Chills & Thrills: Three Novel Box Set (10 page)

At that moment she was worried about her new friend—the one who she really hoped was on her way to save her. The other audial—Kylie.

Hope had “heard” Orlenda talking to that other woman, Echidna, which through her schooling she knew meant in Greek mythology that it was half woman half snake, known as the “Mother of All Monsters” because most of the monsters in Greek myth were mothered by her. Hope hadn’t seen this woman yet, and she wasn’t too sure the woman was even in the house, mansion—wherever they were. Orlenda could have been speaking to her on the phone. That was Hope’s sense anyway. But what she had learned was that Kylie was with a man and whoever this man was, he was married to the woman Orlenda had been speaking with. This possibly meant a few things. The first was that the man with Kylie was bad. The second possibility was that the man and Kylie were both bad and either lying to Hope about coming to save her, or planning on “saving” her only for their own purposes, which could be the same reason that Orlenda had her kidnapped in the first place.

All of this was a lot to think about, but Hope knew that she had to think about it because she was in some real trouble here no matter what those answers were.

She had to find another alliance to work with at the moment. It couldn’t be the tiger moth because she only used it to get through certain blocked spaces because of its size.

She couldn’t use the hawk. He was too much of a wild animal for what she needed in this moment.

She closed her eyes and began her breathing. She needed an alliance who was quick, but not completely wild, so she couldn’t use a cheetah even though she loved the cheetah energy. She needed something more tame and loyal. The dog came to mind, but a dog wasn’t fast enough for this.

She needed a quick alliance because she knew that with Kylie coming for her, it would be done quickly, and whether or not Kylie was who she said that she was, Hope knew it was a chance for her to get away.

A horse. That was what she needed. She would use the horse alliance to again try to reach Kylie.

Her breath slowed and she sensed, then saw the horse. It was a beautiful black horse, just like the horses in the movies. She had to focus on his energy and not his beauty because that could get her into some trouble and allow her message to either not be received or not understood.

She focused on his energy of being in tune, of being wary of predators, but being willing to take direction. As she did so, she sent her message to Kylie:
Orlenda knows you’re coming. You’re being watched by someone who knows the man you’re with.

Hope didn’t receive a reply and her stomach twisted. She could only pray that the woman who she thought could be a friend and a savior heard what she’d
said
.

Chapter Twenty

Ayden appeared around the curtain.

He looked from me, then to Noah, then to Noah’s hand on my hand. Noah calmly lifted it. I pulled my hand back, still too shocked to care what Ayden thought. My sister? Surely Noah was mistaken...

But Noah almost certainly wouldn’t have mentioned it unless he was sure of what he saw. We all have hits that we keep to ourselves, hits that are fuzzy enough that we keep our mouths shut. Noah wouldn’t have said anything...not unless he was sure.

“Everything okay in here?” asked Ayden. “Something I should know?”

I considered not telling Ayden, but that’s the thing with working with psychics, yes, we all have our specialties, but we’re all excellent at reading everything from aura to body language, to getting a general feel for anyone.

“Noah thinks the girl, Hope, is my sister.”

Ayden turned to him. “You think, or you know?”

Noah looked at him, unphased by Ayden’s challenge. We all challenged each other every day. It’s how we kept on our toes, stayed sharp...and stayed alive.

Noah nodded once. “I know, as much as I can know.”

That was of course, good enough for us. I couldn’t recall the last time Noah was wrong when he was sure. For that matter, same with Ayden. My skill sets were different. I could literally listen to others’ conversation long distance. Hard to screw that up, unless I missed a word, or unless there was background noise. I was good, yes, but I couldn’t mute a TV in the background, or, say, a loud coffee shop.

“So what does that mean?” asked Ayden.

“We don’t know yet,” said Noah. “That’s pretty much where you walked in.”

“Well, let’s shelve it for now,” I said. Truth was, I was too shaken to wrap my brain around the information. But there was something bigger than just my family tree going on here, and I think we all felt it. I looked at Ayden. “You came in here to tell us something.”

“How did you—never mind. Stupid question. I just heard from my Moroccan contact. I had him sniff around for us, once we knew where we were headed.”

“And?”

“He says he’s got something. For a price, of course.”

“Of course,” I said. We often used personal and professional contacts around the world. If they were a government agent, we generally didn’t pay for the exchange of information. Private foot soldiers were different. A little cash went a long way. The PSI had funds for such occasions, as did other governmental agencies.

“He’s going to put us into contact with a scientist who knows something.”

“Knows what?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “but, according to my contact, two other scientists working on the same project have turned up dead. He’s been in hiding since.”

“Then why speak to us?”

“Because his price is to get him out of Morocco alive, and as far away from Orlenda as possible.”

“If this guy is there then at least we know we are right about where they are. What did you say to your contact?” I asked.

“I told him to tell him we would do what we could.”

I nodded. I looked at Noah. “Good, so this is our first step, then?”

Noah nodded and looked down at his hand. “Yeah, I would say so.”

“Good,” said Ayden, as we felt the motor throttle back as the plane began its descent. “Because we’re about to land.”

Chapter Twenty-one

I was to make the exchange.

That was the first matter of business. My main concern was getting to Hope before Orlenda discovered that we were on the way. I did have that fear in the back of my mind, but if this scientist that we were supposed to contact had some further insight into why this child had been taken, and where she might be located, then we had to take the risk of spending an extra hour gaining information.

