Missing Lynx (25 page)

“This was your choice,” Blaze said.

“That’s right; I always have the choice to go beyond or not.”

“And when you went, you were connecting to different people, and what they experienced is what you experienced?” Blaze continued.

“That’s right. Though the physical damage done to me is a mere shadow of what is happening to the victim.” I nodded.

“You don’t have to connect to people. You can connect to objects. Like when you were searching for Lynda, you asked the car where it was going,” Jack said. “Wouldn’t it be safer to sit and observe through an inanimate object? Like, instead of connecting to Anyushka, maybe you could have been a vase on the shelf?”

“Objects don’t process sensory information. When I asked the car where it was going, my hand was moved on the map tracing the direction – no thoughts or insights were involved. In order for me to understand what’s going on, I need to have sensations and thoughts. Being connected to Anyushka gave me her story, and the way to save her. We never could have guessed any of that. We were after Brennon for extortion, cyber-terrorism, and espionage. Anyushka and Anastasia would never have been discovered.”

I looked at the men’s eyes. They hadn’t softened. They still felt angry with me and my decision. I sighed loudly, a little defeated. “Anyushka will eventually be able to testify. She heard and saw quite a bit. That’s neither here nor there. To answer your question Jack - no, the way I do it, the rules that I have asked you to follow, that’s the best I can do to protect myself.”

“Okay, well what about it coming in from the other direction? Couldn’t you get the information from the attacker instead of the victim? That way you wouldn’t be hurt.” Blaze asked.

“Oh, no. I would much rather face the risks of being a victim than the risks of being in the head of someone like Brennon while he’s committing an act of violence. No. That’s much too dangerous.”

I could tell that my team didn’t understand what I was saying, and I had no good way of explaining the dangers of evil on the other side of the Veil. The seduction of it. How the evil seeped into my cells, sinking sharp talons into me. The few times I connected to evil, it was always a hard fight to extricate myself from its vice like grasp. I remembered the brief brush I had when I saw Brennon’s picture, and it took me to the vault with him, and I shuddered. That feeling was intolerable.

We sat for a minute in silence.

“And you’re okay now?” Gater asked.

I pulled off the covers and stood there in my T-shirt and pink cotton panties. I lifted my shirt to expose my belly. I showed them my arms and legs had healed as if nothing had happened. “The real scars of my life, like the ones I got from Wilson’s attacks, I keep those. The wounds and scars I get when I go behind the Veil are illusions of a sort. As I gather myself to me, and separate from the person who sustained the real trauma, then I keep what’s mine and they keep what’s theirs.”

“When you were helping Cammy, were you taking on the same medication she was?” Striker’s gaze pushed against me.

“Right. But she’s a tiny little girl. What was too much for her body could be supported by mine.”

“What about when Anyushka was sedated?” Jack asked.

“Once they tranquilized her, I tried to come back quickly, before she went all the way under. It was hard for me to walk back through the Veil drugged.”

“And that means if Anyushka had swallowed the poison, then you…” Jack stopped mid-thought, obviously unwilling to voice the outcome.

“Then I would have reacted to the poison as if it were in my body, probably to a lesser degree though. Again, what you saw happening to me was a shadow of what was happening to Anyushka.”

“Jeezus - that poor girl.” Blaze rubbed his hands over his head.

“If the person you’re connected to dies…if they had beaten Lynda to death while you were with her, then you would have died too?” Striker was standing now, hands on hips, face ashen.

“That’s my theory, though hopefully I’ll never know how that really bears out. It could be that I would have nothing to connect to anymore, and I could walk back through the Veil. I don’t know.” I whispered, shocked by his question. I hadn’t extrapolated it all the way out before.

Striker excused himself, and walked quietly out of my office.

“Lynx, when you were connected you could still talk to us, and you could ask us to confirm or refute something. How is that possible?” Blaze pulled me back to the Puzzle Room - my thoughts had gone through the door with Striker.

“Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m talking out loud; I hope I am. Sometimes I try to put one foot on each side of the Veil, one here and one there, so that I can relay information. It’s hard to do. It’s not exactly painful. It’s more… well there isn’t really a word for it.. . .exhausting. . .uncomfortable. . .I struggle to be in both places.” The men nodded. This part they seemed to get.

