Wages of Sin part 3b

Danae

Disclaimers/Warnings: see part 1

Morning came too soon for any decent sleep and yet not soon enough for worried minds. Devereaux paced the room, muttering at his cell phone. Jim stared through the open door into the other room, though he had not attempted to cross that threshold again. Simon stared at Jim.

“Are we going to talk now?”

“What do you want to know, Simon?”

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“When? Then or now?”

“Both, all of it.”

“Simon, when I got back from Peru, I thought I was going crazy. In the jungle, somehow being able to do what I do, did, seemed not so strange. Hell, it was a necessity. But when I got back, everything was just too much. You remember how I was when my senses came back on line. Take that and multiply it several times over. Everything was wide open all the time. Rose was the shrink they sent me to. When he actually believed me, I was shocked but very relieved. Everyone else thought I had Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Then when he found some explanation for it all, I thought the guy was a miracle worker. Enter Colonel Maxwell Adler. He convinced me that the best thing I could do with myself, with my abilities, was to use them to defend my country. But as we worked on my control, it was obvious that something was wrong. So Rose said he knew how to fix it but it was going to take some time. They had to train somebody to help me. I had no idea just exactly what that meant. I had no idea about Blair; I swear it. Anyway, I signed an agreement that I would come back to the project when they had my ‘guide’ ready. Then Rose used hypnosis to repress my memories and my senses. He said it was for my protection. Then they came back early, the senses, I mean. A little bit of fate and a little bit of orchestration on their part and Blair enters the picture and becomes my guide just like they planned. Then I screwed up with Alex. They got worried. I got this phone call and suddenly, everything came back to me. I should have just gotten the hell out of Dodge then and there but I couldn’t. I was a soldier. I followed orders.”

“So you figure you’d hang Sandburg out to dry right along with you?”

“No! I never intended for this to happen. But the few times I spoke with Rose, he seemed too interested in Blair and I got scared. I tried to put some distance between us. I thought that if I treated Blair like he wasn’t, god, how do I say this without sounding like a jackass?”

“Too late. Just say it.” Simon knew his words had to hurt but he was angry and getting angrier by the minute.

“I thought if I treated Blair like he wasn’t important, like he was more a nuisance than a guide, they’d lose interest in him. But then again, I didn’t know they had chosen him. And I had forgotten something very important about Blair. Push him and he pushes back.” Jim chuckled and Simon could not help the small grin on his face. “The harder I pushed him away, the more determined he seemed to be to stay. I tell you, Simon, if I were him, I’d have told me where to go and been gone. And then the dissertation became public. I lost it. I couldn’t even think straight. I mean, what was worse? Having the world think you’re a freak or becoming a not-so-top-secret government project? Either way, I lose. And just when I was about to become a Peruvian, the kid threw his life away for me and what do you do in that situation? I have my life, however screwed up, but he’s a fraud. The project wasn’t exposed anymore so I figured I could smooth it over with Adler and Rose. We got Blair in the Academy so at least he’d have a job and I’d have my guide. I didn’t lose anything that way. Never mind that he hated the Academy and he didn’t want to carry a gun. Damn firearms instructor wouldn’t leave him alone and he wouldn’t let me help. He was going to do it for me and I was going to let him. And then, Adler picked him up from the freaking Academy and Rose called me in. If I had known, Simon, if I had known--”

“You’d have been a Peruvian. And what about Blair? Were you going to throw him to the wolves so you could make good your escape?”

“What? Of course not. How could you think that?”

“Devereaux got his hands on a copy of your file, Jim. The file mentions a plane ticket to Peru they found in a safety deposit box. A plane ticket, as in one.”

Jim frowned at him. “Got a real good opinion of me, Simon.”

“Jim, what the hell am I supposed to think? You certainly didn’t give me any clues to go on and that file was pretty damning.”

“Well, just so you know I’m not a monster, apparently Rose was not as thorough as he thought he was. I figured he had found everything when he mentioned the tickets to me. There was a separate box for Blair. Tickets, passport, identification, money, everything he’d need if they got to me before him. My lawyer has a letter that would have come to you with the key and instructions.”

Simon sighed with relief. “I should have known. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I can imagine how it looked, especially after the way I had been acting lately.”

“So you didn’t trust Rose? You thought he might go after Blair?”

