“What are friends for?” Rena said, flashing a grin.
Chapter Fourteen
Amy reached the restaurant at five minutes to eight. She knew she’d tell Misty and Rena about the past if for no other reason than to have someone on the outside know their situation. Maybe, she thought, just maybe, she can help us.
As soon as Amy heard the description of “Taylor,” she knew it was Jack. No wonder he was preoccupied lately. Misty was beautiful. She prayed again that she wasn’t making a mistake. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and stepped inside, wanting this meeting over with as soon as possible.
Her back stiffened as her mind received a telepathic message. Over here.
Amy scanned the restaurant, and when she saw a red-haired woman sitting with another woman with auburn hair, nod at her, she walked over. She laid her purse on the table, hesitating before sitting down. “I’m guessing you two are the Angels?” They nodded and she sat back. “I shouldn’t be here,” she said. “But now that I am, what do you want to know?”
Misty leaned forward. “Do you know Taylor Tremain?”
“No.” Amy glanced at them. “I’ve never met that particular man.”
“What do you mean?” Rena asked. “Is he actually Jack McClennan?”
The dreaded question had finally been asked. Amy narrowed her eyes. “Can I trust you?”
Misty nodded. “What I told you this afternoon was true. Nothing you say goes beyond the two of us.”
Amy took a deep breath. “Yes. He’s Jack McClennan.” She shook her head. “I’ve broken the cardinal rule of the team. No outsiders. Jack’s going to be upset.”
“He’s not going to hurt you, is he?” Misty couldn’t stop the question.
Amy waved a waiter over and ordered drinks for them. She watched him go to the bar and come back, sitting their glasses down on small napkins. “Jack would never hurt any of his people. He’ll just yell a lot and get all moody.”
Rena snorted. “Oh, he’s a typical male.”
Amy grinned as she raised her glass in a toast to the statement. “Let me start from when I joined Jack’s team. I was only seventeen, the youngest ever to be selected by ULTRA. Jack called me the baby of the group and Baby became my code name in the field. Five of us became the core of the Grave Diggers team. It was me, Jack, Frank, Phillip, and Carol.”
“Who are the other three?” Misty interrupted.
Amy ran her hand down the side of her sweating glass. “Carol became his wife. The others you don’t need to know about.”
“How did they meet?” Rena asked.
Amy smiled. “It was at one of the Citadel’s breakouts. Carol was attached to another squad when she saw him. He was standing on some rubble, shouting orders, shooting the bad guys. He looked like someone out of a swashbuckling movie. Carol got herself transferred and begged me to introduce her to him. The two of them immediately became obsessed with each other.”
The waiter returned and refilled their glasses. Amy drummed her fingers on the table. When he left, she continued. “Not long after that, Jack became our field commander. Carol was his team leader and Frank was his squad leader.” She looked down at her hands. “Carol was the only one to beat him in unarmed combat. He always said he let her win.”
She sipped her drink. “The trouble started on one of our raids. George Fenmore was a rival field commander. He’d make like he and Jack were best friends and then cut him down behind his back. He challenged our team to take on one of the worst assignments ULTRA had. Jack thrived on the nasty work more than we did, so he accepted.”
Amy stopped talking, squeezing her eyes shut. Minutes ticked by before she opened them, tossing back her drink. She banged the empty glass on the table, still not saying a word.
She took several deep breaths then continued, “We got to the location, neutralized the situation, and did the required clean up. We started going through the filing cabinets in one of the offices. Jack found evidence implicating a lot of important people in black market arms dealing, selling classified information, and things like that. He told us about it when our team was alone. He knew Fenmore was tight with a lot of the people on the list.”
She stared at the Angels. “The next week, Jack and Carol were married. For the next two years, we worked on building our case. When we had enough, Jack was going to give it to the ULTRA commander.”
