Flashpoint: Reed Series

by M. C. Cerny

  “I felt frozen, but was moving.”

  “And the gunshots?”

  “I was standing near a crate, my hand on the wood. I can feel something…a pattern and I’m tracing it.”

  “Think of the gunfire, Katie. Were the men saying anything?” Eli put his hand on Jacob’s arm, shaking his head.

  “Let her just recall whatever is there on the surface,” Julian said to Jacob, who nodded.

  “The wood…it’s burning. My arm…it feels like it’s burning and there’s a flash.”

  “Go back to the pattern, Katie. Can you see what it looks like?”

  “It’s a flower, I think. Not a very pretty one. Oh, I hear them. They’re coming. I’m supposed to be running, but I don’t want to leave Tully.”

  “What’s happening, Katie?”

  “The bullet hit the crate, but the light is swinging. There’s numbers. I see numbers on it.” Everyone in the room went still.

  “What kind of numbers, sweetheart?”

  “Numbers.”

  “Repeat them for me as you see them.”

  “89015.”

  “Say it again.”

  “89015.”

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t know, but I see it when I close my eyes every night.”

  “What else do you see?”

  “Just fire and those numbers and hearing words I don’t know,” Katie mumbled.

  Once they had finished the questioning, Julian gave her a mild sedative to help her sleep off the drugs. He carried her back to their room, curled up next to her, and waited for her to wake up. He was determined to not lose her over this. He had fucked up before and now was his chance to, hopefully, start over. He just hoped she would still have him.

  Katie felt groggy with a slight headache, but nothing else. She hoped that she could help them catch the people responsible for Tully’s murder, and that the information she gave them would be the key in doing that. She was warm and comfortable in the bed, probably because Jacob was spooned up against her. She must have turned on her side at some point. Looking around the room, she could see moonlight peeking through the curtains of the large window. She turned over and pillowed her head on Jacob’s shoulder. He was sound asleep, his face softened by the lack of expression. He breathed in deeply and his hair rakishly fell over his forehead. Katie was unsure of the initial events that had brought them together, but she trusted him now.

  Hauk was sleeping at their feet, his heavy paws covering the blanket and partially burying his nose. Her movements must have woken Jacob because when she looked up, his eyes were open and assessing her. “Hey, beautiful.”

  “Hey, yourself.” Katie brushed Jacob’s hair off his forehead, only to have it fall forward again.

  “Are you feeling okay? I could get Julian to come back.” Jacob started to lean up on his elbow. Hauk looked up and woofed.

  “I’m fine. I promise. I just want to lay here a while longer and pretend this doesn’t have to end. You know, the good stuff, not the super spy stuff.”

  “Are you sure. You’re not hungry or anything?” Jacob seemed edgier than before.

  “I’m not. Are you? Because you seem a little distracted.”

  “Yes, but not for food.”

  “Then stay.” Katie tried to snuggle closer, but he held her back for a moment.

  “Are you sure, Katie?”

  “Are you a parrot? I said yes. I know my own mind.” Katie was getting annoyed that, after everything, Jacob now decided to get noble and hold back. “I feel fine. I am fine. What’s your deal?”

  “I just hate that you think I took advantage of you.”

  “Is that what I’m thinking? Have you asked me what I’m thinking? Because what I’m thinking is that maybe you suddenly regret last night. I was willing to let a lot of things go about the beginning of this relationship, but now I’m wondering if I should.” Katie sat up, glaring at him, Hauk moving between them to rest his head in Katie’s lap. She rubbed between Hauk’s ears as he whined low and moved his head against her.

  “I feel bad. I feel guilty I lied to you. I feel responsible for leaving you a year ago to deal with everything on your own when I probably could have done something. I should have done something.” Jacob rested his head between his knees, his elbows on top and his shoulders hunched over.

  “You keep saying how bad you feel, but I’d rather you just show me by changing your behavior moving forward. If I can move past it, why can’t you?” Katie folded her arms over her chest, glaring at him, and Hauk nudged closer in between them, whining.

  There was a knock on the door and all three looked up toward the door. “Come in,” Jacob said.

