Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rena arrived in the late morning with a bag of clothes for Misty. The two sat in the Challengers’ kitchen, sipping orange juice.

Misty ran her hand down the side of the glass. “Frank and Amy are with him.” She glanced at Rena. “That was really decent of you to call them.”

The red-head grinned. “Yeah, I know. I figured better to have them here than have Jack trying to run off to contact them.”

Misty punched her lightly on the arm. “You did it because you’re a nice person.”

“I’m going to ignore that,” Rena said. “Speaking of Jack, how’s our little patient this morning?”

“He looks a hundred percent better than last night. He should be back on his feet soon and back in action by the end of next week.”

Rena whistled. “That’s a serious healing factor.”

They clinked glasses, toasting Jack’s returning health. Misty looked at her friend. “Jack’s confused about why you went through so much to get him back. I mean, I love him. I’m supposed to do things like that, not you.”

“Good,” Rena said. “A little uncertainty is good for him.”

Misty shook her head. “I think he might be wanting you now instead of me.”

Rena narrowed her eyes as she glanced at Misty. “You’d better be kidding. I already told you, I don’t want him.”

Misty shrugged. “He keeps talking about you. How do I know he isn’t having second thoughts about me and our relationship?”

“How about the fact that I was the middle man while you guys weren’t speaking?” Rena drummed her fingers on the table. “You know, I’m ready to strangle both of you. He loves you. You love him. Why can’t the two of you leave me out of it?”

Misty stood. “I’m going to check in with Cap. You coming?”

“No. I’ve got something else that needs to be seen to.”

Rena marched down to Jack’s room and flung open the door. “I really don’t need this,” she said, trying hard not to shout. “What exactly is your problem?”

Jack watched Rena stomp over to him. “What do you want? I swear I’ve seen more of you than I have of Misty, lately.”

Rena leaned close and scowled. “And whose fault is that? Do something to reassure Misty, or I swear, I’ll knock some more sense in there. Is that what you want?”

Jack frowned back at her. “You’re the telepath, you tell me.”

“No,” she bit out. “It’d be like reading a children’s book.” She stepped back and folded her arms. “Misty thinks you’re getting the hots for me. You’re the only one who can set her straight.” She paused and stared at him. “So set her straight!”

The two of them stared at each for several seconds before Jack looked away. “She can’t believe I’d give her up for you. No offense.”

Rena grinned. “None taken. I’d kill you before the week was out. I know what you want to tell her. Let me get her for you. This needs to be done right now.” She patted his arm. “No more waiting, Jack. No more hesitation. Don’t lose her because you wanted to wait for the perfect moment.”

Jack nodded. “You aren’t influencing me, are you?”

Rena gave him a horrified look. “Me? Do something like that? You must have me confused with an unethical telepath.” She headed for the door, turned, and winked at him. “I’ll get Misty.”

****

Jack stared at the ceiling while he waited for Misty. Did Rena plant a suggestion in his mind to make him do this now? Unless she decided to tell him, he’d probably never know.

“Rena said you needed to see me.” She hurried to his bed. “Are you in pain? What can I do?”

Jack clutched her hand and knew, whether the telepath influenced him or not, she was right. “Red pushed me into doing this now. She said no more waiting. I wanted to see how things were going to play out, but she’s right. I have something to say and it needs to be said now.”

Misty sat on his bed, waiting for him to continue. “What?”

“Misty, I’ve loved you since I first saw you,” he said. “Please don’t doubt that.” He took a deep breath. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Misty blinked and stared at him. “You want to marry me?”

He nodded. “You know what you’re getting. I’m a criminal, a mercenary, a cybernetic renegade, and I’m probably going to be in prison for the rest of my life. All I know is how much I love you, how much I need you.”

He watched tears slip down her cheeks as she stared at him. “You’re all I’ve wanted since the day we met,” she said. “So, yes, ex-Field Commander Jack McClennan, I’ll marry you, and whatever the future holds, we’ll face it together.”

He pulled her closer, and he ran his hand behind her neck then pulled her face to his. “Good,” he murmured against her lips. “As long as I have you, I can face anything.”

Misty ran her hands over his chest and deepened the kiss they shared. She sighed when she felt his hand move up under her shirt, warming her bare skin. His touch climbed higher, skimming the bottom of her breast when the door opened.

Rena walked in, and Jack recognized the man with her as ULTRA Commander Michael Frailer. He had seen pictures of him in the newspaper when he’d been installed as the new head of ULTRA. He’d also watched the ceremony on television.

“Can you believe these two?” Rena said from the doorway. She winked at ULTRA’s commander, Michael Frailer. “Push them into getting together, and they’re all over each other.”

Misty jumped off the bed and glared at her friend. “You did that on purpose, Red.”

