Brain Storm (A Taylor Morrison Novel Book 1)

by Cat Gilbert

  “Fill me in,” I ordered as I pulled up a chair and picked up the steak knife. Candice had ordered mushrooms to go with it and I gave her a grateful smile as I dug in. She must have decided I was going to live, because she managed a smile back, which completely disappeared from her face when she turned back to Bryan. Oops. Mac must not have been the only one to side against her.

  “We’ve gotten a lot done while you were napping,” Mac started up. “We rented another car, and a van, which we’ve been using for surveillance on Brown. As far as we can tell, he’s still in there.”

  “He had a visitor last night, though,” Bryan chimed in. “Hughes showed up for a while, which verifies that you had the right location.”

  I nodded as I forked up a particularly nice bit of steak. I had been pretty certain, but it was good to know for sure. Nothing like breaking in to rescue someone and finding the place empty.

  “Candice and I went house hunting this morning. Found a really nice cabin, up in the mountains, fully furnished. Nicely isolated, two ways into the property and a place to park the RV. We took it for a month.”

  “Realtor?” I asked, pausing in my assault on the baked potato.

  “Nope. Private classifieds,” he answered me, smiling at my nod of approval.

  I’d found a lot of people through real estate companies. Not that they talked, but all you had to do was pull the comps of rentals and sales for the time period you were interested in. Then it was just a process of elimination until you had your answer. Private rentals were another matter all together. Once the ad was pulled from the paper, it was tough to find someone who didn’t want to be found.

  Once we had Brown, we needed someplace to take him. We couldn’t very well bring him to the hotel and I didn’t want to leave the immediate area until we figured out our next move.

  ”I’ve made a list of things we need to get in order to hole up there for a while,” Candice put in. “The utilities, internet, phone, etc, are in the owners name, so we’re good there.”

  “Good work, guys.” I said, pushing my plate away, amazed at the amount of food I’d devoured. Mac had been right. I’d needed it.

  “What about you?” Bryan asked. “You okay now?”

  I nodded. I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but I was feeling better by the minute and was anxious to get underway.

  “If everyone’s ready, why don’t we get started on the move. Candice, Mama D and I can take the van to get supplies and Mac, you and Bryan can move the RV and take one of the other cars. We’ll come back for the extra one later.”

  As it turned out, everyone was more than ready. Candice went to wake up Mama D and gather the rest their things, while I packed up my own stuff. Mac and Bryan sat quietly, watching me throw my things into the suitcase I had opened on the bed. As packing was pretty much a mindless occupation, I went back over the information I’d gotten since I’d woken up. There was one point that kept sticking in my head that I thought needed clearing up.

  “Mac,” I asked, as I closed the suitcase and zipped it shut. “What was it you said that made Candice so mad when she called you to tell you I was awake?”

  Bryan and Mac looked at each other, confirming my feeling that he had in fact said something that had caused the phone slam.

  “He told her we already knew and were on our way back,” Bryan answered for him. “He felt you wake up.”

  “How far away were you?” I asked, dreading the answer.

  “We were at the airport terminals,” Mac said quietly. “Renting the other car.”

  The airport? I closed my eyes as the implication hit me. The terminals were a good ten miles away and further away than the warehouse where they were holding Brown. We’d had to drive yesterday to get close enough for me to pick up Brown’s signal. Today, Mac had picked me up at twice that distance. Either Mac’s ability was getting stronger or mine was. I had a terrible feeling it was mine.

  THIRTY-ONE

  “WE DON’T KNOW how many people are guarding him or what kind of condition he’s in,” Bryan pointed out for at least the third time. “Not to mention that we have no idea what we’re going to find once we get inside.”

  I closed my eyes in frustration. We’d been debating various methods to extricate Brown from his captors for the better part of the evening and still didn’t have a viable plan. There were too many variables and not enough intel, but it was all we had and we needed to make a move.

