nodded.
Tori motioned for them to kneel next to her sister. She took one of Lexie’s hands, and Joe took the other. Mickey laid his hands on Lexie’s shoulders. All three of them shuddered against the pain as soon as they touched her. The intensity of emotion pushing against them was the same as a moment ago, but Tori could feel it spreading out among them. She wondered how much Lexie could understand.
Closing her eyes, Tori leaned her forehead against Lexie’s temple. The wall of anguish still stood between them. Tori knocked.
In her mind, as if she were dreaming, she saw a door open in the wall. It opened more quickly than it had a moment ago. At some level, Lexie was reaching out. Tori walked in and the door disappeared. Before her was the alley where Lexie had lived when she was sixteen. It was dark and dirty. The distinctive odor of homeless people filled Tori’s nose. Something moved in the dark and Tori shivered.
“Lex?” Tori walked down the alley, searching amongst broken pieces of furniture, behind the dumpster, in a cardboard box. She found her sister curled into herself at the end of the alley, sitting on a wadded up old blanket, arms wrapped around her knees.
Tori swallowed against the filth and sat down next to her. Lexie looked sixteen again. Skinny, scared, alone. Tori wondered if Lexie saw her as her fourteen-year-old self. In the bad years, Tori had come looking for her twice a week, bringing food, clothes, blankets, begging her to come home. Lexie’s re-creation looked and smelled the same as Tori’s memory of the reality.
Lexie had been able to feel Charlie with a frightening intensity even though he and his adoptive parents lived on the other side of the city. The police had arrested Lexie for stalking. She said she couldn’t stay away from him. The couple had gotten a restraining order. Lexie refused to go back on the medication that would cloud her mind. She didn’t want to lose the link to her son, and she couldn’t forgive their parents for forcing the adoption.
In the dark alley, Tori took her sister’s hand. It was different, clean. Tori looked around and noticed there were no empty wine bottles, no used needles. Lexie may have returned to a refuge of the past in her mind, but she’d come here as her new, cleaned-up self.
“Who’s out there?” Lexie asked. Her voice quivered with fear, but her eyes had a shine of hope that they’d never had when she was sixteen.
“Jo
e and his friend Mickey. They want to help. We’re going to find Ben.”
A rock hit Tori in the chest and she sucked in her breath at the pain. Suddenly a shower of rocks pelted Lexie. At first Tori didn’t understand. Then it dawned on her. Lexie had found a way to punish herself – and others – in her mind.
“Lex, stop! Stop it!”
The assault slowed and finally ended. Lexie began to sob. “I can’t go through that again. I can’t!”
The alley morphed and became a ledge. Goosebumps raised over Tori’s skin. Vision or not, it looked and felt real. She darted a glance down, but all she could see was darkness. She closed her eyes and tried to swallow against a choking feeling. She couldn’t tell the difference between Lexie’s fear and her own.
A sense like a strong hand on her shoulder brought a small but instant measure of peace. Where…who…the real world. Joe was giving her strength in the real world.
Unsure whether the alley and the ledge were figments of Lexie’s imagination or if there could be real-life effects to falling, Tori decided it was time to leave. They didn’t have all the time in the world like they did when they were teenagers. Ben needed them. She could feel through Lexie that he was alive and scared.
On the ledge, Tori eased her arm around Lexie and pulled her close. She focused on feeding peaceful and calming emotions to her sister, a corner of her mind praying passionately for help. Images of Joe and Mickey helped Tori focus on getting back into the real world. When she focused on Joe, the sense of peace and strength deepened. It was weird but wonderful. She whispered and soothed and cajoled her sister into a calmer place.
The ledge became the alley again. The alley became lighter. Tori looked up to see the walls dissolving. A few moments later she opened her eyes in Joe’s parents’ living room.
“Lex.” Tori heard her voice sound more firm now that the pain was receding. “You’re not alone anymore. Feel it. There’s four of us now. We’ll find Ben together. Calm down, okay, and we’ll help you figure out where he is.”
Lexie opened her eyes. For a moment Tori wasn’t sure how she was going to respond. Then she reached for Tori and hugged her hard. Tori held her close. She looked at Joe and Mickey. Both men were pale and sweaty. They must have absorbed a huge amount of Lexie’s energy. Tori met their eyes – first Joe, then Mickey – and mouthed, thank you.
She turned back to Lexie. Both girls wiped at their tears. “We can do this, Lex,” Tori said. “We’ll drive around and you’ll let us know if we’re getting closer or farther away, okay?”
Lexie nodded. Her hand shook as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Mickey handed her a box of tissues. Tori would’ve sworn the two shared a look, but that couldn’t be right. Lexie had vowed to keep all men at a distance after Ben’s father had left her.
Joe put his hand on Tori’s arm. His touch and his presence soothed her fears, as it had since the moment they’d met. “Let’s go,” he said.
Tori felt her legs shaking as she stood up. She let herself lean into Joe. The difference between walking a hard road alone and walking it with friends overwhelmed her with hope. She noticed Melissa and Stuart sitting near the top of the stairs, faces wet. They both tried to smile when they caught her eye. Tori didn’t need telepathic powers to know they were rooting for Lexie.
The four walked through the kitchen to the back door and the pile of boots and coats. The kitchen was filled with people now, half of whom Tori didn’t know. A hooded man stood beside Owen. He nodded at Tori as she passed. Three women sat praying together at the kitchen table, holding hands, their lips moving silently. A very old Asian man with a cane made Tori think of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Art and Casey stood shell-shocked in a corner. Most everyone wiped at their tears.
A few minutes later, the four were back in their winter coats and ready to go. Hannah patted Lexie’s shoulder and pressed a stack of dish towels into Tori’s hands.
