Fatal Connection: A Phoenix Agency Crossover Novella (Phoenix Agency Universe Book 15)

by Anna Blakely

  “A few days ago, Mia had a vision she didn’t understand.”

  “What did she see?” Eden asked pointedly.

  “A soccer ball.”

  Eden’s gaze shot to Alex’s. “I saw you two playing soccer with that boy.”

  Alex swallowed before turning to her. “Our Force Recon unit was stationed overseas for a mission. Our job was to imbed ourselves in a small village just outside Bahrain. Train the locals how to shoot, evade, and fight in hand-to-hand combat.”

  “But really”—Dan intervened— “we were there to run surveillance on the group’s commander. There was chatter the guy was working both sides.”

  “He was a traitor,” Eden surmised.

  Dan tipped his chin. “He was.”

  Eden thought a moment before saying, “I still don’t understand. What does any of that have to do with Mia’s vision?”

  Alex answered for his former teammate. “While we were there, Dan and I befriended some of the local kids. One boy, in particular.”

  “Khalil.”

  Just hearing Dan say the boy’s name caused the pressure in Alex’s chest to worsen.

  “I saw a fire.” Eden’s eyes filled with sadness. “Something happened to him, didn’t it?”

  “The commander we were watching figured out what we were up to. He thought the people in his village had betrayed him, so he staged an attack. Paid a local militia to execute everyone in the village and then burn the place to the ground. Afterwards, they made a false report to the media claiming a different terrorist group was responsible.”

  “They killed everyone?” Eden looked horrified. “Even the kids?”

  Alex drew in a deep breath. “It was an early morning attack. The commander and a few of his men had conveniently left the night before for a scheduled meeting. Or, so he claimed.”

  “How did your team survive the attack?”

  Dan scoffed. “Dumb luck. Or fate. Whatever you want to call it.”

  Giving her a little more, Alex said, “We got an unexpected call to assist a different team on a completely separate op. They were stationed about twenty miles south of the village.”

  “We left an hour before the attack occurred.” Dan shook his head. “Had no idea what went down until we returned that afternoon.”

  Eden reached for Alex’s hand, and he did his damnedest to push away the feelings of regret and sorrow the memory had brought to the surface. She had enough to deal with. She didn’t need to feel his pain, too.

  “I’m so sorry.” She looked at Dan. “For both of you. That must have been horrible.” She waited a few seconds before saying, “You said your wife saw a soccer ball. How did you make the leap from that to me?”

  “I didn’t.” Dan shook his head. “Not at first. The message in Mia’s visions aren’t always clear from the start. It can be very frustrating for her, at times.”

  Eden gave him a half-smile. “I know the feeling.”

  “So, what changed?” Alex’s voice rumbled with the question.

  His friend gave him a knowing look. “The next few visions showed the ball on fire and a silver cross necklace.”

  “Jesus.” Alex sat back in the seat. No way was that vision a coincidence.

  Eden’s gaze shot to him. “What? What does that mean?”

  He hated dredging this shit back up again, but at this point, he really didn’t have a choice.

  “When we found the village had been destroyed, our team buried as many of the bodies as we could find. The last one we recovered was Khalil’s. The fire hadn’t reached him, so he was easily recognizable. The soccer ball was lying about two feet from his body. We buried it with him.”

  “Oh, Alex.”

  “Anyway.” He did his best to get the rest of it out quickly. “After the grave was covered, we made a makeshift cross out of two smaller tree limbs and used that as a grave marker. I was wearing a silver cross necklace, so I took it off and hung it on the marker.”

  Swiping a tear from her cheek, Eden looked at Dan. “The ball, fire, and cross. That’s what made you come to Alex.”

  The other man nodded. “I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence.”

  That his friend, whom he hadn’t seen in several years, hopped on a flight to deliver the message proved their bond didn’t end with their military careers.

