She frowned. “One, obviously, you haven’t shared with me.”
“It occurred to me last night. The fortune-teller’s name. Brite Knight. Light and dark.”
She took another sip and made another “Mmm” sound and he bit back a chuckle.
“I may not be on the top of my game this morning, but I don’t get it, dude.”
“I didn’t say it was a good theory.”
“Pretty lame, actually.” She paused, met his eyes. “Unless something prompted it?”
He didn’t even blink. “Just popped into my head.”
Her brow furrowed. She opened her mouth, then shut it. As if she doubted him. Which she had every reason to, since he was lying his ass off.
But only because he had to. For now.
“Have you talked to Parker?”
“Why?”
“Just thinking you might have.”
Because she was smart. And she didn’t trust him. “Briefly. He’s in D.C. until Saturday.”
“Why?” she asked again.
“In D.C.? I didn’t ask.”
“No.” She gave her head a slight shake. “Why’d you talk to Parker?”
“Thought his take might be helpful.”
She curled her hands around the paper cup, expression thoughtful. “Was it?”
“He had no take. Just wanted me to write it up.”
“Typical Bureau.”
“Exactly.”
Activity swirled around them, conversations, laughter, discussions. Warming up for the day, for the weekend ahead.
“I’d like to have a chat with him,” she said.
He played dumb. “Who?”
“Parker. He’s your contact. He’s deep into this whole Sixer thing. If this ‘big and bad’ energy you picked up on is the real deal—”
“It is.”
“Then Parker knows something.”
Exactly. But you and Parker? No way. Not happening.
“Not necessarily.”
“You’re not serious.”
“What do you expect to get from him?”
“Answers.”
“To what?”
“To what the hell’s going on, that’s what!”
“Don’t go getting your knickers in a twist—”
“Knickers in a—”
“Look, I know Parker, he’s not going to want to talk to you.” he lowered his voice. “You’re not Bureau.”
“That’s bullshit. He damn well better talk to me. I’ll hold him down and cuff him if I have to.”
Clearly, she had no idea of Parker’s abilities. But still, the image of it made him smile.
Chapter Twenty-five
Saturday, July 13
4:35 A.M.
Zach opened his eyes, instantly awake. Parker. Approaching the front door. He climbed out of bed and into a pair of shorts, then grabbed a T-shirt on his way to the front room.
He reached the door just as the bell sounded. He swung it open. “What the hell, P? It’s four in the freaking morning.”
“I need a drink.” Parker strode past him. “I hate commercial flights. They completely blow.”
Zach watched him cross to the bar. “What happened to Saturday?”
“Last time I checked, it was.” He held up a bottle of red. “Do you mind?”
“Go for it.” Parker peeled off the metal cap then cupped his hand loosely over the top of the bottle. With a quick flick of his wrist, the cork released. He grinned and tossed it to Zack.
Zach caught the cork, but didn’t comment. A parlor trick. All the Sixers had them.
“I thought you’d be happier to see me,” he said, pouring a glass of the wine.
“Four A.M.’s not my happy time.”
“Our chat couldn’t wait until later. I’m heading out to the coast at noon.”
Zach nodded. “Let’s do this.”
They sat. Parker began. “Tell me about the energy.”
“I want to start with the fortune-teller, Brite Knight. What is she?”
“I haven’t met the woman, you have. You tell me.”
“I’m not interested in playing your FBI games, Parker. If I knew, I wouldn’t ask. What is she?”
“If she’s special—”
“She is.”
“Then she’s one of us.”
“On the phone, you said she wasn’t one of us.”
“Not a Sixer. But like us. The Gifted.”
The Gifted. As if they were a separate race, not just an anomaly.
As if reading his mind, Parker leaned forward. “Did you really think there were only a handful of us?”
“How many?”
“Too many to count.”
“She was different from you and me.”
“In what way?”
“I got nothing from her but a heartbeat. No thoughts or feelings, not one memory. That’s never happened before.”
“Maybe that’s her gift?”
Easy. Glib. Not one ruffled feather; not even a glimmer of curiosity.
None of this is news to him.
Zach narrowed his gaze. Perhaps this would be. “Or maybe she’s not human?”
Parker choked on the sip of wine. Zach smiled. “I see I finally have your full attention.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?”
“I’ve seen it all when it comes to the gifted. And we’re all human.”
Zach held his gaze. “I went to see her. For answers.”
“But you didn’t get any?”
He shook his head. “She was scared. Not of me. Of what she saw when she held Gwen Miller’s hand.”