Take a Minute...

It was all that she had seen for days. Ellie couldn't tell where she was or what was happening, she only wished for one thing, freedom. It was not the kind of freedom that would pop into most people's minds. She wasn't a captive of anyone but herself and her ... 

Take a Minute...

It was all that she had seen for days. Ellie couldn't tell where she was or what was happening, she only wished for one thing...

Chapter 4 - Part 4

“I’ll be fine,” she knew that he was worried. Not about the job at hand, it was something else, “With any luck we will have some good leads in a week and we’ll finish early. Time is everything in this mission and getting in will be easier for me than it will be for you.” Jan watched as he turned away and looked out the window. He watched the lazy life-style that they had grown accustomed to and the people, carrying their small bags of groceries, going by. A few school kids in their uniforms were on their way home, and he watched them laugh and joke with each other. Jan was picking up on

Hidden Promises 45 his thoughts and was unsure of what she was reading. It seemed to her that he had no doubts that he could easily get into the underworld. For a moment, Jan wondered just how many times he had done this before. Ward interrupted her thoughts, “Don’t get too many ideas, okay. Eddy and I have a few friends,” the last word was emphasized.
Unsure of who thought of it first, they suddenly both looked at the ring on her hand. Even though they both wore the wedding bands on their right hands, not the left, they also knew that Jan couldn’t leave hers on. Jan looked back at Ward, and in an instant knew just what she wanted to do. Carefully she removed the bracelet from her arm and the necklace from around her neck. It was a matched set that Ward had picked out for her. The bracelet Ward had given her on their wedding day, and except for one really bad time in her life she had never had it off her wrist. The necklace, that was an anniversary present, but it had ended up as a late present because of her and the PED department. Ward watched her hook the two together with great care. She then carefully removed the wedding band from her finger and threaded the chain through the ring. Placing her arms and the chain around his neck, she hooked the chains together again at the back of his neck, and slid the ring inside his shirt gently pressing it to his chest. She felt the warmth of his chest under her hand, and the warmth of his breath on her cheek. The beating of his heart quickened. Ward felt her warmth from the ring against his skin and he moved closer to kiss her, softly at first, and then they let the kiss deepen and their minds mingled making the most out of the last minutes they would have together for awhile. It was only seconds before he pulled slightly away from her lips knowing their time had come to an end.
“Take care, Babs,” was all he could whisper in her ear before she slowly pulled away and got out of the car. Jan started to walk over to the bus depot, stopped and then started again.
She hated ‘Good-byes,’ so she had always chosen not to say any, ever. In all the time she had known Ward, she had never once said good-bye to him, not even on their first unofficial date. At first it had been just a bad habit of hers, and then after joining the PED she intentionally never said good-bye to anyone. She never even said good-bye to Rob, her old partner, when she knew it was most likely the last time she would ever see him. Jan thought that goodbye’s were for those who were trying to close doors, and hide behind them. She preferred to leave her doors open, just in case. Or was it that she just never had the nerve to say the word? The only time she had ever said goodbye to anyone was to another agent. On the next job he went out on, he was killed. Now was not the time for her to struggle with those issues. Right now, not saying the dreaded ‘good- bye’ word to Ward was more of a superstition, a habit she didn’t intend to break. If they never said it, they would have to be back together, and if not, then there would probably be only one of them left with regrets. With any luck it wouldn’t be her.

Even for Jan it was a silly superstition, but lots of silly things keep people going through life, and this was only one of hers. Don’t step on a crack, don’t walk under ladders, don’t break a mirror or it will be seven years bad luck, none of these she believed in. She smiled inside at the times she had broken a mirror and had never once associated it with bad luck. Most of the time luck was what you made it. Sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t. She began to read the people around her, truly leaving herself behind now. This would be a necessity, throughout the entire job, to survive.
The engine of the Explorer started up. She heard the transmission engage, and didn’t stop. The sound was present for only a second. Jan turned, just so slightly, as Ward drove away. Jan watched Ward from the corner of her eye. Ward never once turned back to look at her. This was his superstition. He silently smiled at her in his thoughts. She held onto it as long as she could, and then slowly lost her connection with him. She stared at the road filled with cars, the smoke, the dirt, and the commotion, not seeing any of it. It was time to start the game, and to play for keeps. Jan turned back toward the benches made of old half painted wood, and she picked up on the thoughts of those around her. Slowly, she walked closer and closer to the benches leaving the persona of Jan behind her. With each step that she took, anyone that could see inside her head would know that she had become Isabel. 

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Chapter 4 - Part 3

She had taken the time to hide the other items in both the straps and in the lining of the bag that she was carrying. They would not be things easily detected, found, or if found, that anyone would care about. In one part she had put her favorite item, a small package of rat poison. It had gotten her out of quite a few fixes in the past, easy to hide, easy to use, and easily replaced. Inside the bag she had included her favorite lock pick that she had once loaned Ward. When Ward had returned it to her, she had placed it in her apartment and left it there. On her last assignment she was almost sure she had lost it forever, but somehow, Ward had gotten it for her. To anyone else it would look like an old pen, but it had been a lifesaver for her many times, and a keepsake given to her by an old, and dear friend. Jan had taken the time last night to haphazardly sew the bag with one package of dental floss, twenty-five feet long, which only added to the authentic look of the bag as well as adding to her supply of tools that she may need. She had been careful not to cut the floss, as she never knew just how long of a piece she might need. After glancing at the bag, Jan gave Ward a quick affirmative nod to let him know she was ready. Before he put the car back into drive, Ward leaned over and let his finger gently trace her face and then cup her chin with his hand. His hand rested there for only a few moments before his hand moved farther down her body and at the same time he kissed her with a passion that she could feel deep inside both her mind and her body. Then, pulling away from her, he put the Explorer back into gear and drove back onto the road without a word. The transformation between lovers into working partners was just getting started.

Ward and Jan pulled into the small town of Hermosillo early in the afternoon. Hermosillo was where they had decided that Jan should catch the bus up to Nogales, the border town in which she would try and hire the right coyote to take her across. Being dropped off in Hermosillo would cause less suspicion than if he dropped her off in the border town itself. This way she looked as if she was on her own, and alone. It made her a much better target. It had been a long ride from the cool Pacific coast of the Baja to the warm dry mainland of Mexico, but a necessary trip that they both hoped would prove profitable.

As they pulled up to the small, old and dirty building that served as the bus stop, ticket booth, and information desk, she turned to look at Ward. His thoughts were open to her. She could tell that there was a plurality in his thoughts. This was not a new feeling. The one problem all mind readers faced was that people could, and often did, think of many things at once. It wasn’t something that was planned, but weeding through it was the skill, not reading the thoughts as some people presumed. He was beginning to prepare himself for his transformation into his legend, character, as well. Ward was both exhilarated and worried about what was going to transpire and it wasn’t something that Jan was surprised to read from him, she had the same feelings. The idea of working again was intoxicating to her in one way, but on the other hand it would mean that the person she most loved and trusted would be in danger. She had the same plurality going on in her head. His thoughts were also busy going through his plans for the rest of the day, wondering if he would make the small, informal border crossing he used before the officer he had become the most friendly with went off duty. They sat stopped for a few minutes watching the people around them before Jan got out of the Explorer. Leaving the personality of Jan behind, and adopting the role of Isabel completely, she walked the ten feet up to what was left of the old iron bars of the ticket window. Ward watched as she talked to the man on the other side of the barred and glassless window. Ward listened in to both Jan’s and the attendants thoughts, and quickly knew that all was going well. The guy on the other side of the window had already decided that she was in a business type relationship with Ward, the oldest business most likely by his thoughts, and now she needed to get back to where she worked out of most of the time.

Jan’s thoughts were predictable, focused on duty. She was amused by the attendant’s thoughts, but careful not to let on. She was also glad that they had decided on this as the drop off place rather than the border town where they would have drawn even more attention, and suspicion. After she completed the transactions for the ticket, she then placed it all in her bag.

