“He sounds wonderful. It must have been hard when he passed.”
“Oh, he’s still alive and kicking. He goes out and fishes at least twice a week. I talk to my parents, and he is mentoring all of the young children of the Island to this day.”
“Is it how you were able to find me, because of this ability to find things like you found Conner?”
“Partly. We finally had the intel you were being held in the abandoned business complex, but yeah, when we got there, I was able to tell which building you were in.”
“I don’t understand.”
“This time was so much stronger. I would have been able to tell what building a target was in. But because it was you, I could feel your pain. I knew what building you were in, sure. But Kali, I felt you. I knew exactly where you were in the building, and I knew we had to get to you fast or you weren’t going to make it.
“I wonder why Sarah and I don’t have any special abilities.”
“You do Kali, you have a way with children. That’s why they want you to teach, and why they need you in the school system. I suspect Sarah has some affinity for healing. They probably aren’t really major abilities, but just enough to make a small difference. Hell, everybody has something, not just found people. You know that. Look at your dad.”
“He is a born protector.”
“My point exactly. I think we’re just more in tune to what our purpose is.”
“Maybe.” She still wasn’t convinced. But then again, there had to be a reason they were here, didn’t there? “Noah, I don’t remember as much as to why we came here, I was so young. I remember you made the decision to come, and I made the decision to follow you. Why did you come here?”
“It’s still kind of fuzzy. I still remember somebody saying something about a tipping point. I remember it being really important. That’s about it.” Kali felt his frustration, and ran her hand down his chest, smiling at him as she reached his penis.
“It’s okay, Noah. Don’t stress about it. You’ve remembered a lot. Why don’t you try to relax? I think I can help.” Kali slid down his body, smiling. She soon had him tensing up again, but eventually he was totally relaxed.
Chapter Nineteen
“Sakuro took them all into custody, and we found Sarah’s Dan,” Nate said as soon as they entered the shared rooms. Noah smiled. He loved his team. Riley was there waiting for him.
“Hear your name is Noah these days,” he said with a grin as he waved from behind Sierra at the computer. She had an even a bigger set-up then when they left the room yesterday. Yep, it was definitely turning into a command post.
“You guys are an acceptable team.”
“That’s what we strive for, acceptable,” Nate said with a grin. “So we have an idea of where the leadership is to this fucking organization. They are outside of Dallas. Since its Riley’s stomping grounds, he and Kota have tickets out in four hours.”
“How tight is the location?”
“Pretty good. They’re operating out of a business in Denton. They’re trying to blend in with the University there. It’s not a bad cover.”
“Actually, it’s just one little subsidiary of a huge organization called Rixitron. Rixitron is a multinational with its grubby little tentacles in everything. This subsidiary houses their Senior VP in charge of, get this, Undeveloped Acquisitions.” Sierra’s disgust was clear.
“Who is this Senior VP?”
“Some slime bucket who actually worked a Ponzi scheme back in the day.”
“So we know exactly who they are and where they’re located, that’s good.” Noah gave them a steely look. He knew when he was being handed a line of bullshit.
“We don’t know exactly who the people are within the business. Two of the people are this Dan guy’s contacts.”
“So you need me.”
“Nope. Riley and I have this covered,” Kota said with absolute conviction.
“You know I’ll find them.”
“You’re not going Lieutenant and that’s final.”
Noah looked over at Kali, she was amused. She knew his team was trying to protect him, and not being insubordinate.
“Sierra, book me on the plane to Dallas. Riley, I’m going with you. Kota, you’re staying here.” There was no more discussion. He could practically hear Nate’s teeth grinding, but his unit knew this was the best decision.
“Why isn’t someone in the room with Sarah next door?”
“I have eyes and ears on her, Lieutenant.” Sierra indicated one of the three computer screens in front of her. She was amazing.
“Is she asleep or awake?” Kali asked.
“She woke up about a half hour ago.”
“I’m going in to see her.” Kali let go of his hand and knocked on the adjoining bedroom door, waiting to be called in.
“So what didn’t you tell me?” he asked turning to his team.
“They have their sights on another target. He was never reported. He was raised on an Indian Reservation in New Mexico. Dan thinks he’s already been taken, but because it was handled by another team, he’s not sure.”
“Fuck.”
“Do we know if these are the same fuckers who took Kali?”
“Nope, we weren’t able to determine that either,” Nate said delivering the bad news.
“This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Noah?” He hadn’t heard her come back through the door. “Are you okay?” He went over to her, and kissed her forehead.
“Just ironing out some of the logistics of the plan, and realized we still needed a little more intel. Nothing to worry about.”
She gave him an appraising look, and nodded her head. He understood what she was telling him, she would let him get away with the lie at the moment, but she would be questioning him further later. He intended to be gone before she had a chance to ask those questions. She stepped back into the other room.
“Okay, how in the hell is Sakuro dealing with the fact he is now holding rogue Navy men?”
