Brute Justice (Justice Series) (10 page)

Chapter Nineteen

“So, Sam, your school is close, right?”

“Yep. Just a few blocks away,” Sam answered Leesha. “Why?”

“I want to test Clint’s strength. Do you think we could use the weight room there?”

“Sure. They keep it open until seven. We can all go – Lex and I will work with Jade there. That way I can keep an eye out for visitors.”

“Good idea. Let’s go.” The five piled back in the truck to head down to Sam and Lexi’s high school.

Sam, Lexi and Jade sat down at a long table by the door and started spreading out notebooks, research documents and Sam’s laptop.

Leesha and Clint took the opposite end of the room, which was filled with an array of sports and exercise equipment.

“Okay Clint, we need to assess the limits of your strength, but I want to try and do it without destroying anything here! First thing’s first, do you lift weights?”

“Yes.”

“Lately?”

“Not in the past couple of months. We’ve been a little busy with other stuff.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Well, let’s get a baseline at least. How much are you able to bench press?”

“A hundred and seventy-five.”

Leesha started writing notes in her steno. “Okay. There you go,” she pointed to the free weight set along the wall. “Set it up.”

Clint made some minor changes to the weights on either side and sat down on the bench.

Crud. Lexi’s right across the room. This could be totally embarrassing! I haven’t done this in weeks.

He laid back and wrapped his long fingers around the etched silver bar.
Here we go…

He expected to feel the familiar push against his chest and arm muscles, burning as they struggled to lift the mass into the air. Instead, the weights were surprisingly easy to push towards the ceiling.

Light as a feather! Holy cow. Why haven’t I tried this earlier?

He sat up and flashed Leesha a triumphant smile. “Easy!”

“Wanna try some more?”

“You bet!” Clint added a 25-pound weight to each end of the bar. He looked nervously up at Leesha. “You got me?”

“Yep. You couldn’t have a better spotter! I’m here if something goes wrong. Go ahead.”

He laid back down and secured his grip. Three deep breaths and he lifted the bar once more.

This is a cinch! Let’s try ten reps and see if it makes a difference…

Nope. No burn at all!

“Clint, it doesn’t even look like you’re straining. Did that feel any different?”

“A little. I could tell there was more weight there, but there really wasn’t much strain at all.”

“More?”

“I’m up for it. Can you?”

“Clint, I’ve lifted a car. I think I can handle a little barbell.”

“Show off.”

She laughed as he began to rearrange the weights again and logged his latest weight into the notebook.

This went on and on for almost an hour. He finally broke a sweat around 450 pounds, but he was easily able to finish three sets of ten.

At 575 pounds, his muscles were finally starting to burn like normal, but he wasn’t ready to quit yet. Leesha quietly stood over him each time he went to lift, each of them concentrating on their own task – Clint’s was simply lifting, Leesha’s was safety control, should something go wrong.

Finally after the last rep – 725 pounds – Leesha started to get concerned. “Clint, your face is really red, and the bar is bowing. I don’t want it to snap. I think we should take a break.”

“Okay. So what next?”

“Well, it’s obvious your strength has been largely amplified. I’d like to see if it affects other areas of your physical activity too.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for instance, can you run faster? Jump higher? I have to believe this change in your body is giving you more than just brute strength.”

Brute strength… I like the sound of that. Makes me sound tough.

He looked up at the ceiling. It was low, especially at his towering height. “You want me to try?”

“I’m not sure putting your head through a ceiling tile is the best idea. Let’s take a breather for now. We can always get into a gym and test your vertical and speed in an environment more suited for that type of activity.”

“But what if I lose them?”

“We’ve got time. Be patient. We’ll get it all figured out.”

“Well, okay,” he nodded reluctantly.

I want answers now!

“We’ve learned a lot about your strength today,” she said encouragingly. “We’ll find out more, I promise. But for now, let’s go see how the others are faring.”

The three were still huddled at their table, oblivious to anything else. Sam was pecking away at his laptop, Lexi questioning Jade and taking notes.

