Brute Justice (Justice Series) (2 page)

“Got it,” he confirmed. “It’s clearly a disposable phone – no name attached to it, but it’s gotta be him. I’ll trace it here in a bit, see what I can find out.”

Leesha turned to Clint. “So what do you think? Should we just call him, tell him we’ve got his goons?”

Lexi smiled wickedly, catching on. “What do you think he’ll do when he finds out they’ve failed him?”

The two guys sat there, wide eyed. They looked at each other, then back to the group. One shook his head violently while the other one just blinked back tears.

“You guys ready to talk?” Sam barked.

They both nodded.

Sam and Clint reached forward to rip the tape off. Big pink bars of raw flesh marked where the tape had been placed over their mouths.

“What are you guys gonna do with us?” the blonde was the first to speak.

Sam’s face got even redder, his forehead beading with sweat. “Shut up! You’ve asked enough questions today. Now it’s our turn.”

“Easy, man,” Clint said. “Step back a minute.”

“Step back? Dude! He’s been holding my family at gunpoint!”

“And I’m pissed about that too. But calm down just a minute. Tell us what happened.”

Sam took a deep breath, exhaled slowly. “Dad went out to get the newspaper. They followed him back through the garage, led him into the kitchen where the rest of us were.”

Leesha took her hand and gently tilted Dan’s face so she could see the gash above his eyebrow.
 
“What happened here, Mr. Dixon?
 
Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“He’s not fine!
 
That bastard clocked him with the butt of his gun when Dad tried to get them out of the house,” Sam yelled, more in the direction of the men that anyone else.

“What did you want me to do, son?!
 
Stand back while they muscled their way into our house?
 
I wasn’t going to just let them point guns at my family…”

“I know, Dad, but come on…”
 
Sam sighed in frustration and turned back to Leesha and Clint.
 
“They said they were sent to retrieve Charlie’s files.”

“Why would you assume the files were here, instead of my house or Leesha’s?” Clint asked the men.

“His best guess. There are two of you here, plus he’s seen you gather here to work more often than anywhere else.”

“What do you know about the files?”

“Nothing. We were just told to come here and get Rowe’s files from you.”

“And he told you to come with ski masks and guns?” Lexi butted in.

“He said to use force if necessary. We decided the disguises might be smart.”

“Why?”

“We don’t do any job for him in the open anymore. Not after the
Phoenix
fiasco.”

They know about
Phoenix
? Um… Play this right.
“What happened in
Phoenix
?”

“He had two of our associates help him deal with a problem. The job went south and our buddies ended up dead.”

“Who killed them?”

“
Dunno
. No one said. But I heard rumors of some strangers involved.”

“Did you know them?” Leesha looked incredulous.

“Yep. I wouldn’t say we’re friends. But we ran in the same circle, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, I know what you mean,” Leesha paced back and forth, eyeing both of them. “And you really don’t know who killed them?”

“Not a clue. I don’t know anything about the job. Just assumed it got ugly.”

“Oh, I can tell you who killed your friends,” Sam said, emphasizing the word friends with a hint of sarcasm. “I can tell you, ‘cause I watched it go down.”

“Who did it?”

Sam almost sneered. “The good doctor, that’s who. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“You couldn’t have.”

“He did,” Clint said. “Shot ‘
em
both in the back of the head.”

“How’d you guys get away?” The sweat was starting to pour down the temples of the pudgy, dark-haired intruder.

“He never saw us,” Clint answered. “Just like you never saw us until it was too late. Now look… You’ve got a couple of choices here. But my best advice, if you don’t want to end up like your buddies, is to disappear.”

The sound of clicking behind him made Clint turn around. Lexi had her phone in the air.

“If you don’t,” she smiled sweetly, “we’ll show him proof of how good you are at your job.”

Oh man, she’s good.

“So what’s it gonna be? Will you leave here, leave our families alone?” Clint prodded.

They were both silent for a minute, thinking. The blonde raised his head finally. “Yeah. We give. We’re out of here.”

“I don’t want to see your face again,” Clint pushed. He picked up the mangled
Glock
. “You take this, remember who you’re dealing with. You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. Clear?”

“Yeah. Clear.”

“Who are you, anyway?” the pudgy one asked.

“That’s none of your business,” Leesha spat. “And frankly, the less you know, the better off you are.”

“So here’s what’s gonna happen,” Clint said. “I’m going to untie you, nice and easy. Any crap from either of you and I tie you back up and we call the doc.”

They nodded.

“You’re gonna walk out to your car and get the hell out of here. I don’t care where you go, but you better disappear. I’m not kidding. Completely gone. Got it?”

“Uh-huh. We’ll go. You won’t hear from us again. My word.”

Clint huffed slightly, but took his knife out and expertly released both men. Leesha stood guard, but both Lexi and Sam were right beside her. A unified front.

Once clear, the men quickly walked out the door. By the time they hit the sidewalk, they were in a full sprint.

Clint watched them drive off, took a deep breath and turned to face the rest of the group. “Um. Sorry about the door, Mrs. D.”

She looked up from her husband’s wound, which she was dabbing with a tissue. “Would someone please explain to me what just happened here?!”

