The First Prophet (39 page)

Rather to her surprise, Sarah found that his honest aversion didn’t make her feel
like a freak. Or maybe she was just getting so accustomed to this that acceptance
had built its own armor. “Sorry I creeped you out.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. I find this sort of thing happening with alarming frequency
these days. You’d think I’d get used to it.”

Leigh cut in impatiently. “Sarah, were you there? With Tucker?”

She nodded. “It was dark; that’s why it took me so long. I had to feel my way around
until I found the way out.”

Bewildered, Cait said, “I thought the way out was back through Tucker. Leigh said
that’s how you got there, and—”

Sarah didn’t blame her for being confused. “I got there through Tucker, and I came
back through him, but I was looking for a physical way out. One we could use when
we actually—I mean physically—go there.”

There was a part of Sarah that couldn’t believe she was discussing this so calmly
and matter-of-factly. Yet to
another part of her, it seemed perfectly normal and nothing to get upset or excited
about.

“A way out,” Brodie said. “As opposed to a way in?”

Sarah looked at him. “They believe there’s only one way in, and they’re all around
it—that’s the trap they’ve set. I go in, and no matter what happens inside, I can’t
get out, because they close the way behind me. But I found a back door we can use,
an entrance they know nothing about. How we use it depends on the plan we decide on.”

“Where is this place?”

“It’s an old, abandoned church right on the coast. Outside the city, but not too far
away. Tucker is being held in the cellar, and it’s a big one. Lots of rooms and a
rabbit warren of narrow corridors. And there are tunnels spreading out from the church;
I think they were built and used for storage, and to get to other buildings when the
weather was bad. Most of the tunnels are probably caved in now, but one leads through
the rock and out to the beach. At that point, in that place, no one paying attention
to the church would see us go in.”

Brodie frowned. “Do you know how many of them are there?”

Sarah felt herself shiver and looked down to watch gooseflesh rise on her arms. “I…couldn’t
count them. Couldn’t…differentiate between them somehow. Just shadows lurking around
me, and above me in the church. But I know there are several of them, at least. Maybe
half a dozen. And one very close to Tucker, keeping watch.”

“Did they know you were there?” Leigh asked.

“No.” Sarah looked at her. “I was very careful not to
touch any of them. I knew it was vital that they not find out I was there. Because
if they had, they would have killed Tucker immediately.”

“Why?” Cait asked, still baffled.

Softly, Leigh said, “They would have known how she got there. They would have understood
that she was already lost to them, her potential fully realized. Worse, they would
have known that she was able to move among them, unseen. Find out things about them.
They would have had to destroy her. Killing him would be the quickest, easiest way
to do that.”

“If they aren’t psychic,” Cait said, “could they have known she was there?”

Leigh looked at Sarah questioningly.

Slowly, Sarah nodded. “If I had touched any one of them…they would have known. They
may not be psychic, but they—somehow—instantly recognize the paranormal when it comes
into contact with them, I’m sure of that. If they had touched my…my spirit, the energy
of me that was there, they would have sensed and recognized me. And if any one of
them touches me physically, they’ll know I’m connected to Tucker.”

This time, Leigh looked at Brodie. “There’s something new, something we didn’t know.
We can recognize them by touch—and they can recognize us.”

Brodie was still frowning, though he didn’t seem bewildered, just thoughtful. “I’ll
make a note—for future reference. So…we have to get in there and get to Mackenzie
before any of them touch you. What about him? I assume they’ve touched him already.”

“He isn’t a strong enough psychic for them to sense,” Sarah said slowly. “And he doesn’t
yet realize he can tap into my abilities. As long as he doesn’t know that, doesn’t
do that, they can touch him without sensing the connection. But…”

“But?”

“They’ve got him drugged. But if the drug wears off and he becomes conscious, he’ll
reach out to me.”

“You’re sure of that?” Leigh asked.

Sarah nodded. “Positive. When he became briefly conscious hours ago, I reached out
to him. If I’d realized…but I didn’t. I just wanted to touch him, to make sure he
was all right. And just before they drugged him again, he realized what was happening.
When he can think clearly again, he’ll try to reach me. And I can’t close that door.”
I wouldn’t even if I could.

“So they’ll know about the connection if they touch him when he’s conscious.”

“Yes.”

“And will immediately kill him.”

“Yes.”

Brodie raked the fingers of one hand through his hair. “Great. Just great. We have
to get past their guards without any of them touching you in any way, get our hands
on Mackenzie, get him and you out of there without any of them grabbing or even touching
either of you, and get away with our hides intact. And all that’s assuming we can
sneak in and out and that Mackenzie doesn’t wake up and give away the show.”

“That’s what we have to do.”

Cait said, “But if you’re such a threat to them, won’t they just keep coming after
you? I mean, even if we can get Tucker away from them, it won’t be over, will it?”

“No,” Brodie said.

“Duran always backs off once he’s missed his chance,” Leigh disagreed. “Sarah will
have to be careful, of course, because we do know they tend to keep tabs on us. Every
time I participate in one of the psychic fairs in the area, or meet some reporter
for an interview, I can feel one of them nearby. But I haven’t had to look over my
shoulder in years.”

“And I think that’s a mistake,” Brodie said flatly.

Leigh smiled at him. “You worry too much.”

