“How do you know? How come I can’t find his frequency?”
She turned her lips to the side. “He’s not that high up on the graph so unless you were looking for his specific frequency you wouldn’t find it. Also if he is tuned into the nugget, or was, there could be a lingering suppression. If he’s as smart as they say he is, he’s got the thing tuned into his frequency perfectly. So he’s completely invisible to us for hours after using it. There’s a spooling effect, kinda like a transistor.”
“But how’s he hiding Kayci?”
Rose met his eyes then searched the floor of the SUV and spoke more to herself than to Jordan. “He has to have her sealed.”
“Sealed how?”
She looked up at him. “He must have her in a place that blocks the frequency.”
“Like a metal room?”
“Not just metal, metal alone wouldn’t stop Kayci from reaching you. It has to be something with electrical field running all around it. That’s why that room we found on the roof worked. All that electrical equipment disrupted the channels.”
“But that’s not enough?”
Rose shook her head in quick rapid bursts. “No like I said—not to stop Kayci…or you for that matter. Your connection to each other is too strong. No, he would need something more significant. He’d need a room with metal walls that could circulate a specific frequency.”
“That kinda limits where he might have taken her. No?”
“Indeed. How well do you know this area?”
Jordan shrugged. “I grew up like twenty minutes away but you know how Jersey is, there’s a ton of stuff crammed into a small area. She could be right under our noses and might as well be on the other side of the planet.”
Rose touched her index finger to her cherry lips. “We have to hope you’re right and he makes a mistake to leads us there.”
Just when Jordan was about to give up hope, a short, slender man with dark hair and an angular face emerged from the shadows of the building’s awning and into the parking lot lights. His eyes were focused firmly on the device in his hands as he strode confidently towards the silver SUV.
“That’s him.” Rose said.
“I figured.”
They watched Evan tap the screen in his hands. Then he stopped and looked up. He glanced around the parking lot, then, appeared to look directly at them. He was a good three hundred feet away but Jordan swore he could see Evan smirk at him. “He sees us.”
“Impossible,” Rose replied. “Neither one of us is broadcasting—and even if we were, he’s not that good.”
“Maybe with the nugget.”
“No, you have to be close to it for it to work in that capacity.”
“Maybe it’s in his vehicle.”
“No, you can’t transport it like that. It contains heavy metal elements in liquid form and it takes hours to settle after you move it. So the prudent measure is to move it as little as possible if you plan to use it.”
“But if it was in his vehicle, it’s settled by now, he’s been here probably ten hours.”
Rose nodded. “But that would also mean wherever he’s going he won’t have access to its power for hours. I don’t think he’d take that chance. Plus, he has to have it near Kayci if he has any chance of keeping her in check.”
Evan kept looking at them as if to erase all doubt that he knew they were there. It was like a game of chicken. He was daring Jordan to panic and make the first move and acknowledge they were there. But Jordan played it cool and didn’t move. This Evan clown didn’t know him at all. Jordan never blinked in a game of poker in his life and there was no way he was starting now.
“What’s he trying to prove?” Jordan said.
“He’s fishing.” Rose offered. “He’s smart enough to be suspicious and knows something’s up but he’s not good enough to pinpoint.”
“And we’re in a car that’s not usually here.”
“You nailed it.”
“Maybe we should go?”
“No, keep playing it cool. He can’t see into the car.”
“Not from there but what if he drives over here.”
Rose started to sink into the seat. “We get down.”
Finally, Evan turned and got into his silver SUV. But when he swung the vehicle in a circle and headed directly towards them Jordan knew he had to do something. He quickly started the Ford and put it in gear. The silver SUV flashed in and out of the shadows as it sped across the lot towards them.
The moment Jordan was about to hit the gas and peel out of the path the SUV stopped. The door slowly opened. Jordan saw the gun just in time as the muzzle flash sparked.
He hit the gas, hurtling away from the path of the bullets as they plinked into the side of the SUV. Glass shattered as several projectiles blew through the side windows but Jordan kept driving.
Glancing up in the mirror, he expected to see the silver SUV in pursuit but he didn’t. In fact, he saw Evan Hill standing next to the vehicle watching him exit the parking lot.
Jordan turned the corner out of sight but then quickly started making a circle back towards the building.
“What the heck?” Jordan yelled over the engine. “How the hell did he know it was us?”
“I don’t know. This makes no sense. He’s not this good.”
“There has to be en explanation. It has to be the nugget thing then—because I don’t see any frequency that would explain this.” Jordan turned the Explorer around and headed back towards the complex.
“What’re you doing?” Rose demanded. “Why are you going back?”
“He wasn’t trying to kill us. He was trying to scare us.”
“Well it worked.”
“Not for me.”
“What’re you going to do?”
“He wanted us to run, because he didn’t want us following him, which means he’s going to lead us to Kayci. He won’t know we’re following.” He pulled behind a small coffee kiosk in the parking lot of a strip mall just outside the office complex. He killed the lights and watched.
“You knew he was going to do that?” She asked.
