Chapter 6

Veni opened her eyes to find her door to her temporary prison opening again. She waited, hoping against hope that it would be her mother, but of course not.

The jailer who had threatened her earlier, stepped in, and smiled at her. “So, any more cooperation out of you?”

She stared at him in surprise. “Cooperation?” she asked carefully. “Like what?”

He stared at her. “Here I was nice enough to let your mother come in and see you.” She didn’t say anything to that and just waited. “So, since I did something nice for you, you can do something nice for me.”

“Like what?” she repeated.

“Tell me who you were talking to.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and her heart sank. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “See? That’s the problem I’m having right now. I went out of my way to ensure you got something you really wanted. Now, I want something, and you’re not giving it to me.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me,” she replied. “If I could cooperate, I would.”

“No, you wouldn’t, but, according to my jailer, you started acting irrationally, as if you were talking to somebody.”

She stared at him in surprise, and then relief washed over her face deliberately, as she nodded. “Yes, I was talking to me. I was trying to give myself a pep talk, so, yeah.… I presume I was acting irrationally,” she shared, with a nod.

He stared at her for a long moment. “I did see the video.”

“Okay, and doesn’t that fit?” she asked in surprise. “Or are you saying I was sleepwalking?”

He frowned, then looked back to the hallway outside her room, where she was being held. “I’ll take another look.” And, with that, he disappeared.

She sank back against the wall and closed her eyes, deliberately keeping her face schooled, knowing that he would likely be back soon, if her explanation didn’t satisfy him. He was looking for more, but she didn’t have more to give, and she didn’t dare. The thought of getting out of here alive kept her going, and to give her kidnappers any confirmation of her skills would just make her life even more difficult.

Once they found out that she could do something unique, it would bring a much greater hardship, even compared to her current hardships, on both her and her mom. The fact remained that Veni couldn’t even do very much on the special spectrum, not compared to what some people could do, as she knew far too well. Castigating herself for not having learned more or even followed up on this wouldn’t help at this point.

At that, a man in her head whispered, We’re looking for you.

She shifted. Who are you? She worked to keep her features neutral.

There was a smile in the acknowledging response. There you are. You can hear me now, right?

She hesitated, then asked, Reid?

Yes. It’s me.

Burying her head in her arms, her shoulders shaking with sobs, she whispered in her mind, Dear God, thank you.

Thank you for doing whatever you did last time. You slammed into my brain with a sledgehammer, he shared. Although I’m a receiver, and you are a transmitter, it only ever really seemed to work when it was the two of us.

Exactly, so you’re the only person I knew to try to contact.

You have reached me, and we are trying to find you, but I really don’t know where you are.

Neither do I, she whispered in her mind. I’ve been kept drugged, only awake this last time, as they allowed my mother to come see me.

Is she okay?

I’m not saying she’s okay, but she’s alive, she clarified. I’m under video surveillance, so I’m hiding my face while I talk to you—until I figure out how to talk in my head and not through my mouth.

Good. Keep it schooled the entire time that we communicate. Otherwise—

I know, she cut him off. That’s what they’re after. If they see any sort of proof that I can do this, things will escalate quickly.

How did you get yourself into this mess?

My mother, she whispered. I’m not discussing it right now. I need to get out of here, and I need to get out of here fast. Can you contact the authorities? Like MI6?

They’re already aware of what’s happened, and a plan is being formulated, but we can’t do a rescue if we can’t find you.

She fell silent at that. I have no memories of what happened, she shared. I wondered if they kept me drugged so I couldn’t remember and tell people.

That would make sense.

Listen. If I disappear from this conversation suddenly, it’s because he was just asking me whether I was talking to somebody earlier, she murmured.

Interesting, he replied, I gather you didn’t know you were being watched.

I guessed that I might be and half assumed that to be true. Yet I didn’t realize how much my expressions could get me in trouble.

You do need to be careful, he warned. We’re looking for a vehicle that was stolen and may or may not have had something to do with where you were taken.

She frowned at that. I would feel better if you knew more.

We would feel better if we knew more, he confirmed. You don’t remember a car, do you? You don’t remember anything?

A car, yes, she said. I was led into a building under gunpoint, with my mother. We were kept in a small corner in a warehouse, with other people moving around, but I think… I think maybe four people were there the whole time. We were drugged part of the time—not so that we were unconscious, just so we weren’t capable of doing much. It was like being in a zombie zone. I could see things going on around us, but I just couldn’t seem to care.

Which kept you compliant and easy to manipulate.

Yeah, it did. And then when we got here, it seemed like they were afraid I could do things and kept me drugged again. Particularly after my mother was in here, when it seemed as if I was talking to somebody. And I was—talking to somebody, I mean. I don’t know who, so now I’m afraid it was one of them.

It’s possible, but it could also be your mind playing tricks.

She winced. I was hoping somebody else out there was powerful enough to reach me.

That could be true as well. We certainly have a large network of people who could do what we do.

