Kayci came around the corner of the long hall straight in front of him and as he watched her walk, he couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. The way her tight jeans and gray shirt hugged her body were hot. It was strange how every once in a while it would hit him how lucky he was. She’d done so much for him, the fact that she loved him too was almost an absurd bonus.
As she approached, she looked behind her, while still trying to maintain eye contact with him. “What is it?”
He stood. “Nothing, you’re just so beautiful.”
She bashfully rolled her eyes. “Please, you’re just blinded by my frequency.”
Jordan shook his head, “No, well, yes, I admit I’m probably biased, but aesthetically speaking, you’re a beautiful human being.”
“Hmm,” she looked at him.
“What?”
“I think you might be the first person who’s ever said that to me.”
“Oh stop. It’s not a—for my eyes only—secret, it’s pretty obvious.”
“No, really, I mean in the sense that they didn’t want anything from me.”
Jordan smiled. “How do you know I don’t want anything from you?”
She playfully slapped and squeezed his face. “You might want it, but you’re not getting it.” Then she gave him a soft kiss.
Just that little kiss sent Jordan weak in his knees and spine, not in a psychic kick to the brain way, but in an old fashioned in love kind of way. He had to catch his breath. “How long do I have to wait?”
Kayci laughed a little. “I’ll let you know.”
“Lucky for you the last time is still fresh in my mind.” He smiled. “So I guess it’s safe to say you make all the rules.”
“Of course, did you expect anything less?” She turned and took down the hallway. “That was impressive, what you did with Murt.”
“I didn’t want him to kill himself.”
“I imagine not. But you saved Bella, that’s what matters.”
“I guess.”
“You guess? You did something that every one of those cops and FBI agents dreamed about doing. It was a brave move to jump in like that. And stupid. So don’t do it again.”
They reached the front doors of the FBI building. Kayci stopped and turned to him. “You joke that I make the rules, but you’re breaking all the rules.”
Jordan twisted his lips to the side. “I’m just trying.”
“I wasn’t even sure what you were doing, but going through Andi to get to Murt? That was pure genius. What made you think of that?”
He blew out a long audible breath. “Well, I’ve been thinking about this more and more technically. I just thought of it like a network. I opened a link between her head and his. I figured that if they were in-synch enough, there might be some psychic link between them. And if we were working off the premise that Murt was hijacked, chances are she wasn’t so it was easy to get into her head. And it was easy to get into her head. And whoever was hacking Murt, didn’t expect me to jump from Andi to him, they would have expected a direct attack.”
Kayci shook her head and smiled. “You’re so smart. Who thinks of that?”
“I do.” Jordan walked through the glass doors into the dusk of the warm night.
She caught up with him near the short bushes at the end of the sidewalk. “Jordan,” he turned to face her. “You know, I thought that not having any real training was going to hurt you, but I may’ve been wrong.”
“You’re allowed to be wrong.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I guess it doesn’t matter now. I don’t have to answer to anyone if I screw up.”
“Did they get on you for what happened to Murt?”
She raised her hand and pinched her fingers together. “A little. Evan Hill was pissed. He wanted Murt in jail again. He said he’s going to file an official complaint with the FBI commissioner.”
“What happens with that?”
“Nothing, the DRC is not going to ding me for Murt blowing his brains out. I’ll probably get a round of applause for saving the taxpayers the burden of giving him three meals a day for the next fifty years.”
Jordan got into the driver seat and immediately had that feeling again.
Kayci got in next to him. “Uh-oh, I know that look.”
He started the vehicle and sped out of the parking lot. “We need to hurry, someone is about to do something again.”
* * *
Jordan ran into the moderately sized stucco school building expecting to see something bad, but instead, there was just a janitor mopping a lobby of the mostly empty building. It was not the time of day for kids to be here but there were still teachers and other things going on.
Jordan ran up to the short Hispanic man. “Where is he?”
The man looked at Kayci, then back at Jordan. “Where’s who?”
Jordan took a few hurried steps past the man, and then looked back at Kayci. “I don’t get it.”
She shook her head. “I don’t see anything.”
Angrily, Jordan stormed out of the building into the parking lot. He was sure something was about to happen here. This was the right place. The feeling was still there.
“Are you sure?” Kayci asked.
“I’m positive. I know these feelings well enough to trust them.”
She nodded. “I know, but…”
He turned to her. “But what?”
“I think it’s possible someone is spoofing you.”
He knew she was right but he didn’t want to believe it. “It can’t be.”
Kayci touched his arm. “Jordan, I know you want to believe you can’t be hacked, and you can’t in that sense but you can be fooled.”
“I thought of that earlier with the bomber.”
“Exactly, and now a false alarm? Whoever was pulling Murt’s strings now knows exactly who you are, they know your frequency. To borrow your own terminology, he knows your network security password now.”
He looked up to the sky. The sun had set. The purple depth of the night was ominous. The uneasy feeling wouldn’t go away. The throbbing in his head was faint but distinct. Somewhere death was coming and he didn’t know where. This was the most helpless feeling he’d ever had. This was far worse than when death would strike without warning, and he was unable to stop it. In this instance, he knew it was coming and he still couldn’t stop it.
