Brute Justice (Justice Series) Read online

  What he wondered now, as he fingered the small, round device, was who exactly placed this one on his briefcase. Was it the teens? Or was it Charlie? He couldn’t think of anyone else with the motive to track him.

  Switching mindsets, he also guessed if there was one of these little devils placed on his bag, there was most likely more somewhere else. Finding them was a priority. Picking up the phone, he punched a number on his speed dial.

  “Yeah, it’s me. I need you to do a sweep. Bring your wand, and whatever else you’ll need. Come here first. We’ll start with the office, then move over to my apartment after I close up tonight. I need you to be thorough, understand? Good. See you in a few.”

  He hung up the phone and the burn of fury took over his body. Whoever it was that had the nerve to get this close to him, to monitor his every move… Well, they’d pay. He’d find them, and they’d be sorry they stuck their nose where it didn’t belong.

  Snapping his focus back to the task at hand, he labeled the test tube and placed it in the centrifuge. He wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of his research now that he was finally rooted and starting to make progress again.

  Turning the machine on, he pivoted back around to reach for the crying newborn. “Shh, shh, shh… Come on, baby, let’s get you back to your momma. I’m sure she’s wondering what’s taking so long.”

  He checked the baby’s heel to make sure there was no mark or lingering blood at the extraction site, then replaced the tiny sock and wrapped the boy tightly in his striped receiving blanket. He needed to put the patient ward back in order before Neal came in to sweep for any more electronics.

  His patients didn’t need to know there was trouble – of any kind – brewing here.

  Chapter Six

  Clint pulled up to Leesha’s house right at one o’clock – the designated meeting time. Sam and Lexi hadn’t arrived yet, but he headed up the sidewalk knowing he could start unwrapping the security equipment they sent home in Leesha’s trunk the night before.

  She met him at the door, her keys in hand. “Hi, Clint. I haven’t unloaded anything yet. Here, I’ll help you bring it in.”

  By the time they had everything inside and he was lining up the pieces, Sam and Lexi were coming in the front door ready to lend a hand.

  Leesha’s little matchbox house was so small, there wasn’t nearly as much room to cover. The boys did most of the heavy work, the girls following behind filling the air with chatter.

  “Hey, did I tell you?” Leesha’s eyes lit up with animation. “I found another one!”

  What?

  Both Clint and Sam stopped from their crouch at the window ledge and turned to hear Leesha’s update.

  “You did?” Lexi stood there, mouth agape.

  “Yeah! There’s another girl – Jade Hensley – over on the south side of town. She goes to Memorial High. I think we should go see her.”

  “How’d you find her?” Sam asked, turning back to help Clint fasten the last part of the window sensor.

  “She was on the list you gave me from the hospital – the list of babies born around the same time. Her parents’ names were in her records, and a short search on the internet white pages led to their current address. It didn’t take me long to find her name in the Memorial school records.”

  “Good job, Leesh!” Lexi squealed, giving her a high five.

  That’s great… But now what? We just show up at her front door? Or how ‘bout if we storm her school while she’s in study hall?

  Sam snorted in agreement. “Yeah… How exactly do you suggest we approach her? It’s not as if we know for sure she’s like us.”

  “We don’t,” Leesha shook her head. “But we gotta start somewhere. She’s the only one I’ve found so far. There’s another supposedly in the area – well, there were two others – but one died in an auto accident about a year ago.”

  “Do you think…”

  I don’t have to read minds to know what she’s thinking… I hate seeing those green eyes fill with tears, Clint thought as he watched Lexi struggle with her emotions.

  “I don’t know Lexi,” Leesha answered quickly, not much less affected by the thought. “But there’s nothing we can do to help him now. We need to focus our efforts on those we can help.”

  Lexi nodded, still fighting back tears. “What was his name?”

  “Todd. Todd Jennings.”

  “Lexi,” Sam said in an attempt to calm his sister, “we can’t worry about him. It’s over. We don’t know – we’ll never know – if he was special.”

