

Experiments

A Gifted Series Prequel Novelette

By Char Webster
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, places, characters, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual events, or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 by Char Webster

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

# Dedication

To my Gifted Society crew: love you all

#

# Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Sneak Peak of Discovery (first five chapters)

# Acknowledgments

I've met some truly awesome people in the indie book community that have I am so happy to call my friends. You all are amazing and a I love being a part of this community.

My family and friends have been my biggest supporters and I couldn't keep writing without all their love and encouragement. I love you all.

I want to thank Teresa Gonzalez, my PA. I really appreciate everything you do for my books and me. I would be lost without you.

Thank you to Dawn Yacovetta for beta-reading this novelette. It means so much to me to have your continued support and friendship.

#  Chapter One

Five years ago...

Laughter filtered in from the hallway and Nick Taylor knew that his supposedly best friends were cracking up at his situation. He wished he could project his thoughts to his friends Jason Carter and Ryan Donovan without everyone hearing him, but he didn't have that gift. If he dropped his shield, anyone in the area would be able to read his thoughts and he was in enough trouble as it was.

Jason was in the hallway with his face pressed into the glass of the door making faces at Nick and laughing hysterically while Nick was being screamed at for something that they all had done. Nick was just the unlucky one to have been caught.

Jason's green eyes danced mischievously as he flipped him off and Nick couldn't do a thing about it. Just wait until later, Nick thought.

He tried not to visibly wince at the volume level of academy training officer Schultz's voice. The man had been getting louder by the second and he didn't seem to be any closer to finishing his lecture then he had been ten minutes ago. Nick glanced at the door again but Jason had disappeared. Ryan had shoved him out of the way to get his turn at laughing at Nick's predicament. Nick could see the light reflecting off Ryan's sun-bleached head.

Nick and his friends had made the mistake of joking around in front of a group of new recruits. He also may have been mimicking the officer, but he wasn't sure if the guy had caught that part or not. They had all tried to escape around the corner before Schultz had seen them, but Nick had not been quick enough.

Everyone hated the strict trainer at the Association's Elite Academy, even other officers barely tolerated the man. Nick had no idea why he was still allowed to teach the new students each session. He had asked the commanding officer once and ended up with guard duty for a month. The only answer he had received was that Schultz was from a very old and powerful family line within the Association. Nick couldn't imagine that because the man didn't have a gift worth mentioning. Everyone in the Association valued powerful gifts above all.

"You're lucky they don't throw you out of the Association," Schultz was still rattling on. "I don't care who your family is Taylor, or how strong your ability is. It doesn't give you the right to walk around here like a god." So now, Nick was standing in front of the higher ranking officer who was determined to make an example of him.

Nick tried to suppress his sigh. He really didn't feel like listening to this officer berate him any longer. He was now yelling about the history of the Association and the Gifted race and how Nick was disgracing their ancestors from Atlantis. He also mentioned a few times how unfair it was that Nick had a powerful gift of energy manipulation and he was stuck with only enhanced sense of direction. Supposedly, the officer could be blindfolded and stuck anywhere and he could find the most direct route out of the area.

"Are you paying attention to me?"

Nick straightened up slightly to make it appear that he was paying a little bit of attention. He ran his hands through his dark brown hair to push the strands that had fallen forward out of his eyes. He liked to wear his hair a little longer than the regulation buzz cut. The Academy was run much like the military but a few key differences were incorporated into their curriculum. Physical conditioning and weapons training were a key part, but they also had to learn to utilize their extra abilities to their best advantage and determine how to minimize or neutralize an enemy's gift.

Schultz glared at Nick's hair and Nick knew that he had unintentionally drawn attention to its length. It was just another thing that he was going to be yelled at for today.

"You've been disrespectful one too many times, Taylor! I'm sick of people treating you like the golden boy around here. You'll learn a little humility before I'm done with you."

Nick had flown through the Academy training with the highest scores in every area and beating records that had been held for more than 20 years. He had attracted the attention of the highest-ranking officials causing jealousy among some of the other recruits and officers. No matter what trouble Nick found, he managed to get himself out of it with hardly any consequences.

Suppressing a laugh, he had to concentrate on keeping a straight face. Schultz was using every cliché and trite phrase there was and even a few that had been smashed together to form new clichés. He must not have been as good at hiding his mirth as he had thought because the officer raised his voice again even louder and slammed his fist into the desk in front of him.

"That's IT! You think this is funny? You won't think it's funny when I demote your ass back to the academy so I can train you properly. Maybe another year under my command will beat some respect into you."

Nick winced at the thought but was saved from hearing more threats, by Robert Tate opening the door and sticking his head into the room. Robert, Nick's best friend, sauntered by, leaving the door wide open and ignored Schultz. "Dude. Where've you been? Deckler's looking for you." Robert was a few inches taller than Nick with hair just a shade darker. He was also at the head of the Academy class being edged out by Nick for the top spot. Nick's active gift providing him with added strength and force had an advantage over Robert's gift of determining others abilities and the strength of those gifts.

"TATE! You don't walk into my classroom without properly acknowledging a superior officer."

Robert raised an eyebrow at Nick and smirked. He was just about to open his mouth to reply with what Nick figured would get them both into serious trouble when the base commander entered the room. Robert's smirk turned into a full grin when he noticed Schultz's face turn fire engine red.

Commander Deckler strode up to Nick, gave him a quick nod, frowned at Robert and ignored Schultz completely. The officer kept opening and closing his mouth but no sounds were escaping. He was stunned that Taylor was going to escape him once again.

"Nick, I need to brief you, Tate and your two buddies, hiding in the hallway, on a situation," Deckler began without any formal greetings. Jason and Ryan decided to stop hiding in the hall and join Nick and Robert to find out what the commander wanted to speak to them about.

"Sir. I'm – I'm not finished with Taylor," Schultz stuttered.

"Officer Schultz, you are dismissed," Deckler ordered, leaving no room for the man to argue. He stood there for a moment stunned that he was being booted out of his own classroom. "Close the door behind you, Darren." Deckler didn't notice the hatred in Schultz's eyes as he glared at them all before storming out of the room and slamming the door closed.

As soon as the door closed Robert blew out a breath that was half laugh and half cough. Nick simply smirked at the closed door. Jason and Ryan were not as subtle and high fived each other.

Deckler narrowed his eyes at them and they wisely stopped and tried to look somewhat serious. "There's a situation at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Intelligence has shown that someone has been trying to replicate the gene mutation that triggers our special abilities."

Nick's eyes got huge. "Sir, are they experimenting with Gifted DNA?"

Robert shook his head in disbelief. "I can't imagine any of our people voluntarily donating their blood or tissue samples for experiments."

Deckler flipped through his stack of papers. "It doesn't look like they are. So far, they are trying to force a mutation. We don't know how or with what. Our scientists have done extensive research into this and they don't feel as though we have anything to worry about, but I want you to check it out. If for some reason, they are successful, we could have a serious situation to deal with."

Robert slumped his shoulders, disappointed. He had thought they would be getting a good assignment and not some research thing in North Jersey. Jason and Ryan exchanged a look and Jason broke out into a huge smirk. "Cool, college girls."

Once again, Deckler shot him a look, but he was too busy planning his seduction of as many girls as he could find.

Ryan pushed Jason, "Dude, pay attention." Jason shot him a dirty look, but stood at attention.

"Maybe you guys aren't ready for this assignment and I should pick another team," Deckler scolded them.

Nick glared at his friends. "Sir, we're more than ready."

Deckler sighed heavily but began to explain the situation to his favorite team.

"You'll be going in with a more senior team. Think of this as a trial of sorts." Deckler glared at Jason and Ryan as he spoke. He ignored Jason's grumble, "Why is he just looking at us, Ry?"

"If you guys don't screw this up, there will be more assignments coming your way." He looked at Nick. "Taylor, this is an opportunity to prove to me that you can handle leading a team."

Nick didn't hear another word that was spoken for several seconds. He was too busy grinning from ear to ear at the thought of leading his own team. He gave himself a mental shake to pay attention; he was the team leader now. He glanced over to Robert who rolled his eyes at Nick's ridiculously huge smile.

# Chapter Two

A couple of days later, they were strolling across the Rutgers University campus. The men on the senior team decided to stay back and let the rookies complete the reconnaissance while they sat in the coffee shop. Nick was sure they were currently laughing about making the new guys do all the work.

The campus was crowded with students all hustling to their classes. It was almost the end of the spring semester so the weather was perfect for the students to linger outside in between classes and activities.

Nick chuckled to himself as he watched Ryan and Jason attempting to catch the eye of every girl that passed by. One very brazen student walked straight through the middle of the guys, brushing her assets along Robert's arm.

She paused to say, "Whoops, I didn't mean to walk into you." She smiled coyly at him and Robert raised one eyebrow in response.

They could all hear what she was thinking, and she was imagining having fun with the entire group.

Robert didn't get the opportunity to say anything else because Jason jumped right in her path. "It's my turn," She looked at him oddly, not understanding what he meant. "Feel free to brush by me any time. It's only fair you know."

It looked as if she considered it but Ryan burst out laughing and she hurried away.

"Jerk. You ruined the perfect opportunity." Jason grumbled at Ryan.

"Dude, you jumped in on Robert's girl." Ryan shot back

"She wasn't my girl," Robert clarified. "I'm not into blondes, especially ones who rub up against random guys." And think about being with them all, he thought.

Jason looked at him like he was nuts. "She can rub against me any time."

"We know Jay," Nick teased. "You told her and she ran away."

"She didn't run away until Ryan laughed at her."

Ryan gave him a look. "I was laughing at you knucklehead."

Jason was scoping out the campus. "Whatever."

Ryan suddenly got a big smile and nudged Jason, who grinned as well. "We're going to check out the back of the building and the security around the laboratories," Ryan said as Jason pulled his arm to get him moving. Jason and Ryan quickly broke off from Nick and Robert.

"Yeah, they're heading toward those girls over there," Robert pointed at a group of college students doing yoga on a grassy area behind a couple of the buildings.

Nick laughed. "Not very subtle are they?"

"Ten bucks says those girls blow them off."

"No way. Watch. Jay's been golden lately. He'll leave with a couple of phone numbers."

Robert slapped Nick on the shoulder. "You didn't just see that last disaster? She couldn't get away from him fast enough."

"He has been perfecting his approach, hitting on all the girls at the pool where he life guards." Nick had hung out with him a few times at the swim club and watched their friend in action.

"He couldn't have gotten that good in such a short time. Amber destroyed him a couple of months ago."

"I'm telling you, he's gotten better."

"So, we're on?"

Nick glanced over at Jason and Ryan making their way over to the girls. "Absolutely."

They walked toward the front of one of the science buildings where the experiments where supposedly being conducted. Nick and Robert had planned to enter the building and see how far they could get before someone stopped them. They had procured student IDs that would get them into just about any building on campus, but they were not sure what kind of security would be around the lab. They were about to find out.

"Let's..." Nick began but realized that Robert was no longer at his side. He looked over and saw his friend heading toward a very beautiful brunette sprawled on the ground with her books scattered around her.

# Chapter Three

Robert got an odd feeling and turned toward the building next to them to try and discover its source. Just as he turned, he watched a large woman, the size of a linebacker, barrel into a petite girl with wildly curly hair. The smaller girl was knocked down and her things flew in every direction. The linebacker kept moving without even a glance at the girl she threw to the ground.

He watched the girl sit there on her butt for a second, obviously stunned by the occurrence. As he walked closer to offer his assistance, he sensed a flicker of something, but it was gone too quickly to figure out what it was. The girl was not gifted. He was sure of it, but he still felt something odd from her.

The girl continued to sit there as Robert moved to her side, blocking the morning sun from her. He could see she was clearly upset over what had happened. Her things were spread across the sidewalk and students were beginning to kick items out of the way instead of offering assistance. He normally wouldn't have gotten involved in a situation like this, but there was something about this girl.

He knew she didn't see him so he anticipated her surprise when he muttered. "That girl should play for the Rutgers' Scarlet Knights. She could flatten the biggest football players out there."

She raised her eyes from the scattered books and papers to look up at him. He knew she couldn't see him clearly; the sun behind him would be causing too much glare. She seemed a little skittish, and he wasn't sure why, but he wanted to put her at ease. He moved slightly so she could see him and know that he wasn't a threat.

The pretty girl was staring at him with an adorable look on her face. He loved that look and his brown eyes twinkled mischievously. She is really cute, he thought, letting his eyes wander up and down the length of her.

He tried to contain his smile when he heard her think, wow, he's really hot and he has a sexy voice. Robert loved being able to hear her thoughts, especially in situations like this one; mind reading was one of the perks of being Gifted.

Robert bent down to pick up some of her things and held them out to her, but she appeared to be too flustered to take them from him. He cleared his throat to get her attention, and she realized that he was holding out her book while she was just kneeling there on the sidewalk frozen.

She laughed nervously and said, "She hits pretty hard." Then she remembered her manners. "Thanks."

Robert watched her face get redder and he tried hard to hide how much he was enjoying her embarrassment. He also loved hearing her think that his muscles were bulging out of his shirt. The more she fidgeted the cuter she became. After this assignment, he might have to come find her again.

He looked at her with concern, when she continued to kneel on the ground. "Are you ok?" He hoped she wasn't injured. The huge girl could have hit her hard enough to break something. If that was the case, he would have to go find the linebacker.

She sighed loudly. "Yeah. Just having a bad day."

He handed her another book and was gathering up the rest of her things as she watched him. She seemed more fascinated with checking him out than getting her things, and that was just fine with him. His smirk became even bigger knowing she found him attractive too.

He wanted to keep her talking. "Well, I hope your day gets better from here. I know mine has." He winked at her and watched her eyes get huge.

Her flush darkened another shade, but she managed to say quietly, "I think it might."

With her books back in her arms, they both stood up and he moved back a step. His eyes were still lingering on her face, memorizing her features.

She shifted nervously and then said, "I have to go. Thanks again for helping me. No one else would have."

"I can't resist damsels in distress." He winked at her again. "See you around, Rembrandt."

He watched her turn away looking confused until she looked down at her paint splattered jeans and sneakers. He could see her grin as she hurried toward her class. Damn, she was cute, he thought.

After she disappeared around the side of the building and out of sight, he noticed a torn piece of paper on the ground near where her things had been scattered. He picked it up hoping for some sort of contact information so that it would be easier to find her later, but instead he turned the paper over and discovered gorgeous brown eyes looking back at him. She had sketched her own eyes and they were mesmerizing.

"What do you have there?" Nick asked.

"Nothing." Robert tried to shove the paper in his pocket, but Nick snatched it out of his hands.

"Eyes? Their pretty. Anyone you know?"

"Give it back."

"Whoa dude. It's just a scrap of paper." Nick was looking at him oddly.

Robert grabbed it back and tucked it into his pocket quickly. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to talk to Nick about it.

Nick frowned but decided to drop it. "Are you done playing hero? We have things to do."

Robert gave him a dark look but walked next to him toward the labs, not answering.

# Chapter Four

Nick kept glancing at his friend unsure of what had just changed his best friend's attitude in such a short time. Out of the four of them, Robert tended to brood the most, but there was usually an incident that build up to one of his brooding sessions. He couldn't imagine that helping some girl pick up her books, would affect him that much.

"What's going on with you?" Nick asked concerned.

"Robert looked over at Nick and tried to clear his expression. "Nothing. Why?"

