Tracker (20 page)

FORTY-ONE

Jones

I heard several vehicles nearby, but I couldn’t be sure it was my backup so I stayed silent. After a couple minutes I heard a familiar female voice yelling to check the holes, and I knew my backup had arrived. Relieved, I began to yell for help. Before too long an officer sent a rope down, and I tied it around my waist. I climbed as they pulled, and eventually I managed to get out of the hole.

Alice was digging desperately at the rubble when I finally got out, and Dan was leading the effort to get the people out of the holes. None of them put up a fight, too dazed by the sudden drop to do more than murmur a protest as they were cuffed and put into the police cars.

“Have they found Jason?” I asked as I made my way over to Dan.

He shook his head and looked me over critically. I was limping and covered head to foot in dirt. “You okay?”

“Sprained ankle,” I replied honestly. “I’ll start searching the woods in case Jason escaped from the shed and is hiding.”

He looked like he wanted to argue, but gave a sigh and nodded. “Take some of your agents with you. Yell if you find him; we have an ambulance standing by.”

I nodded and waved three agents over. “We’re searching the woods. If you see anyone, yell until I join you. If it’s the victim, wait for Detective Farrow or Carstens before you approach him. He’s been through a lot and doesn’t trust new people.”

At the nods of agreement, we moved past the wreckage. I stopped for a moment when I saw Alice kneeling over Mason’s body with her hand over her mouth, nearly sobbing. I imagine she was relieved it wasn’t Jason, since I couldn’t see her wasting tears on Mason. I looked at Mason’s face and shook my head, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. I gave a mental nod to Jason and muttered, “Good job kid.”

Now all we had to do was find him.

I joined the other agents near the edge of the woods, but soon separated and headed further into the cool shade of the woods to check around the fallen trees. I was in there for only a few minutes when I heard movement nearby. Not knowing if it was one of Mason’s men or the kid I was searching for, I stayed silent as I moved carefully toward the noise. What I saw stopped me in my tracks.

Jason was lying on his side and not moving. Turned away from me, I saw there were cuts and bruises criss-crossed all over his back. There were also burn marks from where it looked like they’d put out cigarettes on him. His hands were cuffed and stretched slightly over his head, blood dripping from where the metal had dug into skin. His eyes and mouth were taped shut, making it hard for me to tell if he was conscious. His body was covered in dirt so it was difficult to see what was bruise and what was just caked on filth, but I suspected a good portion of his body was covered in bruises. I took a hesitant step forward and looked closer at his neck, my eyes narrowing when I saw the collar digging into his neck with each breath.

I noticed his hands grabbing weakly at the ground as I stood speechless over him. He made a small noise of frustration or fear that snapped me out of my stupor.

“Jason, I’m Agent Jones with the FBI. Will you let me help you?” I wanted nothing more than to remove the cuffs and tape, but I wasn’t sure how he’d react. I watched his hands as he gripped the soil, and I gave a slight gasp when I saw the dirt move to form words: HELP ME

“All right.” I briefly hesitated at the proof of the powers that until now had just been rumors. I shook myself and continued speaking in an even tone.

“I’m going to yell so everyone knows I found you,” I informed him as I knelt and carefully began removing the duct tape from his mouth.

“HE’S OVER HERE!” I yelled as I finished pulling the tape off his mouth and pulled the cloth out. When Jason licked his lips and swallowed convulsively, I realized his mouth must be extremely dry. He’d jumped as I yelled, my warning obviously not enough to get around his fear.

He again licked at dry, sore lips, and then tried to speak. Only a small croak emerged from his dry throat. Realizing he couldn’t speak, his hand dug into the dirt and it silently formed the word: ALICE

“She’s here,” I told him, aware that this was the oddest form of conversation I’d ever had. “She’s over at the shed.”

Jason tensed, and a few seconds later I heard one of the agents approaching. “It’s okay, Jason. It’s another agent.”

I turned my attention to the agent as she appeared from behind the thick brush and said to her, “Go get the paramedics. He’ll need the stretcher to get out of here. Tell them to bring some water so he can wet his throat.”

I saw her horrified look as she saw Jason. “Go!” I ordered again. She nodded and raced out of the woods to bring back help.

Jason relaxed slightly when she was gone. “I’m going to get the tape off your eyes,” I explained. “It’s going to hurt, so let me know if you want me to stop.”