“How’s it going guys?” Leesha approached the table, glancing over Sam’s shoulder at the computer screen.

“Oh, hey Leesh,” Lexi looked up. “I think we’re just about done logging Jade’s history of getting her way, post flashes.”

“Getting my way? That just makes me sound spoiled!”

Well, aren’t you? Duh. Don’t sound so offended.

Sam looked up at Clint, muffling his reaction to only a half smirk. Then his expression sobered. “Dude! What’s wrong with your face?”

Absentmindedly, he reached up to touch his cheek, which was still hot from the activity. He grinned. “Nothing. Just been pumping some iron.”

I may as well sound tough, too.

Sam leaned back in his chair to look beyond Clint at the bench press. When he saw the massive amount of weight on each end, his eyes bulged. “No way! You did not…”

“Yep,” Clint grinned, then decided to milk it a bit more. “It’s a good thing we came here rather than working with your sissy home set-up.”

“Shut up.” Sam hung his head, clearly green with envy.

“He’s giving you a hard time,” Leesha said, patting Sam’s shoulder. “What are you looking at?”

“The different parts of the brain and which sections control the various parts of the body. I was hoping to figure out which part of Jade’s brain has been altered, and then which part of other people’s brains she is tapping into to influence them.”

“What did you find?”

“I’m still reading, but my guess is whatever she was injected with was designed to change her limbic system here,” Sam pointed to the portion of the brain just above the brain stem. “This area of the brain is linked to hormones, drives, emotion and memory formation. I also think her cortex and frontal lobes are affected too. They are closely linked with making decisions and judgments, and I suspect this is where she is accessing her persuasive powers in others.”

“Wow, that’s great stuff, Sam. Good thinking! Hey, send me the link, I want to read more on it tonight.”

“Sure. We can touch base online to discuss if you want”

“Look guys,” Lexi interrupted. “I hate to kill the party, but we’ve got finals this week and I really need to study.”

“Oh right,” Sam agreed. “Plus, Mom and Dad will be home from their dinner soon. The good news is once Christmas break starts this weekend, we’ll have plenty of time to work on this stuff.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll do more research on Sam’s link,” Leesha said. “Jade, can you work on testing your powers?”

“Sure. I’d actually love to!”

“Try and see if you can get people to do something without saying anything to them. Let’s see if you can access your powers mentally.”

“Okay!”

“Lexi?”

“Yeah, Leesh – I’ll type up these notes from Jade’s interview and shoot them your way to review. I’ll also see if I can nail down a work and home address for Sara Milligan.”

“Great. Clint, you continue testing your powers and be sure to log your results just like we did today. And can you keep an eye on the doc?”

“No problem.”

“I will too,” Sam said. “It won’t hurt to have two of us watching, and we both know his patterns. Clint, call me if you see anything suspicious. I’ll do the same.”

“Roger that.”

Chapter Twenty

Clint looked down at his watch as he got off his bike. It was just after seven.

I didn’t know we’d been at it that long. Dad’s home. I’m hungry.

He walked into the kitchen from the garage and found his dad at the table looking over some flight logs.

“Hey bud. Where’ve you been?”

“Over at the
Dixon
’s.”

“It’s dark. I was starting to wonder.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Hank’s forehead creased as he shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess I should have.”

“What’s wrong, Pop?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not sure how to explain it. I guess it’s just... Well… I’m not used to worrying about you. And I know I’m probably overreacting, and I don’t want to nag you every minute of the day, but I need to know you’re safe.”

“Dad, I’m sorry. I should have called. I didn’t know you’d be home so early, and I didn’t want to bother you at work.”

“I know. I’m gone all the time. I’m a screw-up as a father, leaving you to take care of yourself all the time.” He bowed his head, not meeting Clint’s eyes.

“Dad! You are not a screw-up. You’re the best father a kid could have. I thought when we lost Mom, my life was over. You got me through that.”

“We got each other through.”

“Exactly. We’re a team, you and me. And you’re always here when I need you.”