"You're acting weird. Do you know that girl?"

"Not yet." Robert's smirk was back and whatever Nick had seen in his friend before seemed to be gone now.

Robert gave himself a mental shake. He could feel something odd about the girl and he wanted to find out what it was.

They entered the building, pulling out their fake student IDs to show the security guard in the lobby. The man was leaning back in his chair, gut hanging over his pants and the bottom button of his uniform shirt stretched so tightly, Robert thought it would pop off and hit him in the head. His desk was littered with food crumbs and several rings of stains from coffee cups.

The guard nodded his head minutely and went back to reading his newspaper. When they were out of hearing range, Nick turned to Robert. "If that's the security in this building, this job is going to be really easy."

"Maybe we should have a large order of doughnuts delivered here to keep him busy."

"Yeah, he would be so busy stuffing his face, he wouldn't notice anything else."

They walked along the hallways on the first floor and found several classrooms and laboratories, but nothing out of the ordinary. The building had six floors and each floor held the same rooms and layout as the first floor.

"Maybe we have the wrong building." Robert muttered.

~*~*~

"Ladies. My friend and I are here from the athletic department to assist in any and all stretching activities." Jason walked right up to the middle of the girls, who were watching him with interest. "Of course, if you were to pull a muscle, we happen to be experts at massaging those aches away." Several of the girls giggled and moved a little closer to Ryan and Jason.

Ryan had not expected his friend to say that and was at a loss for words for a few seconds until one of the girls, bypassed a flabbergasted Jason to slide in next to Ryan.

A very cute red head with a curly ponytail began to rub her thigh muscle. "I have a muscle cramp that you can massage."

Ryan's eyes grew huge but he recovered quickly. "Ladies, these hands are like magic."

Jason's mouth fell open as Ryan gathered a group of girls around him. One of the girls, a tall brunette, placed her hand on his arm, which Ryan just happened to flex. Jason could tell that Ryan was a little overwhelmed at the attention. He was happy for his friend, but also a little upset that his plans failed miserably for himself.

He was too busy pouting to notice the petite blonde walk up to him. "Are you two really part of the athletic department?"

Those few words were enough to replace the smirk on Jason's face. "We can be anything you want us to be." The girl giggled and they started up a conversation.

# Chapter Five

"Seriously?" Robert was looking out the window on the fourth floor of the science building watching his two friends flirt with about fifteen girls. "How did we get stuck up in here working while those two idiots ended up with all the girls?"

Nick joined Robert at the window. "Looks like Ryan has a bigger following than Jay this time." Nick nudged Robert's arm. "Come on, let's go break up their fun."

Nick and Robert were just exiting the building when Ryan jogged up to them.

"You two were working really hard. So glad you went to check out the back of the building." Nick grumbled.

Ryan gave him a very cocky smirk. "There's a lab in the basement of the building that can be accessed from the outside by a side door and from the inside through the maintenance area."

Nick raised his eyebrows, surprised by the information. "Maggie's roommate, Colleen, stays at the desk down there as part of her student employment."

Robert tilted his head a little and asked, "Who is Maggie?"

Jason joined them with a huge grin. "She is that very cute red head over there. Her other roommate, Gwen, is the short blonde. They're going to a party later and we're invited."

Nick noticed that Robert perked up at the mention of a party. He caught Robert's eye, in question, but his friend just turned to Ryan.

"Where's the maintenance entrance?" Robert asked trying to turn things back to their assignment.

"It should be this way." They followed Ryan back into the building down the first floor hallway toward the east side. A metal door with no markings blended in with the wall. Nick hesitated for a moment and then motioned to Ryan to examine the door.

Ryan pulled a small device out of his backpack, which he had slung over one shoulder. The device was grey and looked like a Blackberry with a small keyboard on the bottom half of it. Even though the keys were tiny, his fingers flew over them at high speed.

"There's no security here, but I am picking up some sort of security network just beyond this door and to the left."

Jason tried the door handle and was surprised to find it unlocked. "Should things be this easy?" Jason asked.

"It won't be in a minute," Robert told him getting a look at the other side of the door.

They entered another hallway that looked like it ran along the other side of the classrooms on that floor. They filed in and closed the door behind them. A short way down the industrial-looking hall was a rusted metal door with a sign that said basement access.

They entered the stairwell, quietly creeping down the steps, not knowing what they would find at the bottom. It opened up into a small area with a mesh door on one side and a thick steel door on the other. The mesh door led to a mechanic's room with the building's boiler and hot water heaters. Robert tried the door, but it was locked. He quickly moved toward the other door, but Jason beat him to it.

Jason went to open the door, but Nick put a hand on his forearm to stop him.

"We need to know what's behind that door first." Jason looked like he wanted to push forward but didn't attempt to open the door. Nick motioned for Ryan to go first and scan the area.

"This door doesn't have any security, but behind it, there seems to be something that is making this thing go nuts." Ryan pointed to the colorful lights blinking rapidly on the small screen.

Nick pushed the silver handle down and the door clicked open to a wide area that looked like a hospital hallway. Everything was painted in a minty green color and had a sterile feel to it.

Three identical doors decorated the far wall. Ryan moved closer to the middle door, which was making his device blink even more. "This is the door we want."

Nick nodded and moved to that door with the others following closely behind. He pulled the silver handle down, hearing a loud click that echoed throughout the area and stepped into another hospital-like room with a reception desk at the far end.

A dark-haired girl was sitting at the desk nodding her head in time to the music they could hear pouring out of her ear buds. Nick eyed the stack of books spread out in front of her, and papers haphazardly scattered across the surface of the desk. A large empty coffee cup was sticking out of the top of a trashcan that looked as if it had not been emptied in days. Several balled up papers had spilled out and were lying on the floor next to the garbage can.

Nick smiled at the shoes he could see peeking out from under the desk. He leaned over to Robert. "I'm going to go talk to her. While I distract her, you guys check things out."

"You're just going to talk to her because you think she's cute." Robert gave him a knowing look.

"Why would you think I'm attracted to her?"

"Really? You don't think I know your type? Petite, cute, long dark hair."

"Whatever," Nick mumbled and strode up to the desk. He stood there watching her flip through the pages of her textbook without really reading anything. She was turning the page too quickly.

He liked that her fingernails were bright florescent pink and matched her toenails. He could see her feet, because she was sitting on the chair with her legs crossed on the seat, pretzel style. His gaze lingered over her shapely legs and traveled up to her other assets, but he couldn't fully appreciate the vision for very long. She chose that moment to look up and shriek in surprise.

"Hi. I didn't mean to startle you." Nick gave her his brightest and most devastating smile.

She blinked a couple of times but managed to mutter, "Can I help you?" Oh, holy hotness, she thought.

He knew he had her after hearing her internal assessment of him. "Hi Colleen, I'm Nick. Maggie suggested we talk to you about the party later."

Nick's smile turned into a smirk as he watched her blatantly check him out. He cleared his throat and Colleen blushed a vivid red that covered her entire body. "Party?"

"Yeah, she said you were all going to some party and that we should come along, but if you're not going. . ." Nick let the sentence hang, hoping Colleen would take the bait. He started to turn around.

"No wait. Yeah, she mentioned a party, but I don't know where it is. Are you all coming with us?" She asked excitedly, noticing the others for the first time. She perused them, but her eyes settled back on Nick.

"Only if you're going." Nick watched her blush deepen even more. "What time are you finished here?"

She looked at the clock on the wall next to the desk and sighed. "Not for several more hours."

Jason walked up wanting to get in on the flirting. "Oh, that's a shame. We were hoping you could hang out with us until the party." He gave her a wink that he was sure would make her blush more than she had for Nick.

Colleen ignored Jason and beamed up at Nick. "You want to hang out now?" Jason was once again shocked that his skills were defeated for the second time in an hour.

Nick jumped at the opportunity she provided. "Absolutely." He made a show of looking around. "You don't look very busy down here. Can't you just pack up for the day?"

She looked behind her at the closed steel door with a keypad next to it, then back at Nick. "I can't. They get really angry if I leave before the night guard comes." She sighed loudly.

"Night guard? They have someone here all the time?" Nick asked casually. He glanced over his shoulder at Ryan typing furiously on his small scanner.

"Yeah. They don't want anyone messing with their research. A few other labs on campus have 24-hour security, too."

Robert walked up next to Nick. "So, all you do is sit here?" He waved to the area. "Does anyone ever come down here? Aren't you bored."

"It is boring, but I get to study and do my homework. No one ever comes down here." She paused and then continued, "Well, except when they have student days."

"Jason perked up. "Student days?"

"Yeah. Twice a month students can come in and they pay for mouth swabs, blood donations and any other samples they can collect. They got some grant money to pay the students, so that gives them a steady stream of donors."

Robert exchanged a look with Nick. "So, I guess you get a little more spending money working here."

Colleen shook her head. "No, they need a large sample so if you donated before, you can't do it again for a couple of months. Usually about twice a semester."

Nick glanced at Robert again. "That's too bad." He moved a step closer to her desk, drawing her attention. He wanted her to look at him, not at Ryan who was scanning the entire lobby area.

He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Do you get a lunch break?"

Colleen frowned. "They buy me lunch and have it brought in every time I'm here."

"Well, then I guess I won't see you until tonight." Nick turned to leave. "Come on guys, let's go."

Nick turned back to her and smiled. "See ya later." He almost laughed at the disappointed look he saw on her face.

# Chapter Six

They exited the building and headed toward a small café with a few scattered tables and chairs. Most of the students were in classes, so only a few people were around.

Robert looked pensive. "Our blood is exactly the same as anyone else's. That's why we can go to normal doctors and get blood tests. There's no indicator in our blood, so why would they even bother with that? And the mouth swabs, she was talking about, there is so little to work with. What are they up to?"

Jason laughed. "Yeah, I wonder what other samples she was talking about."

Nick shrugged and turned to Ryan. "So, what did you find out?"

Ryan leaned forward, placing his forearms on the table. "The area we were in had minimal security. There's only one camera, which was at the door behind Colleen's desk. The range was not that far out from the door, maybe five feet. I was able to tap into it and we should be able to see who goes in and out. It was primarily facing the door, which means they were more concerned with who was leaving then entering."

Robert ran his hand through his hair. "That's interesting."

"Yeah, I thought so too." Ryan looked down at his scanner. "There is a ton of security behind that door, but I was able to catch the frequency and I think I can get into their system."

Jason grinned. "Nice. So when do we go in?"

Nick wanted to storm in there as well, but he knew they couldn't do that. "We need to monitor it for a couple of days and see what we can learn before we go in to investigate."

Jason pouted slightly, but he knew Nick was right. "Well, I think we need to go to that party to stick close to Colleen. She might be able to provide some more information if we get her relaxed."

Nick was surprised that Robert agreed so quickly. He studied his friend closely, noticing the calculated look in Robert's eyes.

"Absolutely. Hanging around campus is a good idea. We should work on blending in and mingling with the students. This way, if we're seen on campus, it'll be normal."

Nick laughed but agreed. "Yeah, let's do a little research. First we need to let the other team know what's going on."

Robert patted Nick's back. "And that, my friend, is why we are all glad that you are team leader and will be handling that duty. We will be over there with Colleen's roommates."

Nick gave him a hard look but headed toward the coffee shop to report in.

~*~*~

Robert was frustrated. It had been three days since he had seen the girl with the captivating brown eyes and he was losing hope. He hadn't found her anywhere on campus. Each night they went to a different party and during the day they roamed the campus and visited each dorm building. She was turning out to be harder to find then he had thought. There were a ton of students that attended Rutgers, but he figured she would show up at some point. The spring semester was winding down and he was running out of time to find her.

Nick bumped his shoulder to get his attention. "Dude, I've called your name three times. What are you doing?"

"What?" Robert replied surly.

"What's up with you?" Nick asked half concerned and half annoyed. His friends had been progressively grumpier the longer they've been on this assignment.

"Nothing."

Robert's one word answers were also getting to Nick. "Whatever's bothering you, either talk to me about it or get over it."

Robert gave him a dark look, but checked himself. He was acting badly and his best friend didn't deserve it. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired of not getting any answers on this assignment."

Nick stared at him for a while not saying anything. "Nothing else is wrong?"

"No, why?"

"You know you can talk to me right?"

Robert gave him a sideways smile. "Yeah, man. I know. Thanks."

Nick nodded and looked around for Ryan and Jason. "Where are those two?"

Robert snickered and pointed to the steps of the building next to them. Ryan and Jason were engaged in a flirtatious conversation with three very pretty girls. "Jason and Ryan are in a competition to see who gets more phone numbers."

Nick laughed. "Who is winning?"

"Not sure. Ryan has really been on his game."

Nick nudged Robert and they went to collect their friends.

Jason looked up and bumped Ryan's shoulder. "Ladies, we will have to see you later on tonight."

They giggled and moved into the building. Jason smirked at their retreat. "This is the best assignment we could have ever had."

Ryan nodded in agreement. "Maybe we can be stationed here to keep an eye out for future experiments."

"If you two idiots are done, we have work to do," Nick grumbled at them.

# Chapter Seven

They had been monitoring the basement laboratory for the past few days and were able to determine a pattern. Just before noon, lunch was delivered to Colleen. Each day so far was a different cuisine. The delivery included soda, but Colleen seemed to prefer coffee. At 12:15 p.m. exactly, two men would leave the lab for lunch, stopping briefly to speak with Colleen. They returned around 1:30 p.m. and again stopped to speak to Colleen. The two men would not leave again until sometime in the evening. The times were different each day so far.

Lunch time was the ideal opportunity to sneak into the lab and determine what was happening there.

Earlier, Jason had obtained a couple of ear pieces and throat mics so that the team could communicate with each other and the older team waiting in the coffee shop.

They watched the food delivery guy exit the basement stairway and a few minutes later, the two men from the lab.

Nick switched the large coffee cup he was holding to his other hand and pulled the small packet out of the front pocket of his jeans. A small plastic bag contained a small amount of beige powder. He opened the sealed bag, pulled off the lid and poured the contents into the coffee. He swished it around with the red stirrer he had brought along.

Nick knew that Colleen loved coffee and would drink it quickly in the morning. She would also complain to the men leaving the lab that she wanted another cup. There was an old coffee machine on the counter next to her desk, but Colleen preferred Wawa coffee.

Robert, Ryan and Jason huddled around Nick, blocking him from view.

Just outside the science building, there were a few picnic-type tables with benches scattered around. Ryan set up his scanner and laptop to monitor the security feeds.

Nick replaced the lid on the coffee cup and gestured to Robert and Jason to follow him. They moved into the underground stairway that led from the outside of the building to the basement labs.

"Jay, you stay here and keep a look out. If someone comes, delay them in any way you can. I'm sure you can come up with something."

Jason smirked again. "No problem."

Nick turned to Ryan. "Ryan, be ready to turn the surveillance cameras onto a loop so that no one sees us."

"Robert, come with me but hang back until I give Colleen her coffee. Once she is out, we'll go check things out." Robert nodded in acceptance.

Nick made an exaggerated show of running his hand through his hair to check in with the other team. "We are about to go in and deliver the coffee."

"Affirmative."

Nick got a confident look in his eyes and was just about to address his team when the older team leader's voice sounded in his ear. "Don't screw this up Taylor."

Nick frowned for a moment and then shook it off. "Ok. Let's do this."