Amy felt the now familiar trembling in her legs shake and her stomach soured. She squeezed her eyes shut as memories invaded her mind. This was the hard part. This was the part she didn’t want to talk about, but had to. This was the beginning of the end of Jack’s life. She held her glass until her knuckles turned white.
She stared at Misty, her eyes blurred with tears. “One night, Carol called me. It was close to midnight and Jack wasn’t home. Frank and I went to look for him at ULTRA. Some of Fenmore’s people were in interrogation. They tried to stop us, but we took them out. We knew they’d call Fenmore and tell him we’d been there. We found Jack in one of the rooms. He’d been worked over pretty good.”
Her face grew hard, the words pulling themselves from her throat. “We drove him home, and he made us drop him off down the street. If something was wrong at his house, he didn’t want anyone there to see us.”
Rena held up her hand, stopping Amy. “Wait. Your thoughts are too strong,” she said, her voice shaking. “I need to strengthen my shields.” She closed her eyes for a moment. Staring at Amy, she nodded. “I’m okay. Go on.”
Amy watched Rena’s face, almost seeing every emotion in the telepath’s eyes she herself had kept bottled up. “We saw Carol meet him at the door and drove off.” She shook her head. “We were so sure they were okay,” she mumbled. She wiped the tears from her face. “Thirteen years later, and it still hurts.”
“What happened?” Misty asked.
“Jack said when he got home, Fenmore was waiting for him. Carol tried to push him away from the house, but the goon squad forced them inside. He refused to talk until they threatened Carol. He told them everything they wanted to know.” Amy stopped, burying her face in her hands.
Amy felt Misty’s arms go around her shoulder and she gripped the hero’s arms tightly. She didn’t realize talking about the past would hurt so much. She held Misty a moment longer before getting herself under control. She pulled back, smiling a little as Misty let her go.
Amy cleared her throat. “They didn’t think he cooperated soon enough so they shot her. He didn’t remember what happened after that, just Fenmore smiling that stupid grin of his.”
“Hold on a minute,” Misty said. “Captain Starblast told us when he got the evidence, Jack’s name was the only one mentioned. How did they find it?”
“One of our teammates.” Amy’s back straightened and her fingers curled into a tight fist. “He was a new recruit, so when he was offered a bundle of cash to sell us out, he did. We discovered him and determined he wouldn’t betray anyone else again.”
Misty stared at her. “You killed him.”
Amy nodded. “Phillip put a bullet in the same place Carol got it.” She pointed to the middle of her forehead. “It solved the problem, but it wasn’t very satisfying. Carol was still dead and the boss was still on trial for her murder and everything else.”
She looked at them, narrowing her eyes. “Jack wouldn’t let us testify on his behalf. He said he couldn’t stand the thought of any more of his team getting killed. He claimed he let us down because he didn’t go right to the ULTRA commander from the beginning.” She shook her head. “We all knew the risks involved. He didn’t make us do anything we weren’t willing to do.”
Misty sat back. “This explains a lot,” she said quietly. She glanced up. “But where is he now?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him for about two weeks.” Amy stood, grabbing her purse from the table. “I’ve got to go. I shouldn’t have been here this long.” She grabbed Misty’s hand. “There’s nothing more I can tell you. He’s been m
ade to look like public enemy number one, but believe me. We’re not the bad guys.”
She turned toward the door and froze. Fenmore walked in, staring at her, his usual amount of bodyguards around him. He nodded in Amy’s direction, and the men with him watched her and the two heroes closely. She sat back down.
“That’s the geek doctor from NewsLine,” Rena said. “You’re right. He does have a stupid grin.”
Amy scowled in Fenmore’s direction. “He’s going to take me out when I leave. The big guy on his right has a silencer. You can tell by the way his coat bulges.” She unzipped her purse, sliding her hand in. “Always go prepared,” she muttered, her hand curling around her gun.
Rena reached across the table, laying her hand on Amy’s arm. “Don’t. Too many innocent people in here.”
