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YESTERDAY HAD BEEN a scorcher, hitting the high 90’s by mid-afternoon. Today was on track to match or surpass the heat of its predecessor. Steam rose steadily from the streets and sidewalks. Mia wiped the sweat from her forehead as she walked toward the police station to talk to Detective Gordon.

She glanced at her watch and grunted. Thomas had so many questions this morning when she told him about her dream-walking experience last night, she got a late start. If she’d known he would jump on a plane to meet Noah in person, she would’ve cut the conversation short. As it was, she hoped to catch the Detective to discuss the bit about the guns before Thomas and Tip arrived. She could go around him but didn’t want to risk messing up the case with technicalities.

As she reached the corner, a familiar silver truck drove past and parked in a spot not far from where she stood to watch. Curious and pleased to see him, she watched to see if he got out of his truck. He stepped out, locked it and walked toward her with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Eyes up, don’t look down, stay professional. “Good morning,” she said when he reached her.

His gaze locked on hers and for a few seconds; she wasn’t sure he would respond. “Morning. I have a few questions to ask if you don’t mind.”

“Questions? I can’t discuss the case —”

“No, not about that. About the other... you know. I’ve never been able to talk to anybody without feeling stupid or weird. You seem comfortable...”

Thomas was on a plane to talk to Noah and could answer his questions much better than she could. Still, she understood the feeling of being the oddball.

“I’ve got to talk to the Detective about the guns and check on a couple reports. We can talk once I’m done, or I could meet you somewhere later,” she offered.

“I’ll wait. Not much else to do today.” He turned and headed back to his truck.

Aware of the time, she moved toward the station while wondering what he meant. Seems her days were jammed pack with all kinds of things needing to be completed.

“Okay, I’ll see you in a bit.”

Noah watched Mia walk to the police station and disappear inside. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you tell her you wouldn’t work with her?” He shook his head in disgust when he had no rational answer other than the truth, he wanted to talk to her about walking in dreams.

Moving to his truck, he leaned against the grill with his arms across his chest and stared at the door of the station. Mia Haddon. He recalled the stubborn glint in her eyes while he said he wouldn’t work with her. Did she suspect he’d show up today? He wouldn’t put it past her.

The petite hurricane stormed into his world shaking it upside down last night. Nothing would ever be the same. The mist could be controlled. Walking in dreams had a purpose. Could be beneficial.

He rubbed his jaw as he thought of the sexy, woman with soft, creamy cinnamon skin and short light brown curls all over her head. Her eyes were an interesting shade of brown, shadowed with long dark lashes, high cheekbones, and kissable lips.

Kissable? He snorted not caring for the direction of his thoughts. Even though she looked 10 - 15 years younger than his almost 40, she wasn’t a silly girl like the two females in the bar the other day. He sensed Mia was a go-getter. Smart, articulate and someone who most likely had a man waiting at home for her.

Lucky guy.

Noah appreciated the way she looked at him with that direct gaze that said I see you, the real you, and it’s okay. By not expending so much energy hiding that part of him, he was free to enjoy a simple thing like hanging out with a beautiful woman.

A sexy, beautiful woman, who mattered. He couldn’t explain why it may have been twisted up with her ability to control the mist and freeing him from that prison. Even for one night. Or that her sense of justice, correcting wrongs were similar to his. Or the fact she kept him company in the vast world of dreams. It could be all of those reasons or none of them, he wasn’t a shrink. But nothing changed the fact that the short FBI agent mattered.

<<<>>>

Mia saw the Detective in the lobby and caught him before he left. “Morning, Detective.”

“Morning.” He frowned at her. “I don’t have any new information.”

“I do,” she said. “Have you checked to see if Mr. Green owned a weapon?”

His gaze narrowed. “No. Did he?”

“We should check.”

He looked like he would argue but turned and headed to his office. “Have a seat and tell me what new information you have pertaining to my case.”

