Designed to Love (31 page)

"Well, there's our motive, but who's behind
it?" Alisha murmurs.

"It could take days to research every single
one of these investors, but I'll start with the CEO's and see what
I can find out," Jason says, taking the list of names from her.

"Claire, do you think with our help we'll
have enough energy to destroy this area?" I ask pointing to the map
streamlined from the computer to a large flat screen TV. She
studies it intently for a few minutes, then looks up at me with
large brown eyes and says, "We need more people."

"Natalie, we need Austin here by tonight.
Does he have a passport?" Alisha asks.

"He's on standby for a flight out of Denver.
If he gets on, he should be here in about six hours," Natalie
replies.

"That makes seven including Claire," Alisha
murmurs.

"Actually eight if we time it when Cat is
out of the bunker," I correct her, trying to be casual about
reminding Alisha that Cat is a Designer, possibly even more
powerful than all of us.

She's tight lipped when she glances up at me
but doesn't challenge the notion.

***

"His name is Zane Harrington," I say,
handing a piece of paper with the name scribbled on it to Jason
who's spent all day trying to come up with what took me five
minutes of conversation with Cat to get.

"You talked to her? What did she have to
say? Did she get any information on where the others may be?"
Alisha grabs my arm as I'm walking into the kitchen, anxious to get
any information on her mother and sister.

"No Ali, but she's in the same house with
this lunatic. He's already hit her once, and if he doesn't kill
her, she might be lucky enough to get some information from him.
I'll let you know if I hear anything," I say, grimly. She
immediately backs off, her eyes flashing with anger, no doubt
already synchronizing with my feelings of rage. She bites her lower
lip and mumbles her happy thought mantra to counter the emotion,
and I inhale deeply trying to suppress my own. The thought of
someone physically touching my wife stimulates the instinctual
animal DNA in me to kill. My intense emotion has a ubiquitous
effect and attracts the attention of Elizabeth, Brandon and Natalie
from different parts of the house.

"Ronan, what's wrong?" Elizabeth asks,
immediately looking at Alisha accusingly.

"Here we go," Alisha mutters, already in
control of the emotion. "Happy thoughts guys... He just had a
conversation with Cat, that's all," she says before mentally cluing
them in on the rest.

"Well, I've got a hit on Zane Harrington,"
Jason announces, entering the kitchen with his laptop and
unknowingly interrupting their mental conversation. He sets it on
the counter and waves us over to take a look at the computer
screen. "He owns a private island in British Columbia, land down in
Texas and guess where he purchased another big chunk of land about
six years ago?" he asks and doesn't wait for an answer before
pointing to a map on his computer. "Right outside of Glasgow,
Montana—less than five miles from the Air Force Base," he says
excitedly.

"And that's not all, the guy and his dad
have made millions off of investments in foreign oil. Once the
Keystone pipeline is in, it will reduce US reliance on foreign oil
by about fifty percent."

"How fast can you have the airplane ready to
go?" I turn to Brandon and ask.

"Ronan, you can't!" Alisha shouts, stepping
between the two of us.

"Ali, did you not hear me say that he hit
her?" I raise my voice to match hers.

"Yeah, well he's hit a lot of people. That
doesn't mean we can go rushing in without a plan and jeopardize
everyone else's safety."

"Whoa, wait a minute—everybody just calm
down. Ali take two," Jason says in a calm, gentle manner, tugging
at her arm to pull her aside. She hesitates for a second, looking
at me before her eyes unexpectedly fill up with tears, trading one
emotion for another.

"Please Ronan. You'll compromise the rest of
them. Let's at least see if we can get them to release someone
after we give them the Keystone pipeline—please!"

"Don't worry Ronan—if she's the Golden GEM,
she's more than capable of handling any situation. You'll see,"
Elizabeth says, trying to alleviate some of my fear.

"Besides, my brother is coming in tonight
and we need to practice for tomorrow," Natalie points out, siding
with team Alisha.

"Yeah buddy, we need to pick up Austin in
about two hours," Brandon says, looking sympathetically at me.