“I wasn’t sure. I thought I had it under control. I thought they were happy with the way things were going again. Then Rose called and told me to come in. I was already looking for the lawyer’s number in my wallet when he told me that they had Blair already. Shit, Simon, I played right into their hands and in the process, delivered Blair to them too. Incacha was right. I don’t deserve him.” He paused and Simon did not know what to say to fill the silence. “You know,” Jim continued, “the funny thing is, if Blair hadn’t renounced his dissertation to save my sorry ass, they wouldn’t have dared to touch us. The publicity would have assured our safety. At least for a while. But I couldn’t see that at the time. I could only think of myself. And then when it was over, I felt like shit because I was more important to him than his doctorate and his reputation and here I was keeping this shit from him, lying to him, and treating him like crap to boot.”

“Well, I can’t say that I like the way you handled this, but I can understand you felt like you were between a rock and a hard place. And I feel a lot better knowing that you did at least try to make some arrangements to try to protect the kid.”

Devereaux’s cell phone rang then, startling both of them. They turned their attention to the man who was practically growling into the phone. “It’s about fucking time, Ron. Tell me good news.” After that opening, the man grunted a few times, sighed a lot, and grabbed his hair in frustration. “Is that the best you can do?” he snapped. “I don’t like it. I don’t fucking like it, Ron. I don’t trust them and I sure as hell don’t trust you.” Another pause and another handful of hair. “None of this makes sense. Why? Explain the reasoning behind this.” He shook his head. “Okay, Ron. We’ll do this your way. Just keep in mind, if anything happens to Jim or me, Kit can get to you anywhere you go, no matter what you do and Alex can and will take great pleasure in ending your miserable existence. This had better not be a double-cross.” He hung up. “It’s a double-cross. I know it is.”

“What?” Simon had not noticed Riviera and Chase standing in the doorway. Riviera had asked the question.

“Jim, they want us to come in. Just you and me. We supposedly have to testify to what happened to a Pentagon inquiry board.”

“Sounds similar to the original deal to me,” Simon spoke up.

“Yeah, well, that was before I found out Ron had his thumb in the pie. I really didn’t like that deal before really but I figured, it’s the Pentagon; they generally don’t make sense.”

“Why just you and Jim?”

“Because, Captain, Ron wants me at arm’s length and they want a sentinel and Barnes is gone.”

“Then don’t go. We got tickets to Tahiti. Let’s use ‘em,” Riviera said calmly.

“No, I’m going. I want my life back,” Jim announced.

“Jim, you aren’t going to get your life back here. I’m beginning to believe that you were never going to get your life back. I know Ron MacNamara. The man is a snake, and if he’s running the show, and I think he is, they are going to lock you up and throw away the key.”

“I’m not a sentinel anymore. They won’t have a use for me. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll realize that and it’ll be over.”

“Wishful thinking,” Chase stated.

Jim shot him a venomous look. “You don’t have to go with me, Pete.”

“No, I’m not going to let Ron win this one. I’m going with you. Kit, I need you to go get Alex.”

“Excuse me? Alex?” Simon grabbed Devereaux’s arm.

“Not that Alex. My Alex. He’s a demolitions expert, marksman, all around kick ass kind of guy.” He turned back to Chase who was shaking his head. “He’s at his cabin. Tell him I need him in Washington. What? What’s with the head shaking here?”

“Send Jesse. I need to stay here.”

“I can’t send Jess! You’ve said it yourself. Jesse’s a city boy. It would take him twice as long to get to him. You know what you’re doing in the mountains and you know Alex’s booby traps. Kit, please, don’t argue with me here. Captain Banks is going to take good care of Blair and you can be back in a few days.”

“Shit! Jesse, come with me.” Chase stormed out of the room. Riviera shrugged and then disappeared after him.

“I’m going to pay for this for a while,” he muttered absently. “Okay, Jim. We need to go.”

“Now?”

“Yeah. Ron’s got our transportation waiting for us at the base in Everett.”

“I need to make some arrangements for Blair. I need--”

“Jim, I’ll take care of Blair.”

“Simon, he’s catatonic. You can’t handle him like this. Okay, I’ll call my lawyer and tell him to give you the key to the safety deposit box. Use the money and get him some help. A private hospital, Simon, not the state facility. And maybe Jade would take him on.”

Simon nodded. Jade was his first thought as well. He had been dating the psychologist for quite a while and she knew both Jim and Blair. “He’ll be okay, Jim. Just hurry back.”

