Brute Justice (Justice Series) (21 page)

“Is everyone ready to go?” Sam asked.

It was Monday morning and time to head over to Jade’s follow-up appointment at Dr. Crain’s clinic. This time, however, the group was larger by two members – Trey and Marcy. They had spent the better part of the previous afternoon going over all the details, including how everyone would communicate since they were now going to be traveling in three separate vehicles. Sam, Leesha and Trey would drive over in Sam’s truck. Jade would ride in Marcy’s car, as if she really were showing up to a doctor’s appointment with her mother. And, against every argument Marcy and Sam could come up with, Lexi and Clint would travel by invisible motorcycle.

Though Sam could hear and project thoughts, Clint felt it was important for every unit to have some form of audible communication, especially while they were in transit. He had two
walkie
talkies for Sam and Marcy’s cars, and rigged the two motorcycle helmets with speakers so everyone could stay in touch. He wanted to leave nothing to chance.

“So we all know our stations,” Leesha ordered. “Trey, you’ll take the bathroom again. Be ready to show a baby on the ultrasound again. I’m betting he’ll want to recheck his figures after he compared the results from the last visit. Lexi, you and Clint stand guard along the back wall, away from any incoming traffic from nurses or other staff. Sam and I will monitor from the truck, just outside the room, wherever you land.”

Marcy’s face was stoic and blanched.

“Mom,” Lexi asked, “are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to, you know…”

“No, I want to. I need to.”

“Remember Mom,” Sam prodded, “your last name is Hensley. Jade’s already filled out her paperwork, and that’s the name he knows. And Jade?”

“Yes.”

“If he starts to prod about the discrepancies in the ultrasound information, try and convince him it must have been a technical error. Use your persuasion, and try to get him to think it through. I’ll capture anything that runs through his head when he does.”

“No problem.”

“All right, guys. Let’s roll.” And on Sam’s command, they all filed out of the house.

A knocking sound on the patient room door alerted them to their first visitor.

“Yes?” Jade answered, expecting to see the nurse come through the door.

It wasn’t the prep nurse, as usual. It was Crain. Clint felt Lexi stiffen next to him, then force herself to relax again.

“Hello, Jade. So nice to see you again,” he said sweetly, but with no smile on his face or in his eyes. “And you must be Jade’s mother?”

“Yes, hello Dr. Crain. Marcy Hensley. Thank you so much for seeing us today.” She reached out and shook his hand.

“Oh, it’s my pleasure, I’m sure.” He nodded curtly. “Jade, how are you feeling? Any morning sickness?”

“No, not really. I’ve been a bit queasy at times, but I think it may just be nerves.”

“That’s not at all unusual for a girl in your predicament.”

Sam, Crain seems to have an unusual edge to his voice today. He wasn’t like this before. Are you picking up on this?

“Yes, but I can’t read anything in his thoughts,” Sam projected back. “He does sound weird, though. Not nearly as warm or understanding as he was last time.”

Dr. Crain motioned for Jade to sit on the examination table, then turned to address Marcy. “How much has Jade shared with you, Mrs. Hensley?”

“Very little, I’m afraid. That’s why I insisted on being here today. I’d like to hear more from you about how far along she is, if the baby is healthy, and what our options are at this point. I want to be as involved in this as I can, now that I’m aware of the situation.”

“That’s good, very good,” Crain’s voice trailed off as he pulled the ultrasound machine next to where he was seated. “I took some preliminary measurements last week, and according to my notes, Jade is almost three months pregnant. That puts her close to the second trimester of the pregnancy. Do you know who the father is, Jade?”

Jade’s eyes opened ever so slightly with shock, not expecting this question. “Uh, yes. It’s my boyfriend, Bruce.”

He made a note in his chart. “And his last name?”

“Shaw,” she answered, then paused. “Why, will you need to see him?”

Crain’s cheeks lifted, but there was no warmth in his eyes. “One step at a time. But at this point, terminating the pregnancy is probably not a viable option. You’ll want to discuss as a family if you want to raise this baby.”

“But she’s so young…” Marcy interjected, right on cue.

“There are other options, such as adoption, Mrs. Hensley. We can discuss all of them, and my office is experienced in all phases of child placement, so we can handle those details for you should you decide it’s the best choice for your family.”

Marcy nodded. “Okay, thank you.”

“But first,” he continued, “I’d like to recheck some of my calculations. I’m not sure my measurements were spot on last time you were in. Jade, do you mind if I take another look?”

“No, sir. That’s fine.”

Clint saw the bathroom door open slightly.

“What was the problem last time, Dr. Crain?” Jade asked in a worried tone. “Do you think something is wrong with the baby?”

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. I just saw some differences in the measurements I logged in your chart and the ones printed out on the computer photos.”

Sam projected quickly to the group: “He just made a snide comment in his head about there actually not being a baby on the printout. He’s skeptical, guys.”

Jade nodded, more at Sam’s comment, though Dr. Crain thought she was following his part of the conversation. “I see. Do you think it could have been a technical glitch?”

“That’s what I’m going to try and find out, Jade,” he answered, grabbing his tube of goo to squeeze on Jade’s exposed stomach. He looked her square in the eyes. “You know, you look really familiar to me. Have we met before?”

“Um, not before last week. Not that I know of.”

“You must just have one of those faces, I guess.” Crain put the white paddle on Jade’s belly and looked toward the monitor. “Yep, there’s the little bean.”

Marcy looked up at the screen and tears instantly filled her eyes. “I can’t believe it.”

Lexi squeezed Clint’s hand in reaction. Neither one of them could see the image which was apparently back on the screen, thanks to Trey’s ability. Crain began clicking buttons, moving the mouse, clicking again, and logging everything into Jade’s chart. After about five minutes of quietly working, he put the paddle back into the cradle and handed Jade a paper towel.