Jan turned and returned to the Explorer. Getting into the passenger side of the vehicle she wore the little smile on her face that Ward knew so well. It was the smile of satisfaction of being on a job. What was on her thoughts she didn’t say out loud, but she did share them with Ward and found out that he had picked up on the entire conversation she had had at the ticket window. She could feel the eyes of the man who had sold her the tickets on her, so she leaned over to Ward and French kissed him. Not wanting to waste the moment Ward returned the kiss, and after a couple of minutes they pulled away. They stared at each other lost in the moment. It only took a couple of minutes before Jan broke the silence, her voice sounding just a bit out of breath.

“The bus will be here in twenty minutes,” she didn’t finish the thought out loud, she didn’t need too. Jan leaned back on the seat, mentally preparing to step out of the Explorer and into the world of Isabel until the job was complete. Ward turned to look at her and what he saw never ceased to amaze him. They had learned how to blend into any situation, or any environment, when they had been trained, but Jan had always had a special knack for it, and he loved to watch her prepare for her role in the moments before she left. He didn’t know if it was her college studies that had made her so good at this, or if it was just a talent she had. What he saw before him was not the Jan he knew. She was there, but buried deep inside, keeping her feelings safe from others, and only barely accessible to him. Of all those people that could and would see her, all would truly believe she was a native of Mexico. She looked the part, her clothes, her hair tied back into a ponytail, and although she would be considered a light skin Mexican of mostly Spanish decent, he knew that when she got out of the car, she would put on the rest of the act for all to see. There would be no question if she was authentic or not by anyone outside of this vehicle. By reading the minds of those around her, she could change her actions, mannerisms, and expressions all in a split second to fit with the area or to adjust the character as needed. She could tweak her role to fit anything she would need. That was one of the many reasons why mind readers were so valued, and a top-secret commodity within the government. The government had put a lot of training into each of them and wanted to reap the benefits of it. With the training each reader had received and continued to get, they could work with any military or clandestine service that had access and knowledge of their department, maybe not the skills, but the department. That’s one reason they were not happy to have two leave the fold. The numbers of readers weren’t that great to begin with, and the years of training a costly investment.

“You know my number if you need me. My phone number is the same as always and I’ll keep it on. Don’t hesitate to use it,” he knew she wouldn’t need it. She was as good as he was at this, if not better, “If you need to contact any of the departments or local authorities, remember to go through my friend, it will keep your identity safe. If you aren’t in Phoenix, give me a buzz and I’ll see if we have anyone friendly near,” with that said, he took a good look at her. He looked through her facade and reached back into who she really was. Their minds touched and what was expressed could never have been said with words. 

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Chapter 4 - Part 2

“I don’t plan on getting caught, and with any luck, the name I’m using will give me just enough cover if I do. Most of the time the border patrol just sends you back without getting your prints completely processed first, or at all. Not a good policy, but with the amount of traffic that crosses the border here, and is caught, it is understandable,” the conversation was over as quick as it had begun, and they drove on in silence. Jan’s mind wandered back to the arrangements they had made if she were to get caught. She was going to use the name Isabel Garcia Lopez. If there were any problems, the phone number she would give them would be Manuel’s cell phone, in Mexico, or a phony address in Hermosillo. Ward arranged this when Manuel had dropped off the clothes, and then later shared it with Jan. He was to pose as her brother if she called. Most importantly, he was not to let Mama Garcia know what was happening, they didn’t want to worry her anymore than necessary. Manuel would be good cover, and would come to meet the bus if necessary. Ward left a vehicle available for him to use for just such an event. Ward and Jan tried hard not to involve the Garcias at all if possible, but sometimes they would use Manuel as back up.
The drive through what could only be described as a dusty, sandy, low scrub desert was fairly boring if one was not in love with the desert. They didn’t talk for hours and barely shared their thoughts. Jan watched the scenery as they traveled down the nearly empty roads through the countryside. As they passed through the small towns she would watch the locals walk along the streets and glance unnoticeably at the Explorer. She drifted in and out of a restless sleep, and when it was about noon they stopped to grab a couple of sodas and a taco with everything, from a vendor on the corner. The place looked as if it was well kept even though the wood that held the stand together was well worn from the years of weathering, and the paint was almost nonexistent from sun and wind. There seemed to be a lot of people enjoying the food and just as many waiting to be served. They finished eating quickly and got back into the Explorer. As they got back in, Jan and Ward started a small conversation that had nothing to do with the job they were about to embark on. It was just simply small talk. The small talk seemed to loosen up their minds as well as their muscles. As they talked about nothing of importance, the tension seemed to drift off on the wind that passed through the vehicle. Most of the drive was done, but they needed to get to Hermosillo before the last bus left for Nogales. Jan had printed out the schedule yesterday to make sure they didn’t miss it. One more day could mean that they would lose a lead. It could also mean that there would be more people preyed upon and lost. On this job, time was everything. They also knew that the full moon was tonight, and for the next couple of days crossings would be favorable, and frequent.

Ward drove for another hour and a half. He then pulled over to the side of the road on a dusty and sandy turnaround that barely existed. Off to the side there were the remains of a table and what might have been a trash container at one time or another. The Explorer jostled to a stop and he turned to look at Jan. They were just outside of Hermosillo. Ward wanted to ask Jan if she had everything she needed, but he already knew she did. Words would not serve his purpose right now. Instead he just stared at her and she returned his strong gaze with one that was equally as strong. Knowing what he was thinking without even reading his thoughts, she allowed her thoughts mix with his to let him know that she was feeling the same. To ease the tension and create a diversion, in her thoughts she went over what she had in her bag, and going over the premise of the legend, or persona she was about to adopt.

Jan had placed two thousand dollars in the bottom of the bag, and had a bit of extra cash sewn carefully into the straps of the bag where it would be hard for anyone to know it was there but her. It was a less likely place for someone to look, and even if they did, she had it well disguised within the folds of the fabric. She had carefully packed the bag to look like it contained nothing important. A couple changes of clothes, a few bread rolls bought from the local bakery, a bottle of water, a ragged old pad of paper, a pen, and an old rosary that Manuel had tucked in the bag before he gave it to her. The bag looked old, shabby, and lacking in the many items she may be in need of to protect herself, but in all reality it contained all she would possibly need or want. Ward had always been baffled by her choice of items. It wasn’t standard equipment, but it always seemed to get her out of trouble when she needed it.

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Chapter 4 - Part 1

4

Jan had gotten dressed long before the sun had come up and Ward had packed the Explorer quickly as neither one needed very much, just the one packed bag each. Ward needed to get across the border before changing his identity. He had packed a couple items he would need for his role change. It fit into a small bag, no bigger than the small bag that they had always carried for the jobs they used to work on. The idea of the small bag had been both a habit and a necessity when working with the department. It would be less to lose on an assignment if it were left behind, expendable. Important items needed to be kept on the body, or in relative safety, and anything that was needed for daily routines usually could be gotten wherever a person was. It also made an agent more portable getting through airports and across borders, as well as quick.
Jan walked over to the window in the bedroom that overlooked the ocean and opened the curtain to see the last rays from the moon bounce off the ocean in the distance. Looking out to the deepest depths of the ocean she wondered where the dolphins were at this moment. Closing her eyes she made a silent wish, a prayer that they would both return here safely and quickly. Not something she normally did, but now was as good a time as any to start a new superstition. Ward walked out of the room without saying anything. Jan turned and followed Ward out the door and out of the apartment.
They got to the top of the stairs, crossed the patio, and out the ancient gates, the Explorer sat waiting. They got in and closed the doors without saying a word, both mentally preparing for the job ahead of them. As they drove away from the relative safety of their hideaway, Ward popped a CD into the player. It was soft and eerie music that seemed to fill every corner of the vehicle. It was the CD Ward played when he needed to reach a level of calm and consciousness that seemed to be beyond his ability at the time. The sound of the Native American flute filled every crevice of the vehicle, calming and soothing their nerves, as it worked its way into their very beings as well. Jan was unsure of what problem he was grappling with; and decided that waiting until he was ready to discuss it with her would be the prudent move. Letting the music again fill every spot in her brain she nonchalantly placed her hand on his leg to reassure him of her presence as they drove. She could feel Ward’s muscles begin to relax in response to her touch, and she could feel some of his tension fall away.

