“I don’t know,” Rena said, looking up at him. “They ambushed me in the hall and shot me with something. I couldn’t detect them. Now, I’ve got a screaming headache and my body feels like it weighs two tons.”
Jack knelt in front of her and turned her head left and right, studying her eyes. “Looks like they got you with one of the more powerful neural sedatives. You’ll be all right.”
Rena frowned at him. “I feel like hell. Give me a minute. I should be able to at least ease the pain.”
Jack nodded and stood. “I’ll ask around downstairs. The longer they have her...”
“Don’t think like that.” Rena said, interrupting him. “She’ll be fine. Even if she can’t use her powers, she’s not powerless. Go. I’ll be good in a few minutes.”
Jack came back in just as Rena sat back. “They left a couple of hours ago.”
A couple of hours? Rena thought. “How much sedative did they hit me with?” She looked at her watch. It was after seven. It would be getting close to being dark out.
“Let me try mind scanning for her,” Rena said. “Our team has a permanent telepathic link between us. I should be able to pick her up if they haven’t psychically shielded her.”
Jack nodded. “Go for it.”
Rena opened her mind. I should not be doing this so soon after a headache, she thought. But even that wouldn’t stop her from trying to find her friend.
After several long, tense minutes, she looked up at him. “That’s that.”
“Did you find her?” he asked, staring at her.
Rena shook her head. “No. But there’s a huge psychic blanket over one particular area of the city. I suggest we start there.” He looked at her, and she grinned. “A psychic shield would have to be really powerful to cut me off so completely from any member of the Angels.”
Jack smiled. “And if you were a secret cabal hidden within a highly respected organization, you wouldn’t want stray telepaths locking in on you.”
She pointed at him. “Bingo.” She stood and went to the door. “Let’s boogie.”
****
“Their evil plan is to make me crack from super boredom,” Misty said. At first, she jumped at every sound, real and imagined. As nothing happened, she paced. She tired of that and sat. Now, she just wanted them to do something before she lost her mind.
She sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor and watched the door. Soon she rested her chin on her hands. She stretched her legs out, bracing herself with her arms. After a few minutes, she stood back up and resumed her pacing, all the while, keeping an eye on the door. She kept expecting it to open and some strange, mad scientist to come in with bizarre machines that were actually torture devices. She smiled. Definitely too many late night bad horror movies.
She kept trying to reach Rena but got no response. It’s due to a psychic shield, she told herself. Nothing more. Rena was fine. She’d find her. In the meantime, she kept trying to communicate with her friend.
The door opened, and Misty jumped as the imagined sound was finally real. Fenmore walked in, and she faced him, straightening her spine and ready for whatever he decided to do. “What now?” she demanded.
“I thought we could continue our conversation in my office,” he said, gesturing toward the open door.
That was unexpected, and she was tempted to refuse, but staring at the blank, white walls was making her nuts. She clenched her fists as Fenmore escorted her to his office. Misty stared at him as she sat in the firm chair.
“Rena, if you can hear me, now would be a good time to say something,” Misty said telepathically.
****
Rena stood in Jack’s warehouse, tapping her foot with impatience as he finished donning his armor and making sure his weapons were loaded and fully primed. By the time they made it there, the sun had gone down and stars lit the sky. She halted, feeling Misty’s mind connect with hers.
“Rena, if you can hear me, now would be a good time to say something.”
“Misty!” she cried, her mind’s voice flooded with relief. “Where are you? You scared the hell out of me!”
“Payback, Red, for making me think they cut short your very interesting life,” Misty replied. “I’m not sure exactly where I’m at. It could be near ULTRA’s headquarters. I know how much time it takes to get there from my apartment and it was about the same amount.”
Rena grinned. “I’ve got a fix on you now, kid. It doesn’t matter how they try to hide you. I know where you are and when I get there, I’ll be all over them like ugly on an ape.”
Misty’s mental voice held a frown. “Do you have to use such childish phrases all the time?”
“Of course. It adds color to my repertoire,” Rena grinned. “Got to go. See you soon.”
Misty hesitated for a moment. “Make sure you don’t tell Jack. I’m being used as bait for some kind of trap. Bring anyone else, but not him.”
“It’s okay,” Rena said. “I’ve got everything under control.”
Rena broke contact and saw Jack staring at her. She held her hands up. “Misty’s fine. That was her on the mental telephone. I didn’t pick up that she’d been hurt or messed with in any way. She says they’re waiting for you, and she’s some kind of bait.”
Jack ran his hands through his hair. “And they couldn’t have picked a better bait.” He looked at Rena. “I told her being with me was dangerous. Could you see where she was being held?”
“Not really.” She winked. “But I got the sense it was in the same area as the psychic shield. I am just too good.”
Jack frowned. “Can’t you be serious for one minute?”
She pinched his cheek. “Can’t you lighten up?” She telekinetically changed to her hero outfit. “Let’s go.”
****
Jack had to stop himself from speeding to get to Misty. He saw Rena out of the corner of his eye watching the city pass by as the van quietly hummed.
“You have a voice recognition program, thumb print scanner, and at least three different security locks on this thing,” she finally said. “There’re women who don’t get this much attention.”
