The furniture started to shake, and Cade woke with a start. “Whoa, what’s up, dude? Tone it down, would ya?”
With conscious effort, Tray pushed his power down, a sheepish smile on his face. “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”
Cade’s eyes narrowed toward his friend, and any vestiges of sleep vanished. “You’re upset.” He glanced at the rest of us. “You’re all upset. What happened?”
He didn’t wait for a response, but allowed his power to seek out an answer. “The darkness was here,” he said. “The same that I felt at the house. It affected everyone. Then it took Brennan.”
His eyes refocused on us. “Brennan’s gone?”
I nodded, and the others refused to look at him. “We think he’s being made to set another fire.”
Then what would happen? The other times he’d been allowed to return to his normal life. Would this mysterious man allow him to come back, knowing we were here to stop him?
Or would he keep him, and use him as his own personal weapon?
SIXTEEN
Tray
Feeling helpless was not something anyone enjoyed. I think for those of us with special abilities, that feeling is somehow worse. We have powers, every one of us. And yet we’d allowed Brennan to be taken without a fight.
Yes, I know Jade and Cole attempted to stop him from leaving, but the fact of the matter was that they were outclassed. This Kindred person, if it was him, clearly had more power than either of my friends, and he took Brennan as easily as one might take candy from a baby. An old adage, but one I felt was appropriate in this case.
“We should talk to his dad,” Jade suggested. She was grasping at straws, but so were the rest of us at this point. “Maybe we can get more information about the people who have been targeted.”
Laurie seemed to agree. From what I remembered, Kindred would only go after those he felt were deserving of death. His definition seemed pretty flexible though, since he didn’t seem to mind messing with the people who had been trying to give him a second chance. Although, no one had been killed in any of the fires. At least not yet.
“Why don’t you and Tray go,” Laurie suggested. “I think it will be easier to explain all of this in person.”
“All of it?” I questioned. “We can’t tell them about his powers. I won’t out him, even if it is to his family.”
On that point, I would stand firm. It didn’t matter the situation. There was no way I would be the one to tell his family about his powers. Not without his consent.
“We won’t,” Jade assured me. “We’ll just explain that Brennan is implicated in the fires, and we need any information Joe might have to help clear his name. He doesn’t have to know about the powers.”
I felt myself deflate a bit. “Sorry. Just a bit… You know. It’s a bit too similar to what we fought with the Mastermind, and I don’t exactly like having friends—even new friends—in danger.”
She waved off my apology. “None of us do. Now, let’s see what information we can get from Joe.”
We left the house with strict instructions for the others to call if Brennan reappeared, or if another fire broke out, and drove to the Hanson household.
Jade turned to me a couple times as if wanting to say something, but turned away just as quickly. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and decided to let her off the hook. “You care about him,” I stated. “It surprised you, didn’t it? How much you still cared about someone you hadn’t seen in three years.”
I took a quick look at her before focusing on the road once more. Her lips twitched into a wry smile. “Are you sure you don’t have any mental abilities?”
“Nah,” I said with a laugh. “I just know you, that’s all. The way you’ve been looking at him since we got here, well… I guess I’d say most us know how you feel.”
And how she felt now, knowing more about the trouble he was in. Terrified probably about covered it. I shrugged. “He likes you too, in case you hadn’t read him enough to know. I can tell.”
A soft smile crossed her face, and she gazed out the window. “He barely knows me, but he thinks of me as his guardian angel. After I saved him from the fire three years ago, that was his first thought. Of course, now I know he had no idea he’d set the fire to begin with.”
“Yeah, the fire. How’d that go again? I remember you said you’d helped him back then, but I don’t think you’ve told me the whole story.”
She seemed apprehensive. Her hands clenched into fists a couple times before she nodded. “I suppose some of the information might help when dealing with his family.” She took a deep breath. “Three years ago, I saw a large, angry man drag Brennan into an old warehouse at gunpoint. The man turned out to be one of Brennan’s former foster parents. An abusive piece of garbage,” she spat, clearly unable to drop her anger, even now. “He took Brennan from school, and proceeded to nearly kill him. I heard a gunshot, and fire practically exploded through the building.”
I let out a low whistle. “He has that much power in him?”
“Enough to burn someone to death within seconds, and destroy a building in minutes,” she answered solemnly. “When I saw the burning figure, I initially worried it was the kid I wanted to save, but I found him nearby. His wrists were bleeding from whatever the guy had tied him with—he’d apparently melted through the bindings before I entered—and he had a wound on his shoulder from the gunshot.”
The gunshot most likely caused the explosion of power. Sometimes it took a traumatic event to spark a surge of that extent.
“He was so confused,” she continued softly. “Had no idea what he’d done. I had to tell him. I don’t think he’s ever forgiven himself for Anderson’s death.”
“It was a clear case of self-defense,” I argued. “No way any of that was on him. He was just a kid. No one would hold him accountable.”
She shook her head. “They didn’t. Authorities figured Anderson had set the fire, and just got himself caught in it. Brennan was never suspected.”