When the first two songs had faded to the back of their memories and the third was about to begin, Ward turned off the CD and glanced over to see if Jan was still awake. Jan, without turning her face toward him, opened her mind to let him know that whatever the topic may be, she was willing to discuss it with him. At first they didn’t talk, at least not out loud. He started to slowly share his thoughts with her, mentally letting his mind wander into hers, and hers back into his. There were fears. Crossing the border illegally at any time would be dangerous, but there was an added danger for both Ward and Jan every time they crossed. They now had to be careful every time they crossed the borders. Ward had made it easier to cross with the casual friendship he had achieved with one group of border patrol officers. His fears for Jan were different. Crossing illegally left a few more items to chance. They had planned and emotionally prepared for their identity changes and for the dangers they would both face, except for one. Jan had half prepared for it, but the danger still existed and there was no way to make it all better. Who they were and what they had done in the past had always been dangerous. The criminal elements were never nice, but there was now an added group of people actively looking for them, always looking for them, and it wasn’t only the criminals that they had to be careful of, it was also the department. This was what was truly worrying Ward. One slip could cause the entire operation to fail, and their lives to be ruined.

“Don’t get caught crossing the border. If they get your prints I
don’t have to tell you what will happen next. Gregg and the guys will get to you before immigration can even walk you back to the bus for Mexico,” his voice a lackluster tone as he referred to the current department head of the PED, and his previous partner. “He won’t ever give up, not until he gets both of us now.” Ward would know better than anyone else what would be in Gregg’s head. Over all the years that she had known him, he had never shared why they had split up as partners. It was unusual to request a change, but not unheard of. Ever since then, though, Gregg had been almost out to get Ward, catch him on anything he did wrong. He had even tried to get Jan to lure him back to the department in exchange for her freedom and future at one time.

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Hidden Promises - Chapter 3 - Part 4

Jan knew that she didn’t have any contacts, which she knew of, in the department right now. She had burned a few too many bridges herself for any of them to willingly stick out their necks for her. She also didn’t have enough time to contact any old friends who may be willing to work with her, given time. Over the years they both had a network of names on which they could rely. She could have always contacted Rob to have him arrange for an arrest, but not if he wasn’t in the Phoenix office. There was also the problem of him associating with her. She knew that Rob would be no help, if she needed someone to stay with, it just wouldn’t work. When she was still with the department, Ward had never once asked her to do anything on his jobs. She knew that it kept her reputation clean. She couldn’t risk getting involved with the department again. Neither of them had left on a favorable basis. Maybe this was because one really was never allowed to leave. If the department found either one of them, they would be kept, jailed within the department of course, for an undetermined amount of time. No trial, no lawyers, and no one they could count on. She was told on the last job with the department, it could be a lifetime. If she were jailed with them this time, she would not find it easy to get out, and she didn’t want to have to try.

“Interesting contact. Is he still on active duty?” Jan placed her feet back on the ground and picked up the empty bottles. Getting up, she began to walk to the kitchen.

“Not really, but I wouldn’t put it past anyone that retires to still have connections within any department. As you know, no one really ever leaves,” Ward smiled as he said this for they both knew they had left, and were now being hunted by the department that they once had worked for. Ward sat and watched her pick up the soda bottles and walk away. There was a knock on the door, and as Jan went into the kitchen Ward went to the door. Jan could barely hear the voices, but could tell the conversation was in Spanish, and knew who had to be standing there. She walked back into the room in time to see the door close and Ward holding a small, old, tattered bag filled with what she could only assume would be her clothes for the next week or more.

The bag was nothing more than an old cloth backpack that had seen many other good uses. As she looked it over she saw that it would suit her needs quite well. She could clearly hear Ward’s thoughts in her own head, ‘Want to try them on now or later?’ Jan only smiled, trying to erase some of his fears, and took the bag.

“Let’s see how I’ll look,” she took the bag, and went off to change into who she was going to become.

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Hidden Promises - Chapter 3 - Part 3

Ward had discussed his plans with Eddy and arranged a meeting place back in Phoenix. Running down the list of what they would need, Ward checked that Eddy would be able to handle a change of clothes, and even a change of cars. Eddy assured him that he would have no problem with either. Ward also let Eddy know whom he would need to contact for him before he got back into Phoenix. Those people existed on both sides of the law. Last, Ward asked Eddy to arrange a place for him to stay for a night or two, explaining that the apartment he had for emergencies was no longer available. Ward refused to stay with Eddy, knowing that it would put him at a higher risk than either one of them were willing to take. If for some reason his place was watched, or checked on, Ward would be a risk, and not a good one.

There were positives. He would not have to dodge the department anymore to meet up with Jan. They would both have to avoid contact with anyone who would inform the assistant director of their whereabouts. Neither one of them wanted to be invited for a lengthy stay at the department by the assistant director because there would be no way to ever leave. In one way it would be easier, in another, there was now no one in the department to run cover for them anymore. Ward thought for a moment, maybe he still would for Jan’s sake? Things had changed when Jan had left and maybe not so much for the good. With this feeling still on the fringes of his mind, Jan had walked into the apartment. He handed her the papers that he had made notes on, and left the room to be alone with his thoughts.

Jan watched him walk away, and didn’t question him. Looking down at the papers she saw all the information that she would need, the names of the missing women, their ages, the dates they were at or near the boarder, where they crossed, and where they might have met the coyote they used. The name of the coyote that had been used by the people already in the US had not been included in the information. They were probably trying to protect them. Then she read the information she needed most, the descriptions of the missing women. Strange thing was that the age of the women didn’t seem to matter much. One of the missing was only sixteen, one was twenty-five, and one was even in her early thirties. There seemed to be nothing in common except the fact that they all crossed from the same place or at least that was what their families had assumed. The only conclusion that Jan could make was that whoever was making these women disappear wasn’t picky about the age of the person he took, just the looks. This would help her out. Even though she wasn’t bad looking, in fact she was good looking, toned, and evenly tanned, but she was no where near the age of sixteen anymore, and was definitely looking at thirty in the rear view mirror age wise. She would be able to look the part of a twenty year old, but there would an added advantage if they weren’t picky.

The next page contained all the information that Ward had gathered for himself, and who he needed to contact. He had made an assumption as to why these women disappeared. From that, he planned where he was going to start his part of the mission. Most of the information he had collected led in one direction, and it wasn’t a direction that either one of them liked. All the information that Ward had gathered was written straightforward, in list form, without any emotion, and in a style very familiar to Jan. Jan was glad to see that he still used the same format that they had polished between them over the years. This would make working together easier as she would know just what to expect, and how to read through it efficiently.

While Jan would be busy gathering the information that she would need to hopefully locate both the missing people and the coyote, Ward would be investigating the other side of the coin, or what they feared was the other side of the coin. As they both were well aware of, most of the illegals, and even American nationals that were missing women didn’t have a happy life. They had been treated more like slaves and less than human, they could only hope they would be able to find them before it was too late. Assuming that they were still alive, that would be their goal. The only way to know for sure was for Jan to illegally cross the border, and Ward to approach this investigation from the marketing side as the leads steadily grew colder and colder. Ward had made a list of people to see, on both sides of the law, in the Phoenix area. The list was gotten from the files of Border Patrol, the CIA, and the FBI. Some of the names on the list she recognized from other times and crimes when both she and Ward had been with the PED department. Some of these people had been watched for many years. Almost every department, at one time or another had some kind of records on most of these people. The only thing that they had not been able to do yet was to bring them to trial for anything but minor offenses. They had been put on a list of other probable crimes, such as drugs and weapons running, but to Jan’s surprise, nothing had ever transpired. These were the people that would be the most knowledgeable about new comers in the field and the most arrogant, as they had never been caught or burned by any department. They may also be the most helpful with information in order to preserve their territory.

Ward also listed, when possible, the people he knew who worked for each of these organizations. By knowing some of the names, it would make getting into or dealing with the organizations that much easier. This is the side of life he would try to infiltrate hoping to pick up any leads about the missing women. At this point, Jan was unsure of whether he would pose as a middleman, or a new player. Most likely it would just be a quick decision he would make when standing in front of someone depending on what he could pick up from reading the minds around him. His way in was not going to be as clear as Jan’s. Neither role was without danger, and neither one of them dwelled on that fact.