  “Are you decent?”

  “Damn it, Lulu. Open the door!” Jacob yelled back, clearly in a bad mood hearing her voice.

  Lulu laughed and opened the door, bringing in a tray of food and steaming hot coffee. “We figured, meaning Marta and myself, that you could probably use a recharge of food.”

  “Thanks, Lulu. I appreciate that.”

  “You’re not so bad, Katie. It’s a good thing you did, trying to see what you could remember. I should also probably tell you that your brother is downstairs.”

  “Eli can go…” Jacob growled.

  “Not your brother, Jacob. Katie’s brother. Sam.” Lulu put the tray down on the bedside table and sprinted back for the door, just missing getting hit with a large decorative pillow that Jacob had hurled in her direction. The pillow bounced off the shut bedroom door, falling to the floor in a soft thunk.

  “Feel better?” Katie rolled her eyes and looked over at Jacob, her arms still crossed over her chest.

  “Not really, but she deserved it.” Jacob got out of the bed to retrieve the pillow from the floor.

  “I guess you guys like to practice the spy shit all the time then?”

  “No. This is just one of those weekends. We get a bit rowdy when everyone is here together at the house.” Jacob came back to the bed and tackled her. She squeaked in surprise when he maneuvered himself on top of her quicker than she could get away. He leaned on his elbows before settling himself in the cradle of her body. “Forgive me?”

  With a sigh, Katie looked away and then back at his face. “It was so last year,” she emphasized sarcastically and Jacob smiled, kissing her, tentatively at first, then coaxing her mouth open to slip his tongue in and claim her once again.

  “So, ah, are you two coming downstairs any time soon or what? Oops, sorry.” The door shut quickly as Jacob launched a second pillow, hitting the door squarely, but never taking his lips from Katie’s. Her laughter was muffled by Jacob kissing her deeper. He ended the kiss by resting his forehead on her shoulder, breathing hard.

  “Come on, cavemen.” Katie pinched Jacob’s arm playfully. “Let’s go see what they want and why Sam’s here. How did Sam know where this place is? I didn’t even know where it was before we got here.”

  “I’m sure Sam has his ways, but I’m curious to find out myself. We don’t advertise this as our home. In fact, the deed lists Marta and John as the owners.”

  Jacob rolled over and stood up in one fluid motion. His body was honed as a fighting machine. Why hadn’t she realized it before? Katie finally comprehended how much of himself he had been masking from her. Shaking off the past, she ruffled Hauk on the head and got off the bed. She’d have to deal with a lot of this stuff later. He held out his hand for her and she took it, walking with him down the stairs to the library. Through the closed doors, they could hear Eli and Sam yelling. They looked at each other and, holding hands, jogged to the doors, pulling them open.

  “Sam! What’s gotten into you?” Katie went into the room, but Jacob side-stepped her to stand in front of her, which caused her to bump into him.

  “A little late to be protective of my sister, don’t you think, Mr. Reed? I’ll take over from here. Kit-Kat are you alright? Let’s go.” Sam nodded to her, insisting she join him.

  “You will not be removin
g her from here,” Jacob stated quietly and firmly.

  “Sam! Jacob! Stop, both of you! I’ll come and go as I please, thank you very much.” Katie tried pushing Jacob out of her way, but he was unmoving. He finally gave her the courtesy of letting her stand in front of him, but he possessively put his arms around her waist. “Maybe we could all sit down and figure this out? Jacob, you’re going to have to let me go.” He grunted and did the next best thing that he could think of…he sat down in one of the leather chairs and pulled Katie down onto his lap. She looked back at him and rolled her eyes. “Seriously? No more caveman crap.” Poking him in the chest, he affectionately rubbed the spot. Turning back around, she saw that Sam had sat down opposite them, everyone closely watching him.

  “Kit-Kat, there’s a lot you don’t know about these guys. I’d feel better if you came back to Baltimore with me, or if I took you to Mom and Dad’s. You’re obviously not safe with Mr. Fancy-Pants-CEO if thugs are breaking into your apartment and you’re getting mugged.”

  “Back to Kansas City? I don’t think so.”