“In case you need them,” she said. Her voice sounded rough, like she’d been crying for a long time. She gave Tori a quick, hard hug.
Tori held Lexie’s hand when they went outside. A cold winter wind buffeted the group as Mickey led them to the white Chevy Tahoe in the alley. Tori shivered. Her damp cheeks burned in the wind. At least it wasn’t snowing.
A huge white Chevy Suburban with dark tinted windows pulled up behind the Tahoe. Hayley jumped out of the passenger seat and ran over. She grabbed them and the three girls held each other tight. Tori didn’t know why or how Hayley was here, but she was glad to see her.
A blonde man about Joe’s size stepped out from the driver side of the Suburban and waited.
Mickey stood in front of Lexie, his hand on her shoulder. “You ready?”
Lexie turned slowly in a circle and stopped. She stared without seeing.
“That way?” Mickey pointed northwest.
Lexie nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. She cleared her throat and nodded again.
Tori studied Mickey’s face. He looked intimidating but sounded so gentle. And Lexie seemed, inexplicably, to trust him. Maybe only because he was helping her find Ben. It probably wouldn’t last longer than that. Tori knew her sister too well.
“You two follow us.” Mickey nodded at the blonde man and Hayley. He opened the door of the first SUV and helped Lexie inside.
“We’ll take our car,” Art said to Mickey. “As soon as you have confirmation–”
Tori heard him pause, almost stutter, as he looked at Lexie. She wondered if he’d ever encountered anything like what had just happened. Chalk up another new experience for the Superhero Liaison Unit.
“–we’ll have additional units heading your way.”
“Joe,” Owen called from the back door. “Call me. We’ll do whatever is necessary.”
Tori shivered. She’d never heard Owen use quite that tone before.
Mickey drove. He followed Lexie’s directions, even anticipated them sometimes. Tori wondered if something had happened to him and Joe when they’d been connected to Lexie earlier.
They moved predominately northwest through residential areas and business districts, backtracking at the occasional one-way street or cul-de-sac. They drove up the peninsula between West Bay and East Bay. They circled down around the southern end of West Bay and continued west. Lexie mumbled that she felt Ben was farther north. Tori saw her look out over the expanse of water separating them from the unseen northern shoreline. Lexie began to cry.
Within moments, everyone in the SUV was crying, everyone fighting against Lexie’s power. Tori tried to send Lexie peace, but she was exhausted. She felt like a wet sponge, unable to absorb any more. Mickey pulled over and wiped his face with one of the dish towels. Without saying a word, he got out and climbed into the back seat, moving Lexie into the middle.
Mickey reached for Lexie’s hand, grasping it firmly in both of his.
“No, Mickey, don’t–”
But it was too late. Tori saw him flinch. She grabbed Lexie’s other hand to keep Mickey from feeling the full effect. It was the oddest sensation. Like she was privy to a wordless conversation. Tori could feel him help Lexie focus. Ben became a beacon, a homing signal in all their minds. With that single focus, all three of them turned their heads to the north.
Mickey’s voice broke the thick quiet. “Joe, drive north around East Bay up toward Culver Lake.”
Joe slid across to the driver’s seat and pulled out into traffic. The SUV spun its tires in the snow for a moment before it gained traction on the blacktop. Tori looked out the back window. The second SUV and the unmarked police car had stopped behind them, a blue light flashing in the police car. They followed Mickey back onto the road. The sedan fish-tailed as it struggled to get back on the pavement. The blue light went off.
Twenty-five minutes later, they were traveling down a two-lane road with woods on the right, the occasional farm on the left. It was full dark outside. No streetlights out here in the country. Tori couldn’t remember seeing such deep night before.
The
headlights reflected off the snowbanks creating strange shadows. Tori tried not to shiver even as the heater blasted from the dash. She looked at the dashboard clock. It was only 7:23. Nothing scary happened at 7:23.
Lexie clutched her hand more tightly. Tori turned to her, an inexplicable fear rising in her throat. She wished she could hold Joe’s hand. As if he could sense her unease, Joe caught her eye in the rearview mirror.
“We’re close?” Mickey asked.
Lexie nodded.
Now there were woods on both sides. When the headlights hit the snow just right, Tori thought she could make out a fence inside the tree line.
“Wait,” Lexie whispered. She sat forward in her seat. “Stop! Here, here!”
Joe pulled to the side of the road. Woods. Just woods. Tori’s jaw ached. She was clenching her teeth. She tried to relax, but in a moment she was tense again. She stared through the trees on the right side of the road. Ben was in the woods somewhere, and he didn’t want to be there. He wanted his mommy.
It took Tori a moment to understand why she knew this. She still held her sister’s hand. Lexie knew where her son was and what he was feeling. For a moment, Tori understood the burden Lexie had been forced to carry when Charlie was taken from her.
“I think there’s a bit of light up there,” Joe said. He drove forward on the shoulder. Snow and gravel crunched under the tires. Finally, a driveway appeared. A sign stood partially covered in snow. Small outdoor spotlights illuminated the sign from under the snow, creating more shadows.
CURTIS ENTERPRISES, Research Fac…
Tori felt her stomach drop. It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t. Why?
She looked at Lexie. A look of horror washed over her sister’s face. Tori noticed Mickey in the dim light. She yanked Lexie’s hand from his. He couldn’t know. She didn’t want him to know. He’d tell Joe and Joe would…
Tori didn’t know what Joe would do. How would he react when he found out he’d married into the villain’s family? There was no other way to look at it: Kane was a villain, he must be, and she was his daughter. Tori choked as she tried to hold in a sob.
Unexpected Superhero (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke Book 1) Page 28