Jan’s goal on this mission would be to put at least a couple of these groups out of the business of selling women, and catch the coyotes as well. Keep the goal in mind she thought, no matter what else they discovered. Faceless people with no advocate, migrant workers who only supported the economy of the US, and they were their only hope right now. They needed to return all three of these people to their families, whether or not they were legal residents of the United States they were part of the human race and had basic rights. They, at the very least, needed to find out what happened to them. In the best of circumstances, they would be able to do it all. Jan didn’t want to dwell on what the worst could be. She had never dwelled on it before and now was not a good time to start.

Ward had been listening in on her thoughts undetected from the other room for the last five minutes, and he could tell that Jan had finished digesting the information on the paper. Ward had also come to some conclusions himself that he was not prepared to share. He came back into the room quietly. At first no words passed between them, only random thoughts, feelings, and a few fears. Each knew the risks that were involved in this puzzle. If they were honest with each other, they would have to admit too that they were each more worried about the other than themselves. They stared at each other, still no words passing their lips, and now no thoughts being shared. There was nothing else to share; it was like old times, and the beginning of brand new times. There was no safety net on this one, no one for backup besides each other and any one in Ward’s network. Ward was the first to move and he walked into the kitchen. A moment later he came back out and handed her a cold cola from the fridge. He gave her a peck on the cheek and Jan took the cola and smiled back at the man she had loved from the time they had met. It was funny, but they were finally at peace with the decisions they had made and with that unspoken understanding. Jan broke the silence.

“Nice work,” she held the papers up. It broke the ice, and that is all she wanted to do.

“Still think this type of work is for you,” Ward walked over and sat down in the overstuffed chair looking out to the ocean. As he leaned back, he casually crossed his legs. He took a sip of cola, looked back smiling at Jan, and waited for the answer he knew was coming. She walked over to the corner of the couch closest to the chair and sat down, propping her legs up on his.

“Were we ever meant to live any other way?” She let his smile spread to her lips. Both sat and finished off their colas without finishing off the conversation. Staying in the moment they just looked toward each other, sharing nothing but raw feeling. Slowly the thoughts changed over to the problem at hand. They sat letting their plans formulate in their minds separately. Slowly their minds started to wander together again and in an easy exchange of information each knew everything the other had planned. Reading minds took energy, but they had found that reading each other never did. Still, they didn’t move for about half an hour and they didn’t talk. It wasn’t until Ward took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her that the verbal conversation began again. Jan read it. It contained one name, number, code and address on it. He watched her read the paper as Jan’s one eyebrow raised. She had a look of amusement on her face when she stopped reading and had digested the information.

She had always known that Ward must have had contacts within the departments, but this one was special, different. As the question began to formulate in her head, Ward answered it before she could even voice the question.

“He’s one of my contacts in Phoenix. He’s still in touch with the agency, and he will pass any information on to the appropriate departments without any questions if he knows you’re with me. He never believed that I went bad and still trusts my judgment. His information base is large enough as you can see, so he just doesn’t let the authorities know the information is from me,” Jan read the address again. It was an interesting cover. Not unexpected, but interesting. Memorizing the address, code name, and given name she handed the paper back to Ward and he continued the conversation, “You won’t have a phone. Nor can you count on keeping hold of any of the money probably, and Eddy may be busy with me. I also make it a policy to never stay with Eddy. He doesn’t need that kind of trouble. If you need to contact someone, he’s a trustworthy contact. He can make calls to any of the people you may need, and have the bad guys picked up. And, if you need, he will put you up for a few days. He will also know how to get a hold of me. Just give him my code name, and he is familiar with yours as well.”

“Does he light up the bat signal, send up flares,” Jan could hardly contain the teasing sound in her voice as the next set of words came out, “or is it your superhuman hearing that he relies on?”

“I prefer the red phone,” his mouth twitched up at the corners as he answered. He grabbed at her legs as she pulled them away playfully.


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Hidden Promises - Chapter 2 - Part 3

Ward had been watching Jan meditate. He often did this from the balcony as she sat on the rocks deep in thought. He found it relaxing just to watch her, and today was no different. He saw her laugh, felt her laugh, and knew that she had made the final leap into the present. She was whole. As he walked back into the apartment and over to the computer he knew that the last thing he ever wanted was to have her in danger. It truly scared him, but that wasn’t the woman he had married two years ago.

He sat down at the computer and started up the links to the departmental computers. He wanted to see if there was any information on coyote activity. He knew that Jan had already done some of this work, but he also knew that double checking information was a necessity for safety. As he sat and waited for the links to connect, he remembered the first time he had seen her.

He was about six years younger. He had just finished an unscheduled overseas assignment and was coming back to the United States. Both Ward and his partner had reentered the country in L.A. on separate planes, and as Phoenix was the closest office decided to go there for a while until all the reports were completed. Over the years he had spent with the PED, he had two partners. His current partner, Gregg, thought that Phoenix would be a good stop. That way they would be able to catch up with some old friends. Gregg would never have guessed what came next.

Walking into the office and over to claim an uncluttered desk was when he caught his first glimpse of her. She was hunched over a desk. It wasn’t as if he was a novice, but something about her was different and he hadn’t even seen her face. He could only see the back of her head and the brown hair loosely tied in a ponytail. It wasn’t reading her mind, he wasn’t even about to try that here, but there was a connection, an attraction, even without reading her.

Ward didn’t know if he had stared too long, or if his thoughts had slipped somehow into hers. He didn’t even know if she could read minds, but she turned to look at him and smiled. It was a smile that spoke volumes. Their eyes locked, his breath caught in his throat, and that was all the encouragement he needed.

From that moment on they had taken every chance they could to get to know each other, in all senses of the word. It started with coffee and lunches, and as the relationship progressed it led to late night desserts and more. It hadn’t been easy, they were usually on assignments in opposite directions, but there was something between them, something that neither one of them could escape from.

Later he had transferred to Phoenix to be closer to her, although that’s not what the official request said. His move had been a good fit. It meant a change of partners for Ward, and that had been a positive. Ward and his partner had not been getting along. It hadn’t been a good fit in the beginning and it was getting worse. Gregg and Ward had not been seeing eye to eye for a quite a while and the jobs had been not been going well. The department had approved Ward’s transfer papers and moved him, silently thankful that Gregg stayed in Virginia.

He had been reassigned a partner in Phoenix, and it seemed to have worked for a while. It also gave him a chance to work with another friend that he had gone through training with. He had been stationed in Phoenix as well. The most important thing to Ward was Jan. It was when he had been reassigned that he got to know her more intimately as well. They even worked a few jobs together.

The more they were together the more they wanted to be. It was not only the fact that they had achieved the ability to freely roam through each other’s minds, communicating without words; they had connected even deeper. They became inseparable any day or night that they could afford to be together, but they didn’t allow anyone to know about it. Later, when the department learned of their growing involvement, they had surprisingly encouraged it, for a while. But it wasn’t long before they began to frown as they saw their control slowly slipping away. They were forbidden to see each other, and they complied, at least until the department thought that it was over.

After that, Jan and Ward met in secret. They never again worked together. He finally left the department under unfavorable conditions and officially charged with criminal activity. Even that didn’t stop them. At first Jan thought that maybe the charges were true; but as they continued to meet in secret she learned without a doubt that he was not guilty. She never really knew just what had happened until a couple of months ago when it had been necessary for her to learn about it. They had married in secret and now lived together in secret away from the department that they had been entrapped in. Deep in his thoughts, he never heard her come in. He never heard her move soundlessly across the room behind him.

She was skilled and he was distracted by his thoughts. She had seen his thoughts, carefully picking at them so that he would not detect her. Slowly she came up behind him and when her hands touched him, tracing the muscles in his back, he turned off the computer and stood up in one fluid movement unalarmed and totally aware of her now. His arm reached out to grab her. She ducked just as quickly, slipping away into the bedroom knowing that he would follow. With the information he wanted from the computer pushed aside; he walked toward the bedroom, removing his shirt in the process.