  She blinked tears back. “I just…”

  Aw, man…

  Clint reached out and grabbed a piece of her hair at her neck, twisting it around in his fingers. “I know. So let’s save those we still can, huh? Let’s get to them before Blevins can.”

  She looked up at him, resigned, and tried to smile. “Okay. So what’s the plan?”

  “Lexi, I think you and I should approach Jade first,” Leesha plowed forward. “I think she’s less likely to get twitchy if it’s just us girls asking the questions.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Lexi mused. “I wouldn’t want to be bombarded by a bunch of people at once. It would put me on edge right away.”

  “Exactly.”

  With two weeks to go before the winter break, the group decided it was necessary to move fast if they wanted to intercept Jade after school. Sam ran a quick check through the Department of Motor Vehicles online server to find the make and model of her car; Leesha already had her class schedule from the school’s intranet.

  Clint and Sam hung back in Sam’s truck, while Lexi and Leesha circled the Memorial parking lot looking for Jade’s car. It wasn’t hard to spot the shiny yellow convertible in the front lot.

  “Nice car,” Clint said, half sarcastically. What kind of teenager needs a car like that to drive?

  “Yeah, right.” Sam agreed. “Must be nice. Private school, fancy car. I wonder what her dad does.”

  As the school bell rang, each set of doors around the perimeter opened and began to buzz with teens and teachers as they escaped the confines of the building. The December air was brisk and the cloud-covered sky hinted at the first threat of snow.

  Lexi and Leesha pulled into a parking spot just across from the yellow convertible and watched the crowd as it dispersed and scattered into the various cars in the lot.

  “I think that’s her,” Leesha nodded toward a pretty blonde gliding in their direction. Sure enough, she pulled out her keychain, hit a button, and the lights on the convertible blinked. Both girls reached for their handles and climbed out of Lexi’s VW.

  “Jade?” Lexi stepped forward to greet the girl.

  Jade turned towards the pair, her face riddled with confusion. “Yes?”

  “Hi, my name is Lexi Dixon. This is Leesha Conway. Do you have a moment that we could talk to you?”

  “Do I know you?”

  “No,” Leesha shook her head. “You don’t. We got your name from a list of patients who were in the hospital the same time we were. You see, we were all born on the same day in the same hospital.”

  Jade’s skeptical expression narrowed on the two girls standing in front of her. “We were? That’s weird. What do you want from me?”

  “We just want to ask you some questions. We’re experiencing some, um… issues,” Leesha tried to be discreet, since they were standing in a public parking lot. “We wanted to just ask you a few questions to see if you experienced anything similar.”

  “It won’t take very long,” Lexi pleaded, picking up on Jade’s hesitation. “I promise. And we can go somewhere public.”

  “Well, okay. It’s kind of cold out here! Let’s go to the Starbucks down on the corner. You want to follow me?”

  “That would be great!” Lexi flashed a big grin. “Thanks, Jade. We really appreciate it.”

  “Okay…” she glanced over her shoulder, still a bit wary, and climbed into her car.

  Back in the tru
ck, Sam filled Clint in on the conversation as it unfolded. “Sounds like we’re headed to Starbucks.”

  “Are we going in?”

  “Not yet. Lexi said she looks suspicious. She doesn’t think she’s ready for more inquisitors at this point.”

  “Great… So we’re just going to stalk them and eavesdrop from the parking lot?”

  “Sounds like.”

  Man, I’m helpless. At least he can hear what’s going on…

  Once inside the coffee shop, the girls took seats and started to chat. The quiet buzz of the familiar venue and the sweet smells coming from the pastry counter did a lot to calm Jade, who seemed a little more at ease.

  “So we were all born on the same day? At the same place?”

  “Yep. October 14th,” Leesha confirmed.

  “Really… Huh. That’s kind of weird, when you think about it, all three of us sitting here. What made you look for me?”

  “We wanted to ask you if you’ve been having – or have ever had – any kind of complications, health wise,” Lexi asked.