  Sam threw his hands up in the air, frustrated. “Baltimore at least. I’m sure you can get a job reporting down there close to D.C. Metro.”

  “I’m a big girl now. Deal with it. What’s up with the shoulder holster? You’re not behaving very civilian-like.”

  “I work for the FBI.” Sam sat up straighter and Katie narrowed her eyes at him.

  Several heads turned, and Mason elbowed Tyler, whispering, “I told you so.”

  “Yeah, in their insurance fraud department or something like that,” Katie retorted.

  “Wait for it…” Rush muttered, nudging Mason who chuckled. Both earned glares from Katie and Jacob, who thought his teammates were being incredibly rude.

  “No, I work for the FBI as a field agent, sis.” Sam stated, his expression deadpan.

  “I swear he just preened himself with that comment,” Lulu said to the group next to her, who were trying to not be a part of the awkward conversation.

  “Did everyone else know?” Katie huffed, looking around at the shrugs and a few nodding heads. She didn’t bother looking at Jacob. She felt drained but, finally, in a good way.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry,” Jacob whispered in her ear.

  “Mom and Dad?” Katie asked.

  “Just Dad,” Sam said, scratching his head. “He uh, helped me get an interview with a guy he knows when I was in college.” Katie shook her head at Sam, disappointed.

  “Great. I’m surrounded by spies. I must seem like the idiot sheep. Be careful. I might mention you on TV, booga booga!” Katie waved her hands dramatically at Sam.

  “It’s not that, Katie. I’ve been doing some intense undercover work lately. I can’t exactly tell anyone what my assignment is.”

  “And getting mugged and almost blown up isn’t? Geez, I need a vacation, a real vacation. Mom would be so pissed if she knew.” Katie pointed her finger at Sam as she sat back into Jacob’s arms. He rubbed her shoulders without saying a word.

  “Yes, she would, Kit-Kat. I don’t plan to tell her if you don’t,” Sam reluctantly agreed.

  “Blackmail doesn’t become you, brother dear. We’ll talk about your FBI crap later.” Katie rubbed the bridge of her nose annoyed. “Eli, did I give you anything useful during the session?” Katie looked up to the obvious leader in the room, although it felt like being in a dysfunctional circus.

  “Yeah, pretty good. Since our computers and software are fairly advanced, and Jacob wrote the code program to follow the IP address of the originating email address, we got a few leads on the Goldielocks2255 account. Of course, the IP address is bouncing all over the place right now, but it’s more than what we had before. Of course, it’s all unofficial, but we can send some of the guys out to investigate the leads as soon as tomorrow if we can pinpoint a specific place.”

  “At what risk to my sister?” Sam asked.

  “Easy, Sam. I volunteered to go under with a dose of sodium pentothal to see what I could remember. It was helpful and I feel better knowing that Tully’s murderers will be given justice someday.”

  “I almost lost you that night, Katie. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened because I let you shack up with Mr. Fancy-Pants-CEO here.”

  “Aww, Sam, that’s possibly the nicest thing you’ve said to me thus far,” Jacob sarcastically replied in a cajoling voice.

  “Knock it off. Both of you, I’m still a little pissed. I’ll decide where I live and what I do after this. Neither my boyfriend nor my brother are going to do that for me.” Katie was still half-sitting in Jacob’s lap as he reached around and hugged her tight.

  “This is why I love you so much.” Jacob chuckled as she tried, ineffectively, to push him away.

  “Bravo, Katie!” Nick clapped his hands, cheering her on. She smiled at Nick, appreciatively.

  “Much as I hate to turn you over to another man, if Jacob is up for the challenge, he can have at it. It saves my hair from turning grey,” Sam muttered throwing his hands up again.

  “Samuel David Elliot Wilson!” Katie shouted.

  “I couldn’t stop you before, even as kids, so if he’s got a better shot at it, shit, why not?” Sam smiled at his sister and knew he was forgiven, probably by the whole lot of them if he had to guess. Sam stayed with them and discussed some of their next moves, considering Jacob had hoped to keep Katie out of the city for a few weeks. Sam was concerned about the break in at her apartment, and Jacob assured him they were looking into who did it.