“I’ll try. Can’t make promises though. Pete might be right. As a matter of fact, more than likely, he’s right. I may not come back.”

“Don’t think that way, Jim. The kid needs you. You have to come back.”

“Blair doesn’t need me. I am the last thing Blair needs. I did this to him.”

“Then you have to come back so you can make it up to him,” Simon told him.

Jim nodded solemnly.

“Okay, then let’s get moving, Jim.”

“I need a minute, Pete. With Blair. Alone.”

“Look, Jim. I guess I should explain about Kit. He thinks he’s been appointed by some spirit Indian guy to protect Blair. He’s not really a jerk, and I don’t think he would have actually shot you or anything. Well, maybe… no, I’m sure he wouldn’t have. Anyway, he’s into all this mysticism stuff. His grandfather, nice old man but a little touched, is some kind of shaman or something and Kit, well, he’s just Kit. I’m getting used to the weirdness. Or trying to anyway.”

“Spirit Indian, huh?” Jim closed his eyes. Incacha. He was sure of it. That just left one question. Was Kit Chase a sentinel? Okay, so there were a lot more questions than just that one but that one affected the answers to all the others Jim had. If he was sentinel, why did Jim not sense him? That one was easy and he answered it himself. Jim was no longer a sentinel. If Chase was a sentinel, would he take Blair away? Had he already? Then again, Jim had given Blair away, handed him over. If Blair was to be Chase’s new guide then Jim had no one to blame but himself. The earth moved under his feet suddenly and Jim grabbed onto the nearest thing to keep from falling. The nearest thing was Simon’s arms as the older man already had a hold on him. Jim blinked and realized that the earth had not moved, he had as his captain shook him. “What? I’m here. What?”

“I thought you zoned,” the man told him.

He laughed ruefully. “Simon, I’m not a sentinel anymore. Technically, I can’t zone. Just thinking.” He turned to Pete Devereaux again. “I just want to say goodbye, Pete and I want Chase out of the way for just a few minutes, okay. I hear what you’re saying about the man, and on some level, I do understand. However, this may be the last time I see my best--” he hesitated. Did he have the right to claim Blair as a friend? Much less a best friend? “I just need a few minutes. I won’t hurt him, you know that.”

Pete sighed. “I know that. Of course, I know that. I’ll talk to Kit and get him out of the way.”

“Thanks.” Jim watched the man leave the room.

“Are you okay?” Simon asked.

“No. I’m definitely not okay. Quick question. Have you seen any evidence that Chase is a sentinel?”

“What?” Simon looked genuinely puzzled then he seemed to turn inward to examine his memories. “No. But then you would know someth— Oh, I guess not.” Simon almost sounded disgusted.

“Yeah. I know you don’t understand it, Simon. I’m sorry.”

His friend waved the apology away. “Guess that explains why you didn’t sense Barnes in the complex, too.”

“No, actually, it doesn’t. But I can explain that. At first, I was surprised too but then I remembered. After the grotto, I couldn’t sense her. She lost her mind that day but she also lost the ‘title’ of sentinel and the senses that went with it. Apparently, Rose thinks that he can fix her but I can tell you that he hasn’t made much if any progress. I couldn’t feel Barnes because she’s no longer a sentinel. Ironic, isn’t it? She abused her power and paid for it with her mind and her abilities. I abused mine and now it’s going to happen to me too. My abilities are gone and my mind won’t be far behind, Simon. If the CIA and Pentagon don’t finish me off, living with what I’ve done to Blair will.”

“Jim, don’t talk like that. Blair will be okay. You’ll be okay. When you get back, you and Blair can work this out.”

“Simon, you’ve seen him. Blair is not okay.”

“You can reach him. You’ve done it before. He was dead and you brought him back. Hell, this should be easy. He’s at least alive this time. Bring him back from this, Jim. You can. You are probably the only one who can.”

“And if I can’t? What then?”

“I refuse to even consider that possibility.”

Jim did not get a chance to respond as Kit Chase stormed into the room. “He’s afraid of you. Do you understand? And he’s pissed as hell at you. If you provoke him, I think he’ll attack you. Just keep your damn distance and for god’s sake and yours, don’t touch him.”

“How do you know all this?” Jim asked him.

