Epilogue

There were several corporate-security contracts pending, plus four new covert missions for the government. Rick was busy sorting them out and prioritizing, putting the teams together and deciding which ones they’d have to turn down. Faith and Mark had arrived the day before and for the moment, Dan and Mark were enjoying the little break.

The four of them were sitting on the porch now, dressed in heavy sweaters and jeans, catching the heat of the midday sun. Tomorrow Dan and Mia would be married at the city hall in Bangor, with Mark and Faith as witnesses. Then the Hallorans, being the sensitive people they were, would head back to Texas and give the honeymooners some privacy.

“Dan, you’ve been as edgy as an expectant father all morning,” Mia commented. “I know when something’s chewing on your mind, so . . . what’s up?”

Dan swallowed the last of his coffee, rose from the glider, and leaned his hips against the porch rail.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about an idea that came up during this case.” He looked at Faith. “Remember when you showed up with your ability to telecommunicate with Mark? You gave me a short course on the value of psychic gifts, not to mention the vast network of people who have them. At first I was very, very skeptical. You know that. But without you, Mark never would have been rescued.”

She and Mark smiled at each other and twined their hands together.

“Then,” Dan continued, “along comes Mia with her precognitive ability and gives us the clues to avert a major—and I mean major—disaster. And while trying to get her help to translate her visions I discover there’s a whole world of people out there not being tapped into.”

“So what kind of plot are you hatching?” Mark asked. “I know something’s been chewing at your brain.”

“I had Andy do some research on this, now that it’s become his fascination of the week. Are you aware the government has been doing testing in parapsychology for some time in labs they’ve set up?”

Mark shrugged. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“I learned that parapsychological activity is called Psi activity,” Dan continued.

“From the Greek letter, Psi,” Faith interrupted. “Picked for its relation to psyche, which means soul or mind.”

Dan nodded. “It includes telepathy, empathy of many kinds, precognition, clairvoyance, reading auras, channeling . . . lord, I didn’t realize just how many different types of psychic abilities there are until I started looking.”

“Research has been ongoing for a long time,” Faith told him. “There are still a lot of skeptics, but there’s real proof that Psi-enhanced people have been able to help in a number of tricky situations.”

“Yes. Like you and Mia did. You brought Mark’s capture to our attention, helped us rescue him and take down some very traitorous people. And Mia, without your visions, Lucas and Joy would have gotten clean away with Oscar, and Carpenter Techtronics would be digging itself out of a very big hole. Although the world is a long way from accepting the influence and affect of parapsychology and Psi phenomena, I see it as a very useful tool when standard methods don’t or can’t get the results you want.”

“And all this is leading up to—what?” Mark asked.

“I’d like to establish a Psi department at Phoenix. I’m not saying put an ad in the paper or anything crazy like that and have the real nuts on our doorstep. But let’s tap into the people Andy and Faith’s Aunt Vivi have connected us to. Let Vivi and her group act as guides who help us select the right people. Until we know more about what we’re doing, that is. We can teach these people how to use their abilities to help with investigations, and they can become a powerful resource for Phoenix.

“I can give you the name of some parapsychologists who’d love to participate in this,” Faith told him.

Dan nodded. “That’s exactly what we need. Professionals who can design and implement the program.”

“And who,” Mark asked, “would run this department? It’s not as if the rest of us are exactly sitting around with nothing to do. It will be a full-time job for someone, supervising everything, coordinating everything.”

“Well.” Dan cleared his throat. “Assuming Mike, Troy, and Rick agree to it, I was hoping Mia would accept the job.”

He grinned at the astonished expression on her face.

“Me?” she squeaked.

“Who better? You said you didn’t want to go back to the museum. That you wanted to do something totally different.”

“Oh, say yes,” Faith cajoled. “You’d be absolutely perfect for it.” She looked at Mark. “I can help, too, right?”

He grinned at her. “As if I could stop you.”

“We’d have to set some parameters on how we’d run it and when we’d use its . . . resources,” Dan added. “And it would also mean splitting our time between San Antonio, where we’ll all be living, and Baltimore where the office is. What do you say? And who knows? Maybe another treasure like you and Faith will pop up out of nowhere.”

Mia looked at him for a long moment, then jumped up and threw her arms around him. “I say a big Yes! I’d love it.” She lowered her eyelids shyly, lashes sweeping across her cheeks. “I actually had a vision.”

They all laughed.

“I’ll bet you did,” Dan joked as he wrapped his arms around her and his mouth descended on hers.

Neither of them was embarrassed by the deep kiss that followed, or the obvious heat that surrounded them. It didn’t take a vision to know that these two were made for each other and for a long life together.