Page 2

Ray

“Well, hell. When you said there was some serious shit going down in these cases, I have to tell ya, this wasn’t anywhere on my radar,”

Ray said as he set one of the files back on the kitchen table. “The Noah Group performing genetic manipulation within babies’ DNA in utero and even earlier is the thing of sci-fi movies. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it, even with the proof right in front of me.”

He ticked off on his fingers: “A human lie detector, mindreading, x-ray vision, healing abilities, talking to the dead, telekinesis, telepathy, and chameleon-like capabilities are all hard to believe. I’ve seen a lot as a Marine and detective, but this is off the charts.”

“There are more varied abilities among a guy we met named Apollo and his team in New Orleans and countless other survivors scattered all over the world who’ve yet to be discovered,”

Brick said. “Apollo happened along on a case we were working and thought he was coming to the rescue when the Noah Group tried to nab our guy. Turns out he leads his own crew of survivors and was key in our taking out another would-be lab.”

“And this all began generations ago with the Navy?”

“Yes. Originally, the Navy hired two geneticists, Dr. Isabelle Noah and Dr. Frauste, to lead a team of scientists in an attempt to create the perfect warrior,”

Brick explained.

“Unfortunately, they didn’t keep close enough tabs on their experiments, and by the time they realized the program had gone off the rails, the damage was done,”

Elias said as Julia set three more beers on the table.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Ray said.

“You’re welcome, Ray, and call me Julia.”

“Okay, Julia. If you don’t mind me asking, was Darren okay when you checked in on him?”

“Yes, he’ll be fine. Just needs a bit of time to regroup.”

“I didn’t mean to scare him.”

“Of course not. This is all a shock to you. Elias thought it would be best to explain everything to you in person, but it’s become so commonplace for us that I didn’t clue in that you had no idea what would happen when I called Darren out of hiding. We were training while the kids were at school.”

“Right, the children.”

Ray chuckled. “I’m going to need a diagram to keep this straight. Let me see if I got this right. Ben is Jason’s son and Gunner’s nephew; Sammie is your son; and Frank is Stryker and John’s adopted son.”

“Right,”

Julia confirmed. “Frank is the only one of the children at this location with abilities. There’s another boy, Freddie, who has them, and he lives out at the ranch with the other half of the team. We brought him back from California with Harris and his sister, Jennifer,”

she explained. ”Freddie can speak to spirits of the dead.”

“Though we aren’t sure what Frank’s abilities are yet,”

Elias explained. “He hasn’t shown more than a keen intellect.”

“And now different factions of this Noah Group are hunting down the survivors in order to use them in some messed-up plan to gain power?”

Ray asked.

“Yes,”

a voice said from behind him. When Ray turned, he found Darren standing a couple of feet away. “We’re pawns in a sick game of chess where whoever has the most genetically modified survivors under their control wins.”

“Good to see you again,”

Ray said as he stood.

It was easy to see Darren wasn’t completely comfortable with Ray’s presence. The detective was a large man, but he tried to appear less menacing.

“Hello, Detective,”

Darren said.

“Ray, please call me Ray. Look, I’m sorry for the way I reacted earlier.”

“It’s understandable. Not every day you see a man appear out of thin air.”

“True, but I’m still sorry I scared you.”

“Ghost, come join us,”

Julia said. “Want a beer?”

Darren grinned. “You’re not going to let that nickname go, are you?”

“Not a chance; it’s perfect. You’re part of the team, so you’ll get treated like one,”

she replied.

“Ghost. I like it,”

Brick agreed.

“Figures you would, ‘Brick,’”

Darren joked back.

Ray couldn’t help but feel a warmth spreading through his body as the handsome man smiled. Hell, what’s wrong with me? I don’t do complications, and I’m sure as hell not sticking around in Marshall long enough to get to know the guy. Still, he found himself pulling out the chair beside him so Ghost could sit down.

“Thank you,”

Ghost said as he took a seat.

Julia returned from the kitchen with another beer and set it before the latest arrival before sitting.

“So, we’ve been bringing Ray up to speed on the Noah Group and their past exploits,”

Brick said.

“I imagine that was very eye-opening,”

Ghost said. “Not every day you find out real-life mutants walk among you, not on a movie screen.”

Ray could tell Ghost’s words were measured as he sized Ray up. Caution was warranted, though it bothered Ray more than he’d admit. He wanted this man’s trust for some inexplicable reason that made no sense. But now wasn’t the time or the place to recite his resume, military service, or past deeds to reassure the man.

“Yes, the information verges on the unbelievable, but I’ve no reason to doubt its truth.”

