Page 28 of Joshua's Mistake
“What aren’t you telling me?” she asked.
With both his hands on the countertop he hung his head and for a long time she didn’t think he would respond. When his head came up and he looked at her the intensity in his eyes terrified her. “Back when Troth and I were working together we had a job in China. It was straightforward. We were to assassinate a Chinese Psi Agent who had gone rogue. The guy was powerful. He killed two of the people on my team but worse than that, once they were dead he gathered their psi abilities and became stronger and harder to kill. It was no wonder his government wanted him taken out.” “Did you kill him?”
“We did, but afterward Troth became obsessed with what we had seen.”
“You think he’s learned how to do that?”
“Gathering is…unusual, but that’s what it looked like.”
The idea that anyone would steal the aura from her friends made her blood boil. Was that why she was being chased, why she’d been arrested? Was Banta trying to collect her psi energy? “What else?”
“Look, this guy was strong before, but I could take him. Maybe I was the only person on Earth who could. Now, I don’t know. If he’s learned how to gather he might be unstoppable.”
She couldn’t help smiling. Something about the great Joshua Lakeland feeling fear just the same as everyone else made him more human. A crazy happiness filled her chest. “Then we better find ourselves some help.”
“We might be better off getting you someplace safe. Is there any chance you would go for that?”
“No chance in hell.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.”
* * *
When Will arrived homea short time later Joshua filled him in on what he suspected. The happy-go-lucky flushed right out of Will and his mind hummed with worry. Though not as much as Joshua’s did. She wondered if it was because Joshua was worried about her as well.
In a moment, Will shook it off. His grin returned. “I brought you some clothes.” “Thanks.” She looked down at the contents of the bag he dumped out on the dining room table. It was a colorful array of fabric. She tugged on a scrap of red and a very short, slinky halter dress unfolded.
When she looked up at Will he blushed.
Laughing, she rummaged until she found a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. “How’d you know my size?”
“Lucky guess.”
Her expression must have conveyed her doubt.
“I also asked Joshua to take a look at your tags,” Will said.
“Well, these are great. Thanks again.” She grabbed the bundle of ladies’ clothing and went back to the bedroom to change.
She might be a battle-trained Psi Agent, but she was also a woman and what woman didn’t love new clothes? She put on the shorts and shirt and rejoined the men at the table.
Will was speaking when she sat down. “I’ll see what I can find out. Banta is bad news, Josh. I know you two go back, but you must know you can’t save him. You know that right?”
Joshua’s frown deepened. “I know.”
Her gut clenched. “Save him, why would we want to save him? If he’s stealing psi powers, we have to stop him. And if he’s as psychotic as you said we had better do it before he gets too powerful for us to handle.”
“I’m sure we won’t have to wait long,” Joshua said.
“Wait for what?” she asked.
“For Banta to find us. No sense running around trying to locate him. He’s obviously looking for you, so we’ll wait him out here.”
She was starting to get worried. She’d never been to Key West before, but it was an island with very few means of escape. “You want to stay here? Do we have resources?”
Will laughed. “You may think this is a party town for vacationers, and it is, but it’s also one of the number-one places Psi Agents come to either retire or get away for a while. The island is the perfect place to make a stand and nobody knows it better than Josh. Well, maybe nobody but me.”
She relaxed marginally. She still wished she knew the area better. “Okay, I’m going to need a tour of the place, a map, and a weapon or two would be nice.” Will grinned even wider than usual. “Follow me.”
