Chapter 4 #3
“Maybe,” she conceded, “but I definitely felt I didn’t make the grade. Then, when I got kidnapped, I couldn’t help but wonder if you guys hadn’t set it up as some crazy testing scenario.”
“We didn’t,” Jonas confirmed in a short and testy tone.
“You didn’t?” she asked again. “Anybody else in your group who may have?”
He looked at her in surprise and then shook his head. “If you mean another government department, no,” he replied. “That’s just not how we operate.”
She didn’t say anything to that because, as far as she was concerned, it was exactly how they operated.
Wallace kept an arm around her as they headed up to the offices. He looked over at Jonas. “You’ve got one hour, and then she needs to go to the hotel to shower and to rest, if not take a swing by the hospital to get checked over.”
She glared at him at that suggestion. “No,” she snapped. “I need a shower, that’s all. I could use it well before this, but I don’t want to come back, so let’s get this over with. Then get me out of here,” she muttered. She turned to face Jonas, plastered on a smile, and added, “ Please .”
He laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
“And considering that Wallace and Riff found me,” she conceded, “obviously your best is pretty damn fine.” And, on that note, she glared at Jonas. “What is it you want to know?”
“I need to know who it was and what they said to you.”
“Almost nothing. One was called Dominic. I don’t know any other names, but there were five of them in total—Dom, their psychic, then three minions serving as guards, plus the boss man.
” She gave her basic perceptions of them and added, “There was talk about mind reading and various other abilities. They seemed to think that I had some abilities, but I tried hard to convince them I didn’t.
I salted it with the truth about a car accident I had many years ago, which is when my abilities came into play, along with the fact that I also lost them a few years later,” she muttered.
At that, Jonas stared at her, fascinated.
“Apparently you didn’t know that either,” she noted, with a headshake. “The kidnappers had done some research on me, and they were damn accurate but with some holes. It pissed me off, but they hadn’t heard any of these earlier details.”
“No, of course not,” Jonas muttered. “I didn’t know those details.”
“You weren’t looking in Brazil, which is where I was at the time of the car accident and where these abilities started to show up,” she shared.
“When did they stop?”
“When I hit puberty,” she replied, angrily glaring at him now. “How is it that you brought me in for a job interview, but you don’t know all this?”
“Because we didn’t do that deep of an investigation,” he shared, “not yet anyway. We were trying to figure out if it was even something worth doing and who out there had the abilities to make this team possible,” he explained.
“It seems as if you special guys are also pretty closed-mouthed about it all.”
“Yeah, and I wonder why,” she declared, with a snort.
Wallace just laughed, walked over, sat her down on a chair, then stepped behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “That’s fifteen minutes of your one hour,” he announced to Jonas.
Jonas glared at him, but he shrugged. “Hey, fair is fair.”
“Damn straight,” Wallace stated. “She’s exhausted and obviously has been through a hell of an ordeal already.
I’m certain that she feels as if she stinks of the sewer that we dragged her out of, as do Riff and I,” Wallace added, “and—until she gets a shower, a hot cup of coffee, some decent food, she won’t even start to unwind.
Right now she’s tense, frustrated, and edgy.
I just want to get her back to the hotel. ”
“Not that hotel,” she declared, twisting to look up at him in horror.
“No, absolutely not that hotel,” he agreed, with a smile. “I’ve even thought that maybe we should take you straight over to Terk’s place.” He turned to Riff, who was leaning against the door and studying the group.
Riff nodded. “Let me talk to him.” And, with that, he stepped out of the room.
She frowned as she looked up at Wallace. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
He shrugged. “You need a place to go to that is safe. You need a place to heal, and I know that you’ve already had some conversation with Terk about the shifts in your gifts.” They both turned to face Jonas. Wallace nudged him. “You’re running out of time.”
Jonas glared at Wallace. With a sigh, he turned to Amy. “This Dominic, would you recognize him again?”
“I would probably recognize all of them again,” she replied, “but I didn’t recognize them in terms of knowing who they are, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Right. Would you look at some books for us?”