Ray rolled his shoulders and stretched. “Now, it’s a matter of stopping this Noah Group from harming anyone else and helping the survivors find a safe place to live their lives in peace. Who knows what the ramifications are for future generations.”

“Really?”

Ghost turned to face Ray wearing a skeptical expression when another voice called from the doorway.

“He’s telling the truth.”

Ray turned to find two men, one gruff and menacing, the other one who’d spoken, and smiled, appearing much friendlier.

“Ray,”

Elias said. “I’d like you to meet Gunner and Conor.”

He’d not met them before but recognized the names from what Elias had told him about the team. He stood to greet them, holding out his hand.

“Good to meet you. I’m Ray Sommers.”

“I’m Gunner, you’re Elias’s friend. Part of the team who helped find Kyle,”

the big man stated.

The other man smiled. “I guess that makes me Conor,”

he said as he slapped the big guy’s chest. “Do me a favor, babe, can you grab us a couple of beers?”

Conor walked over to sit beside Ghost while Gunner strode to the fridge.

“So, how long are you staying, Ray?”

Conor asked.

“Only a couple of days. Got a conference in Vegas I need to head to.”

The relief on Ghost’s face was hard to miss before the guy tipped back his beer. At least they agreed on one point: Ray had to escape Marshall as quickly as possible.

Conor gave Ray a long look before turning his attention to Elias. “I trust you’ve brought Ray up to speed on the crazy-ass events and the cast of characters he’s walked into?”

He grinned as he took his beer from Gunner’s huge hand. Ray took the other one and uncapped it.

“Pretty much,”

Elias said as he hung his arm across the back of Fletcher’s chair. “I’m sure there’s some shit I’ve forgotten, but he can roll with it now that the preliminary details are clear.”

“And the fact that he saw Ghost appear out of thin air certainly should’ve convinced him it’s all real,”

Fletcher said with a grin.

“Ghost?”

Gunner asked.

“Yeah, that’s what Julia thinks my team nickname should be,”

Darren explained.

“I like it,”

Gunner agreed.

“You would,”

Ghost said. “I guess it’s not too bad.”

“Wait. You’re saying Ray walked in on Ghost when he was training?”

Conor asked.

“Yep,”

Julia said. “And, of course, I wasn’t thinking and called him out when I caught his movement.”

“Oh shit.”

Conor chuckled. “That had to be one hell of a shocker.”

Ray didn’t want to rehash their less-than-stellar first meeting. “Yeah, yeah. All’s fine now. I know to expect the unexpected from this point forward.”

“Dude, you have no idea,”

Gunner grumbled as he set a beer in front of Conor and took a seat. “Imagine never being able to keep a secret from your lover ’cause he knows when you’re full of shit.”

“Works great for me,”

Conor joked, causing the entire table to laugh. Gunner grinned and stared at Conor with affection.

Ray liked the banter; it reminded him of his time in the Marines. He missed that kind of camaraderie. He had friends on the force back in Seattle, but it never felt as close to when he’d been with his military unit.

“So, what’s the plan? Show Ray the sights of Marshall?”

Ghost asked. “Before he leaves.”

“Hell, he knows Marshall better than any of us,”

Elias said. “He grew up here. A third generation born and raised. His grandfather and father were both sheriffs of Marshall before me.”

“You didn’t want to become sheriff?”

Conor asked.

“No,”

Ray said, hoping that would end any further talk of it.

“Better life out in Seattle as a detective,”

Fletcher said. “I get it; small-town life ain’t for everyone.”

“Yeah, something like that,”

Ray responded. “Seattle keeps me pretty busy.”

“What was it like growing up in Marshall?”

“Same old story as every small town. You knew everyone and everything that happened. You couldn’t wipe your ass with new toilet paper without the neighbors knowing. But it wasn’t all bad.”

“Wait, if you grew up here and members of your family served as the local sheriff, then you’d know Great-Aunt Sophia and Father Henry Jones,”

Julia said with an overly excited expression.

Well, shit. Digging up old dirt didn’t take long at all for this crew.

“Yeah, my family and I have lived in Marshall for over two hundred years. I knew Brick’s aunt and her family.”

“That’s great. We’ve been trying to pull together information on a mystery involving the shooting of Jericho Miles back when Sophia was in her early twenties,”

she explained.

“That’s a long time ago. Don’t know how much help I’d be. That was more of my grandfather’s and father’s time, and Elias mentioned another detective named Woodley is on your team. Why are you so interested in a shooting that took place generations ago, Julia?”

“It’s as a favor to me,”

Brick spoke up, his voice calm, but something about his behavior had Ray paying closer attention. “You see, my great-aunt left me this place, and when we began fixing it up, we found boxes of old records on the case. Hell, probably some from your grandfather’s office, as he would have been acting sheriff at the time. Detective Woodley is out of town on a family matter, but more importantly, he’s unfamiliar with the area.”