Ryan was monitoring Nick and Robert as they descended the stairs. The first camera would pick them up once they entered the basement entryway at the bottom of the steps. He turned the cameras off live feed and onto a loop so that it looked as if no one was going there.

Robert waited in the entryway and Nick turned to the right and pulled open the door to the reception area of the labs.

Colleen looked up from her magazine with a pleasantly surprised smile on her face. "Nick, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you since the party a couple of nights ago."

Nick turned on his brightest and most devastating smile. "I thought I would bring you coffee." He held up the cup.

"Awww. That is so sweet. How did you know that I love coffee?"

Nick nodded to the extra-large cup sticking out of the top of her waste basket.

Colleen blushed and muttered, "Oh."

Nick approached her desk and walked around to her side, propping his hip on the desk and leaning against it with a lazy confidence of a guy who knew the girl liked him.

She took the cup from him but let her hands linger on his for a moment longer than necessary. "Thanks. It's really sweet of you to bring me coffee." She drank deeply from the cup, enjoying the flavor.

"I wanted an excuse to see you again."

"I didn't think you were interested. You weren't at the sorority party last night."

"Oh, we went to a party across campus with some friends. I had hoped you would be there."

She drank another long pull from the cup. "How did you know how I like my coffee?" She looked at the cup in a dazed wonder.

Nick dazzled her with another smile. "Lucky guess?"

She giggled and guzzled more of the coffee. They bantered back and forth a little until she began to yawn loudly. Within seconds she was asleep on her desk. Nick took the coffee cup out of her hands and replaced it with an empty cup from his backpack.

# Chapter Eight

He whispered quietly but his throat mic picked it up clearly. "She's out." He watched Robert stick his head in the door.

Nick addressed Ryan. "Ry, are we still all clear?"

"Yup. Completely clear."

"Jay, all good?"

"There hasn't been anyone around at all."

Nick nodded to himself. "Good. Robert and I are going in."

Ryan brought up footage from the day before. "The door code is 6-4-3-0-5-5-2-8-9"

Robert punched the code in and the door made a sharp clicking sound. Nick pulled the lever and the door opened up into a large white hallway that had a wall of windows facing three separate labs, each with a white metal door and keypad.

Ryan was watching the video feed and was guiding them through the labs. By watching feed from the video cameras, they determined that the first lab on the right was not their target. They would take a walk through it if they had time. The middle lab was the one they thought had the most unusual experiments and the most security.

They made their way to that lab. Once again Ryan provided the code for the door.

Nick and Robert entered the spacious laboratory and began their sweep of the room. Each pulled out a small camera and began to take photographs of everything. There was a chemical hood for ventilation on the far side of the room, along with several burners and microscopes lining the side wall. The center of the room held various tables of experiments along with lots of different equipment and tons of vials of liquids. There was a refrigerator that took up the length of the room on the opposite side from the burners and microscopes.

Robert walked over to one of the experiments and began to flip through the notes on the table. Several charts and graphs marked the progress of the experiments.

"Nick check this out." Robert pointed to a scribble on the margin of the page. "It says Atlantis mineral with question marks."

Nick walked over to the table and bent over the note book. "This is it. They're trying to duplicate abilities by isolating certain properties in the DNA."

"How are they making progress? What are they using to make the cells mutate?" Robert asked curiously.

Nick shook his head. "I'm not sure, but we need to find out."

Just as Nick began to flip through the notes from the next station, the other team leader stopped him with a quiet command. "Good job guys. We will send in a team tonight to clean this place out and apprehend the scientists. Get out of there quietly and report back here."

Robert mouthed "What the hell?" to Nick. He knew that he couldn't complain out loud because the other team was listening, but he was not happy about their mission having been shut down.

Nick was furious that all the work he had put into this assignment was going to help out the more experienced team come in and get the information. He pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos.

Robert looked over and pulled out his phone and did the same thing. They would turn over the cameras to the other team, but they would have a few of the photos to explore for themselves.

Robert jogged out of the reception area and Nick gently bumped Colleen's arm to wake her. She stirred a little and then woke up slightly confused. She opened her eyes and looked up at Nick with a sheepish smile.

"Hey," Nick said. "Don't fall asleep on me. Am I boring you that badly?"

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I guess I stayed up too late last night." Colleen was slightly confused and disoriented. She looked around and they were both in the same position they had been. She remembered speaking with him and laughing together but she somehow ended up dozing off. She hoped he wasn't angry with her.

"Don't worry about it. We have all been partying too much lately." Nick stood up and walked around her desk to face her. "I better run. See you later."

"Will I see you out tonight?" Colleen asked eagerly.

"I'll be around." Nick left quickly and met up with Robert in the stairwell.

Nick jogged up the steps. "Ryan, get ready to switch back to a live feed."

"Got it, Switching in three, two, one. Ok it's live."

Nick pulled the ear piece out roughly and removed the throat mic, switching them both off. Robert, Jason and Ryan did the same. They wanted to be able to talk without the other team hearing them.

"Jason was the first to voice their shared opinions. "Well this just sucks."

Robert kicked at the bench at the table where Ryan was packing up his electronics. "Yeah. They made us do all the prep work so they can go in there tonight and clean it out."

"Damn it," Nick swore. "Those guys had no intention of letting us do anything. I bet they were shocked we got ourselves into the lab as quickly and efficiently as we did."

Nick continued. "Let's report back to the coffee shop and then head back to Headquarters. They aren't going to let us do anything else for this assignment."

They walked off quietly, each lost in their own thoughts. Robert made a final sweep of the campus with is eyes, hoping to see his painter girl, but no one was about. He was going to have to come back to Rutgers to look for her again. There was something about his brown-eyed girl that he didn't want to let go.

# A Note from the Author

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for reading Experiments, A Gifted Series Prequel. If you loved reading this novelette as much as I love writing it, please, please, please post a review. They are vital to independently published authors and show the retailers that the book should be on their recommended lists. I also really appreciate the feedback.

Keep reading for a preview of Discovery, Book One of the Gifted Series. The first couple of chapters are included in this eBook.

If you would like information about my next projects, upcoming releases, and the inside scoop on giveaways and contests, join my fan group and follow me on social media.

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Love you all!

~ Char

# About The Author

Char Webster

Reading and getting lost in a story has always been some of Char Webster's favorite things to do besides shopping, of course. She also has a love for writing, which led her to her daytime career in public relations and marketing.

After years of writing for others, Char decided to write something for herself. Her debut novel fulfills a lifelong dream of creating a world where people can escape reality for a little while.

Char Webster loves living in South Jersey because she feels like it is in the center of everything.

# Discovery Sneak Peak

For more from Nick, Robert, Jason and Ryan, check out the Gifted Series by Char Webster. Discovery, Book One.

Here is a sneak peek at the first few chapters.

Prologue

Twenty-three years ago. . .

"Sir, we found them." The young man with messy brown hair shifted nervously from foot to foot. He kept his head down, hair falling in front of his face, not wanting to look at the slightly older man sitting behind the desk.

"Good. I want to know as soon as she has had the child." The young man watched his employer sit at the expensive leather inlaid desk and lean back in his soft leather chair. The smirk on his employer's face frightened him even more than his scowl.

The man at the desk got an evil look on his face. He knew he would find them. His father had left him with an almost endless supply of money and resources. No one could hide from him for long.

"Umm, sir." Moving back slowly, he peeked up through his hair.

"WHAT, Joel?"

"Uhhhh." He moved back even more, anticipating what would happen next.

"WHAT IS IT?" The man leaned forward in his chair menacingly. Joel blanched.

"She already had the baby." Joel moved back another step, knowing that the next thing that came out of his mouth would set the man off in a rage.

"Why didn't you bring it to me already?" The man huffed impatiently. He started to get up from his seat when Joel blurted out, "We couldn't find the child."

The man flew up, knocking the leather chair over as he swept everything off his desk in a violent outburst of rage. Papers and folders settled haphazardly on the hand-knotted area rug. The desk lamp ended up across the room, sparking against the wall. The man didn't look at any of the mess as he stormed around the desk and out of the office. Without looking back, he said, "Clean this up."

~*~*~

The man flung the door open, letting it bang against the interior wall with a crash. He stormed into the room, past the three men standing guard, and approached the young couple huddled together against the wall on the floor. He nodded to the leader of the three men. "Have they given you any trouble, Frank?" he asked impatiently.

The young man huddled on the floor had his arm wrapped protectively around the young woman who had been burying her face into his shoulder. They both looked barely out of high school.

"Not yet, but I'm ready for them to try something," Frank sneered. Frank, a big man with wide shoulders, large muscles, and closely cropped hair, looked like he could have stepped out of a military brochure. Tattoos ran down both arms and disappeared above the sleeve of his too-tight golf shirt. A little bit of ink showed above his opened collar.

"They won't try anything now," the man replied. Frank and the other two guards moved away from the couple in the corner to give their boss some privacy.

"Where is the child?" he demanded, getting closer to the couple. He viciously kicked the woman's thigh as he spoke. The man she was clinging to began to get up, but she held him close, looking directly into his eyes. Unspoken words passed between them and he settled back down.

"You'll never find our child, Brooks. We've made sure of that." The man looked intensely at the woman. She nodded and hugged him tighter. He ran his knuckles over her cheek one last time. "I love you," he whispered.

Just as Mr. Brooks was ready to kick the woman again, the couple looked at each other longingly and the man drew on all of the power they both held within them and let it loose in a massive explosion that ripped apart the entire side of the mansion.

~*~*~

Eighteen Years Ago. . .

Mr. Brooks sat at his desk running his hands through his shoulder-length hair. He hated the length, but he had to wear it longer now that the right side of his face was scarred. It also helped to cover his mangled ear. Twenty-two surgeries and he still looked like a monster. It's too bad that they died in the explosion, he thought. He would have liked to make them suffer greatly for what they had done to him; instead, he would make their child pay.

He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed Frank. "Get in here," he demanded, and hung up the phone.

Less than a minute later, the door opened and Frank stepped through without looking up at his boss.

"Have they reported in yet?" Brooks asked.

"Not yet, Mr. Brooks, but I expect to hear something within the hour. This new lead appears to be sound," Frank replied, looking at the wall behind the desk.

"It had better be. I've waited more than five years to find this kid. How hard is it to find one child?" Brooks demanded.

"We've found some very gifted children," Frank replied, still not looking at his employer.

Brooks pounded his fist down on the desk. "Do you think that makes up for not finding this one?"

Frank hesitated a moment, then replied, "A few of them are very uniquely gifted. We wouldn't have found some of them if it hadn't been for this search. We have been following up on every report of unusual behavior or odd occurrences with any child across the country. We also have every family services agency and police department covered. The kid will be found."

Frank felt guilty every time he looked at his boss. It was his job to protect him and he'd failed. He'd allowed that explosion to get too close to Brooks. Frank didn't think Brooks blamed him completely for what happened, but he blamed himself.

Brooks had found him on the streets as a teenager after he'd run away from home. Brooks had taken him in, treated him like a younger brother, and had paid for his education and training. Frank owed Brooks everything, and he had failed to protect him. Those scars were a daily reminder of that failure.

He wouldn't fail him again.

~*~*~

Six Months Ago. . .

Nick gripped the phone so tightly in his hand that the plastic was beginning to crack. "Sir, I can't just leave them in foster care."

He felt like he had been punched in the gut, the pain almost doubling him over. He had just returned from a three-month long undercover operation in Europe only to be hit with this devastating news.

"Nick, they are to stay exactly where they are and that's an order. This is the only way for us to get the answers we need."

The phone made another cracking sound from the increased pressure, but he was unable to let up. His emotions were too out of control.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes, sir. I heard you."

"Good. I expect a full report on this situation immediately." The call was disconnected abruptly, ending any arguments he could have made.

He wasn't going to let them out of his sight. They were his responsibility now. He was also going to begin monitoring the division of family services for any mention of the children.

~*~*~

One Month Ago. . .

"You're a FREAK!" yelled the girl with short, straight, black hair, as she stalked forward. "How did you find out? I didn't tell anyone."

The boy with light-brown spiky hair backed up as the girl stormed toward him. "Zoe, I guessed," he said, trying to calm her. "I don't know anything."

"You're such a liar, Zach. You're a liar and a freak. I'm going to tell the Murrays what a freak you are. I'm going to tell them how you spy on everyone to find out things you aren't supposed to know."

Zach winced when she called him a freak for the third time. "I didn't spy on you, Zoe."

"Then explain how you know!"

"I told you that I guessed," Zach started to explain, but Zoe cut him off.

"You couldn't have guessed this! No one could have. How did you find out?" Zoe demanded. "What else do you know? How long have you been spying on me?"

Zach was saved from answering when a petite girl with curly, light-brown hair walked into the room and stormed up to Zoe.

"Leave my brother alone," the girl said menacingly.

"Stay out of this, Alex!" Zoe screeched. "He was spying on me! I'm telling."

Alex rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, facing the other girl. Suddenly Alex straightened, her eyes got huge, and she laughed.

"You think this is funny?" Zoe demanded.

Alex took a deep breath to try to stop herself from laughing. "You're just upset because Greg Johnson caught you stuffing your bra."

Zoe inhaled a huge breath in shock and screamed, "He told you! When did he tell you?"

Zach and Alex exchanged a charged look and Alex turned to Zoe. "Do you really think that Greg isn't going to tell everyone at school?"

"Greg just left and he isn't friends with Zach. There wasn't any way for Zach to know unless he was spying." Zoe challenged, crossing her arms. "I'm going to tell the Murrays and they're going to throw you guys out and send you back to foster care again." She had a mean look in her eyes as she taunted them.

"Zoe, if you calm down we can figure out how to help you," Alex said, trying to defuse the situation.

"I don't want anything from you, you FREAK! You're both freaks," Zoe screamed.

Alex stormed up to her. "You better watch what you say because you never know what freaks might do."

"You can't do anything to me," Zoe countered.

"Want to try me?" Alex took a step closer to her.

Zoe looked around nervous, knowing she may have pushed the other girl too far. "I'm going to tell the Murrays that you stole her earrings. That will get you kicked out." Zoe swiped the ruby earrings off the coffee table and ran out of the room screaming for Mrs. Murray, their foster parent.

Alex turned to Zach. "Why can't you keep your mouth closed? Did you have to say anything to her?"

"Lex, all I did was ask her if she needed any more tissues," Zach said with a half laugh.

"You're going to get us kicked out of another house, Zach. Why can't you just stop repeating everything you hear?"

"Sorry, Lex," Zach muttered.

Mrs. Murray came into the room with her ruby earrings in her hand and Zoe trailing behind her. Zoe had a smug look on her face.

"Alex. Zoe told me she found you and Zach trying to steal my earrings?" Mrs. Murray asked.

"We didn't try to steal anything," Alex told her.

"She also told me that you both have been spying on the whole family. I can't have that kind of behavior around her. If you want to continue living here, then you need to straighten up. You both are grounded. No going out anywhere, no TV, no video games, and no radio."

"But we didn't do anything," Zach said, getting upset.

"I don't want to hear it. We didn't have any of these problems before you both got here." Mrs. Murray and Zoe turned around and left the room.

Alex stood still staring at the place where they had both left. Her hands were in fists at her sides and she was taking deep breaths to try to calm herself.

Alex looked over at Zach just as he lashed out in anger, waving his arm in a big arc. The movement caused the two lamps on the end tables on either side of the sofa to fly across the room and smash against the opposite wall. They hit with such force that they stared sparking.