“But he sees himself as a killer?” I asked with a sigh. Turns out our new friend was a bit more like Jason than I’d given him credit for. Guilt complexes all around. “When we find him, we’ll all figure out a way to convince him otherwise.”
I followed the rest of the instructions given by our GPS, and we parked in front of a two story, family home. There were messy flower beds along the front, and a cracked sidewalk leading up to the door, but the rest looked nice. Newer gray siding, with white trim; it seemed like a decent place.
Jade knocked on the door, and we waited a few moments as the quick patter of footsteps made their way to the door. Slightly heavier thumps followed, and the door swung open to reveal a small girl, probably under five years old, and a woman who appeared to be somewhere in her forties.
She swung the girl away from the door and brushed back a few wisps of long brown hair that had fallen in her face. “Sara, you know better than to try to answer the door without me,” she scolded gently.
The woman turned her attention to us. “Sorry about that.” Her eyes narrowed for a moment as she studied Jade, then they widened. “Jade? What are you doing here?”
Giving a slight wave, Jade answered, “Hi, Angie. Brennan called me to help with an arson investigation. We were hoping Joe would be home. Is he around?”
She shook her head. “No. He’s either at the station or out on a call.”
Angie shifted her attention to me. “And you are?”
“Sorry, right,” Jade apologized. “This is Tray. He’s a good friend, and also here to help investigate.”
I waved. “Hi. Good to meet you. And the little lady here,” I added with a smile.
“Brennan’s youngest sibling,” Angie said. “Too bad he hardly ever comes to see her.”
“Bren?” Sara’s high pitched voice sounded hopeful as she gazed up at me from under dark curls. “Is he coming?”
I shook my head sadly. “Sorry, sweetie. He won’t be
coming right now.”
Left unsaid was that her big brother was currently MIA, and we had no idea when he’d reappear. Angie, despite a lack of psychic abilities, was apparently fairly intuitive. Something in our tone or our faces must have given us away.
“Where is he?” She turned to Jade before looking down at her daughter. “Sara, go to your room and play, okay?”
The little girl eyed all of us before tossing a casual wave and skipping off to her room. “Where is he, Jade?” Angie demanded.
Jade gave me a quick look before she answered. “We’re not entirely sure. We were at his house, and something happened. He took off, and we don’t know where he went.”
Angie leaned on the doorframe and sighed. “He’s still so troubled. I’d hoped… I’d hoped after everything he’d at least find some balance and peace.”
Jade smiled. “He still can. We’re here to help him. I want him to be more comfortable with himself.”
“Tell him… Ask him if he’ll come here. You know, once you find him. We—Joe and I—really want to reconnect. And the kids would love to spend some time with their brother. They miss him.”
“He misses them too,” Jade assured her. “I think we’ll be able to convince him. He regrets the distance he’s put between you. I think he’s just not sure how to get out of his current rut and rebuild a relationship with you guys.”
Angie eyed her, partly relieved and partly suspicious. “You always seem to know so much about him. Joe was always the closest to him since we adopted him. You’ve known him only a few years, and seen him only a couple times since then. How do you know him so well?”
I watched, curious as to how Jade would respond. We hadn’t fully discussed whether we would hide our own abilities from people during the investigation. Only that we wouldn’t discuss Brennan’s power outside of our group. Are you going to tell her? I asked silently.
For her part, Jade seemed torn. Some people were quite open to the idea of psychic powers. Others, even if they ended up believing us, never seemed to like the idea of Jade being able to read their thoughts.
“He opens up to me sometimes,” she answered cagily. “And… I have a little insight into how his mind works.”
Angie accepted her answer, and I nodded. Apparently, we weren’t spilling the psychic beans on this one. At least not yet.
“We should find Joe,” I reminded Jade. “We need that information.”
She nodded and Angie started to back away from the door. “Thanks for stopping by. And for telling me about Brennan. If… when you find him, just call me? Or have him call? I need to know he’s safe.”
“We will,” I answered with a nod. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Hanson.”
“Thank you.” With a final look at us, she closed the door, and we went back to the car.
“I suppose we should have assumed he’d be at work at this time of day, huh?”
“It’s after six, and we don’t know which shift he works,” Jade answered with a shrug. “It was a toss-up.”
We got in and set the GPS to get us to the police station, roughly a six minute drive from the house. “Not much of a detour, at least,” I said.
Jade sat staring at the steering wheel for a moment. “I think Angie knows there’s something different about Brennan,” she finally said. “When I told her something happened, I heard her thinking that she hoped he hadn’t gone out of control again.”
“Didn’t you say they don’t know about him?” I asked, indicating the house. “He hasn’t told them, and there’s been nothing to show it, so how would she know?”
She started the car and pulled onto the road before answering. “I don’t know for sure that she does. I’m just saying, it was kind of an odd thing for her to be thinking.”
“It’s possible she thought he lost his temper or ran away. Wouldn’t be the first time, right?”
She shook her head. “No. It wouldn’t. I guess that makes sense.
My phone rang just before we got to the police station. “Yeah, Cole, what’s up?”
“Cade got a hit from Brennan,” he informed me. I switched to speaker phone, and held it up between myself and Jade so she could hear. “What did he see?” I asked.