“I just can’t believe I let this happen to you. And I hate worrying about you all the time. Makes me feel like a woman…”

“Ha!” Clint grinned at his dad’s gritty sense of humor as he reached into the fridge for a frozen dinner. “I’ll tell you what… Let’s you and I make a point to touch base more often, okay?”

Hank’s face relaxed a little. “Sounds great, bud. So, you don’t mind if your old man calls to nag you about where you are?”

“Nope. Honestly Dad, I’m worried about you too. Hey, do you know how to text?”

“What?”

“Never mind, I’ll teach you. That way if you can’t call, you can send a note from your phone to mine.”

“You can do that?”

“Oh, Dad… For someone who can fix, fly and control all things related to planes, I can’t believe you’ve never sent a text message!”

They laughed and the room got silent for a moment.

“Clint, there’s something else I need to talk to you about.”

“Yeah?”

“Mr. Fishman wants me to go to
Denver
and train his new general manager at the hanger there.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“He wants me to leave this weekend, and I’ll need to be gone for two weeks. I don’t want to be gone that long, not now, not over the holidays. I should tell him no.”

“Actually, Dad, I think it’s a good idea if you go. You’ll be out of the area, so I’ll know you’re safe. And you can’t tell your boss no.”

“But what about you?”

“You know I can take care of myself. Besides, the next couple of weeks I’m out of school, so will be spending a bunch of time with Sam and the girls working on tracking down more information.”

“Safety in numbers?”

“Absolutely. Plus, this will give us a good excuse to work on our communication skills. Really Dad, go. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“I am.”

“Well, I’ll leave plenty of cash and the Bronco if you need backup transportation. And Lucy will be in the hangar, if you need her.”

Clint smiled, stabbing at his dinner. Lucy was their pet name for the Cessna he and his father had rebuilt together.

“Thanks Dad. It’ll be fine. I promise.”

Ugh…I hate literature. Who really needs to read this crap anyway?

Clint flung his copy of
Julius Caesar
on the floor and focused his attention on the computer screen. The blip on the map had been there now for just short of two hours. He picked up the phone.

“Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you been watching the GPS?”

“Yep. He’s at the third location, isn’t he?”

“Looks like.”

“What were the streets we looked at for that house?”

Clint opened the map, checked the notes. “
Ravenswood Court
and
Edgewood Circle
.”

“Hang on, Clint. Got a hunch.”

Clint paused as his end of the phone went silent. He heard Lexi’s muffled voice in the background, but couldn’t make out anything she was saying.

When Sam came back to the line, he was just laughing.

“What was that all about?”

“Lex finally got a bead on Sara Milligan’s home address.”

“Uh-huh… And?”

“She lives at
1517 Ravenswood Court
.”

“No way. That was her house, the third location?”

“Yep.”

“And this is the chick who was visiting him in prison?”

“Sure was. And other than Charlie, she’s the only person we’ve been able to track down from his past.”

“Looks like we need to pay Ms. Milligan a visit, don’t you think?”

“Yeah,” Sam said pensively. “But if she’s involved with him –”

“We have to believe she’s involved with him. He’s spending nights there.”

“Exactly. Anyway, that being the case, she’s likely to be on the defensive. Especially if she’s connected to the research project.”

“Huh. I hadn’t thought about that.”

“I’ll bring Lexi and Leesha up to speed, and let’s all sleep on this,” Sam said. “We’ll need to come up with a plan. I’d like to try and make contact with her this weekend. Or at least during break.”

“What about Jade?”

“Well, I hate to admit it, but she may be our key to extracting information out of her.”

“Can’t you tap into her mind?”

“Maybe. But she can probably help in getting her to talk or think about whatever it is we need to know.”

“I just wish we had a better handle on controlling her powers,” Clint pointed out.

“Yeah, me too.”

“Looks like we’ve got some work to do.”

“Sure does.”

They hung up the phone and three minutes later Clint’s phone beeped. He picked it up to read Sam’s text:

Meet at our house after school.