Brute Justice (Justice Series) (11 page)

Chapter Twenty-one

Sam and Leesha were at the kitchen table when Clint knocked and walked right in.

“Hey, man.”

“Hi, Clint.”

His response was almost a grunt as he handed Leesha a piece of paper and plopped down in the chair.

I’ll pretend not to notice the glance she shot at him. I know they’re talking about me.

“I’m sorry Clint,” Leesha reached over and touched his arm. “They’ll be back soon.”

“What time?”

“9:30 last night,” Leesha answered Sam, then turned to compare this new log to his older ones. “Seriously Clint, you’re really making progress.”

Progress! Right.

He sat there in silence listening to the other two make plans for contacting Sara.

“So the question of the hour is whether or not Sara is working with him,” Leesha said. “We know she knew Carl Blevins, but we need to find out if she knows Donald Crain.”

“She moved from
Birmingham
to
St. Louis
to be with him,” Sam said. “You don’t think she knew what – or who – she was moving here for?”

“I don’t know, Sam. But Charlie never mentioned he had a new identity. He could be hiding this from her, too.”

“Hmm… Valid point.” Sam agreed. “What about this? Now that we know where Crain is at all times, let’s find a time when Sara is home alone. I’ll dress up as a messenger and deliver a package to Dr. Crain.”

“If she takes it –”

“We know she’s aware of his identity change. If she doesn’t know who we’re asking for, she’ll just say I must have the wrong address. I turn around and leave. No harm, no foul.”

“If she doesn’t know who Dr. Crain is, that could mean she has no idea of what he’s doing.”

Sam smiled. “Exactly. My guess is, as secretive as he is, she doesn’t have a clue. I mean, think about it. If they’ve been together this long, why does he still have his own apartment? I have to think he’s keeping a separate life, to some extent, for a reason.”

“We could always put a tracking device on her car,” Clint said, breaking his sullen silence. “That would at least tell us if she’s spending any time at his home or office before the weekend rolls around.”

“That might work,” Sam said. “It would at least indicate how much he allows her into his life.”

“Do you want to drive over real quick and see if her car is there? Hey, where’s Lexi?”

“It took you that long to ask?” Leesha grinned. “Welcome back. I’m glad to see you’re snapping out of your funk.”

“Shut up.”

“She’s at cheer practice,” Sam answered, looking up at the clock. “She’ll be back in a few. We can take her car once she gets home.”

Cheer practice? How did I not know she’s a cheerleader? I think I’ll start watching high school sports again.

Sam kicked his shin under the table. Clint just grinned.

Five minutes later, Lexi burst into the side door in a frenzy of energy. “Sorry I’m late, guys. What’s the plan?”

“We’re heading over to Sara’s house right now to put a GPS tracker on her car,” Leesha said. “We’ll watch her activity this week to see if she spends any time at either of Crain’s places.”

“We’re trying to see if she’s a part of Crain’s life – his life with his new identity,” Sam added. “If we don’t know anything by this weekend, we’ll try to make contact directly with her.”

“Wasn’t Crain supposed to go real estate shopping this week?” Lexi asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Because, Sam, if he’s making major decisions like this –”

“It would make sense to include her in the shopping,” Leesha finished her sentence. “Of course!”

“So do you think they’re shopping for houses together?”

“We’ll know for sure this week,” Leesha turned to Sam to answer. “If there’s no logical connection between Sara and Crain, we’ll move on to plan B.”

“What’s plan B?”

Sam looked at Lexi. “We go and talk to her.”

The room got silent again.

Great. They’re talking about me again. I’m sure Sam’s telling Lexi I’m down again. Fantastic.

Lexi tossed her keys to Sam. “Okay, let’s do this!”

“Clint, do you have your GPS kit?” Sam asked, catching the keys.

“I don’t travel without it anymore. I’ll grab it from my bike.”

By the time he had gotten the small case from his bike, Clint turned around to see Sam moving the driver’s seat of the bug forward to help Leesha into the back seat. Lexi was headed toward the passenger door.

Just looking at her hurts today.

She reached to open the door and his long arm grabbed it from her. He reached down to pop the seat forward and as Clint stepped back to let her by, Lexi turned and put her palm against his chest.

I know that should feel comforting, like when Leesha patted me. But with Lexi, it feels different.

Her green eyes met his, filled with more compassion than words could express. “Hang in there,” she whispered, then turned to join Leesha in the backseat.

“Wipe that stupid grin off your face,” Sam projected to Clint as he shut the door.

His smile only got bigger as he snapped his seat belt in place.