Rena just chuckled. “Paybacks are a bitch, my friend. And I still owe you a couple.”

“Ouch.”

“I’d like to hear the whole story on that one. But another day,” Michael said to Jack, then turned to the two Angels. “If you’ll excuse us?”

“Sure thing,” Rena said. “Later, Jack.” She pushed Misty through the doorway.

****

“I’m Michael Frailer, the current head of ULTRA,” he said, sticking out his hand. “Everyone just calls me Mike.” He grinned. “Or boss. And you’re the infamous Jack McClennan.”

Jack shook his hand reluctantly. “That’s me.” He gestured to the bed. “Not a very impressive first meeting, is it?”

Mike smiled and pulled papers out of his briefcase, arranging them on the bedside table. “A lot of agents still talk about you and your team, about how good you were. I don’t think the setting matters.” He glanced at a file. “Your ULTRA record has never been equaled.”

“Thanks,” Jack mumbled.

Mike glanced at him. “Relax. There’s more to this case than what appears on the surface. Hopefully, we’ll get everything sorted out the way it should be.” He shuffled some papers into a different order. “Now, it says you insisted that a hidden group was behind everything you were accused of. Care to elaborate?”

Jack closed his eyes. “George Fenmore, Donald Harrington, and their entire teams. Anita Haines. She was my team telepath but now she works for them. I killed most of the team members when I escaped the hospital.”

Mike made several notes while Jack talked, but stopped and looked up at him. “You’re admitting to murder?”

“Unless I’m honest with you, you’ll have no reason to trust me.” He pushed himself up higher in the bed. “I tried to get as many as I could when I broke out. I stole my ULTRA armor and assembled my team.”

Mike shook his head. “And I put Fenmore in charge of the panel to find you,” he muttered. “No wonder you didn’t want to come to me. I’m so sorry.”

Jack nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. That the commander would apologize, told him volumes about the man’s character.

“Do you know what happened to your original evidence?” Mike asked.

“I was told they kept it to remind themselves not to slip up again.” He glanced at Mike. “That’s all my team and I were to them—a slip up—a mistake that needed to be corrected.”

“Can you give me the names of your team members?” Mike asked as he pulled a fresh sheet of paper out from the bottom of the stack.

Jack nodded. He didn’t want to, but Mike would need to talk to them to corroborate his story. “My network has grown over the years. My two main agents are here. I’d like to shield them, but I can’t, can I?’

Mike shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’ll involve them as little as possible. To stay with you this long, to go through what they have, I’ll not ask them to break their loyalty or their promises to you.”

“Good enough,” Jack said. “Everything they did, they did because I asked them to. They were acting under direct orders from their field commander. That should be taken into consideration.”

Mike smiled. “There’s a lot to be taken into consideration.”

“A young girl, a telepath, came with us when Rena came for me,” Jack said. “Her name’s Mindspell, and she’s from HelixCorp.”

“She’s with us for training,” Mike said, jotting down more notes. “HelixCorp didn’t have the right people to properly train her.”

“Fenmore was using her as a tracker to find me.”

Mike frowned. “She wasn’t supposed to leave the building. She could barely use her powers. Fenmore is going to have a lot more to answer for than I first thought when I find him.”

Jack nodded. He was beginning to warm to the ULTRA commander as much as he tried not to. Michael Frailer seemed to be just the person he needed. He looked up. “I’m surprised at myself for wanting to trust you. It’s been so long since I talked to anyone in authority.” He smiled a little.

“You were one of ULTRA’s best.” Mike asked, “Do you miss it?”

Jack nodded. “Almost every day. After this mess started, heroes I worked with, heroes I knew, turned their backs on me. All I heard was ‘I never expected him to turn traitor.’ And ‘he seemed like such a good person.’ It turned out the hero population actually had no use for me. So I returned their contempt.”

Mike chuckled quietly. “When we get this straightened out, there’re going to be a lot of heroes with some pretty red faces.” His eyes took on a faraway look.

Jack watched for a few minutes. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was a squad leader when your case broke,” Mike said. “Things just didn’t seem to fit. I wondered why you sent Captain Starblast for evidence if it was so incriminating. I asked around and did some investigating on my own, but nobody would talk to me. I was getting ready to come see you at the prison, when I immediately was shipped out on remote tour. Spent almost two years in that hell hole.”

Jack shook his head. “I guess I did have people on my side after all. It didn’t seem like it at the time, so I became what everyone said I was; a cold, heartless, killing machine.”

Mike rose and clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll talk again. I’d like to speak with your friends briefly before I go.” He smiled. “I believe in your innocence fully. Convincing me was the hard part. It’ll be all downhill from here.”

Jack wasn’t so sure.