Chapter Three

 

 

 

Lena paced the hotel room, anxiously awaiting Dan to return with the man he said would help to find her sister. Each time she glanced back at the clock only a minute had passed, but to her, it might as well have been hours.

It was two days ago that she’d returned to find her sister missing.

Two days ago, that she’d made her call to Dan.

Two days ago, since her entire world turned upside down.

The sound of the door handle caught her attention and she hurried to the small closet opposite the bathroom door.

She’d placed the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, but she knew that she had to take precautions just in case.

“It’s us,” Dan called out to her.

She stepped out of the closet and for the first time got a look at the man who Dan referred to as, “the perfect man for the job”.

He stood tall, at well over six feet. His dark hair and even darker eyes held a look of mystery to them. She didn’t know anything about him other than his name, but she could already tell that he was a man who struggled with things.

It was that intuition that made her worry he wouldn’t be the best man to help her find Lily.

“Lena, this is Marcus,” Dan said in introduction.

He held out his hand to her, and she shook it. The second their fingers touched, she felt a jolt of static electricity and his grip tightened.

“Ouch!”

He closed his eyes, still not removing his grasp.

She looked over to Dan for an explanation. “What’s going on?”

“It’s okay. Just let him do this.”

“Do what exactly?”

Marcus opened his eyes and loosened his hold. “Your sister, she has dark hair like you. It’s long, straight and she has a scar just below the hairline on her forehead, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

She searched his eyes for an understanding. Normally she was so good at reading people, but in that moment, she was coming up blank.

“Maybe you should explain it to her,” Dan said.

“Of course.” Marcus motioned toward the bed. “Please, sit down.”

She sat on the edge of the lumpy mattress, unsure if she should be relieved he was here or concerned.

Dan leaned against the wall opposite the bathroom and crossed his ankles as Marcus pulled up a chair in front of her.

“Hi. Lena, right?”

“Yes.”

“You can call me Marc.”

“Okay. Mind telling me what all that was about, Marc?”

He glanced over at Dan who nodded at him. “Alright, here’s the deal… the same way you and your sister have certain abilities, so do I.”

“Like what kind of abilities?”

“They call it telesthesia, but it’s basically remote viewing.”

“You mean like… you can see things, people, that aren’t really there?”

“Sort of. Not like ghosts or anything like that. But, I can get a vision of something, or someone by touching something that is important to them.”

“So, you’re like a psychic then?”

“Not exactly. Psychic’s get images at any given time. I have to be able to hold something tangible in order to really zero in on a target. Or in your case, an asset.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Right. Sorry. That’s my fault.” Dan apologized. “I didn’t tell him about the G.E.A. Well, I did, but not what they were called or that it was a trigger for you.”

“G.E.A.?”

She shook her head. “It’s the name of the organization that Dan and The Phoenix Agency rescued me and my sister from. G.E.A. stands for genetically engineered assets. They treated us like guinea pigs our whole lives. So, the term asset doesn’t have that great of a meaning for me.”

Marc nodded. “Understood. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. So, you were saying you were able to zero in on people? What happened with me? Did you… see my sister?”

She could barely get the question out. Her worry for what might have happened to her had been chipping away at her for days.

“I did.”

“And?”

She stopped breathing, frozen while she waited for him to answer.

“She’s tired. A little beat up, but she’s alive.”

The air rushed out of her lungs and relief washed over her.

“How badly is she hurt?”

Marc shook his head and set his hand over hers. “Not bad. Mostly surface bruises, nothing major. From what I’m getting she put up one hell of a fight.”

Lena nodded with pride. “That she would have. She’s strong. Courageous. And has one hell of a mean right hook.”

“That’s good.” He smiled.

“Alright.” Dan pushed himself off the wall and crossed the room toward her. “I’m going to leave you with Marcus.”

“You’re leaving?”

“I’ve got to. have work to do. The team and I need to start tracking down leads if we’re going to find Lily. Marcus here will keep you safe.”

“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about Lily.”

“Exactly. So, let me do my job and let Marcus do his. Okay?”

She looked at Marc and then back to Dan. “Okay. But please, find her soon.”

“You know I’ll try.”

As Dan made his way to the door, the two men exchanged some hushed words and looks her way. If she wasn’t so worried about her sister she might have insisted they share whatever they were discussing with her, but her thoughts were with Lily and not much more.

Marc closed the door, locking it and sliding the chain into position.

“Have you ever done a job like this before?” she asked.

“I served fifteen years in Force Recon. Worked with Dan for about five of them. So, yeah. I’ve completed my fair share of missions.”

“Do you think we’re safe here?”

“This old motel has been off the beaten path for two decades now. The team only keeps it for safe house purposes. We’re over thirty miles from any type of civilization. No one’s going to find us here.”

“Do you think they’ll be able to find her?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think, Lena. It’s what you have to believe.”

“I’m trying to.”

“Good. Keep trying. Because if there is anyone who can track down who took your sister, The Phoenix Agency can.”