More Than an Echo (Echo Branson Series)

by Silva, Linda Kay

  I frowned as I felt the yacht picking up speed. “What?”

  She pointed to me and said, “Echo.” Then to herself. “CindER.”

  Oh crap. Her name wasn’t Cindy, it was CindER…as in ashes…as in a fire…as in firestarter. “All right, then, Cinder. I suppose I should be angry with you for what you just did, but the fact is you just saved all of our lives. Those fireballs were…well…in a word, amazing.”

  She nodded and held out her hand. With very little effort, she manipulated another, smaller fireball. Then, she closed her hand and the ball vanished. I have to admit…I was impressed.

  “I got a distress call out, Echo, but it looks like we’re about to have more company. I’m not sure blowing up their boat was such a great idea.”

  Cinder and I looked over the bow and saw two more speedboats racing toward us. The cargo ship had pulled up anchor and was beginning to make its way out of the bay.

  “Gee, you blow up one little speedboat and look what happens,” Rupert said. “Think she’s got any more firepower left? Because if she doesn’t, we’re screwed.”

  “Rupert! I’m not going to ask her to kill any more people.” I turned and found Cinder had already started manipulating the energy around her, so I put my hands on her shoulders and shook my head. “No more, Cinder. I appreciate what you’ve done, but no more. This is not your battle.”

  “Yeah,” Rupert added. “They say killing is bad for your soul, and I should know. Well, Echo, any ideas about how to get out of this one without using the kid’s power?”

  “Can you outrun them?”

  “In those boats? Not a chance. We’re either going to have to turn and fight or—”

  “Or what? Rupert, we can’t ask her to kill people for us. She’s too young and untrained. If she could just dismantle the boat, that’s one thing, but she’s like a baby rattler. They shoot all their venom in one bite.”

  “If she doesn’t bite, Echo, we’re gonna get creamed.”

  The moment I took my eyes from her, she scooted across the deck away from me but closer to the oncoming boats. Before I knew it, she had thrown two more fireballs at the closest speedboat. It managed to get out of the way without getting hit.

  “Cinder, stop!”

  Suddenly, bullets bounced off the railing, and I ran to get her.

  “Let her do her thing, Echo! We’re sitting ducks out here!”

  Rupert was right. Cinder’s powers were the only ones that could save us. But how do you ask a child to blow someone to bits?

  “Here comes the third one, Echo.”

  I looked over and saw the third speedboat drop alongside the one trailing us.

  “It’s now or never, kiddo. Let her kill them before they hurt you. You can’t stop the inevitable.”

  I looked over at Rupert and knew he hadn’t said that. It was Tip from somewhere deep in my brain. “I can’t.”

  “You sure as shit can! I leave you alone for one minute, and you get yourself in this kind of trouble? Let the kid do it. She has the power…and the experience. If she’s all you’ve got, use her, but don’t get killed because of some sort of fucked-up ethical issue. Kill the bastards!”

  “What are you saying?”

  “You know what I’m saying. Save yourselves at any cost. She’ll get over it. She already has.”

  She’d not only gotten over it, she was ready for round two, and before I could stop her, she sent two more balls of flame in the direction of the nearest speedboat. The first one caught the driver on fire, and he leapt off the ship and into the water. The second hit the speedboat dead-on and the whole thing blew to bits, killing everyone on board. The man in the water was subsequently run over by the trailing boat, which I am sure Cinder would have also destroyed, had she not been distracted by an odd sound from overhead.

  The loud beating sounded like the blades of a helicopter. Looking up, I spotted a Coast Guard helicopter making haste for the cargo ship.

  “Well, slap a diaper on me and call me Grandpa! It’s the goddamn Coast Guard!” Rupert picked up his binoculars and looked at the cargo ship. “Holy crap, Echo, people are bailing left and right out of that cargo ship. Rats jumping from a sinking ship, I guess. Where in the hell did the Coast Guard come from?”

  “I thought you said you sent out a Mayday?”

