Chapter Twenty-Two

“I must be alive,” Rena mumbled. “I hurt too much to be dead.”

She groaned and pushed herself up. The pounding in her skull matched the flip-flopping her stomach was doing every time she moved. She closed her eyes, cradling her head.

“Psychic shields should be against the law.” She rubbed the back of her neck. The pounding continued, and it finally dawned on her that someone was at the door.

Rena staggered over and threw it open. Seeing Jack, she frowned. “Just what I need. Of all the people to drop by, it had to be Mr. Congeniality.”

Jack walked in, closing the door as he watched Rena walk to the couch. “What’s wrong? Where’s Misty?”

“I don’t know,” Rena mumbled as she continued to hold her head.

He sat next to her. “What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’?”

“I mean those imbeciles you’re mixed up with took her, you idiot!” Rena shouted, realizing too late, that was a mistake. She groaned and massaged her temples.

“Bloody hell.” He got up and began to pace. “How long ago?”

“I don’t know,” Rena said, looking up at him. “They ambushed me in the hall and shot me with something. I couldn’t detect them. Now, I’ve got a screaming headache and my body feels like it weighs two tons.”

Jack knelt in front of her and turned her head left and right, studying her eyes. “Looks like they got you with one of the more powerful neural sedatives. You’ll be all right.”

Rena frowned at him. “I feel like hell. Give me a minute. I should be able to at least ease the pain.”

Jack nodded and stood. “I’ll ask around downstairs. The longer they have her...”

“Don’t think like that.” Rena said, interrupting him. “She’ll be fine. Even if she can’t use her powers, she’s not powerless. Go. I’ll be good in a few minutes.”

Jack came back in just as Rena sat back. “They left a couple of hours ago.”

A couple of hours? Rena thought. “How much sedative did they hit me with?” She looked at her watch. It was after seven. It would be getting close to being dark out.

“Let me try mind scanning for her,” Rena said. “Our team has a permanent telepathic link between us. I should be able to pick her up if they haven’t psychically shielded her.”

Jack nodded. “Go for it.”

Rena opened her mind. I should not be doing this so soon after a headache, she thought. But even that wouldn’t stop her from trying to find her friend.

After several long, tense minutes, she looked up at him. “That’s that.”

“Did you find her?” he asked, staring at her.

Rena shook her head. “No. But there’s a huge psychic blanket over one particular area of the city. I suggest we start there.” He looked at her, and she grinned. “A psychic shield would have to be really powerful to cut me off so completely from any member of the Angels.”

Jack smiled. “And if you were a secret cabal hidden within a highly respected organization, you wouldn’t want stray telepaths locking in on you.”

She pointed at him. “Bingo.” She stood and went to the door. “Let’s boogie.”

****

“Their evil plan is to make me crack from super boredom,” Misty said. At first, she jumped at every sound, real and imagined. As nothing happened, she paced. She tired of that and sat. Now, she just wanted them to do something before she lost her mind.

She sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor and watched the door. Soon she rested her chin on her hands. She stretched her legs out, bracing herself with her arms. After a few minutes, she stood back up and resumed her pacing, all the while, keeping an eye on the door. She kept expecting it to open and some strange, mad scientist to come in with bizarre machines that were actually torture devices. She smiled. Definitely too many late night bad horror movies.

She kept trying to reach Rena but got no response. It’s due to a psychic shield, she told herself. Nothing more. Rena was fine. She’d find her. In the meantime, she kept trying to communicate with her friend.

The door opened, and Misty jumped as the imagined sound was finally real. Fenmore walked in, and she faced him, straightening her spine and ready for whatever he decided to do. “What now?” she demanded.

“I thought we could continue our conversation in my office,” he said, gesturing toward the open door.

That was unexpected, and she was tempted to refuse, but staring at the blank, white walls was making her nuts. She clenched her fists as Fenmore escorted her to his office. Misty stared at him as she sat in the firm chair.

“Rena, if you can hear me, now would be a good time to say something,” Misty said telepathically.

****

Rena stood in Jack’s warehouse, tapping her foot with impatience as he finished donning his armor and making sure his weapons were loaded and fully primed. By the time they made it there, the sun had gone down and stars lit the sky. She halted, feeling Misty’s mind connect with hers.

“Rena, if you can hear me, now would be a good time to say something.”

“Misty!” she cried, her mind’s voice flooded with relief. “Where are you? You scared the hell out of me!”

“Payback, Red, for making me think they cut short your very interesting life,” Misty replied. “I’m not sure exactly where I’m at. It could be near ULTRA’s headquarters. I know how much time it takes to get there from my apartment and it was about the same amount.”

Rena grinned. “I’ve got a fix on you now, kid. It doesn’t matter how they try to hide you. I know where you are and when I get there, I’ll be all over them like ugly on an ape.”

Misty’s mental voice held a frown. “Do you have to use such childish phrases all the time?”

“Of course. It adds color to my repertoire,” Rena grinned. “Got to go. See you soon.”

Misty hesitated for a moment. “Make sure you don’t tell Jack. I’m being used as bait for some kind of trap. Bring anyone else, but not him.”

“It’s okay,” Rena said. “I’ve got everything under control.”

Rena broke contact and saw Jack staring at her. She held her hands up. “Misty’s fine. That was her on the mental telephone. I didn’t pick up that she’d been hurt or messed with in any way. She says they’re waiting for you, and she’s some kind of bait.”

Jack ran his hands through his hair. “And they couldn’t have picked a better bait.” He looked at Rena. “I told her being with me was dangerous. Could you see where she was being held?”

“Not really.” She winked. “But I got the sense it was in the same area as the psychic shield. I am just too good.”

Jack frowned. “Can’t you be serious for one minute?”

She pinched his cheek. “Can’t you lighten up?” She telekinetically changed to her hero outfit. “Let’s go.”

****

Jack had to stop himself from speeding to get to Misty. He saw Rena out of the corner of his eye watching the city pass by as the van quietly hummed.

“You have a voice recognition program, thumb print scanner, and at least three different security locks on this thing,” she finally said. “There’re women who don’t get this much attention.”

“This van cost a lot to outfit,” Jack muttered.

She grinned. “Misty’s cheaper.”

“One more word and you walk, understand?”

“A lot more than you think.”

Jack glanced at her. “I don’t get you. I’ve worked with telepaths in the past, and they’re nothing like you.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “They held themselves apart from the rest of the team. They acted like they were better than the rest of us. They were cold and condescending. You’re nothing like that. Why?”

She shifted in the seat. “I have a twin sister. She manipulates light.” She paused. “When we were growing up, she was in my mind all the time. Our psychic rapport was deeper and stronger than regular human twins. When we were teenagers, we were picked up by HelixCorp. Our psychic bond limited our abilities, and they destroyed it. Nara told me not to hold myself apart from people. She said I needed them. Then, her powers drove her crazy.”

Jack sat silently. What had the telepath been through in her life? His lips tightened, and he glanced at her again. She looked sad, like she was thinking about things best forgotten.

“We did some bad things,” Rena continued. “Then, I went to the Angels for help. My powers are out of control. Misty has always been there for me.” She sat up a little straighter and the familiar grin was back. “So now, I’m going to get her out of there and kick all kinds of butt while I’m at it.”

“What exactly are you capable of?” Jack asked her quietly.

Rena shook her head. “You don’t want to know.” Her gaze narrowed. “Stop here.”