Echo 8

by Sharon Lynn Fisher

  “That’s not really my problem, Doctor.”

  Stung, Tess got up and walked to the windows on the other end of the apartment. She frowned at the street below, folding her hands to stop the trembling.

  “No, of course it’s not.”

  “Jesus,” he muttered. His chair creaked as he got up. “I don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry. This isn’t easy for me.”

  Tess heard him crossing the room to stand behind her. She kept her eyes on the downtown skyline, a couple miles to the northwest, and the glittering water of Puget Sound just beyond.

  “I’ve never had to leave an assignment before. To be honest, Doctor, I thought you’d be relieved.”

  “I guess we don’t know each other as well as we think we do.” She rubbed her hands over her shoulders. “I wish you’d tell me why.”

  Her heart thumped heavily through the long pause that followed.

  “All right. But don’t make me talk to your back.”

  Tess turned, and Ross ran a hand through his hair, sighing. His fingers made it stick up in a few places, and she liked that. Almost as much as she liked the uncharacteristic dark stubble sprouting over his chin and jaw. The man was dangerously sexy. She found herself thinking about how many times he’d had his hands on her over the course of the last day.

  “I feel compromised,” he said. “I’m not sure whether I’m following orders anymore. I’ve become indecisive, and uncertainty on my part is unacceptable in a situation like this. Our lives are at risk every minute. And mistakes have consequences beyond the two of us.”

  “What’s making you indecisive?”

  Ross’s gaze shifted to the window, and his tongue ran over his bottom lip. “You.”

  Her heart startled off its lily pad. She dropped her arms by her sides and waited for him to continue.

  “You’re persuasive, and determined. You care about people, and you’re passionate about your job. All of that’s great, but…”

  “It’s making you second-guess the orders you’ve been given?”

  His eyes met hers. He looked startled.

  “I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, Ross.”

  He closed his eyes and turned back to the window. “I’m not either. That’s the problem.”

  She stared at his profile, surprised by what he’d revealed. Surprised that one of his walls had come down, if only a little.

  He turned. “But my biggest concern right now is the risks you’re taking. I agree there’s risk inherent in what you’re doing. I have to accept that you’re going to take risks—within reason. But the line between reasonable and unreasonable risk has become so blurry I can’t see it anymore. And I can’t do my job that way.”

  “I think you’re being hard on yourself. This is an unusual situation. One you couldn’t have trained or prepared for. The line between reasonable and unreasonable risk would be blurry for anyone. It’s blurry for me. I’m operating on instinct and hunches.”

  Ross shook his head. “I’ve been an agent for ten years. The specific circumstances may be unusual, but the situation … I’ve faced it many times. I should be able to handle it.”

  She studied his face, trying to grasp the subtext. Was he hinting at … at duty compromised by personal feelings? She shivered, flashing back to that moment in his bed when she’d woken to find her head on his chest.

  Her heart drummed as she waited for him to continue.

  But when he did, he said, “Get some rest, Tess. I’ll bring up the food when it comes.”

  He was turning, but she reached for his arm. “I know this has to be your decision, but I hope you’ll…” She swallowed. “I hope you’ll think it over.”

  He gave her the smallest of smiles. “Do you?”

  “You’ve saved my life twice. I trust you. I value your opinions, though I know I don’t say so.” She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. Just say it, Tess. “I wish you wouldn’t go.” The surprise that flickered in his eyes made her want to backtrack. “I really don’t think there’s anyone else who’d put up with my crap.”

  His smile deepened. “You’re not as scary as you think you are, Doctor.”

  She laughed nervously, raising a hand to her temple. “Even with my new Bride of Frankenstein look?”

  “Mysterious, maybe.” The breath stuck in her throat as he took the end of the white strand between his fingers. “A woman with a secret. But scary? Sorry.”

  He tucked the lock of hair behind her ear and moved away.

