Revealed (The Found Book 1) (29 page)

“Except for the cool Black Hawk helicopter. Yes.”

“I don’t think you should do it. I veto. And Kali, don’t tell me you haven’t been doing the mind talking with Noah, because I know you have.”

“I’m not confirming or denying anything.”

“Ladies, this is not up for discussion,” Nate said.

“He’s right, Kali, Sarah. This is how we’re going to handle things. It’s a normal operation. If you can’t handle our operational planning, then you will no longer be allowed in our morning briefings.” He was serious, Kali heard it in his voice. She looked over at Sarah and gave her a slight shake of her head.

* * *

It seemed like a lifetime since he had been in a Black Hawk helicopter with his team. He was always determined to take out the enemy, but this time he had even more motivation. They harmed the woman who was going to be his wife. What was more, he knew deep in his gut they were never going to stop. He looked around, and saw everybody from the first operation when they had rescued Kali. Dave Rydell, Nate Goodman, Riley Jones, Kota Blackthorne and Sierra Mathers—his team. They would not fail to procure their target.

They set down less than a mile from the lodge. It was three a.m. Kota was disgusted when he saw there were no dogs patrolling the perimeter and only two guards. By the time they landed, Sierra already disabled all of the video surveillance.

“Before you get too confident, we still don’t know what to expect inside,” Noah reminded his team.

Everyone acknowledged his words, and then they split up into two groups. Noah, Nate and Sierra headed around the back wall, while Dave, Riley and Kota headed toward the guards. They intended to meet up at the lodge.

The rapid fire sound of an automatic weapon burst through the night. Noah, Sierra and Kota all dove into the snowbank for cover. Long seconds later, another piercing sound of gunfire was heard, clearly from the front of the building. Noah peered up and saw lights were turning on inside the lodge. He could easily see four men through the large windows and French doors as they rushed toward the entrance at the front of the house.

He hit the radio in his ear. “Dave? You, Riley and Nate okay?”

“We’re fine.”

“Four more coming your way.”

“Roger that. Go find the bastard.”

Noah signaled to Sierra and Kota the coast was clear.

Finding a darkened room on the first floor, the broke the window, accessing the house. The team had the blueprints of the house memorized.

“He’s heard the gunshots, he’s not going to be taken by surprise,” Sierra said.

“We go together, and back one another up,” Noah agreed.

“Let’s sweep everything in this wing and save the master bedroom for last. That’s probably where he’s holed up.”

They quickly and quietly made the rounds. Finally outside the large double doors of the master bedroom. They stayed on either side of the archways, and Kota reached low, and knocked. Three shots rang out, blowing holes through the door where a man’s head and heart would have been.

“Now!”

Noah led the charge through the door, diving for the floor with his gun raised. Kota and Mathers were on the other side of the threshold with their guns pointed at the nondescript middle aged man standing next to the bed. His gun pointed at Noah.

“Drop it,” Noah said with steely determination.

“No,” his voice came out calm, nonchalant.

“We will kill you,” Noah said, as he continued to train his gun on the man. But he didn’t want to kill him. He wanted to make sure this was the last person responsible for Kali’s kidnapping.

“No you won’t.,” the man said confidently. “You want information and I want to see what kind of powers you’ll use. I know you’re
found
Sam, and I know the
found
have powers. Use your powers, Sam. I want to see what you can do. Impress me.” The man was nuts. What he was thinking must have shown on his face, because the man laughed.

“Oh, another person who thinks I’m one brick shy of a load. I assure you I’m not. I’m actually a genius. I have a strong will to live, and I have remarkable common sense. I
said
, impress me.” Now his voice had taken on a steely edge. His gun never wavering.

“Noah, incoming,” Dave screamed in his ear.

“Kota! Sierra!”

“We heard.” Noah didn’t turn around, but heard two thuds behind him. The man in front of him smiled.

“Thank you, Martin. Don’t kill them yet. I need them for leverage.” Aaron Price’s gray eyes gleamed as he looked at Noah again. “Impress me.”

Noah didn’t know what he could possibly do. He was good at finding things. He could talk to Kali. He was good in combat, but he had led his team into this goat fuck.

“If you don’t I will have Martin kill your teammates. I want to be impressed.”

He calmed. He had Kali’s gifts and she was good at convincing. He could use that. “I need a minute. Can you give me just a minute, Aaron?”

“Don’t fuck with me, Sam.”

“I’m not, I just need a minute.” He pushed like Kali had shown him.

“Fine, you have a minute.” The man raised his arm to look at his watch, and Noah shot the wrist of his gun hand. Rolling over he shot the solider in the head who was standing over Sierra and Kota.

He kicked the gun far out of reach of Price, and rushed over to ensure his team would survive.

“Dave?”

“Noah? You made it?”

“Yeah, you?”

“We’re good, on our way.”

“Need the chopper stat.” He strode over to Price and saw his wrist was spurting blood, he would likely lose his hand. Like Noah gave a shit. But he couldn’t die. He yanked down a curtain sash and tied off the wound. Aaron didn’t make a sound, just looked at him, his eyes glassy, his face and hair dripping sweat.

“I knew better than to take my eyes off you,” Aaron Price said in confusion.

“I told you I needed a minute. I
convinced
you to look at your watch.”

“Ahhhhh. Very good. You impressed me. Kelly impressed me, with the way she continued to endure. Where did you come from? I need to get there. That’s where I belong.” He passed out.

“Un-fucking-believable! That’s what this was about?”

Epilogue

Kali realized she would never have a normal life again. She could handle the notoriety, but the fact she would have to live in a commune was beginning to wear on her. They hadn’t told anyone yet, it was still too new, but they were going to have a baby. She wanted the child to experience the joys and freedoms she and Noah had as children. She couldn’t bear to imagine they might have to live the first years of their child’s life locked up in this apartment building.