  It had been late in the afternoon by the time we pulled into the cabin. Bryan and Candice had done a great job finding the place. Set back into the trees, you’d never find it if you didn’t already know it was there. We’d unloaded the cars and then Mac and I left Candice and Mama D to putting the house in order, while Bryan showed us the lay of the land before darkness fell. The entrance we had taken to the house turned off a main road, but the second access to the house met up with a dirt road which eventually came out onto a paved main road that joined up with the highway. If push came to shove, we had a nice little escape route. Listening now as Mac and Bryan argued the pros and cons of various plans, I just hoped we wouldn’t have to use it.

  “Wait. Just wait a minute.” I waved my arms, cutting into the argument going on between them. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Let’s take a break.” I picked up my cup and headed into the kitchen, topping off my coffee on the way out the back door. It was cold outside, but I needed the fresh air to clear to my head.

  What should have been an easy snatch and grab had become a huge undertaking when we added in the psychic factor. If Hughes had abilities, it stood to reason that whoever was in with Brown would too. If they were from the same group that had attacked the condo, I knew they’d be heavily armed and professionally trained. The warehouse unit Brown was in wasn’t large, but we had no idea where he would be once we were inside and it would take precious time to locate him. Time we simply wouldn’t have.

  The door opened suddenly behind me, Mama D nearly knocking me off the small landing where I’d been standing.

  “Here. Let me take that,” I said, setting my cup on the railing and relieving her of the trash bag she was toting.

  “Make sure you get that can closed up good, now. Bryan said there were bears up here,” she cautioned as she headed back inside, the door closing behind her.

  I looked out and scanned what passed for a yard which was barely illuminated from the lone bulb mounted on the side of the house. The front of the cabin was pretty as a picture, nestled in the side of the mountain, surrounded by towering pines. The back was where they’d put all the unsightly stuff that went with living in the middle of nowhere. The big metal trash enclosure was set away from the house near an enormous pile of fire wood. I went down the steps, keeping an eye peeled for wildlife and made my way over to the bin. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to open the bear-proof container and by the time I had finally managed it, I was certain that any bear smart enough to need that much deterrent, would be smart enough to just sit by the door and wait for someone to come out with the garbage and nail them on the way to the bin instead.

  It was as I was closing the door of the bin, that I caught sight of the hulking mass out of the corner of my eye. I jumped back, ready to run. My heart leaping into my throat in that split second before I realized the black mass I was looking at was a storage tank.

  I shook my head, chuckling to myself in relief as I started back to the house.

  “You okay?” Mac’s voice startled me and I looked up to find him coming through the door, heading in my direction. He’d obviously felt my moment of panic and was checking up on me.

  “See that?” I asked, pointing to the tank in question.

  “Yeah. It’s a gas tank or propane maybe,” he answered quickly, as he scanned the yard for trouble. “Why? ”

  “Thought it was a bear,” I explained, heading back to the house, ignoring his laughter as he followed behind me.

  I was reaching for the door, when I saw them, and stopped sho
rt, causing Mac to run into me.

  “What?” he asked, looking around to see what had my attention now.

  There, rising from the ground, the pipes ran up the exterior wall and into the house. Bright yellow. My gaze flew back to the tank. They were gas pipes. Marked with yellow paint.

  I’d seen those pipes earlier at the warehouses. I remembered my panic of a few minutes ago and knew I’d found the answer. We had our way to get to Brown. Now if we could just manage not to blow ourselves up in the process, we’d be in good shape.

  THE WAREHOUSE COMPLEX was amazingly busy when I pulled the van in at 4 a.m. It had been fairly quiet an hour earlier when I had dropped Bryan and Mac off across the street from the entrance, but now it was bustling with activity.