Chapter 13
He sat alone in the dark room. The melon-sized honeycomb device hummed on the table just inches in front of his nose. He’d been warned about excessive use, only once every couple of weeks he was told, but at this point he didn’t care. He’d seen no side effects from ramping up his usage so he wasn’t about to let up now.
Those damn NSA mind benders had ruined his whole operation and he had to get them out of the way. He didn’t like to have his plans but little did they know, he’d gotten what he needed in spite of their interference.
To think more clearly he stood and walked in a circle around the glowing throb that emitted from the device. Sliding his hands over the top, he felt the warmth. He wasn’t supposed to have it, but no one was supposed to have it. It probably wasn’t even supposed to exist anymore. But he needed it. The truth was that he’d be nothing had this little miracle not been bestowed upon him by fate’s fortunate hand. His ability was average at best, but with the aid of this machine, he was the most powerful psychic in the world. He could make anyone do anything, anywhere, anytime.
Most people are powerless against him, except those ungrateful NSA lapdogs. Lucky for him, they were all dead now except for Kayci Taylor and her freakish protégé. She’d done him a huge favor taking down her own team as they were growing uncomfortably close to him. He knew he was on the list and they would have eventually found him.
Nathan Pratt would have been on his doorstep in a matter of weeks if not for that little glitch with the General Accounting Office. But it was easy for him to get into Roy Fletcher’s head and plant that seed. The rest was par for the course as those narc
issistic gasbags imploded in on themselves with greed. It was even easier than he thought it would be.
While they were distracted it was easy to pull off his little heist. But then those two swooped in on their psychic horse and blew his plans apart just hours before his final test. Jordan Callahan was surprisingly powerful. But, you didn’t have to get into the head of a psychic to wipe them out.
Now those two were going to pay for screwing up his plans. It was too hard being preoccupied with controlling Murt, to dispatch Callahan effectively. But now he could focus all his attention on them.
He walked around the generator, thinking of another target. He wasn’t supposed to turn the power up to full capacity, but he reached down and twisted the dial to full. On low settings, he didn’t have the range to get more than a few miles. Breaking the rules was something he did well. He had a knack for pushing things beyond their limits and still getting results. He’d done it all his life.
A road trip was probably the smart move for a few days. Playing in the New York area too much was risky. Although SORC wouldn’t find him, Callahan got so close last time he could have shut it all down. But he had to take care of some business down in Atlanta. It would be the perfect time to put the final tests together.
If those two wanted a fight, he was going to bring it to them. It was time to see just how good they really were.
Chapter 14
Jordan rolled over and put his arm around Kayci as she slept. It was early but he was wide-awake. The low ceiling seemed like it was going to crush his head. When he was a kid, this basement seemed so expansive. Now it felt a little claustrophobic.
Stormy still wasn’t used to giving up his side of the bed to Kayci, but he was coming around. Right now, the cat was climbing up her leg and settling to perch on her hip.
“Stormy, what’re you doing?” Jordan asked and gave the cat a little petting behind the ear.
Kayci grunted. “He’s waking me up.” She rolled onto her back but Stormy just log-roll-stepped to stay in his spot.
“He likes you.”
She sighed. “I have enough friends.”
“He’s not going to give you a choice.”
“I noticed.” She gently nudged the cat off. “Ugh, he’s heavier than he looks. He’s a little lead-foot.” She kicked her feet out from under the covers. “It’s hot in here, doesn’t your mother believe in air conditioning?”
“She has it, never turns it on, says it’s too expensive and besides she likes being hot.”
Kayci stretched her back with a twist. “Tell her I’ll pay for it, I’m going to sweat away to nothing.”
“You’re fine. It’s like seventy in here.” Jordan had told his mother they’d be out of her hair days ago, but one thing has led to another and here they are. They wanted nothing more than to get out to California as they’d planned but it just wasn’t happening. And now Jordan was pretty sure a mass shooter was going to strike again very soon.
Kayci got out of the bed and headed towards the bathroom on the far side of the basement. Jordan sat up and searched that special place to pin down where the shooting was going to take place.
The frequencies were scattered. Nothing in particular was calling out to him. He got to his feet and that feeling started to become obvious again. It was a new feeling with just a touch of that old feeling. It was just the tiniest little blurb of premonition. Yet he couldn’t ignore it because he knew better now.
“Kayci?” He called.
She came out of the bathroom and one look at his face and she knew. After a few seconds of their shared look, she said, “I’ve never felt anything like that.”
“I had an idea you’d say that.”
Her eyes darted, looking up to the ceiling and scanning back and forth. But she wasn’t looking at the ceiling and he knew it. It was just an involuntary reaction to what was going on inside her head. “This is bizarre.”
Jordan had never seen her look so confused. The look of knowing confidence was usually etched on her face no matter the circumstances and he’d seen her in quite a few crazy predicaments that would shake down anyone. But Kayci clearly didn’t know what she was seeing any more than he did.
