Page 70 of Joshua's Mistake
Chapter 12
“Must you question everything, Lakeland? Take Rain with you and go before this devil gets away.”
Joshua and Adianca had been arguing for several minutes. Everyone else was already waiting in the helicopter and Rain stood nearby to see how the argument turned out. As far as Joshua could tell, the young woman was neutral about the outcome. “But Shaman, this is dangerous. She could be hurt or worse. I can’t take her.”
“She will be valuable to you. She has skills you will need to win your war.”
There was no use in continuing to argue. Whoever Rain was she had Adianca’s backing and he was not going to win the argument. He closed his eyes for a moment and gave a slight bow to his teacher.
Adianca didn’t respond and he turned and walked to his waiting ride.
As Joshua passed Rain, he said, “Don’t get yourself killed.”
The hint of a smile played across her lips and touched her dark brown eyes. They both ducked under the blades and boarded the Apache.
In a very short time they were closing in on the Las Vegas Strip. The landing pad on top of a casino revealed Jess, Wanda, Trip and Piper waiting for them. As soon as they were out the pilot took off and headed out of the city.
“Where’s Blake?” Joshua asked.
“His team is keeping surveillance on Banta.”
They headed down the elevator. No one said a word. Bypassing the casino floor, they continued to a subfloor that would be less crowded. A SWAT team would only cause a panic they couldn’t afford. They passed a few members of the janitorial staff and garnered some looks of curiosity but nothing more.
Jess led them to a boiler room. It was loud, but there was no chance of being bugged or overheard. “He’s down to three men.”
“Where is he?”
“He has a room at the Venetian, but I think whoever has been holding his leash may have cut him loose.”
Kane asked, “What makes you think so?”
“When I called Will to let him know we’d located him they were waiting at a helipad. I don’t know where they were going or who was picking them up, but they never showed. The three with him are getting pretty antsy and keep checking the roof. Maybe the hotel’s roof was a second escape route.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Kane said.
“No, it doesn’t,” Joshua agreed.
“Why? He’s beaten. He knows it and he’s retreating to regroup,” Trip said.
Joshua paced the limited floor space. The city was filled with millions of minds all creating noise in his head. He had to focus. Tessa touched his shoulder and calm immediately shrouded him. His eyes locked with hers.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Banta won’t care if he’s been betrayed. He only took the job because he thought it would gain him the means to get to Kane and me. If his men betray him he’ll kill them too, take whatever psi abilities they have and continue his mission.”
“I agree,” Kane said.
“Wanda, any word on whose pocket he’s been in?” Joshua asked.
“I still can only get as far as the capital and then the trail runs cold. I’m betting it’s Breckenridge. He’s the most vocal about getting rid of the Psi Agency. He’s even gone as far as saying psychics are a dangerous abomination. He’d be at the top of my list. I haven’t counted out the other two, Drury and Walker, yet. I just don’t have enough evidence to pin one down. The trail they’ve left is murky as a swamp.”
“Trip, where is the rest of our team?”
“With Blake at the Venetian.”
Joshua hated what he was going to say. “You’re going to have to keep your minds sealed off during the battle. You’ll want to tell the others the same thing. As soon as we get close to him we’ll be vulnerable. He never got off the ridge in the desert so he never had the opportunity to gather from anyone. We were lucky. He doesn’t have anything to lose, which makes him twice as dangerous.”
Rain was completely quiet during the exchange. Now she said, “I can help.” Everyone turned to her.
