Behind Blue Eyes Page 12

  While I understood their reaction, all they’d have had to do was ask me if she meant harm. If she’d been turned by her abductor, it would have shown, loud and clear, in the color she wore.

  “What did you need to give me, honey?” I made my voice soft, though I was pissed beyond belief. The girl was already traumatized enough.

  “It’s only a letter,” she replied, throwing an accusing glance at the two cops. “It’s not even sealed or anything. I watched him type it, and he didn’t do anything to it.”

  As much as I despaired that a child her age could understand the concept of anthrax and chemical warfare, at least I’d get to read the letter before it went through decontamination procedures.

  “Gloves, Wonder Girl,” Foudy said, dangling a pair of latex-free gloves in front of my nose. “He might have left prints.”

  “He didn’t, but just to make you happy,” I replied waspishly, and snapped them on.

  “So Amy, tell us, from the beginning, what happened.” Brian’s voice was low and soothing.

  I nodded at the girl, telling her it was all right, before I opened the sheet of paper with careful fingers. It was clean, like Amy had said, with only the printed words marring its pristine white surface.

  As Amy began to speak, I read Wes’s missive to me.

  By now you’ve figured it out...all of it. You always did have a marvelous brain, even if you hid it behind wisecracks.

  I spared the child because she isn’t who or what I thought she was. No matter what you might believe, there is a greater purpose to what I do. I so wish things could have been different, that our paths might have crossed in a much more pleasant manner, but the truth is, they must be stopped. Even though they appear legitimate, they’ve begun their old ways again. Now it’s become even worse. Everything we feared a decade ago has come to fruition.

  They are more powerful than they ever were. My way is the only way to stop it once and for all.

  Take the child, as my gift to you, and leave it alone. Run again, hide, because if I found you, they can too.

  I beseech you, for the two years we spent together.

  —Wes

  Tears ran down my face. I was never so sorry to be proven right. Wes was supposed to be dead.

  Amy’s dad showed about half an hour later, although no one here had called him. Wes again, soothing a worried parent’s heart. Part of me wondered how much he was messing with Foudy and Roney. As much as I’d like to believe in Wes wholeheartedly, that he was doing what he considered to be right, so much of this was wrong, on so many different levels.

  Pastor Singleton was righteous in his anger, insisting on knowing what his daughter had been involved in. Foudy was in her element, explaining, in that smugly superior way of hers, that it was part of an ongoing police investigation. She and Brian bundled the Singletons into a cruiser and headed for headquarters and Amy’s debriefing, which would undoubtedly include a sketch artist. Maybe I’d see what Wes had grown up into.

  I sat on my couch in a state of shock, processing not only Amy’s reappearance, but my conversation with Wes, and his letter, which was now in evidence. For anyone but Brian, Foudy and me, Wes’s words were the ravings of a psychopath. But we all knew he was no nutcase, even Foudy, who’d gone white as a sheet when she’d read the missive. What I’d said earlier was confirmed by Wes’s letter.

  He was alive. After all these years. His “death” had been the impetus I’d used to flee. Now he was back, and using the very things CASI had taught us to predict what we’d do. He’d been stronger than me all those years ago, and God only knew how good he was now.

  Roney and I had been wrong yesterday. Wes wouldn’t be coming for me. Finding me here in Dallas had been a fucked-up, twisted quirk of fate. One that had probably saved Amy’s life. She was a gift to me. I had no doubt he would have killed her if he hadn’t figured out, somehow, that I was involved, at least peripherally, his words notwithstanding.

  Foudy’d been wrong too. I wasn’t the connection, just another piece on the fucking chessboard. Sometimes fate freakin’ sucked.

  The one thing I couldn’t discount was Wes’s advice to run, and I considered it for about a nanosecond. Whatever else happened, I was going to stand. I had Brian behind me, and that would have to be enough. Stopping Wes from continuing whatever crusade he was on was more important than my anonymity. I didn’t have to wonder what drove my conviction... I was tired of always being on the outside, of hanging on the periphery. It stopped here. Even if this whole thing—Wes, my pseudo-relationship with Brian—ended badly, at least I would have tried, and with everything in me. I was part of something worthy, maybe for the first time, and regardless of the circumstances, it felt damned good.