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Hidden Promises - Chapter 2 - Part 2

Jan contemplated this question. When working with the PED department, they were given jobs and there was never a question of if they would do the job or not. Safety was a concern, but not a choice, at least not theirs. It was calculated and weighed in some office, in some place far away from the agents themselves and once all the pros and cons were settled, the assignments were handed out. Now on her own Jan had to decide if the job was really worth all the risks? Could they get the results they wanted? Could they stay away from the people they needed to?

Maybe Ward was used to this but Jan realized she wasn’t. The question took her off guard and she took her paper and walked away from the desk and over to the window. Looking back out to the ocean, she watched the waves play on the top of the water as she thought. This was what Ward was trying to get her to see, all this time. She hadn’t come around to it herself; and he finally had to place it in front of her. The pelicans and the seagulls seemed to be dancing on the wind. Ward sat down on the couch behind her, not trying to disturb her thoughts, but waiting for the question he knew would come.

“How do you decide?” Jan didn’t turn around.

“Babs, it’s different every time for every job and it’s never easy,” Ward didn’t continue. Jan didn’t turn around, but simply stared out into the ocean. Time stood still for a while as the sounds of the ocean seeped in.

“Can you get Eddy to try and find answers to these questions?”

“Maybe, the illegals tend to keep a lot of the information to themselves because of immigration. They shy away from most people; afraid anyone could and would turn them in. Since they seemed to have opened up this much to him, I’m sure he’ll get at least part of it as long as he can convince them they will get help with no strings. I’ll send out an e-mail to see what he can get, or already has,” Ward walked over and took hold of the paper.

“Good. As for the last question, I think I’ll take a little time and think about it. Don’t make any promises to Eddy,” Jan still hadn’t moved. She was not so worried about the dangers of the job, but the dangers from the agencies after them.

“Not as easy as you thought it would be?” Ward watched her move toward the door. He enjoyed watching her, but he didn’t enjoy seeing the struggle she was going through. He had been through it, the transition from agent to free agent; she just needed to take the last step and he couldn’t rush it. Until she made that decision he wouldn’t contact Eddy though.

“Maybe the choice is not as hard as I thought it would be,” and Jan walked out the door and up the small flight of stairs to the patio that was covered with red clay tile and adorned with all types of plant life to give it a cozy tropical feel.

On the way to the beach, Jan avoided thought. As she began to climb down the rocks, thoughts crept back into her head. Each step she took down the rock face seemed to add on another set of questions; all the questions seemed to have the same answer. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t faced death before; on some jobs that seemed to be the norm. It was more the fact that she now had the choice.

Taking the job Eddy had offered was not the question. Jan had to find an answer for the last question given to her. Her answer for Eddy had to be yes, and the dangers from the agencies would just have to be. Once they had the information then they could proceed how they saw fit. Jan was feeling something else and Ward was giving her room to experience it. It wasn’t a totally new feeling.

She had felt it before, just once, as she had looked at people on the street after she had escaped from the department for the last time. It was a feeling of total and utter freedom to do and say what she wanted. The idea that she could run away and be free of all the things and memories that held her to what her life had been. The easy way would be to continue on as normal, helping others, taking on assignments and solving everyone else’s problems. But no, Ward wouldn’t allow her to mindlessly follow that path unless she truly wanted it.

Feeling the warmth of the sun on her face she realized that this was truly the question that needed answering. Was this what she really wanted? The wind brushed her long brown hair off to the side as she sat down and closed her eyes. Taking deep breaths she fell into a profound meditative state, one that she hadn’t been able to achieve for what seemed like forever, and she let herself go.

When Ward felt her meditation begin he walked over to the phone and started to dial a familiar number. He couldn’t wait much longer to contact him, it wouldn’t be right. He listened to the ringing on the other end and then the familiar voice answered, “I’m here.”

“I need more info,” the conversation right now had to be direct; they would have time for small talk later.

“It doesn’t look pretty. Called a friend, says that the market for women has reopened big time, both here in Phoenix and in a few other cities in the Southwest,” Eddy took a breath. “Looks like these people may be involved.”

“That’s what I thought,” Ward walked toward the balcony again. He could see Jan out on the rock. He could feel her; knew how relaxed she was.

“Going to take it?” Eddy didn’t mince words, but Ward could tell that he wanted an answer.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” and with that he concentrated fully on Jan, “Jan wants it, but she has something to figure out yet. Same things we had to figure out. I’ll be in touch soon.”



The first thoughts that seeped in during meditation were centered on a time before she became involved with the PED. A faint smile brushed her lips as she remembered how excited she had been to get into college. She was going to study psychology. It had been hard to complete the first year, let alone four years. Money had been tight, but she had entered her fourth year at the university with a renewed feeling of success. She was sure she was going to make it. Her family had never been supportive of her choice and therefore they had never been a part of her college life. By the end of her third year, they had barely spoken to her.

At the end of her fourth year, when she was about to graduate with her bachelors, she was approached by a group of psychologists to join them in a study. At the time they had appeared to be psychologists. She had never heard of the group they worked for, but they offered her a job to do what she loved and had worked so hard to achieve. Assuring her that this work would become part of her masters, and later her doctorate, she signed on. The promise of conducting groundbreaking research, continuing her education, and make enough money to make this all happen had been too much to pass up.

It was with this group that all her experiences in her public and private life had started to change. Slowly, instead of being a college student on the edge, she had unknowingly started on a journey in which there was little hope of her returning to a normal life. Slowly her choices had been taken from her. In fact, it had been so slowly that she hadn’t even noticed at first. All contact with her family had ended over a two-year process and in that time she did earn her psychology masters, as promised, but it had cost her.

When they told her she had no social life, no family life, no life to speak of except with the group of scientists that had once so long ago recruited her. She had watched her ability to assess people’s feelings grow, but they promised more. With the carrot dangling in front of her, she took it, moved to Phoenix, and from that moment on, lived without a choice of her own. Completing over three different covert training camps she was well past trained and ready to move on. Over the next year Jan had learned the finer points of reading minds and working for the government as an operative. The more departmental work she did, the more she became the department. She thought it had been perfect, until she had met Ward.

Silence came over her mind as her mind returned her to the present. She sat just listening to herself breath for a while. The ocean lapping at memories that Jan had thought were long gone and buried. Slowly her thoughts drifted back to the first assignment and her first and only partner, Rob. They had developed an easy friendship, a father-daughter relationship, over the years. But the first assignment together wasn’t that way.

Rob was new to the department, but not to the world of espionage. He had been with another agency, and for reasons that later became clear to her, transferred to the PED. On their first assignment, or test, together all they had to do was gather information from an organized crime group in Phoenix. Pick up some easy information and return to the office to report in. It sounded less complicated than it became. In essence, what it had been was a test to see how well they worked together. After the introductions, power struggles and the planning session they began.

They had chosen to go to the casinos and just listen in, both with Rob’s ears and experience and her mind. Rob being a veteran of other departments was doubtful, to say the least, of listening to this ‘young girl who thought she could read minds’ as he had put it to their superiors. He had never said it to her, but she had heard it all the time from his thoughts. She had never shared that with him.

When they entered the casino they separated and began to work the room. Walking around the back of the casino and the near the private rooms, she got a lead. She went up to Rob and tried to encourage him to follow it with her. Without any other indicators, Rob refused to follow her lead in the casino. They argued, but they stayed together as a team even if it meant losing that lead. What they didn’t know until the debriefing back in the department was that it had been a set up, to test what would happen. They had passed. Once the information was confirmed, Rob began to change his mind about her abilities and their partnership began.

They were good memories, maybe not the ones she had planned as a child, but good memories. Jan slowly opened her eyes and understood why Ward had turned down the other jobs. Her future had to be her choice; it belonged to her and only her now. It was freedom, and even Ward wouldn’t take that away from her if she wanted to choose another path for her life. Choice was something she had not been allowed much of. It was something she needed to have and understand before she could continue with her life, the way she wanted it to be. ‘Shit,’ she thought. She hated it when he was right. Opening her eyes she turned and looked back up to the balcony. She saw him standing there again; and this time, there was a knowing smile on his face as he leaned, head tilted at a cocky angle looking down at her. He then turned and walked back into the apartment.