Without even one member of the group on my
side, I am forced to wait it out until at least tomorrow.

***

Austin Nesbeth doesn't look anything like
his sister Natalie. It isn't as if he's a bad looking kid, he just
isn't a standout like her. His unruly copper hair and average shade
of hazel eyes aren't the type of custom cosmetic traits consistent
with what I've come to expect of a Designer baby. However, once
we're outside, and the kid has a chance to show off his athletic
ability, it becomes quite apparent where his parents spent their
money when designing him. His strength, speed, and agility would
probably exceed Brandon's or mine if tested in the lab. I can't
imagine how he manages to temper his talent enough to play college
sports. Grinning ear to ear, he admits he's used to giving less
than fifty percent effort just to avoid any controversy.

"Guess what I learned to do a few days ago?"
he says, turning to Natalie, who's already hinted that her kid
brother is prone to mischief and regards him warily now.

"Watch this," he says. "Don't move."

He folds his arms across his chest and
stares at her without blinking, as we watch with curiosity.

"Austin, what are you doing? Whatever it is
knock it off," Natalie says, fidgeting under his intense gaze.

"Hold still Nat," he whispers.

After about thirty to sixty seconds, he
raises his arm towards her and twists his wrist so his palm is
facing up, slowly inching his hand higher in the air. Natalie's
feet leave the earth, and when she realizes what he's doing, she
stiffens her whole body, clenching her fists tightly by her side,
not moving a single muscle. Austin's eyes follow her as she rises
higher and higher until she is hovering a good six feet off the
ground. Her long auburn hair blows wildly in the wind, and her eyes
are wide with astonishment. She looks like some Greek mythological
creature hovering above us; an observation also shared by Claire
when she breaths "Aura—goddess of the breeze."

Alisha and I slowly look at each other, her
surprised face, mirroring mine. She nods and grins. "Austin, you
have no idea how badly we needed to see that," she praises him.

"You have telekinetic abilities? How did you
figure that one out and why didn't you tell me?" Natalie demands
after she's safely back on the ground.

"Well, I went mountain bike riding and
stopped for lunch. I was sitting on this rock, looking out over the
canyon and noticed a sort of pinkish yellow halo of light being
emitted from the plants. It was like someone flipped a switch in my
brain. One minute everything was normal and the next minute
everything and everyone I looked at had some sort of halo of light.
Man, at first I thought I was losing my mind," he says tossing his
head back and laughing heartedly.

"You're just like me," Claire says proudly,
then proves it to him by picking a small branch up off the ground
and floating it through the air, until it's within her grasp.

"Hey, and people—they're the trippiest of
all. One person's yellow, and another is blue. Some are almost dark
gray or black," Austin says, shaking his head as if he's still
trying to figure that one out.

"It's called color screening, and that's how
you know if someone is good or bad," Claire informs him. "Good
people are yellow—or white if you're a Designer, and bad people are
blue and gray."

"Let's just say that Claire's ability to
color screen has been a valuable asset. Unlike people, color
screenings don't lie," Alisha informs him. I can't be sure about
everyone else but Michael's name immediately comes to mind.

"You know, we just assumed this was a Claire
thing, but maybe this is something that we can all learn. Do you
think you could teach us to see and influence energy fields? "
Elizabeth asks and Austin's face lights up. He looks around the
property and says, "I'm not really sure how I did it, but let's go
some place quiet and give it a shot."

He has an enthusiastic crowd following him
to toward the river, including Claire who instantly sees their
common gift as a reason to bond. I hang back and head inside with
Jason, taking advantage of their distraction to have some time
alone to contact Cat.