She nodded, and he quickly walked over to a computer, punched some keys, and a screen appeared on the wall. Then he opened a series of mug shots but more official-looking. “Let me know as these photos run by if you see anyone who looks familiar.”
She nodded, and even Wallace watched as the faces shifted rapidly around them. She called out, “Wait.”
“That one?” Jonas hit Stop.
“No, go back one.”
He went back one, and she nodded. “So that could be Burly.”
“Burly?” he repeated in confusion.
“Yeah, the angry burly guy seemed to be the leader of the men. I don’t mean that’s his name. That’s just how I thought of him.”
“This guy is wanted by Interpol,” Jonas noted. “So that would make sense. Although I don’t know what he’s doing, getting involved with this. He’s KGB though, ex -KGB, and the last we have on him is that he’s now gone private.”
“He was there, and Dominic was there, but I haven’t seen a picture of him yet,” she murmured.
“Maybe you don’t have one. Then two of the three guards almost looked as if they could be related.
Brothers maybe or cousins, I don’t know.
But they were definitely down the pecking order.
I think Burly was the boss of the henchmen.
I think Dominic—who seemed arrogant all the time, as if he had an ability himself, or wanted people to think so—he reported to Burly too.
Dom mentioned how he could read minds, and the others seemed a little afraid of him.
Maybe not afraid, but a little leery because they didn’t really know what he could do.
I think he was using the mind reader moniker to keep the others from getting too close to him—in case he really could read their minds. ”
“Smart,” Wallace conceded, with a nod. “The last thing anybody wants is to have somebody around who can read what’s on their mind.”
“So, I’m not sure that he was a mind reader or just a good fake,” she murmured, “but,… from a few things he said, it’s possible he has a gift.”
“Right,” Wallace muttered, “that makes sense.” He turned to Jonas. “Why would this Burly guy be involved in this?”
“He’s private, so he was probably just hired to find and to put together a team. However, his problem will be the same as ours, finding anybody with abilities.”
“He did say that,” she shared, with a smile, “and I just assumed that they were trying to piggyback off your research.”
He nodded. “Sounds like it.”
She stood up, her legs shaky. Wallace reached out with a supporting arm.
She smiled at him and muttered, “I really need to go lie down now.” She turned back to Jonas.
“If you have more questions, just let Wallace know, and he can get ahold of me, but I’m done for now.
” And, with that, she turned and headed for the door.
Jonas raced behind her. “Wait.”
She turned to glare at him. “What?”
“We really didn’t have anything to do with this,” he repeated, “and we’re very sorry it happened.”
She nodded. “ Sorry doesn’t really cut it right now though.
I just want to go someplace where I’m safe and don’t smell the sewer and don’t have to face these lovely aspects of life,” she muttered.
“There’s a reason I walked away from this thing years ago.
” Leaving Jonas standing there, staring at her, with more questions on his lips, she walked out, finding Riff there to join her.
Jonas turned to Wallace, who was only a couple steps behind. “What happened to her?”
He hesitated, then replied, “You really do need to do more research on her, but she used to help the cops a lot. It was always very ugly cases, like missing kids, rapes, murders, things like that. She eventually just burned out,” he added.
“Anybody who does that for any amount of time, regardless of their abilities or talents, they burn out, and they carry it all with them and suffer terribly from PTSD.” Wallace shrugged.
“That’s why she’s blocked off a ton of it for a long time now. ”
“But then when she got sick, I thought things changed. I thought something happened then.”
“Yeah, it certainly did. Her abilities came back full force. Stronger, better. Or maybe badder is a better word,” he clarified, with a laugh. “She’s still trying to figure it all out.”
“So, she’s good? I know I asked you before,” Jonas muttered, with a wave of his hand. “I guess I’m asking again. Is she good?”
“Yes, she’s good,” Wallace confirmed, “as in seriously good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m taking her someplace safe.”
At that, he walked out of the room, leaving Jonas staring behind them.