Rather than make a smart comment about his mood or the case, she talked about the books on defense in Green’s home and his weapons.

He sat back as he stared at the monitor. “Green had two handguns.” He shared the rest of the information regarding the gun registration.

“The guns weren’t in the house or the van,” she said.

He shook his head and glanced up at her. “How’d they get the drop on an armed man? That’s the whole purpose of carrying a weapon, to protect yourself.”

“Drugs? If they someone got close enough, they could’ve shot drugs in his system before he could reach his gun.”

“Soon as I get that report, I’ll let you know. But I’m thinking you’re onto something. Hard to understand why they took his guns after shooting him up with drugs. He was a cripple, couldn’t run.”

“He was driving his van and could escape that way,” she reminded him, not appreciating his cutting remarks about the victim.

“That’s possible.” He released a sigh.

“About Green’s guns?” What did he plan to do about the missing weapons?

“I’ll send a couple guys over to look through the house again. Maybe we overlooked something.”

“Is there a pawn shop in town or a nearby town that buys guns?” Seriously? Why isn’t he doing the basics?

“Yes, there is, I’ll let him know to look out for it.”

“Detective, if someone stole those guns and sells them anywhere in this country, we need to know about it. It is important to this case.” Their gazes clashed.

“I’ll make sure the word gets out.” He glanced at his watch, stood, stepped around her and walked out. “I’ve got another appointment and will talk with him later today.”

<<<>>>

Mia appreciated Noah offering to tag along with her to the pawn shops in the three adjoining counties. His large frame seemed cramped in her small rental but she didn’t want to ride in his truck, besides, he had questions.

“How long have you been able to... you know,” he started once they hit the highway out of town. His voice had a gravelly quality to it as if he didn’t use it much.

“Most of my life, what about you?” she asked.

True, she lived an abnormally long time. At the age of four or five, she’d been taken to the Liege compound. The operations started early and stopped when she when she started her menstrual cycle. The repeated rapes happened shortly after. Then the pregnancy and delivery. She remained a few more years before escaping with Thomas and a few others.

“Just started for me this year. Metal from an explosive lodged in my brain, induced coma. After the surgery everything was different. Always had dreams but they were stronger, more vibrant, and then I was pulled into them.” He paused as if he said too much. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “Saw people I knew, friends who had died. Spent time watching them, learning stuff, went to places I’ve never been, saw things I wished I hadn’t. Then the mist started, changed things again. It’s harder to go places, hurts now, and drains me. That ever happen to you?”

The drive to the first pawn shop was an hour and a half out of town, more than enough time for Noah to ask questions and her to answer.

“No. When I dream walk, it’s usually based on something I’ve seen during the day that triggers it. Even then, it’s limited to the immediate area that I’ve already seen. Nowhere near what you can do. You said you could go back decades, that’s awesome. How did you develop it?” And if you could access the days after they took my child, I’d be overjoyed.

He snorted but seemed to relax a bit, wasn’t as stiff as when they started. “Develop it? It just happens, does its own thing. Wrecks my sleep. Can’t get out of bed some days, steals my strength. I wouldn’t say I developed anything, more like sitting in the passenger seat along for the ride, taking in the sights.” He huffed. “Fucked up, really fucked up.”

She hadn’t experienced any of that but then again she wasn’t as strong as him either.

“Any ideas how to stop it?” he asked. She felt the heat of his gaze on the side of her face.

“If I did we’d all have done it by now.” She bit her lip and hoped he didn’t ask about her friends.

“We? There’s more of you? In the FBI?” He turned in the seat to face her. “There’s a group of people with shit like me working in the FBI?” Shocked surprised laced his voice.

She cleared her throat. “A special group for special assignments from time to time.”

“Really?” He looked at his hands for a few seconds. “How does that work? Did they come looking for you? Ran tests? Did you sign up? I mean, this dream thing is so out of the box, it’s hard to believe you go through regular channels.”

