Trouble In Mind (Interstellar Rescue Series Book 2)

by Donna S. Frelick

  Gabriel’s hands clenched into fists as he watched her go. Damn it, he’d thought there was a chance he could work with this one . . .

  She stopped and turned back to him from the hallway. Looking a little embarrassed, she waved her notebook at him. “Thanks for the description of the van and the perps, by the way. I don’t know how you got it, but that we can use. We’ll put it out right away.”

  Heat flashed through his body, but he was no longer certain it was anger fueling the fire. He only knew Alana Matheson was going to be a problem, one he’d have to get rid of as soon as possible.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Trin, Minertsa, Home Planet of the Consortium, Sector 10

  Ardis found her way to her usual seat in the fourth row, first balcony of the Lorenda Excelsis Presentation Venue, as she did every tenth solar cycle. She was a regular patron of the entertainments staged at the Venue—the historical reenactments, the auditory performances and, like tonight’s scheduled event, the color spectrum orchestrations. Those had been her favorites, in a time when her attendance at the Venue was simply for pleasure.

  The Director Second of the Ministry of Labor watched as the great hall filled with beings of all descriptions. The entertainments were popular not only with her own people, but with the many outsiders who now crowded the central governing planet of the Consortium. The audience even included a number of humans. There had been a time when a human could not have moved freely anywhere in the worlds of the Consortium. But now, though the slave trade still flourished, the descendants of Earth’s people and their humanoid allies throughout the galaxy had broken many barriers. They were everywhere, even here in the heart of Minertsa.

  The color spectrum shows were appealing to the humans, for whom entertainment of any kind seemed to be addictive. Ardis found this somewhat puzzling, as the humans could only perceive the visual aspects of the presentations. From what she understood, they “saw” the colors with their eyes, pronouncing them “spectacular,” and claimed to “hear” certain of the auditory frequencies in the vibratory spectra. These they described as “eerie” or “compelling.” Yet they completely missed the tactile nature of the vibratory spectra and were not capable of interpreting the emotional or sensual content of the colors. Frankly, she did not see the point of attending a performance handicapped in such a way. She imagined it would be like trying to experience the humans’ beloved statue of David wearing a blindfold. Possible, but inadequate.

  The time for the show to begin approached, but still the seats on either side of Ardis remained empty. This was as planned. She waited, keeping her aura within careful bounds. She could allow a tiny amount of deeper violet to tinge her usual lavender; the excitement surrounding the entertainment would naturally heighten her color. But no more, or her mission would be in jeopardy. She cast a discreet glance at the others in her section. No one was looking in her direction. Satisfied, she kept her eyes on the stage until the lights in the hall began to dim for the start of the performance.

  As the Venue went black, someone slipped into the seat to her right. She knew immediately it was not her usual contact. The human was larger. Male, not female. She kept her aura a neutral lavender-gray and challenged him.

  “You have the wrong seat. Please check your ticket.”

  “This ticket was given me by a friend.” The man kept his voice low. “You may check it yourself.”

  Once her eyes had adjusted to the darkened theater, Ardis peered down at the hand he held out to her. In his palm was a tiny data crystal. She met his even gaze and accepted what he offered, slipped the crystal into the port in her wrist and confirmed his identity. Then she removed the crystal and swallowed it.

  “Where is my regular contact?”

  “We fear she has been taken.”

  Bright green fear streaked through Ardis’s aura before she could control it. “Then we may have been compromised!”

  “No. She would never betray us.”

  The performance began, colors washing through the air around them, auditory vibrations a low thrum through the seats. Ardis ignored the emotional beginning to the piece, her mind in turmoil. She didn’t want to trust this man with her report, but she had no choice.

  She handed him the precious data crystal. “You must tell your people time is running out. Sennik is impatient, and he is under pressure. I won’t be able to deflect him much longer.”

  “We understand.” The man downloaded the data from the crystal into the port at his wrist, then disposed of it, as she had done with his.