  “I understand why you’d think something was up with me, but why the concern for Eden? How did you come to the conclusion she was the one in danger?”

  “Like the rest of the country, I’ve been following the news. I assumed her visions had something to do with this case you’ve been working on until Mia woke up in a panic this morning. Said this time she saw a woman with long, dark hair floating in a pool of blood surrounded by fire. Next to her were the soccer ball and necklace. The woman was dead, but her eyes were open.” Dan turned to Eden. “The golden color she described from her vision matches yours exactly. I knew the second I saw you I was looking at the woman from Mia’s vision.”

  Fuck.

  Alex ran a hand over his jaw but kept quiet. He so badly wanted to reach for Eden’s hand, but the fear he was experiencing from just the thought of something happening to her kept him from it.

  “I don’t mean to frighten either of you,” Dan assured them both. “But Mia’s worked hard over the years to perfect her ability and better understand the visions that come to her. We believe her visions are a warning for you two. One you should take very seriously.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Eden’s words escaped with a soft breath.

  Reaching for something to ease her worry, Alex looked at her and said, “At least now you know you aren’t alone in what you can do. That the women of Phoenix hold psychic powers, too.”

  He was rewarded with a tiny ghost of a smile.

  “Oh, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Dan grinned. “There’s an entire network of women with psychic abilities that spans the globe.”

  Eden’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”

  “You ever hear of something called the Lotus Circle?”

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “But I always thought it was an urban legend. Nothing more than a myth.”

  Dan’s smile grew. “I can assure you, it’s very real. Mark Halloran, one of my partners, is married to a woman named Faith. They’re both telepaths.”

  “Both of them?” Eden’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

  Nodding, Dan said, “Their ability to communicate telepathically was the only thing that saved Mark’s life a few years back.”

  Alex stared back at his friend. “That’s unbelievable.”

  “Believe it. Not only that, Faith’s aunt actually plays a very vital role in the Lotus community. Women with abilities like Eden’s can email the group with questions about visions and what they mean, ask for suggestions, that sort of thing. Mia has found it to be an invaluable support system.” To Eden, Dan said, “If you’d like, I can put you in contact with her. I know she’d love the opportunity to talk with you.”

  “Absolutely.” Eden nodded enthusiastically.

  Reaching into his back pocket, Dan pulled a small business card from his wallet. Reaching over the table, he handed it to her. “If you ever want to talk to her, either just to visit or run something by her, call that number. Tell them you’re a friend of mine and ask for Mia. They’ll put you through.”

  “Thanks.” Eden ran her thumb over the embossed letters. “I wish I’d known about Mia and all the others years ago.” Her voice became laced with sadness. “If I had, maybe I wouldn’t have felt so different. So alone.”

  Alex reached for her then. With his hand on her forearm, he gave her a gentle squeeze. “You’re not alone anymore.” She looked up at him. “You’ll never be alone again.”

  Her eyes rose to meet his, and he prayed she could see he meant every word. “I know.” Her lips curved in a sad smile. “It’s just hard sometimes. You have what some people refer to as a gift, but more often than not, it seems more like a curse. I
can’t help but think if I’d known so many others were out there, that The Lotus Circle actually existed, I would’ve felt there was a place for me in this world. I wouldn’t have been ashamed or thought I needed to keep myself isolated from everyone else. I—”

  Eden cut herself off so abruptly Alex thought maybe she was getting choked up. A stretch of silence passed as she sat there, staring out at nothing while her wheels spun at what appeared to be a rapid pace. When she looked back up at him, the first thing Alex noticed was the light suddenly shining there again.

  “That’s it!”

  “Sweetheart, what’s it?”

  “The Liberator’s victims.”

  “What about them?” Dan asked, joining in the conversation.

  Eden was so worked up by the conclusion she’d just drawn she was having a hard time relaying it. “The colors. Their colors were muted.” She swung her gaze back up to his. “Remember when I said they were mostly dull and…and grey? That it felt as if they were alone, that they’d isolated themselves from everyone around them?”