Jordan nodded. “I had a hunch.” Reaching across Rose’s lap, he opened the glove box, where Kayci always had at least one pistol. He saw the handle of the Glock sticking out of the holster and took hold of it, stripping the holster away.
He glanced up at Rose as she made a face. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“I know…you’re not a fan of guns. Neither am I, but I won’t hesitate if I hate to.”
“Just remember, if you kill him before we get to Kayci, we might never find her.”
Jordan sighed. “I know. I won’t kill him.” After a few more moments the silver SUV scooted by them on the road. Jordan gave it a few proper seconds before he slid into the traffic flow behind the Toyota.
Jordan didn’t want to stay too close, but he didn’t want to get too far.
Chapter 28
Jordan pulled to a stop when it was clearly unsafe to follow undetected. The crowded urban sprawl started to thin out and a more rural landscape started to take over. The twisting two-lane blacktop grew thick with tall oaks where bi-level homes stood a few blocks ago. There was no traffic between them and the Toyota so he decided it was best to stop the tail.
Pulling off to the shoulder, he watched the silver Toyota disappear around the dark tree-lined corner, its taillights blinking and flashing through the thicket until they were gone. He turned off the headlights and continued down the heavily wooded path at a slow pace.
“Do you know where this leads?” Rose asked.
“No clue. Do you?”
She took out her phone and started navigating the satellite images. “There’s a facility of some type up ahead about a mile.”
“Does it say what it is?”
Rose twisted her lips as her eyes scanned the phone. “The only word on the map in the vicinity is Lockwood.”
“Lockwood.” Jordan thought about the word. It sounded fam
iliar but he couldn’t quite place what it meant. After a few hundred feet, the road started to widen and the smooth pavement ended, turning into hard-packed gravel covered dirt. Jordan found a good spot off on the shoulder and turned off the SUV. “We should walk from here.”
“We’re not going up to it, are we?”
“Of course we are. If Kayci’s in there—”
“Yeah but wouldn’t it make sense to wait until he leaves? I mean now that we know where she might be?”
Jordan gripped the pistol. “I’m going in there right now after this sonofabitch. You can come and back me up or you can sit here and call for some sort of spy help.”
Her face twitched slightly with nervous uncertainty. “I don’t know.”
Jordan was growing annoyed with her. “Look, I don’t know what your deal is. You’re supposed to be some kind of spy, I know, not a real one, but why don’t you act like one.”
She frowned as a look of sadness came over her face along with the wetness of pre-tears. “I’m sorry.”
“Geez,” Jordan said, “Don’t cry, damn I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you I was trying to motivate you.” Something about a woman crying just ate at his heart.
Rose shook her head. “It’s not that. You’re right, I am supposed to be a spy. But I haven’t done anything like this is a long time. I’ve been afraid for too long.”
“Why, what happened to make you so afraid?”
“It’s not worth explaining.”
“Look, Kayci would do it for you. And if we can’t save her, there’s no chance you get your daughter back. Because it’s going to take all three of us and you know it. She could be anywhere in the country and without—”
“I know. I get it.” Rose wiped the few tears that escaped her eyes. “It’s nothing anyway, I’m fine. I’ll go with you.”
“Okay. Are you sure—cuz I gotta be honest, I don’t need you slowing me down.”
Rose reached into her large bag and with a resolving breath pulled out a small pistol. “I’m ready, let’s do it.”
“Huh, I thought you hated guns.”
“I do, but I hate bad guys even worse.”
They climbed out of the SUV and headed up the long curving driveway.
About a half mile up the road, they crested a small rise and saw a building in the darkness. It wasn’t much more than a dark mass of shadows but it looked like a small fifty foot square.
Jordan saw a large white sign but couldn’t make out the words so he used the light on his phone to illuminate the sign. “Lockwood Research Facility, property of the United States Government.”
Rose said. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Me either. But it looks abandoned.”
“Yeah, and probably the perfect place to hide a super secret piece of stolen equipment.”
They proceeded cautiously up the small hill until it leveled out. The silver SUV sat to their right. As they approached, the silence of the night became clear as the vehicle plinked and popped while hot steel components protested the cooling process.
The building was single-story and wide, but something told Jordan what they could see was only part of the facility, a literal tip of the iceberg.
Using his small but powerful keychain light, Jordan illuminated a sidewalk, cracked and broken with weeds jutting up from the fissures. It led them straight to a canopy where a span of six solid gray doors with meshed glass awaited. The smell of burnt electrical wires invaded his nose.
Using his special gift, Jordan read the frequencies in the area, but none were present except he and Rose. One of his newest skills, however, was seeing the frequency residue. He’d had that before but didn’t know what it was that he was sensing. Now it was crystal clear.
Traces of it, sat latent on anything a person had touched like small electrical gathers slowly receding. He could see exactly where Evan had gone, and how long ago. Well, that was misleading. He didn’t know it was Evan for sure, he could only sense that someone had gone this way. It could have been anyone as the frequency color and modulation of Evan was unknown.
