He pointed toward a tree about twenty feet away.I’ll see if I can hit the trunk.
She watched Jake focus on the trunk, felt his body tense as he gathered his concentration. She wasn’t sure what he was doing, but she knew he was trying to recreate his actions in the battle. Her heart started to pound as he stood for long seconds with his fingers clamping hers in a death grip. When nothing happened, he made a disgusted sound.
“Maybe they blasted it out of me.” The observation was followed by a curse. “Nothing’s there. If they come back and attack us, what are we going to do, crawl under the table?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Carter Frederick, alias Eric Smithson, felt his stomach tie itself in knots. He didn’t want make the call, but it was his only alternative.
When the Badger picked up the phone, Carter dragged in a breath and let it out.
“I need some help from you,” he said.
“Were you involved in a New Orleans warehouse fire?” the man on the other end of the line said.
“No.”
“And you don’t have Gregory and Harper?”
“No. There’s something about them. Something they’re using to get away. Maybe you’d better tell me what it is.” He’d never demanded anything from the Badger, and he held his breath now, waiting for an answer.
“Where would they go?” he continued. “Where should I look for them?”
“Houma, Louisiana,” the Badger answered.
“Why?”
“They may be trying to get information about the Solomon Clinic.”
“Why?”
This time the line went dead.
Rachel squeezed Jake’s hand.It’s not gone. There’s no reason it would be.
How about the fact that they almost killed me?
But you’re here. We’re communicating mind to mind. That’s not gone.
Then why isn’t the firepower working?She heard the anger and the anxiety in his voice.
Determined to stay calm, despite the beating of her heart, she said,Let’s think about it. What did you do when you were fighting them?
He flapped his arm.I don’t know. I just did it.
They stood in silence for several moments, and she knew he was on the verge of turning and stomping back to the car.
She wondered if he would let her help, but she didn’t have to ask. She felt his resistance. He wasn’t used to someone else taking over for him. Specifically, he wasn’t used toherdoing it, but after a long moment, he gave a mental shrug.
For a split second she thought about giving up before she started. At least he’d be able to say she’d failed, too.
I’m not that stupid.
Sorry. Just a passing impulse.
Clasping his hand more tightly, she ordered herself to relax. When she’d taken several deep breaths, she reached within herself, striving for the kind of state when she was reading the cards for a customer and trying to get more information than was just in the deck. Only now she was grasping for potent energy, not insights into someone’s life. And she wasn’t quite sure how to do it.
Maybe this will help.