Chase turned to glare at Pete who was standing in the doorway between the two rooms. “I saw it. Pete thinks I’m nuts but you know better, don’t you, Black Jaguar?”

“Damn,” Simon whispered.

Jim was taken aback himself. “I know.”

Chase nodded. Then as suddenly as he entered the room, he left it. The door slammed behind him hard enough to make Jim blink.

“Jess,” Pete called to his other operative and Riviera came into the room, brushing past Pete and glancing at Jim as he plopped down on the bed. He was no happier than Chase apparently.

That left Blair alone in the room and Jim found that he was now reluctant to enter and face the man he had so wronged. He took a deep breath and braced himself for whatever would happen, whatever he would see. He stepped into the room and over to the unoccupied bed. He sat down on it and gazed at the figure in the bed across from him. Evidently, Jess and Chase had been in the process of getting him cleaned up and dressed. Blair was sitting on the edge of one of the beds. His hair hung around his face in heavy, wet curls. He was still only wearing boxers but they were not the military issue ones Jim had seen on his guide in the compound. A tie-dyed t-shirt lay beside him along with an unfamiliar pair of jeans with holes in the knees. Jesse’s clothes, Jim realized. That would work. The young mercenary was about the same size as Blair, a little taller but it would work. Jim’s hands ached to reach out and gently dress the still, silent man who had been his guide. Had been. Jim remembered his own hard words that had severed that connection. Not me, Sandburg. I have a guide. You’ll be training my new guide. His chest felt tight and his mouth was dry as he struggled to draw in a breath. His own fault. Time to face it. Up until now, he had only gotten brief glimpses of Blair before Chase intervened, and most of those were in the dark. He focused his eyes on the results of his betrayal. It did not matter that his eyes were no longer gifted with sentinel acuity. The injuries did not need sentinel sight to detect.

Blair Sandburg’s entire body was peppered with bruises. Some of them were hand shaped; the fingers clearly defined in shades of blue, purple and green. Others were more square-shaped. Jim closed one hand into a fist and stared down at it. It fit the shape perfectly. So well in fact that it could have Jim’s own fist that caused them. He supposed that in a way, it had. Then there were Blair’s arms. Both arms were marked from the crook of the elbow almost down to the wrist with needle marks. Jim tried to count them but his vision was blurring. When the first tear spilled over, he realized why. He swiped at his face impatiently then continued his examination, burning the memory of each injury into his brain. He stopped, however, before he reached Blair’s face. He was not ready to see those empty eyes again. Instead, he stood and circled around the bed. More bruises covered Blair’s back. He had lost at least 20 pounds, too. Jim swallowed back the threat of more tears. He sat down in the chair behind him and just stared.

He was waiting, he realized, for some sort of sign. He wanted Incacha to show up and tell him it was all a dream. He wanted Blair to suddenly turn around and tell him that it was all over and that they could move on. Even that damned cat would be a welcome sight, but none of those things happened. Incacha had deserted him. Blair did not move, did not speak. The cat was gone. Jim looked up and caught sight of the mirror across the room. The reflection staring back at him took his breath away. Blair’s eyes, the empty eyes Jim feared, were there, unseeing but somehow seeing far more than Jim had ever seen. He could not explain the feelings but he knew in that moment that while he might not be a sentinel, Blair was still a shaman. The shaman in Blair had retreated into his visions to a place where he felt relatively safe or at least protected, the temple. But Blair was still a guide as well, a guide abandoned by his sentinel. Jim wondered what kind of damage that would do. He knew what being without a guide did to him but what did being without a sentinel do to a guide? He made it sound so nice. He phrased it so well. Being without a sentinel. Try being tossed away by a sentinel. He would have laughed at himself if he had not been so held by those eyes. “I’m so very sorry, Blair.”

Was it his imagination or did Blair’s head tilt just slightly to the right? Jim got up and sat down behind the younger man on the bed. He did not reach out to touch. He wanted to but he did not dare. “Can you hear me, Blair? Come on, Chief, please, let me know.”

Jim checked the reflection for response. He got one that would haunt him, he knew, for the rest of his life. Blank blue had given way to a depthless well of sadness, darkening and swirling with pain. He had always thought that Blair’s eyes gave his thoughts and emotions away. Never had he imagined, could he have imagined, though, the power, the force of that seemingly innocent gaze. Jim felt himself being swept down into the whirlpool of grief and guilt, pain and fear, anger and loneliness. If he did not know better, later he would swear that he had zoned on Blair’s eyes. But only a sentinel zoned.