  When my phone rang, I considered ignoring it, but in the end, curiosity (killed the cat, you know) won out. It was Roney.

  “Start packing for spring in Colorado. You’re going with us.” His tone was sympathetic, but brooked no argument.

  I let out a deep breath. Why wasn’t I surprised? “Are you sure that’s the best thing?” Going back to CASI and facing my past wasn’t on my top ten list of things to do, even if it would help in the long run.

  “You know it is, Sara. Davis has already cleared it.”

  So that was that. “I’ll need to kennel Xena, so it’ll take me at least a few hours to get ready.”

  “Fine. Go with the uniform. No arguments, Sara,” he warned, knowing I would. “Just in case, all right?”

  “Sure,” I said, with no real feeling other than trepidation. I’d known this was coming since yesterday, but everything had moved so fast. Was it only two days ago that I’d been fired?

  “We need to know if you’re going to be recognized.” He lowered his voice and I could tell he was in the squad room, and not willing to talk about my special “gift” with so many ears around. Especially ears that knew it was me he was talking to. “Not physically, because I don’t think there’s much chance of that after so many years.”

  I knew what he was asking. “No, the only talented people there are children. Or at least that used to be the case. If they can read me, they’ll think I’m a graduate who’s come back for a visit, that’s all. As for appearance, remember, I look totally different than I did.” I hoped to God I was right. If an adult sensed my power, we were all screwed.

  “Even when we flash our badges?”

  “Especially then. Remember, Wes and I worked with police departments, and given their secrecy, it’s probably gone further than that.” I didn’t even want to think about how much further. Had my suspicion about military applications all those years ago come to fruition? I was afraid it had. Especially as I remembered Brian’s revelation about Airman Dobbs.

  The thought of the CASI children being forged into military weapons made my blood run cold. Yeah, I’d predicted it way back when, but I hadn’t actually believed it, not deep down. And now I was heading right back into the lion’s den, as it were.

  Jesus. I was so screwed. Even if no one recognized me, seeing CASI’s “vision” realized would likely change my view of the world irrevocably. I had to wonder, if all of my suppositions were correct... Was what Wes was doing so wrong? Not the killing part, of course, but trying, in some way, any way, to stop the fundamental mind-rape the Academy was engaged in?

  I’d been right before when I compared this to a spider’s web. It was, and one that got more intricate and deadly with each passing moment. It remained to be seen whether I was going to be the unsuspecting fly who was a snack, or the predator who destroyed it all.

  Brian let out a heartfelt sigh. “If there was any way around this, Sara...”

  “I know, but I’m the only one who knows the lay of the land. I know you’ve got my back. I’ll be ready when you get here.” I disconnected the call, not wanting to hear empty reassurances. Yeah, Brian would mean them, but I didn’t have to have Wes’s talent to figure out that this trip could end very, very badly.

  Chapter Ten

&
nbsp; Before

  As much as I thought about the “greater goal” Green kept blathering on about, I still couldn’t get my mind around the idea of spying on people outside of CASI...no matter how much it might benefit some.

  We were in Denver yet again, and it was the first time I’d seen Wes in at least a week. He’d become my lifeline over the last year and a half, my only real touchstone to what had been my life before CASI. And today, the criminals had been no better or worse than the dozen or so I’d viewed in the past few months.

  I had to wonder, as I watched the lights of Denver recede behind us, if Wes and I weren’t so different from the people we observed. With the vast exception that we’d done nothing wrong to warrant our incarceration. No, we’d been born “special”.

  Later that night, ensconced in our own private world in the library’s loft, Wes and I talked about how they were using us, and the certainty it would get worse long before it got better.

