Brain Storm (A Taylor Morrison Novel Book 1) (31 page)

I looked over at them, absorbed in the map, now spread out perfectly on the table before them and felt a fast clench of my heart.
Dear God, don’t let me get them killed,
I prayed. I felt Mama D’s arm snake around my waist for a quick hug before she wandered into the living area and settled down on the sofa with a book. It was exactly what I needed, and I found myself smiling, thinking not for the first time, that I wasn’t the only one here with psychic ability. I shook off the feeling and went to pull out the computer to download the photos I taken. We had some answers, now we needed a plan.
 

“IT’S JUST A
mountain lodge,” Candice said as soon as she saw the photos. “A big one, but it’s nothing like I expected.”

“It looks like a lodge because it is,” Mac said, coming over to the coffee table, where we’d set up the computer. “Or it used to be. As far as the locals know, it’s an exclusive resort for executives. The sort of place used for training, seminars, that sort of stuff. Makes the perfect cover for the Agency. The Clients are housed in the lodge when they come for training, but it’s only a small part of the complex. The rest of the structure is underground. There are entrances from the main lodge, and three of the outbuildings.

“The underground structure runs beneath the mountain and the offices, training center, and security offices are all located here,” he said, moving back to the table and pointing to a section of the map, some distance from where he had marked the lodge location on the map.
 

“Where do the Watchers and Handlers stay?” I asked. “Do they live on-site?”
 

“There are quarters for the Watchers in the underground area, places to stay when they come in for reports or are waiting to be dispatched.” He pointed to a new area, opposite the underground quarters, beyond the lodge. “We’re pretty much restricted to that area, which is why I’ve haven’t seen but a handful of the Handlers and staff. I’ve heard that the Handlers stay in the lodge, separated from the Clients, but I don’t know much more than that.”

We didn’t have much to go on. We had a vague idea of the layout and where people might be, the operative word there being ‘might’. At least we knew that Matthew Hughes was on site, which should have made me feel better, but for some reason, just didn’t.
 

“Why did we see Hughes?” I asked. “Why, out of all of the people who work there, out all of the people we could have seen and didn’t, why did we see the one guy we needed to see?”

“That is sort of weird, isn’t it?” Candice piped in. “What was he doing?”

“He was going from the lodge to one of the other buildings,” I answered her. “Mac, you said there were entrances to the underground facilities from the lodge and the three outbuildings, so if he was headed underground, why didn’t he use the lodge and keep out of sight?”

“What’s in there?” asked Bryan, pointing to the building on the computer screen. “Above ground?”

“The security offices,” Mac answered grimly, confirming my worst fears. It was a large building, indicating the probability of a large security force. He pointed to a darkened area behind the building. “And this is where they keep the dogs.”

Dogs? Well, that narrowed down the options on the table. Bryan was absolutely right. Getting to Hughes was going to be tough, not to mention dangerous. Problem was, we were out of options and I had a bad feeling we were running out of time.
 

“Okay,” I said, releasing the breath I’d been holding since Mac had dropped his bombshell of news. “I’m going for a walk.”
 

I left them sitting there in silence, still looking at the screen, slipped on my jacket and slid out the door.

The crisp mountain air cleared my head almost immediately. Still warm during the day, the nights were decidedly chilly, making me glad that I’d had the presence of mind to grab my coat. The sun was nearly down, but there was still enough light to follow the path that meandered through the cabin area. I made a couple of circuits through the grounds to wear off some energy and finally settled down on a rock by the river just as darkness fell. I watched as the moon slowly appeared in the sky, edging its way out from behind a mountain top. The rushing water tumbled over the rocks, the cascading surface reflecting the sky above in shimmering bursts of light.

I’m not sure how long I sat there, lost in my thoughts and the roar of the river. The smell of coffee brought me out of my reverie and I looked over, expecting to see Mac, surprised to see Candice instead, standing a distance away, holding a couple of steaming mugs.