“He has them held by people he trusts on Kauai. He said you’d know who he’s talking about.” Noah grinned. Well it was one positive, at least the admiral was using his head. Those retired swabbies would bury those assholes so deep they would only come up for air when Sakuro wanted them to.
“Hey, I was just able to get you seats on an earlier flight to Dallas,” Sierra chimed in.
“Great. Riley, do you have contacts to get us armored up once we land?”
“Already taken care of Lieutenant.” He loved his team, even if they were only acceptable. When he said as much, Nate threw his empty candy wrappers at him. There were a lot of them.
* * *
“Riley and I will be back tomorrow night at the latest. If everything goes to plan, Sarah should be able to come out of hiding.”
“I notice you didn’t say I could come out of hiding.” They were back in the private room where they had made love. They were lying on the bed fully clothed, knowing they didn’t have much time together.
“We still haven’t determined this is the same group of fanatics that kidnapped you. Unfortunately the found have been targeted by more than one group of crazies. This doesn’t sound like the same group from what we learned from Dave Rydell’s interrogation of Mai’s kidnapper.” Kali wrapped her arms around Noah. It was obvious he wanted to fix everything for her, but sometimes he couldn’t.
“I know you, and now I know your team. You’ll figure this all out, and soon I will be able to go home.”
“Yes you will,” he promised. Kali felt their desire rise, she loved that she could feel his as well as hers. His was fiercer, more urgent.
“Yours is softer, it comes in pulses and waves.”
“So you can read my mind,” she rubbed her cheek against his shirt.
“Close your eyes, Kali. Just relax, let’s try an experiment.”
“You’re thinking about my breasts. You always think about my breasts.”
He snorted.
/>
“I told you to concentrate, look deeper. Yes, I was thinking about your breasts, specifically your nipples, but there was something else too.”
Kali took a deep breath, she loved how he smelled, his heart beat under her cheek. He held her even closer. He loved her. He didn’t want to leave without her when they were children. He’d loved her then as a child, but now he loved her as a man.
“You want us to have children together.”
“And grandchildren. I want the whole nine yards, Kali. I know I don’t have the ring, but will you marry me?”
She looked at this man, the most beautiful man in the world, inside and out, and couldn’t imagine growing old without him.
“Of course I’ll marry you.” Kali reached to kiss him, and stopped. “I read your mind. I actually freaking did it. Oh my freaking God!”
Noah cupped her cheeks, and kissed her. She got lost in his taste, and color and feel. She pushed against him, relieved to feel his erection swelling against her tummy. He pulled away.
“Beautiful, we don’t have time. I have to leave.”
“This better not be the start of a trend.”
“Trust me, it’s not. Expect to be ravished when I return.”
“I do.” God she loved the sound of that phrase.
Chapter Twenty
“The first thing I remember is being squirted with water by DelRoy. It was the summer before I went to first grade. I was wearing overalls and in the backyard of my house. I was holding a squirt gun too.”
“That is really weird Sarah. Mine and Noah’s first memories are so clear, I would have thought yours would be too.” They were sitting on the bed in the adjoining room eating room service. Kali was pretty sure there was no food left in the kitchen after Nate placed his order. She had never seen anybody eat as much as he did.
“Apparently I showed up in their yard a month before, the same day you did, completely naked. But the neighbor’s dog had gotten out and pinned me down. They heard my screams and the dog barking.”
“No wonder you can’t remember the day, you must have been scared to death. You probably still don’t like dogs.”
“Oh no, my parents ended up getting me a puppy a year later, and I got to raise her. I loved her until the day she died. If they hadn’t, yeah, I probably would be scared of dogs to this day. As for the memory loss,” Sarah stopped talking and just stared at Kali.
“What?” Kali gently prompted.
“I think I would have been terrified if I remembered. Wasn’t it awful for you? Waking up naked in the back of the cop car?”
Kali tilted her head and decided to give Sarah a much more serious answer than she had ever provided to anyone other than Noah. “I wasn’t scared. I was cold, and I knew the man who had gotten into the car with me was good. I was already in the car when he got in. I was kind of sleeping. Dad explained how he had to unlock it.”
“Then what happened?”
“I just woke up, and I was cold, it was winter in Chicago. He got in, and I remember him saying something to me, and me responding. I understood him just fine. Then he spilled his coffee and said something else and it took me longer to understand, but after I did, I asked for a blanket. Then he started to yell words, but he wasn’t mad and I wasn’t scared. I knew he was good.”
“Can you always tell?”
“Tell what?”
“Tell when someone is good or not?”
“No. I was only ever able to do it with Dad the first time. But there was no doubt in my mind, it was a soul-deep knowing. This man was someone good, someone I could trust. There was no fear.”
“Why was he yelling?”
“He’d spilled his McDonald’s coffee onto his lap. He was swearing in Polish. So it’s how I ended up asking for a blanket and his breakfast sandwich in Polish. Trust me, if there was someone scared in the patrol car that night, it was him, not me.”
“How old do you think you were?”