  My hands tightened on the wheel as I followed a food services truck down the drive between the warehouses, slowly passing the Mustang where Candice sat parked, waiting for the signal. We’d left Mama D at the cabin with specific instructions to call the police if she didn’t hear from us before 6:00 a.m. She wasn’t happy about being left behind, but it couldn’t be helped. We needed someone to send in the cavalry if things went wrong. So far, everything had gone according to plan. With any luck, we’d have Brown and be gone within the hour.

  The van in front of me slowed and I used it as cover to back into the service bay entrance opposite the unit that held Brown, quickly cutting my lights. Within seconds, the side door slid open and Mac hopped inside.

  “We’re all set,” he whispered, as he climbed into the front seat. “We’ve got one canister hooked to the vent system. The other is hidden in the bushes by the back door. Bryan is in place, waiting for the signal. You’re on.”

  I froze, knowing the next step was up to me. If I failed, it was over. We’d have to re-group and come up with some other way to get to Brown and I wasn’t sure there was one. Not and avoid Hughes in the process. There was a lot hanging on the next few minutes.

  “Sam, it’s a good plan. We’ve been over and over it.” Mac grabbed my arm, trying to reassure me. “It’ll work. You can do this.”

  I nodded, going over the plan in my head one last time. The propane tanks had been Bryan’s idea. We didn’t need to break any of the gas lines. We just needed it to smell like a line was down, and the odor in the propane was good enough to handle the job with the added benefit of being more controllable. We’d stopped by a 24 hour Wal-Mart, picked up two big canisters and we were in business. Now it was time to contact Brown and set everything in motion.

  Taking a deep breath, I centered my mind on him. From the lack of buzzing in my head, I knew he had to be asleep and I needed to wake him up. We needed to know for sure he was there before we went any further, but most of all, I needed him to play his part.

  Caleb. I reached out with my mind and heard nothing but silence. Caleb! I tried again, focusing my fear into it. Wake up!

  It sounded something like a boat engine off in the distance, sputtering to a start. I waited, holding my breath, as it died completely and I pushed again, even harder. Caleb! This time, he heard me and I listened, amazed, as the engine sputtered once more and then settled into a steady low purr.

  “Got him.” Relief flooded through me, as I filled Brown in on the plan. From his responses, he seemed to understand what was about to happen. I looked over at Mac and gave him a nod. We were good to go.

  Mac signaled Candice to call in the gas leak and then slipped from the van to join Bryan and open the canisters. I rolled down my window in order to hear the sirens, my cue to signal Brown to sound the alarm inside, while Candice would alert the other companies in the warehouse area, hopefully resulting in the confusion and panic we needed as cover.

  Within what seemed like seconds, I could make out the sound of sirens in the distance and watched as people began running from the units behind me.

  Now! I shouted to Brown, praying he heard me, and started up the van. Within seconds, the back door flew open and a man appeared, waving his hand in front of his face, trying to disperse the heavy scent of rotten eggs that was spewing from the hidden canister by the door as he witnessed the mass exodus from the buildings around him.

  The sirens were growing louder, and the man, hearing them, rapidly disappeared back into the unit, slamming the door behind him. Suddenly, the huge delivery door began to roll up, and I caught sight of Bryan and Mac as they rolled under it, dark shadows disappearing into the blackness beyond. I threw the van into gear and quickly moved to block the escape route from the garage as the door fully opened revealing the black yawning cave inside.

  Time seemed to stand still as I griped the steering wheel, straining to see in the darkness. They had gone in alone and I was useless to help them. Seconds ticked by and I waited blindly, Brown buzzing away in my head. Finally I saw them, dragging Brown along through the dark.

  “We’re in!” shouted Bryan from the back, as he slammed the door and I hit the gas, making a fast u-turn and rocketing down the length of the warehouse. I rounded the corner of the building nearest the exit only to squeal to a stop at the line of cars waiting to make their way out from the complex. I joined them, crawling forward as more trucks and cars lined up behind us, all the while watching the rear view mirror for any sign of pursuit.