  Tess sank down on the bed, wondering who was going to get her heart started again now that he was gone.

  * * *

  Jake stood with his back against the one-way glass of the observation room.

  “I’m coming in,” Ross warned through the intercom. “Stay where you are.”

  Agent Perez stood nearby with her sidearm drawn as Ross entered the lab and set a plate of food on the floor. He was leaving again when Jake asked, “How is Tess?”

  The fade looked relaxed, and solid. He still had the feverish look in his eyes, but nothing about his posture suggested he was tensed to pounce.

  “She’s sleeping.”

  Jake nodded.

  Ross started again to leave, but Jake said, “You might be interested to know I learned a few things about the two of you during Tess’s little experiment.”

  “I’m not.” Ross stepped out and closed the door.

  Jake walked to the door, and something about the way the fade looked at him caused Ross to hesitate. He sent Perez to the lobby.

  “What is it you want to say, Jake?” he asked through the intercom.

  Jake crossed his arms, staring at Ross. “A bunch of … information comes rushing in when I feed on her. It happened with you too. Mostly it’s just a lot of noise, and hard for me to really make any sense out of it. But a few things have come through pretty clear.”

  Ross’s gut twisted with apprehension. He knew he should walk away before the fade told him something he had no business knowing. Something he didn’t want to know.

  “I’m not going to share any of her secrets with you, G-man. That’s between me and her.”

  Ross bristled. “Then what is it you want?”

  “I’m going to give you a piece of advice, and if you’re not a complete asshole, you’ll take it.”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t leave her.”

  Ross’s work as a field agent had made him an expert at controlling his reactions. But it was hard to imagine the jolt of regret that ran through him wasn’t visible from the outside.

  “What?”

  “You heard me, Ross. Don’t you leave her. I know you’re thinking about it.”

  Walk. Away. Now.

  “I’m not leaving her. I’m leaving the assignment. It’s not personal.”

  “What a load of horseshit. They teach you to talk like that in special agent school, or is that just you?”

  “Fuck you,” growled Ross, turning.

  “Listen, Ross, I’ve had a little peek inside your head. I know you want her, and it’s completely fucked you up. But I’m interpreting these temper tantrums of yours as you actually giving a shit about what happens to her.”

  Ross’s blood boiled. He stood rooted to the spot, waiting for the truck to run him down again.

  “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and tell you something you don’t deserve to know. Tess is bruised and broken inside. She cares about this job more than anything else. Lots of people let her down when she was little, and she forgets about it by working hard, and by helping others.”

  Ross clutched the grip of his weapon in desperation. He didn’t need the fade to tell him all this. He had the fucking file. “I don’t know what this has to do with me.”

  “If you leave she’s going to get herself killed. You might as well put a bullet in me right now.”

  Ross wiped the palm of his hand on his pants. He pushed damp hair back from his brow. “She’ll be fine. They’ll send someone else.”


  “That’s another bullshit answer and you know it.” The fade’s eyes brimmed with fury, and a single tear drove down his cheek. “Fucking coward.”

  Ross gaped at him. How had Tess gotten so deeply under Jake’s skin in only twenty-four hours? He realized the answer to that question was in the question itself. She was under his skin, literally. Circulating around in his body. She was the only reason the fade was still breathing.

  Ross believed he had an inkling of an idea what that must feel like.

  “It’s done, Jake. I sent the request five minutes ago. She’ll be safer with someone … more removed.”

  Ross turned off the intercom and stepped away from the door, only to whip around again as Jake’s body slammed against it. He aimed the Glock at the window, and Jake’s face moved into view. Jake gave the door a violent kick.

  Ross pushed the barrel of the Glock against the window, and Jake closed his eyes.

  * * *

  Worried about oversleeping, Tess only managed to nap for about half an hour. She’d resolved not to let more than an hour pass before trying another energy transfer. It would all be on her this time; Ross wouldn’t agree to do it again. And she couldn’t blame him for that. No wonder he couldn’t wait to get out of here.

