Fragmentary

by LeAnn Mason

Lost in my own thoughts of what a badass I was, I didn't notice we were at the back entrance and Dev had stopped at the door to enter his key-code, which of course meant that last step had my nose crunching into Devlin’s overly muscled back – again. To which he threw a disdainful look over his shoulder at me – again.

  Being clumsy meant you got a lot of nasty looks. I was unperturbed; it happened often enough for their insults to have no impact upon my psyche. I was officially immune. Okay, so not really, but I liked to pretend that my face didn't heat and turn the approximate shade of a tomato when I did stupid, distracted gaffs.

  Once Devlin stopped giving me the evil eye, he opened the door and continued into the building. Now that I had traversed the halls of Jesse’s apartment building, I realized just how similar this corridor was to the stark walls of that complex. It was a little off-putting, and like the previous emptiness of the farmhouse we now called home, I wanted to spruce it up a bit. With that thought, I stepped into the CP so the team could have another briefing of all we found out about the second victim.

  The room was full and bustling with the other members, each gathering the materials pertinent to their portion of relative findings of the day. The large conference table was once again littered with an array of evidentiary photographs and reports as well as a few bagged items I assumed Dane snagged from Trey’s residence when he’d searched it.

  Along the computer bank on the far wall, amidst various junk food wrappers and empty aluminum cans making a nearly perfect circle, sat Trent. I wondered just how this had been accomplished when there was a surface impeding the natural descent of items. Judging by the crumpled bags, his hands had to be covered in multicolored chip dust, but he’d never get his precious computers soiled with such things… which meant it was Trent’s clothes that would sport vibrant lines of orange or red as he used them to clean his digits. When they were red, they looked an awful lot like bloody scratches. Bottom line? Trent was a unique creature who entertained me regularly.

  I took my usual seat at the table, reclining as best I could before digging in my pocket for my music player. I didn’t want to have this meeting in surround sound, or better yet, all the little snide side comments that were sure to be launched once this thing got underway.

  Just that thought seemed to conjure our fearless leader. The door connecting the official enforcer task force Command Post with Sam’s Gym swung open while my earbud funneled a beat like a soundtrack to his entry. He stopped at the head of the table, his normal spot, and brought his closed fists to rest, knuckles down, on the surface.

  “Report.” Russet eyes roved the faces of each team member, all of whom were now seated appropriately around the conference table’s disheveled surface. I was sandwiched between Jade and Holden, our normal arrangement, which was perfect for me. It was fitting that I be between my two favorite people. The verbal chatter died down as we prepared to run through the day’s findings. The mental randomness never failed however. There were still several different trains of thought circulating the room at the moment. Not all were pertaining to the task at hand. Ewww! Yup, Dane and Jade were definitely exploring their feelings for one another, and the fact that they were situated across the table from one another just meant that one could ogle the other and have a whole mess of dirty thoughts circulating between them… and me.

  I gave a quick elbow to Jade’s shoulder, a semi-subtle reminder to stow it for a few, just as Devlin started relaying our escapades for the day.

  “Our guy—”

  “Trey Sullivan,” Steve broke in haughtily.

  “Mr. Sullivan was at the diner for the lunch rush. He was in Cara Jenks’s section and was not a gentleman.” As Dev ground out the last, he was picturing Cara’s terrified face and getting all kinds of worked up. I’d never seen Devlin flip his switch. I’d kind of assumed he didn’t have that same instinct. What I’d been witnessing since Sasha Jenks’s death was making me rethink that.

  Commander James either didn’t hear or didn’t care about Devlin’s anger in the matter as he asked for an elaboration. My bet was on didn’t care.

  Clearing his throat in an attempt to distract from his mood shift, Devlin began again. “He was getting grabby and apparently decided to get what he wanted from Cara even if she didn’t want to give it.”

  Oh, hats off to him. He was trying really hard to keep the growl from his voice. Too bad the rest of his body didn’t get the memo. Devlin’s entire being was clenched so tightly in restraint that he was nearly vibrating. I knew that if one were to put a hand on him at this moment, a lesser body would tremble like a tuning fork from the tremors wracking Dev’s rock-like countenance.

