Hostage (24 page)

EPILOGUE

It wasn’t until considerably later, on the jet heading back to Quantico, that Tony said to Bishop, “You’re not going to tell who you suspected of possibly being behind all this, or at least the start of it, are you?”

“The keyword is
suspected
, Tony.” Since Hollis and DeMarco were near the back of the jet talking, Bishop’s voice was quiet.

“Okay, I get that you might not have proof. But, Boss, if there’s yet another enemy out there, shouldn’t we all know who it is?”

“All I have is a hunch.” Bishop turned his head and gazed out the window of the jet, at the serenity of white clouds. “If and when I have more than that, I’ll share.”

“Will you?”

“Yes.”

For some reason, that bothered Tony. A lot.

“Not exactly usual for you,” he said slowly. “Sharing that sort of info, I mean. I know I asked, but . . .”

“If I’m right,” Bishop said, “he’ll make another move. And sooner rather than later. I think this one just . . . got away from him. Out of his control. Because he didn’t know about the vortex.”

“He planned to use Jacoby because he just wanted the money?”

“Needed it.”

“To come after us?”

Bishop nodded silently.

Slowly, Tony said, “And he’s a strong enough psychic to control another mind? Jacoby’s mind, at least in the beginning?”

“Yes.”

“But who could do that?” When his question was met with silence, Tony tried again. “An old enemy or a new one?”

“Both.”

“How is that possible?”

“I told you, Tony. Some enemies can haunt you. Some enemies can haunt you for a very long time.”

HAVEN OPERATIVE AND SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT AGENT BIOS

CALLIE DAVIS, FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent

Adept:
Telepath.
Also possesses the ability to recognize, shield against, and even repel negative energy.

Appearances:
Hostage

LUTHER BRINKMAN, HAVEN SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR

Job:
Private investigator

Adept:
Clairvoyant
with psychometric abilities

Appearances:
Hostage

JOHN GARRETT, COFOUNDER OF HAVEN

Job:
Oversees the organizational duties of running Haven and makes certain all equipment, information, and assets are ready when his people require them.

Adept:
He is not psychic but possesses a unique understanding of those who are.

Appearances:
Touching Evil
,
Blood Dreams
,
Blood Sins
,
Blood Ties
,
Haven
,
Hostage

MAGGIE GARRETT, COFOUNDER OF HAVEN

Job:
Maggie handles the operatives and investigators who work for Haven, overseeing their training and, even more, monitoring their emotional and psychic welfare, both at base and when they’re in the field.

Adept:
An exceptionally powerful empath/healer, Maggie has the ability to literally absorb into herself the emotional and even physical pain of other people, in a sense speeding up their healing processes and helping them to cope with extreme trauma. The act of doing so requires that she give of herself, give her own energy and strength to the person she’s helping.

Appearances:
Touching Evil
,
Blood Dreams
,
Blood Sins
,
Blood Ties
,
Haven
,
Hostage

NOAH BISHOP, FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Unit Chief, profiler, pilot, sharpshooter, and trained in martial arts

Adept:
An exceptionally powerful touch-telepath, he also shares with his wife a strong precognitive ability, the deep emotional link between them making them, together, far exceed the limits of the scale developed by the FBI to measure psychic talents. Also possesses an “ancillary” ability of enhanced senses (hearing, sight, scent), which he has trained other agents to use as well. Whether present in the flesh or not, Bishop always knows what’s going on with his agents in the field. Always.

Appearances:
Stealing Shadows
,
Hiding in the Shadows
,
Out of the Shadows
,
Touching Evil
,
Whisper of Evil
,
Sense of Evil
,
Hunting Fear
,
Chill of Fear
,
Sleeping with Fear
,
Blood Dreams
,
Blood Sins
,
Blood Ties
,
Haven
,
Hostage

HOLLIS TEMPLETON, FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent, profiler-in-training

Adept:
Medium.
Perhaps because of the extreme trauma of Hollis’s psychic awakening (see
Touching Evil
), her abilities evolve and change much more rapidly than those of many other agents and operatives. Even as she struggles to cope with her mediumistic abilities, each investigation in which she’s involved seems to bring about another “fun new toy” for the agent.

Appearances:
Touching Evil
,
Sense of Evil
,
Blood Dreams
,
Blood Sins
,
Blood Ties
,
Haven
,
Hostage

REESE DEMARCO, FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent, pilot, military-trained sniper; has specialized in the past in deep-cover assignments, some long-term

Adept:
An “open” telepath, he is able to read a wide range of people. He possesses an apparently unique double shield, which sometimes contains the unusually high amount of sheer energy he produces. He also possesses something Bishop has dubbed a “primal ability”: he always knows when a gun is pointed at or near him, or if other imminent danger threatens.

Appearances:
Blood Sins
,
Blood Ties
,
Haven
,
and
Hostage

TONY HARTE, FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent, profiler

Adept:
Telepath. Not especially strong, but able to pick up vibes from people, particularly emotions.

Appearances:
Out of the Shadows
,
Touching Evil
,
Whisper of Evil
,
Sense of Evil
,
Hunting Fear
,
Chill of Fear
,
Blood Dreams
,
Blood Sins
,
Blood Ties
,
Haven
,
Hostage

PSYCHIC TERMS AND ABILITIES

(as classified/defined by Bishop’s team and by Haven)

Adept
:
The general term used to label any functional psychic; the specific ability is much more specialized.

Clairvoyance
:
The ability to know things, to pick up bits of information, seemingly out of thin air.

Dream-projecting
:
The ability to enter another’s dreams.

Dream-walking
:
The ability to invite/draw others into one’s own dreams.

Empath
:
One who experiences the emotions of others, often up to and including physical pain and injuries.

Healing
:
The ability to heal injuries to one’s self or others, often but not always ancillary to mediumistic abilities.

Healing Empathy
:
The ability to not only feel but also heal the pain/injury of another.

Latent
:
The term used to describe unawakened or inactive abilities, as well as to describe a psychic not yet aware of being psychic.

Mediumistic
:
The term used to describe a person who has the ability to communicate with the dead.

Precognition
:
The ability of a person (a seer or precog) to correctly predict future events.

Psychometric
:
The ability to pick up impressions or information from touching objects.

Regenerative
:
The ability to heal one’s own injuries/illnesses, even those considered by medical experts to be lethal or fatal. (A classification unique to one SCU operative and considered separate from a healer’s abilities.)

Spider Sense
:
The ability to enhance one’s normal senses (sight, hearing, smell) through concentration and the focusing of one’s own mental and physical energy.

Telekinesis
:
The ability to move objects with the mind.

Telepathic mind control
:
The ability to influence/control others through mental focus and effort. An extremely rare ability.

Telepathy (touch and non-touch or open)
:
The ability to pick up thoughts from others. Some telepaths only receive, while others have the ability to send thoughts. A few are capable of both, usually due to an emotional connection with the other person.

UNNAMED ABILITIES INCLUDE:

The ability to see into time, to view events in the past, present, and future without being or having been there physically while the events transpired.

The ability to see the aura of another person’s energy field.

The ability to channel energy usefully as a defensive or offensive tool or weapon.

1
Chill of Fear

2
Blood Ties

3
Touching Evil

4
Chill of Fear

5
Sleeping With Fear

6
Whisper of Evil