  “He has sent Thrane teams everywhere, even to Earth. They have been very successful at recapturing the adults.” Ardis glanced up, pausing as two latecomers were shown to their seats not far away. Then she continued in a rush. “We must protect the rest. The searchers are closing in. Once the Director Prime has the young ones it will be impossible for any of us to stop him.”

  “We’ll do the best we can.”

  Ardis caught the hand of her human companion, as an emotion she could not control turned her aura the flaming colors of the setting sun. “Make certain your best is good enough. Or the galaxy will soon be at war.”

  U.S. Interstate 40, Arkansas, Earth, Sector Three

  Asia lay motionless in the back of the van, sweat dripping from her skin to pool beneath her where her body met the floor of the vehicle. The temperature in the metal coffin of the van was rising with the morning sun outside. If the engine had been running, there would have been some movement of air in the back of the vehicle; at least, there had been yesterday—air coming through the vent high up on one wall of the steel box that held them. Today, the endless motion of the van had stopped, the engine had been silent for hours now, and the heat was suffocating.

  Jack raised his head beside her. “You okay, Mom?”

  “Yeah, baby. I’m just hot. You?”

  “Yeah. Can I have some water?”

  The stench of the slop bucket in the corner hit her nostrils as she got up to give him a swallow of water from one of the last of their precious bottles. She tried to ignore it.

  “You hear anything from up front?”

  “No. The man is sleeping. The other two are outside, still trying to fix the van.” Jack smiled. “I don’t think they can, though.”

  “I don’t think they can, either.” Asia sighed, her head falling back against the van wall. “They would have done it by now if they could.”

  “That’s because nothing is really broken.”

  She looked at the little boy. “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “It’s not broken. It just won’t work right now.”

  Asia’s heart kicked in her chest. The look on Jack’s face was more than a little frightening.

  “Jack. Did you do something to the van?”

  “Yes.” He giggled.

  She stared at him, not sure how to react. “Tell me, Jack. Tell me what you did.”

  He stared back at her, his eyes big and round. “I—I don’t know. I thought it was a good idea.”

  Asia scooped him up and held him tight. “Jack, it’s okay. You’re not in trouble. I’m just a little . . . confused. Explain it to me. How did you stop the van?”

  He pulled back to look at her, still trying to determine whether what he’d done was against the rules or not. “I was wishing we were home. And I thought, I wish this old van would just STOP. And I thought about it really hard, like Teacher told me to. And then the van stopped.”

  Asia swallowed, fear clogging her throat. “Teacher?”

  Jack refused to meet her eyes.

  Holy Christ. The ability to resist mental programming. Telepathy. And now telekinesis. Her son was truly exceptional. Had the Grays tried to exploit his talents in the short time they’d had him in their custody? Rayna hadn’t been certain how long he’d been at the processing center before his rescue. The Minertsan centers processed large numbers of newly acquired slaves before distributing them throughout the planets of the Consortium; they usually didn
’t hold them for more than a few days.

  “Mom? I’m getting kinda tired. Should I make the van go again?”

  “Does it make you tired to do these things, buddy?”

  He nodded. “It was real hard at first ’cuz they were trying to start it a lot. They haven’t tried in a while, but they might again soon, and then I could let them.”

  Asia agreed. “It’s getting really hot in here, baby. I think we should probably get going again.”

  Suddenly there was movement in the front of the van—the man in the front seat coming awake with a curse. He thrust his face in the window between the sections of the vehicle and hissed at them. “Keep your mouths shut!” The window slid closed again with a snick.

  Asia hunkered down, holding Jack close to her chest. Outside the van, she heard a car pass close to the van and come to a stop in the gravel of the roadside ahead of them. A minute passed in tense silence.

  Then the voice of the driver, just outside the driver’s side door: “Everybody keep quiet and let me handle this. Morning, officer!”