“Smoke. Flames. He felt heat and pain, but he couldn’t tell if the pain was Brennan’s or someone else’s. He couldn’t see where he was, but we’re going to give the fire chief a call to find out where it’s happening.”
“Going to tell him how you even know something is happening?” I asked.
He huffed. “I will if I have to. I thought I might start by asking if there were any suspicious calls today. You guys talk to Brennan’s dad yet?”
“No. He wasn’t home, so we’re checking his work. We just arrived,” Jade answered. “Keep us informed, okay?”
“You got it,” he said. “Let us know if you need anything. See you back at Brennan’s, otherwise.”
I hung up and sighed. “Whoever is doing this sure isn’t about to take a break.”
“Hopefully this Lena girl can actually help,” Jade answered wearily. “Both with finding whoever is messing with Brennan, and with trying to straighten out his abilities.”
We walked into the police station and to the main desk. “Hi,” I said with a smile to the police woman sitting behind the desk.
The phone rang, and she held up a finger for me to wait. Her call didn’t last long, but she shuffled a couple papers and went onto her computer. “I’ll be with you two in a moment,” she said.
We waited several minutes as she finished whatever task she was working on. I paced the lobby while Jade read some of the fliers on the wall.
The officer finally called us back over. “What can I do for you?”
“We’re looking for Joe Hanson. Is he available? It’s to do with his son.”
“I’ll give his desk a ring, and see if he’s still in. Have a seat, please.”
“Thank you,” I answered. We sat on the hard, plastic chairs along the wall.
I felt restless, and wished we were in a place where I could use my power as a bit of stress relief. In lieu of that, I simply fiddled with my little red ball, rolling it between my fingers and making sure I didn’t drop it.
No one was watching, but I didn’t want to risk being seen doing anything abnormal. Jade gave a wry smile when she saw me futzing with the ball. “Feeling antsy?” she asked.
“A bit. I don’t like not knowing what’s going on. And having Cade tell us Brennan’s at another fire? Not feeling overly positive about that one,” I answered softly.
“Can’t blame you there,” she agreed.
After what felt like ages, the officer behind the desk finally called to us. “Detective Hanson is ready for you. He’ll meet you outside the elevator on the second floor. You can go on up,” she informed us, gesturing for us to go ahead.
“Thank you, officer,” I said, grinning. “Have yourself a great day.”
She gave a slight smile in return. “You too, sir,” she answered.
True to her word, a man waited for us as we exited the elevator. “Detective Hanson?” I asked.
“Jade,” he interrupted. “Angie called. She said Brennan took off. What’s going on?”
She shrugged helplessly. “Quite honestly, we’re not sure yet. We came at his request to help with the arson investigation.”
Jade went on to explain everything we knew, while leaving out anything about Brennan’s powers.
“He really believes people think he’s the arsonist?” Joe sounded upset at that revelation.
“Yes, but we know he’s not behind it. We believe someone might be framing him,” I answered. Close to the truth, but not exactly. “So, we need any information you might have on the people who owned the buildings the arsonist has targeted.”
“That’s the odd thing,” Joe said, eyes narrowed as he led us to his desk. He logged into his computer. “The only property that was privately owned was the most recent house that burned down. The rest were owned by s
ome corporation or other. We haven’t even managed to narrow it down to the official owner yet.”
Jade and I exchanged a look. “Any potential criminal connections that you’ve discovered?”
“Officially?” he asked. “No. But you ask me, anyone who goes to this much trouble to hide their holdings usually isn’t on the right side of the law.”
Probably true. I wondered if these strikes had anything to do with the people who were connected to the Mastermind. He’d seemingly had a large number of people working for him.
“What about the house?” Jade asked. “Who owned that?”
Joe typed the inquiry into the search engine and shook his head. “It belonged to the parents of a known drug dealer. But they haven’t lived here for a while. Apparently, vice has been watching it for a while. My guess is: their son took over the property.”
Not good people. So, that stayed true to what we’d learned about Kindred in the past. He didn’t go after people he perceived as innocent, only criminals. Didn’t explain why he thought it was okay to mess with Brennan though.
“Thanks, Joe,” Jade said. “Like we told Angie, we’ll call, or have Brennan call, as soon as we meet back up with him, okay?”
The older man huffed out a sigh. “Yeah. Thanks, Jade. I appreciate what you’re doing to help him.”
My phone chimed, and I read the text that came through. “We need to go,” I told Jade.
After saying a final goodbye, we walked quickly back to the elevator.
“Cade texted,” I told Jade urgently. “He said he made contact with the guy manipulating Brennan, and we need to get there now.”
SEVENTEEN
Brennan
The acrid smell of smoke burned my nostrils as I tried to figure out where I was. Last I remembered, Cole had been attempting to get a read of what was going on in my mind. Now I was by myself, and there was screaming coming from the building I suspected I’d set on fire.
“I can’t let someone die in there,” I muttered to myself.
Getting caught at the scene wouldn’t be nearly as bad if I was pulling someone out of the burning building instead of standing and watching the destruction.
Burn Page 7