JoshuasMistake (12 page)

In an instant the sound was gone only to be replaced by a
faster more variable sound. This sound rolled and flowed. At first the beat
seemed erratic, but then she sensed the pattern in the wildness. It was
exciting, dangerous and thrilling.

“This is me. Can you hear the difference?”

“Yes.”

“This is the two of us together.”

When her low rolling vibrations merged with his seemingly
irregular tone the effect was breathtakingly beautiful. It was as if the most
accomplished symphony in the world played in her head. What had seemed so rough
on its own fused with her more sedate steadiness and a pattern emerged that was
perfect.

“My God!”

He pulled her hand away and the symphony ceased. When she
opened her eyes he was watching her so intensely she could not have looked
away. The universe was reflected in the deep blue of his eyes and she was
mesmerized.

“That is how I perceive you. You transform my chaos into
perfection. I’m certain this is why we are so intensely connected, why the
blocker back in New Jersey couldn’t sever our connection. Nothing and no one
has ever affected me the way you do, Tessa Clark. So, yes, if we live I want
you in my life.” His eyes dimmed slightly and she thought she detected fear.

Could he actually be scared she would reject him? No. He’d
been in her head, he must know how she felt. At the very least he should know
she was sexually attracted to him.

She touched his cheek. “I want to be with you, Joshua. I don’t
know if I’ve ever wanted anything as much.”

His grin spread across his face and went directly to her
pussy. He was beautiful.

“Our timing kind of sucks though,” she said.

He pulled himself up to a sitting position and grabbed his
trousers. “That’s the truth, beautiful.”

Sleep was a long time coming and didn’t last long. Even
Tessa’s steady breathing didn’t lull him back to sleep. The shit was about to
hit the fan. He’d finally found the woman he was meant to spend his life with
and they were likely going to be killed in the next twenty-four hours.

That was just his luck.

He kissed her bare shoulder, pulled on his shorts and got
out of bed.

The lights were on in the main room of the house. Will was
standing in the kitchen in front of the open refrigerator.

“It’s three in the morning, buddy. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Will shrugged and grabbed a bowl of grapes. He popped one in
his mouth and put the bowl on the table. “I never could sleep the night before
a mission.”

“Me either.” Joshua grabbed a handful of grapes and ate one
at a time.

Will studied him for a long time. Joshua hated that look.

Finally his friend narrowed his eyes. “What’s wrong with
you?”

“Nothing,” Joshua lied. “I just couldn’t sleep.”

“No, that’s not it. You look as if you just buried your dog
or something.”

“I thought I’m the psychic and you’re the sniper. Don’t try
to analyze me.”

Will’s mouth was full of grapes. He chewed and swallowed. “It
doesn’t take psi to figure you out. You’re pissy about something.”

He hated to say it out loud. What he was thinking was too
terrible. “She’s going to get killed and I don’t think I can stop it.”

Will’s eyes grew wide. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you
talk this way in all the years we’ve worked together. You always find a way to
win.”

“Banta may be too strong. Who knows how much power he’s
amassed? I may not be able to protect her.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I may have brought this battle to you and all the others
here in Key West and you all could be dead in a few hours.”

“We can take care of ourselves. We know the odds just like
we do with every other mission. No one is forcing us to help you, Josh.”

“Look, if this is Banta then the odds are he’s set this
entire thing up to get to me or maybe Kane. He’ll use her to hurt me the same
way he’d use Lena to hurt Kane. Lena will go underground with the baby and her
grandmother and stay safe…”

“But there’s no way you could talk Tessa into hiding.”

“Exactly.”

“She’s a Psi Agent, Josh. She’s tough and smart. I’m sure
she can take care of herself.”

“It won’t matter. If Banta has found a way to gather and
draw power from psychics then there’s no telling what he’s capable of.” His gut
tightened painfully.

The expression on his friend’s face was open-mouthed shock. “You
really don’t think you can beat him.”

Joshua rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m saying we may
all end up dead by this time tomorrow and if you wanted to take off for parts
unknown I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Nah, I’m with you ‘til this is over.”

“Me too,” Tessa said from a few feet behind the two men.

She must have blocked him or maybe he was too distracted. He
never heard her wake up or approach. She was in his T-shirt and the shorts from
earlier today. Her hair fell softly around her face.

“We could run,” he said.

She moved forward and leaned against him. He slid his arm
around her waist. “Where would we go that he won’t find us?”

“There are some places in the mountains that would take him
a long time to find. I have a little hut in Peru where we could stay a long
time before he’d locate us.”

