No Peace for the Damned

Actually he hadn’t, but I didn’t care. I was pissed.
    The funny thing was I hadn’t even thought of joining the others on a mission until he suggested I shouldn’t go. Now, I was adamant. Why the hell shouldn’t I go? It wasn’t like they were storming the estate or anything. They found fingerprints on the latest recovered body that led them to one of Uncle Max’s public guards. As if going after a Kelch bodyguard was a big deal. Thirteen just wanted to keep me the Network’s dirty little secret.
    His hands clutched at the steering wheel.
    “OK, you want the truth?” He looked up at me and squinted into the early morning sun. “The team doesn’t quite trust you yet, Magnolia. You have no real field experience. They have no way of being sure that you’d have their back in a real fight.”
    “Of course they don’t trust me! They’re smart people, most of them. They
shouldn’t
trust me. God knows, I sure as hell don’t trust any of them. But that doesn’t mean I can’t go, that I have to stay here all the—”
    “It’s dangerous. This man works for your family.”
    I waved that off. “I’ll stay invisible. I’ll be prepared. Aren’t you taking him into custody, anyway? He wouldn’t get the chance to tell anyone even if he did see me—which he wouldn’t.”
    He shifted the car into gear. “I’ll call you later this afternoon.”
    “But, but…”
    The car window started sliding shut.
Son of a bitch!
The porch creaked with my tempered power. “At least tell me where you’re going!”
    The window paused, nearly shut. The address popped into his head a split second before he blocked his thoughts. He met my eyes through the glass. The window slid back down. He pressed his lips together, then finally said, “I thought you didn’t want this. Didn’t want to give this much to the team. Hell, two weeks ago you were ready to kill me for asking you to train them. Now you want to join them on a mission?”
    “Don’t you dare put this on me!” The cement porch steps crumbled around the edges. “You are the one who put me in the position! You used my affection for you to ask more than we ever agreed to. Now I’m asking for something and you refuse. It’s bullshit!”
    For some reason I didn’t want him to know that it was for Theo that I had agreed to train them; not him. But I’d dwell on those feelings later.
    Thoughtfulness tightened his face. “If you really want to help the team on missions, then you can. But not today. Just be patient a little longer,” he said, an order this time. “You are serving a purpose here, more valuable to the Network than you realize.” His eyes narrowed. “Be patient, Magnolia. Don’t…” His lips tightened into a hard line. “Stay here. I’ll call you later.”
    With that he rolled up his window and drove off.
    I listened as the sound of his engine faded in the distance. Then I counted to twenty just to be sure. He was gone. I ran back inside and grabbed my keys.
    …
    Sunlight blinded me in the rearview mirror. My hands rested on the dash as I idled in front of a gated entrance to some large private neighborhood. Thirteen and the others were in there somewhere, staked out in another Network agent’s house. I scanned the road for Thirteen’s SUV or Shane’s truck, but there was nothing.
    I pulled forward another half mile then parked off the gravel shoulder where my car wouldn’t be seen. I pocketed my key and took a deep breath. My power stretched out until I was completely invisible.
    OK, here we go
.
    I ran across the road and into the trees that surrounded the neighborhood. There wasn’t an actual wall, just tight, tall trees that worked well as a border. Once inside, I followed the main road into the neighborhood’s depths. The homes were large and set back on wide yards of grass and woods. About a mile in, the road split into a three-way fork.
    Thirteen had given up the address, but without my car’s GPS, I was lost. So I listened.
    Nature rustled around me, animals and insects. Farther out, I heard the strum of golf carts, lawn mowers growling, the buzz of a couple of dozen air conditioners kicking on.
    How big was this neighborhood, anyway?
    I listened further until finally I heard the low static of a voice whispering through an earpiece.
Aha
. I moved in the direction of the crackly whispers, but after a few steps my feet grew heavy.
    Was I really ready for this? The targeted home belonged to one of Uncle Max’s old