The door farthest to the right, had the frequency residue so he went to it. The knob twisted freely and the door swung open. Even though he had the pistol in his hand, he didn’t bother to raise it up because he knew no one was around the corner.
Rose passed through the door first and Jordan followed. The moment the door closed behind them Jordan felt like he’d made a mistake. This place was unsettling. It felt weird. His stomach started flip-flopping and he felt like he had the shakes.
Rose touched his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”
“No, do you feel that?”
She shook her head. “I don’t feel anything. In fact I feel strange that I don’t feel anything.”
Jordan blew out a hard breath. “I feel sick.”
Rose touched his hand and he felt better. “You need grounding, you’re energy is all over the place.”
A few deep breaths while holding Rose’s hand did make him feel significantly better. “Thanks, this is working.”
“This will work better.” Rose touched his face.
His eyes met hers, and then her lips met his. The kiss was soft and tempting but brief. She pulled away and said, “There, that should do it.”
Jordan nodded. It did do it, he felt fine, physically. But he’d never been more confused emotionally. Rose was making him feel things he shouldn’t be feeling. He was in love with Kayci, and he didn’t want to change that. But he was feeling something for Rose. “What is that?”
“Sometimes we need grounding, and intimate connections can do that. A simple handhold or a kiss settles the human soul.”
Jordan nodded.
“C’mon.” Rose said. “We shouldn’t stay here any longer than we have to.”
Jordan moved forward and they slinked slowly down the long hallway behind the glow of the blue LED light. The place was clean and empty. In fact, it was hard to imagine a time when it was ever bustling. It looked like it was built and never used, which knowing how the government operated was not a complete impossibility.
The place had a distinct ozone smell, which Jordan liked. It reminded him of a thunderstorm, which always left him feeling good. As they turned the corner, the residual frequency they’d been following started to fade and disappeared entirely.
“Huh, weird.” He said.
“His residue dropped out.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s the nugget, we must be close. It scatters every bit of energy around it and focuses is.”
“He’s going to know we’re here.”
Rose added. “Only if he’s paying attention.”
“Which he probably is.” Jordan thought.
Rose bit her lip. “I have a bad feeling.”
“Yeah, something isn’t right. How did he know it was us in the parking lot without the nugget?”
Rose held her gun at the ready. “We have to be careful, there’s something we’re missing. Maybe he’s better than we’ve given him credit for.”
“We can’t underestimate him. He got into my head before.”
Rose nodded. “Yes, but now that you know how to block him, you can. You didn’t know what you were looking for earlier.”
“Kayci did.”
“But you didn’t at the time.” Rose touched his arm. “Jordan, I don’t think you fully understand how talented you are yet. There’s no mind war you can’t win you just have to believe.”
Jordan wanted to kiss her again, but they heard a noise down the hallway, the click of a door closing. He caught a slight impression of where Evan had gone and as they came upon some steps, he knew they had to go down.
After going down two flights, they entered an identical hallway to the one above, but this entire floor seemed to have humming mechanical resonance. It was that familiar hum of electrical energy coursing through something.
“This place is charged.” He said.
“Of course, the only way to st
op frequency is with frequency.” Rose touched the wall. “He’s probably got Kayci locked up in a small room somewhere where the charge is strongest.”
“I’m surprised this place has power.”
“He must’ve tapped into it. He needs power to charge the nugget. From what I recall it only runs for a couple hours without power.”
They headed to the end of the hall and as they turned the corner and came face-to-face with two heavily armed men, rifles at the ready. Jordan froze. Both men were dressed in full battle fatigues including body armor. Their little pistols wouldn’t penetrate that gear.
From behind the sights of his rifle the man on the right calmly said, “Place your weapons on the ground at your feet and put your hands in the air.”
Jordan tried to come up with a quick plan but he didn’t have one. And his frequency feed was completely disrupted by all the energy surging around him. So with reluctance he bent slowly and placed his pistol on the floor. Rose did the same.
Chapter 29
As per usual from the psychic spy playbook, things didn’t go exactly as planned. Jordan sat across from Rose, the tiny cell was not very large and it smelled like chemicals and burned plastic. He was starting to realize, that things not going as planned, is exactly how things are supposed to go. It’s a reality of controlled chaos. Anna told him that sometimes when things seem out of control they are perfectly in control so he took solace in that.
“Are you smiling?” Rose asked.
Jordan shrugged. “I’m just getting too used to this.”
“Used to being a captive?”
He raised his hands. “At least I’m not tied to a chair. And I haven’t been beaten up yet.”
Rose leaned back into the wall and crossed her legs and arms. “I’m not used to it. I’m not used to it at all.” She sighed. “This is not going to end well. Is it?”
He smiled slightly. “Don’t worry too much. I’ve learned that things have an odd way of working out.”
She looked away to the floor. “For you maybe.”
“For everyone.”
“No, Jordan, not for everyone. Not for me. Things never works the way I want them to. It’s the story of my life to get the short end of things.”
Soul Frequency (Frequency Series Book 2) Page 15