She shrugged. “What if one of the powers he’s developed is
divination? Then it wouldn’t take more than a few days. We can’t run. We have
to fight.”

“Fighting may get us killed.”

“Running will get us no better.” She grabbed for the grapes.

“What about that thing you do?” Will spoke around a mouth
full of fruit.

She was watching him. Her curiosity just shot up about ten
degrees. He tried to ignore her stare. “I can only get off one or two shots and
then I need a power source. It’s not useful in an open battle. That’s why I
only use it in retreat situations.”

Will’s eyes brightened. “Could you fight with a sixty-pound
pack on your back?”

“Of course. What do you have rolling around in that thick
skull of yours?”

“What are you two talking about?”

His old friend was practically jumping out of his skin. “Come
on. Let’s show her and maybe we can strategically place a few things.”

Joshua shook his head and grinned at his friend’s ingenuity
and enthusiasm. He turned to Tessa. “We’d better put some shoes on.”

He could practically hear the barrage of questions she had
in her beautiful mind. He gave her a little shove toward the bedroom. “Come on.
I have a pretty good idea what Will is thinking. Get shoes and we’ll show you.”

Once everyone was more suitably dressed and wearing shoes
Will made a dash for the door. As he approached someone knocked. The all looked
at each other and took up defensive positions near the door. Will opened a
drawer in the console and removed a handgun.

“Open up, it’s Trip and Wanda,” Trip’s voice called through
the door.

Joshua relaxed and Will smiled, opening the door. “What are
you doing here in the middle of the night?”

Trip said, “No way we could sleep tonight so we thought we’d
come by and see what preparations were being made. I managed to talk three more
troops into joining us and everyone’s coming at dawn. Were you going somewhere?”

“To the shed.” Will hadn’t lost any of his enthusiasm for
the project.

Joshua followed with the rest trailing behind.

Wanda asked Tessa, “What’s in the shed?”

“No idea.”

To an outsider the grounds looked as if they were an
ordinary private airport, but Will had designed it that way to keep people from
poking around. Of course he had a hangar for planes, but he had a small one for
storage items and the dojo plus his unusual house. On the outside they were
blank metal buildings with few windows and no frills. On the inside almost
nothing was as it seemed. They’d only crossed half the hundred-yard distance to
the shed when all five looked to the sky for the distinct sound of a small
airplane approaching.

Will rushed back toward the house. A minute later the runway
lights popped on and he jogged back smiling. “It’s just Kane.”

It had never occurred to Joshua that he’d missed his brother
or that Kane showing up would give him such a sense of relief. Still, it washed
over him as if he’d been actively anticipating his brother’s arrival and with
it came a sense of calm. Maybe everything would be all right.

Tessa’s fingers entwined with his. She must have sensed the
change in him. When he looked into her eyes he knew she understood. How could
she know him so well in so short a time? What was it between them that made her
so important to him?

One thing was certain, he could not lose her. Not now. Not
after just finding her. He would find a way to keep her safe and keep her with
him.

The jet engine roared as the plane came into sight and
touched down on the runway, slowing as it rolled closer. Joshua moved toward
where it would likely stop when another familiar sound stopped him.

“Helicopter.” He had to shout over the din of engines and
propellers.

The pop of automatic weapon fire sent all but Will running
back toward the house. From the front door Joshua watched Will continue to the
shed.

The jet pulled to a stop, Kane ran down the steps and in a second
they were rolled up, the door closed and the plane taxiied and took off.

The speeding plane had blocked the man from the view of the
helicopter. Joshua spared only a glance. He rushed to the armory and grabbed an
AK-47 and five clips. By the time he came back Tessa was running toward him
with a shirt and combat vest. She had pulled on jeans and was also in a vest.

Tossing the clothes aside for the moment, he crouched in the
door and laid down some fire in the direction of the helicopter and gave his
brother a chance to get out from behind the stack of metal drums where he’d
taken cover. Kane ran toward the nearest building, the dojo, and got inside.

Bullets resounded off the buildings in a steady barrage.

Joshua let out the breath he’d been holding and donned the
clothes Tessa had brought him. Wanda, Trip and Tessa were already in full gear
by the time he was ready.

Wanda rounded the couch to look out the window. She stayed
low where she was protected by the metal building. “He must be well-funded.
That’s a twenty million dollar Apache out there.”

“He always did get the best toys,” Joshua said.