  “I did. They never get here that quick unless…”

  Cinder pointed to the table where we had been eating. Sitting open was the vidbook. “Yo, Princess!” shouted Carl. “Say something, man, or the Boss is gonna start throwing things!”

  I turned to Cinder and smiled softly. “Is this what you did when we told you to go below?”

  She nodded.

  Picking up the vidbook, I saw the boys’ worried faces anxiously staring back at me. “Tell Dani we’re all okay and her vidbook is a huge success.”

  “Hell, Princess, we knew that. With the GPS system, we’ve had you in our sights all day long. Once the kid came on with this horrified look on her face, we called the cavalry. You sure you’re okay?”

  I put my hand on Cinder’s head. “We are now.” I turned and saw three Coast Guard ships cutting through the water like torpedoes. I mean, they were hauling ass and meaning business. Then, I turned back to Carl, only it wasn’t Carl, it was Danica. She was whiter than I had ever seen her.

  “You know I’m gonna have to kick your ass, right? I can’t believe—” She shook her head. “Are you all okay?”

  “We’re fine.”

  “And the homeless guys?”

  “From what I can see, a lot of them are still alive, but I don’t have any confirmations yet. My…uh…emotions are all over the place.”

  “Good job, then, Clark. I mean it.”

  I watched as the Coast Guard boats cut off the third speedboat. “How did you get the Coast Guard here so quickly?”

  “Don’t thank us. Thank that Detective Jardine. We made one call to him the moment we knew you were at the marina, and he was all over it. Of course, with the GPS system, we knew exactly where you were and gave him perfect directions. You are in such big fucking trouble!”

  “From?”

  “Everyone!”

  I said a few more words of thanks to her and the boys before signing off. She could have my head later.

  “More incoming!” Rupert announced, only this time, he meant that a Coast Guard ship was pulling alongside us. “Um…Echo…is there anything else I need to know? The girl wasn’t… you know…”

  “Kidnapped? Not hardly. Everything is in order, Rupert. Don’t worry.”

  “Don’t worry? Honey, you’re a danger magnet walking around with a kid who is her own army troop.”

  “Attention all hands aboard the Necromancer. This is the Coast Guard. Cut your engines and prepare to be boarded.”

  Rupert did as he was told and then the three of us stood on deck waiting for the Coast Guard to come aboard.

  “Ready, ladies?”

  I looked down into Cinder’s face. She looked so young and innocent. “It’s okay to feel sad that you had to do that.”

  She shook her head, and I knew from reading her she didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse.

  “Well, these are the good guys, so keep your fireball hands to yourself, okay? Number one rule of being one of us is you don’t show them our powers, okay?”

  Nod.

  When I glanced over at the Coast Guard ship, I was stunned to see a familiar face. It was Darryl Jardine and he was boarding the Necromancer.

  “Why did I know this is how it would end?” he said as he stepped on board.

  I couldn’t help myself. I ran over to him and hugged him. “Boy am I glad to see you!”

  Jardine backed away, a little embarrassed. “I got your e-mail. It took me awhile to decipher where you were going with it, but once I did, I realized you were onto something. Then one of your buddies called and said he thought you might be getting in a little over your head. Guy gave us perfect coordinates.”

  I lo
oked over at the cargo ship. “Are they—”

  “Alive? Some are, some aren’t, but we got the perps dead to rights. That’s a pretty damn good day in my book. Is everyone safe here?” He looked around the ship.

  I nodded. “It’s just the three of us.”

  “Good. You know, you’ve got a lot of friends, Echo. First, I got a call from your friend, Danielle.”

  “Danica.”

  “Yeah, her. She called me early this morning and told me you’re probably out here poking around where you didn’t belong. So, I called my buddies at the Coast Guard and had them on standby. We were just headed out when your computer guys contacted us and told us what was going on. Damn, he was able to give your exact location, which by the way, is pretty impressive. You done good, girl.”

  I nodded. “Thank you. Then it’s over?”

  “Well…it’s certainly over for the bad guys, but I’ll bet it’s just beginning for you. This is going to make quite a story.”

