Jamey: If I told you we could charge everything to Grayson, can you figure out how to get me to Prince Rupert by morning?
Then she called up Aisha.
“Hey, you,” the other woman answered, and Jamey could hear voices in the background. “How are—”
“I’m in,” Jamey said. “Count me as part of your Vanguards.”
“Yes,”Aisha said, and Jamey could almost hear the fist pump. “We are officially the most badass super-secret spy team in the Pacific Northwest.”
“How much competition could we possibly have?” Jamey frowned. “How would we even know if we had competition if we’re all secret—you know what, never mind. Are you on your way to Prince Rupert?”
“On a layover in Toronto right now,” Aisha said.
Jamey’s phone beeped. She glanced at the text from Liam.
Consider it done.
She grinned. “Then I’ll meet you there tomorrow,” she said to Aisha, which earned anotheryes. “Flights are limited so it could be late afternoon, but Liam might be able to wrangle something earlier with his charter connections. Learn anything new?”
“Simone Pelletier, Marie’s sister on Vancouver Island, is a paramedic, and she volunteers with Search and Rescue.”
“Go Simone,” Jamey muttered, then paused. “Wait.”
“I had the same thought,” Aisha said. “It’s an interesting career for an empath’s sibling.”
“You think the sister could be like me? Like Grayson? Maybe we can get in touch with her and meet her—”
“I tried,” Aisha said, more quietly. “I got Simone’s number from Marie’s roommate. Simone isn’t answering calls or texts, not from me, not from Chantelle either. Maybe she’s on her way to meet Marie in Prince Rupert, or maybe she’s off the grid on a rescue.”
“And maybe we might believe that,” Jamey said, “if there weren’t a million other coincidences piling up. Did you already tell Grayson that the missing empath has a sibling who could be like us?”
“I’m calling him after you,” Aisha said. “I got a text that he and your brother are following a lead from the airsoft course.”
“According to Grayson, the manager of the airsoft course was probably the one chasing Reece in a Hellcat last night,” Jamey said. “And Stensby had a pen in his cruiser from the same airsoft course.”
“Did they know each other?” Aisha mused out loud. “Could the airsoft manager have been the one who called you from Stensby’s phone?”
“He would’ve had to call at the same time he was literally trying to kidnap Reece, and Reece didn’t mention any Texas accent,” Jamey said. “I think the caller was someone else. But who? And how did he know what Stensby had done to Reece’s brake fluid? Stensby knows damn well he could be on the hook for attempted murder here. He’s not a fool; he’s not going to be out there telling people he sabotaged Reece’s brakes.”
“Your brother could have been hurt or worse, and we never would have known who was behind it,” Aisha agreed. “So who was your caller, and how did they get that confession out of a cop like Stensby?”
Jamey snorted. “I don’t suppose there’s a corrupted empath around that sounds just like Grayson.”
The line went very quiet.
“Not anymore,” Aisha finally said. “But obviously Grayson’s brother would have fit that bill, once upon a time.”
Jamey sat back against the car seat. “Grayson only mentioned him to me once. Said his brother was dead but never said how.”
“He’s never told me either,” Aisha said. “I know the Grayson brothers were prisoners somewhere out in Middle-of-Nowhere, West Texas. I know some twisted and unethical scientists were involved. And I know the whole facility was annihilated, and Evan was the only one who made it out of that West Texas bunker alive.”
Jamey swallowed.
“I’m pretty sure Cedrick Stone knew most of the story,” Aisha said, “and maybe there are others at Stone Solutions or the Empath Initiative who know more than me too. But I’m not sure there’s anyone alive who actually knows exactly how Alex Grayson turned Evan into the Dead Man. Evan says it’s better people don’t know it’s even possible.”
“He’s probably right,” Jamey admitted. “Imagine what people like Stone would do if they knew how to make more Dead Men.”
“Build an army to fight the empaths,” Aisha muttered. “And all of us would lose.”