“Still, what’s a couple of old boxes of paper got to do with an old, closed case?”

Ray enquired.

“At first, it appeared as though Sophia had kept the information for a specific reason, but we came up empty when we visited Father Jones in the penitentiary. After his death, we figured it would all remain a mystery as to why Sophia was so interested in the case. We knew Jericho Miles was found out here on Fire Lake and arrested a couple of times for trespassing, but that’s all,”

Julia explained.

“Then we met a guy on Apollo’s team in New Orleans. He goes by the name of Hendrix and is also a survivor. There’s another member of our team named Stryker. He’s another retired SEAL from our unit, and we discovered he and I are related by DNA testing while in the service,”

Brick explained. “Which was all fine and good; we figured distant cousins by some fluke, an aunt thirteen generations ago or some shit like that, ended up on the same team. We’re all related somewhere down the line, they say. That was until we met this Hendrix.”

“One of Hendrix’s abilities is to see a person’s lineage in his mind. Like a genealogist without the equipment and map-out-their-family-tree sort of thing,”

Conor said. “When he met Brick and Stryker, Hendrix immediately knew they were much closer, first or second cousins on Brick’s father’s side.”

“Meaning?”

It was all interesting but still didn’t lead to the old case.

“Means that with Brick being the only child of William Matthews, son of Sophia’s brother and grandfather to Brick, and Sophia never getting married or starting a family, if Hendrix is to be believed, and we have no reason not to believe his ability based on past confirmed reports, Sophia would then had to have had a child at some point in her life for Stryker to be her grandchild. A child that was never reported or declared.”

“Ah, okay, I see.”

Ray laid it out as he saw it. “So, with Brick’s grandfather and Great-Aunt Sophia being brother and sister, and Brick’s grandfather only having one child, then for Stryker and Brick to be related so closely, Sophia would have had to give birth to a child who would be Stryker’s mother or father.”

“Yep,”

Brick confirmed.

“Holy shit. I might need another diagram for this one,”

Fletcher groaned, rubbing his head. “Are we trying to uncover whether the priest shot the town drunk or whether Sophia had a child and who that child was?”

“No kidding. It’s confusing, but it all comes down to this simple fact,”

another man said as he entered the room. “Great-Aunt Sophia had a child and never told anyone. We must figure out whether that child could be my dad or mom and what happened back around the same time as the shooting. It could all be related somehow.”

Elias waved a hand. “Ray, this is Stryker and his partner, John.”

Ray stood and shook both men’s offered hands. “Good to meet you. Are you the person who can see through things?”

Ray asked the second man at Stryker’s side.

“That’s me,”

John said with a wry smile.

“I hear you saved everyone’s lives with your ability. That’s amazing,”

Ray said, meaning every word. He’d hate for his old Marine buddy, Elias, to be taken out by this Noah Group.

“Thank you,”

John said. “I’m still getting the hang of it.”

Ray turned to Stryker. “Are you close with your parents? Can we ask them some questions?”

“No. My father took off when I was a kid, and my mother grew up in the foster care system before marrying some rich asshole and expediting my signing up for the service and shipping out, but she died a little under a year ago.”

“What’s your legal name?”

Ray could feel his detective juices flowing and coming to life. He lived for a good mystery.

“Zaine Rogers.”

“Might as well sit and have a beer. This may take a bit to hash out before we devise a plan to solve the mystery,”

Ray said. “Anyone got a notebook I can use?”

“We? Plan? You’re leaving in a few days, right?”

Ghost asked.

Shit.

“He’s a detective through and through.”

Elias chuckled. “Give him a puzzle he can sink his teeth into, and he’s the best chance we have of finding the truth. Why don’t you stick around, buddy?”

“Or you could go to your conference and come back here afterward,”

Julia suggested as she pulled a notebook and pen from a drawer in the kitchen. “Do you have to rush back to Seattle?”

“I’d appreciate your expertise in helping me put this mystery to rest for my family,”

Brick said, his tone of voice changing. Deeper, clearer somehow. “This has become a priority for myself and others on my team. I must see it through to the end, wherever that may lead.”

Brick’s earnest way spoke volumes about the man, as he looked Ray straight in the eyesasking for assistance. This man was more accustomed to handing out orders and having those orders followed to the letter on missions across the globe. Now, he was asking Ray for his help with something very personal to him. How could he say no?

“We can work something out,”

Ray agreed, sealing his fate.

So much for leaving Marshall in the dust as quickly as possible. Damn, he was so screwed.