  She assumed she’d be bodyguard-free for a while, until they could send a replacement. Meantime she was going to have to work out a sustainable plan for Jake’s care and feeding. She couldn’t expect help or reinforcements from the Bureau, but Abby would be back Monday morning. Until then she’d just have to keep the transfers short and frequent.

  Whatever Tess’s regrets about Ross, she’d forget them soon enough. Besides Jake and the energy transfers, she had a mountain of task force email to catch up on. All of them were expecting an update on Echo 8.

  When she reached the lab, Jake was lying on the cot they’d found in the basement storage. She tapped on the glass with her knuckle and he glanced up.

  Glaring at her through the glass, he shook his head.

  She frowned and turned on the intercom. “Come on, Jake. I want to try the transfer now, before you need it.”

  He rolled on the cot until his back was to her, folding his arms over his head.

  DENIAL

  * * *

  TO: Ross McGinnis

  FROM: Maxwell Garcia

  SUBJECT: Re: Reassignment request

  CLASSIFICATION: Classified

  I respect your honesty, Ross, and I commend your professionalism. I do not, however, concur with your assessment of the risk posed by your continuing at Seattle Psi. Your actions in this current situation have, as far as I can determine from the information you’ve provided, in no way compromised our objectives.

  Furthermore, the administration has asked us to submit new strategies for containing the Echo threat, and you are critical to a key proposal. More on this soon. In the meantime, I’m afraid I must deny your request for reassignment.

  Sincerely,

  Max Garcia

  Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

  * * *

  ROSS SAT staring at his laptop screen. Two paragraphs of polite, professional reply that could easily be summed up in three words: Suck. It. Up.

  He wasn’t as surprised as he should be. He didn’t believe in fate, but the truth was, everything that had happened since he met Tess had the feel of something that had happened before. He wouldn’t go as far as to say it was supposed to happen, but it had a feel of inevitability.

  Moreover, Jake had gotten to him. The fade had some kind of crazy, instinctive ability to get hold of Ross by the balls when it came to Tess. She was clearly bright and capable, but Jake was right about her vulnerability. Ross had been afraid of what might happen to her when he was gone, though he knew it was sheer arrogance to think he had any real power to keep her safe.

  Sighing, Ross glanced up from the observation room desk—in time to watch Tess walk through the lab door. Agent Swain stepped into the doorway behind her, weapon trained on Jake.

  * * *

  “Get out.” Jake’s eyes were bright with anger, his hands balled into fists against his legs.

  “The sooner we do this, the safer it will be.”

  “Tess!” Ross shouted from behind her.

  She stayed focused on her subject. “I’m not leaving until you come back to the window.”

  “It’s not gonna happen, Doc,” replied Jake, pressing his back against the wall. “We’re done.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to get hurt. Worse. Now get out.”

  “Come on, Doctor,” said Ross, hand closing over her arm.

  In struggling to hold her ground, she lost both her footing and her focus and stumbled toward the cot.

  Jake sprang, and suddenly he was on top of her, caging her against the floor between his arms and knees, as close as he could be without touching her.

  A gunshot whizzed over Jake’s head, striking the mattress on the cot. “Hold your fire!” cried Ross.

  “Back off, G-man!” growled Jake, moving his face close to hers. “You had your chance.”

  “That’s enough drama, Jake,” called Ross, his voice steady but tight. “You got what you wanted. I’m staying. Now let her go.”

  Jake didn’t seem to hear Ross. He made a slow circuit with his head, moving his face over Tess’s without touching. Her skin burned, and she felt the magnetic pull of the energy transfer.

  “Don’t … move,” murmured Jake. “You feel so good.”

  She held completely still as Jake’s face hovered over her neck. “Jake…,” she croaked.

  “Stop fucking around!” yelled Ross. “You’ll kill her!”