  “You fellas having some trouble?”

  “Well, we stopped to switch drivers a minute ago, and now we’re having a little trouble starting her up again.” The driver’s voice oozed oily calm. “I’m sure she’ll kick over here in a minute.”

  “You need a jump? I’ve got cables in the cruiser.”

  “Mom!” Jack was shaking in her arms. She put a finger in front of her lips, trying to quiet him, but he insisted. “They’re thinking of killing the policeman! We have to stop them!”

  Shit! “Start the van, Jack. As soon as they try, start the van.” It was the only thing that would save that patrolman’s life.

  “That shouldn’t be necessary, officer.” The driver was closer now. “Let me just try it one more time before you go to all that trouble.”

  Asia felt the van rock slightly as the man stepped up inside. He muttered a curse as he fumbled with the key in the ignition. Jack closed his eyes in concentration. Then the engine roared to life, and all three of the men in the front seat laughed with relief.

  “See there! Third time’s the charm, eh, officer?” The driver’s voice was edgy and harsh, despite his attempt to appear relaxed.

  “Guess so. Next time you want to switch drivers, though, you need to stop in a rest area. Road shoulder’s for emergency only.”

  “Yes, sir. Been overseas for a while with the military. Guess I didn’t think.”

  “Oh, yeah? Whereabouts?”

  “With the Marine Corps in Afghanistan.”

  “Well, I sure appreciate all you’re doing for us over there, soldier. You gentlemen have a nice day.”

  “Thank you. You, too.”

  Asia held her breath while the men in the van waited silently for the patrolman to walk back to his cruiser. She heard the scratch and pop of gravel as he pulled out.

  Then she heard one of the men in the front: “Fucking bastard’s lucky I didn’t drill him where he stood.”

  “Yeah, and how would we have explained a dead Arkansas State Trooper to HQ, you idiot? Now let’s get back on the road. We’re way behind schedule. Hilliard, you drive for a while.”

  There was more shifting of weight and doors slamming in the van as the men changed positions. After a moment, the van started moving again and cooler air began to filter into the back of the vehicle.

  The window between the sections slid open and the leader’s face appeared. “It was a good thing you stayed quiet. If you had tried to contact that trooper, you’d have forced me to kill him.”

  Asia looked at him. “That wouldn’t have been my fault. But I stayed quiet to protect my son.”

  “A good move anyway. You probably noticed he wasn’t looking for this vehicle, either. There’s been no report issued with our description. Wonder why that is, Asia?”

  She felt rage heat her blood until she shook with it. “Did you kill my husband, you bastard?”

  The man laughed, and slid the window closed.

  The sun was already climbing toward noon by the time Lana parked her car behind the police barricade at Harpeth Narrows and walked down toward the river. Under the dense grove of trees near the water, though, it was still cool, the air smelling of mud and green life. A half-dozen TBI forensics officers dotted the open area from the gravel turn-out to the water. As Lana approached, one of them turned and waved at her—Janet Goodman, from the state crime lab.

  Lana slowed as she got within speaking distance, looking for evidence flags. There were none.

  “Hey, Janet. You all find anything interesting?”

  Janet shook her head. “We sent the clothes you gave us yesterday off for analysis, along with some little blood splatters we picked up down here. Normally wouldn’t have that back for weeks, but given that it’s a kidnapping I’ve put a rush on it, sent it to the top of the pile. Took some casts of tire tracks, but there was a lot of traffic. Don’t think that’s gonna help much.”

  Lana knew the Narrows; she wasn’t surprised. “Think we caught a break there. The husband gave us a description on the vehicle this morning.”

  “Oh, yeah? Great. ’Cause, otherwise we got shit. No footprints. Sure as hell no fingerprints. They didn’t drop a damn thing. Looking for hair and fiber’s like looking for a needle in a friggin’ haystack, but that’s what we’re doing now.”

  “Husband said they wore ski masks and gloves.”

