Page 41 of Fox in Plain Sight

19

It took them several hours to organize everything, then, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Yankee stopped the van in front of a run-down apartment building and looked over his shoulder.

“Get some rest. It’s going to be a tough day tomorrow.”

Nick nodded and reached for Michelle’s hand. She rose from her seat and allowed him to help her out of the van, before slamming the door shut and heading for the apartment building.

Michelle was silent when he unlocked the building door, then led her up to his apartment and ushered her in. She watched him as he flipped the deadbolt and set the chain.

She waited for him in the middle of the living room, arms crossed over her chest. She wanted answers, and truth be told, she was surprised that she’d waited so long. Well, maybe the fact that Yankee had looked a little menacing had contributed to her artificial patience. Or maybe it had taken her a little longer to get over the shock of having had a gun pointed at her head and being locked up in a shed, before she could wrap her brain around what was going on.

Nick glanced at her from under his dark lashes, casting her an assessing look. “How are you doing?”

“Well, let’s see. Considering you threatened to kill me tonight and your new friend is a little overeager with his weapon, and the fact that you two seem to be in some deep shit with the CIA, not to mention that whole weird stuff about being psychic, I’m doing rather splendidly, I think.”

Nick took a few steps toward her, sighing. “I’m sorry, Michelle, but what happened tonight wasn’t something I was planning.”

“I can see that. What you were planning was to use me.”

He nodded, didn’t even refute her claim. “I did. But like I told you already tonight, sleeping with you wasn’t part of that plan.” He stretched his hand out and brushed his knuckles over her cheek.

She let it happen, the touch having an oddly calming effect on her. “I know you explained. It’s just a little hard to believe, particularly since it looks like there’s so much at stake for you and your friend.” Too much to really be concerned about the feelings of a woman. “So you were CIA? I’m sure they taught you not to let your feelings get in the way of a mission.”

“They tried. But there are times in the life of a man when he has to make his own decisions. And making love to you wasn’t part of my mission.” He looked down at his feet. “But I understand if you don’t want to believe that. You don’t know me.”

Surprised by his quiet demeanor, she sighed. “No, I don’t know you. I don’t know what’s going on. You said you’d explain everything. So explain. What is this? Your talk about visions, is that all just a smokescreen?”

He lifted his head. “I wish. But it’s very real. For all of us. For all of Stargate. It changed our lives. It connects us. But it also makes us a target.”

“I want to understand,” she said softly. “I need to understand.”

“I promised to tell you, so I will.” He took her hand and motioned to the sectional that filled half the room.

She followed him to it and sat down next to him.

“What I’m telling you, you can never tell anybody else. Anybody with knowledge about this is a threat to our enemies as well as to us.”

Michelle nodded quickly. “I wouldn’t know who to tell. I’m on my own.” And she certainly wouldn’t want to draw any attention to herself by telling fantastic stories. Who would believe her anyway?

“My special skill… I think of it as a genetic defect. To my knowledge nobody from my family has it. At least nobody ever told me about it. Not that I’m close to any of them these days. My parents are divorced, and I guess neither my father nor my mother wanted to be reminded of the mistake their marriage had been. I think they were both relieved when my visits became less frequent, and they were able to concentrate on their new families.”

“That’s a shame,” Michelle threw in.

Nick shrugged as if he didn’t care. “It is what it is. I already had a new family, one that understood me better. I was already with the CIA when Henry Sheppard recruited me. At first I thought it was for my IT abilities, which was the field I was in at Langley, but then I realized he knew that I had ESP. He’d already started a top secret program within the CIA, hiring others like me, training them. We were unique. But Sheppard understood us. He knew what it was like to be born with a special ability that you couldn’t switch off. That would sometimes haunt you.”

“The visions?”

“They would come out of the blue. Like a movie playing in front of your mental eye. So real that you thought it was happening right in front of you.” He met her gaze then. “I saw you. The day you took me back to your apartment.”

“You saw me?”

“You crossed the street without looking to the left. The taxi hit you. It flung you over its roof and tossed you on the asphalt behind it. You didn’t move.” He sought her eyes. “You didn’t make it, Michelle.”

Her breath caught in her throat, panic rising with it. “No!” She slapped her hand over her mouth.

Nick reached for her hands, pulled them into his lap, his thumbs stroking the back of them. “That’s why I ran to catch you before you could cross the street. That’s why I was there.”

“You saw me die?” Her voice was a whisper.