  Jake lined up his lips with hers and closed his eyes. She shrank against the floor, giving a frantic little moan.

  “Are you afraid of me now, Doctor?” purred Jake, still poised to kiss her.

  “Yes,” she panted.

  Jake’s head straightened. His eyes bored into hers. “You’ve tried to help me. You’ve been kind to me. I want to help you too. But you can’t tame me. We can’t be friends. I want to kiss you. I want to fuck you. I want to absorb you. One day I’m going to do one of these things, and you’re going to die.”

  “You’re finished, asshole.” Ross’s voice faded into the background.

  Tess felt the energy transfer peeling away her layers. Gone was the woman, the parapsychologist, the grad student—the mantle of adulthood. She was a child again, alone and naked, and deep within her was a well that concealed a child’s secret, from the world and from her grownup self. She pulled back from the shadows, afraid to look into the face of the thing that waited there. She could hear its hollow breathing. And she could feel how its tendrils had woven into her life.

  “That’s not who I am,” she murmured, half conscious now as her energy drained.

  Jake leaned close, his lips at her ear. “That’s right, Doctor. It’s not.”

  She closed her eyes as it sank in that he was witnessing these memories with her. A tear slipped from under her eyelid, and he bent and stopped it with the tip of his tongue, following its track up her cheek to the corner of her eye. Barely grazing her skin, but searing like a cattle brand.

  Ross gave a cry of rage.

  Jake jumped suddenly to his feet, holding out his arms. “Do it, G-man.”

  “Don’t!” Tess choked out.

  “Cover me,” Ross ordered Swain.

  Jake stood still, Swain’s weapon trained on him, while Ross lifted Tess from the floor. Shaken and drained by the transfer, she curled her hands around his neck and pressed her head against his chest. She wasn’t sure which of them was trembling harder.

  He carried her out into the corridor, and she heard the lab door close behind them.

  “Stay with me,” she murmured.

  He bent his head, stubbly chin catching at her hair. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  * * *

  Tess was asleep by the time they reached her apartmen
t. Her skin was cool, but her heartbeat was steady. He tucked her into bed before retrieving his laptop and the extra blankets from downstairs. When he’d dropped it all off, he went to the cafeteria to pilfer coffee beans.

  He checked Tess once more before settling into the armchair next to the bed with his laptop and coffee cup.

  There was a second email from Director Garcia.

  * * *

  As you’re aware, you were selected for this assignment based on the results of your psi evaluation. I had not yet discussed with you my intention for you to work with the scientists at Seattle Psi to sharpen your abilities. Clearly the arrival of Echo 8 made that impractical.

  However, this crisis has multiple fronts, and we are adjusting priorities.

  I’ll be traveling to Seattle to discuss details with you and Dr. Caufield. In the meantime, I’m giving you access to a portion of your confidential file—your test scores from the academy. Take some time to review your psi evaluation with Dr. Caufield. I’ll be in touch soon.

  * * *

  Ross closed his eyes and let his head fall back on the chair. Psi evaluation. This particular souvenir from his weeks at Quantico kept coming back to haunt him. It had always been a sore spot—a piece of information he hated having as part of his official record—and the very reason he’d fallen out with Tess in their first meeting.

  He logged onto the Bureau’s secure site and found the new folder in his document library. He began opening and scrolling through files. As he scanned the psi evaluations, which were based on interviews and tests that probed for precognitive and psychokinetic abilities, a few comments jumped out at him:

  Highly intuitive/perceptive

  Incorporates precog in routine decision-making

  Candidate suppresses

  Recommend blind test sequence

  Candidate suppresses. If that meant he didn’t believe in it, whoever had written the note was right. Ross’s work often involved quick decisions, which he sometimes made based on guesses and gut instincts. His guesses—and his gut—were almost always right. He believed this was due to his aptitude for noting and recalling details, and he rejected—even resented—the notion of a paranormal “gift.”