  “Honestly, Jardine, I just want to see my friend Bob again. The story takes a far-away backseat to that.”

  “I’m sure it does, but that was quite a tale you sent me. If you’da sent it to anyone else, they’d probably think you slipped a cog and chucked it. I figured the least I could do was look into some of your allegations about Black Market organ harvesting. Your numbers were pretty hard to ignore. You do good work, Echo. Your boss’ll be proud.”

  Exhausted, I tried to erect my shield, but couldn’t. As an experienced empath, having your shield down is a little like going out without your underwear on. I just liked having it up and feeling only my own emotions. Jardine was pumped up, and so were the other two guardsmen standing with Rupert. Their energy was exhausting and was draining me of mine.

  “Look. They’re taking your guys off the ship.”

  One by one, guys came from the hold, eyes shielded from the bright glare of the sunshine. One by one, their faces lit up as they realized they’d been saved.

  “Detective,” one of the Coast Guard guys said. “We need to get this yacht farther away from the crime scene. Apparently, one of their speedboats blew up as well.”

  Jardine nodded. “Right.” To me, he winked. “You better get back to the pier. We’re going to need statements from you all before I can let you write your story. This is quite an exclusive you’ve got in your hands. If there’s anything we can do to make your story better, let me know. This is the second time you made me look good. I owe you.”

  I nodded slowly. “The girl…Cinder. She doesn’t talk, so I don’t want anyone hounding her for a statement. Mine and Rupert’s should suffice.”

  “You got it. Oh, and you better give Finn a call. She’ll tear me a new one if she worried one second longer than she should.”

  “I will. See you back on land.”

  In the end, the story just wasn’t as important as its ending. I was just glad I could put my powers to good use.

  The guardsmen came over and whispered something to Jardine, who nodded. “Time to move out. They’re gonna take the victims to the ER if you want to meet them there after we get your statements.”

  “SF General?”

  “Yeah. Guess I’ll see you over there…well…you and a hundred other reporters. This is gonna be huge, Echo. I hope you’re ready.”

  The next forty-eight hours were a complete and total whirlwind that consumed every waking hour, which was about forty of them. You couldn’t turn on any channel without hearing about the breaking story. I was interviewed by every major newspaper on the West Coast, every television station and even Katie Couric. The story grabbed national attention and catapulted me into a light that was so bright it nearly blinded me. Between interviews and appearances I barely had time to write the story.

  Wes was walking around like a peacock, beating his chest over having nailed such a sensational story. He was nearly beside himself with all the phone calls and back patting that came his way. Giddy would be a good way to describe how he was for the first twenty-four hours after the story broke. A story like this takes on a life of its own, and would stay on the front pages until the next life came along. Well…for three days, there were no other stories. It was an incredible rookie story, and a boon to the Chronicle to have a reporter thrust in front of the cameras. Everyone was excited and happy for me. Everyone, of course, except Carter.

  I couldn’t blame him, really. To say that I stooped to blackmail might be a little strong, but I did stoop to something. The first chance I was alone with Wes, I calmly told him he could only have the exclusive story if he nixed Carter’s dirt about the mayor’s maid, or whatever sleaze he was working on about Mayor Lee. I explained to Wes I’d had to pull some strings, and those strings pulled back when I needed them most. My life was in danger, and had it not been for the creation of a task force, Darryl Jardine might not have been able to respond when I needed him most. Wes agreed in a heartbeat. I guess that’s what semi-celebrity gets you. He wanted the story. In the end, Carter rubbed his sore spot, bid me congratulations, and buried the hatchet somewhere else than between my shoulder blades.

  For Rupert’s part in all of this, he opened up the Necromancer to anyone who wanted a tour. He wasn’t about the publicity, but his boat made the cover of one sailing magazine and the interior found its way into three home and gardens-type magazines. He just enjoyed showing off his beautiful home. Whenever any reporter tried to give him credit for our story, he never accepted it, and instead, turned all of the credit back to me. He was very sweet when pressed, but made it perfectly clear that all he did was sail the boat. He also added, that no, we were not lovers. We were friends. I appreciated that…so did Finn, who sat back quietly watching the play proudly.