Amy looked at her. “You got a better idea?”
Rena grinned and winked at her. “You go with Misty. I’ll distract them. Amy, give me your car keys. Misty, just go when you get outside. I’ll contact you on the direction you went and meet you with Amy’s car.”
Amy handed her keys to Rena before letting Misty hustle her out the door. “Is she kidding? They’ll kill her without a second thought.”
“Trust me. When Rena takes center stage, they’ll never know what hit them.” Misty glanced over her shoulder at her friend. “I almost feel sorry for them.”
****
Rena watched Misty and Amy head for the door as she headed toward the agents at the table. The man with the silencer walked up to her and stopped dead in his tracks as he tried to pass her. His eyes glazed over, his hand dropped from under his jacket, and he stood there. Rena glanced as Fenmore and the other agent walked over to her. She lifted her hand just a little, stopping the other agent.
Fenmore glanced at his men and recognized the signs of physic ability from his years in the field. “I didn’t expect to find a psionic here. Your telekinesis must be strong to stop them so completely.”
“I’m in their minds, too. They’re waiting for orders from me,” Rena said in a quiet voice. “Back off, and I’ll release them.”
Fenmore took a step closer to her and frowned. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?”
“Maybe I do, and I just don’t care.” Using her power, she stopped him from reaching under his jacket and forced his hand to his side. “Don’t even think of going for whatever firearm you think will hurt me. I’ll twist that limb off before you even know what’s happened.”
“You don’t act like a hero.”
Rena glared at him. “And you aren’t anywhere close to a paragon of justice.”
“We just pulled out of the parking lot.” Misty sent. “Get out of there.”
“Almost done with these idiots.” Rena turned to the man in front of her. “You even think about following us, and I’ll destroy you. We clear on that?”
“Crystal.” Fenmore glanced at his men. “Are you going to release them?”
Rena turned and headed for the door. “When I’m sure we’re clear of you. Stay away from us, and I mean all of us. If you’re lucky, you’ll never see me again.” She frowned as she hurried to Amy’s car. If Misty had known how serious the situation had been in the restaurant and how she actually handled it, Rena knew her friend would freak.
“We’re heading north out of the city,” Misty thought. “You handled it in your usual way?”
Rena mentally sighed. “Of course. No harm, no foul.”
“Every time you say that, it sounds like you mean something else.”
Rena was silent as the bright lights faded away as they drove north. “No one followed us. We’re good.”
They headed out of the city, pulling up in front of a large house in the country. Rena pulled up next to her and got out. Misty stood by her car and frowned as she tried to make out its lines in the darkness. “Impressive.”
Amy got out. “It belongs to a friend of ours. He lets us use the place when we need to. He’s in Texas this week on business.”
Misty nodded, still staring at the house. She wrote her number on a piece of paper and gave it to her. “If you hear from him or need anything, call me.”
“I will. Thanks again.” She smiled as Rena dropped her keys into her hand, then walked to the double doors and disappeared inside.
Rena slid into the front seat of Misty’s car and frowned. “What?”
“I’ve got the weirdest feeling I’ve been here before.” She shook her head. “It’s hard to tell in the dark.” She pulled out, heading for Angel Haven.
****
Frank stood in the hallway, his arms folded as he waited for Amy to come in. She sighed, seeing the look on his face, knowing he was on the verge of losing his almost non-existent temper.
“Where have you been?” he asked tightly. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”
She dropped her purse on the deacon bench by the door. “I told you. I met with two members from the Angels.”
He stared at her, suspicion in his eyes, the look on his face, even the way he stood. “What did you tell them?”
Amy took a step toward him. “Are you interrogating me?” She stared at his face. “Fine. All I told them about was our days at ULTRA. They didn’t seem interested about what Jack or the rest of the team was doing now. So, if you’re done acting like a complete ass, I’m going to bed.” She pushed passed him, heading for the stairs.