“It’s beautiful here,” she said, walking over to hand me a cup. “Peaceful.”

 
I hadn’t realized how chilled I was until I wrapped my hands around the hot mug. I nodded in agreement and took a grateful sip of coffee, letting the steam wrap itself around my face, taking its warmth deep into my lungs.

“You ready now,” she asked, “or are you going to stay out here until you freeze to that rock?”

“I’m ready,” I answered, getting to my feet, which wasn’t easy since my whole backside was numb. “The boys getting restless in there?”

“Oh yeah,” she said, looping her arm through mine to help me balance. “There’s two big men in there, spoiling for a fight and no one to pound on except each other. They need some direction to point all that male angst to. Besides, Mama D has dinner ready and on the table.”

I nodded as we made our way back in companionable silence, enjoying the peace and quiet. I was so glad she and Mama D were with me. I needed them, and not just for their skills.

Dinner wasn’t quite on the table when we got to the cabin. Mama D had taken things in hand and had Mac tossing a salad while Bryan stood guard over what smelled like garlic bread toasting in the oven.

By the time I finished washing up, everything was ready. Bryan had the decency to wait until Mama D had set steaming bowls of Chicken Alfredo in front of us before starting in.

“Sam,” he said, drawing my attention, as he spooned parmesan cheese into his bowl. “I hope you have something else up your sleeve because there’s no way I can see of getting into the compound without someone getting killed. Meaning you.” He pointed his spoon at me for emphasis.

“Why don’t we talk about this after dinner,” Candice said, giving Bryan a look that would have killed a lesser man on the spot. “And quit with the cheese. You haven’t even tasted that yet and you’re drowning it.”
 

She grabbed the spoon and bowl of cheese from him and plunked them down on the table, which, from the look on his face had been a huge mistake. I stepped in quickly before they came to blows.

“No, he’s right, Candice. We need to talk now. We have a lot of work to do later.”

Mac and Bryan’ faces lit up like Christmas trees. I couldn’t really blame them. It was a relief to finally be able to do something pro-active even if the odds of success were stacked against us.

“Our goal is to get into the facility and get some information. We need to find Brown and see what’s up with Matthew Hughes.” I gave up on attempting to twirl the fettuccine around my fork and grabbed
 
my knife, cutting the pasta into manageable pieces.
 

“Problem is,” I continued, managing to stab a nice piece of chicken along with a forkful of noodles, “getting to Hughes.”

“There’s no way we’re going to be able to get in there without them knowing about it. The minute Hughes thinks something is off, he’ll set the dogs on us, no questions asked,” Bryan said, cutting straight to the heart of the problem.

“I’m willing to bet he’s in charge on site. If I was a double agent, that’s the position I’d go for. You’re in on everything, can spy on everything, have access to everything and no questions asked.” Bryan nodded his head in agreement with Mac.

“So basically what you’re saying is there’s no way to get to this guy, the one we have to talk to,” Candice said, throwing her fork down in disgust. “So now what? He’s the only lead we have. Do we cut tail and run?”

“No,” I answered, “we don’t. We needed to know if Hughes was still in place at the facility and we got our answer. If they have Brown, I’d be willing to bet he’s somewhere nearby where Hughes can keep an eye him.”

“If that’s true, then we don’t need to get into the facility to talk to him. We can just follow him right to Brown,” Bryan finished for me.
 

“That’s a lot of ‘
if
s’
.
We don’t even know for sure that Hughes is involved in this. Say he is, and you do follow him to Brown? What happens then?” Candice asked.

“If Hughes has Brown and we find him, I intend to take him,” I answered, surprised at the question. Maybe because the answer was obvious to me. I’d accepted that what we had once been, no longer existed. We knew things now that others didn’t. I could do things that apparently no one else could. We were being hunted. The rules had changed.

“What do you mean
take him
? You can’t just walk in and take someone. That’s kidnapping and in case you forgot, it’s illegal.”