The sob took him quite by surprise. What would his father think? An Ellison reduced to sobbing like a child over a broken toy. The thought brought forth yet another sob. It was one of his greatest fears. When he had first met Blair, when the younger man was just this wild-eyed, frantic grad student in search of a research subject, he feared being Blair’s toy. Later, when Blair was offered Borneo, a new toy, Jim feared he would be the abandoned, forgotten toy. Still, later when he lost his senses, would he be the broken toy? But no, each time, Blair proved to be loyal. It was about friendship, after all. That was what he had said after Peru when he turned down Borneo. Maybe not at first it had not been but later, it had. Besides, if Jim needed proof that Blair loved him, he had gotten it standing in front of the TV at the station as Blair threw his life, his doctorate and his reputation away in trade for Jim’s life, his privacy, his—what? Pride, he admitted. Jim was no toy to Blair Sandburg.

But what was Blair Sandburg to Jim? At first, a means to an end. He would have berated himself for that truth but it had applied to both of them in the beginning. Dissertation in exchange for control, a deal, nothing more. Later, a roommate. Not that he was thrilled about that. He certainly had made it hard on both of them with his rigidity at first. Then somehow a friend. Then a partner. Then family. Then the phone call came and what was Blair to Jim then? He thought of all the things he had done and all the things he should have done and did not and somehow, some way, he arrived back at the toy analogy. When he needed Blair, he pulled him close. When he did not, he shoved him away. Like a teddy bear maybe. Play with it then throw it in a box until you wanted to play with it again. Well, his teddy bear got broken, ripped and torn, because of his own foolishness and selfishness. Now, Jim was left with the tattered remnants of a once colorful and beautiful thing. Only it was not a thing, not a toy. It was a human soul and Jim was its destroyer. Why? A simple question seemingly, but one with no simple answer. His only defense was that he thought he had it all under control. He thought he could work it out somehow. He did not know how but he had contingency plans. One way or another, he would be fine and Blair would be fine and life would go on. Never had he been more wrong about anything. And Blair paid the lion’s share of the price for his mistake.

“I do love you, Blair. You were my brother. Are my brother, if you still want the title. If I get out of this mess, I want to try to make things right with you. Do you hear me? Will you give me the chance, Chief? I swear, I’ll do whatever it takes.” He raised one hand to touch but stopped short, letting it hover for a tiny moment over the drying curls at Blair’s neck. He got up then before he was tempted to do more and forced himself to march out of the room without looking back.

“Ready?” Pete asked.

“As I’ll ever be. Let’s get this shit over with. Take care of him, Simon.” Jim tried to keep moving past his captain and out of the hotel room’s outer door but the big man stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. There was no force behind it. Jim could have kept going but the gentleness stopped him better and faster than force could have. He could not meet Simon’s eyes. Not for fear of censure but for fear that he would once again lose control of his ragged emotions. Simon’s other hand appeared and grasped his and he accepted the handshake. That much he could do. But the hug was too much. He saw it coming. He could feel the pull and he could not allow it. It would shatter him. He pulled away before Simon could trap him in his big arms and ducked out the door. Two steps and he came face to face with Kit Chase. He nodded tersely and moved around him as well. It was done. If Chase could help Blair, then so be it. Jim Ellison was not likely to return anyway. Pete would try to save him. Oddly, he had no doubts about that when there was a time he would not have trusted the man to help him across the street. But as surely as he knew Pete would try, he knew he would fail.

The silence in the rental car was depressing. Jim and Peter Devereaux were gone. Kit Chase had been dropped at the airport and Simon was left with Jesse Riviera, a kid that he barely knew, and what was left of Blair Sandburg. Riviera just sat in the passenger’s seat, staring either out the window or over the seat to where Blair lay. Simon kept his eyes on the road for the most part. He could not help the few furtive glances into the back seat though. His mind raced with the unpleasant thought of following Jim’s wishes. He would have to use his power of attorney to have Blair committed to a private facility. There was River Haven right outside Cascade, though Simon had always questioned the wisdom of building a mental hospital right on the banks of a river. It had a good reputation all the same and to Simon’s knowledge, they had never lost a patient to a drowning in the river. Jade thought highly of their drug rehab program. She had never mentioned anything beyond that, but River Haven was the closest, and Simon wanted the kid close. He would have to make sure they did not have too many restrictions on visitation, because he intended to be there quite a bit. Then when Jim came back, they would find a way to bring the kid back to them and this whole nightmare would be over.