Chapter Two

“Mom, Dad, have a seat.” Sam motioned to the smallest couch, right next to them. “We need to share something with you. This isn’t going to be easy for you to hear, and we still don’t have all the answers, but it’s time to let you know what’s going on.”

Marcy’s face went white, and her eyes misted with the hint of tears. “Sam, honey, this is all scaring me. What’s wrong?”

Sam thought silently to the three other teens, “Okay gang, her brain’s in hyper mode. She’s going to melt down if we don’t watch it. Lexi, can you help calm her?”

Lexi stood up and walked over to her mother, taking her hand as she sat on the arm of the sofa. “We’re fine, Mom. Just listen and keep an open mind. Please.”

Neither parent said anything, their fear keeping coherent words from forming. They just nodded, a signal for Sam to keep going.

“This is what we know,” he started. “Leesha and Clint were both born at
Sartori
Hospital
on the same day as Lex and me. There was a doctor on rotation in the
OB
at the time – Dr. Carl Blevins – who experimented with us, and possibly other babies.”

“What?!” Marcy’s eyes bulged, and she jumped to the edge of her seat waiting for an answer.

“What do you mean
experimented
?” Dan growled, looking only slightly less ruffled at the news.

“He injected us with a combination of drugs – each of us got a different mixture – which was designed to change the way our brains and bodies function.”

Both parents’ eyes opened wide.

“How could he get to you? How do you know all of this? Dr. Blevins wasn’t even my
OB
, Dr. Hart was!” Marcy rocked forward, questions forming in her mind.

“We’ve been researching this for quite a while, and we finally located one of Dr. Blevins’ resident assistants,” Lexi answered. “Charlie – that’s his name – gave us our charts, so at this point, we know what meds we were injected with and what has resulted from the experiment.” She patted her mother’s hand to try and comfort her. “It’s okay, Mom. We’re fine.”

“How could someone do this to you?” She was panicked, the byproduct of being an overly protective mother.

“What do you mean by results? What has happened to you because of this?” Dan added, also agitated.

Leesha took over the conversation. “It happened to me first. The drugs were designed to stay dormant in our system until our bodies reached physical maturity. Once mine did – I was fourteen – I started experiencing headaches. Just flashes of headaches, very quick ones that went away as abruptly as they started. I think I went through ten or twelve total, and as they progressed, each one was a little longer in length, but less painful. The process took about four months from start to finish.”

“Nicely done, Leesh. Thanks for the gentle touch on that delivery,” Sam projected to her, then turned to his parents to speak out loud. “Mine happened next. They started in October, and the big difference between mine and Leesha’s was the ache reached my whole body, instead of just my head. I had a total of nine, and I’m done now too.”

Ache? Seriously, is that what you’re gonna call it?

Sam’s eyes darted over to Clint when he heard his thoughts. “Shut it, they don’t need to know how painful the flashes are,” he said silently.

“I’m still going through mine,” Lexi added. “My symptoms are much like Sam’s – they reach the entire body. I’ve had eight so far.
 
In fact, I’m having one right now.”

“You are?” Clint’s attention snapped to her. He was clearly concerned for Lexi, his own painful flash from earlier still fresh in his mind.

“Yep! It’s just a dull buzz at this point. This one started on Tuesday, so I’m hoping it’s the last one, as long as it’s hung around.”

Marcy looked at her daughter’s smile and relaxed a bit, seemingly reassured by the casual way she described the symptoms. “So the ache… It goes away? There is an end?”

“Yes, Mom. There is an end.” Lexi patted her hand again. “And Clint… His started a couple of months ago, when we were in
Arizona
.”

“
Arizona
?!” both parents reacted at the same time.

“What do you mean when you were in
Arizona
? When did you go to
Arizona
?!” Marcy’s face was no longer relaxed.

“How did you get to
Arizona
? Why?!” Dan exploded.

“Nice slip, genius…” Sam said silently to Lexi, and she grimaced. “I was
kinda
hoping they’d forget that part.”

“Charlie was in
Arizona
– that’s where we were able to finally make contact with him and get some concrete information on Dr. Blevins’ experiments. Clint flew us down there the weekend we told you we were at a church retreat,” she said, bowing her head slightly with a guilty look plastered all over her face. “Sorry we lied to you, but it was really important to track Charlie down. We needed to get some answers from him, and he was really great about helping us understand and fill in some of the gaps.”

“You have an airplane?” this was too much for Dan to comprehend.

“You two flew with a child behind the wheel?”

This is only getting uglier…

“Yes, sir. My dad and I own an airplane. He’s an excellent pilot instructor and the general manager of Gold Club Private Aero,” Clint addressed them both, trying not to be offended by the “child” comment. “He’s been training me since I was thirteen, and I’ve had my pilot’s license for more than a year now.”

“He’s a great pilot, Mom,” Lexi gushed. “Really, the best…”

Awww
…

Sam gritted his teeth, then forced a fake smile, attempting to get the group back on track. “Let’s try and update them on all of the facts we have, and what we were able to find out from Charlie. You know, bring them up to speed on the research so far.”