“You’re right,” I said, agreeing with her. “Let me correct myself. When we find Brown, I intend to kidnap him.”

The silence was deafening. I waited, letting the idea sink in. We didn’t have a choice really. At least I didn’t. My mind jumped back to what had happened last night and the overwhelming emotions that had rolled over me. I knew deep in my soul it had something to do with what was going on. I’d been over it a dozen times in my head and I kept coming back with the same answer, my gut telling me what my mind refused to accept. It had been Caleb Brown I had felt. His horror and fear. Worse yet, the unending blackness that had followed. Had they killed him? Was he working with them, or had they taken him against his will? I didn’t know. The one thing I did know for sure was that he was involved because of me and if he was still alive, I had to get him back.

TWENTY-NINE

TWO HOURS LATER, I was back up on the mountain, binoculars trained on the facility. Lying in the bushes, I was cold and fighting to keep my teeth from chattering and hold the glasses steady at the same time. Mac was spread out next to me and Bryan had circled around to the south to get a different vantage point. Candice and Mama D were back at the cabin packing up.

I glanced over at Mac, who had been pretty quiet since I’d announced my plan to kidnap Brown. Actually, they had all been pretty quiet. Killing people with your mind might be a legal gray area, but Candice was right. There were laws on the books for kidnapping and the penalties were pretty severe. I was dealing with a lawyer and a cop. Some things were going to be tough for them to agree to.

“You know there’s a good chance he might already be dead, if what you felt last night was any indication,” Mac whispered to me now, keeping his eyes trained on the compound below. “Or we could be wrong and Hughes isn’t the guy. Or what if he is the guy and he doesn’t lead us to Brown? Have you thought of that?”

I had to strain to hear him and wished I hadn’t. He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. A lot could go wrong and probably would.
 

“If you have a better plan I’d love to hear it,” I hissed back, his last words echoing down my spine in a series of shivers that had nothing to do with the cold. He blew out a long breath in frustration, which I took as a ‘no’, and I pulled the binoculars back up, training them on the main lodge.
 

There were a number of rooms on the second floor of the main building with lights on. According to Mac, these were the client rooms, with the Handlers in the East wing and the Trainers having quarters on the right. A smattering of lights in the lodge flicked on and off verifying there were people inside and they were moving about freely. I had a good view of a large room on the main floor where a card game was in progress, people laughing and drinking.

Relief surged through me. I’d been afraid that Hughes, or who ever he was working for, had taken over the facility and was holding the Clients inside. My, how the the mind runs amok when you’re bordering on the edge of insanity.

We’d been near the airport in Denver when I’d picked up on what I assumed to be Caleb Brown. It was a logical place to keep him. Whether Hughes was in charge of security or not, there was no way everyone at the Agency was in on it and he would never be able to keep Brown on site there. Near the airport he would have his choice of warehouses and storage facilities to keep Brown stashed away in, while he waited to locate me. A private jet, a night departure and he’d be gone with no one the wiser.

But I wasn’t sure. It was all conjecture and no matter what Mac told me, I just wasn’t ready to risk everything on my ‘gut’ feeling. It was too soon for me to trust it completely.
 

Apparently it was business as usual at the Agency, at least from what we could tell. Mac grunted and gestured toward the outbuilding that Hughes had gone into earlier and I swung my glasses around just in time to see a black Hummer roll to a stop in front of it. The door opened and Hughes climbed out of the driver’s side, tossing the keys to the man who had come out to meet him. He’d been somewhere and I was willing to bet he’d been with Brown.
 

“Can you make out the plate?” I asked as the Hummer pulled away, keeping my glasses trained on Hughes.

“No. Wrong angle.”

We watched as two men came out of the building and stopped to talk to Hughes. Suddenly, he turned, and seemed to look right at me. I froze, fighting the instinct to run. I knew he couldn’t see us at that distance, but something had spooked him. Had he felt us? Did he have some abilities?