  “Report didn’t say that.” Janet looked back at her notes. “Are you sure?”

  Lana felt for Janet; her job had just gone from difficult to impossible. “Roberts was drugged at the scene. He’s only now getting this back.”

  “Shit. Might as well pack this up then.”

  Lana looked around at the shady expanse of ground, peaceful except for the team of specialists trying desperately to find a clue to what had happened there, and felt a familiar weight settle over her shoulders. From past experience, she knew she’d be carrying that load until the case was over.

  On the road above the barricade, a black Ford Explorer slowed and turned in. Two men got out and headed her way.

  “Oh, that’s just fucking perfect.” She put her hands on her hips and watched the pair approach.

  “Friends of yours?”

  “My idiot rookie partner and the private dick the family’s brought in on the case.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “I wish.” She moved to meet them before they contaminated the scene. “What the hell are you doing here, Rick?”

  “I couldn’t get through on your cell.” The rookie swallowed and held out a sheaf of papers. “And the guys said you needed this.”

  She took the stuff from him and looked it over. Routine phone and communication logs indicating Ethan Roberts had received and made no phone calls in the hours since the kidnapping. Very funny.

  “They were yanking your chain, Rick.” She glared at Gabriel. “And you. I told you specifically I couldn’t allow you to be here.”

  “Did you?” The man actually smiled. The effect was dazzling. “I’d understood you couldn’t bring me to the crime scene. I found another way.”

  She ignored the way his grin made her feel and pointed up the access road. “You need to get your ass on the other side of that barricade before I have you arrested for interfering in a Federal investigation. Rick, turn your butt around, take him back to Nashville and get back on the job at Roberts’s house.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The kid started to grab Gabriel’s elbow to do as she said, but Gabriel shrugged him off.

  “Alana, please. Since I’m here, let me do some good.” When she hesitated, he pressed on. “Your search pattern, for example. Maybe I could help focus it a bit.”

  Lana glanced back over her shoulder at Janet, who was watching with brows lowered, but wasn’t close enough to hear the details. “We’re doing just fine, thank you very much.”

  Gabriel got the message and leaned in so only she could hear him. “You’re scattered everywhe
re. And they haven’t found anything, have they? I saw what happened. Let me help you.”

  Her wide-eyed partner stood looking from Gabriel to Lana now, wondering what had been said in private, waiting to see how this would fall out. Lana blew out a breath.

  “All right. Hell. Rick, go on back. I’ll bring Cruz when I come. And, for future reference, civilians don’t belong at a crime scene. Don’t bring them along with you. Got it?”

  “But he said—”

  “I don’t give a shit what he said. I’d already told him no.”

  The kid nodded at last. “Got it.” He turned and trudged up the rise to his Explorer.

  “I’d thank him for the ride, but I suppose that would only pour salt on the wound.”

  Lana felt an unexpected bubble of laughter rise up in her in response. She smothered it.

  “You’d damn well better make yourself useful, Cruz. I wasn’t kidding when I said you don’t belong here.”

  He was already scanning the grove with the intensity of a bird of prey. He went from charming rogue to professional tracker in a heartbeat, the change in him instantaneous and thorough. And as she watched him work, she caught his logic.

  “The search pattern, you said.” She looked up at him. “The men who took Asia and Jack were professionals. They didn’t leave much behind, but Roberts gave those guys a run for their money. He fought them. Could be he shook something loose?”

  Gabriel considered her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “The fight took place just in front of that big oak—from there to approximately here.” He paced off the area.

  She called the forensics chief over. “Janet, this is Gabriel Cruz. He’s, uh, he’s consulting on the case for the family.” Janet frowned in Gabriel’s direction, but softened when he gave her a smile. “He got some more info from the victim this morning. Try concentrating your hair and fiber search in this area. Maybe something will turn up. At least you’ll be finished in time to enjoy your Sunday dinner.”