  Melika also kept in touch. She was very proud of me, but her concern was always for us as supers. She knew I couldn’t up and fly to New Orleans; that would have been the very worst thing to do. We couldn’t afford having any reporters following me, nor could we drag Cinder through a mob of reporters. We decided it was best to keep Cinder out of sight, so she stayed with Danica, who had taken her from me the moment we got to the marina. Let’s just say that Cinder spent the next three days playing with three boys who had only the coolest of toys. She dug it and so did they. They ate pizza and watched movies, and they let her play with all of their coolest techno-gadgets. I loved these guys before, but after the way they were with speechless Cinder, I would have eaten hot coals for them. She was having a great time.

  And so was I.

  Tip contacted me shortly after we returned to land from the bay. I thanked her for her concern and told her what happened. She was relieved to know that we were okay, and that we would be going to New Orleans in the next few days. She was happy for me, but I think she knew I was finally on my own, and that hurt her a little.

  And so, what I thought would be a good story turned into something much larger and kept me running from one venue to the next until I finally collapsed from exhaustion, twenty-eight hours later. When I woke up, I made my way to the hospital to see Bob and Smiley, who had managed to stay alive in the belly of the boat.

  Bob was dehydrated and had suffered a couple of broken ribs from a scuffle he had gotten into trying to get off the cargo ship. When he saw me, he just started crying and hugged me for a long, long time.

  “You…you…”

  “I just did what I told you I was going to do.”

  “But Jane…no one knew…and yet…”

  I pulled away and looked into his face. “How did they get you?”

  Bob wiped his eyes and sighed. He was a bone rack and I noticed all his hospital food was gone. I had brought him two double bacon cheeseburgers and when I put the bag on his lap, he started crying again.

  “I saw these guys cruising around Lumpy while he was sleeping off a drunk. I went to wake him up so he didn’t get nabbed, and they got us both. They were quick as hot snot on a greased pole. They pulled up, three big guys got out, shoved me into a panel van, picked up Lumpy, tos
sed him in and were gone in under fifteen seconds. It was amazing.”

  “You must have been so scared.”

  “Shitless. The worst part was not knowing what they wanted from us. None of us understood the language, so they would just jabber away and we would sit and wonder what the hell they were saying. God, Jane, it was horrible.”

  “But you made, it, Bobbie.”

  “Others before me weren’t so lucky. Once a guy left, he never came back.” He shook his head. “I’d say a dozen guys were chopped up before you got there, and they would have kept on cutting us up.”

  Running my fingers through his hair, I felt the fear he was still feeling; that he might always feel. “They were detoxing you all before the surgery.”

  “Yeah, for once, alcohol saved lives.” He shook his head. “That kid, Smiley. Why did he do it?”

  “They threatened to go after everyone in his family. They needed an ambulatory homeless person and they found him on BART with his bike. Scared the crap out of him, so he did what he thought was best to save his family.”

  Bob nodded in understanding. “Judas, eh?”

  “That’s how he saw himself, yes.”

  “How is he?”

  “Remorseful, but finally getting the help he needs. He’ll never be out on the streets again.”

  Bob inhaled a shaky breath and sat on the edge of the bed. “Your story has opened a lot of eyes, Jane. You done good, as I always knew you would.”

  As I unwrapped one of his burgers for him, I sighed loudly. “In all of this, Bob, I’ve discovered that opening eyes is what a journalist is supposed to do. I look forward to achieving that more and more. Now, eat.”

  Bob ate mostly in silence, and when he finished he took my hand. “A lot of people claim to be your friend, but you…you really proved it. Without you, who knows what would have happened to all of us?”

  We both had a pretty good idea.

  We visited for a little bit, and he told me he had already been offered several jobs from people in the East Bay; people who got caught up in the story. It was at that moment I realized the power of journalism and the beauty of my job. Yes, at Mills we were taught to be agents of change. I had finally seen what a gift my powers could actually be to the world.