Haunted (A Bishop/SCU Novel Book 15) (23 page)

(in order of appearance)

HOLLIS TEMPLETON—FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent, profiler

Adept:
Medium—with “bells and whistles.” Perhaps because of the extreme trauma of Hollis’s psychic awakening (see
Touching Evil
), her abilities tend to evolve and change much more rapidly than those of many other agents and operatives, with some entirely new abilities triggered by the stresses and/or events of an investigation. Even as she struggles to cope with her mediumistic abilities, each investigation in which she’s involved seems to bring about another “fun new toy” for the agent, though the events of
Hostage
may have stabilized her abilities.

Appearances:
Touching Evil, Sense of Evil, Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, Blood Ties, Haven, Hostage, Haunted

REESE DEMARCO—FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent, pilot, military-trained sniper; has specialized in the past in deep-cover assignments, some long term

Adept:
An “open” telepath, he is able to read a wide range of people. He possesses an apparently unique double shield, which sometimes contains the unusually high amount of sheer energy he produces. He also possesses something Bishop has dubbed a “primal ability”: He always knows when a gun is pointed at or near him, or if other imminent danger threatens.

Appearances:
Blood Sins, Blood Ties, Haven, Hostage, Haunted

MIRANDA BISHOP—FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent, investigator, profiler, black belt in karate, and a sharpshooter

Adept:
Touch-telepath, seer, remarkably powerful and possesses unusual control, particularly in a highly developed shield capable of protecting herself psychically, a shield she’s able to extend beyond herself to protect others. Shares abilities with her husband, due to their intense emotional connection, and together they far exceed the scale developed by the SCU to measure psychic abilities.

Appearances:
Out
of the Shadows, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, Blood Ties, Hostage, Haunted

DEACON JAMES—FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent

Adept:
Empath. A rare male empathy, Deacon has a solid shield and is seldom blindsided by the emotions of others; even when he “tunes in,” he is able to tap into less than half of the people he encounters. His is an ability he was born with, not one triggered later in life, so he has fair control.

Appearances:
Haunted

NOAH BISHOP—FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Unit Chief, profiler, pilot, sharpshooter, and trained in martial arts

Adept:
An exceptionally powerful touch-telepath, he also shares with his wife a strong precognitive ability, the deep emotional link between them making them, together, far exceed the limits of the scale developed by the FBI to measure psychic talents. Also possesses an “ancillary” ability of enhanced senses (hearing, sight, scent), which he has trained other agents to use as well. Whether present in the flesh or not, Bishop always knows what’s going on with his agents in the field. Always.

Appearances:
Stealing Shadows, Hiding in the Shadows, Out of the Shadows, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Sleeping with Fear, Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, Blood Ties, Haven, Hostage, Haunted

TONY HARTE—FBI SPECIAL CRIMES UNIT

Job:
Special Agent, profiler

Adept:
Telepath. Not especially strong, but able to pick up vibes from people, particularly emotions.

Appearances:
Out of the Shadows, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Sleeping with Fear, Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, Blood Ties, Haven, Hostage, Haunted

(as Classified/Defined by Bishop’s Team and by Haven)

Adept
:
The general term used to label any functional psychic; the specific ability is much more specialized.

Clairvoyance
:
The ability to know things, to pick up bits of information seemingly out of thin air.

Dream-projecting
:
The ability to enter another’s dreams.

Dream-walking
:
The ability to invite/draw others into one’s own dreams.

Empath
:
An empath experiences the emotions of others, often up to and including physical pain and injuries.

Healing
:
The ability to heal injuries to self or others, often but not always ancillary to mediumistic abilities.

Healing empathy
:
An empath/healer has the ability to not only feel but also heal the pain/injury of another.

Latent
:
The term used to describe unawakened or inactive abilities, as well as to describe a psychic not yet aware of being psychic.

Mediumistic
:
Having the medium’s ability to communicate with the dead.

Precognition
:
A seer or precog has the ability to correctly predict future events.

Psychometric
:
The ability to pick up impressions or information from touching objects.

Regenerative
:
The ability to heal one’s own injuries/illnesses, even those considered by medical experts to be lethal or fatal. (A classification unique to one SCU operative and considered separate from a healer’s abilities.)

Spider sense
:
The ability to enhance one’s normal senses (sight, hearing, smell, etc.) through concentration and the focusing of one’s own mental and physical energy.

Telekinesis
:
The ability to move objects with the mind.

Telepathic mind control
:
The ability to influence/control others through mental focus and effort; an extremely rare ability.

Telepathy (touch and non-touch or open)
:
The ability to pick up thoughts from others. Some telepaths only receive, while others have the ability to send thoughts. A few are capable of both, usually due to an emotional connection with the other person.

UNNAMED ABILITIES INCLUDE:

The ability to see into time, to view events in the past, present, and future without being or having been there physically while the events transpired.

The ability to see another person’s aura, or energy field.

The ability to channel energy usefully as either a defensive or an offensive tool or weapon.

For those readers who wish to “place” each of these stories in time, I should explain that—in order to not age my characters too quickly—I have not set these books in real time, but in “story” time. Roughly speaking, each trilogy within the series takes place within the space of a year or a bit less.

In simple terms, if you look at the information offered below, you’ll see that from the time the Special Crimes Unit was formally introduced in
Out of the Shadows
until the events in this story,
Haunted
, only about four years have passed
within the series.
(The Special Crimes Unit was being built and developed by Bishop for about three or four years prior to that, but in
Out of the Shadows
, the story of the unit, of Bishop and his team, really begins.)

Stealing Shadows
—February

Hiding in the Shadows
—October/November

YEAR ONE:

Out of the Shadows
—January (SCU formally introduced)

Touching Evil
—November

YEAR TWO:

Whisper of Evil
—March

Sense of Evil
—June

Hunting Fear
—September

YEAR THREE:

Chill of Fear
—April

Sleeping with Fear
—July

Blood Dreams
—October

YEAR FOUR:

Blood Sins
—January

Blood Ties
—April

Haven
—July

Hostage
—October

YEAR FIVE:

Haunted
—February

1
Hostage

2
Blood Ties

3
Blood Sins

4
Blood Sins

5
Blood Ties

6
Blood Ties