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Hidden Promises - Chapter 2 - Part 1

2

Once they were back in the two-bedroom apartment, Jan went toward the computer and Ward went toward the bedroom door. She needed to see the message; he needed to give her space. The apartment was small, but contained all they would ever need. In one corner of the room was a computer set up that rivaled the best seen in any governmental department and could be illegally connected to most. A small, but efficient kitchen led off from there. The windows of the living room opened like doors onto a balcony that overlooked the ocean and all the furniture in the room focused on the view out the windows and balcony door. Two bedrooms and a bathroom led off the other side of the living room. In the master bedroom, which was where Ward headed, the windows had a spectacular view of the ocean and beach. The on-suite bathroom was modern, the bedroom comfortable and large. The other bedroom and bath were just that, another bedroom and bath, not that they ever expected guests. Ward stopped just short of the master bedroom door, pausing to take a breath first, he then continued.

“I’m going to shower. I suggest that you read the e-mail from Eddy and then do your research. No one here is going to hand you a file that contains all the information you need to know,” he turned to look at her. “Do your research. Then decide if it is a job you want to take on. Remember there are things to consider.”

Jan watched as he went into the room and contemplated joining him in the shower for only a second. Glancing back toward the computer, she knew he was right; there was a lot to consider. Sitting down she started up the machine and waited. Pulling out paper and a pen from the drawer, Jan noted the date at the top of the first page. After the computer started she opened the e-mail that Eddy had sent. He seemed about as close to Ward as one could be without knowing who they really were, or as she now had to remember, had been. Only one other person, besides her, was as close to Ward as Eddy, only Eddy had no clue that they were mind readers.

After leaving the department one might think it would have seemed easier to let the secret slip. That was far from what the reality of it was. More than before the truth would need to be hidden in order to allow them any type of normalcy. Of all the people who had left the department, of which she now knew of only one other, each guarded their secret carefully.

Hey, it started out friendly enough, Have you fallen off the edge of the world? Haven’t heard from you for a while. Know you two might not be up for a problem yet, but I have one if you are interested. Seems like a few colleagues of mine are missing relatives (females) they sent money to, to have them brought to the states. Not all of it is on the up and up so they are afraid to go to the authorities to ask for help. Most likely wouldn’t get any help from anyone else anyway, only a free trip home to visit the family if you get what I mean. This doesn’t seem like the normal request. They have used chicken farmers before, so it isn’t like they don’t know what to expect, but something has gone really wrong. They say they aren’t even getting ransom requests and they haven’t been contacted by any of them at all. If you are inclined to help, send me a line, and it was signed Eddy.

Jan knew the slang that Eddy had used in his e-mail. Coyotes were the people who transported illegal aliens across the Mexican-American border. Often the people they transported were referred to as pollos, chickens, no more than a meal ticket for the coyotes. It was an underworld ignored by most of the world and nearly impossible to stop. Coyotes provided a way for desperate Mexicans, as well as other nationalities, to cross the border into a world that they thought would bring them endless opportunities. Often, the situations they encountered were in actuality no better than what they left. Most are able to make some extra cash and send it back to their families in Mexico, but the human price they pay is high.

Treated as substandard humans, with pay and living conditions that usually matched, only a few were really better off. Over the last few years the patrols had gotten better on the borders of California and Texas. Arizona was the only place to get across with any certainty. The fee to cross was high, being somewhere between a thousand and two thousand dollars to take a long treacherous walk across a very unforgiving desert. A higher fee would almost guarantee being transported across the desert in some kind of vehicle that had been modified to hide people, but not always.

Jan jotted down a couple of items on the paper and closed the e-mail. Two things she would need to know would be where and how they contacted the coyotes. Had they contacted a coyote in the same town or had it been many different places? She would need a full description of each missing family member, a picture if possible, and the names of those missing. She then began to access the files available to her from the Bureau of Immigration.

Ward’s computer set up was something to marvel. She had never had better access to files and information at the department. It seemed that no program locks or encryption codes could keep him out of the main frames of any computer. After Ward had unceremoniously, and without permission, left the Paranormal Enforcement Department, or ‘PED’ for short, he had managed to gain access to the data bases that the government had to offer. The ones that Ward had not gained immediate access to, he had worked on breaking the access codes; after all that was one of his talents the department had trained him for. Now Ward had a network of information that would rival the top officials in any US department; security clearances were not a problem for him, nor did he have to wait for permission anymore.

Jan looked at her notes and something made her skin crawl. If these people and others had disappeared, where did they go? Who did these coyotes meet up with after they crossed the border? These were not run of the mill coyotes. Jan wrote down a couple more questions. What types of things could these people be used for besides earning a few dollars for getting them across? Could it be drug related? Or was it worse? Was it slave labor they were selling these women for? Jan knew what else these women could possibly be sold for, none of which would be good dinner conversation. She wanted to know if any other governmental agencies were working on cases related to this. The last thing she wanted was to cross anybody else’s path. Jotting down information she read and might need, she continued to read the computer scene. She now had two groups of people she would need to keep track of during this investigation.

Jan knew that finding a coyote and getting across would not be a problem. The problem that existed was to find the right coyote and try and follow the path the missing people had taken. The more information Eddy could get to her, the better. Jan suddenly remembered that she was not the only one that could work the case. Depending on the information they received, how they proceeded in the job would have to wait.

Jan looked at her questions again and tried to think of any other information that she would need to know before starting the case. First, exactly who, and how old, were the people they were missing? Next, did they know which coyote the missing people were going to use to cross the border? And, at what place were they going to cross? How much was the fee and was it paid up front? For now, that was what she needed from Eddy. Hopefully, he would be able to get some of this information for them, without it there may not be a case.

Now the next set of questions was more for Ward. Was there anyone buying people from coyotes for unknown or known reasons, or is this a new and dangerous trend? Some of the other information would have to be collected as the case went on. Jan decided that she may need to make a list of agents and agencies that could be working any related cases as she read through the list. This may be important; it wouldn’t be good to run into anyone they didn’t want to see while they were looking for the missing people. After all, they wanted to be missing people themselves. As she scrolled down the computer screen over and over again, she noticed that there weren’t any names she recognized in any department working on any cases that would be related to coyotes, or illegal entry from Mexico. That would be a bonus for the both of them. That’s when she understood what Ward had been waiting on from her.

Ward looked over her shoulder and nodded his head as he read the questions on the paper that she had written. A small drop of water from his wet hair dropped onto her shoulder. There was still one question she was missing, and it was the one he needed her to contemplate. He picked up the pencil and added that one question, ‘Is it worth dying for?’

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Book Trailer! - No Easy Way Out

After the brutal murder of his first wife, he thought all he had left was his job in an alphabet agency as a spy. Then Jack got lucky when he found the courage to live again. He met Maria, a talented agent that he worked with and eventually he married her. But what he didn’t know could have killed him. Maria had made her way out of a troubled past. Together, they discovered what they had lost, but it wasn’t long before Jack recovered to find history repeating itself. He did the only thing that made sense; he sacrificed himself to save Maria. Jack is now a captive of a very dangerous man, and he doesn’t expect to see many more tomorrows. His only hope is that Maria can find their friends, friends that have their own set of problems. Jan and Ward nearly escaped death on their last assignment, and after years of being out of their government’s control, they have landed back in the middle of a mission no one was supposed to know. To get what he wanted they had to sign up to work with the only man they could trust, but could Turner come to grips with his demons and work along side the only woman he ever loved? Even Turner has his secrets, secrets that may compromise this mission and cost someone a life.

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Hidden Promises - Chapter 1 - Part 2

‘How did Eddy get the information?’ Jan thought she knew. Eddy worked construction as a sideline and would easily meet up with lots of illegal aliens that were hired to work there as well. ‘Works with some of the relatives. Overheard their worries while on the job. He started talking to a few of them. Not an easy task since he doesn’t quite fit the mold of someone they would trust. He slowly got the information over the last week or so. Seems as if he might have some good information,’ Ward knew that Eddy would never contact him unless he had enough information.