I carefully pulled the tape off, holding his hair near the root before pulling to avoid pulling the hair out. I hesitated when I got to the part over his eyes, but Jason croaked, “Do it.”

I pulled and winced in sympathy when he gave a hoarse cry of pain as the tape was finally removed. He lay on the ground, eyes closed and breathing heavily.

I gave him a minute before I asked, “Can you get your eyes open?”

He nodded slightly and tried to open them. He started to panic when his eyes failed to open and I put a hand on his shoulder, finding a small spot that wasn’t visibly injured. “Easy, Jason. There’s some tape residue holding them shut.”

His hands moved again and I watched the words NEED TO SEE, appear in the dirt. I sighed in sympathy. “I know, kid. I’ll see what I can do.”

A small smile appeared on Jason’s bruised face, and a minute later Detective Farrow appeared, quickly dropping to her knees in front of Jason as I examined the collar. The cuffs would have to wait until the paramedics determined if it was safe to remove them. The metal had dug in quite a bit, and I didn’t want to cause more damage pulling them out. I felt a quick flash of anger at the dead criminal when I saw the burns at the front of Jason’s neck where the metal prongs dug into his flesh. The freshly formed hand shaped bruises on his neck did nothing to alleviate that anger. I pushed down that rage to take off the collar. It was when I reached to remove it that I turned to Alice and said, “It’s locked!”

FORTY-TWO

Jason

For a moment I thought I was going to be captured again. I hadn’t felt Mason’s footsteps or heard anyone speak since I’d been dragged into the woods. I tried to use my power to protect myself, and groaned in frustration when I realized I didn’t have enough energy left to do more than shift the dirt a tiny bit. I relaxed a little when I heard the man speak. “Jason, I’m Agent Jones with the FBI. Will you let me help you?”

I wondered for a moment why he’d ask when I so clearly needed help, but realized he couldn’t be sure of my reaction if he tried to touch me. Even with permission and the knowledge that he was going to have to make some contact in order to help me,
I
couldn’t even be sure how I’d react. I dug my fingers into the cool soft dirt and made it form words to give my consent for his help.

The tape pulled at my skin painfully, but the agent did his best to remove it with as little pain as possible, so I didn’t hold it against him. He warned me that he was going to yell for help, but I was unable to keep myself from jumping at the outburst of sound. Agent Jones continued removing the tape around my eyes, stopping after getting it unstuck from my hair, so I licked my dry lips and hoarsely ordered, “Do it.” He ripped the tape off my eyes quickly and I was unable to stop the soft cry of pain from escaping.

“Sorry,” he said. I hardly noticed his apology since I noticed some familiar footsteps coming my way. Alice was here. She’d get me back home. I frowned, realizing I still had no idea what had happened to Sam. Alice knelt by me, and I strained to open my eyes, which still felt like they were taped shut. I’d heard Agent Jones say there was residue on them, but I still wanted to see Alice’s face.

Alice was murmuring nonsense to me when Jones’ voice cut in again. “It’s locked,” he said. I felt his hands on my neck near the collar and I tensed, digging my hands into the ground and trying to call on my power.

“Relax, Jason. He’s trying to get the collar off. He’s not going to hurt you,” Alice soothed as she put her hand gently on my shoulder. Even her soft touch, the first kind contact I’d had in what seemed like forever, sent daggers of pain through the abused muscle, but I gritted my teeth and rode it out. For gentle contact, I would suffer through the pain. I didn’t want her to be afraid to touch me, thinking I wouldn’t welcome it, when all I wanted was for someone to be able to hold me and say that everything would be okay.

I strained to see, wanting desperately to get my eyes open. Eventually I managed to crack them open, but they felt sticky and heavy. I saw Alice peering down at me, her brow furrowed in worry. Her features smoothed into a smile when she noticed that I was looking at her.

“You never were very patient,” she said wryly. “As soon as we have some water, we’ll get that sticky stuff off.”

Jones had barely reacted when Alice spoke, and he continued examining the collar. “We may have to search Mason’s body for the key,” he said finally.

That shook me enough that I struggled to sit up, my eyes widening, painfully pulling past the sticky residue.

“His body?!” I exclaimed hoarsely as both Jones and Alice tried to stop my movement.