~*~*~

"What happened this time, Alexandra?" Dawn Johnson, Director of Family Services, asked the petite girl slouching in the chair in front of her desk. She appeared to be younger than her actual age of twelve, but had the bad attitude of a teenager already.

The girl folded her arms in front of her and frowned deeply. She refused to acknowledge the woman behind the desk. She gave her hair a shake and looked over at the wall.

Dawn sighed and looked at the file in front of her. Will Not Answer To Alexandra, was written in big bold letters at the top of the front page. Putting the papers down, Dawn tried again. "Tell me what happened this time, Alex."

Alex looked over at Dawn with a smirk and made a big show of sighing heavily. "Nothing happened." Alex rolled her eyes and turned away again.

Dawn wanted to laugh at the dramatics but was able to contain her smile. "The Murrays would not pack you three kids up and drop you off here if nothing happened."

Dawn sat back and rubbed her temples. The Murrays were one of the better foster parents in the system and Dawn had placed Alex and her brother and sister with them personally. The couple had already taken in two other foster children, but had agreed to have the three siblings live with them as well.

"Mrs. Murray said you purposely broke two lamps," Dawn told Alex, studying her for a reaction. "She also suspects that you tried to burn down the house."

Alex squirmed slightly in her seat. She still didn't look at Dawn.

"I didn't try to burn down the house," Alex muttered mutinously.

"But you did throw the two lamps at the wall and smash them," Dawn prodded, and Alex glared at her.

"Mrs. Murray couldn't figure out how you managed to throw them both at the same time. She claims to have only heard one crash, but the lamps were more than ten feet apart at the time," Dawn told her. "Want to tell me how you managed that? Did your brother Zachary have something to do with this?"

If Dawn hadn't been watching Alex so closely, she would have missed when the girl's eyes got huge for a second before she continued her angry expression. So Zachary did have something to do with it, Dawn thought.

"Zach wasn't even in the room," Alex challenged. She began to fidget in her seat.

"Stay right there for a moment," Dawn told her and walked to the door. She leaned out into the outer office and addressed her receptionist. "Sheila, would you please get the other two children and bring them in here." Sheila looked up at her boss and snorted when she had to stop texting and put away the phone to go get the children down the hall.

A moment later, a skinny, messy-haired pre-teen waltzed in holding an adorable little girl in his arms. The little girl was holding on to him so tightly that their hair seemed to blend together, with her darker brown curls melding into his lighter, almost golden-colored waves.

Zach took a seat next to his sister but transferred the little girl into Alex's arms. The two older children stared at each other for several moments without speaking.

Dawn watched in fascination as the two children in front of her seemed to have a silent conversation with each other. Her suspicions were confirmed when Zachary nodded his head and turned forward in his seat. There is something weird about these kids, Dawn thought.

Chapter One

"Kill her. Slowly and painfully," Brooks sneered, kicking the woman sobbing on the dirty garage floor. He noticed that the skirt from her navy business suit had ridden up on her legs, and her white blouse was untucked and ripped up the one side.

"NO!" she screamed. "Please stop! Oh God, please don't." He was shocked that a woman of her age had such fight in her. He guessed her to be in her late fifties, judging by the lines around her eyes and the grey roots that she tried to hide by wearing her hair up.

Brooks walked away from the screaming woman. He hated scenes and she was making a horrific one. Thankfully, no one was around to hear the ruckus.

Approaching his two men who were rifling through the contents of her briefcase, he pushed one out of the way so he could get a closer look. "Where is it?" he demanded.

"It's not here. She must have hidden it." The large man told him with disgust. They had gone through a lot of trouble to get her alone and now they still didn't have what they came for.

Brooks stormed back to the woman who was now whimpering and moaning, curled up on her side cradling her broken fingers. "Where is the memory stick?" He kicked her to get her attention when she didn't answer right away.

She slowly picked up her head to glare at him. "It's gone. I threw it into the Hudson River. You'll never get the information now." The woman dropped her head back down with a sad smile, knowing that was probably the last thing she would ever do. At least the database census of their race would not fall into his hands.

Brooks stalked over to one of the men, grabbed a gun from his holster and turned to fire a single bullet into her head.

"Take care of that," he said stomping off toward his car. All that hard work to get the information and it's gone. He would never have an opportunity like that again to get a full listing of every member of the Gifted Race and what abilities they possessed.

It was rotten luck that the woman had overheard his conversation with her employer and intercepted the memory stick. Brooks had known that the information could only be downloaded once before the Association discovered the breach. He wouldn't get another opportunity.

~*~*~

"Thank you so much, Miss Sutton!" Casey exclaimed as she exuberantly hugged her guidance counselor. "I'm going to miss you so much. What am I going to do without you this summer? You always know exactly what I'm feeling and how to help me."

Kate Sutton hugged the girl back with a big smile. Casey was one of her favorite students. The cute little freshman had started coming to her the first week of school. She had changed over the school year with Kate's help. "I'm going to miss you too, Casey, but you'll have a great summer. Just remember that if you can't do anything about a situation or if you can't change it, then you shouldn't worry about it. Worrying will just make you sick. You spend way too much time worrying and not enough having fun."

Casey smiled sheepishly, tucking a strand of her blonde bob behind her ear. "I know. I just can't help it. I'm trying though. And you're right; the journal has helped a lot."

"Keep it handy this summer, and if you start to feel stressed about something, write down your feelings."

"I will. Thanks again, Miss Sutton. I can't wait for sophomore year. Woo-hoo!" With that, Casey bounded out of the room and into the hallway filled with students cleaning out their lockers for the last day of the school year.

Kate sat back at her desk and looked around her office. She had a nice desk with a few comfortable chairs in front of it. Across the office sat a couple of bean bag chairs where her student groups could feel more at ease in a casual circle instead of a formal seating arrangement. Framed degrees and colorful photos lined her walls from some of her trips with her parents. The office was not cluttered, but was very homey—just how she liked things.

Kate leaned back, pushed her long, dark-brown, curly hair out of her face, and closed her honey-colored eyes for a moment. The school year had gone by so fast and she almost couldn't believe that she had the next couple of months off to relax. It had been a crazy few years, finishing her accelerated degrees in psychology and going right into her first job as a guidance counselor. It was a field she had always wanted to study and she was finally doing it. She was helping students.

Her thoughts were interrupted once more, but this time by a loud knocking on the wall next to the door. Her principal popped his head in the room and said, "Hi Kate. How are you?"

"Hi, Ted. Things are good but, I'm really going to miss the students over the summer," she replied.

Ted had been principal for about five years, taking over for a woman that had overstayed her welcome by about twenty years. She had been mean to everyone, and no one was sorry to see her leave. When Ted took over as principal, the school that no one wanted to work at suddenly became the place where everyone wanted to be. In his forties, he looked much younger and had the energy and drive of someone in their twenties. He had recently shaved his head to "beat the balding," as he liked to put it—he was bald by choice, not genetics. He loved kids, which was probably a good thing since he had six: five boys and one girl.

He laughed and said, "Most of my staff can't wait to get out of here for the summer and you tell me that you're going to miss the students. I'm so glad that you joined my staff this year. I'll be honest with you, I thought you might be a little young and inexperienced for this position, but I'm very happy to have been proven wrong." He paused and looked at Kate. "What are your plans for the summer?"

"I'm going to try to take a break and relax."

He laughed harder and louder. "I would really like to see that attempt. You have more energy and enthusiasm than all my staff combined. My bet is that you don't make it a week before you are looking for something to do."

"As much as I hate to admit it, you are probably right, "Kate said, smiling widely, but wanting to change the subject. She never liked to talk about herself. "Are the kids ready to be off for a while?"

"The boys have been ready for summer for weeks. We plan to take them to the beach for two weeks, and then my parents will take them to the Poconos to run around the mountains for a while to give my wife a break."

Kate laughed. "I bet Kathy could really use it."

"We both could," Ted replied, smiling. It was obvious how much he loved his family.

"Have a great summer, Ted."

"You, too, Kate. I hope you have a fun summer."

He left and she busied herself with completing some paperwork from the last of her student appointments. A few minutes later, Cindy Moore, the English teacher that all the students liked the best—and Kate's best friend—walked through the door.

"Kate, let's go. We're going to be late to meet everyone for happy hour." Cindy stood slightly taller than Kate at about five eight and was a few pounds lighter. Where Kate had a few curves on her slight frame, Cindy was a stick but was surprisingly strong. She could probably be a model, Kate thought.

"Hey, Cin. Let me just gather up these papers before we go." Kate hurriedly pushed the papers into a folder and stuffed it in her backpack.

"You aren't seriously taking files home for the summer, are you?" Cindy asked incredulously, sweeping her long, straight, brown hair behind her shoulders. "I thought you were going to take some time off and hang by your pool for the summer. Don't you think you deserve a break?"

Kate laughed and replied, "It is just a few files and I do intend to take it easy, but how much of doing nothing but sitting around the pool could I possibly take without becoming a little bored?"

"You don't have an off switch, girl. You need to learn how to slow down a little."

"I'm planning to give that a try this summer."

"Well, I'm going to make sure you at least try by starting off with margaritas at The Deck," Cindy declared.

Kate smiled at her friend and followed her out of the door into the deserted hallway. The students had quickly disappeared, not wanting to stick around on their last day. Kate glanced at Cindy, thankful for having such a great friend at school. Cindy instantly befriended Kate when she had started this year and helped her to navigate the new school system. Cindy had started the year before and was thrilled to share everything she had learned so far with Kate.

"Are you driving?" Cindy asked, looking at Kate hopefully. Cindy had splurged on a new condo, so she couldn't afford to update her fifteen-year-old Honda. She also loved riding in Kate's new BMW.

"Of course I'm driving. Don't I always?" Kate said with a laugh.

"Just checking. Besides, we look so much cooler pulling up in your car," Cindy said as she climbed into the silver car.

~*~*~

Leaning against the side of his SUV with his arms folded across his chest, he watched Kate Sutton walk out of the school with her friend and get into her car. They were giggling and carefree and he found himself wondering what she was like and if her hair was a silky as it appeared to be. He thought about how it would feel to run his fingers through it. He always liked long dark hair.

Giving himself a mental shake, he needed to stop checking her out and get back to gathering information on her. So far, he had been following Kate for three days and found nothing to be concerned about except for that fact that she was very young to be brought in as an expert for a government agency. He needed to find out why the head of family services, Dawn Johnson wanted this woman to do an evaluation and not someone with more experience. When he listened to Dawn speak to her superiors about wanting to get the young doctor to help, he had been immediately suspicious. Why Kate Sutton? He checked every database he had access to and none showed any red flags for Kate. Actually, there wasn't anything about her at all. Maybe she was just what she appeared to be. He was going to find out.

~*~*~

It was still early, and happy hour had just started, so they were able to find a parking spot up close. As they got out of the BMW, Kate noticed a young woman standing by a car a few spots down, looking out at the parking lot. As she got closer to the woman, Kate felt fright coming off her. Cindy noticed Kate hesitate and look at the woman. She rolled her eyes, knowing that Kate would go speak with her.

"I'll be right in. Go grab us a couple of seats at the bar," Kate called over to Cindy.

"Don't take too long. We have some serious celebrating to do," Cindy replied.

"I won't," Kate said distractedly, already approaching the woman. The girl had short blonde hair that was cut in lots of angles, longer in the front and shorter in the back. She was probably in her very early twenties.

The young woman hadn't noticed Kate when she walked up to her until she jumped, startled by the interruption of her thoughts.

"Hi. Are you okay? You look scared," Kate asked gently.

The woman looked up and seemed to be even more scared than before. "I'm fine. I was just waiting for someone."

"Do you need to use my phone to call your friend?" Kate reached out and placed her hand on the woman's arm. Instantly, the woman began to relax and the stress seemed to lessen.

"I've called her a few times already, but she didn't answer."

"Does she normally not return phone calls right away?"

"No, that's what made me so worried. I haven't spoken to her since yesterday. She was going to meet up with new friends in Philly at a bar that she had never been to. I told her not to go alone, but she blew me off." The girl paused. "Listen, I'm not even sure why I just told you all this . . ."

Kate interrupted her. "I'm a great listener. Has anyone else spoken to her or has she posted anything on social media?"

"Oh. I don't know. Let me check." She pulled out her phone and flipped through a few apps. She let out a huge breath and looked up at Kate. "Her phone was cracked and wouldn't work. It says here, she is at the phone store getting a new one and if anyone needs her she will get back to them soon." The young woman gave a weak smile and hugged Kate. "Thanks. Somehow, you made me feel so much better just talking with you."

"You're very welcome. I'm glad I could help," Kate told her. "I am going to meet my friend at the bar; you can have a margarita with us while you wait for your friend," Kate replied as she hugged the woman back.

"That would be great. Thanks." They walked into the bar area and started toward the high-top tables.

"By the way, I'm Gina."

"I'm Kate and that over there is Cindy. Let's go get that drink." Cindy was waving over the women as they came closer.

~*~*~

As they walked through the bar area, several teachers called over hellos to Kate.

"Hey, Kate!"

"Kate, over here."

"Hey, girl."

Kate waved to all her friends from school as she and Gina settled on stools at the high-top table next to the bar where Cindy had been waiting. Other teachers were crowded around similar tables with drinks and appetizers, celebrating the beginning of summer.

"Cindy, this is Gina. She's going to hang with us until her friend shows up," Kate said as Cindy looked up expectantly from her bar menu.

"Hey, Gina. Nice to meet you," Cindy replied. "We're celebrating no more school for the summer."

"That's cool. My friend Deanna and I spend happy hour here a lot on Thursdays. It's a pretty good crowd."

A waitress approached and asked the ladies what they wanted. Gina ordered a Shock Top Lemon Shandy beer, and Kate ordered a margarita with no salt. Cindy had already gotten her drink while she was waiting for Kate.

"So, are you both teachers?" Gina asked.

"I'm an English teacher, but Brainiac here just finished her PhD in Psychology and is the new guidance counselor at our school," Cindy answered.

"Wow, you have your PhD? You look really young," Gina replied, stunned.

"She skipped like ten grades and does nothing but study and work all the time," Cindy joked.

"I skipped two grades and finished all my degrees on an accelerated schedule," Kate clarified.

"See, told ya—Brainiac." Cindy laughed.

Gina looked stunned and said, "No wonder you were able to help me so quickly."

Looking mildly uncomfortable with the praise, Kate changed the subject. "What do you do, Gina?"

"Deanna and I work for an accounting firm. We went to college together and interned at the firm. They hired us both when we graduated last year. It's been good so far. Oooo, there she is." With that, she jumped up and rushed over to her friend.

Cindy just shook her head at her abrupt departure and watched the two hug and head off to the other side of the room.

"A toast to the end of school!" someone shouted, and everyone around raised their glasses or beer bottles.

"I'm running to the ladies' room. Be right back," said Kate as she hopped off of the stool.

"Want me to come?" asked Cindy.

"No, I'll be just a minute. Save our seats," Kate replied as she hurried off.

After leaving the ladies' room, Kate noticed a tall, skinny guy with reddish-brown hair leaning against the wall, and felt the stress pouring off of him. As she walked down the short hall toward the bar, he turned abruptly and had almost run into her. She stumbled and put her hand on his shoulder to steady herself, while his hands had come up to hold her arms. He looked down at her with a confused look on his face and smiled tentatively.