  “Commander?” I piped up. Watching and listening to Devlin continue to wind himself up about Cara was making me wonder if the big man would flip his switch over her. Was he in love with her?

  At Commander James’s acknowledgement, I continued. “Maybe we could have Jade throw some of her calming juju at Stealth over there?” I nodded my chin in Devlin’s direction, drawing attention to just how uncharacteristic his behavior was. We hadn’t seen him this antagonistic since our first meeting. Here in this very room with the same seating arrangement I believe. “The waitress is his girlfriend. He’s awfully wound up.” I paused, debating my next words. “It’s Cara Jenks. One of Sasha Jenks’s daughters.”

  Commander James looked curiously dumbfounded, if that was a look, at our team lead. “Really?”

  Devlin closed his eyes and did a mental Zen chant, making a valiant effort to relax each muscle. One by one, by one. After about a minute, he opened his eyes and gave the commander a curt nod. The tension was almost gone. The thoughts were still there, the worry, but he wasn’t attaching strong emotions to them anymore. He was level-headed and back in business-mode.

  Jade and I just looked at each other, completely astonished, our faces a matched set of awed disbelief. I turned toward Devlin again, my mouth opening and closing like a fish gulping water, before my reflexes kicked in, and I just started… clapping. That slow, theatrical clap of either sarcasm or extreme awe.

  This was the latter.

  “You have got to teach me that trick!”

  Devlin’s rolled eyes were the only acknowledgement he visually sent me, but mentally he sent me a little note: You couldn’t handle my level of awesome, little Hybrid. My escaped scoff of affront was music to the big man’s ears as evidenced by the half smirk I got in response. The big jerk.

  “Anyway, back to the subject at hand, shall we, children?” Commander James laughed.

  “We talked with witnesses, patrons and the owner of the diner whose business is attached to the alley.”

  “The most viable person of interest is the waitress, Cara.” My interjection got Devlin’s attention focused on me and a byproduct being all that tension returning to his body and mind. I shrugged. It was the truth, and he knew it.

  He wasn’t stupid and was actually a really good enforcer, one of the few who could see the depth of things… usually. Cara was a really inconvenient chink in his armor. The fact that Holden didn’t see it either just stung. A pretty face could blind a fool.

  Apparently, both of them were fools.

  “What makes you think that, Nat?” Commander James leaned forward onto his elbows, brows and mouth pinched. The commander did not like the idea that his best enforcer was compromised and wanted to see if my finger pointing was founded.

  Now I was nervous. Was I crazy? Should Cara really be in the clear? I mean what did I really know? Except I was pretty freaking good at reading people. I mean years of being able to hear everyone's thoughts, no matter how big or small the idea, meant I knew the tells that went along with deception.

  But then that niggle of an idea, the one I'd had on the car ride back to base as it were, reared its head once again, and I deflated. I'd explain my reasons, and then allow for the new possibility to be heard. “She had motive and opportunity. Plus she’s been connected to two murdered persons now. The coincid
ence is rather large.”

  I tried to project confidence, but these super important meetings with super important outcomes still made me sweat. So many eyes and minds on me at once, so intently, made me nervous.

  Commander James continued his scrutinizing of me, his attention never wavering, His posture not changing. It was unnerving. Man, could the commander make my sweating ratchet up several notches.

  “Explain.”

  “We'll, um, this victim had been harassing Cara, who'd been his server for lunch at the diner. He then followed her, forced her into the alley, and attacked her.”

  Commander James’s eyes widened as he mentally agreed, that definitely gave Cara motive. Devlin started to defend her again but was quieted by a quick, cold look from our leader.

  “Okay, I understand your belief, Nathalee, and find your conclusion founded. Why are you so sure she didn't do it, Devlin?”