He could not stand the silence any longer. “You know, Riviera, you could head on home. I can take care of Blair.”

“You’ve already said that at the airport. No thanks. Besides, Pete doesn’t want me in D.C. right now. He thinks I’m safer not going back right now. He offered me L.A. but I want to stick around with Blair.” He laughed a little then. “And Kit wanted me to make sure you didn’t screw things up.”

“What?!”

“He didn’t mean anything bad by it--”

“Arrogant, little--”

“Captain Banks, he knows you mean well. He just thinks that you’re like Pete. You don’t believe in the same things that Kit does and that you don’t or won’t understand because of that. He knows you wouldn’t hurt Blair intentionally.”

Simon shook his head. “This would be all that vision stuff, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he’s right. I don’t understand it but I believe that Jim and Blair believe it. So, I just go along. I’ve gotten used to the strange stuff after damn near four years.”

Jesse smiled. “Well, okay then. First thing, are there any apartments near you? I’ll need one close by.”

“Why?”

“So I can help you with Blair.”

Simon was stunned. “Um, Jesse, I don’t think you understand. Jim wants me to put Blair in a private hospital until he gets back.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You can’t do that. He doesn’t need a hospital. He’ll be fine. When Kit gets back, he’s gonna try to fix this and if he can’t, he’s gonna call his grandfather.”

“No, Jesse. I’m going to get Blair the help he needs. He needs real psychiatric help, not mumbo-jumbo and herbs.”

“That is so wrong, man. Locking him up is wrong. They’ll make it worse, Captain Banks! You’ll be taking him from one kind of prison to another!”

Simon winced, but stood his ground. “Jesse, I can not take care of him. Look at him! He is going to need 24-hour care. You and Chase had to bathe and dress him. Chase fed him this morning. I can’t do that.”

“I can! I will! Let me try!”

“If I thought it would be best for Blair, I would, but I just don’t believe that.”

“Kit won’t stand for it.”

“He has no say-so. I have power of attorney if something happens to Blair and Jim is not available. Jim wants this and I intend to do as he wishes.”

“I hate to point this out, man, but it’s Jim Ellison’s fault that he’s like this in the first place. I think what he wants should be rendered null and void.”

Simon opened his mouth to say something, but could not think of a thing that could answer the young man. He did not have to puzzle over it for long, however, as Jesse raised one hand.

“Forget it, man. We aren’t going to agree so let’s not discuss it. You and Kit can talk about it in two days.”

Simon was not looking forward to that discussion.

It was cold and gray at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Jim figured it suited his mood. This was it. There was no turning back now. He was resigned. He would spend the rest of his life in some military installation. Whether it would be a lab or a prison was the only thing yet to be determined. He exited the plane behind Pete and raised his head high as he saw the MPs approaching.

“Shit.” Pete whispered.

“Just stand aside, Pete. There’s nothing you can do.”

“Don’t panic yet. Maybe they’re just our ride or something.”

“Who was supposed to be here? That Ron guy?”

“Yeah. We are screwed. At least for now.”

“No, I am. Save yourself now while you can.”

Pete only laughed at him. “Jim, I left behind a burning military installation in my wake. I’m in it now whether you know it or not.”

“Captain Ellison, we have been ordered to escort you to your meeting.”

“I thought we were going to the Pentagon,” Pete said more calmly than Jim would have thought possible.

“The appropriate personnel will be waiting for you, sir. Come with us, please.”

Separate cars. They were led to separate cars. Jim caught Pete’s silent apology just before he was pushed into the back seat of an unmarked sedan. The car pulled away from the curb and past the car to which Pete had been led. Jim met the man’s eyes once more and smiled his acceptance.

“What is this?” Pete demanded as the car carrying Jim Ellison turned a corner and disappeared from view. “Where are they taking him? And where are you taking me? I’d really like some answers.”

“Peter Devereaux, you’re under arrest for the destruction of government property and suspicion of murder.”

Pete closed his eyes. “Where’s Ron McNamara?”

“Mr. McNamara will be meeting with you this afternoon, sir.”

“In my cell?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I need to make a call.”

“You’ll get to do that, sir. Soon.”