"Whoops, so sorry. I didn't mean to almost knock you over," he said, stepping back a little, but still holding on to her arm.

"No problem," she replied. "Are you okay? You looked a little stressed."

"I am stressed. I'm just not sure what to do," he replied.

Kate smiled gently and asked, "What don't you know what to do about?"

He hesitated, but told her. "I want to join the Army but I'm afraid to tell my mom. We lost Dad in Iraq a few years ago and I'm all she has now," he explained sadly.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Losing someone you love is very hard on everyone, and it's so much harder when it's a close family member. It takes a lot of time to heal." Kate paused, and then asked, "Why do you want to join the Army?"

"I have always wanted to join. I was going to sign up right out of high school, but my Dad died and I ended up going to college instead. Now, I'm almost finished school and it'll soon be time to get a job, but I really want to join the Army," he told Kate sadly.

"It seems like before, you needed a little time to heal from your loss and to spend time with your mom. Now, you need to live your life and do what is right for you. It's time to talk to your mom and tell her how you feel. It may seem scary, but it's the right thing to do," Kate replied. She could feel the stress dissipating from him.

"I will. I'm not sure why I told you all that, but I'm really glad I did. I'm going to talk to her right now. Thanks." With that, he bounded off toward the door, seeming much happier.

When Kate slid back onto the stool, Cindy gave her a knowing look and asked, "Who did you help now? You were gone for a bit."

"I just bumped into a guy in the hall. He almost knocked me down when he ran into me."

"Uh huh. I can't take you anywhere!" said Cindy with a laugh.

A good song came on and Kate jumped up and pulled Cindy to her feet. "Let's dance!" Kate exclaimed. As they passed the other tables, Kate pulled several more people off their stools to follow them to the dance floor. "It's a celebration, right?" Kate asked everyone. "Let's party then."

After a few songs played and everyone was dancing and singing along with the music, Kate noticed a really attractive guy staring at her from across the bar. He had dark-brown, almost black hair and was wearing a black T-shirt that showed off his muscular chest to perfection. Just when their eyes met, someone knocked into her and she lost sight of him. When she regained her balance and looked up, he was gone. Kate spent the next few minutes looking around for him, but he was nowhere in sight. Disappointed that her eye candy had disappeared, she went back to dancing and laughing with her friends, but the mystery man was in the back of her mind the whole time.
Chapter Two

The next day, Kate settled a big beach towel on the lounge chair by her pool. She had a book tucked under her arm, a huge glass of unsweetened iced tea in her hand, and a bottle of sunscreen on the table next to her. She now had everything that she needed for a lazy day in the sun.

Cindy was already lounging on her chair with her glass of ice water and the latest Hollywood magazine. She looked over at Kate and said, "So, why were you so preoccupied on the dance floor last night? You kept looking around."

"I wasn't," Kate replied quickly. She didn't want to get Cindy started down this line of conversation.

"Oh, don't give me that. You were, too. I saw you looking around. Who were you searching for? Was it a guy? Did you see a hot guy? Are you now in the market? Tell me EVERYTHING." Cindy was just getting warmed up.

"Wow, you really do start talking fast when you're excited. Sometimes you get talking so fast I have no idea what you are saying," Kate replied, trying to steer the conversation to a different topic.

"Oh no you don't. Don't even try to change the subject. Now, I know there was a guy. Who is he?" Cindy pushed.

Kate knew Cindy wasn't going to let it go, and since she didn't find the guy and probably wouldn't see him again, she didn't see any harm in telling Cindy about him. "There was a guy . . ."

Cindy jumped up and plopped down on Kate's lounge chair, almost toppling it over in her enthusiasm. "I KNEW IT!!!" she squealed. "Tell me everything."

"There really isn't anything to tell you. When we were dancing, I looked up and saw this really hot guy standing on the edge of the dance floor. That's it. Nothing else!" Kate finished, trying to end the conversation.

"That is SO not the end. What did he look like? What was he wearing? Did you talk to him? Did you get his phone number?"

Kate sighed. She knew she was going to have to give Cindy something or she would just never let up about it. "He has dark, wavy hair that is slightly longer on the top than the sides. He was wearing a dark-colored T-shirt and jeans."

"That's it? That's all you've got? You can do better than that."

"Okay . . . He filled out the T-shirt really well," Kate replied, her cheeks getting slightly pink with embarrassment.

"Ooooo. What else," Cindy said, already creating a mental picture.

"He had amazing blue eyes. Kind of like the actor Chris Pine," Kate said as she looked over at the actor's photo on the page of Cindy's now-abandoned magazine.

Cindy sighed. "Did you talk to him?"

"No, as soon as we made eye contact, someone bumped into me on the dance floor and I lost sight of him. I looked around, but I never saw him again," Kate said, a little disappointed.

"Ohhh no. We have to go back there. He might be there again," she said, already planning their next outing.

"Maybe," Kate said, but she doubted that she would see her blue-eyed hottie again.

Cindy settled back into her chair and picked up her magazine. "His eyes were this blue?" Cindy was pointing to very deep blue eyes on the page.

Kate sighed and said, "Yes." She would probably be dreaming about those blue eyes.

Kate looked around at her big backyard and couldn't believe that her parents had given her the house. It was a big Victorian house that her mother had completely renovated a few years before. Kate loved the wraparound porch and circular front room with the pointed spire roof. The back porch opened up to the pool and a landscaped backyard with flowering bushes along the outer edge of the property. It was a wonderful place to grow up and even though it was just her living in the house, she couldn't image giving it up for a smaller place.

Her adoptive parents were both surgeons who had just retired from a very successful practice. Patients would travel from around the country to be seen by both of them. Now her parents were off in Africa setting up a series of clinics and providing free medical services.

They still give her a bit of trouble over not going to medical school and instead choosing to be a school guidance counselor. Kate had always wanted to help people, especially children and teens. Ever since she could remember, she had a sense of what others were feeling and could understand where those feelings were coming from. Psychology seemed like the perfect fit.

After reading for about an hour and cooling off in the pool, she was already getting fidgety. Sitting still was just not her thing. Cindy, on the other hand, was so relaxed, she didn't look like she was going to move for hours.

Kate's mind wandered to the guy from the bar. Maybe it was time to start dating again. She had been so busy with school that her love life had suffered drastically. Cindy would be thrilled. She had been bugging Kate for a while to start dating. Cindy had even suggested fixing her up with a few of her boyfriend's buddies.

She got up to get another glass of iced tea when her phone rang. Cindy gave her a questioning look.

Thankful for the distraction, she answered right away, even though she didn't recognize the number.

"Hello, this is Kate."

"Hi, Dr. Sutton, this is Dawn Johnson. You helped my son, Kevin, this year."

"Yes, hello, Mrs. Johnson. How's Kevin doing?" Kevin had been having a rather difficult time dealing with his parents' divorce, and had been acting out in all kinds of horrible ways. Trouble with the police had convinced his mother that he needed to speak to a professional.

"Oh, Kevin is doing great. You really helped him a lot. I can't thank you enough. I was really worried about him for a while there." Dawn Johnson paused. "I'm not calling about Kevin. But, since you worked so well with him when a lot of others were telling me that he was beyond help, I was hoping that you could assist me with another situation."

Intrigued, Kate listened as Mrs. Johnson explained. Cindy just watched her with curiosity.

"As you might remember, I work for Family Services. We have a difficult situation with three siblings who have been with three foster families in the past eight months." Mrs. Johnson paused and Kate said, "Wow."

"Yeah, the problem seems to be mostly with the oldest, a thirteen-year-old-girl. She really needs some help. Their parents died in a car crash and they have no family. Their will lists a guardian no one seems to be able to find, and it also specifically states that the children cannot be split up for any reason," Mrs. Johnson continued. "My bosses want to go to court to get permission to split them up."

"Oh, that's awful," Kate said, trying to process what she was hearing.

"It is awful. I want to see if we can help this girl and keep these kids together. They've been though way too much. Can you help?" Mrs. Johnson pleaded.

Kate had already decided to help. "Of course. I can be there in an hour."

"Oh, thank you so much. I know you'll be able to help them."

Kate pressed the end button on her phone and glanced over at Cindy.

"You can't even relax for one day, Kate? One day? This is our first day off and you're already getting into something," Cindy said with exasperation.

"This seems important. There's a girl who needs help," Kate replied.

"There'll always be a girl who needs help. When are you going to slow down and do something for you?" Cindy asked.

"After this, I swear I'll try to relax, and maybe I'll even let you set me up on a date," Kate said, trying to soothe her friend.

Cindy jumped up and hugged Kate and said that she would set something up for the weekend. With that, Cindy slipped on her shorts and t-shirt that were on the chair next to her and grabbed her towel and magazine. With one last look at the pool she would not be enjoying any more that day, she headed around the house to her car. Kate just shook her head and wondered what she had just agreed to.

Kate gathered up her stuff and smiled to herself as she walked back into the house to change. She had another project. She wouldn't be bored.

~*~*~

The man with dark hair and very blue eyes put the earpiece in place so that he could listen to what was happening at the Division of Family Services. He had added hidden microphones to Dawn Johnson's office, the reception area, the observation room, and conference room. He needed to know what this psychologist was going to say about those children. He had been listening to Dawn's conversations for a while now, making sure he knew everything she had planned for the children.

~*~*~

Dressed in a light blue and white summer skirt and scoop-neck top with white sandals, Kate hurried to the office of the Family Services Building. The parking lot was packed full of cars, and Kate had to park in the last row. The building was a typical government-looking structure that appeared to have been built in the 1960s. It was square in shape and Kate knew that it had an interior courtyard. The lobby of the building looked a little shabby with a stained carpet. Old chairs that were probably the original to the building lined the two walls on each side of the reception area.

The receptionist was too busy drinking her coffee and playing with her phone to even look up as Kate approached the front desk. After a few minutes of being ignored, Kate said, "Excuse me." With a huff, the receptionist said, "Yeah?"

Kate forced a smile, "Hi. I'm Kate Sutton. I'm here to see Dawn Johnson."

The receptionist looked at her skeptically and said somewhat sarcastically, "You're Dr. Sutton?"

The smile was even harder to force, but Kate said, "Yes, I am" with as much patience as she used with her most difficult clients. She was used to a little surprise from people when they found out she had her doctorate, because she looked very young, but this woman in front of her was just plain rude.

"Okay, wait here for a minute," the receptionist insisted and got up to go into a back room. A minute later, Mrs. Johnson came out with a warm smile and a hug for Kate. "I'm so glad you could come here today. I don't know how to thank you enough," Dawn said.

"I haven't done anything yet," Kate said, hugging her back.

"I know you'll be able to help this girl. Let's go in so you can meet her," Dawn said as she ushered Kate through the hallway and to the second-to-last door on the left.

Inside the room, looked like it was set up for a conference area with a large table and a few chairs lined up on one side. They were facing the right wall, where there was a large glass window looking into the visitation area. The occupants in the adjoining space couldn't see into this one, but Kate could observe the happenings next door without being seen.

Approaching the glass, Kate noticed three children in the other room. They were sitting on the floor with various toys and blocks scattered around them. Even though there was a wall and glass separating them, Kate could feel the stress and fright coming from one of the children. At first, she had thought it was coming from the girl, but from further observation, she concluded that it was coming from the boy.

Mrs. Johnson began to give Kate a rundown on the children. "That is Alexandra Taylor. She insists on being called Alex and will not answer to anything else. She will flat out ignore the person talking to her like he doesn't exist if he mistakenly uses her full first name."

Kate pulled a small notebook out of her purse and started to take notes about the petite girl with wild, golden-brown curls bouncing around her shoulders. The cute girl kept nervously tucking and re-tucking her hair behind her ears, which held a few earrings each. Kate could tell that she was trying hard to look tough and not caring, but the girl was obviously nervous.

"She is thirteen years old and going into eighth grade. She seems to take care of the other two children. They look to her for everything. She doesn't talk unless she is asked a direct question and even then, it is just a word or two."

"Does she interact with her siblings or other children?" Kate asked.

"They seem to interact with each other but mostly by looks. She doesn't have any friends that we know about and rarely interacts with any other children."

"Hmmm," Kate muttered, still taking down notes.

"Alex gets extremely good grades when she is in class, but she frequently skips school. Her homework is always completed on time, and even when the teachers think she is not paying attention, she always has the correct answer."

Kate continued to scribble notes, turning her attention to the boy in the room. He was taller than his sister by several inches but had not filled out yet. His light-brown hair had streaks of gold through it and was cut short and gelled at the top for that messy look. If the girls didn't like him already, they would in a few years. He had a mischievous smile that made you wonder what he was up to. This kid would be a heartbreaker.

He also didn't miss a thing. Kate saw him watching his sisters, taking in everything. He also kept glancing at the mirror, almost as if he could see through the glass.

"Zachary Taylor is twelve, going into seventh grade, and likes to be called Zach. He will answer to Zachary but will correct the person calling him his full name. He's quiet most of the time, reads a lot, and usually has a soccer ball at his feet. He gets very good grades and does extremely well in class but does not turn in any assignments completed outside of school. His teachers say he appears to be daydreaming in class because he stares out the window, but he always answers the questions correctly."

"Does he have friends?" Kate asked.

"He is friendly with a few boys at school, but he holds himself slightly separate. He sits with his sister at lunch, and they keep to themselves."

"Are either of them in school activities?" Kate inquired.

"No, bouncing from foster home to foster home wouldn't have made joining activities easy. I doubt either of them would join anything even if it were possible." Dawn paused. "So far we've been able to keep them both in the same school through all of the foster homes, but that may not be possible going forward. There are only so many places available within the same district," Mrs. Johnson relayed.

"Do you know how they did in their last school?" asked Kate.

"I can get copies of their files for you."

"Thanks. That would be very helpful," Kate said, still writing.

"The little one is just adorable. She is two and her name is Madison, but everyone calls her Maddy. Alex and Zach call her Mads. She has such a sweet disposition that everyone does whatever she wants. No one seems to be able to say 'no' to her. All she has to do is give that big smile of hers to someone and shake those light-brown curls, and we're all goners."

Kate turned her attention to Madison. She was adorable sitting there playing with some blocks. She smiled up at her brother and pointed at the tower he had helped her build and said, "Higher." Zach shook his head at her but continued to add more blocks to the pile. Zach still oozed stress and fear, even as he played blocks with Madison. Kate noticed that Alex was covertly watching them while trying to hide a smile. There seemed to be a whole lot more to Alex then she let on.

"I would like to go meet with them now, if that's okay," Kate said as she put away her notebook.

"Of course. Right this way." Mrs. Johnson led Kate to the door but didn't open it yet. She turned to Kate, "I hope you can get through to her. I don't want to see these kids split up. I think they're really scared and hurting, and splitting them up would be truly awful."

Kate smiled sadly at Mrs. Johnson. "I'm going to try my best to help her. I don't want to see these kids hurt any more than they already have been."

"I'll give you some privacy. Take as much time as you need," Dawn said, while she was walking away.
Chapter Three

Kate opened the door to the family visitation room and looked around. There were a few chairs and two loveseats situated in small groupings so that more than one visitation could happen at a time. The center of the room, where the children were seated, held a toy box and small bookshelf. As soon as she entered the room, she felt a wave of resentment from Alex and even more nervousness from Zach. Maddy did not even look up; she was still engrossed in building her tower.