“As far as the confirmations go, they are
incredibly
important. That information is for my rational self and your rational selves. To me it’s like a horrible nightmare I’m living through.” I pulled on a pair of yoga pants from my closet and reached for a sweatshirt. “How do I know it’s not a nightmare? How do I know I’m not going crazy and telling you random crazy things? How do you have enough conviction to send teams of people out to follow up on my raving words? It is all
so
irrational. Having an outside source, who knows nothing about what’s going on, confirm the validity of what I’m saying, helps all of us stay sane. And you’ll notice that I’m never refuted. I’m always confirmed. That gives all of us a layer of confidence, which can help us get through.”

“Could you do the Veil walking for cases that wouldn’t put you in harm’s way?” Deep asked.

“How do you mean, Deep?”

“Like this Consuela woman. Could you go and sit in her brain and figure out what’s going on?”

“Like surveillance? Um, no. First of all she doesn’t have a shimmer.”

“A ‘shimmer’?” Deep asked.

“That’s what I call the energy that radiates off of a person — like a ripple or a shiver in the air. It’s where their aura is…um…jagged?” I looked around to see if that made any sense at all. Heads nodded, so I moved on. “A shimmer is rare and usually involves situations that are life-or-death. Hey, you guys look like shit, by the way.”

“Yeah. It’s been hard to sleep and eat lately,” Gater said.

“Jack and Striker had the same problem last time. Remember, Jack?”

“All too well, Lynx.”

“After I woke up, you were okay after that, right?”

“I guess. You aren’t going to do this anymore are you?” Jack asked.

“I promise you, I promise all of you, I will only walk behind the Veil for two reasons: to help myself, or to help family. If one of you were in need, I wouldn’t think twice; I would fly out of my body.” I held up my hand against their protests, “Just like you’d walk in front of a bullet for me. You know you would, so that’s going to have to be our understanding. Okay?”

Twenty-Four

I
found Striker sitting at his desk, his elbows resting on the arms of his chair, steepling his fingers in front of his face. I slid onto his lap and waited for him to look me in the eye.

I cupped his chin in my palm. “It’s over,” I said.

“I don’t think so. Were you telling me the truth about the women from Africa? They were trying to show you something to save you?”

“That was my ‘knowing.’ Yes.” I curled up, so my head rested against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, his cheek brushed against my hair.

“I don’t want you playing with Consuela any more. You’re done. I want you to come to the barracks, and live at my place until she loses interest.”

“You’re about to leave on your mission next week.”

“I tried to get this re-assigned or postponed, but Command says they need me now.”

“Gater’s got my back.” I tilted my head so I could see his eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong, Gater’s as good as they come. He’s the guy I’d want next to me, no matter what the situation. Him, Jack, the whole Strike Force Team. I like how we all work together. But walking away when there’s crazy in your life is a hard thing to do, Chica.”

“If you’re going to love me, then you’re going to have to get used to crazy. I’m a crazy magnet.”

“I’m starting to understand how true that is.” Striker’s arms tightened around me as he stood up. He turned me into a tight hug and bent to kiss me. His mouth pressed against mine, warm and gentle; I could taste his exhaustion.

“Let’s go to your place, so I can tuck you into bed,” I said. 

Striker collapsed onto his mattress, drained. He pulled me under the covers with him holding me tightly against his body. I figured he needed to feel I was safe so that he could sleep deeply. Though I wasn’t tired at all, lying here with him was the least I could do after his week’s vigil. And soon he’d be gone.

***

We gathered out on the Iniquus lawn after lunch. Axel, our team’s explosives expert, manipulated the computerized robot stalking Brennon’s briefcase that lay out in the sun on the other side of the field. As Axel maneuvered the robot up to the case, the team was laughing and having a great time. Robots and explosives — might as well have been Christmas morning.