“They examined me when I was taken to the hospital, and determined I was no more than five years old. God, he was so scared, Sarah.” Kali put down her fork, the baked potato losing its flavor. “He carried me into the hospital and never once left me. He called my mom and she came to the hospital as well. I didn’t know her, but I knew she was important to him. You could see the love.”
“Could you feel it? Like you feel things with Noah?”
“No, the only time I’ve ever been able to feel anyone’s emotions has been with Noah. I’ve never had the ability before.”
“I don’t know if I have the ability, but I definitely get a sense of what’s wrong with someone when they come in and need care. It’s stronger with children. It’s one of the reasons I’m drawn to trauma care, so often a case will come in where they can’t speak for themselves, but it’s almost like I can spend some time with them, touch them, and I almost always know what’s wrong.” Sarah was whispering so quietly Kali had to lean in to hear her.
“Do you have some kind of healing powers?”
Sarah let out a big laugh, ruining the quiet moment. “Girl that would be crazy.”
“Sarah, don’t you think other doctors, I mean people who have a real affinity for healing, can sense things with their patients?” Kali watched Sarah’s brow furl as she thought about what Kali was saying, then her expression lightened, and she gave her a bright grin.
“You know when I was in medical school, there were two different doctors who talked about getting quiet and letting themselves get in touch with the patient. One just flat out said he could feel where the blockages were with the patient. He had tenure, and came from Berkley, so it wasn’t surprising.”
“Is it what you do? Find blockages?”
“There might be swelling in the abdomen, but I can trace it to the liver, or the kidney. I just know where the real problem is. I have a higher clear rate for my cases than other doctor. When I go in to find the underlying problem of a symptom my first guess is almost always right.”
“Dammit, I told my Dad and Noah you were special!” Kali grabbed Sarah’s hand where it was lying on the little room service cart. “Stop looking at this like it’s a bad thing, or something you need to hide.” At Sarah’s wry glance, Kali laughed. “Okay, maybe you shouldn’t shout it from the rooftops, neither of us needs more of a spotlight on us. But still, your ability is something to be treasured.”
“Kali, of course I’m damn grateful I have it. I shoulder check other doctors out of the way when I think there is a case where I’d be more effective. I know this ability is a gift, but I can’t help but think we’re from some other planet and once somebody realizes what I can do, they will come and get me and put me under a microscope.”
Kali felt the sincerity of Sarah’s words.
“Ah Sarah, I think you are blessed with an ability other healers have, you’re just more in-tune with it like the two teachers in med school. I bet if you spoke to some of your other colleagues, really talked to them, they all have some sense of what is going on with their patients.”
“If you think I’m going to talk to my co-workers about this Whoo Whoo shit, you have another think coming.” Sarah rolled her eyes, making Kali laugh again. “So you don’t think this is some kind of special mastery we have? You think this is a normal human sense maybe hopped up on steroids a little bit?”
“Something like that. Noah has the ability to sense and find things. It’s like the natives in the jungle who can track down predators. But, maybe even more than that.”
“Oh, you just think he’s all that because you’re in love,” Sarah said in a sing-song voice. Kali laughed again. Sarah was a crack up.
“I don’t want to jump your bones, and I think you’re pretty damn special!”
“What do you mean you don’t want to jump me, I’m fiiinnnneee.”
Kali fell back on the bed and laughed at the ceiling. This woman was good for her, why hadn’t she ever taken the time to meet her before, like she had with Alfred. Just that fast, she stopped lau
ghing.
“What is it girl?”
“I was thinking about Alfred.”
“Alfred Hawley? Yeah, Dan told me what happened, but he probably lied. What was the true story?”
Kali sat up straight on the bed again, and looked across the cart to where Sarah was sitting on the other double bed. “You know I was kidnapped, right?”
“And those same bastards tried to kidnap Alfred.” Sarah got up and pushed the cart out of the way, it was obvious neither of them were going to be able to eat any more.
“Actually there are at least two different groups out to capture us. The ones who kidnaped me are different than the ones who kidnaped Mai. Therefore, we’re not sure who was behind the attack on Alfred.”
“Holy shit.” They sat on the beds across from one another. Kali tried to think of something to say to lighten the mood, but couldn’t come up with anything, so she plowed on. “The people who have Mai want to start a breeding program. They think we’re special and our genes will make Uber babies.”
“Fuck Girl! See, I told you I didn’t want to stand out!” Sarah jumped up in agitation and started pacing the room. There was a knock on the adjoining door.
“Come in.”
Nate poked his head in.
“You ladies all right?” Behind his trademark grin his voice held concern.
“Can you come in and help explain the two groups we’re dealing with?”
“Come in and talk to two beautiful ladies? Twist my arm.” Nate closed the door behind him and pulled up the desk chair he barely fit in.
“I’d like you to start from scratch. I’ll assume everything Dan told me is bullshit, and discount it. I hate believing there is more than one group of people out to kidnap Kali and me.”
Revealed (The Found Book 1) Page 10