  “Yes, but what does that—”

  “The people the FBI and your team spoke with…the ones who knew those women. They described them as loners. As being odd, right?”

  “Well, yeah. But, I still don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

  “She thinks they were like her and Mia,” Dan jumped in.

  “Exactly.” Eden nodded.

  Alex looked at his friend then back to her. “What?”

  Drawing in a deep, calming breath, Eden shifted in the seat to face him more directly. “It’s just a theory, but I think those five women held some sort of psychic ability. It may even be the reason they were chosen.” She grabbed her purse. “We need to get back to the station. I need to go through the evidence again.”

  Alex had never doubted her instinct nor her gift. He wasn’t about to start now. Sliding out of the booth, he made a move to retrieve his wallet, but Dan stopped him.

  “I got this.” He had his wallet out and his credit card in hand before Dan could reach for his cash.

  “You sure?”

  Dan nodded. “Go. I’ll catch up. Besides…” He wiggled the card between his fingers and grinned. “I can put this on the company card. After all, we did talk business, right?”

  “Thanks, man. I owe ya.”

  “I’ll remember you said that.”

  Feeling one step closer to solving this case, Alex took Eden’s hand in his, and the two headed for the door.

  Chapter Nine

  Eden ran her fingertips over Chloe Howard’s scarf again. When she’d first gotten the idea that the victims could possibly have been psychic, she’d been excited. Hopeful. After going through each of their things a third time, she was all but certain her theory was correct.

  I just wish I’d figured it out sooner.

  When she’d explained to Alex what she’d felt this time around, both he and Garrett immediately left for their desks to begin making phone calls. They wanted to talk to the women’s families again.

  The goal was to find out whether or not any of the victims had ever exhibited signs of having a psi ability. Or, better yet, if any of the people they were calling had witnessed the women’s gifts themselves.

  Dan had arrived at the station just minutes behind them. Apparently, being a senior Phoenix Agency partner gave the formidable man Card Blanche. After offering his agency’s services and resources—all on a pro-bono basis—Sergeant Murphy began falling all over himself to accommodate the man.

  While they did their thing out there, Eden had chosen to remain in here. The more time she spent around the women’s photos and personal items, the more connected to them she felt.

  It was hard not to beat herself up for not seeing it before now. The sense of loneliness these women lived with was the same Eden had felt her entire life. She went to the board again.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered to those whose lives had been cut tragically short. Raising her hand, she touched Sandra Denney’s picture. “I wish I’d known you when you were still alive. I wish I’d known you all.”

  Maybe we could have helped each other.

  “You were right.”

  Alex’s deep voice startled her. She turned to see him standing in the doorway with a wide grin spread across his face.

  Her heart beat a little faster. “I was?”

  He started walking into the room when Garrett and Dan appeared behind him. Garrett spoke up first.

  “We couldn’t reach the relatives of the first victim, but the others all picked up.” He walked over to the board. “At some point in their lives, each of these women mentioned their abilities to a family member or friend.”

  Dan chimed in too. “A couple people we spoke to even admitted to witnessing the use of their powers.”

  “Unfortunately”—Alex spoke again— “they all thought it was just an illusion. Some sort of mind trick.”

  Garrett looked at her, then the other two men. “It’s not much to go on, but at least this gives us a connection between each of the women.”

  “I guess it’s a start.” Eden turned to Alex. “Now we just need to figure out how the killer knew about their gifts.”

  A horrific thought suddenly occurred to her.

  In near panic mode, she swung her gaze to Dan’s and asked, “Is there any way for you to find out if they were involved with The Lotus Circle? If they were, that could mean he’s somehow using that system to choose his victims. Anyone associated with it could be a target. They could all be in danger.”

  “I’ve already checked,” Dan spoke calmly as he put a hand up to stop her rambling. “None of the women were members, nor had any of the other members heard of them prior to their deaths.”

