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T erk looked up with interest as the newcomers arrived at the dining room table. He recognized their appetites and the cementing of the bond between them, and he nodded. “Welcome,” he said. “Your rooms are ready whenever you want to take your luggage up.”
“I don’t have a whole lot,” Reeni murmured. “I need to go shopping somewhere along the line.”
Terk nodded. “I’m sure a bunch of women here would like to go shopping with you.”
She sat down across from him and reached out for a handshake, as she smiled and said, “Thank you.”
He gave her a gentle smile in return. “What are you thanking me for?” he asked, amusement rippling through his tone.
“I don’t know whether it should be for giving me a place to stay or for the support I’ve needed or for the help with my father or for tossing Trevor in my direction,” she replied. “I have a lot of reasons to be appreciative, but one of them is the acceptance of what I can do or not do, plus the willingness to give me a chance to learn some more.”
“For that you are welcome,” Terk replied. “I’ve checked out your energy, and an awful lot is going on in there. You have some stuff to get rid of, and you’ve got some things that need fine-tuning,” he shared, “but you should be quite a sharpshooter by the time you’re done.”
She tilted her head to the side and frowned. “What does that mean?”
“You should be able to direct that electrical energy wherever you want it to go. And, if we gave you some jewelry, maybe some metal bracelets,” he added, looking down on at her fine-boned wrists, “that might help you to direct your energy, even when your target can’t conduct your electricity,” he suggested contemplatively.
Her gaze narrowed as she stared at her fingers and her wrists, saying, “That sounds like fun.”
He grinned. “Any games we play along that line will be most interesting because I can guarantee that nearly everybody here will want to take part in it.”
She realized for the first time that there really was a profound sense of connection and community here. And she would also learn more and understand her gifts better.
*
The next morning Terk sat at his breakfast table, the gang in front of him, and smiled. “Looks like we got that one beat too,” he said, with a smile.
Celia nodded. She was looking a little tired. He gently pulled a lock of hair off her cheek, and she smiled. “I’m fine. It’s just the babies keeping me up.”
He nodded, knowing full well what a toll the babies took on her and yet what quiet joy she took in working with them on a constant basis.
At the same moment, Damon walked in.
Terk smiled at him and said, “Sounds like a job well done.”
“A job well done, indeed, but it was a bit dicey there for a while. Once you get lawyers involved, it can get pretty ugly.”
Terk laughed. “Isn’t that the truth. We have plenty of lawyers that we’re dealing with in our way too.”
“Problems?” Damon asked.
“No, not at all, just setting up all the business stuff that still needs to be done,” Terk replied, waving his hand about.
“And, speaking of all that, where’s Riff?” Damon asked in a curious tone. “I didn’t see him on this job at all. Usually he has a habit of popping in and out, like a bad penny.”
“Usually he does. He got another lead on his fiancée’s murder,” Terk replied. “So he’s off on that again.”
“One of these days,” Sophia interjected, from the far end of the table, “we must have something solid to go on to help him out.”
“We’re still looking,” Terk muttered in a dark tone. “Aren’t you?”
“I am. We all are. When we’re not on jobs, we all pitch in, looking to see what we can find for him. There’s just… not much there.”
Terk nodded. “We will find something eventually. However, with Angela back and forth, looking after babies,” he added, with a laugh, “it’s not like we get a chance to avoid that issue.”
Sophia nodded. “Those two are an interesting couple. Yet they’re rarely ever here at the same time.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s by choice,” Celia shared. “You and I both know something is between them, something that’s unfinished and that needs a resolution on this murder case first, before they have any chance of going forward with a healthy relationship.”
“And both would tell you right off the bat,” Damon shared, with a wry smile, “that neither of them wants to move forward with anything that involves the other.… We all know that would be a lie. At least not so much of a lie as just not acknowledging what’s in front of them. Mostly I think out of loyalty to his ex-fiancée—equally for both of them.”
“Isn’t it great how we get ourselves all twisted up on things like that?” Lorelei pointed out, as she waddled in, with her massive belly.
Terk shook his head and said, “I presume Angela’s popping in soon, with your due date approaching.”
“She should be,” Lorelei said, with a laugh. “Hey, that’s the way it works between doctor and patient.”
Terk nodded. “At least she’s here when we need her, and, when we don’t, we know everything’s good.” He looked around and noted, “Not sure we have any more jobs at the moment. I think we should all enjoy a few days’ worth of a well-earned rest.”
“The minute you say that,” Gage declared, as he walked in and sat down, “it’s almost an invitation for trouble.”
“It is, indeed,” Terk agreed, with a laugh.
When Jonas phoned just a few moments later, Terk sighed. “I never should have mentioned taking any days off.” He answered the phone on the second ring. “What’s up, Jonas?”
“The government wants to thank you for your service,” he began, with an ironic tone.
Terk laughed at that. “Glad to hear it. Still, I can’t imagine that’s all you are calling about.”
“Regardless, I’m pretty sure that this is a good partnership,” he said.
“Yeah, we were just talking about the fact that we don’t have a job on our list at the moment.”
Jonas snorted at that. “Don’t look at me. I’m trying to take some time off. Although… I did pass your name on to another department.”
“Yeah? What department is that?”
“MI5,” he said quietly. “Something homegrown has soured.”
“Soured how?” Terk asked, raising an eyebrow and looking around at everybody.
“In this case it’s jewel thieves. The last group, a team of four, went in, took everybody hostage, shot up the security guard and the store manager, grabbed everything inside the shop, and then disappeared. They’ve done this three times now.”
“Why is MI5 interested?”
“Because it’s been linked to a local terrorist group,” Jonas explained. “I don’t know if that’s just a cover or a convenient smokescreen. However, I did tell MI5 that they may very well contact you, if they need a hand and want to get the case locked down. Of course that doesn’t mean they believe me.”
“Not sure I want to work for somebody who doesn’t really see the value in our work either,” Terk replied.
“Don’t be so stuffy. If they haven’t worked with you, they don’t know what you can do. The head guy knows a little bit, and he knows that your track record is pretty special.”
“Is there anybody local in particular working on this?”
“He’s got,… jeez, who is it now?… Morrison Hadley. Yeah, his name’s Morrison, and he has been tracking them for quite a while. He possibly has an inside line now on something because one of the security guards’ sisters was actually on the scene at the time of the shooting, and she said she recognized one of the crew.”
“So then why do they need me?” Terk asked, frowning at his team members gathered around the table. “If he’s already got an inside line…”
“I think more or less because the sister said something about This is a Terk job . When Morrison relayed that to me, I presumed that this guy or the whole group—or team or whatever you want to call these people—I gather they have abilities.”
“Well, shit,” Terk grumbled. “That’s not good.”
“Exactly,” Jonas said, “which is one of the reasons why I thought maybe you needed a heads-up.” He added almost apologetically, “I know Morrison’s good. I just don’t know if he’s your kind of good. I don’t know if he’s got any of your kind of gifts,” he shared, with emphasis. “Yet the guard’s sister was pretty adamant.”
“You have a name for the sister?”
“Yeah, Sadie,” he said, “Sadie Templeton.”
“Good, in that case I’ll be in touch with them.”
And, with that, Jonas signed off.
Terk announced to the others, “This one could get ugly.”
The team nodded in unison.
“But, if we’ve got people with abilities doing high-end jewelry robberies and shooting people,” Gage noted, “you know we have to go after them.”
Terk nodded. “At least we’re in agreement on that.”
Just then his phone lit up. He looked down and shared, “MI5 calling. You guys ready for this?”
They all nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Here we go.” Terk put it on Speakerphone.