***

I lie on my bed with my eyes half closed
waiting and listening for Cat. I have no idea if she would be in a
shielded room for the night or not, but was aching to hear her
voice one last time. I have so many things I need to talk to her
about; her specific abilities and whether or not she can contribute
to the demolition of the Keystone pipeline, Zane Harrington, and
most importantly her safety. I need to know that she is safe from
him, and I want to hear it from her that she has the power to
protect herself. Nothing in my wildest dreams could have prepared
me for the sudden explosion of her terrified screams reverberating
within my entire psyche, and it pulls me to her with the same force
as earth's gravity acting on a skydiver without a parachute. When
it comes to Cataryn, my remote traveling events seem to happen
spontaneously, and without warning. It's as if she has a built-in
mechanism to magnetically attract me to her when she needs me
most.

***

The crack of a whip and the screams of my
wife complete the horrific scene below me as I helplessly witness
the man delivering them, administer a total of five.

"Cat, use your powers!
Use your powers to do something!"
I mentally yell,
trying to get her to focus on using her gifts.

"I can't she
wails,
" slumping against the pole he has her tied to. A
bead of sweat trickles down her forehead and blood begins to seep
through the white blouse she's wearing.

"Yes you can! Focus
Cat,"
I desperately cry, looking around the room for
something she might use as a weapon. Each time the whip snaps
against her skin, I feel it in my chest, like a wrecking ball
clamoring against the chambers of my heart.

"Cat, I'm here with
you. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming for you right now—I
promise,"
I whisper in her mind, as her assailant tosses
the whip on the floor and unties her hands. For a moment, he looks
almost regretful, however that changes when she looks up at him and
says, "You're a monster."

"It's my job to keep you in line, Cataryn.
Don't take it personally," he says, with a calloused British
accent. I get a good look at his face and imprint it in my mind
where it will stay until I personally steal his last breath.

"I'm coming for you and
I will kill him with my own bare hands,"
I vow to
her.

"No Ronan, don't come.
Please don't come. I'll be okay. They'll kill our family, and if I
have to bury mine again, it will hurt far more than
this,"
she pleads as I watch him escort her down into
the basement. Before I can respond, all mental connections are lost
completely when he shoves her through a door and locks it from the
outside.

I break out in a cold sweat almost instantly
drenching my T-shirt, and my breathing pattern changes, resembling
the panting effort of a large cat. Every muscle fiber in my body
feels strongly contracted and ready for action—an expression of my
predator DNA. I have every confidence in the world that I could
find Cat and bring her home tonight and yet she's begging me to
stay away, something that goes entirely against my instinctual
nature to protect her. Never in my life have I felt so helpless—so
completely powerless as I do now.

CAT

Solitary confinement in the cold, pitch
black basement of Zane's home isn't as dark and terrifying to me as
the man who put me here. Both my telepathic and telekinetic
abilities are rendered useless in the steel vault, so I carefully
feel my way to the corner of the room and curl up in a tight ball
allowing the cool, surface of the wall to sooth the burning welts
on my lower back. Five lashes with a whip across my back is what he
deemed appropriate punishment for my offense. All it really did was
strengthen my resolve to keep Claire as far away from him as
possible. The fact that his house contains a room set up for
punishing people is a testimony to his evil nature, and I don't
think it is beneath him to employ the same violent attack on a
six-year-old. Equipped with a whipping post, and some sort of
electric chair, it has all the elements of a modern day torture
chamber and everything I learned from Lawrence about using energy
was forgotten when I was shoved through the door.

Ronan's invisible presence during the
incident was both reassuring and gut-wrenching. On one hand, I was
comforted by the fact that he found me here, but on the other hand,
I knew what his reaction would be, and I was petrified that he
would make a rescue attempt. I am convinced that Zane wouldn't
hesitate to drop a dead body at the doorstep of the Freeman Estate
to punish them, and he had three to spare from my family alone.
After unsuccessful attempts to mentally connect with Ronan, Claire
and Lawrence, I do my best to get comfortable and settle in for
what was going to be a very long night. Reflecting back on the
evening with Zane, I know exactly where things went sour and had I
heeded Lawrence's warning about controlling my emotions, I might be
sleeping in a comfortable bed, and more importantly seeing a
greater concentration of orange around Zane Harrington, the man
Lawrence insists has the potential to be a yellow or white.