“This van cost a lot to outfit,” Jack muttered.
She grinned. “Misty’s cheaper.”
“One more word and you walk, understand?”
“A lot more than you think.”
Jack glanced at her. “I don’t get you. I’ve worked with telepaths in the past, and they’re nothing like you.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “They held themselves apart from the rest of the team. They acted like they were better than the rest of us. They were cold and condescending. You’re nothing like that. Why?”
She shifted in the seat. “I have a twin sister. She manipulates light.” She paused. “When we were growing up, she was in my mind all the time. Our psychic rapport was deeper and stronger than regular human twins. When we were teenagers, we were picked up by HelixCorp. Our psychic bond limited our abilities, and they destroyed it. Nara told me not to hold myself apart from people. She said I needed them. Then, her powers drove her crazy.”
Jack sat silently. What had the telepath been through in her life? His lips tightened, and he glanced at her again. She looked sad, like she was thinking about things best forgotten.
“We did some bad things,” Rena continued. “Then, I went to the Angels for help. My powers are out of control. Misty has always been there for me.” She sat up a little straighter and the familiar grin was back. “So now, I’m going to get her out of there and kick all kinds of butt while I’m at it.”
“What exactly are you capable of?” Jack asked her quietly.
Rena shook her head. “You don’t want to know.” Her gaze narrowed. “Stop here.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jack wasn’t surprised to find the ULTRA Headquarters building as their destination. Fenmore’s crowd hung out in secret sublevels of the massive structure. “Scan the building.”
Rena mind sc
anned the whole area, not just the looming edifice in front of them. “No psychic shield. You think they were expecting us this soon?”
They stepped out of the van, and Jack grabbed his rifle. “It’s a safe bet. They’d want us to find her quickly to trap me. In the back, there’s a hidden door there that the clean ULTRA doesn’t know about. That’s where we go in.”
She stared at him. “And you’re privy to this information how?”
He smiled. “It pays to know you’re enemy.”
She laid her hand on his arm. “Do you want me to contact the ULTRA commander? I know he’d believe you, and he could help.”
“One step at a time, Red.”
She chuckled. “Misty calls me that. You guys are so suited.”
“Can you focus on getting her out?” Jack sighed.
She punched his shoulder lightly. “You are such an old lady.”
He slowly grinned. He’d never been accused of acting like an old lady before. “Okay, Rena. Ready?” She nodded and he led her to the back of the building.
He pulled a key card from his belt and slid it through the slot. A green light blinked as the door swung quietly inward. “I ‘borrowed’ this from one of their operatives when I came for my armor. I checked the layout before I left, but I’ve never had the chance to use it since. I’m surprised it still works.”
“You’ve had it all these years, and you’ve never used it or got around to returning it?” Rena asked.
“Nope.”
“Remind me never to loan you a library book.”
Jack hesitated. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
She nodded. “My best friend is in there. So, yes. I’m positive I want to do this.”
****
A light on top of Fenmore’s desk began to blink, and he smiled as he raised his eyes to Misty. “He’s right on time.”
Misty tried to ignore the armed guards behind her and glared at Fenmore. “Who’s right on time?”
Fenmore looked at her, confusion on his face. “Why, your stalwart hero. He’s coming to save you from our evil clutches. I’m surprised you wouldn’t know that.”
It couldn’t be him. Misty knew there’d been no contact between the two of them since Amy’s rescue. “It could be anyone up there.”
Fenmore shook his head. “No. It could only be Jack. He stole a key card, and we activated the tracer programmed into it so that if he ever came back here, we’d be alerted.”
Rena, if you told him, you are so dead. Misty just stared at Fenmore, not wanting to give him the reaction he wanted.
“Now, after all we’ve talked about, I’m sure you can see his guilt for yourself,” Fenmore said as he folded his hands on his desk.
Misty leaned forward in the chair. “The only thing I’m sure of is his innocence.”
Fenmore laughed. “You’re not using your head. He is guilty. I’ve personally seen to that.”
****
“Misty’s below us,” Rena said quietly. She stared at the hallway stretching before them and knew there must be more to the hidden area. “How far down does the bad guys’ lair go?”
Jack shrugged as he took the first few steps in. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t able to penetrate too far into their HQ. It can’t go too far down. That much activity would be noticed no matter how hard they’d try to hide it.”
Rena looked up at him. “I haven’t been able to detect any other thought patterns either. They’re more than likely shielded. From the strength of the shield I detected earlier, their armor is probably patched into somehow. And I couldn’t sense them when they jumped me at Misty’s place.”
“Or because they’re trying to grab me, it’s most likely the trap we think it is.” He glanced at her. “Either way, it wouldn’t exactly be over populated now, would it?”
“I guess not,” Rena said. “But to feel a place this empty gives me some serious heebie jeebies.”
“Most of my missions are like this.”
“Thanks. I feel so much better.”
Jack glanced at her. “You could always join my team. Do this enough and it’ll cure your heebie jeebies.”
She tapped her chin. “Um, I don’t think so.”