Tessa crouched behind the wall near the door and fired a controlled
burst at the Apache. It was a good idea to make it harder for them to land and
take up a formation.

Trip punched out a small window and did the same. It would help,
but that helicopter was made for this kind of attack. Eventually they would
land and by then he had better have a plan. “Do you think we can hold them off
until dawn?”

Joshua said, “I think this will be over in fifteen minutes.”

Will burst in from the bedroom sucking wind and lugging a
backpack that appeared to be filled to capacity. Joshua assumed he’d crawled in
through the closet escape hatch. “Good God, it’s a mess out there. Here, put
this on. I’ll start it and then you’ll likely get two or three uses out of it.”
Will thrust the pack at Joshua.

“What is it?”

“Portable generator. I wanted to set out two bigger ones. I
thought you could get a few good zaps out of each. These bastards got to us too
fast. No time for more than the portable, but it should help.”

Joshua started laughing. “You’re a genius.”

“Yeah, I know.” Will smirked.

“What the hell are you two talking about? The Apache is
down. We need more cover fire to get Kane out of there.” Tessa’s shouts were
controlled but anxious.

An assault of psi energy pushed forward. Banta’s warped mind
touched Joshua and though he was not in a position to see the enemy it was as
if he were standing a few feet away.

Joshua closed his mind and shielded the others from Banta’s
probing. Shielding was not one of his better talents. At this distance it would
hold Banta off. But if Banta and his people got closer they would have to
defend themselves. Of course Will was the least vulnerable since he had no psi
talent. Bullets could kill the sharpshooter, but his soul was safe.

“Fire it up, Will.” Joshua slung the backpack over his
shoulders and clipped the chest strap. It was every bit of sixty pounds, maybe
more, since it was likely completely full of fuel.

He picked up his weapon, walked to the door and knelt down next
to Tessa. He had to get close to hear her and shout to be heard over the
generator. “Remember when you joked about me shooting fireballs?”

“Is this the right time to reminisce?” She fired her weapon,
wounding one of Banta’s soldiers in the leg.

A dozen soldiers dressed in SWAT BDUs spread out from the
Apache.

“Close off your mind and don’t open it until this is over.
That goes for all of you. Close your minds and don’t use any psi abilities.”
Joshua didn’t wait for anyone to reply or ask questions. He stood up and walked
out the door. All four guns behind him started laying down cover fire. He could
hear Tessa screaming something but there was too much noise to hear what it
was, probably for him to get back inside.

He saw headlights coming in from the road. It looked as if
the rest of his little army was arriving early. Good thing too. Banta had shown
up with a full assault team.

Will had cut a small hole in the side of the backpack and
left the cut end of an electrical cord sticking out. This was going to hurt.
Joshua grabbed the wire. Voltage coursed through his body while he willed the
pain away and forced himself to concentrate on focusing the energy. A moment
later lightning flew from his outstretched fingers and sent the enemy running
in every direction. He caught three soldiers with the charge. Their bodies
jerked wildly and the smell of singed hair wafted through the air. All three
dropped to the ground. If they weren’t dead they would be unconscious for a
while.

The blades on the helicopter slowed and a lone figure stood
beneath their shadows. Banta’s stark white teeth stood out in contrast to his
dark skin.
That bastard is smiling at me.
Joshua sent another volley of
electricity at Banta, but it just bounced away. It was as if he had a glass
wall in front of him.

Joshua let off as his own power and that of the generator
would not last long with a constant drain on the fuel. Banta stood, unharmed,
staring at him.

“Josh, get back in here. Don’t waste it,” Will called from
the house.

Gunfire erupted from both directions. Joshua turned and he
leapt through the door, rolling until he came to rest against Tessa’s hip. She
looked down at him with the widest eyes he’d ever seen. He probably should have
had a more serious thought, but all he could manage was something about how
beautiful she was and how much he wanted to kiss her.

“What the fuck was that?” she asked.

“It’s more like lightning, not really fireballs. I hope you’re
not disappointed.”

He could tell she wanted to be annoyed with him. But she
smiled, which was the last thing he’d expected. “You might have said something.”

“Yeah, well some people get a bit freaked out when they hear
I can shoot lightning bolts from my fingers. It’s not exactly conducive small
talk for dating. Unfortunately it didn’t have any effect on Banta, he must have
a shield. I did use it at the Flacks’ farm, but you were busy.”

She frowned. “I wonder who he stole that power from.”

He didn’t respond though he couldn’t argue with her comment.
Shielding had not been one of Banta’s natural psi talents when they’d worked
together.