“It’s my job to worry.” He looked at Sarah. “I’m plenty worried now. Even with a back
door they don’t know about, finding Mackenzie sounds like finding the center of a
maze in pitch darkness—without touching any of the walls.”

Sarah looked at him with a certain amount of sympathy but said reassuringly, “I have
an idea. I think.”

He eyed her. “Glad to hear it. Because I’m fresh out.”

“Do you think you could get your hands on a few pairs of those infrared glasses I’ve
seen soldiers wear in the movies? The kind that let you see in the dark?”

His brows rose, but Brodie said, “Given a few hours, I think I might be able to do
that.”

“Good. I don’t know how many we’ll need—enough for all of you.” Almost absently, she
added, “They like the dark, and they can see in it better than we can. I guess they
have the glasses too, or something like them.”

Brodie shook his head slightly but brought her back to the point. “Enough glasses
for all of us. Okay. What about you? Please don’t tell me you’re planning to just
walk into the trap?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Goddammit, Sarah—”

“It’s the only way, Brodie. All their attention has to be on me, or you won’t be able
to get to Tucker. But don’t worry, I don’t have a death wish.” She glanced at Leigh,
who was smiling. “Not anymore.”

“If that’s supposed to make sense,” Brodie said, “it doesn’t.”

“That’s okay. It makes sense to me.” Sarah began to lean forward to tell them all
what she had in mind, but when her hand came to rest on her thigh, she felt something
peculiar. She looked down and, as she lifted her hand slowly, saw the sticky white
threads clinging to her fingers and to the denim covering her thigh.

It was just where she had wiped her hand in the cellar of the church.

Where she had not physically been.

“Sarah? What is it?” Brodie asked.

“Cobwebs,” she murmured. She looked at him and the others, saw their puzzlement, and
said slowly, “I think I have another plan.”

Cait slipped out of the house through the patio door and felt rather than heard Brodie
glide up beside her. “My turn to stand watch,” she said in a low voice. “It’s nearly
three.” She paused, looking up at him as her eyes adjusted to the dark, then said,
“But I don’t know why we’re doing this. You said nobody’s been watching Leigh.”

“As far as we know, that’s true.” His voice was as low as hers. “But they’ve been
on Sarah ever since she left Richmond, so it’s at least possible they know she’s here.
And I wouldn’t put it past Duran to make his move tonight while we’re trying to get
rested and ready for tomorrow. So stay alert, Cait. Keep your gun handy, and don’t
hesitate to raise the alarm if you even suspect something is wrong. If there’s one
thing they hate, it’s attention, but it’s something we can deal with; explaining a
few gunshots to the police is a small price to pay for caution, and it’s a hell of
a lot better than having another psychic taken from under our noses.”

Cait nodded. “Don’t worry, I know the drill.”

“I know you do.” Still, he sounded restless, and unease was reflected in his next
words when he said, “I think I’ll take one more walk around the area, just to be sure—”

“Go to bed, Brodie.” She stared up at his shadowy face and wished she had the nerve
to suggest she join him there. “You haven’t slept more than two or three hours a night
since we got on to Sarah, and you’ll need to be rested when we go after Tucker tomorrow.
I can handle this.”

He hesitated a moment longer, but finally nodded. “Yeah, I’m beat.”

The admission surprised Cait, but she had the sense not to say so. “See you in the
morning.”

“Right.”

When she was alone outside, Cait automatically adjusted the pistol stuck inside her
belt at the small of her back and started to walk the perimeter—Leigh’s front and
back yard. There was no moon, but there were numerous streetlights in the neighborhood,
and they lent the area enough light for her to see fairly well.

Either there were no dogs nearby or else they were no more disturbed by Cait’s almost
silent movements than they had been Brodie’s, because no barking greeted her as she
made her cautious way around the property. In fact, she heard no sounds at all, other
than the usual peaceful night sounds.

She didn’t think too much, just did what she’d been taught to do. Move slowly and
quietly, watch everything, and stay alert. But as time passed, inevitably, she grew
a little bored and found her mind wandering even as she completed yet another walk
around the house.

Which was why she nearly jumped out of her skin when a man stepped out of the tall
shrubs in front of her not two feet from Leigh’s front walkway.

“Shit!”

He chuckled. “Sorry—I thought you saw me coming. You’re Cait, right?”

Her hand on the pistol’s grip relaxed. “Yeah. And you’re—Nick? Tim? I knew Brodie
called in reinforcements, but we weren’t expecting you until morning.”

“Traffic was light.” He stepped closer, his smile a slash of white in the darkness.

There was absolutely no indication that anything was
wrong, but in her head, suddenly, Cait heard Brodie’s implacable words.

Never trust anybody who comes to you in the dark.

She tried to pull her gun, but it never even cleared her belt.

Sarah woke suddenly, her heart pounding. She had no idea what was wrong, but something
was, something was terribly wrong: There had been a scream in her mind. She threw
back the covers and got out of bed, not bothering to find her shoes or put anything
on over the white sleep shirt. And she didn’t turn on the light.

She wasn’t trying to be quiet, so it wasn’t surprising that she woke Brodie hurrying
past his door; she heard a sleepy curse from inside the room but still didn’t pause,
and she was at the bottom of the stairs by the time he reached the top of them.

“What the— Sarah?”

“Something’s wrong,” she flung back over her shoulder, struggling with the front door’s
lock.