  Eden breathed a sigh of relief then shook her head. “If he’s not choosing them from that resource, then how did he know about their abilities?”

  “She’s right.” Garrett tipped his chin toward the women’s pictures. “Clearly these women didn’t go around announcing to the world they possessed psychic powers.”

  “The opposite, actually,” Alex agreed. “All the evidence points to the fact they did everything they could to hide it.”

  Eden ran a hand through her long hair. “So, this doesn’t really help at all. Without some other connection between them, there’s no way the man calling himself The Liberator could have known about their abilities. Not unless…”

  Another thought hit. Is it possible?

  “What is it, Eden?” Dan asked sounding genuinely curious.

  She stared back at all three men. “Unless the killer is psychic, too.”

  No one said anything, making Eden question if they were ready to climb aboard that particular crazy train. She had to convince them.

  “Look, I know it sounds far-fetched, but just hear me out.” Not giving them a chance to do otherwise, Eden quickly began to run with her newest theory. “Let’s say our guy has a gift. He’s either like me and can get a read through touch, or he’s telepathic…something that gives him the ability to spot women with psychic powers.”

  “Not only that, but he can tell they’re loners.” Garrett jumped in. The Greek god of a man actually seemed rather excited by this new direction.

  “Right!” Eden pointed at him, her own excitement growing by the second. She hurried back to the board, scanning each of the pictures again. “He somehow senses these women’s gifts, but also knows they felt shunned because of them.”

  “He can see the cruelty they’ve been forced to endure from the outside world.”

  Alex’s soft-spoken words had her turning back around. His sapphire eyes looked back at her, and with a single tip of his head, she knew he was finally seeing it, too.

  Dan took a step closer, carefully studying the board behind her. “Something in his life, probably something from his past, makes him feel responsible for taking their pain away.”

  Eden nodded. “He feels compelled to send them to a world where the
re is no pain.”

  “Jesus.” Alex looked down at her. “That’s it. That’s why he refers to himself as The Liberator.” His gaze rose to the victim’s smiling faces. “He thinks he’s liberating them from a world where they aren’t wanted.”

  “Question is”—Garrett’s voice turned somber— “how do we find him?”

  “That’s what I want to know.”

  All four heads turned toward the door. With his hands on his narrow hips, Sergeant Murphy scowled back at them from the doorway. The man never really looked happy, but the expression on his face right then was even more unpleasant than normal.

  With his brown eyes laser-focused on her, Murphy made his way further into the room. “It’s been three days, and from what I can tell, you haven’t found shit. Maybe the press got it right, after all.”

  “Sarge,” Garrett gave his boss a look. Alex wasn’t so subtle.

  “What the fuck did you just say?”

  Those angry eyes turned to him. “You got something to say, Bennett?”

  “Yeah.” Alex nodded. “I do.”

  “Alex, don’t,” Eden attempted to stop him.

  The last thing she wanted on her conscious was the man she loved losing his job because of her. Ignoring her protest, the well-meaning man stood up for her.

  “Eden found the connection we’ve been missing.” He slid her a sideways glance before returning his focus to his boss. “This entire unit, including you, has spent weeks trying to come up with how our guy picks his victims. The fucking FBI couldn’t do it. But Eden did it in three days.”

  Mic drop. Eden watched nervously as the two men continued staring each other down.

  Murphy remained quiet for a few more seconds before turning to her. “Explain.”

  Keeping her voice surprisingly steady, Eden quickly went over her theory. When she was finished, Murphy took a minute to digest what they’d all come to believe as fact. Finally, just when she was sure the man was going to toss her ass out, he nodded.

  “Fine.” He turned his back on her to address the others. “Let’s assume these women are like her. That tells us about them.” He used his thumb to gesture over his shoulder toward the board. “I want to know about him.” Murphy faced her again. “What did you get when you touched the cards?”