  “Complications?”

  “Like headaches…” Leesha prodded.

  “The migraines?” Jades brows shot up in recognition.

  “You had migraines,” Leesha said, in more of a statement than a question, confirming their instinct. “When?”

  “Oh gosh… Like a few years ago. You had them too?”

  Lexi and Leesha both nodded, both trying to quell their excitement.

  “You think it had something to do with our birth?”

  “We do,” Leesha continued.

  “Oh, they were horrible! I can remember them like it happened yesterday. I remember telling my mom about it after the first one hit me.”

  “You told your mother?” Lexi asked, a little shocked.

  “Well, yeah. It was the worst pain I could imagine. She took me to my pediatrician, who referred me to a specialist. I think I saw four doctors after it was all over, but no one could find anything wrong with me. So we just chalked it up as migraines, which is weird, because I haven’t had any more in quite a while. I thought migraines were something you always had to cope with. Gosh, I hope they don’t come back. Did yours?”

  Leesha shook her head. “No, mine eventually stopped. How many months did yours last?”

  “I guess about a year. They started right after my fourteenth birthday, and by the time I was fifteen, they were gone. I wonder if it was like a hormone thing… Huh. I’ll have to tell Mom you had them too. Anyway, did you see a doctor about it?”

  “Nuh-uh. Did you have any other side effects, Jade?” Leesha continued. Both she and Lexi were anxious to start the next phase of the conversation.

  Jade looked puzzled. “No… What do you mean other side effects?”

  “Anything strange that happened to your body?” Lexi coaxed, without trying to spell it out for her.

  “Um, no. Like what?”

  “Just anything out of the ordinary. Things you could do that you couldn’t before? New skills?”

  “You mean like math?”

  “What?” both Lexi and Leesha looked at each other in utter astonishment. Either this girl was clueless, or she was holding out on them.

  “Um, sure. Like math. Or anything you could do that you weren’t able to prior to the migraines…” Leesha’s forehead was pinched now like she was having a headache all over again.

  “No… Everything was pretty much the same. It was just the migraines.”

  “Oh.” Leesha said, at a loss for words.

  “Okay,” Lexi recognized that her co-conspirator was dumbfounded, so took over the conversation. “Well, thanks for talking to us. We’re still trying to figure out why all of us have had these migraines, so we’ll keep searching. Here’s my cell number, and Leesha’s, if you think of anything else.”

  “Okay,” Jade said brightly. “Well, it was fun getting to know you. My friends would totally get a kick out of knowing we all have the same birthday! Hey… Why don’t you come to my holiday party – it’s this weekend at my house!”

  “I’m not sure I can,” Leesha said, not wanting to waste any more time on a dead end. They still had so much work to do.

  “Oh, please! It’ll be fun. I want you guys to come – you can even bring dates! We’re going to have a dance floor in the basement and everything. Please, you have to come. I won’t take no for an answer… Friday night at 7, okay?”

  “Well, okay,” Lexi said. “I’ll ask my parents if I can come.”

  “You too, Leesha,” Jade prodded.

  “Okay, I’ll see.”

  “Here’s the address, and here’s my phone number if you need directions. Oh, this is great. I can’t wait!”

  They said their goodbyes and both girls were shaking their heads as they climbed into Lexi’s car, not knowing exactly how they got roped into a party with a bunch of strangers. And more perplexing, how was it possible Jade had experienced flashes, but showed no resulting ability…

  They glanced over at Sam and Clint in the truck and just shrugged their shoulders.

  “Explain to me,” Clint looked at Sam, “why the heck they’re going to a party where they don’t know anyone.”

  “I have no idea.”

  Chapter Seven

  “So what was that all about?” Clint said as he flopped down in the living room chair, catching a bottle of water Sam threw at him.

  Leesha shook her head in disbelief. “I have no idea.”

  “I’m stunned. I mean, either whatever the flashes did to her body didn’t work, or she didn’t want to tell us about her abilities.”