  “Something’s wrong, Christie,” Wes whispered, leaning close. “I can’t see it yet, but it’s not going to be good.”

  I sat back in my chair, The Merchant of Venice dropping into my lap. Wes and I had talked about many things, but never, ever about his abilities. It seemed sacrosanct for some reason.

  “Does it have anything to do with you disappearing for a few days?”

  “I don’t know. Probably,” he growled, sounding more like a man than the boy he still was. Places like CASI made you grow up way too fast.

  I laid a hand on his arm. “Did they hurt you?”

  His fingers rested on mine. “No, nothing like that. It was different this time. New criminals. Scary ones that make the ones we’ve seen so far look like kindergarteners.” He shivered. “For the first time since my aunt dumped me here, I’m really, truly scared. It’s not just us, you know. Really look at the rest of them sometime. Most of them think their parents don’t love them anymore. That’s why they were so standoffish when we first got here. They were scared then and they’re scared now. They know what’s been done to us, and that it can happen to them too. We’re cut off from the rest of the world, and I think Green is paying the parents to leave well enough alone. After all, most of us were troublemakers, or at least weirdos before we came here, right?”

  In his posture, I could tell he’d gone from frightened to angry, but completely trusted in the friendship we had forged. And for him to compare what was coming to our mutual abandonment, to our whole class’s abandonment... Well, that was bad, really, really bad.

  “So what are we going to do about it?” I asked.

  “I don’t know yet, but when I figure something out, we’re going to bring this place crashing in on their heads.”

  Now—Monday, 2:00 p.m.

  My vet was happy to take Xena for an undetermined amount of time, and since she seemed to have a soft spot for the shih tzu whirlwind, I suspected she’d have her run of the place when other patients weren’t present. It made my heart feel lighter, even as I ached when I let her go. Xena had been my only real family for too many years. Why did it feel like I was receiving doggy kisses for the last time?

  When I got home, I pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote my will. Fatalistic? Maybe, but I hadn’t gotten this far without covering most of my bases. Everything went to Lisa and Juan. To Davis, I wrote a long, detailed letter telling him everything.

  Davis would be conscientious enough to follow up after figuring out I wasn’t a total head-case. Which would probably take a huge leap of faith, so I included details I couldn’t possibly have known about cases, about the personalities of victims, even the secrets of people within HQ. If it brought down CASI, it’d be worth it. It played on my conscience, but in this case, the end justified the means.

  Yeah, my main goal was stopping Wes, but CASI and the Meece Foundation were running a very close second. Kids like Amy shouldn’t have to live through what we had. Ever.

  I’d been thinking about Airman Dobbs over the last few hours as I cleaned up my affairs and waited for my date with hell...or destiny.

  While I could certainly see the value in helping talented children reach their potential, CASI’s methods left a foul taste in my mouth for even considering it. Was there no way to achieve such a goal without coercion? Without imprisonment? Without basically extorting the children’s cooperation? I was afraid there wasn’t, because the true realization of the talented children’s power would always be on the government’s radar now. It would always be on the mind of some power-hungry politician, or a military man who thought to use it to his advantage.

  I couldn’t see any way around it, no matter how hard I tried.

  In the end, it all swung back to what we could do in the here and now. Positing ways to help people like me wouldn’t make a bit of difference if we couldn’t take down Wes, if we couldn’t stop CASI.

  Brian, Monica and even Davis were doing everything they possibly could to uncover any connection between the victims. They were trying to connect the killings to Wes on my word. It wouldn’t be enough. Wes was smart, a freakin’ brainiac. Whatever agenda he had would be his alone...until we caught up with him.

  Sorrow had overwhelmed me when I learned Wes was still alive. Now it was deeper, more melancholy, leaving me feeling hollowed out and alone. If I hadn’t run all those years ago, would we be in the situation we were now? Or would I be dead, yet another casualty of Dr. Green? I was going with the second thought because he’d been too close to eliminating me.