“Jason, stop moving,” Alice ordered. It was an unnecessary warning, since by that point I was back on my side panting through the waves of pain movement had brought on. “When the shed collapsed, Mason and his bodyguard…”

“Mick,” I interrupted, ignoring the pain in my throat, my eyes closed tightly as the pain continued to wash over me.

“Okay. Mason and Mick got hit hard by the falling debris.” She stopped and I opened my eyes. I looked at my hands, and she followed my gaze to read the message there: TELL ME

“Okay, but remember that none of this is your fault,” she insisted.

I grunted impatiently, and she continued. “Mason was impaled through the chest by a large piece of splintered wood, and Mick’s neck was broken,” she said softly, not meeting my gaze. She obviously thought I’d be upset by the news.

She looked up by my hands for the response, and I concentrated for a moment, little wisps of power releasing to spell out: TOO EASY

“Jason, it’s not your fault,” she repeated, probably thinking I’d meant it was too easy to use my power for destruction. “They’d pushed you to your breaking point…”

I shook my head, cutting her off mid-sentence as the motion drew another sharp pain. I concentrated again, adding to the message as I began to feel footsteps approaching us: TOO EASY THEY DESERVED TO SUFFER

Alice read the message, her face showing concern as she gave a slight gasp of surprise. I quickly erased the words as the paramedics came swooping in.

FORTY-THREE

Alice

Once the paramedics arrived, I couldn’t talk to Jason. He’d had such a look of hatred in his eyes as he’d written out his last message. I had never expected to hear Jason say that someone deserved to suffer, and it scared me that Mason had brought out such violence in my friend.

“Hey.” Jones came up behind me and touched my shoulder. He had been the only other person to see what Jason had written. Most likely I’d never tell Dan for fear that he’d start thinking badly of him. “He’s been through a lot. Give him some time to process everything before you start worrying that he’s changed.”

Considering that we’d just met, Jones was spot-on with his assessment of how I was feeling. His skills at reading people must have helped him quite a bit in his undercover jobs.

I kept my gaze on the paramedics when I replied, “I didn’t realize I was being so transparent. And he has changed. How could he not after what he’s been through?”

Jones was silent for a moment, and I watched as the medics carefully moved Jason onto a stretcher and cleaned his arm so they could insert an IV line. “Sure, he’ll change some,” he agreed. “But he’ll get through this. He has a good friend watching out for him.”

My mouth twitched in a small, quick smile. “Thanks, Jones,” I said.

“My pleasure,” he said, his returning smile holding grimness as he also watched the medics working on Jason. “It’s hard to believe that kid could hold so much power.”

His voice was soft, and I wasn’t sure if he was still talking to me. He was probably just taking the time now to get used to the idea that a human being could have special abilities. It was a lot to process, and it had been thrown at him pretty suddenly.

“You’ve handled it well,” I said, glancing at him. “Not everyone would. It does take a bit of getting used to, but when you get to know him he’s just a good kid.”

The younger of the two paramedics, a young guy with short dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes, came over. “We’re taking him back to the ambulance. Most of his injuries seem superficial, but there are several cuts that will need thorough cleaning before they can be closed. There is some infection setting in on both the cuts and the burns, and his chest, as you can see, is a mess. The sooner we get him out of here, the better.” His blue eyes were solemn as he spoke, showing his level of concern.

“Lead the way,” I said. Jones and I followed as the medics carefully carried the stretcher out of the woods, Jones helping when they had to climb over one of the fallen trees.

When we reached the edge of the woods, I saw that they had moved the ambulance right up to the tree line. “I’m riding with him,” I told Jones. “Let Dan know where I am, and ask him to meet me there when he can.”

Dan was in sight, working at the pile of debris that had been Jason’s prison, with a coroner that had apparently just arrived. If I had my way, I’d tell him myself. However, the way the medics were rushing to the bus made it obvious that if I wanted to ride with them, I’d have to go now.

“Sure,” Jones answered, watching as Jason was loaded into the waiting ambulance.

“Thanks,” I said as I climbed in and sat on the bench along the wall. The young medic was riding in back with us, and the other one—a middle-aged man with graying hair and eyes that were surrounded with laugh lines—climbed into the driver’s seat.

“How are you feeling, Jason?” I asked when the vehicle started moving.

“Tired,” he said. I cringed at the weak, raspy voice. I knew, based on his injuries; that he must have screamed until it was raw.