  Sam looked at Lexi. “I didn’t get the sense she was lying to you. I read her mind the whole time, and while she sounded like a total flake, she wasn’t thinking about anything supernatural – or hiding it from you. I can’t see how she was holding out on you. I’d have picked up on it.”

  “So, what? She’s powerless?” Clint stood to pace the room. “She had flashes, but no power?”

  “I guess it’s a possibility…” Leesha shrugged. “Though I would think if she was injected with meds, and it threw her body through the transformation, something would have been left behind. I can’t figure it out!”

  Well, how else are we going to find out?

  The room was quiet for a few minutes as each pondered their next move. The sound of the front door opening brought them all out of their contemplation.

  “Oh hi, guys!” Marcy said as she put her purse on the counter. “What’s going on?”

  “Hey, Mom,” Lexi said glumly. “We just went across town to talk to another one of the kids who was in the hospital when we were born.”

  “You found another?” she stopped in her tracks so she could listen to the rest of the story. “What happened?”

  “Nothing,” Sam said. “Nothing at all.”

  “You didn’t talk to her?”

  “We talked to her all right,” Leesha said. “We think we’ve found another one like us. She’s had the flashes, but she doesn’t seem to have a power.”

  “Did you tell her about yours?”

  “No, Mom,” Lexi answered. “We didn’t want to get into it with someone we don’t know very well. For all we know, she’d go blabbing to someone.”

  “Well, do you plan to talk to her again?”

  Lexi and Leesha looked at each other. “I guess we’re going to have to. She kind of talked us into going to a party at her house this weekend.”

  “Well that sounds nice, dear. Will her parents be there?”

  “I suppose so. I can call and ask.”

  “What did you boys think of her?”

  “We didn’t get a chance to talk to her,” Sam said. “Lex and Leesha approached her first. They thought she’d feel outnumbered if we all crashed in on her.”

  “Can’t we get a crack at her?” Clint said. “I’d like to meet her and ask her some questions.”

  “Well,” Lexi smiled, “she did say we could bring dates to the party!”
>
  “That’s a great idea!” Marcy said. “I’d feel much better if you guys all went as a group, especially if you’re going all the way across town. Hey, how does pizza sound for dinner?”

  “Mrs. Dixon,” Clint said, “you feed us way too much…”

  “Nonsense! Besides, Clint, I can hear your stomach growling from over here. And I don’t have super ears!”

  Everyone laughed, and their discussion lightened as they started to plan the weekend’s activity.

  The pizza arrived and the group was just sitting down to the table when Dan came in the door. “Hey! You guys aren’t going to wait for me?”

  “No, Dad. You know the rules. Every man for himself!” Sam shot back.

  “Hi Daddy,” Lexi leaned in to kiss his cheek.

  “Here you go, Mr. Dixon,” Leesha said as she glided a plate toward him, much to his delight.

  “Well, thank you Leesha. I’m glad at least my girls have manners.”

  The Dixon house was becoming a retreat of sorts for the four teens, and Clint and Leesha were becoming more and more comfortable in the family, almost like they were adopted into the Dixon home. The group settled in around the dining room table and began to fill Dan in on their afternoon activities.

  “… yeah Dad, it was almost like she…”

  The sound blurred away from his ears. He was halfway through his first piece of pizza when the burning took over Clint’s body. As if on cue, the three others – signaled by the quick burst in their foreheads – instantly hushed and turned to watch his reaction.

  “AAAHHHHHHH!”

  Clint lunged forward in agony, but had enough presence of mind to stand and take himself somewhere safe, so as not to destroy anything in his wake. He staggered over to the large threshold between the dining room and the living room, free of furniture, and curled into a ball on the floor.

  “What is going on?” Marcy cried, on her feet instantly.

  Lexi knelt down at Clint’s head, rubbing his temples and reminding him to breathe. Sam crouched at his feet, steadying his legs. Leesha rushed to the kitchen sink to wet a washcloth with cold water. All three were an instant flurry of assistance.