  I waited, my mind spinning with grief and dread, an overnight bag at my feet. When Roney knocked, I took a long look around my home, imprinting it on my mind. I hoped like hell it wasn’t the last time I’d see it.

  I walked to the door and opened it.

  He stood alone, much as he had that first night. He’d changed into another crappy blue suit, and his head still nearly brushed the ceiling of the foyer.

  I stepped forward, trying to smile, but failing miserably. Brian, being Brian, did exactly the right thing. He met me halfway, pulled me into his arms and laid a hungry, voracious kiss on my lips.

  I groaned and leaned into him, dropping my overnight bag as I threw my arms around his neck and held on for dear life. His mouth gentled against mine, turning what had been white-hot into slow and smoldering. His tongue slid over mine, his big hands cradling my face tenderly as he mapped my mouth with lazy efficiency.

  I let him take the lead because I needed the hope his touch gave me. Hope that we’d come home alive, that Wes would be stopped, that the instructors at CASI would spontaneously combust and save us the trouble of investigating them. Since two of the three were probably folly, I latched onto the first and kissed him right back with everything in my heart and soul. What raged between us was quite possibly the first and last good thing in my life. Even if it had been doomed before it started.

  When he finally lifted his head, his breathing was ragged, but his eyes were clear. “Sara...” he murmured, tracing my eyebrows with his thumbs. With that small gesture, I was lost.

  “Tell Foudy to get her own room when we get there.” I said, my breathing as choppy as his.

  His face lit and then became closed. “Uh, not to sound like a complete idiot, but when we make love, it’s going to be because you want to, not because you’re scared to death of this guy.”

  I laughed right up into his frowning face, and it felt so good. “You are an idiot. I do what I want and have since I ran into the middle of a freakin’ blizzard. So roll that around in your brain while we’re at twenty thousand feet.”

  As cops, with me in tow, we got through the hideously long security line at DFW with little fuss. I’d never thought about what procedures cops who wanted to carry their sidearms had to go through, but Davis had called ahead and made arrangements through TSA. Apparently, in this day and age, airlines aren’t all that squeamish about having two additional air marshals on board, even if that’s not their official designation.

  Thank God I hadn’t had to relinquish my gla
sses for more than a few minutes, and in a private screening room, no less. I couldn’t imagine the frustration, anger and overall ire coming off the regular schmucks standing in line. A line that snaked at least two hundred people long. Shudder.

  And happiness of happiness, our captain, copilot and flight attendants all had the aura of calm competency. Trust me, I checked. I always do when I fly, which isn’t often. Where the hell am I gonna fly to?

  We settled in, Roney a man-sandwich between Foudy (on the aisle, damn control freak) and me. Since Brian wasn’t stupid, I figured not putting Foudy and me next to each other for a two-hour flight had to be his doing.

  As we leveled off, I had a horrible, sneaking suspicion. “You didn’t call ahead to the Denver PD, did you?”

  Foudy leaned around Brian’s body. “Of course we did. Crossing jurisdictions without a prelim phone call is pretty much the equivalent of pissing in another cop’s Wheaties. Don’t worry, Wonder Girl. We didn’t say anything about CASI, only that our suspect had stopped in Denver, and we wanted to get the lay of the land.”

  “What am I supposed to be?”

  Roney dropped a badge and ID into my lap, a huge smile creasing his face. “Congratulations, Sara, you’ve been promoted to full-time tech. Oh, and by the way, I won the office pool. The second one,” he amended with a half-grin.

  I looked at both of them for a moment. At Foudy’s frowning, obviously disapproving face, and Brian’s equally obvious tickled-pink expression. I looked down. The shield and ID were for real, but they were only temporary. They had to be.

  I continued staring at the symbols of what I’d coveted secretly for years, even as I said, “But I’ll have to give them back when we return.” I made my voice flat, not even a trace of hope in it.

  “No. It’s for real.” There was true delight in his voice.

  I raised my eyes to his. “You must have a lot of pull with Davis, Brian.”

  He looked uncomfortable for a moment. “We have an understanding.”