  The thugs were good about not leaving fingerprints, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t track them down in time. There was still a lot he hadn’t been able to tell her yet, and he hoped in time those things would come. Jacob was confident he could protect her from any threat be it a little prick like Rick Chambers, who just wanted to throw his weight around, or an international asshole like Cosovo. In the end, Katie got Jacob to agree to one week, plus full access to her email and work assignments. Jacob was mush where she was concerned.

  … for now

  KATIE AND JACOB LAY IN bed together, Hauk draped over their legs and snoring slightly. They enjoyed the peace and quiet that descended on the house once most of the team had left. Eli had briefed Rush and Mason, sending them out to follow a few leads; Nick was flying out to California in the morning to continue working on the West Coast division that Eli was trying to develop; Lulu and Julian had left to head back to the city; Tyler was heading to Montana to spend time with Sophia and his parents before going to California to assist Nick; the rest would disburse on missions; and Sam would head back to Baltimore. Jacob intended that their time alone at the farm to be just that…alone and much more positive.

  “You know, your brother never answered my question about how he found the farm.” Jacob gently curled a lock of Katie’s dark hair around his fingers, massaging the back of her neck and head that rested in his lap.

  “Now that I think about it, I’m sure Sam probably called his boss, who called someone higher up and gave them hell. Just don’t turn it into a pissing contest. You’re the only caveman I want around here.” Katie chuckled.

  “I know, but I have to think of your safety. If others can find the farm, we’ll have to take other security measures into action. I want this to be our home and our safe place outside the city. Well, with the occasional visit from the team, I guess…”

  “Of course.”

  “I think your brother was pissed that I knew where his stakeout was when I called him after the break-in at your apartment.” Jacob mulled this over, and Katie looked up from where she rested her head and drew patterns on his bare chest, following the outline of one of his tattoos.

  “Probably. Did you do it to antagonize him?” Katie sighed, knowing the answer to her own question.

  “Of course.” Jacob laughed.

  “Well, apparently, my brother doesn’t need an excuse to make things a pissing contest with you. You two are idiots.” Katie leaned up further and k
issed Jacob’s chest.

  “Still…” Jacob shifted and pulled her closer up along his body.

  “So I was thinking about what you said earlier.” Katie continued to trace the markings.

  “Oh, what about?”

  “The whole kids thing.” Katie felt Jacob go still and silent a moment.

  “Katie, I’m not in any hurry. Seriously, we have our whole lives to work on that, and working on it is what I’m looking forward to most, now that I have you.” Jacob pulled her up to look into his eyes as he told her his deepest truth. “I love you, Katie. I love you enough to wait for you, no matter how long that takes.” He went back to rubbing her back, hoping the conversation was over when she hadn’t said anything for over a minute.

  “Maybe, but I was thinking that we could just see what happens,” Katie whispered.

  “What are you saying, love?” Jacob’s hand that was rubbing her back stilled.

  “I mean, just let nature take its course.” Katie bit her lip, shyly.

  “Your mother would kill me,” Jacob stated.

  “I trust you, Jacob, and I trust that this will work itself out. We can handle this crazy relationship, the crazy spy stuff, and my jealous co-worker.”

  “Katie, sweetheart, I love you, but I also love life. From how you and Sam describe your mother…well, frankly, I’m scared of her.”

  “She has a much louder bark than bite.” Katie shrugged.

  “So you say. No, sweetheart. I want a wedding, a big, in your face New York-style wedding that will not cast a shadow of a doubt that you’re mine. Let’s give those stupid photographers a field day.” Jacob rolled over onto Katie and rested above her.

  “That’s really sweet, but considering I’ve missed a few of my pills on time the last few days with all this craziness, shouldn’t we consider the possibility?”

  “I thought about that and I’m okay with whatever happens, but I want you to have a day you deserve. I want you to have all the pampering and poofy dresses that Trevor can find. I don’t want a day that’s rushed because we started our family prematurely.”

  “Are you actually afraid of my mother?” Katie asked surprised.