Alex got up and walked over to one of the chairs along the wall. She rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest as she slouched in her chair. She was trying to act like she didn't care, but she was watching Kate like a hawk under her lashes. Zach kept glancing up at Kate and then looking away quickly.

Kate took a deep breath and sat next to Alex. She felt Alex tense up with suspicion, but the girl remained silent.

Kate just sat silently and waited. After about three minutes of sitting quietly and not saying a word, Alex started to shift uncomfortably in her seat. Zach began to glance up much more frequently. Kate smiled, thinking that they were almost ready to talk.

"Let's take a walk," Kate said quietly to Alex, standing up and heading for the door. Alex sat stubbornly, not moving at first. Kate waited at the door until Alex got up with a huff and followed Kate out.

Kate led Alex outside to the courtyard in the center of the building. There was a bench under a shady tree that seemed perfect for their chat. Kate sat down and waited for Alex to take the seat next to her. Both remained quiet, neither wanting to be the first one to speak.

At the four-minute mark, Alex turned directly to Kate and blurted out, "I know why you're here, and I'm not going to talk to you." Kate just raised her eyebrows but kept quiet.

Alex shifted again and said, "There's nothing wrong with me, so you can just go back and tell them I don't need another social worker. We've already had two that didn't do anything."

"I'm not a social worker," Kate replied, and went back to saying nothing.

After a minute, Alex asked, "Then what are you?"

"Someone who's a good listener," Kate replied.

Alex rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, they all say that, and then they tell you what to do and what you're doing wrong."

"Have you had a lot of people telling you what to do?" Kate asked.

"What do you think?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"I really don't know, so I'm asking you," Kate said quietly.

"You really want to know?" Alex asked with a little less sarcasm.

"Yes, I really want to know," Kate said, looking directly at Alex for the first time.

"Everyone. Everyone tells us what to do and how to act and no one ever asks us what we want," she said defiantly.

"What do you want?" Kate asked.

After a long couple of minutes of silence, Alex said quietly, "I want my parents back, but that's not possible, is it?"

"No, it's not possible, but that doesn't mean you don't still want that. And that's okay." Alex just stared at Kate, not saying anything. Kate continued, "What else do you want?"

After another moment of silence, Alex uttered, "I don't know."

"Well," Kate said, taking a pause. "Maybe you need to think about that and let me know."

"Why? Why do you want to know? Why do you care?" Alex asked in an accusatory voice.

"Why do I want to know? Well, you said it yourself. No one else asks you what you want, and I am giving you the opportunity to think about it and let me know," Kate said plainly. "Why do I care? I care because I don't like seeing you hurting and, whether you want to acknowledge that or not, you are hurting, and I want to help."

"Why?" Alex asked again.

Kate paused and looked at Alex pointedly. "Because you need someone on your side to help you or you will be separated from each other, and I don't think you want that."

"They can't do that. It's in my parent's will," Alex exclaimed as she jumped up. "They can't separate us."

Kate watched the emotions play across Alex's face: defiance, fear, and now horror. "They'll go to court to have the will nullified. If that happens, you all will go to different homes and your sister will most likely be adopted out."

"THEY CAN'T DO THAT!" Alex screamed as tears started to run down her checks.

Kate stood up and approached Alex to give her a hug. Kate was thinking to herself, I really want to help this girl.

"Do you really want to help me?" Alex asked. Kate looked at the girl in surprise, thinking it was almost as if she could read her thoughts.

"Yes, I really want to help you, Alex," Kate said as she slowly put her arms around Alex to hug the frightened girl. Alex was stiff at first, but then she pulled Kate into a tight hug. Kate could feel Alex start to relax.

They talked for several more minutes than ventured back into the building.

As they approach the front hall, Kate got bombarded with feelings of hatred, anger, distrust, and cunning. The emotions smacked into her with such a force that she took a step back and blocked Alex. She stiffened and retreated a few steps. Kate wondered if Alex could feel it too.

The emotions were coming from the couple speaking with Dawn. Kate studied the couple from down the hallway. They were both dressed very expensively and a bit lavishly—overdoing it for a trip to Family Services. Their ages were difficult to tell exactly, but they seemed to be in their late forties or early fifties. The woman had dyed-blonde, shoulder-length hair and too much makeup for the daytime. She wore a light-pink Gucci suit with matching Gucci shoes and a Chanel bag. Her diamond earrings were the size of dimes, and her wedding ring was even bigger. She was fighting aging, but was still attractive.

The man had medium-brown hair that seemed a bit long for his clothing style and age. He was wearing an expensive suit, and a perfectly matching shirt with French cuffs and diamond cufflinks. The pocket square matched the tie he wore. A Rolex peaked out of his sleeve. Kate was shocked when he turned slightly and half of his face had scars that looked like they were from burns.

The man turned toward Kate and Alex. Kate saw a cruel, calculating look in his eyes before he turned back toward Mrs. Johnson. A minute later, he ushered his wife out the building and they left. Kate was still trying to recover from the onslaught of negative emotions when they entered the room with Zach and Madison.

Kate and Alex joined the kids on the floor, and the four of them built a block fort. Kate chatted with the kids, trying to get to know them.

Maddy climbed right onto Kate's lap, and both Zach and Alex looked at her in shock. Kate guessed from their looks that Maddy was usually more reserved with people.

Kate engaged Zach in a conversation about soccer and how she had played a little when she was younger.

"What position did you play?" Zach asked.

"I switched on and off between left and right wing," Kate replied.

"Wow, you must have really good ball control with both feet," Zach said, impressed.

"I was pretty good once," Kate said.

"Did you play in college?" he asked, interested in the topic.

"I did for a while, but my classes were demanding and something had to give. So I gave up on soccer," Kate explained.

"That's too bad. You could have been like Carly Lloyd and won the World Cup," Zach exclaimed. Carly Lloyd was also from South Jersey and helped the US National team win the World Cup against Japan.

"I was never that good," Kate said with a laugh. She looked over at Alex and noticed that the girl seemed much more at ease. It wasn't going to be as hard as she thought to help these kids. They were great. They just needed someone on their side to listen to them.

Dawn came to the door for Kate. The two of them returned to the room next door and observed the children once again.

"So what do you think?" Mrs. Johnson asked.

"I think she's a very frightened and confused girl who is seriously hurting and feels like she has no one to turn to," Kate replied, pausing to look directly at Dawn. "I want to help her."

"I knew you would. I'm really glad I called you. I've never seen her so calm—and without a look of annoyance on her face," Dawn commented.

"We had a little chat," Kate said with a small smile.

"Well that's a good thing because I think I found them another foster home," Mrs. Johnson told Kate.

"Really? So soon?" Kate said, surprised.

"Yes, you may have seen them when you were walking in with Alex. The Brooks have a large adopted family but are very well off and can afford to foster a few more children," Mrs. Johnson replied.

Panic and a feeling of devastation hit Kate like a tidal wave. She didn't take the time to figure out why she was feeling that. She just blurted out, "No, the children can't go with them. They should come live with me."

Kate was stunned that those words had come out of her mouth, but as soon as she said them, she knew that she had meant them. She could continue to help Alex and she could keep them together until their guardian could be found. She also felt a massively protective urge to keep them away from Mr. and Mrs. Brooks.

Mrs. Johnson was completely stunned by Kate's outburst. "Umm, Kate, you caught me by surprise. I'm not even sure how to respond."

"Dawn, my parents fostered several children over the years, and they left me their big house when they went to Africa to build their medical clinics. It has five bedrooms, so there's plenty of room. You can come out and inspect it. I completed the foster parent classes as part of my master's thesis project, and I have the summer off so I could work with the kids all summer. It would be perfect."

"Kate, have you really thought about this?" Dawn asked. "It's a lot of responsibility for someone so young."

Kate stiffened. "Are you questioning my qualifications?" she asked a little coolly.

"Not at all. I just want you to realize how much time and commitment this will take," she replied.

"I want to do this," Kate said with finality.

Dawn looked at the resolve on Kate's face and gave in. "Okay. I'll get the paperwork together. You can tell the children."

"I want to take them tonight," Kate told her.

"Okay, but I'll come out to the house tomorrow for a visit," Mrs. Johnson said as she hurried to her office.

Kate sat down on the nearest chair and wondered how exactly all of that just had happened. She was going to be a foster mom to three troubled kids. Cindy was not going to believe this. She could hardly believe it. She got up and went back to the other room to break the news to the kids.

Kate kept thinking Wow, I'm going to be a foster mom as she walked into the other room.

Zach and Alex both looked up, and Zach exclaimed, "You're going to take us!" Alex looked at him in horror.

Quickly Alex said, "You have a happy look on your face, so it looks like you have good news." Kate just looked at both of them, slightly confused. There was something odd about these kids. Just as she was thinking that, Maddy came up and grabbed her leg and said "Up," with such a cute look on her face that Kate lost track of what she had been thinking.

Alex stared at her brother and thought, What are you doing? Zach looked at her with a quick, Sorry.

"What are you sorry about Zach?" Kate asked, looking up from Maddy. Both Alex and Zach stared at her with their mouths wide open.

Alex recovered first and said, "He bumped into me." Zach just continued to stare. Again, Maddy said, "Up, up," drawing Kate's attention once more.

Kate smiled and picked the little girl up, settling Maddy on her hip.

She brought her attention back to the two kids in front of her. "I do have good news. At least I think that it's good news. I want to be your new foster mom." She paused. "What do you think?"

Zach quit staring and smiled a huge grin. "That would be cool."

Kate turned to Alex who looked a little bit nervous. "Alex . . ." Kate prodded.

Alex took a breath and said, "Yeah, that's cool."

At that moment, Maddy hugged Kate around her neck with a squeeze and Kate looked down at her with a smile.

Kate turned back to the two older kids, and she caught a look that they shared between them. Kate thought she knew what was worrying them. "Look, I know you guys are scared that it's going to end up like all the rest of the places you've been shuffled around to, but I think that this can work. I want to help you guys, and you need a chance at a good home where you can stay together. If we all work together, this can be that place."

Both kids nodded but remained quiet. Just then, Mrs. Johnson came back with a stack of papers for Kate to sign. "Kate, look over these papers while I take the kids to get their stuff. We have a car seat for Maddy that you can have."

With that, Dawn ushered the two older kids out into the hallway to get their things.

~*~*~

Dawn leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She had a headache, and it was just going to get worse. She had to have a conversation with Mr. Brooks. Dawn picked up the phone and dialed.

The phone rang twice and Mr. Brooks answered with a brisk, "Yes."

"Mr. Brooks. This is Dawn Johnson from Family Services."

"Hello, Mrs. Johnson. Are you calling to arrange for the children to be picked up?" Mr. Brooks asked eagerly. He wanted these children badly. It would almost make up for the one who had escaped him, and he was still angry about that. The child would be an adult now and it would be even harder for him to find him or her. He still didn't know if the child was a male or female.

"I'm calling to tell you that we found a place for the children. I just—" She didn't get any more words out when Brooks yelled, "What? What are you saying to me? You had better be confused and are now going to tell me when I can arrange to pick up the children." He was not even attempting to disguise his anger.

"I realize that you wanted to give the children a home, and we appreciate your offer, but the children were placed somewhere else today," she said calmly. "Thank you very much for your—" Once again, she was cut off while speaking.

"Stop right there. I DO NOT want to hear another word unless it is to arrange for the children to be picked up immediately," he yelled into the phone.

"I understand you must be disappointed, but I can assure you, the children have been well placed," Dawn said quickly. She couldn't wait to get off the phone. He was starting to really creep her out, and she was glad that the children wouldn't be going to someone who could get so angry so quickly.

She could hear his heavy breathing on the other end of the line and was prepared for him to continue to yell. She was very surprised when he sedately asked, "Who have the children been placed with? I want to make sure that they are well provided for, and I would like to offer financial assistance." The smoothness in his voice was too serene for how angry he was before. She didn't like the sound of it.

"We don't give that kind of information out, but I assure you that they will be well provided for," Mrs. Johnson said soothingly, not wanting him to freak out again.

"Well then, thank you for calling, and please let us know if anything should change. We would still like to have the children in our home," Mr. Brooks said with a false calm. She could still hear the tenseness in his voice.

"I will keep that in mind, thank you." Dawn hung up with a very uneasy feeling.

She sat there for several minutes thinking about the phone call. Something was definitely not right with that man. Her gut told her that he could be dangerous. Maybe she should look more into the Brooks family and all of the adoptions they had arranged over the years. Dawn grabbed the Taylor children's file and shoved the entire thing in her shoulder bag to take home. She never took files home because they were supposed to remain at the office. Only duplicated pages could be removed from the building, but something told her to take the file with her when she left for the day.

~*~*~

Brooks paced his den with a glass of single malt scotch in his hand. He couldn't believe that stupid woman had given those children to someone else. Those children were his. Their gifts, when developed, would be just what he was missing. He poured himself another glass of scotch and resumed pacing the room like a caged animal.

Glancing around his den, he barely noticed the shades of hunter green and brown that adorned the walls. His wife had added wainscot panels halfway up the walls and chair rails that she insisted were fashionable. He walked over toward the bookcases that held his pristine leather-bound editions that he never allowed anyone to touch or read.

He was furious, and needed to find an outlet. The scotch was not helping, and Brooks had already put a hole in the wall of his office next to the fireplace. If it was not repaired by the time he got back there, he would happily take out his frustration on whoever was left in the room.

He picked up his desk phone and it was immediately answered by one of this security guards.

"Sir."

"Bring me Vincent. NOW!" He slammed down the phone and began pacing again. He hated to wait.

Two minutes later, Vincent was escorted into the office with guards holding each of his arms securely, while he struggled violently against them. Brooks looked at the young man with distain. Vincent ceased struggling and faced Brooks defiantly.

"After everything I've done for you, you try to escape!" Brooks shouted getting close to Vincent's face. The young man didn't flinch or even show any reaction at all. He simply stared ahead.

Brooks backed up a step and grinned almost manically. "It would've been nice to have someone who could make things grow with a wave of their hand, but you've outlived your usefulness."

He turned toward the guard on the right. "You know what to do. Just make sure the others know he is being taken to another estate." Brooks walked toward the window, but turned back to add, "And Maurice, don't let him escape again, or you will share his fate."

Chapter Four

Two hours later, Kate and the three children pulled into the driveway of the house. Zach and Alex both had big eyes looking around at the Victorian home and grounds. "Wow, it's really big," uttered Zach. "Will we all get our own rooms?"

Alex rolled her eyes, "Zach, you always get your own room, even when we have to share. You're a boy. I usually have to share with Maddy."

"No one is going to have to share a room," Kate replied with a smile as she helped Maddy out of her car seat. The little girl squealed and ran up to her brother, who was checking out the porch.

"We really don't have to share?" Alex asked tentatively.

"You each will get your own room. Tomorrow we'll evaluate the stuff you have and make a list of what you will need," Kate told them as she unlocked the one side of the double door.

"You're going to take us shopping?" Alex said in shock.

"Yes, I'm going to take you shopping. I'm sure there are tons of things you all will need." Kate had just finished saying that when Zach began to groan so loudly it sounded like he was being tortured.

"Do we really have to go shopping? I hate shopping," Zach complained.

"Oh, so you don't need any new sneakers or soccer cleats?" Kate asked nonchalantly.

"Soccer cleats?" Zach repeated hopefully and asked, "You would really get me some?"