“Okay, I think we’re done, Jade. You can clean yourself up.” He turned to the telephone on the wall. “Excuse me just a second.”

“Sure,” Marcy said.

“Liz,” he said into the receiver, “can you bring me the printouts from the ultrasound please?”

Clint felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

Sam, this can’t be good. Do you have any idea what he’s thinking?

“Guys, from what I can gather from his thoughts, he’s expecting to find blank ultrasound readings again,” Sam told the group. “I can’t read much more than that. He either isn’t thinking much, or he’s blocking his thoughts somehow.”

A nurse in scrubs walked into the room and handed Dr. Crain four black and white printouts.

“Thank you, Liz.” He flipped through each one, studying them intently. “Huh. It’s just like last time…”

“What?” Jade asked. “What’s wrong?”

He handed the printouts to Marcy so she and Jade could review them, then turned to pace the room. He stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “These prints were printed as I was taking measurements, in real time. You’ll see my notes and calculations at the bottom, but you’ll see there is no image of a baby in the uterus. Very odd…”

“Is there something wrong with your printer, perhaps?” Marcy asked.

“I’m not sure…” Crain turned back to the monitor. “Perhaps you’ll allow me to do one more test?”

“Sure,” Jade said. “Whatever will help you.”

“Oh, I’m sure this will help me very much.” He turned the screen back on and punched a new command into the keyboard. The once black and white screen suddenly came to life with vivid colors. “Hmmm. Yep, this confirms my theory.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Marcy said nervously. “I’ve never seen a test like this. And what exactly are you measuring with this?”

Crain walked over to the entrance, but turned toward the bathroom door. He closed it with a resounding clack, and inserted a key into a deadbolt to lock it.

Sam, can you see this?

“No, the monitor is at a bad angle. What’s on the screen? And did he just lock Trey in the bathroom?”

Yep, he’s locked in there. The screen looks like a jumble of rainbow blobs, almost like a weather map that is tracking storms.

Clint never took his eyes off the screen, and finally realized what the image was as Crain made his way back to bedside. One of the colorful patches was mimicking Crain’s movement in the room. He suddenly recognized the fuzzy human forms and counted them. Two on the left side of the screen belonged to him and Lexi. The one in the center – standing – was Marcy. The one laying down was Jade, and the much smaller blob in the very corner was most likely Trey, locked in his cell.

Hell… Sam, it’s a heat sensor radar detector. It’s us on the screen. He knows we’re here.

“So he locked Trey in on purpose?”

Sounds like it to me. Probably to isolate him and his powers. He must know Trey’s the one who has been altering his screen. What are you going to tell the others?

“Hang on, let me think. I don’t want the others to panic just yet.”

Panic? Dude, they all just watched Crain lock Trey in the bathroom. I’m surprise Trey’s not yelling for help right about now.

“I’ll fill him in. Give me a second.”

Crain turned back to Marcy and Jade. “I’m going to need to make a very quick phone call. Will you excuse me for a second?”

“Sure,” Marcy nodded. “Of course.”

“I won’t be long,” he said and turned towards the door. “Oh, and Mrs. Dixon?”

“Yes?” she answered, then froze when she realized her mistake.

His eyes narrowed on her as he stepped back to the computer monitor. He took his finger and circled around the bright red object at the far left of the screen. “I know this one is Lexi. For the sake of her, if no one else in this room, sit tight for a moment. I need to clear up a few things before we discuss anything further.”

And with that, he strode out of the room, and they heard a lock catch in the doorknob of the exam room.

“Sam,” Clint said out loud, knowing he could hear him. “we’ve got to get everyone out of here!”

Clint’s body appeared suddenly. Lexi had let go of him. “Lexi! Where’d you go?”

“
Shhh
,” she replied. “Keep your voice down. People can still hear through these doors!”

“What are you doing?”

She reappeared on the opposite side of the room, with Trey by her side. “Getting him out. We need to all be together – he can stand with us, invisible. It’s better than him being locked alone in the bathroom.”

“Right. Good.” Clint pointed to the door. “Trey, check the knob. Is it really locked?”

He reached for it. “Yes… You mean he’s got us locked in here?”

“Looks like. Sam, I’m going to bust a hole in the back wall, get us out of here before he comes back. I don’t want us to have to go through the office and make a scene, and this is the fastest escape – directly into the parking lot. Be on the lookout-”

“Hang on, Clint…” There was an awkward silence in Sam’s communication. They waited for word back from Sam, but nothing came.

“Sam! We’re coming out!”

“No, Clint. Shut up for a minute. I’m trying to listen.”

“To what?”

“Crain just called Leesha. She’s on the phone with him now.”

“What?!” Marcy finally spoke up. Both she and Jade were now upright and had moved to the back corner with the rest of the group.

“He wants us to come inside, discuss finally working for him. He said he’ll hold you here until we agree to work together with him.”

“He apparently doesn’t understand the magnitude of our powers,” Lexi said. “Sam, I’m bringing Mom out to you. Clint you stay here and keep guard-”

“Lexi, stay put!” Sam barked back. “I can’t argue with you guys and keep track of what he’s doing, and it’s all happening so fast. Let me think a minute.”

Another deafening silence filled the room.

“Okay guys, Leesha told him no. I heard him slam the phone down, and call someone else. He said something about activating plan C, whatever that means. Lexi, you start bringing everyone out one by one…”

Before she could disappear, the door opened and Crain walked in. Once he closed the door again, he pulled a gun out of the back of his pants, conveniently hidden by the oversized lab coat. “You guys don’t need to rush off. Don’t you think it’s about time we all had a face-to-face chat? You’ve been stalking me long enough…”