Jade Melling and Joe Mirelli came for a visit three months after Aaron Price’s capture. Joe’s transformation was incredible. Not only was he behaving like a man who had never had any mental issues, he also had a rich tapestry of knowledge and experiences to draw on from his time at the hospital. He might have dealt with it at as a boy at the time, but he had assimilated it as a man.

“Kali and Noah, it is okay for you to leave here sometimes, right?” Joe asked as they were having dinner. They were in the dining room in their apartment with Joe, Jade, Nate and Sarah. Something was definitely up.

Noah answered. “Sure we can leave, we’re not prisoners. We just have to be cautious.”

“We’d like you to take us sightseeing on the Pacific Coast Highway tomorrow.”

“Sure,” Kali answered. She loved going to the ocean. She turned to Nate and Sarah. “Do you want to come?”

“Nah, we’ll sit this one out,” Nate answered.

Something’s up, Noah

Definitely.

* * *

Joe wanted to drive, but he just got his driver’s license and there was no way Noah was letting him drive on the windy roads.

Apparently Joe didn’t want to just go sightseeing, he had a specific destination in mind. “Turn here,” he instructed.

Noah turned into a drive with a gate in Laguna Beach. Joe jumped out and pushed a code into the keypad and the gate opened. When they got to the end of the drive, there was a woman waiting for them on the front steps of a huge beach house—basically a beautifully appointed mansion.

“Welcome, come in and look around.”

“Are you moving here, Jade? That’s great,” Kali asked enthused.

“We definitely want to come out here more often,” Jade agreed. The four of them followed the real estate agent through the house, all four admiring the views of the Pacific Ocean. The agent explained the house had been built by a movie mogul in the thirties, and was on the western tip of a rock jutting out over the Pacific Ocean.

“This is perfect,” Noah said. “The way it is situated it’s really a fortress. Joe, this is really secure.”

“I knew you would think so,” Joe said.

When they finished the tour, the real estate agent handed Joe the keys and drove away. Joe turned to Kali and Noah and handed the keys to Kali. She looked down at them. “I don’t understand.”

“The house is yours. I asked Joe to find something suitable for you since I realized you couldn’t go back to Chicago,” Jade said.

“I can’t take this gift from you Jade, I know you feel guilty, but I just can’t take it,” Kali said, as she looked at the house, and then at the keys in her hand.

“Fine, don’t take the house, you don’t have to. I have set up a trust fund for you, it is substantially more than the cost of this house. I did it after I met you in New York. This property only utilizes twenty percent of the funds. You’re stuck with the money, you can do whatever you want with it. You don’t have to buy the house.”

Kali felt like she was in a daze.

“Noah, you’ve been saying there isn’t any place safe enough for us. You said we have to stay where we are.”

“This would do. This is really well protected,” he said carefully.

“Do you know the best part about this property?” Jade asked, smiling at her.

Kali shook her head. Jade came over and put her arm around her, and then grabbed Noah’s hand. “It’ll be the perfect place for a wedding.”

Kali tried not to have any reaction to Jade’s words, but she must have failed.

“Why don’t you two walk around the property, get a feel for it, and talk?” Joe suggested.

“Good idea,” Noah murmured, pulling Kali gently from Jade’s grasp, he guided her toward the back of the house. The backyard overlooked the ocean. He sat on one of the loveseats and pulled her down on to his lap.

“Talk to me. I thought you wanted to get married,” he said, thumbing the engagement ring on her left hand.

“Oh Noah, I do, you know I do, but don’t we have to get married at a justice of the peace? I didn’t think we could have an actual wedding.” Kali looked down at his hand holding hers, not wanting to meet his eyes, afraid he’d see her disappointment.

“Baby, it’s always been about doing this in a place where we could be private and secure. All I’ve wanted since this whole thing started is to keep you safe. I’ve never meant for you to feel like a prisoner.”

“Oh, I don’t Noah.” Kali looked at him, and released her barriers so he could feel everything. He touched his forehead to hers, and she showed him how loving him brought only joy into her life. The fact they had to live in hiding was trivial when compared to the wonder and beauty their life was now, and would be with the birth of their child.

“Kali, would you like to live here?”

“Could we?” She looked from his beautiful brown eyes to the magnificent view of the ocean and back again.

“Yes, we could. What’s more, Jade is right, this would be a perfect spot for a wedding. We could invite all of our friends and family, we would just have to be discreet.”

Kali snuggled close on his lap and gently probed. She could feel both his exasperation and his amusement, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want him doing something just because he felt she wanted it. He needed to be good with the decision too.

“Kali, I’d walk through fire for you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I would, you’re my life, you and our baby. But, I will never do something to put either of you in harm’s way, no matter how happy it would make you. Your safety always comes first. Living here, and having a wedding here, is perfect.”

“Oh Noah, it doesn’t have a meadow, but I would love it if our child could grow up playing in this yard, overlooking the water.”

For long moments they sat there, resting their joined hands on Kali’s tummy, and imagining the day their baby would be playing on the grass in front of them. The first pulse of energy surprised them, then there was a second. Stunned they looked at each other.

“Kali?”

“Noah, I felt it too!”

“We’re going to have twins.”

“A boy and a girl,” Kali breathed. She stared into Noah’s eyes, and realized every dream she never even knew she had was coming true.

Biography

Caitlyn O’Leary was raised in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. She has always been an avid reader. Her earliest creative writing endeavors consisted of “ghost writing” exercises where she pretended to be her younger brothers and sister when she did their homework assignments.