When Kate nodded, he looked excited for a second and then said, "But, I don't need any. I'm not on a team." His enthusiasm was slowly changing into sadness.

"You may not be on a team now, but fall soccer will be here before you know it and I'm sure you'll want to break them in so they'll be good for tryouts," Kate replied with a smile.

"REALLY??? You'll let me try out for a team?" Zach said with wonder.

"Of course. You did tell me you loved playing, right?" Kate asked. She remained smiling, but her heart went out to these kids, who had not been treated very well.

"Yeah, I love soccer. I really want to be on a team again," Zach said excitedly. "I guess shopping won't be too bad."

Kate laughed and turned to Alex. "Do you want to try out for any sports or join any clubs or activities?"

"No, I'm fine," Alex answered.

"There isn't anything you did before that you liked?" Kate prodded. She ushered them into the family room next to the large kitchen. The house had been lovingly redecorated and updated by her parents, so the kitchen was modern with new cherry cabinets, the latest stainless steel appliances, and granite countertops. The hardwood floors ran throughout the first floor of the house.

Alex didn't answer; she just shook her head no. Kate was going to have her work cut out for her, helping this girl. She had made progress with their previous conversation, but Kate didn't believe for one second that it was going to be easy to get through to Alex.

Just then, Zach exclaimed, "You have a pool!" He ran to the window to check out the pool and the backyard. Alex joined him at the window with a half-smile. She seemed pleased with the idea of a pool but didn't want to show it too much.

"Yes, we have a pool. If you don't have swimsuits, that's something we'll have to pick up tomorrow," Kate replied. "Are you guys hungry or do you want to go upstairs to see your rooms?"

Alex was the first on the stairs. "I want to see my room," she said.

"Okay, let's go," Kate said as she picked up Maddy. She was already making a mental list of what she was going to need for the kids. A gate at the top of the stairs would be first on the list. She didn't want Maddy to fall down the wooden steps and get hurt, or worse.

The children ran up the stairs in excitement.

The first door on the left looked out to the front of the house and was done in a soft yellow with a queen-sized bed and white bedroom furniture. The comforter had pale yellow and blue flowers and matching throw pillows. The curtains were sheer and allowed in a lot of light. It was a cheerful room. Alex looked up at Kate but didn't say anything. Kate said, "Alex, this is the room that I had imagined for you. What do you think?"

Alex shrugged and flopped down on the bed. She tried hard to mask the smile on her face.

The room next to Alex's faced the backyard and the pool. It was done in a light slate blue color. Zach was about to claim the room, but he looked at the comforter with dismay. The comforter was a little girly with a flower pattern, but Kate assured him they would get a more "guy-ish" one the next day. Zach seemed happy with that and decided to see how comfortable the bed was.

The bathroom was next to Zach's room at the top of the steps. On the right side of the stairs were three rooms: the master bedroom that Kate took over when her parents gave her the house, and two additional rooms. One of the rooms faced the back of the house and was done in a light pale pink color that Maddy seemed to like.

Kate put her down, and she immediately sat down on the rug and said, "My room."

Kate laughed and said, "Yes, this is yours." Kate was concerned that Maddy may fall out of the bed in there, but Alex popped her head in and said, "Maddy has slept in a regular bed before. She doesn't need a crib or rails anymore."

Once again, Alex had answered what Kate was thinking. Weird, Kate thought, Alex must be really perceptive.

Alex got a funny look on her face, and she swept out of Maddy's room and into her own.

"Why don't you guys grab your stuff and put it up in your bedrooms, and we can meet down in the kitchen when you're done," Kate suggested.

Zach and Alex ran down the stairs, grabbed their bags, and took them up to their rooms. They didn't have many things to put away. From moving around so much, most of their things were gone now. Kate added few more items to her mental checklist of what she wanted to get the children tomorrow.

~*~*~

The kids devoured the pizza and breadsticks Kate had ordered from Angelo's. It wasn't a night to cook, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to treat the kids to something. They had all had a rough day.

Kate was shocked that they liked her favorite: mushrooms, bacon, and jalapeños. She had only ordered two pizzas, but only one with jalapeños so that Maddy wouldn't have to eat hot peppers, but when she turned around, Maddy had swiped Kate's slice and was happily munching on them. Kate took the slice and changed it out for one without hot peppers but Maddy looked disappointed when she did.

After dinner, Kate gave Maddy a bath and tucked her into bed. Kate didn't have any children's books yet, so she decided to make up a story to tell Maddy. As Kate weaved a tale about all kinds of animals and their adventures with Princess Maddy on the grounds of an enchanted castle. Maddy fell asleep with a smile on her face, clutching a very worn out stuffed dog.

Alex and Zach were hanging out in their rooms when Kate stopped by to check on them.

"We're going to the mall early tomorrow to get everything that you guys will need, so don't stay up too late," Kate told them both. "I'm going to watch a movie downstairs if you would like to join me."

Both of them declined. They wanted to just hang out in their rooms. Kate hid her disappointment and instead said, "Okay, well, good night then. If you need anything at all, just let me know."

Kate flopped down on the couch with a sigh. She hadn't bothered to turn on the TV. She never watched it much anyway. She just sat in the quiet house with her head back and her eyes closed. She couldn't believe what had happened that day. How in the world did I end up with three kids? Even though it seemed beyond imaginable, she was strangely content with the situation. Every part of her felt that this was the right thing to do.

~*~*~

It was way easier than he had thought it would be to climb into the window of Kate's house. She was so trusting and the neighborhood was safe and quaint. None of her windows were locked and he suspected they had never been locked before. If Kate was going to be keeping the kids for a while, she would need to step up security.

He pushed his brown hair off his forehead more out of habit then needing it out of the way and crept quietly to the boy sprawled on his stomach. Smiling at the pile of bed linens on the floor, he put the pillow back on the bed near Zach's head and covered him with the sheet. He turned to check on Alex and Maddy when he heard a mumble from behind him. He looked over at Zach and noticed the stress on his face even in his sleep.

He went into Alex's room next and was surprised at how grown up she appeared. Somehow over the last year, Alex had gone from little girl to pre-teen. He gently pulled the book from her hands and placed it onto her nightstand. At least that hadn't changed, he thought. She still loved to read.

He closed Alex's door quietly and moved to the next room where Maddy was staying. He slowly slipped inside to get a quick peek at Maddy, but was shocked to see her awake.

She squealed and scrambled down from her bed, running to him. "Bud!" She grabbed him around the legs, squeezing tightly.

He almost panicked, hearing her loud voice. "Shhhh." He bent down and scooped Maddy up, hugging her tightly.

"I missed you, cutie," he whispered into her ear. "It's time for you to go back to sleep. I'll see you soon."

He tucked her into bed and kissed her forehead. "Be good for Kate." She nodded to him and he smiled sadly as he climbed out of the window, shutting it tightly behind him.

~*~*~

Kate was awoken at 6:00 a.m. by a little body snuggling up against her in bed. This tiny thing was digging her toes into Kate's legs and giggling quietly. "Good morning, little one," Kate said with a smile at her small intruder. "What are you doing up so early?" She just got some giggling as a reply, and then Maddy snuggled up to her even more.

Kate had been content to lie there for a few more minutes with her eyes closed, snuggling with Maddy, but the little giggler had other plans. "Pancakes, please."

Kate laughed. "Oh, so you want pancakes?" she asked. Maddy was nodding her head enthusiastically. "Do you want to put some chocolate chips in then?" Maddy started to clap and yelled, "Yes!"

"Okay, then. Let's go make some," Kate replied as she got up and headed down the steps with Maddy.

By the time the pancakes had been made, Zach stumbled downstairs, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "I smelled something good," he mumbled. "Are those chocolate chip pancakes?" he asked with building excitement.

"Of course," Kate said as she handed him a plate.

When they were just about finished eating, Alex came down to join them. "We saved you some pancakes," Kate told her.

"No, thanks," she replied. "I don't want anything."

"Are you sure? They're already made," Kate prodded.

"I said I didn't want any," Alex said with a little bit too much force. Before Kate could say anything, Zach jumped in. "Lex, what's up with you?"

"Nothing," she answered, and then looked at Kate. "Sorry."

"It's okay. If you don't like pancakes, I can see what else we have," Kate started, but Alex cut her off and said, "I don't want anything. I'm going upstairs to change."

Kate watched her leave the room and sighed. Alex was going to be harder than she thought. Zach took that minute to answer Kate's silent thoughts. "Mom used to make chocolate chip pancakes for us. They're our favorite. She used to make faces on the pancakes with extra chips."

That explained a lot, Kate thought to herself. "Maybe next time we can add some extra chips and make our own faces."

~*~*~

After breakfast was cleaned up, everyone went to get dressed and ready to go. They arrived at the mall just as it was opening. Two hours later, they each had numerous bags from several of the stores. Maddy even had a new stroller that she was lounging in as they walked to their last store to look at athletic shoes.

Kate walked through the sneaker displays with the three kids and laughed as Maddy pointed to bright pink ones for Zach. Movement caught Kate's eye outside the store.

She looked up and was shocked to see her hot guy from the other night. He looked just as good as he had at The Deck, with a blue T-shirt on that brought out his brilliant eyes. He was simply looking into the store. Kate secretly hoped he would come in to look around so she could say hello. At that point, several people entered the store, passing between them, and she lost sight of him. When the people moved away, he was gone again.

Kate sighed. He had disappeared, again. She gave herself a mental shake. What am I thinking about? I have too much going on to worry about guys right now.

Even though she had decided that it was not a good time for guys, she couldn't keep herself from looking around for him as they walked through the mall toward their car.

~*~*~

They spent the afternoon in the backyard enjoying the nice summer weather. The pool was a great distraction for them. Zach and Alex met the neighbors' kids, Eric and Emily, who were only a year older. All four of them spent most of the time in the pool having fun.

Kate put Maddy down for a nap and settled into a comfortable chair on the porch with her book. She was slightly hidden from the pool, but could still keep an eye on things. She wanted to give them some privacy, but not too much.

At a good part in her book, her phone rang and she looked down at the number. "Hey, Cindy," Kate began.

"Where have you been?" Cindy demanded. "I called you twice last night, and you didn't call me back. I wanted to talk about our plans for Saturday night."

"What plans?" Kate asked.

"Oh no! You're not backing out now. You said that I could fix you up with one of Mike's friends, and that's what we're doing. I have it all arranged. We're all going out Saturday." Cindy rushed on. "You need to dress nice. I think you're going to like Greg. He's cute, about five ten, and has blonde hair. He's in marketing for one of the stadiums in Philly, so he can get us into just about any event we want."

"Cin, slow down. You didn't talk to me before you made these plans. I had only mentioned that I might be interested in dating, not that I wanted you to jump right in and set something up."

"Well, if I did talk to you first, you would have just come up with a reason not to do it, so I went ahead and made plans. One date is not going to kill you," she replied.

"You're going to have to cancel them. I'm not going to be able to make it," Kate told her.

"Oh, come on. I'm not going to cancel. You're coming." Cindy was just not going to give up.

"Cin, I can't go Saturday. I don't want to leave the kids so soon after they just got here," Kate replied.

"Kids? What kids?" Cindy asked, baffled.

"My kids. I have three foster kids now," Kate told her. There was complete silence on the phone as Cindy processed what Kate had said.

After a long silent pause, Kate said, "Hello?"

"You're kidding right?" Cindy asked. "That's not even a good excuse, Kate. You're not getting out of this so easily."

"I'm completely serious, Cindy. I have three foster kids now. You remember that phone call I got yesterday from Mrs. Johnson? Well, she had these kids who needed a home desperately and I just felt compelled to help them," Kate explained.

"Are you nuts? You really are crazy, Kate. You're too young to be a mom to three kids. Did you do this just to get out of dating forever?" Cindy joked.

"I need to help these kids, Cin. Something about this just feels right. I need to do this," Kate said with passion.

"Okay . . . So when do I get to meet these kids?" Cindy asked, changing gears. "I still think you're crazy, but I know you, and I know you'll be great with the kids."

"Thanks. That means a lot."

"I'll let you off the hook about guys for now, but just because you have kids, that doesn't mean you can't go on a date now and then." Kate laughed. There was the Cindy she knew and loved.

They spoke a few minutes more, and Kate filled her in on the kids who were now a big part of her life.

Mrs. Johnson stopped by the house that evening for a home inspection and brought the kids some ice cream. Kate smiled when she left. Everything was settling into place.

~*~*~

Brooks hated waiting. He had called Frank twenty minutes ago and he was still not there. His need to know what had happened to the kids, was nagging at him.

There was a knock on the door, followed by Frank appearing without waiting to be told to enter. He was one of the only people who could get away with that.

"We'll find out where they are tonight. It shouldn't be that hard to break in and get the address from their file," Frank told him. "It's an in-and-out job. No more than a few minutes. The security there is almost non-existent, which is good for us."

"Good. I want those children," Brooks replied, finishing off his second glass of scotch. He rolled the ice around in his glass and contemplated his next move. "We're too close to finishing this. Those kids need to be here soon. They'll almost make up for losing the other one."

"You'll get them," Frank promised, and left Brooks alone once again.

Brooks looked out his window, not really seeing the manicured lawn, sculptured gardens, and fountain his wife loved so much. He was thinking about his plans and how he was so close to getting exactly what he wanted.

His wife entered the den and walked up to stand next to him. He gave her a forced half smile. He indulged her most of the time, but she really needed to stay out of his way when he was in a mood. She never knew when to just leave him be.

"Are you coming in to dinner? You should really come see the children. It's their only time to spend with you."

"Not now, Louise. I'm busy with important matters," he answered, getting frustrated with her.

"You can take the time out to eat dinner. At least stop in to see your children," she nagged.

"They're not mine, and I don't have time for this." He turned away from her and walked out of the den. He didn't notice the look she shot him when he walked out.

She was getting too attached to the kids he had found. They were a means to an end, nothing more. Some had met his expectations, and he rewarded them and kept them around, even after they reached adulthood. Others, well, he had disposed of them. If she was going to get attached to all of them now, it would make getting rid of the disappointments that much harder. He was going to have to do something about that. Maybe send her on an extended trip abroad. That should keep her out of trouble for now.

~*~*~

Dawn Johnson woke up groggily to the repeated sound of a phone ringing. She looked at the clock, and it read 4:42 a.m. Moaning a little and hoping it was not an issue with one of the children from the agency, she answered the phone with a sleepy, "Hello?"

"Dawn, I hate to wake you, but there was a break-in at your office," Sam Connors, Director of the state's entire Family Services Division, told her.

Suddenly getting a clearer head, she uttered, "Oh my, why would anyone break into the office? We don't have anything valuable, and we don't have any prescription medicines there."

"It looks like someone was just making mischief. My guess is that it was probably one of the teens who has gone through the system. Some files were thrown around, and items from the desks and shelves are on the floor. You'll have to come in to see if anything was taken, but I don't believe that you will find anything missing."

"Do I have time for a shower?" she asked.

"Yes, take your time. We're securing the window they used to gain entry," he told her.

"Okay, I'll be there soon." She hung up the phone and flopped back down on the bed for a second. Why would the office be vandalized? She had a really uneasy feeling about it.

Forty minutes later, Dawn walked into the office to examine the damage. The outer office was a mess, but nothing seemed to be missing. Sheila, the receptionist, would be angry when she came in. Dawn got a bit of a chuckle thinking about it. The woman was miserable half the time anyway, so this would just get her mood started right away. They wouldn't have to wonder if it was the good or bad Sheila that day. It would be bad Sheila.