  Candice was up ahead, waiting. As soon as she saw us, she moved the Mustang forward and then hit the brakes, effectively cutting off the flow of traffic. We cut in through the opening and shot out onto the street as emergency vehicles rushed past us into the complex. Within minutes I was turning onto the highway and merging with rush hour traffic.

  “Do you see her?” I asked Bryan, who was searching the cars behind us frantically.

  “No,” came the terse answer. I shot Mac a worried look and started to slow down for the next exit. I wasn’t leaving her behind. We were going back.

  “Wait, wait! There she is.”

  I glanced in the rearview mirror in time to see Candice slide in behind me and finally let out the breath I’d been holding. We’d done it. We had Brown and we had gotten away with it. It had almost been too easy.

  As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I hit and brakes and swerved to make the exit. It was too fast a move for Candice to follow and she blew past, carried along in the wave of cars around her.

  “Call and tell her to go on,” I ordered Bryan. “Remind her to call Mama D.”

  I swung into a grocery store parking lot as Bryan made the call. Driving behind the store, I found what I was looking for and sped past the delivery doors, sliding to a stop next to the dumpsters.

  “Dr. Brown,” I said, not bothering to turn around and look at him. “I’m going to need you to strip. Quickly, please.”

  The urgency in my voice must have cut through the shock of my words. Mac and Bryan had the doors open and Brown out of the van within seconds. I impatiently beat a pattern out on the wheel while I kept my eyes glued to the side of the building, prepared to see headlights bearing down on us. Even knowing they were coming, seeing the flash of light cut through the night had me sucking in my breath. I knew they’d be on us in seconds.

  “Hurry!” I shouted, as they threw Brown into the back. Mac jumped in the front, slamming the door as I drove the pedal to the floor. The van leapt forward and we barreled around the building as the headlights behind us raced to catch up.

  “They’re on us,” Bryan announced as I careened into traffic, ignoring the stop sign, and swung over to a highway entrance ramp, praying I could loose them in traffic. “There’s a second car. They’re right on our tail.”

  I sped up the entrance ramp and merged in with traffic, which was heavier, but still moving. We had either turned around or were on a different Highway altogether but it appeared we were heading back into Denver.

  “Where are we?” I demanded. “Where do I go?” I glanced in the rear view and saw nothing but headlights behind me. “ Bryan, do you still see them?”

  “They’re still behind us.”

  I looked over at Mac i
n frustration. “Why am I driving?” I ground out at him as traffic around me began to slow. I would have much preferred him or Bryan to be behind the wheel.

  “Taylor.” My head snapped around at the sound of Brown’s voice, and I found myself looking into a pair of calm gray eyes. “You can handle this. You can stop them. You just need to relax and do what I tell you.”

  I jerked my head back around, ignoring him, to watch the traffic around me.

  “Bryan, find him something to put on. I refuse to be run to ground with a naked man in the car.”

  I heard Bryan rummaging around behind the back seat and glanced back in time to see him toss some clothes in Brown’s direction. I was cutting through traffic, moving forward as much as possible. Looking down at the dash clock, I saw it wasn’t even five yet. This was only going to get worse with time. I needed to get off the highway.

  “Taylor,” Mac said, grabbing my shoulder. “You need to listen to him. He said you can stop this.”

  I felt an instant drop in my anxiety levels and realized Mac was bleeding off the worst of my panic. Traffic around us was slowly but surely grinding to a halt. The lanes going in the opposite direction were flowing smoothly with a lot less traffic. I looked forward again only to be greeted with sight of brake lights flowing in a ribbon of red straight toward us. Apparently there’d been an accident up ahead. In my panic to escape, I had chosen the worst possible route. Great. Just fantastic. Where was all that psychic stuff when you really needed it?

  “Fine.” I was resigned. We hadn’t come to a complete stop, but we might as well have. Considering the options, I didn’t have much choice but to listen to Brown. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Change seats with Sean. You’re going to need to concentrate.”