“Just rest,” I said. “It will take us a while to get to the hospital.”

I noticed, with some surprise, that the stitches where he had been grazed by Mason’s bullet were still in place. There was a fresh bruise on his face and his lower lip was split, but other than that it looked like Mason had left his head alone.

That seemed to be the only part he’d left. Jason’s chest looked like hamburger. Whatever Mason or his men had hit him with had pulled and torn at the flesh like a grinder. His back, arms, and legs were a mess of cuts, bruises, and burns. His kids, and my sister, were going to flip out when they saw him.

It took me a moment to realize that Jason was once again looking at me. “Can’t sleep,” he croaked painfully. “Need the collar off.” He peered up at me, his eyes pleading for me to take it off.

“Let me take a look at it,” I said.

The collar was a thick nylon, and was about an inch and a half wide. The plastic box with the two silver prongs was digging into his neck, and I realized it would have been extremely uncomfortable for him. It would be especially painful with the electrical burns. “I might be able to cut it off,” I said.

When I asked the younger paramedic, he directed me to a drawer that was stocked with several bandage scissors. I picked a pair, hoping it would be sharp enough to cut through the tough material. Jason tensed as the scissors slid under the nylon, the effort pulling the collar tighter against his throat. His eyes were wide and fearful as I cut, getting only a few threads at a time.

I noticed he didn’t appear to be seeing me, even as he looked at me. Instead, his fear turned to terror and I grabbed the edge of the stretcher as the ambulance suddenly skidded to one side. I pulled the scissors loose, and patted Jason on his uninjured cheek. “Jason, you need to stop. Come back, you’re safe,” I said.

The driver cursed as the ground shifted under the speeding ambulance. “JASON! Snap out of it!” I exclaimed, afraid he would cause the ambulance to get into an accident.

“Alice?” He finally blinked up at me, his voice small. I gave a small laugh of relief, and thanked God that Mason was dead or I’d have to kill him for this. The ground stopped moving and the ride smoothed out.

“You know what? I think we’re gonna wait on getting the collar off.”

He smiled; a quick twitch that didn’t reach his haunted eyes. “Sorry,” he rasped softly.

“Don’t worry about it.” I kept my voice gentle. “Just relax as much as possible. We’ll be there soon.” I glanced up at the paramedic who was looking wide-eyed at Jason.

“Did he just… what just happened?” he asked. I saw the driver glance into his rear-view mirror, obviously interested in hearing the answer.

Jason looked at me, his eyes widening as he realized he’d just used his power pretty openly. He started shaking as he stared at me; afraid he’d be treated how Mason had treated him if he was found out. His reaction told me it would be best to play dumb. “I’d guess it was an earthquake,” I said calmly, keeping my eyes on Jason.

“We don’t—” The younger one began to protest, but the driver cut him off.

“They have been happening in places around the country that don’t normally have them,” he said. His tone told me he didn’t buy my explanation for a minute, but he was willing to go along with it for the sake of his patient.

His young partner was about to argue, but he glanced down at Jason and noticed the wild-eyed fearful look on his bruised face, and his argument died. “Right. I guess I heard that too,” he agreed slowly.

“Can he have a little more water?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Just a couple swallows,” he said, handing me a bottle.

Jason looked grateful as he accepted the water. It was awkward with him lying on his side, but with my help, we managed it. His wrists, which had been freed from the cuffs, were bandaged heavily and the cuts from his nails digging into his palms were also bandaged, making it difficult for him to use his hands for anything.

“We’re in town, so I’m going to turn on the sirens,” the driver warned a couple minutes later.

I was happy he’d given the warning as the sirens screamed to life. I leaned back in my seat as the young paramedic prepared Jason for the short transport from ambulance to hospital. The ambulance screeched to a halt at the emergency entrance, and the medics waited while I made sure Jason would be okay to go with them.

“I can’t go with you into your exam,” I told Jason. “But I’ll be right here when you get out, and so will your kids and Hannah. I’m going to call them in a minute. Try to stay calm. The doctors are here to take care of you, so don’t fight them.”

I waited for his nod of agreement before I allowed the two men to take him. It wouldn’t be good for him to suddenly flip out and knock down a wing of the hospital. I watched as they rushed him through the sliding doors, then I climbed out of the ambulance. There was a bench near the door, and I sat down so I could call Jason’s family.