The group proceeded to update the
Dixon
parents with the details of their work, each one taking turns telling their part of the story. Little by little, the information was doled out in manageable chunks for Dan and Marcy to digest – the medical, military and prison background of Dr. Blevins, the lists of other newborns and hospital staff members, the medical research conducted by various schools and laboratories, and the information gleaned from their visit in Arizona with Charlie.

“So, this Dr. Blevins,” Dan raised his eyebrow in thought, “he hasn’t contacted you?”

“No.” All four of them shook their heads.

“Why not?”

“We’re not entirely sure,” Sam replied. “Though we don’t think he has honorable intentions for us…”

“What is it he wants from you?”

Sam looked his dad square in the eyes and leveled with him. “Our powers.”

“Your what?” and with that, Marcy Dixon was on her feet.

“Mom, sit down.” Lexi coaxed.

“I will not sit down! What did you mean by that? What powers?”

“Mom, seriously,” Sam insisted. “You need to sit down for this part. Really.”

She didn’t want to, but Marcy sat back down next to her husband, who instinctively put his arm around her in an effortless gesture of comfort. He then turned to Sam. “Okay, explain.”

“Remember how I told you these drugs were designed to change our mind and body?”

They both nodded, unsure of how else to react to this newest development of shocking information.

“The burning in my head,” Leesha explained, “was changing my brain’s makeup. It left behind an additional ability – mine is telekinesis. I can move things with the power of my mind.”

Dan sat forward and tilted his head. His expression was visibly torn between curiosity and disbelief. “You can? I didn’t think such things were possible…”

“I didn’t either, until it happened to me.” She continued cautiously. “Would you like to see?”

Marcy and Dan looked at each other, then back to Leesha. Dan nodded his head.

“Wait,” Marcy interrupted. “Will it hurt you?”

“No, Mrs. Dixon. Nothing hurts anymore. Honest, the pain is gone. And Charlie said it won’t come back – once the transformation is complete, the flashes are over.”

“Okay, then…” she agreed.

Leesha glanced down at the coffee table in front of her and lifted the television remote, gliding it slowly through the air towards the
Dixon
parents. Dan lifted his hand as if to catch it, and she placed it in his upturned palm.

“I can’t believe it. I mean, if I hadn’t just seen it with my own eyes…”

The room was silent for a moment, allowing Marcy and Dan to wrap their heads around what they just saw. Dan just kept shaking his head, looking down at the remote he still held in his grasp. Marcy’s mouth was frozen, half open, and a single tear ran down her cheek.

“Someone did this to you?” Marcy finally broke the silence. “Why?”

“We don’t know, Mom,” Sam said simply. “We won’t know until we can ask him. Dr. Blevins is the only one with the answers, and we may never know… I don’t think he’ll even tell us the truth.”

“You said you each had different drugs administered to you,” Marcy continued. “Does that mean you have different…”

“Abilities?” Sam finished his mother’s question. When she nodded, he answered her question. “Yes. My senses are heightened. My sight, hearing, smell, taste and sense of touch are all amplified. And I’ve got a sixth sense. I can hear thoughts, and project my thoughts into someone else’s mind.”

“Lexi?”

“My ability is the power to make my body matter transparent. Invisibility.”

“Clint?”

“Um… I’m not sure it has a fancy scientific term. It changed my muscles. I’m stronger. We haven’t completely figured out all of the parts to my abilities yet. Mine only just started.”

The room was silent again for a long time as the
Dixon
parents processed all of this. Finally, Dan looked up at the group. “Okay, so what do you need from us? What can we do to help you find the answers?”

Sam stood up and started pacing the room as he thought. “Well, first thing… We need to make sure our homes are safe. We all need to be more aware, band together to protect each other.”

Clint looked up at Sam. “I want to put security alarms on our houses. Are you okay with that?”

“I think it’s a great idea. Do you know what you need? We can go out and get the kits and start installing them today if you want.”

Dan agreed. “I’ll go with you, pay for everything.”

Marcy nodded her agreement, then turned to Leesha and Clint. “Do either of your parents know about any of this?”

“No,” Clint shook his head. “I want to tell my dad, but was hoping to see your reaction first. My pop’s been through a lot, I don’t want to cause him any more grief.”

“That’s very noble of you, but he’ll want to know what’s going on. He needs to know. I sense the four of you have left out a lot of information – probably trying to protect us – but if you’re putting in security alarms, then we all need to be aware of the danger we may be in. It may take all of us to protect one another.”

She’s right. I hate that she’s so perceptive, but she’s right. I gotta tell Dad.

As the ladies headed to the kitchen to start dinner for the group, the guys took off in Dan’s SUV to shop for security alarms. Once they were in the car and out of earshot from his wife, Dan turned to Sam with more questions. “Okay, son, tell me the truth. How serious is this? Guys with guns? Security alarms? How much danger are we in?”

“Dad…” he started, but fell silent. He couldn’t find the words.

“Clint? Level with me.”

“Mr. Dixon, I’ll give it to you straight. This guy is dangerous, and I think we need to have all the precautions we can get to keep our families safe. He’s been tracking our cars by GPS, so he knows where we are at all times. He’s been following Leesha for close to two years now.”