  Devlin swallowed thickly, preparing to defend his girl. “It's just not her, Commander.” He said lamely then pressed his hands to the table, fingers splayed as he watched his hands rake back and forth across the weathered surface. “She's submissive, frightened most times.” He shrugged, finally meeting Commander James’s eyes. “She's far from confrontational. Not to mention the method of death of a much larger and stronger person doesn't fit.”

  “Both victims had very similar injuries and cause of death. It points to the same culprit for both murders,” I cut in hastily.

  Neither of us had any concrete evidence to sway a verdict. There was one thing missing: her thoughts. That hole had so many possibilities.

  Was she shielding? Probably not. She hadn't shielded anything before or after that, and she didn't know my ability, did she?

  I turned my questioning look to Devlin who was still trying to telepathically communicate his faith in Cara to the commander, their eyes locked, searching and finding conviction. “Does she know my ability?” I interrupted.

  Dane, Jade and Trent were all murmuring back and forth. None had been with us today. None had met Cara and hadn't realized that Devlin had a steady girl, let alone that she had been in an altercation and was now a person of interest in our murder investigation.

  They could have been chomping popcorn and slurping pop. It was like we were starring in a crime drama as seen on TV, like there should be dramatic music as a backdrop for this discussion. Dun-dun.

  Steve was feigning boredom, but in truth, he hated that he hadn't had a place in today's fact finding trips. The anger was bubbling just under the surface but I wasn’t sure what exactly he was pissed about. I really needed to talk to the commander about our resident telekinetic, have him reassure me that Steve was here to help. That he’d been helpful and necessary.

  Warmth encircled my left hand which I had clenched under the table, a nervous gesture, as I prepared to voice my revelation about a possible cause of the black hole in Cara’s thoughts. I glanced left and met vibrant blue eyes though a prominent silver ring decorated the area closest the pupils. Holden squeezed his hand over mine and offered a small, reassuring smile.

  There's no need to worry, Nat. I may not agree that Cara is a killer—

  I pulled my hand from beneath his, bringing both of mine to rest atop the table. The reminder that Holden, like Devlin, believed in Cara's innocence didn’t lessen my anxiety.

  Holden looked defeated as he continued, bringing his hands to his legs, gripping the muscled flesh like he needed to ground himself. My anger hurt him, but I couldn't will it away.

  Tell us what you're worried about. Get it out in the open. We're here to bounce around ideas, theories; possibilities.

  Even when I hurt him, he looked out for me, reassured me and kept me sane. Damn him.

  CHAPTER 24

  I SQUARED MY SHOULDERS and cleared my throat. My hands, firmly pressed into the table, were splayed much as Devlin's had been when he'd worried about what he was spouting. Fitting.

  “Maybe we have another intervention.”

  By the perplexed looks I was getting from around the table, I guessed that wasn't the best explanation. “What if the hole in Cara's thoughts, which conveniently lines up with the approximate time of death, was assisted by someone?”

  I was still getting owlish looks. Geez, you'd think I'd get better at this. I searched my brain for the best explanation I could muster. “Okay, so like the illusionary douche, maybe someone meddled in Amazon Woman’s head. Instead of making her see something, maybe making her forget?”

  I darted my gaze from one teammate to the next, hoping that someone would see the picture I'd painted. If they kept looking at me like I was speaking gibberish, I’d worry it was true. Luckily for my ego, one by one, proverbial lightbulbs illuminated over my teammates’ heads.

  “Amazon Woman?” Jade asked while trying to stifle a giggle. Damn that girl. She knew I was jealous of the tall beauty. I did the mature thing and stuck my tongue out at her. She couldn't dam the laugh that burst forth at my childishness – it was our thing. A surefire way for us to deflect from the other’s probing. We couldn't stay mad at each other. Seemed a theme with me lately.

  “Shush, woman,” I said around my own wicked grin. See? Never fails.

  Everyone's minds began to whirl, each recalling our brush with the illusionist. It seemed we couldn't escape his clutches even now that he'd been detained and rightfully sent to Enhanced prison. His deeds reminded us that so many things could be different, more sinister than what we knew.