Frank rubbed his chin. “I gave Jack the disc. By tomorrow, he’ll know everything.”
“Then this discussion is over, isn’t it?” She ran up the steps, turning when she got to the top. “I hate it when you pull this attitude with me, Frank, and it’s going to stop. Got it?”
Chapter Fifteen
Jack stretched as sunlight pushed its way in through the dirty windows. He dragged himself from the bed and pulled on sweat pants before limping over to his exercise equipment.
He eased himself down onto the hard, leather seat and grabbed the hand grips. “This is the first time I’ve ever used this thing to get in shape.”
After thirty minutes, his muscles trembled, and he dropped the weights, flinching at the loud clang when they hit the floor. “Feels like a bloody bus hit me,” he muttered, pushing himself to his feet and heading toward the bathroom.
He sighed as the hot water worked wonders. He rolled his shoulders, not feeling as stiff as the day before. His stomach rumbled, and he snapped off the water. After toweling off, he threw his towel on the floor and pulled his sweat pants back on before heading to the kitchen. He slowed when he neared the phone and stopped. His hand hovered over it before he finally snatched it up and dialed. He wanted to call Misty, whether his instincts wanted him to or not.
“Hell,” he swore quietly, almost hanging up as her line started ringing. He should just let matters lie, and let her think he ran out on her.
“Hello?” Misty said. “Hello?”
Finding his voice, he said, “Hey, beautiful, remember me?”
“Taylor?” He could hear her surprise. “Where have you been? Are you all right?”
“I’ve been getting over a bad case of flu.” He cringed as yet another lie came easily to him. “Did you miss me?”
“Terribly.”
The warmth in her voice flowed through the phone line and into him. A tiny part of him leapt with joy because she missed him, and the rest of him howled in protest, wishing she’d hung up on him. He cleared his throat. “I’m still not one hundred percent, but I’d like to meet you for lunch.”
“Sounds great.”
Jack allowed himself a small smile. “I’ll pick you up at noon.”
Hanging up the phone, he walked to his desk and picked up the new computer disc laying on top of the pile of papers. Frank had said the information on it needed to be viewed as soon as possible. “You’re trying to tell me it’s bad news, right?” he murmured.
He flipped it onto the desk. There was always bad news, which meant it could wait. After what he’d just been th
rough, what could be worse?
****
They sat in a rear booth of the dimly lit restaurant, and Taylor just gazed at her.
“You’re not eating,” Misty said, gesturing at his untouched plate.
His gaze never left her face. “And you’ve grown prettier since I last saw you.”
Misty blushed as he held her hand. “Thanks.” She looked up at him. “I didn’t think you wanted to see me again. You left so abruptly, and then I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
He ran his thumb over her knuckles. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you that way. I was trying to spare us both some pain, but I can’t do it.” He leaned across the table, kissing her lightly. “Care to tell me what you’ve done to me?”
She laid her hand on his cheek. “Probably the same thing you’ve done to me.”
He stood, pulling her from her chair. “We’d better leave before we make a scene.”
She nodded and they headed for the door, Taylor dropping a wad of bills on the table. He glanced at her. She was becoming important to him, scaring him more than he wanted to admit.
****
Taylor pushed her apartment door shut, sweeping her into his arms, kissing her long and hard. “Has it really been two short weeks since I last saw you?”
“It seems like so much longer,” she replied.
He held her close, gently running his hands over her back. He lost himself in the scent that was only her. Everything was just as he remembered; the light, teasing perfume, the fruity scent in her hair, and now the musky aroma of arousal.
His nightmare slammed its way to the front of his mind, reminding him not everything was as simple as it seemed. He tried to force it back, but it hovered there, taunting him.
He ran his fingers down her arms. “I’d give anything to stay here with you,” he murmured. No happy endings. Not for me.
She watched his face. “I don’t understand.”
He pulled her to him and held her tightly. “One day, you will.”
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