Jace
“Are Charles Voudrie and Dr. Lauren Prentis in the same location?” Yes.
“Are they both well?” Yes.
“Do they have freedom of movement?” Yes.
Good. Guards probably watched Dr. Prentis and Charlie.
But it sounded like they weren’t being kept in restraints.
These were important facts that would give them an idea of the size of the opposing force, and help formulate a rescue plan when they had a possible location of where the captives were being held.
“Did the driver of the tour bus accept a payoff to leave Dr. Prentis at the rest stop?” Yes.
Jace felt a surge of rage. That slimy piece of shit. He should be prosecuted for this, and probably wouldn’t be.
Since he hadn’t been arrested, police had no proof of the driver’s involvement. Clarke’s power wouldn’t be considered evidence in a court of law. It sucked.
“Are the missing students with Charlie and Dr. Prentis?” Most of them.
Jace verbalized the answer in low tones so he wouldn’t risk jarring Clarke out of the trance.
He shared a long, heavy look with Russell and Heath.
Clarke’s power giving more complex answers than yeses and noes was an important discovery.
This could give them more latitude in the kind of questions they asked.
Once he absorbed what they had just learned about the versatility of Clarke’s power, Jace focused on the answer itself, and the implications of it. On the one hand, that was good. On the other, it was bad.
Most of the students being with Charlie and the veterinarian meant that they wouldn’t have to search for multiple locations. Any leads on the missing alumni might also point to Charlie. That would make things simpler.
This verified that Russell’s theory of an organization with a lot of money and manpower orchestrating the abductions might be correct. It could be very difficult to find them and stage a rescue if that was the case.
There could be dozens, or even hundreds, of guards. Cybersecurity could also be a significant issue. That was if they could find the place.
“Some of these questions are moot now, given what we just learned. Where do you want to go from here?” Jace asked quietly.
Russell’s brow was furrowed as he gazed at Clarke with concern. “Let’s pose a few more, then wrap up for now. I have a lot of thinking to do.”
He extended a sheet of paper that Jace reached out for. Jace nodded when he read it. These questions would give them a more detailed picture of what was happening, extrapolating on what they now knew.
“Are the people holding Charlie captive having him brew potions for them?” Yes.
“Do they consider him useful?” Yes.
“Is Lauren Prentis working closely with animals where she is now?” Yes.
“Did her captors make a legitimate employment offer that Dr. Prentis refused before planning her abduction?” No.
“Is Dr. Prentis working with marine animals?” No.
“Is she working primarily with land-dwelling mammals?” Yes.
“Are some of those large, predatory creatures?” Yes.
Russell signaled that he was satisfied with the information they currently had. He scribbled more notes as Heath led Clarke out of the trance, and lifted the tranquility spell.
Jace handed Clarke the pages of questions and answers so she could read for herself what they had learned.
“Dad’s unharmed. Thank God!” Clarke murmured, mostly to herself. “I can be patient as long as I know he’s safe. But there’s no guarantee it will stay that way.”
“Charlie is brewing potions, and making himself useful,” Heath pointed out. “We already know that he’s an expert brewer, much better than average. The people holding him hostage should be motivated to feed and treat him well. They won’t want to lose his skills.”
“The people we are searching for aren’t scattered all over the globe,” Jace said encouragingly.
“Most of them are in one place that is big enough to house large species. We now know that Dr. Prentis isn’t currently working with marine animals, meaning we can cross big aquariums off the list of potential locations.
That still leaves a vast number of places, but it does narrow things down. ”
“The fact that this entity didn’t make an offer to Dr. Prentis prior to planning her capture is significant,” Russell said.
“This leads me to believe that we aren’t looking for a place open to the public, like a zoo.
It’s more apt to be a private enterprise, possibly under the guise of a shell corporation. ”
“True,” Clarke said. “You both have very good points. Dad and Dr. Prentis are currently safe, and the assholes who captured them have a reason to keep them healthy. So, we have time to figure this out.”
“We do,” Russell said. “And we now know that we can focus on finding the missing graduates. The person we’re looking for may be connected to the students rather than your dad or Dr. Prentis. This knowledge will help our investigation and define the kind of information I’m looking for.
“On another subject, though, Clarke, what is the rank of your psionic power?”
“Two-point-two,” Clarke answered.
Russell shook his head, looking flabbergasted. “That can’t be right,” he said.
Jace agreed that the rank was grossly inaccurate. But they knew much more about her power than the testers had been aware of. It made a difference.
“It’s been very hit or miss, and difficult to control,” Clarke said. “They also aren’t typical visions. I have no memory of them when I come out of a trance. The visions I have gotten depict minor, insignificant events. Ranking of my psionic power was based on those factors.
“My physical power is the only one listed on my documentation and degrees. I included my psychic ability and rank to my application for the position of dormitory monitor to show that I can relate to students with both physical and mental powers.”
Listing her psychic power in this case was entirely optional. Disclosing abilities that were ranked lower than four was not a legal requirement. They were considered too weak to be either useful or dangerous.