  A black cloud hovered over our thoughts, a pall on the investigation. Each enforcer’s mind momentarily sucked back in time to the harm, the death caused by one man’s ego-centered rage. One case had turned us all into skeptics.

  Dane, however, once again needed a little nudge to get there. I loved the big teddy bear, but he had better be glad he was pretty and a stellar tracker; he was a bit dense at times. Okay… most times, but man, did I love him. He was one of the few inhabitants who just lived and didn’t worry about perception. I needed to be more like him. We all needed to and I would do well to remember that.

  I looked right at Dane and smiled. “Maybe Cara is not the reason that there is a hole in her memory.” I paused then tried again. “It may be a possibility that someone erased her memory of the murder.”

  Do you still think Cara murdered the man?

  Holden signed his question, like he still had a habit of doing around his uncle, the only other person here who knew sign language. I didn’t repeat the question as my answer would tell everyone the basic idea of his thoughts.

  “I don’t know if she killed them.” My gut told me she was involved, but after the havoc of the illusionary, I couldn’t be sure of what that involvement entailed. “She could easily just be a pawn in some psycho’s sadistic game, but I think she knows what happened… on some level.”

  “These murders have been violent, the victims Primal, with known aggression issues. How could a female commit them?” Dev looked at me haughtily like the reminder of the physical strength needed to overpower and incapacitate the victims was something that his Amazonian lover couldn’t perpetuate. Had he learned nothing?

  I knew my face was screwed up in the “you poor thing” look I adopted when I thought someone was being dense. The look made Jade’s cough-laugh escape, forcing her to make excuses for her outburst. Thumping a hand against her chest a few times, Jade claimed her asthma was acting up. She even pulled out her inhaler to sell it as all eyes swung her way. The girl didn’t even flinch, never wavering from her fake asthma attack. Jade knew how to stick to her guns. It was a big reason she was still here, a part of this team. Jade did not know the meaning of the word “quit.”

  “She’s Primal,” Trent piped up. The first thing he’d said in a long while.

  “So?” Devlin shot back acidly, making Trent’s mouth snap shut.

  “So,” Steve began, drawing out the word. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that he took it upon himself to do the part of the explanation where he’d get to talk down
to Devlin. “I’m going to use simple words for you. She. Is. Strong. With the possibility of super strong.”

  “Steve, knock it off.” Commander James huffed, annoyed.

  The spoiled telekinetic seemed to deflate just a smidge at the reprimand until he remembered his father’s mantra: ‘You are Sage and a Davidson. You are better than them.’ As Steve remembered his apparent birthright, and in his father’s grating voice no less, all the douchiness flooded back into him. It ballooned the man, the potent stench of bigotry bleeding from his pores. Another great reason to remember that no one was better than anyone else for such shallow and selfish reasons… I did not want to be like the Davidsons in any way, shape or form. Except maybe that freezing power Steve had. That could come in quite handy.

  The whole scene made me wonder, yet again, whether Steve’s function on the team was anything other than as a spy for his father. Something for me to probe further but not now. Now we needed to get back on track so we could figure out who was killing people in our little town and stop them before there were more victims.

  “Steve’s right though,” I cringed as the words passed my lips, sour as they were. I hated to agree with Boat Shoes about anything, but… he was right. Cara would be strong, maybe not strong enough to be obvious but enough that we needed to look deeper. “She could be strong enou—”

  “I know her!”

  “Calm down Devlin,” Commander James demanded swiftly upon seeing the mounting ire in Dev’s posture again. He wisely, if belatedly, realized that he needed to take control of the meeting. We needed the strong hand and guidance of our staunch leader to keep the toddlers from stealing each other’s toys. “Nat and Holden, I want you guys to keep an eye on Cara. Holden, pick a nondescript camouflage and be Nat’s date. Shouldn’t be too hard for you guys to get close and blend, especially if Dev takes her out.” He looked pointedly at Devlin. “Right?”

  “I’m not going to be part of a sting operation on my girlfriend,” he said adamantly.