Just after dawn, Kit Chase pulled off the road and parked the rented jeep just past the tree line so that it would not be visible from the road. He had gotten in the night before but knew better than to attempt the trip to Alex’s in the dark. He got out and dragged a backpack from the passenger’s seat with him. It was a long hike up to Alex Morrow’s cabin and Morrow had made sure that it was as dangerous as it was long. He dropped the backpack on the ground and dug the map of Alex’s place out of it. He wondered if the man had made any changes in his traps since the last time Kit came up. He smiled. Alex had tried very hard to make his security impenetrable and it irked him to no end that Kit could get through it so easily. The former MI-5 agent had been pissed at him for weeks afterward. Of course, the fact that Kit laughed at him every time Alex glowered at him for those next few weeks probably had a lot to do with the man’s sour mood. So, now he was back again to attempt Alex’s obstacle course. He would make it through. Of that, he had no doubt, and when he was done and standing on Alex’s porch, Alex would be pissed off again.

Alex Morrow was an enigma anyway. Kit had given up trying to figure the man out. He left British Intelligence under circumstances that neither he nor Pete would discuss. The only thing Pete would say was that Alex was tired of the war. So, Kit knew that Alex had somehow been involved with the mess in Northern Ireland. He was very serious and intense, and for all intents and purposes, should not have fit in well with Pete’s core group and yet somehow he did fit.

It was odd that Alex looked pretty harmless. He was not muscle-bound or overly tall. He was slightly shorter than Kit, thinner than even Jesse, with a cultured English accent, and even with his piercing green eyes, looked more like a college professor than a mercenary. Yet, of all the guys Kit knew and worked with in the agency, Alex would be the one most likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Alex did not play around. If Pete wanted Alex, somebody was probably going to end up dead.

He smiled. He had just found Alex’s first trap. He tracked the trip wire to its origin, taking in the design and the intent. Alex never tried to kill anyone with these first traps. They were mostly noisemakers, designed to scare off the occasional accidental trespasser or hunter. Closer in, the traps became more dangerous, causing mostly painful but not deadly injuries. The man had actually joked that these were set up for annoying salesmen and door-to-door preachers because they were too stupid to get the hint first time around. Then at the cabin itself, there were traps that could be triggered by Alex himself for anyone that might be coming for him. According to Pete, it was a possibility. So far, however, Kit had always been standing at Alex’s door before Alex ever knew he was there. It would be no different this time. He left the trap intact and continued.

Pete sat staring at the bars of his cell. He had used his call to leave a message for Simon Banks. It was a simple message.

“It’s as bad as I thought. Hold the fort. Keep Jess with you. I will be in touch.”

It had been twelve hours since they took Jim Ellison away. Twelve hours since Pete had been tossed in the brig, and he had spent those twelve hours planning the revenge he would exact on Ronald MacNamara. Unfortunately, he could not kill the man outright. He was the only one that could get him out of this mess. By the time Alex was finished with him though, he would be begging to help. Afterward, when Pete and Jim were free and they were all safe, then Ron just might meet with an accident.

The “interrogation” had been a joke. One of Ron’s flunkies had come in first and told him what to say. Afterward, a Pentagon goon had come in and Pete had parroted the flunky’s words perfectly. What were a few more lies anyway? The story was a good one really. Pete was there at the request of Colonel Adler because he had served with Ellison. Adler wanted his take on Ellison’s abilities or lack thereof. Rose had gone berserk, claiming that Pete was trying to sabotage the project, and tried to kill them all. It worked. It got Pete’s ass out of the fire. Did not help Jim or Blair at all but Pete would take care of all that later. And if all went according to plan, take down Ron in the process.

The outer door opened and Pete shifted his gaze to witness the entry of his nemesis. “Well, well, well, dead man walking.”

“Pete, I could lie to you, tell you that I had no idea what was going to happen, but you wouldn’t believe me anyway. Right?”

“You got that right, asshole. So, now that you’ve won, or think you’ve won, I’d like the whole story.”

“Not much to tell, Pete. I think you have it figured out already. We wanted both of them, Ellison and Barnes. We just needed Adler and Rose out of the way. You were our means to that end. You’d get them out and bring them to us for debriefing and we would just keep Ellison. We’d keep Sandburg if we had to, but I imagine we could have found a safe place to tuck him away. Think about it though, two sentinels, male and female, have to be able to produce more sentinels. Granted, Ellison’s sense of morality would have been a pain in the ass but a threat or two in Sandburg’s direction would have brought him around.”