A dark van was waiting on the tarmac when we landed. The driver had already been given the directions via Ayden as we came in for a landing. He had been hired privately and someone Ayden had used before. We’d made this decision rather quickly out of need. At this point I think we really only trusted each other. We’d all come to the agreement that Simms involvement with Hope and her
mother
was not just about getting the kid safely back home. Like anyone who seemed to know about this little girl, I was afraid that ulterior motives and forces were at work.

Ayden sat up front with the driver. A large envelope was handed back to me. I knew it had the cash in there, a new identity, and anything else he might need to get out alive.

I could feel Noah’s eyes on me as I thumbed through the contents of the envelope. “What?” I finally asked without looking up.

“Are you okay? I mean, finding out that this kid might be your sister...”

“I’m fine,” I interrupted before he could finish. To be honest, at that moment, I didn’t know if I was fine or not. Yes, knowing she could be my sister did compound some of the emotions swirling inside my brain and heart. Mostly, I knew that we had to get to Hope before Orlenda destroyed the girl in one way or another. Even if the monster of a woman kept Hope alive, she would take the girl’s mind and soul. That was what she did. She destroyed people for her own gain, and the gain to Orlenda came down to what her diabolical mind considered a goal to benefit human kind, which was the biggest joke there was. To her, that meant running the world. She had a Christ-like complex, although she was far from religious. In many ways she reminded me of Hitler, in search of a perfect race. The constant question banging inside my head was this: what did she want with Hope? Sure, the kid was an audial. I got that, and an audial can do many things for someone who desires power. However, I knew that even with the gift of being an audial psychic, I myself was limited without a team of psychics around me, a team that possessed gifts that I didn’t have. As a team, we could paint complete pictures. As an individual, we painted with one color only.

Plus, Hope was still a child with a lot to learn and process about her gift. There was a much larger picture that I suspected was about to unfold.

And, within the hour, I had discovered that I was right about that deeper reason for Hope’s abduction by Orlenda, and the bigger picture. The thing was, I was having a hard time comprehending it because it was so big, and to me untouchable, that getting my brain wrapped around it was going to take some time. Time that, according to Dr. Graves, who was the scientist now with a wad full of cash in his wallet, a new identity, and a reason to fear for his life, had impressed upon the team. We had to get Hope out of Orlenda’s hands, and not only that, we also had to keep the child away from Grant Simms.

Our mission had rapidly changed from a direct order from Simms, to one in which the team was about to go completely rogue.

Chapter Twenty-two

The team had been driven to a dock and led onto an older sailboat.

Dr. Graves was seated at a table in the galley. I didn’t know the man at all, but I was guessing that he looked older than he was, and he also was lacking sleep and nutrition. The man was scared. His dark hair was silvering throughout and he had a five o’clock shadow covering his drawn face. His dark eyes appeared not only frightened but also pained.

I have to admit that at first I found the doctor to be crazed, but then my second set of “ears,” told me that he was not completely insane, although I think he may have been being driven there. I hoped we were getting him out in time.

Noah kept guard outside the boat with the driver while Ayden and I went down inside.

“Dr. Graves, I’m Kylie Cain and this is my associate Ayden Connors.” I slid into the booth next to a sink and small oven. Ayden remained standing for a few minutes. This was typically how we played things. Allowing the “softer” sex to move in closely, while Ayden remained a physical deterrent.

“Do you have my money?” he asked in a near whisper.

Ayden tossed me the package and Graves started to grab at it. I pulled it away from him. “Wait a minute. Not so fast. You supposedly have information for us. This is a two way street, my friend.”

He sighed. “How do I know you’ve brought me what I require?” He looked up at Ayden.

“It’s all there. New identity, the cash, details on where you’ll be living and what you’ll be doing. You do understand that there can be no contact with anyone from your former life? If we are to protect you, it has to be this way.”

He looked away. “I don’t have anyone anyway. Orlenda had my fiancé killed. My parents are long gone, and I have a brother in the States who would probably prefer that I disappear.”

I swallowed hard. “What do you mean that Orlenda had your fiancé murdered?”

“I can’t prove it, of course, but she did. Heidi drowned but that would have never happened. She was a competitive swimmer. I don’t want to go into the details, but trust me: I got the message loud and clear that Orlenda Kobach owned me and she was willing to destroy anything or anyone I am associated with, and there is one person out there I still love and want to see alive, hopefully, someday.”

“Who is that?” Ayden asked.

“My son. He’s twelve. Lives with his mom and step-dad, so he has a good life. I mean he will have a good life without me.”

Tears welled in Graves’ eyes, and my stomach sank. I didn’t have a child, but I had lost a parent and I am sure they aren’t the same, but deep loss is exactly what it is—deep loss, and this man was going to be losing his child.

“I just want him safe, so I know what I have to do.” He shook his head.

Ayden moved in closer.

Graves said, “This is all about the girl and what she’s capable of.”

“Hope Mitchell?”

“What is she capable of?” I asked.

“I know that you’re aware that this girl is an audial...”

“We are,” Ayden said, combing his hand through his dark waves.

“Have you ever heard of the concept of parallel worlds, or multiple universes?” He looked from Ayden back to me.

Ayden shrugged. “Sure. I’ve heard of them.”

“Yeah. In science fiction,” I muttered.

Ayden frowned at me.