Brain Storm (A Taylor Morrison Novel Book 1) (44 page)

“You don’t?” Now I was the one that looked puzzled. In both my scenarios, the bad guys were after me. Hughes had apparently come up with something else. I could hardly wait to hear it.

“No. I think this was a robbery, plain and simple and Dr. Brown got in their way.”
 

Okay, that came out of nowhere. I suppose, now that I thought about it, it was possible. I thought Hughes would jump to the conclusion that Brown had double crossed him, because I had already made that assumption. After all, our good Dr. Brown was prowling around the house on his own when all he had to do was make a simple phone call for help. No, Brown had been up to something, something that didn’t involve Hughes, but for whatever reason Hughes wasn’t seeing it. Or maybe he was and didn’t want anyone else to know. What a tangled web we weave.

“Dr. Brown probably thought the same thing you did. That they were the same men who’d taken him and he stepped in to protect you from them. It’s my guess that when they realized you’d gotten away, they panicked and torched the house to try and cover up what had happened.”

“You think this was a robbery gone bad?” Connors asked.

“I do. It’s fairly common up here in the mountains, but we’ll know more, once my men have had time to gather some evidence. In the meantime, Taylor is still in substantial danger. There’s no doubt, someone is after her, and we need to take precautions to make sure they don’t succeed. I’d like to place a guard on her, around the clock.”

“You think that’s necessary? The Agency is well protected. If this was a robbery, then they don’t know that she’s here. Surely she’s safe enough.”

“There’s still the fact that someone here is selling information, Dr. Connors. Until we know who it is, she’s no more safe inside the Agency than she was outside it. I’d rather err on the side of caution.”

“Alright, Hughes. I trust your judgement. Why don’t you go get things started and I’ll meet up with you in a bit to go over things.”

Hughes hesitated a second, obviously not happy about being dismissed, but he finally went. The mood lightened dramatically with his exit and I breathed a sigh of relief. Any evidence they came up with would support Hughes’ theory about it being a robbery. Robbers used shotguns after all and I didn’t care what they thought as long as it bought me some time. Or it would as long as I’d done my job right and gotten all traces of Mama D, Candice and Bryan out of the house before I torched it. I needed Hughes to believe them to be well gone and that Mac and I were the only ones he had to deal with.

“You must be very tired after that.” I jerked my eyes open to see Dr. Connors standing by my bedside, a small smile playing over his face. “Hughes can be ... quite exhausting.”
 

“Actually, I’m more hungry than anything. Don’t you feed the inmates?”
 

I heard Jenny chuckle behind me and realized she was removing me from the monitors. Or them from me. I wasn’t sure which, but it felt good to be rid of them.

“You’ve missed breakfast service, I’m afraid. Might I suggest, if you’re feeling up to it, that you join me in the lodge restaurant. Perhaps, I can take you on a tour of the Agency afterwards. Maybe answer some of your questions.”

“I’m hardly dressed for a date, Dr. Connors. I may be starving, but I have no intention of wondering around with my backside exposed.”

He laughed and handed me a bag that I hadn’t seen him bring in.
 

“I foresaw this as a problem and came prepared. I think you’ll find what you need in here. I’ll wait for you outside in the hall.”
 

Connors had managed to find a sweat suit that was close to the right size. There was a pair of socks, but no undergarments. I didn’t really care. Anything was better than the hospital gown. Jenny stayed while I got dressed, waiting to cut the id bracelet off my arm before letting me out of the room.

“Hughes will give you a different one later on,” she informed me. “He likes to know where the Clients are while they’re here and he’ll particularly want to know where you are. For now, you’re off the radar, so don’t get lost. We won’t have any idea where to look for you.”

I jerked my head around to look at her, wondering if she had warned me on purpose or was just chatty. Either way, I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being leashed by Hughes. Irritated, I shoved my feet into the slippers that the hospital had provided and tossed the hospital gown into the trash.
 

“Thanks for the warning. I’ll be sure and stay with Dr. Connors.” She nodded and led me outside the room to where Connors was waiting for me. We made our way through the hallways and into the elevator, Connors delivering a running commentary on the medical facilities and the work they did there. Clients who exhibited any kind of healing ability were brought there to test experimental treatments utilizing their abilities in addition to traditional medicine.

“Is that what Jenny meant, when she said they prefer the term Healer? That she isn’t a doctor?”

“Jenny is a doctor and a very good one at that, but she also has the power of healing. The ability to sense a problem and be able to direct her energy to it. There are others with similar powers, but not many, making it a limited resource. What they can do, though, has opened doors that otherwise would have stayed closed. What we’re doing here is learning to involve the mind in the healing process. We’ve had some fascinating results.”
 

The doors opened and we stepped into the foyer, which was flooded with sunlight. I wished the bag he’d given me had contained some good sun glasses.

“Yes, it’s always a little hard on your eyes when you first come up,” he said, when I flinched from the light. “No matter how much light we provide down below, there’s just no substitute for the real thing.”
 

He held the door open for me and I moved through into the fresh mountain air. He pointed the way to the lodge and we headed off down the path.

“Jenny mentioned that Hughes tracks the Clients. Any particular reason why?” I asked, still wondering how I was going to get out of that one.
 

“It’s not always easy to adjust to having the kind of abilities we work with here, Taylor. We try to bring Clients in as soon as their power start to manifest, but even then, it can easily become an emotional upheaval that is difficult to accept. Hughes feels it’s in their best interest to observe them, even if it’s from a distance. Just to ensure their safety.” He turned to look at me. “I’m sure you can understand that.”

My mind flashed back to the lives I had changed, the men I had killed, and I could understand all too well. I nodded and he gave me a sad smile.
 