We all watched the monitor closely; the robot stood flush with the case. A pincer reached out to twirl the locking system, using the combination that I had uncovered while behind the Veil. The mechanical arm moved with amazing dexterity, slowly releasing the catch, and retrieving the papers and files. Axel wiggled the toggles and the robot zipped back to us with the booty. Again Axel maneuvered the machine to the case. The robot sent a video image to our laptop; I studied the screen until I could show Axel where the concealed latch protected the hidden compartment. We all held our breath while Axel maneuvered the motorized claw to release the hook.

Even though the authorities definitely had enough evidence and testimony to implicate Brennon on slavery, kidnapping, and torture charges, we really hoped to solve the cyber-terrorism case. Both because we wanted to make sure we had scooped up all of the accomplices, but also because Iniquus pride and prestige in having protected America hung in the balance.

The robot headed back with the flash drives, to the sound of cheering. Axel sent the robot back in to detonate the explosives. A loud bang with an impressive fireball and shower of sparks made us all duck and cover. The men laughed and slapped each other on the back. Boys.

While Deep took the information to the computer lab for analysis, Striker and I headed to my house. I needed to pack my bags and tell my friends I was going on a business trip for a while, and that I wasn’t sure when I’d be back. We drove down Silver Lake Road and around a huge moving van parked in front of Maria’s house.

“What the heck?” Striker swung into an open parking space in front of my house and pulled out his phone. We waited inside the Iniquus Hummer while Striker listened to Command. I could feel his frustration mounting.

“Understood.” His clipped voice ended the conversation.

“You’re not happy.”

“Nope, not happy.” Striker got out of the vehicle and came around just in time to catch me as I jumped down.

“Can you tell me what’s going on?”

He waited until we were in my house before he answered. “Tactical failure. Apparently, Consuela figured out her computer was being remotely viewed. She swept the house and spent yesterday evening destroying all of our equipment. Now she’s moving out.”

“And you’re upset because when she was here, we could keep an eye on her. Now that she’s moving, she’ll be in the mists?”

“Exactly.” He held my curtain to the side as he watched out my front window. “I need you to talk to the neighbors. See if you can pick up any gossip

“Okay.” I moved toward my stairs. “I’ll throw some things in my bags. People should be coming home from work soon, and I can make the rounds. You still want me to move to the barracks now that she’s gone?”

“Definitely.” The tension under his eyes was a give-away. This was serious.

“And this is still for my safety’s sake?” I looked up at him coyly.

Striker gave me a wink. “Yeah, I want to guard your body.”

As soon as I spotted Manny and Justin gabbing on the sidewalk, I abandoned my packing and sauntered over.

“Hey, did you see Consuela moved out today?” I pointed toward her house.

“She got transferred. What a drag after just getting settled in,” Justin said.

“Yeah? Where’s she relocating?” I shoved my hands deep in my pockets.

“New York City,” Manny said.

“And her house? Is that going back on the market?”

Justin looked back over his shoulder at Consuela’s house. “She said she’s going to rent it to her niece.”

“Her niece?” Holy cow, now what?

“Kid’s living in a bad situation. Boyfriend problems. Consuela was trying to get her to come and live with her, but the girl, Tammy, is young and didn’t want to live under her aunt’s thumb, so now that Consuela is leaving, she’s going to rent the house and move in.”

“Have you met her? Tammy, I mean,” I pressed.

“Yeah, I know her. She’s babysat for my boys a couple of times. Cute girl. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, though, if you know what I mean,” Manny said.

“Do you happen to know Tammy’s last name?”

“Pineda. Why?” asked Manny.

“Curious about my new neighbor.” Curious to know what the hell Consuela’s got planned, that is. “She grow up in this area?”

“Consuela said she graduated from my old high school, Woodrow Wilson, so Tammy’s been here for a while.” Justin was twirling his keys and looking over at his car with a got-a-go stance.

“Any other gossip I should know about?” I asked.

“None that comes to mind, Baby Girl.” Manny said.

“Okay then I need to give you guys hugs. I’m off to some computer training for my work. I’m not sure how long I’ll be out of town. They said at the office that if things got busy, they’d have to call me back to Washington. Can you keep an eye on my house? Make sure it’s not on fire or anything? I’ll be reachable on my cell.”