Really?she asked, her body shifting, then she immediately stilled again. Damn, talking to you like this is dangerous.

I can stop anytime. Do you want me to leave?

No! It’s been so damn lonely, not to mention scary. I don’t want you to go.

Yet I can’t stay here all the time, based on energy expenditure alone. Seriously we are in Kazakhstan hunting for you.

Kazakhstan, she whispered, her mind going blank at that. Kazakhstan.

Do you have any connection here? Do you know anybody? Any company here? Anything?

Wait. One of the companies that worked with my mother was headquartered in Kazakhstan.

Do you know the name of it?he asked, his tone sharp.

I’m trying to remember, but it’s not really coming up.

Okay, so you and she worked for the Russian government. And some suppliers may be based out of Kazakhstan. What kind of supplies would you need for your lab?

Medical equipment, Veni murmured. Something along the line of medical equipment.

Can you remember any contact name?

She thought hard for a moment. Yeah, I think it was Kenneth, but I’m not sure.

Okay, we’ll take a look. If we get any lead, we need to double-check it first.

Why the devil would you go to Kazakhstan? I don’t even know if I’m there.

A chuckle came. Yeah, well, somebody else told us to come here.

I hope they know what they’re talking about, she muttered, because I don’t have a clue.

And that’s okay, he assured her. Just know that we’re on it, and you need to stay healthy. You need to stay alive, and we’ll get to you as soon as we can. If you come up with anything that reminds you of where you could be, where you might be, where you could have gone, just let me know. I presume they’re planning on taking you back to Moscow?

That’s what I’ve assumed. One guard told me that my mom wasn’t doing so well, so she can’t travel yet. That’s why we’re sitting in limbo at the moment, so I hope you can get to us here because it’ll be that much harder to get out of Russia.

Yet, in some ways, it might be easier.

She shifted. Do you think so?

Maybe not, since you’ll be under so much security.

So, why else would they wait?

I don’t know, unless they’re prepping a place to take you. It would be distressing if we lost you at this point.

Don’t say that, she snapped. I can’t go back there. Don’t you understand?

I do understand, he replied calmly, and, when this is over, I’m looking forward to saying hi again.

She felt a smile in his tone. How is it we ever lost touch? she muttered.

For one thing, you didn’t want anything to do with this psychic stuff, he pointed out, with a note of humor. Meanwhile, I was fascinated and wanted as much of it as I could get.

It scared me, she admitted. I didn’t like the idea of people in my head.

Yeah, and how about now?

Right, point taken, she muttered. Now it’s just so great to know that you’re there and that you can hear me. It gives me immeasurable comfort.

Good, he replied. Hold that thought. We’re coming. I have to go now.

And, with that, he quickly disappeared from her mind, leaving her curled up, dry-eyed, and, for the first time since this kidnapping, with hope in her heart that maybe, just maybe, there would be a way out of this nightmare for good.

*

Reid turned tolook at Anders, as they pulled into the junkyard. “I just made contact,” he shared, amazement in his tone.

Anders hit the brakes hard, then turned and looked at him. “With Veni?”

“Yeah, with Veni. She’s terrified and exhausted, but she is okay, and her mother is alive as well. They don’t have a clue where they are. They’ve been separated, and she’s been kept drugged most of the time. She’s afraid that it’s because they have a good idea of what she can do, although she says she can’t do very much. She always had that belief before, which impeded her ability to thrive with this type of work.”

“Okay, so can we get back to the facts?” Anders asked. “Where is she, and how will we find her?”

“She doesn’t know, but she did say that, if we’re in Kazakhstan, a company is headquartered here, which is likely a supplier for the Russian government, where she and her mother worked.”

At that, Anders immediately sat up straighter, then pulled out his phone. “I’ll get Levi on that.”

“While you do that,” Reid said, “I’ll make contact with Terk. Let’s ensure we’re out of sight for the moment.”

Anders pulled the vehicle forward and around the corner in a grove of trees, with the junkyard just ahead, but they were somewhat hidden here, while the two of them quickly updated their respective teams on their phones.

As he explained what happened to Terk, Reid added, “She says somebody else is talking to her. Was that you?”

“No, it wasn’t,” Terk replied, a puzzled note in his tone. “I could definitely feel buzzing on the ethers, but so much of this activity has been going on lately, I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.”

“If it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t me, we have another player in the game, and that is concerning.”

“So she thought it might be a trap?”

“Yes, because what they’ve been trying to get from her is the details of what she can do, what she can’t do, and who she can do it with. If they have any idea that I can connect with her and that, between us, we can talk and pass information, I’ll be hunted as well.”

“All the more reason for you to stay low and out of trouble then,” Terk noted. “The last thing we need is you caught up in this.”

“I already am in many ways, and I won’t get out of it, not until we get her safely out of there.”

At that, a smile filled his tone, as Terk calmly replied, “Understood.”