“You did that to make yourself more appealing for the position,” Heath guessed.
“Yeah, and it worked,” Clarke said.
“I’m sure you would have been hired anyway,” Heath said. “But I would have done the same to help my case, not knowing who I might be competing against for the job.”
“Exactly,” Clarke said. “I couldn’t risk not being hired. The stakes are too high. Enrolling in classes as a man would have been my follow-up plan, but I needed the clearance and freedom on campus of a faculty member.”
“Well, that low, very incorrect rank is a blessing in this case,” Russell said. “I was absolutely terrified for a minute there. Just promise me that you won’t get retested anytime soon, please. From what I’ve seen, I would guess this power is closer to a seven, if not higher.”
“Terrified? Why?” Clarke asked, looking confused.
“Charlie was smart enough to make himself useful, motivating his captors to keep him alive,” Russell said.
“The downside to that is that the people behind this will have verified his skills, and done a background check. I would be shocked if they didn’t research Charlie’s family and friends as well.
If your psychic power were accurately ranked, you could be seen as a threat to them, Clarke. ”
Russell was right. It would be stupid to assume that the people behind the abductions didn’t know about Clarke and her powers. That was a sobering thought that gave Jace the chills.
“Fuck! The clue we’ve been searching for is a person, and we don’t have a single suspect yet,” Heath said with worry and frustration.
“It could be anybody, and he might already be watching her. Clarke, if the subject of your psionic ability comes up in class, I want you to downplay it. The last thing we need right now is for you to be in more danger because of rumors on campus about you being a powerful psychic.”
“True. But I would guess that this person doesn’t know about Charlie, or not enough to be a danger to Clarke,” Russell said.
“Their last name is very distinctive, and Clarke is using her first name, just without the E,” Jace said.
That was how he’d known who she was the moment he read the memo from Dean Stanhope.
“It would be easy enough to find out that she not only lived in the same town as Charlie, but the same house. If this guy has any contact with faculty and recognized the name, he would have suspected who she really is immediately.”
“I’m on the same page,” Russell said. “No one other than Mitch and Ray paid undue attention to Clarke, or singled her out. And that was all about Clarke outperforming them as a monitor.”
“Ray has gotten his head out of his ass, and has been acting like a decent person,” Clarke said.
“Mitch went off the rails, but I agree that his vendetta has nothing to do with Dad. To be on the safe side, I will downplay my psionic power if the subject comes up. But I’m not worried about it.
No one has commented on my last name, or asked any pointed questions. ”
“This leads me to believe that the person we are looking for is connected to the missing students, and may not even be aware of Charlie,” Russell said.
“Hopefully you’re right,” Heath said. “Clarke’s been here long enough that if someone viewed her as a threat, he probably would have acted on that by now.”
“I agree, but think we should all be vigilant regardless,” Jace suggested.
“We’ll still be careful. It would be stupid not to,” Russell agreed. “I think we should see what we can learn during the week, and meet again next Sunday.”
“Sounds good. Same time, same place?” Heath asked.
“It’s a date,” Russell said as he stood from his chair. “Have a good day, guys.”
“You, too,” Heath said.
“I think that went well,” Clarke said after walking Russell to the door, and seeing him out.
“Definitely,” Heath agreed. “We learned a lot, and now know that your power provides more than basic answers when applicable.”
“Yeah, that’s huge,” Jace said.
Clarke sat down next to Heath, reaching out to hold one of his hands.
“It is an exciting discovery that I’ll probably think about more later.
The biggest thing to me is hearing that Dad is alive and ok.
For the first time in months, I feel like I can actually breathe, knowing Dad is safe,” she said.
“We still have a lot to figure out, but that was the best news I’ve heard in a while,” Jace said as he texted.
“Are you passing that on to your mom and the dads?” Clarke asked.
Jace shook his head. “I’ll do that later. They’ll want to talk, and hear every detail. I’m asking the guys if anyone is up for shooting some pool this week.”
“They probably will be,” Heath said. “You usually hang out with them more often.”
“Yeah, all the drama here made for a good excuse to stick close to the dorm,” Jace said. “But that won’t fly much longer. I could have met up with them once or twice, but it would have been awkward. I want to announce that I’m bonded, and can’t talk about it.”
“You have other things to discuss now, though, and can make an excuse to leave early,” Clarke mentioned.
“True,” Jace said. “I’ll stick to asking about Mitch and the missing students.”
He used to flirt with the barmaids and any single ladies who were around when out drinking with his buddies. Obviously, Jace wouldn’t be doing that anymore, and his friends were bound to notice.
Keeping the conversation to serious topics might be enough to deter their curiosity.
They wouldn’t expect him to discuss open cases or Mitch’s deranged behavior in front of servers or barflies.
If Jace kept the night short, his friends might not realize he was acting differently around the ladies to question it.
Jace and Clarke stayed at Heath’s for another thirty minutes, talking casually. There was a new ease with the knowledge that Charlie was reasonably safe at the moment. They would both have preferred to stay longer, but didn’t want to spend the entire day away from the dorms.