“Not that I’m aware of. Thomas gets the jobs, handles the assignments.  He brought me in. He’s flying in and will be here later today.”

“How many?”

She thought of Lizzy and sent a prayer for her full recovery. “Six.”

He whistled. “Thought there’d be more.”

“No question there is. Making commitments to use your gifts for the greater good is the real challenge. Not everyone wants to be identified as gifted or an oddball.” She smiled.

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

When he didn’t say anything for a few seconds she glanced at him. “Come from a big family?”

“Not really. My mom died when I was in basic. Have no idea who my old man is. Half-brother lives in Alaska with his wife, no kids. He’s 12 years younger, we were never really close. My cousin is like a brother and the only family I have. You?”

She swallowed hard and gave her standard answer. “The team’s my family.”

He asked no more questions and she was grateful when they pulled into the parking lot of the first pawn shop. The Detective hadn’t reached out to the owner yet, fortunately, there had been no guns purchased, or sold in over a month. After giving the owner her card to contact her in case someone came in with the revolver, they headed to the next pawn shop in the next county.

“Why didn’t you call and ask if the gun had been turned in?” Noah asked as they pulled onto the highway.

“I can pick up more in person.” She had to be careful not to over-share anything that would put the team at risk. Although he seemed okay, Thomas had to check him out to ensure he wasn’t a threat.

“Like what?”

“Scents, residual energy, deceit, some I can get over the phone, but not most. Plus I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.” She shrugged. “Just more efficient to deal face to face.”

“Wait, you can tell if someone’s lying?”

“Deceit has a certain smell and ting in the voice so it’s fairly easy to detect,” she said.

“Bet that comes in handy in your line of work... must be hell in your social life.”

She glanced at him as she stopped at the light. “Why?”

“Means people need to always be on the up and up, honest around you,” he said watching her closely.

“Why wouldn’t they?”

He shrugged.

“Lies are a waste of time and energy, we don’t bother. Do you?” she asked.

“What?” He looked at her.

“Lie?”

“Sometimes. Working on it though. Gotta find a way, to be honest, and not hurt someone’s feelings. That sucks,” he said with feeling.

She wondered what put that frown on his face. “Painful truth is better than a lie, always,” she said.

“Makes sense if you can detect a lie,” he said looking out the window.

“Also when you’re certain a person never lies, you don’t question what they say. Makes for a smoother life in the end, don’t you think?” she asked.

Noah scratched his head and looked out the window. “Sure does.” He thought of the female in the bar the other day. Why hadn’t he told her he wasn’t interested? It was the truth. Why hadn’t he told Dr. Higgins he recognized people in his dreams? He didn’t want to deal with the fallout of their feelings being hurt.

In the good doctor’s case, she’d been so upset she left the room for over 10 minutes because he told half the truth. Would it have been better to have told her the full truth? Somehow he didn’t think so. Most people really couldn’t handle the truth.

“Is everyone on your team, like me... like us? With some kind of gift?” Last night had been phenomenal. He woke energized with total recall. 

This morning he sensed a call of purpose similar to when he enlisted. For the first time ever, he didn’t feel weird or like he was losing his mind.

She nodded and chuckled. “Yeah, a bunch of mutts, mutated mutts, get it?”

Hearing the word “mutated” stunned him.

“Hey, it’s a joke,” she said softly.

He nodded. “Good name, appropriate I suppose. Mostly women or men on the team?”

“Even, three and three.”

“Are they all coming here?” She was easy to talk to and really pretty. Driving around with her wasn’t a bad way to spend a few hours, not at all.

“Doubt it. They’re finishing up a job out of the country,” she said.

“Yeah?” He paused. “What kind of gifts do they have.”

“That I can’t say. Wait, and see.”

Noah glanced at her, saw her smile and relaxed further. He wanted to walk through more dreams with her, ask her to teach him to control the mist. He wanted to see how far he could go and perhaps do more than observe. Her being in his dream last night opened a whole new vista he wanted to explore.