Reid wasn’t sure what that meant, but it didn’t matter right now. “Anders is contacting Levi to see if anybody can roust up a medical supplier for the Russian government based out of Kazakhstan. Veni thought Kenneth was possibly part of the contact person’s name. Unfortunately it’s quite likely there could be more than one Russian medical supplier here.”

“Quite likely, yes,” Terk agreed. “If you think about it, it just makes sense. Unless they have somebody else within Russia who can do the same job, then why Kazakhstan versus anybody out of Russia?” he asked. “But we’re on it. I’ll connect with Levi, and we’ll get back to you.”

When Reid ended the call, he turned to see Anders waiting for him.

“You ready?” Anders asked.

“Yeah, I am. I just updated Terk,” he shared. “What I didn’t get a chance to tell you was Veni responded to another voice in her head. She didn’t get any ID on it, and she’s afraid that it was a trap, so she spoke a little bit telepathically to this guy but is even now questioning whether it was her imagination.”

Anders raised an eyebrow at that. “And that matters why?”

“Because, if it’s a trap, then anybody in communication with her is now potentially in danger.”

“Meaning that, if they find out she can do what she’s saying she can do, but maybe only with you, then you become their next intended target.”

“Something like that, yeah. So, obviously we need to get her before her kidnappers figure out who’s connecting with her, if anybody is, and who might be in the know about it.”

“If it is a trap, it would suggest that they have somebody on their staff who also has these skills.”

“And, if you think about it, that’s not all that hard to believe,” Reid noted. “I am one of many who I imagine are on Terk’s team. Plus plenty of others must be out there somewhere.”

“Too many, as far as I can tell,” Anders teased, with a headshake. “I didn’t think Terk would ever manage to have a team outside of the team he came with. Yet, from the sounds of things, he keeps finding other people.”

“That’s the thing though, because there really isn’t all that many of us, so we do find group-settings appealing. It’s become a support system, but, more than that, it’s also a security system,” he admitted. “None of us want to become victims of all these people who seem to think we’re just for their entertainment or for greed or power or whatever. Or, in this case, for their pet projects or to become pawns in their dominance game.”

“That is even more disconcerting,” Anders muttered.

“Exactly, because we don’t know how many psychics and the like that the Russians may have on staff or whether they can track Veni’s communications.”

“Track her or track you?” Anders asked, with a pointed look. “Maybe keep the communication with her to a minimum, since we have no idea how far this shit goes.”

Reid winced at that. “I hear you, but it’s a little hard to do that, especially when I know she’s terrified and alone.”

“I get that too,” Anders replied, “but you won’t be of any help to her if you don’t survive yourself.” Anders opened the driver’s side door and stated, “Let’s go check out this stolen car.”

As they walked toward the junkyard, leaving their vehicle a block behind in the trees, Reid added, “I presume things here run like anywhere else, where enough money gets us answers.”

“Yeah, but it can also bring a lot of interest that we don’t want,” Anders shared. “We’ve already brought in some interest with our unorthodox arrival,” he noted, looking at him.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

He shrugged. “I’m not really. It was definitely new to me, but it served its purpose in that we’re finding a stolen vehicle that apparently nobody is willing to tell the old man about.”

“Or he knows and doesn’t like it because he’s broke and now without a car, which he just paid to have tuned up.”

“Yep, that’s another viable option,” Anders agreed, with a nod.

“And, if somebody didn’t like the angry old man, maybe they wanted to teach him a lesson, and maybe that is their way of doing it.”

“Great. You know it really pisses me off when people treat our seniors like that.”

“Maybe, but I would hold your sympathy for the moment. My team is doing a rundown on that old man, and apparently he’s got a long criminal record.”

“Ah, well, that’s just wonderful,” he muttered, with a groan. “You never can tell with anybody, can you?”

“No, but, for me, it depends on what he did. If it was stealing bread to feed children, I won’t hold it against him. That’s a whole different story.”

They walked into the junkyard only to find nobody was there to greet them. Frowning, they wandered around, looking for the vehicle.

“Shouldn’t somebody be here?”

“Maybe, yet anybody who deliberately set us on the path as to where this stolen vehicle was may not expect us to show up here.”

“Yet you would think they would be expecting somebody.”

They wandered around the place, found the vehicle in question, and double-checked the license plate.

“This is it. What do you expect to find?” Anders asked.

Reid smiled. “With any luck, some sign that Veni was in here.”

“Go for it,” Anders said. “I’ll stand lookout.” And, with that, Anders moved a few feet away, while Reid stepped closer and started to search the vehicle.

He wasn’t sure what he would find or even what he could find at this point. The vehicle had clearly held a lot of people over time and distance, but, if there were anything to find, he wanted to ensure he did. It didn’t take long before he pulled out a stack of napkins from between the seats.

The trouble was, napkins didn’t prove anything. Sure, they were covered in DNA, but it would take time to sort out who had been there and who hadn’t. When he pulled out a business card, it was for a company that sold medical supplies. He sat back, looked at it, then, taking the napkins with him, did another quick search, finding another napkin jammed up on the other side. He opened it to see a single word.

Help.

Bingo.