She looked at him with a tilted head, “This can’t be.”
“What?”
Rapidly shaking her head, she ran her fingers through her blonde bed-head. “It makes no sense. It feels like we’re being hunted again. I feel, almost like triangulation techniques are coming down on us.”
“How is that possible?”
“SORC isn’t active, and even if they or some copycat started up again I’d know about it. And they wouldn’t have had time to assemble a team anyway. Besides, there’s no reason for anyone to be hunting us.”
Jordan glanced around the room. “We have to get out of here pronto.” He didn’t know why but he felt like being here was putting his mother in danger.
They quickly gathered their things and headed outside into the SUV. Jordan took off out of the neighborhood with a squeal of the tires. He didn’t even know where he was going he just knew he had to get away. This was a completely new feeling crowding his brain.
Kayci looked at him. “This isn’t right, and this is not good. Whoever it is, they’re not hunting me. They’re hunting you!”
Jordan glanced away from the road and met her eyes briefly. “Why?”
“I don’t know. But that feeling you’re having, that’s what it feels like to be hunted. It’s how I felt when my team was coming. Lock onto that marker and learn it. It’s your danger marker. You have to learn it quickly or they’re going to catch up quickly.”
“Who could it be? And why would they be hunting me?”
“I think I know who it is. It’s probably the same person. The one that got Murt. But whoever it is, they’re very powerful.”
As Jordan rolled to a stop at the four-way intersection, a red Chevy pickup truck came speeding through the red light. At first, Jordan was surprised someone would so brazenly run the light, but when it turned directly at them head on he knew too late.
The truck slammed head on into the grill of the Ford SUV with a wicked crash, sending it backwards and spinning it out of the lane as steel crunched and tires moaned. Jordan felt the airbag slam into his face, stunning him for a couple seconds. The ride was over.
With a shake of his head, he cleared his vision and unbuckled his seatbelt. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Kayci replied.
Jordan was about to open the door when someone opened it for him, a large man in a red plaid shirt and green John Deer baseball cap ripped Jordan from the seat and threw him to the pavement.
The impact with the asphalt stunned him for a second, Jordan went to get up and saw the boot coming towards his face. He wasn’t able to dodge it but he got his hand up to block it somewhat. Then the large man dropped knee-first onto Jordan’s chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending shooting pains through his body.
With his ears still ringing, Jordan heard Kayci yell at the man but he didn’t stop and finally Kayci tackled the guy off him. Jordan was able to roll onto his side, in time to see Kayci grappling with the much larger man.
Jordan got to his knees, then his feet, sucking in hard for breath. The man was about to hit Kayci but Jordan was able to grab his muscled arm as he pulled it back. Jordan slammed the man in the ribs with two hard punches, but it hardly even phased the monster. Kayci had pulled her gun and was about to shoot when Jordan stopped her, “No, don’t!”
The guy stepped back and Jordan kicked him right in the crotch. The man grunted and dropped to his knees. Jordan instinctively palmed the top of the man’s head and used his mind to break the connection, blowing the frequencies apart.
The angry look on the man’s face quickly faded, residual twitches rolled through his expression until finally a look of complete confusion overcame him.
Jordan wasn’t quite sure what’s he’d done, or how he’d done it, but it worked just as he envisioned
it would. Keeping his hand on the man’s head Jordan learned what he could about him. “You’re okay, Steve.”`
Steve looked up at Jordan from beneath the brim of his weathered green hat. “What happened?”
“We had an accident.”
Steve stood up, partially still bent over with his hands on his knees. “Did I crash into you?” He straightened up. “I remember seeing you and wondering why I wasn’t stopping.” He looked around. “That’s the last thing I remember.”
“It’s okay.” Jordan said.
Steve’s eyes grew wide when he saw Kayci had a gun in her hand, so she slowly slid it away. “Who are you guys?”
Kayci took out her identification. “I’m Special Agent Dew…Agent Taylor, NSA.”
Steve looked her up and down and then looked at Jordan. “NSA?” Then his face drooped. “Did I try and hurt you?”
Jordan nodded. “You did.”
A sad frown quivered into Steve’s mouth. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not like that. I don’t hurt people. I’ve never blacked out before, I don’t understand it.” He looked at his shaking hands. “What could be wrong with me?”
Jordan touched the man on the shoulder and looked into his eyes. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with you now. You’re fine. You just had a spell.”
Sirens screamed to a halt as two police cars rolled up on the scene of what they would perceive as a simple car accident. And Kayci would make sure that’s all they knew.
Chapter 15
Kayci looked down the sights of her Glock pistol and fired every round into the paper silhouette target. In a flash, she dropped the magazine, slammed in a fresh one and emptied that in just a few seconds.
After placing the gun on the counter, she depressed the red button, which brought the target sliding back toward her so she could examine the grouping. It was as good as ever. There was only one stray outside of the intended target areas. She’d always been an excellent shot, qualifying at the top of any class she’d ever taken.
Soul Frequency (Frequency Series Book 2) Page 7
