Page 86 of Facade

“Is she working primarily with land-dwelling mammals?” Yes.

“Are some of those large, predatory creatures?” Yes.

Russell signaled that he was satisfied with the information they currently had. He scribbled more notes as Heath led Clarke out of the trance, and lifted the tranquility spell.

Jace handed Clarke the pages of questions and answers so she could read for herself what they had learned.

“Dad’s unharmed. Thank God!” Clarke murmured, mostly to herself. “I can be patient as long as I know he’s safe. But there’s no guarantee it will stay that way.”

“Charlie is brewing potions, and making himself useful,” Heath pointed out. “We already know that he’s an expert brewer, much better than average. The people holding him hostage should be motivated to feed and treat him well. They won’t want to lose his skills.”

“The people we are searching for aren’t scattered all over the globe,” Jace said encouragingly. “Most of them are in one place that is big enough to house large species. We now know that Dr. Prentis isn’t currently working with marine animals, meaning we can cross big aquariums off the list of potential locations. That still leaves a vast number of places, but it does narrow things down.”

“The fact that this entity didn’t make an offer to Dr. Prentis prior to planning her capture is significant,” Russell said. “This leads me to believe that we aren’t looking for a place open to the public, like a zoo. It’s more apt to be a private enterprise, possibly under the guise of a shell corporation.”

“True,” Clarke said. “You both have very good points. Dad and Dr. Prentis are currently safe, and the assholes who captured them have a reason to keep them healthy. So, we have time to figure this out.”

“We do,” Russell said. “And we now know that we can focus on finding the missing graduates. The person we’re looking for may be connected to the students rather than your dad or Dr. Prentis. This knowledge will help our investigation and define the kind of information I’m looking for.

“On another subject, though, Clarke, what is the rank of your psionic power?”

“Two-point-two,” Clarke answered.

Russell shook his head, looking flabbergasted. “That can’t be right,” he said.

Jace agreed that the rank was grossly inaccurate. But they knew much more about her power than the testers had been aware of. It made a difference.

“It’s been very hit or miss, and difficult to control,” Clarke said. “They also aren’t typical visions. I have no memory of them when I come out of a trance. The visions I have gotten depict minor, insignificant events. Ranking of my psionic power was based on those factors.

“My physical power is the only one listed on my documentation and degrees. I included my psychic ability and rank to my application for the position of dormitory monitor to show that I can relate to students with both physical and mental powers.”

Listing her psychic power in this case was entirely optional. Disclosing abilities that were ranked lower than four was not a legal requirement. They were considered too weak to be either useful or dangerous.

“You did that to make yourself more appealing for the position,” Heath guessed.

“Yeah, and it worked,” Clarke said.

“I’m sure you would have been hired anyway,” Heath said. “But I would have done the same to help my case, not knowing who I might be competing against for the job.”

“Exactly,” Clarke said. “I couldn’t risk not being hired. The stakes are too high. Enrolling in classes as a man would have been my follow-up plan, but I needed the clearance and freedom on campus of a faculty member.”

“Well, that low, very incorrect rank is a blessing in this case,” Russell said. “I was absolutely terrified for a minute there. Just promise me that you won’t get retested anytime soon, please. From what I’ve seen, I would guess this power is closer to a seven, if not higher.”

“Terrified? Why?” Clarke asked, looking confused.

“Charlie was smart enough to make himself useful, motivating his captors to keep him alive,” Russell said. “The downside to that is that the people behind this will have verified his skills, and done a background check. I would be shocked if they didn’t research Charlie’s family and friends as well. If your psychic power were accurately ranked, you could be seen as a threat to them, Clarke.”

Russell was right. It would be stupid to assume that the people behind the abductions didn’t know about Clarke and her powers. That was a sobering thought that gave Jace the chills.

“Fuck! The clue we’ve been searching for is a person, and we don’t have a single suspect yet,” Heath said with worry and frustration. “It could be anybody, and he might already be watching her. Clarke, if the subject of your psionic ability comes up in class, I want you to downplay it. The last thing we need right now is for you to be in more danger because of rumors on campus about you being a powerful psychic.”

“True. But I would guess that this person doesn’t know about Charlie, or not enough to be a danger to Clarke,” Russell said.

“Their last name is very distinctive, and Clarke is using her first name, just without the E,” Jace said. That was how he’d known who she was the moment he read the memo from Dean Stanhope. “It would be easy enough to find out that she not only lived in the same town as Charlie, but the same house. If this guy has any contact with faculty and recognized the name, he would have suspected who she really is immediately.”

“I’m on the same page,” Russell said. “No one other than Mitch and Ray paid undue attention to Clarke, or singled her out. And that was all about Clarke outperforming them as a monitor.”

“Ray has gotten his head out of his ass, and has been acting like a decent person,” Clarke said. “Mitch went off the rails, but I agree that his vendetta has nothing to do with Dad. To be on the safe side, I will downplay my psionic power if the subject comes up. But I’m not worried about it. No one has commented on my last name, or asked any pointed questions.”