The neighborhood was lively as they pulled in. It was before four o’clock, so there was no work traffic yet, but the season’s first heavy snow had bundled kids outside enjoying the flurry.

Sam drove slowly by Sara’s house. “Jackpot! She’s home, and she’s alone. I see one car in the garage, so that makes it less complicated.”

“Clint, give me a device,” Lexi reached around the seat, hand upturned. “I’ll slip in and out in no time. Passenger front wheel well, right?”

“Uh, yes,” but he didn’t immediately hand the black button to her. The guys shot each other knowing glances.

Sam turned around. “Lexi, I don’t want you going alone. Leesha, can you go with her?”

“Sure.”

“Sam, I’ll be fine. No one will see me.”

“Listen, the snow is going to make things a little more difficult. People may not be able to see you, but you’re more than likely going to leave footprints. The way it’s coming down, I don’t think they’ll stick long, but if someone notices your movement, I want you protected.”

I wish I could be the one to protect her.

“I’ll keep an eye and ear on you the whole time,” Sam said, parking the car in front of an empty house with a realtor’s sale sign in the yard. “Keep talking to me, and I’ll let you know if I see anything you need to steer clear of.”

“Okay,” they said in unison.

“Get in and out as quickly as you can.”

Lexi grabbed Leesha’s hand and they instantly disappeared from sight. Clint jumped when he felt Lexi’s fingers trace lightly across his cheek, then reach down and grab the button. There was the brushing whisper of them sliding across the seats to exit the car, through the bug’s metal wall.

No door slams. No motion. Other than the fact our car is sitting here in front of a house for sale, we really aren’t attracting any attention.

The car sat two houses away from Sara’s, and the boys watched as two sets of footprints made their way quickly across the front lawns. Kids were running and playing everywhere as the snow fell, so the new tracks would soon be trampled over.

Ugh. I hate this.

Clint leaned forward and put his forehead against the dash.

“Look, I know you wish you were with her…”

“It’s not just that, Sam. I feel like I’m back to square one. I’m sitting here helpless. There’s nothing I can do! What if something goes wrong? I’m powerless to stop it.”

“Be patient, Clint –”

“Would everyone quit telling me to be patient?! I’m sick of hearing that. And don’t tell me I’m making progress. I’m not making progress today, when it would matter!”

The car was silent for a few seconds.

“Are you done yelling yet?”

“I guess so.”

“Listen, I know you’re angry. I’ve been there. We all have. But trust me, we know from our experiences how this is going to play out for you. You will eventually keep your powers longer and longer, and they will finally stick for good.”

“Okay, whatever.”

“And believe it or not, you ARE helping us, with or without your powers.”

“How?”

“First of all, with your electronics knowledge. We couldn’t be tracking Sara or the doc without your equipment. Plus, I wouldn’t have been able to install the security system to protect my family without you. So, thank you.”

“It’s no problem.”

“And more importantly, your flash logs are giving us more information on what is happening to us. If and when we find others, we’ll be even more prepared to help them understand.”

“Okay.” Clint let out a sigh wrought with frustration.

They got quiet again, focusing on the snow covered yards, waiting to see the retreating footsteps. What they saw instead made both of them sit straight up in their seats. Lexi and Leesha were visible, walking quickly down the street. Lexi’s face was covered in tears.

Chapter Twenty-two

Both boys were instantly out of the car.

“What’s wrong?” Clint asked, concern marking his features.

Leesha popped the seat forward to help Lexi into the back. “She lost her powers,” she said quietly to Clint, knowing Sam could hear her just as well.

“Oh.”
Well, I know how that feels. Wow. I thought she was done.

“When?” Sam asked, swiveling from the driver’s seat as he shut the door behind him.

“Right after we had cleared the garage door.”

“So the device is planted?”

“Yes, Sam,” she scowled at him. “We got the job done.”

“Okay, that’s good. Let’s get her home, then.” Sam glanced back at his sister, who had her forehead against the window, her cheeks still wet with tears.

“Wait!” Clint said to Sam as he started the engine. He turned around to Leesha. “How far away did you get before you appeared?”

“Not far at all. We had literally just stepped through the side door of the garage.”

I wonder what would have happened if she had lost her abilities a split second earlier. As they were passing through something solid…

Clint shuddered. He released the door handle and turned toward the house.

“Where are you going?” Sam asked.

“Meet me over on the next street. We need to get this car out of here before we attract too much attention, but I want to do a quick sweep around the house.”

“Why?”

“He had cameras on Charlie’s house. You don’t think he’s done the same thing here? If he has, we have to find out. We need to know if he can see the two of them outside Sara’s house.”

“Oh. Right.” Sam nodded. “Okay, but be quick. I’m ready to get out of here!”