‘The leads could be pretty cold by now,’ there was no doubt in Jan’s mind about that; ‘It could make the job a bit more difficult. Not impossible, just difficult.’ She looked at the passing seagull and then spoke, “Are we going to do the job?”

“No,” and just as quickly as he said the word, his hand came up, effectively blocking the next words coming out of her mouth, as well as her thoughts. He had to play his cards right at this point. “To do the job properly your life would be put in too much danger. I can’t choose to do that to you. Plus you’re right, the leads are too cold,” now he put up the blocks in his mind to keep her out as well.

“Isn’t the first part for me to decide?” Jan turned onto her side balancing on her arm and looked at Ward, studying the line of his jaw. Jan already knew that Ward had closed off areas of his mind to her and she wanted to know why.

“Another time when there are no right answers, huh?” Ward closed his eyes. This was the hard part for Ward, but he kept his focus. He knew what he needed to do and he needed her to be sure of the path she was about to take.

‘What do you mean?’ She forced her thoughts back into his mind, ‘The only right answer is to find these people and put a couple of coyotes out of business for good. It may not stop what’s happening completely, but it just may slow it down for a while. It’s bad enough people are forced to cross the border in this way, but to make the journey even more dangerous, that’s why we need to stop it. And stop it now. Haven’t we always said we wanted to make a difference? Isn’t that one of the reasons why I’m here?’ Jan looked into Ward’s eyes as his head turned toward her, and made sure he was looking back into hers, neither one was new to the underground world and the risks. Without breaking her gaze, she needed to make sure he understood what she was about to say.

“If I had wanted to retire, I could have stayed at the department,” Jan knew those words had hit the soft spot she wanted, it wasn’t fair play, but then again he wasn’t playing fair either. There was another agenda here she hadn’t seen to begin with. She could feel Ward’s mind tighten around that thought and then she felt how he let it go along with his anger. She just stared at him. He needed to know that by not letting her work, he just might lose her.

The problem was that Ward did know it, and didn’t like it. He closed his eyes, he knew what was coming next, “And if you think I am going to spend my time raising a herd of children like Mama Garcia suggests, you need to think again. That’s not us. We were meant to change lives for the better. We were given the skills to help and you’re just going to throw that all away?” Jan sat up and crossed her legs, looking at Ward’s closed eyes.

Mama Garcia, as they both affectionately called her, was the wife of the beach property’s caretaker. Ward had once helped his family with a problem they had had with their son and a nasty group of people. Now, they took care of the house and apartment that Ward and Jan owned. Jan and Ward lived in the apartment, and the Garcias lived in the house and kept the secret.

Jan wasn’t sure what bothered her most. Was it the fact that Ward might think he was in control of her life, or that someone needed to control it? Was it that he just lay there hoping the whole conversation would be washed out to sea? Or was it that there was still something else, something he wasn’t letting her in on.

“Let’s go,” Ward’s voice was flat, lifeless. He swiftly got to his feet and started down the beach again at a quick pace. He knew she wasn’t there yet. His mind was filled with thoughts and emotions, all of which Jan was picking up on until she got a message, ‘Stay out,’ plain and simple, and that was the only hint she needed. He was focusing on a thought that she was not welcome to see. She followed Ward back to the hideaway at the steady pace he set and she let him keep his thoughts to himself for now. Jan worried that this may signal a change in the relationship between them, a change that she had been warned about by an old and dear friend.

Rob, her former partner in the department once told her that Ward would never be happy with any one thing, especially a relationship, for long term. As the years passed, Rob had become more of a father figure, wanting what was best for her. At first it had been her happiness, later, he got protective about the events and sincerity in her relationship. He had known about them, but he hadn’t known about the marriage.

The Ward she had come to know and love, though, had never showed tendencies that would even lead her to believe he was anything but trustworthy and true. In days of old he would have been called a gentleman, but that was not a persona he had shown to anyone but her. Even after he left the department as a wanted man, he kept in contact with her, couldn’t leave her. Each time they had met, it had been dangerous for him. In fact, he had begged her many times to come and join him, to work with him, to make her own choices.

Jan knew they worked well together, played well together, loved well together and that was a bonus. Jan knew that leaving the department and working with Ward was a big step, for both of them. In the department they had been told what case they were to work on and who they worked with. Would they be able to transition into this equal partnership, and share the risk? Now, was the first time that he had ever given Jan cause to worry about whether he was ready for this change as well. Jan was deep in these thoughts when she felt his thought drift onto the edge of her mind.

‘If you want the job, we’ll do it, but,’ he couldn’t bring himself to say it, only through his thoughts could he tell her. Even with the ‘but’ it was enough for Jan. Ward had spent the time on the way home contemplating just how he thought the rest of their lives would be now that the future, a future, had finally presented itself to them. It was hard. She was right; he really did enjoy working as a free agent, and the time he had taken off from it had been hard. He had missed the work. He had also missed working with her, even though he had enjoyed the time off with her. He smiled as he thought about the days, and the nights. Ward also knew there were things he could have done, maybe even should have done. Now that she knew the jobs were coming in, he was also sure, really sure, she wanted to work on them with him. They could now become a team. He had wanted this so much and now it was right in front of him, just one last step.

There were lots of ways to lose someone. He knew that more than any one else. One sure way was to stifle them. If he stifled her, he would lose her and not just for a while, but forever. He had thought about some of the jobs he had done after leaving the department. How would she have felt all those times if she had known what he had been up to? He didn’t want to think about that. As he approached the steps she jumped in front of him, blocking his way.

“Do you mean it? I don’t want to do a job, any job, halfway,” Jan stood there and waited for his answer. Ward could see the spark of life in her eyes, the smile that just barely touched the corner of her lips, but what he really saw was the woman he had fallen in love with.

“Yes,” although he couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes after he said it. There was the last bit of realization she had to reach yet. He had gone through it, now it was her turn.

“Are you okay with this?” she could tell that something was bothering him. His eyes avoided hers, his muscles were taut and his face expressionless.

“About as okay as I will ever be with it. But you’re right,” he moved around her and went up the steps, “We’ve always thrived on this type of work, and it is what we do best, and we’ll do it together,” there, it was done. She still had one last step, and Ward would have to let her get there on her own. Soon.

Jan knew this was the partnership he had always promised and what she had given up everything for, but there was still something he wasn’t telling her. That was bothersome. When would they get to that open and honest communication? They couldn’t work together if he wasn’t willing to share. People got killed that way. She took a deep breath, and the sense of calm that had escaped her for days began to creep in as she carefully followed him up the damp stairs. Jan remembered the mantra that Ward had needed and repeated as she had recovered, patience, but just how much longer could they wait?

Even as Jan and Ward walked back up the steps into what they called their safe place they knew that Mexico was not a place everyone would call safe. For many, braving the dangerous and illegal crossing into the states and leaving Mexico was their only hope. It would give them a chance at life, for them and their family. Over the last few years the borders in each state had been reinforced, all except for one, Arizona. The desert was a harsh and brutal place, even in spring. Daytime temperatures could reach into the nineties and nighttime temperatures back into the fifties. Without protection it wasn’t the place to be, boiling and then freezing. Most knew this but with the stronger border enforcements on the neighboring states, it left them very little choice of where there were going to try and cross. Arizona was still the best place to make it across the border and not get caught.

Things were changing though and that meant using coyotes, or smugglers, to increase the chances of success to get across safely. Most coyotes were open about what they did here in Mexico and they knew the type of people to look for. Prowling the bus stations they could almost be assured of a couple of fares.

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Hidden Promises - Chapter 1 - Part 2

Jan ran along beside Ward and started to wonder if they would ever work again. She questioned if he could make the jump from protecting her, back into working with her. Jan had not tried to discover how any of his jobs were presented to him. She was pretty sure that his network of friends, or associates, was fairly vast. She was also quite sure that only important jobs were presented to him. These were people in great need, with no one else to turn to, but he had chosen to stay hidden away for a lot longer than he had ever done before all because of her.

All of a sudden Jan could feel a gentle tug at her thoughts and knew that Ward had started to look in on what she was thinking. She didn’t try to hide her thoughts. She watched his pace increase as he realized, from her thoughts, what was coming next. She had a bunch of questions; ones he didn’t want to answer, ones he wasn’t going to answer yet. Jan kept up pace with him as he started to pull away from her. They ran, slowly increasing the pace for another five minutes, before Jan finally said something.