Her office looked like a tornado had hit it and stayed for a while. Nothing was left in or on her desk. The drawers were all open and the contents were thrown on the floor. Her unease grew as she noticed the filing cabinet was torn apart and the files thrown everywhere. She became worried when she noticed her computer had been left on. She had always shut down her computer every night and never left it on. This was not kids making a mess. This was someone looking for something, she thought.

The filing room where most of the case files were located was in mild disarray. Only one drawer's contents were thrown around. That drawer was labeled "T."

She went back to her office, righted her chair, and sat down with a sigh. She was getting a headache, and she was nervous. This couldn't possibly be about the Taylor kids, could it? Should she tell someone of her suspicions? Would anyone believe her? The Brooks were a very wealthy and powerful family. Dawn had heard that they had mansions all over the country. She didn't need to start something with a powerful man. He had given her bad vibes on the phone, but that could have been him lashing out from not getting his way. Powerful people were not used to hearing the word no.

She was glad that she had taken the file home, but was it safe there? She needed to think. She also needed to make sure the file stayed hidden and those kids remained safe. Should I warn Kate? No, not yet. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I need to watch and wait.
Chapter Five

Kate was content.

She smiled at the kids lounging in the family room. Cindy had stopped by to meet the kids and fell in love with them instantly. She still thought Kate was a little crazy but she understood.

It was raining hard outside and the kids decided to watch a movie while waiting for it to stop so they could swim in the pool. They had become fish in the week they had been there. They also appeared to be making friends with some of the other kids in the neighborhood, Zach especially. He was spending a lot of time with Eric from next door. Eric would be in the grade ahead of him at school in September.

Alex was still hot and cold, but she didn't display the hostile attitude that Dawn had mentioned. She spent time in the pool with everyone but was still standoffish around the other neighborhood kids. She was also alone in her room a lot of time.

A loud noise on the back porch startled Kate. She looked up to see Eric with his face plastered to the back door. He was wearing a bright green raincoat and was holding up an even brighter yellow one. Zach jumped up with a smile and ran to the door. Eric stood there dripping on the area rug with a huge grin on his face. Zach looked at Kate. "Can I?"

Kate laughed and said, "Sure, it's just raining out. Come inside if you hear any thunder." With that, both boys rushed off into the rain.

Kate was glad for the chance to have some alone time with Alex. Maddy was taking a nap, so this was the perfect opportunity.

Almost as if she read her mind, Alex got up and headed for the stairs. "Alex. Wait a minute. Please sit down."

Alex huffed, folded her arms across her chest and flopped down. She wouldn't look at Kate.

"Stay and finish the movie with me," Kate said to her.

Alex remained in the same position and didn't speak. She stared at the TV but wasn't really watching the movie.

After a few awkward moments with Kate just staring at the TV as well, she heard Alex say, "How long am I going to have to sit here?"

Kate frowned, looked at Alex and answered, "I just want to spend some time with you, Alex, I'm not trying to torture you and make you just sit here."

Alex turned to her in horror. The look of fright on her face was obvious, so Kate asked her what was wrong.

"Nothing, nothing," Alex replied, still visibly shaken.

"Obviously something is wrong. You don't hide your emotions that well," Kate told her.

Alex just continued to stare at Kate.

"Alex, do you not like living here?" Kate asked.

"NO! It's fine," she exclaimed. "I don't want to leave. I don't want to move to another place."

"Is that the only reason you're saying it's fine? You don't want to be here, but you don't want to move again?" Kate prodded.

Alex shifted in her seat, not really looking up at Kate. "No, I like it here."

"Then what is it?" Kate asked. "Please talk to me. I really want to help you, but I can't do that unless you start talking."

Alex didn't answer.

"I know you miss your parents," Kate said gently. "You can talk about them." Alex still remained quiet. "Do you miss any friends from your old school? I know this last school year you were bounced around a lot. You can try to contact someone from before if you want."

Alex turned her back on Kate. There isn't anyone. No one cares.

"I care," Kate said quietly.

With that, Alex swung around to face Kate. Her eyes were huge. "You heard me?" Alex asked.

Kate sighed. "Yes I heard you. You said, 'There isn't anyone. No one cares.'"

Alex just stared at Kate, not saying anything. She jumped up and said she was going to look for Zach and ran outside.

Kate walked to the back door, looked out into the slowing rain, and wondered what had just happened.

~*~*~

Alex ran out into the backyard, not even noticing the rain. She had to find Zach. She crossed over to Eric's yard, looking for the boys. She spotted a bright flash of yellow in the woods behind the yards and followed the color there. Both boys were in a tree, trying to get to a remote control plane that was stuck in the higher branches.

"You know you're going to fall out of that tree, Zach. It's all wet and you're going to slip," Alex called.

"What are you doing here, Lex?" Zach asked her impatiently.

"We need to talk, like now." Alex was tempted to pull him down out of that tree.

"Go away, Alexandra," Eric sneered, and almost fell out of the tree, losing the effect.

Alex ignored him and turned to Zach. "Now, Zach. It's important."

"What, Lex?" Zach huffed. He clearly was not in the mood to deal with his sister. He was having fun, and she had a way of spoiling that. She needed to just relax.

"I think she's like us . . ." Alex said with unease. The shock from hearing her say that caused Zach to slip and fall out of the tree. Luckily, he was not that high up, and he was able to land on his feet.

Scrambling up, he called out to Eric, "I gotta go." He pulled Alex farther into the woods. "What the heck do you mean, she's like us?"

Alex paced around aimlessly while Zach picked at the bark on the tree he was leaning against.

"Okay, so you're saying she read your mind. Are you sure? Could it just be that you're paranoid now that we're in a new place and we messed up a few times with her already?" Zach asked.

"You messed up. You were the one who almost got us caught," Alex shot back, stopping to look directly at him.

"You've done it too. The last place we were at was all your fault," Zach yelled back.

"Whatever," she said as she continued to pace. "You weren't there. She heard my thoughts. She repeated exactly what I was thinking. She just didn't realize I hadn't said anything out loud." She blew out a loud breath and leaned up against a tree facing Zach.

"So what if she can hear us?" Zach said finally. "I like it here. She seems cool."

"You just like the house and the pool and having your own room," she shot back.

"So what if I do? Don't you? It's a lot better than any of the other places we've been stuck in," Zach replied. "You've been miserable this whole time. Don't you like it here?"

"Yeah, I like it here," she relented. "But, I don't know if we're safe here. If she can hear us, we might not be safe."

"Mom said there were others like us. She's probably one of them," Zach said to her.

"Yeah, but Dad told us about the Division," Alex said with a shiver. "She could be one of them."

Zach just stared at the ground for a few minutes, not saying anything. They both were lost in thought.

Zach finally said, "No way. She's cool. She can't be part of the Division. Kate cares. I can tell. She's not going to hurt us."

"I don't know," Alex uttered, almost defeated. "We need to be really careful."

"Or we can tell her, and she can help us," Zach said hopefully. "If she's like us, she'll understand and not freak out like everyone else. We won't have to be so careful all the time. We can just be normal."

"You are so not normal, Zach," Alex said jokingly.

Zach teased her back and said, "Like you can talk."

Alex looked serious again. "We can't tell her yet. We need to be sure we can trust her."

"Okay, we wait, but just don't mess this up, Lex," Zach relented. "Kate's been trying with you, and you've been a jerk to her."

"I haven't been a jerk," Alex pouted.

"You have, too, and you know it. Can you just try to be nice to her? She's kinda cool. She's not like any of the other people we've been stuck with."

Alex just looked at the ground.

"Seriously, Lex, I don't want to move again. We could end up in a really bad place," Zach pleaded. "Just try."

"I'll try," Alex agreed.

"Cool. Gotta go," Zach dashed off in search of his friend.

Alex trudged through the rain-soaked leaves in the woods for several minutes before returning to the back porch. She sat down on the top step and looked out at the backyard. The rain had stopped during her talk with Zach and the sun had come out with a vengeance. It was starting to get hot. Her clothes were wet from the rain and sticking to her but were already drying slightly from the heat.

She was procrastinating. She didn't want to talk to Kate yet. She knew she owed Kate an explanation, but she just didn't know what to say, so she was hiding out there on the porch.

Kate noticed that Alex had come back and was on the porch. She watched her for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. She ventured outside and settled down on the top step next to Alex. Both of them sat there in silence.

"I know you think that no one cares about you, Alex, but that's not true. I care about you, and I care about Zach and Maddy. I really want this to work with us," Kate said gently.

"I'm sorry for running off," Alex said quietly.

Kate smiled at her. "Come on; let's go make some lemonade slushies."

~*~*~

Frank hated to bring bad news to his boss. He never wanted to be the one to tell Brooks that he couldn't have something that he had wanted.

The break-in at Family Services was supposed to be easy: go in, get the info, and get out. The problem was, the file wasn't there. He even broke into the computer but there was nothing. The file had to be somewhere. Maybe it was misplaced or it was on another desk. Everything should be straightened out now. The staff would surely clean up all the mess and make sure everything else was all organized. People usually went overboard cleaning everything after a break-in.

He would have to go back in quietly and look again, this time alone. The boys he had brought with him last time had made way too much noise and a huge mess. They seemed to think it was fun dumping things. Now it would be a lot harder to get in unnoticed. Security would be tighter, and he would have to be more cautious. He couldn't fail again. Brooks was counting on him to get those kids.

~*~*~

There was a carnival in the next town over, and Kate thought it would be a great place to take the kids for some fun. Zach begged for Eric to come with him and Alex seemed to want to bring Emily. Kate was happy to see Alex making an effort to have a friend. It had been three days since they had spoken on the porch, and Alex seemed to be letting her guard down somewhat.

Kate decided to take the SUV that her parents had left parked next to her garage so that all the kids and the car seat could fit in one vehicle. She really should have been driving it occasionally instead of letting it just sit there. Now that she had three kids, it would probably get used more.

The older kids took off for the rides as soon as they got there, and Kate reminded them to check in with her in an hour and not to wander off beyond the carnival grounds. Kate watched them head straight for The Whip, a ride that swung them around quickly in an arc. She was glad that they had not eaten yet. People were known to get sick on that ride.

She pushed Maddy in the stroller and meandered through the colorful vendor booths that were selling all kinds of unusual items, and some very normal souvenir-type things. A big flower balloon caught Maddy's eye, and she kept pointing and chanting, "Flower, please," with a huge smile. How can I resist?

Maddy pointed to an area off to the side that had a small petting zoo. Kate held her hand as they walked through the miniature barnyard. She dug a few quarters out of her purse so that Maddy could feed some of the goats who kept nudging them with their noses. Other baby animals approached to lick the remaining food from her fingers. Kate loved hearing Maddy's giggles.

The kids checked in and wanted to get some junk food, so Kate gave them some money and off they headed toward the food tent. She was sure that they would be stopping at the cotton candy vender and the popcorn cart. Kate watched Zach wave around a corn dog on a long stick and then try to poke his sister with it. She smiled at their antics.

Everyone seemed to really be enjoying themselves, and Kate was thrilled. The kids needed a fun night. A scream from the tent area caught Kate's attention just in time to see Eric dump icy water down his sister's back. She waited to see what Emily would do in retaliation, but it seemed as if the girl was waiting until later for her retribution.

She ran into several of her students and their parents and stopped to chat with many of them. Kate was having a great time, soaking in lots of happy vibes from everyone around.

Booth attendants called out to Kate as she strolled by with Maddy. Each of them tried to entice her into playing their game. She paused at the water gun competition. Several teens were squirting their water guns onto the target to try to win a giant stuffed dog. The youngest of the competitors won the race and was jumping up and down excitedly.

She continued walking, turning down the end of one aisle to loop around to the next, when she was overwhelmed by a feeling of anger and rage. She looked all around but didn't see anyone who looked like they would feel that way. Most of the people she saw were laughing and enjoying the carnival. Kate quickly moved down the row to get away from those awful feelings, but they seemed to follow her. She kept looking around for someone, but she didn't see anyone who seemed angry. The feelings were so strong that they caused her to have chills down her back. She picked Maddy up from her stroller and held her, needing to assure herself that the little girl was close.

Kate secured Maddy on her hip with one arm as she hurried to push the stroller with her free hand. She wanted to go to the food tent to check on the kids. The feeling of rage followed her through the carnival, not lessening at all. It was almost as if someone was moving along behind her, although as much as she looked around her, she didn't see anyone. The chills she felt wouldn't go away. She was not one to scare easily, but she had never felt such strong emotions before.

The food tent finally came into sight. Many more people around, so it was a little harder for her to determine where feelings were coming from. She started scanning the area around the food tent. Suddenly, a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Her heart was thundering and she felt a tightness in her chest. Goosebumps lined her arms and not the good kind. She stifled a scream as she was turned slightly around.

A tall guy with short, chocolate-brown hair and very dark-brown eyes stood directly in front of her. Kate noticed his muscles bulging under his fitted green polo shirt and admired the way his dark jeans fit him. She noticed his black work boots looked well-worn and contrasted with his nice attire. Kate guessed him to be in his mid-twenties, but his eyes seemed to reflect a much older man. She thought he was attractive, but some of it was taken away by his intensity and almost fierceness. Kate quickly did an inventory of the emotions around her. Maddy was pensive and had been unusually quiet during Kate's dash through the carnival.

She focused on the guy standing before her and was shocked. She didn't feel anything from him at all. Nothing. It is almost as if he has no emotions. Kate stared at him.

He reluctantly dropped his arm from her shoulder but didn't step back. Kate felt a little crowded by him and tried to take a step back. He towered over her in height, looking as if he were well over six feet. It seemed as if he wanted to take another step forward, but he stayed where he was.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said, looking directly at her. "You dropped this back there." In his hand was Maddy's favorite stuffed dog.

He watched Kate intently as he held out the dog. "It fell out of the stroller back there." Maddy didn't reach for the dog; she just clung to Kate and shyly hid her face in Kate's neck.

"Thank you," Kate said quietly. "She would have been very upset later if we couldn't find it." She took the dog in her free hand and slid it into the stroller. His hand lingered longer than necessary on the stuffed animal. He took a half step closer. Kate had to stop herself from taking another step back.

"No problem," he said, still studying her. Kate kept trying to get a read on his emotions, but she still felt nothing coming from him. A loud noise made her look around nervously.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You seem jumpy."

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine," she replied quietly. She was jumpy; she just couldn't shake that creepy feeling, and not getting a read on the guy in front of her made it worse.

He leaned closer and stuck out his hand. "Where are my manners? I'm Robert."

Kate paused for a second before grasping his hand. "Kate," she said reluctantly. Maybe it was the fact she couldn't read his emotions, but something about this guy just wasn't right.

"Well, thanks again, but I have to go," Kate said, as she tried to pull her hand away.

He leaned even closer, almost right up against her, and said, "What's your hurry?"

Just then, an arm settled across her shoulders, and she jumped. "Hey. Here you are. I've been looking for you."

Kate turned to look at the face that belonged to the voice in her ear. She was shocked to be looking into the vivid blue eyes that had been featured in many of her daydreams over the past two weeks. Her gorgeous dream guy was standing directly next to her with his arm across her shoulders.

To read the rest of this book, please download Discovery, Book One of the Gifted Series.