“At least that’s what he claims, but after the story I heard this morning, I’m not so sure.”He stopped just outside the lodge and stood quietly, looking out over the grounds. “Taylor, is Hughes involved in this?”
 

“Are you involved in this?” I asked back, even though I was fairly certain he wasn’t.

“No. At least I hope not.” I stopped walking and looked down at him. I’m 5‘7” and Connors barely came past my chin. In the sunlight, his hair sparkled with shots of vibrant red. His green eyes were still startling, but now I could make out the fine lines etched around them. When I’d first met him, I’d pegged him to be in his 30’s. Young to hold such a high position, but stranger things had happened. Now, I wasn’t sure. He spoke like someone older, carried himself differently. “Taylor, I thought you were dead until you phoned last night. Hearing your story today, learning that the Agency is somehow complicit in this astounds me. As the Director, I am ultimately responsible. I need to know if you think Hughes is involved in this.”

I hesitated, unsure whether to trust him. Fact of the matter was, Mac was out of commission and I was on my own in here, unlike Hughes, who had heaven only knows how many people working for him. I needed to even the odds. At the very least, I needed someone to make sure Hughes didn’t get to Mac. Connors would be a powerful ally. Or a powerful enemy. I need to make a decision though, and now. Time was short and I might not get another chance. I decided to just go with my gut. It hadn’t failed me yet.

“No, Dr. Connors, I don’t
think
he’s involved. I know it for a fact.” I watched his face closely when I told him, looking for any sign that I was wrong to trust him, but he took it like I’d hoped he would. He was shaken, but the flash of anger in his eyes was unmistakable. “Marcus Adams worked for him and so did Dr. Brown.”

I watched amazed as his body suddenly seemed to shimmer in front of me. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths as energy poured off him like heat off a desert highway. I’d never seen anything like it and I took a step back, putting some distance between us.

The shimmering stopped as fast as it started. He had it under control in seconds, but it had been an impressive display while it lasted. His eyes popped open and he looked over at me, a look of confusion on his face, I assumed because of the look on mine.

“Ah. You can see that, can you?” I nodded. He stepped over to me and motioned me up the stairs to the lodge entrance. “You felt it last night when I helped you out of the ambulance. That surprised me. You’re only the second person I’ve come across that can. ”

“Does Hughes know?”
 

“No. He doesn’t. No one else knows. Except Jenny.”

Jenny, the Healer. I wondered how much else she knew and if she could be trusted.
 

“How do you hold that much energy without burning out?” I asked, feeling the pulse of energy on my back as his hand guided me through the door into the lodge.

“I was born to it, Taylor. Just as you were born to yours.”
 

THIRTY-EIGHT

THE LODGE WAS
everything a luxury mountain hideaway should be. Everything in it was large, from the massive roof beams to the enormous fieldstone fireplace. Just like the medical facilities, no expense had been spared. The floor to ceiling windows flanking the fireplace opened out to a stunning vista of the mountains.

The dining room was all but empty by the time we arrived. If there were any Clients in house, they’d already eaten and gone. We had our choice of tables and I took one where I could see anyone coming in from the lobby. The last thing I wanted was Hughes sneaking up on me.

“Taylor,” Connors began, when the waitress had taken our order.

“How many clients do you have here,” I asked quickly, cutting him off before he could continue. He looked at me in question and I gave him a pointed look, which he thankfully interpreted correctly. I was pretty sure that if Hughes was tracking the Clients, he’d have bugged the place too, especially the dining room. I needed to watch what I said, but there were some questions that I was sure would alert him more by their absence than by me actually asking them. Besides, they were things I was going to need to know for later.

“It varies,” he replied slowly, the reality of the situation dawning on him. “but it’s never very many. A handful at most. The majority of people with the potential for special abilities never even realize they have them. It’s the rare individual that senses there’s something more going on. Rarer still to find someone like you.”

“Lucky me,” I said, not feeling lucky at all. I watched as the waitress sat a huge mug down in front of me and began pouring the coffee. Maybe a shot of caffeine would help.“How do you find the Clients?”

“Believe it or not, we find most of them through the internet. Odd things start happening, things that can’t be explained. People notice and they start looking for answers. We monitor a variety of websites and forums. We even host a number of sites, forums and blogs. Social media is a great resource for finding people. As you well know, as an investigator, there’s not much people won’t chat about if someone will listen. We listen and once in a while, we find someone that interests us.”

I reached out and grabbed the waitress’s arm as she turned to go, indicating that she should leave the pot on the table, fairly sure I was going to need more coffee.
A lot more
. Connors was right. I’d searched the internet for answers, but not until after the incident with Marcus and according to Mac, he’d been in place long before that. Connors might get most of his Clients via the internet, but that’s not how he found me.

“What about the Watchers? Sean said there were others like him, but surely there aren’t that many. When do they come into play?”

“That’s something entirely different,” Connors explained, watching me closely. “Not everyone has a Watcher. They’re only used when there is someone that we feel certain has abilities, but they haven’t come out yet.”

Someone we feel certain has abilities?
How would they know? What was going on here? Mac may have been in place for seven years, but they’d put him there. They’d been watching me long before that. Gee, that wasn’t ominous at all. I looked at Connors, the question in my eyes.

“The Agency has been around for a long time,” he said, fiddling with his cup. “Not in it’s current form, of course, but the idea, the concept, has existed for decades. I’ve only been the Director here for 5 years, and you were already on the radar when I arrived. According to your file, both your parents were gifted with abilities. I have to assume that somehow they were involved, at least for a time, with the Agency, but I haven’t been able to find any information on them other than that mention in your file. A child from two gifted people was bound to peak their interest. I’d think it would be safe to say that they’ve had eyes on you since birth.”