They hurried to the end of the long corridor ahead of them, passing several doors to each side of them before stopping at the final door on their right. Jack eased it open and they headed down the dimly lit staircase. At the third floor, Rena put her hand on Jack’s arm.
He looked back at her. “What?”
“I’m picking up someone.” She paused. “It’s Misty.”
“Rena, go back. They think Jack is up there, and they’ve set some kind of a trap.”
“It’s okay. We know what we’re doing,” Rena told her.
“What do you mean ‘we’?” Misty asked her cautiously.
Rena glanced at her partner. “He’s big, has red hair, and is not as much of a jerk as I originally thought.”
“What were the two of you thinking?” Misty’s mental voice shouted. “And why did you tell him where I was?”
Rena shrugged. “He was there the first time you contacted me. And you try and leave him behind and see how far you get. See you soon.”
Jack looked at her. “Well?”
Rena grinned. “She’s pissed you’re here.”
“She can’t have everything her way.”
Rena nodded, still smiling. She tried scanning again, but even with the shield down, her mind felt fuzzy. She thought she detected someone on the floor they stood on.
“Hold it. I think someone’s here.”
They started down the hallway, trusting Jack’s augmented hearing more than Rena’s telepathy. With the psychic shield up, they couldn’t be sure if she could detect someone before they were ambushed. They paused before a door halfway down and Jack kicked the door open.
Inside, a teenage girl sat huddled on the bed, arms were wrapped around her legs. She wore a brown and blue bodysuit and had her long, black hair was pulled up, allowing them to see the sadness that filled her large gray eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Jack sat next to her. “For what?”
She closed her eyes as she turned her head away. “For tracking you. For always leading them to you. I tried to allow enough time for you to escape.”
He took her hand. “You’re much too young to be involved with something like this.”
She looked at him. “I had to co-operate with them. They’d send me back to HelixCorp if I didn’t.”
Rena shuddered. “I understand exactly what you mean. You’re the next phase in HelixCorp’s psionic program, aren’t you?”
The girl nodded. “I’ve been code named Mindspell. I don’t even remember my real name any more.”
Jack raised her face to his. “Do you know where Misty is?”
“She’s in Fenmore’s office on the fifth floor. It’s the lowest and most secure level. He’s been preparing for your arrival ever since she was brought here.”
Jack took her hands. “Thank you.”
“I’ll try to mask your presence from them as long as I can.” She looked at Rena. “I know the holes in their shielding. I won’t be able to move from here. I’ll need to maintain my focus.”
“I’ll come back for you. I promise.”
Mindspell smiled a little at Jack. “I’ll be waiting.”
They headed back to the stairwell, Jack’s stride sure and purposeful. “I didn’t think they’d resort to abusing a young girl.”
“If she’s from HelixCorp, she’s been through worse,” Rena muttered. She felt Jack’s stare and his mind told her that he was wondering about her past.
“Let’s get Misty,” he said. “Then we’ll tie up the loose ends.”
Rena nodded, and they set off at a determined trot.
****
The door crashed open, and Fenmore shot to his feet as Misty snapped around in her chair. Jack stood there, his rifle in his right hand, Rena behind him. Anger etched its
elf into every line of his face, but this time, it was directed at the man behind the desk.
“Let her go,” Jack growled.
Fenmore walked around to the front of the desk and leaned against it. “It’s been a long time since I last saw you in ULTRA armor.”
Jack scowled at him. “I’m only going to tell you one more time. Let her go.”
Fenmore just smiled and gestured the guards back. He looked at Misty. “Get out.”
Misty frowned. This was a little too easy. “What do you get out of this, Fenmore?”
He folded his arms and looked straight at Jack. “Nothing in life is free.” He turned to Rena. “You get her. I get him.”
Jack raised the rifle. “What makes you think I won’t kill you and leave?”
Fenmore nodded to the doorway. At least ten agents had filed in behind them.
“Stupid psychic shields,” Rena mentally told both her partners.
“I’ll have the two of them cut to ribbons before your eyes.” He smiled. “Just like the old days. Remember those prototype guns? Here they are. First they shut down a ‘super’s’ powers, then they shut down the ‘super’.”
Misty saw Rena look at Jack, and he waved her silent.
“Deal,” was all he said.
Misty ran to him. “You can’t do it,” she begged. “I won’t let you.”
Jack glared at Fenmore. “I want to see them leave the building, not just your assurance.”
Fenmore nodded once. “I think that’s reasonable. Let’s take them out now. You and I have a lot to discuss.”
At the outside door, Rena and Jack had just come in, Fenmore moved in front of them. “Don’t try and tell anyone about this place. They won’t believe you, and even if they do, we have measures in place to assure our security. All you’ll end up doing is looking like fools. After all, Commander Michael Frailer put me in charge of apprehending McClennan. I’m just doing my job.”
Misty turned and looked at Jack. He gave her a slight shake of his head. She turned to Rena, who shrugged. If Jack didn’t want her in his mind, she wasn’t getting in.
“Move it.” Two of the guards gave them a shove away from the building.
Rena tugged at Misty’s arm. “Come on.”
Bedeviled Angel Page 14