“So, you didn’t want Blair at all?”

“Didn’t see a need for him. He was good for blackmail. Nothing more. Rose kept insisting that Barnes would need him as a guide but if Ellison could work with another guide, then so could Barnes. But that plan’s null and void, thanks to Rose’s double-cross.”

Pete laughed. “You’re one to be complaining about being double-crossed. But tell me, who is this ‘we?’ This hardly seems like a Pentagon operation. This has CIA written all over it and yet the Pentagon was funding it. I saw the paper trail.”

“If you go to the Pentagon and talk to the people over there, one by one, you’ll only find a handful that even know what they were funding at all and they belong to us. The people you met with? Only two of them even work at the Pentagon. The rest of the Pentagon thinks that Ellison’s ‘abilities’ were not abilities at all but delusions brought on by post-traumatic stress. They really are glad to see this whole thing over and done with, so to speak. So you see, I didn’t really lie to you. I just didn’t tell you the whole truth. Anyway, you’re right. It’s our project. The military was just convenient to get Ellison under our control. Adler really was nuts. I don’t think the old goat ever even questioned anything he was told. He thought this was his way to his general’s star. Rose played him like a violin.”

“Oh, Ron, you sound so high and mighty. May I remind you that Rose played you like a violin as well? He screwed you; he’s screwing you still. He’s got a sentinel. You don’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ellison. He can’t do it anymore. Surely he told you.”

“He said as much. Are you saying he’s serious or is this your grand plan to get the both of you out of this?”

“He’s serious. That kid that you dismissed as just blackmail material? Seems he’s a bit more important than that. But Rose destroyed him and with him, Jim’s abilities.”

“No. This sentinel stuff is genetic. All the research says so.”

“Fact remains, Ellison is no longer a sentinel.”

“You say Barnes is?”

Pete shrugged. He loved the look of discomfort and dismay on Ron’s fat face. “Rose seemed to think he could fix her. He said she still has the senses anyway.”

“Bastard. Ellison’s other guide is dead. He was shot. We can find Ellison another guide.”

“Won’t work.”

“It better work.”

“You’ll kill him trying to make it work.”

“Then he’ll die. He will be a sentinel and work for us or he will die. Those are his choices.”

“And what are my choices, Ron?”

Ron sighed. “You’re free to go, Pete. Our ‘investigation’ has cleared you of wrongdoing. Truthfully, I just needed you out of the way for a while. You’re a troublemaking son of a bitch, Pete. I couldn’t afford you spilling your guts to the wrong people while I was trying to get Ellison squared away.”

“What makes you think I won’t spill my guts now?”

“To who? Who’ll listen, Pete? Everybody that had anything to do with this whole thing is either in my pocket, dead or on the run. Ellison is safely tucked away. Sandburg is damaged goods. I can make it look like Ellison died in the fire if I have to. You won’t be able to disprove it. You don’t dare bring your men into it. I have enough to put them away for any number of little indiscretions. On paper, I look like the good guy. What are you going to do? Besides, we’re willing to compensate you for your silence.”

Pete grinned. “How much are we talking, Ron?”

“Enough for an extended vacation for you and your guys to all sorts of exotic locales.”

“Enough to take care of Blair Sandburg for the rest of his life?”

“Or that, if that’s your priority.”

Pete nodded thoughtfully. “What about enough for both?”

The man shrugged. “Say the word and it’s done.”

“Even with no guarantee that Ellison will ever be able to work his magic again?”

“He will. He just needs the right incentives.”

“I want it in cash and unmarked. I know you, Ron. Your check would bounce.”

“Fine. I’ll get it arranged. In the meantime, I’ll send somebody in here to let you out of there. I’d do it but I don’t trust you not to hit me.”

“In that case, maybe you aren’t as stupid as you look.” Pete watched the man go. He shook his head. Let the man believe he was safe. Pete would take the man’s money. Blair deserved it for what he went through and he would need it too. Pete did not hold out much hope that the kid would ever be right again. Then, when the money was secured, Pete would bring down Ron MacNamara’s house of cards all around the man’s head. He already knew just how to do it, and while Pete got that rolling, he would turn Alex loose on Ron. This just might turn out to be quite fun.

Part 4