Nothing else was said. Clint left the group and discreetly walked among the hordes of children throwing snowballs and sledding in the yards. He circled the house and passed through the lot behind to meet the car waiting at the curb.

Yanking the door open, he flipped the passenger seat forward and nodded for Leesha to move to the front. Once he got himself folded into the backseat, he reached for Lexi’s shoulder and she turned to face him. Her head collapsed against his chest and he wrapped his long arms protectively around her.

He caught Sam’s glare in the rear view mirror.

You’ve got bigger things than this to worry about, man. There are cameras at all the doors. If Crain hasn’t already seen them by now, he will soon. You saw how quickly he worked when he saw us in
Arizona
…

The drive back was quiet. Clint knew Sam and Leesha were discussing the new wrinkle the security cameras presented, but he didn’t care to be a part of the planning for now. His mind was on Lexi.

I wish I knew what to do for her.

“I know how you feel, Lexi,” he whispered in her ear.

She wiped her face dry and took a deep breath. “I know. Thanks. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. “Thanks. How much danger did I put us in, if he sees us?”

“First of all, you didn’t do anything… At least not on purpose. Don’t put this on yourself.”

She looked up at Clint, her green eyes blinked with relief and gratitude.

“And secondly, don’t worry about that just yet. We don’t know that he’ll see you. Why would he even suspect we were at Sara’s?”

“I don’t know, but why would he have suspected we were at Charlie’s? And you saw how he reacted to that.”

“True, but he was able to track us then. Our lack of mobility is what tipped him off. He’s not able to do that now. We’re a step ahead of him this time.”

“If he does see us, do you think Sara will be in danger?”

“There’s no way to tell. But she’s not given us any info yet, so why would he be angry at her? Did you two say anything he might have heard through surveillance bugs?”

“No. We were silent the whole time in the garage. Then as soon as we reappeared, we only looked at each other – shocked – and took off for the car.”

“Good.”

“Why is that good?”

“Because you didn’t leave any evidence that we’ve actually made contact with Sara. That she’s working with us.”

“Oh. Okay. But Clint?”

“Yes?”

“If she does get in trouble with him?”

“If she does, and she’s had no part in this, we’ll protect her.”

“Just like Charlie,” Lexi smiled hesitantly.

“Just like Charlie.”

He followed the Volkswagen as it turned out of the middle class neighborhood. His old, beat up pick-up was not showy, so it blended in well with the traffic as he tailed them back to the
Dixon
house. They’d never notice him.

He got a good look at the foursome’s efforts, the way the two girls worked together was impressive, he thought to himself. He wasn’t sure why they appeared as they left the house, but from the look on their faces, it wasn’t intentional. He toyed with the idea of stepping out of the truck to get a closer look, but with all the kids playing in the neighborhood, there were simply too many people around.

“Okay, so I know Sam’s the one with heightened senses, his sister Lexi has invisibility,” he said to himself, tuning his radio to a different rock station. “Leesha can move objects with her mind and Clint can pretty much do anything physical when his strength is in full force.”

He was checking off the facts as he moved through the evening commute. He’d been tailing them long enough to have witnessed all of them as they tested and used their powers.

“And Jade… Lovely Jade,” he grinned, “the persuasive powers on that one! I wish I could have seen her in action in the early days. I’ll bet it would have been interesting to see her use her abilities without knowing she had them. Her mind interests me the most. I wonder how it works.”

Finally he settled on a station which wasn’t running commercials. He switched on his headlights, as nightfall was taking too much of the light to maneuver safely without them. He dropped further back, not wanting to be spotted. He already knew the final destination, but was anxious to get there so he could eavesdrop on the conversation of Sam, Clint, Leesha and Lexi.

“And last but not least, the man formerly known as Carl Blevins is now Donald Crain. Medical
extraordinare
. Experiment machine. He’s been watching the four. The four have been watching him. This much is clear. What isn’t, though, is which side is the good side?”

There was still so much he didn’t know, so much to uncover before he determined his next move. He could only get a small amount of information from the peripheral. Thanks to his flash drive, he was able to gather all of the data from Leesha’s computer one weekend as the group worked, but left quickly after getting what he wanted. He did the same at Crain’s office, once he knew the address from Leesha’s notes.

“I need to spend more time watching each of the players. I have to find out if either side is worth reaching out to. Whose motives are for the better good?” Almost as an afterthought, he muttered: “And whose house were we just at? What were they doing there?”

He shook his head as he turned into the neighborhood he knew housed the
Dixon
residence. Parking in his usual spot, he quietly exited the truck, followed the shadows up to the side door and let himself in.