“You can’t run away from this, from me,” Jan was keeping up with him and not even winded yet.

“I’m not running away from anything,” Ward calmly stated as he continued to increase the pace.

“I know you read my mind, saw my questions,” Jan took a breath, “We need to talk.”

“No good conversation ever started with those words,” and Ward increased his pace to a full run leaving her behind.

“You can fly, but not that high Eagle,” she yelled from behind. Eagle had been his code name from the department. She followed in short order, this time mad as hell.

With one burst of speed, she caught up with him and leapt out tackling him from behind. They rolled a couple times on the beach then came to an abrupt stop. Jan was on top, effectively pinning him down, his hands above his head. Ward stared into her eyes for a moment about to say something, and then said nothing. Jan stared intently into his eyes.

“We need to talk,” Jan stated again, with a firm hold on Ward.

“So I would guess,” Ward lay motionless on the sand, not trying to get up, yet every muscle tense, readied.

“When was the last time you meditated?” Jan stayed on top.

“A few days ago, why?” Ward was surprised by this first question but stayed nonchalant.

“For the last week I haven’t been able to meditate even though I have tried,” she looked into his eyes, “Want to tell me why?”

“I have a feeling I won’t have to. You’re going to tell me,” he said with a smug look on his face.

“Alright. You keep turning down jobs, and it’s because of me,” Jan relaxed her right arm for a second. That was all it took. Taking advantage of that split second, Ward was on top of Jan before she had time to stop him.

“You’re arrogant, you’re right, and you’re gorgeous when you’re mad. I have turned down jobs, but that was when we were both still recovering,” Ward shifted on top of her to get a better hold. Jan knew part of what he said was true, but not all. He had just got a job in the other day that was weighing heavy on his mind, and she had the feeling he was about to turn it down as well.

“Have you forgotten? I can read your mind just as easily. What about the job you’ve just gotten in?” Ward’s face hardened only for a split second before softening again. If Jan had not been watching carefully she would have missed it. His grip relaxed, but Jan didn’t take advantage of it.

“How did you know about that?” he asked calmly, as his mind betrayed the conflict within.

“It’s been on your mind a lot lately, and I just happened to pick up on it a few days ago as it floated through the air. What’s it about?” Her voice softened to encourage him to open up to her, the way they used to before she nearly died.

He had known they needed to set these boundaries if they were ever going to work together. Before now, whenever they had worked together it had been by orders, never by choice. Ward looked into her eyes, and then let his anger sail away on the next wave that traveled back out to the ocean. Ward rolled off her and lay quietly beside her on the warm sand of the beach. They stared up at the blue sky and wispy clouds.

Jan wasn’t going to rush him. If he told her now, or in twenty minutes, it wouldn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that he told her. This step would bring them even closer and she could tell that as she lay quietly beside him.

‘Eddy e-mailed the other day,’ he chose to let her read his thoughts so that if anyone was around they couldn’t be overheard. ‘Thought I might be interested in this job since no one else is doing anything about it. Seems like there are a group of coyotes that have found a new way of increasing their profits. After taking their fee to get the people across, these coyotes just make these people disappear, all of them women, and no one knows where they are going. Usually, in the past, the relatives would get ransom notes while they are held in a drop house, but they aren’t getting any of those from the coyotes either. This is what has made some people nervous. There are usually bunches of people that go missing. Not too unusual as the people who crossover illegally would rather not be found by immigration.

‘The underground network usually connects the families sooner or later, but a few of the relatives that have talked with Eddy say that they haven’t heard from them since before they crossed the border. They are sure something has gone horribly wrong. They are hoping someone can find their family members that are missing, but it is difficult, as they have no one they can turn to for help. They can’t go to the officials for fear of getting sent back and then they would be in an even worse situation than they are now. This group of illegals are pretty scared as a whole and even more so with what has happened,’ now Jan knew why they weren’t meditating. It was a pretty heavy case to say no to. It would mean saying no not just to this group, but also to Eddy. Not something that Ward would do.

Hidden Promises - Chapter 1 - Part 1

Just a side note: I have had a very busy few weeks with very unexpected happenings so I am sorry this is so late in getting up.

1

        

She sat on a rocky outcrop out in the mist of the ocean waves and waited. Maybe that wasn’t the right word. It was the third day that week she had sat in the same place, at the same time, and was unable to meditate. Her ability to meditate had once saved her. The warmth of the sun on her face, the mist from the waves that cooled her and the steady beat of the waves on the rocks should have seduced her into a deep meditative state, but she felt nothing.

This had become her favorite spot over the last six months, but not anymore, and it was way past frustrating. She looked for a loose rock or shell to throw. Not seeing anything, she realized that she must have pitched them all off earlier this week. Turning, she looked back up the cliff and into the windows of the apartment that she shared with Ward. Low and behold there he was, on the balcony, and she realized that the source of her current problems originated with him. He didn’t look down as Jan stared up at him, and he didn’t smile. She couldn’t quite read his mind, but she was sure he was reading hers. His range was greater.

‘Damn you,’ she thought as she unfolded her legs and slid down into the cool waves. Determinedly, she walked back through the surf, the waves pushing her back to shore. Jan marched towards the steps. It had been more than five months now since they had been on an assignment, any assignment. In fact, the last assignment they had worked on had freed her from the department that Ward had left over two years before. Leaving the department wasn’t the plan, but as the events unfolded she saw an unfavorable pattern playing out before her.

It was that bureaucracy she learned she couldn’t live with any more. Ward, her husband and true champion, had been caught in the department’s web. Even though he had warned her, she allowed herself to become entangled in it as well. They both ended up leaving the department for the same reasons. She was no longer a mindless peon following orders ready to believe what they told her. The last assignment had almost cost both of them their lives.

The Paranormal Enforcement Department, or ‘PED’ for short, had identified and cultivated them both as mind readers in college. It had started out as an experiment by the CIA in the sixties, long before they were commissioned. Although all experiments had supposedly been stopped for lack of results, they hadn’t. The PED had gone underground and taken on a life of its own. They were sure the department would go on for a long time.

The sad thing was that by joining the PED, they literally had given up their life, all aspects of it. Agents inside the department were removed from regular society, forever belonging to the department. After unofficially leaving, Jan and Ward could never go back to who they were, or live normally without the department looking at them like human guinea pigs. Until six months ago, Ward had been the only agent to live outside of their control. Instead, Ward and Jan had chosen to live life as hunted people. Their only crime was in wanting a life.

Now, fully recovered from the injuries that assignment had brought both of them, Jan knew she was ready, itching, to get back to work, and back into life. Although Ward had not talked about it to her, she knew that he had turned down three assignments over the last few months. Once Ward had left the department, he had set up shop for himself. Picking his assignments based on need and not always on payment. Sometimes they paid him; sometimes the results were pay enough. What she found out was that most of the time he took no pay.

Somewhere out there, there were three people that wouldn’t get his help because he had said no, because of her. The people he chose to help sometimes existed only on the edge of society, with no other advocate to come to their aide; he was their last hope, their only hope. This was the part of the career change that intrigued Jan and finally drew her in.

She walked up the beach deep in thought. Jan knew that Ward had received another request three days ago. She wasn’t sure, but from what she had picked incidentally from his thoughts, she knew the request had come from Eddy and he hadn’t replied. Putting all the pieces together, it was no wonder that she could no longer meditate, and she wondered if he could.

Each time Jan had tried all she could see were faceless people still looking for someone to help, and what had they been doing the last few months? They sat here, hidden, doing nothing, safe from the world. Jan’s thoughts twisted around to Ward, and what she hadn’t been able to read. Was he afraid to lose her? Six months ago he almost had. What he needed to remember was that she had almost lost him as well. And how many other times had she nearly lost him without even knowing it? The thoughts darted through her mind, as she got closer to the cement stairs that wound their way up the cliff’s side to their patio. What Jan needed to explain to Ward, was that he was at risk of losing her again, but this time from stifling her. She needed to do what she did best, and so did he.

Focused and intent on what she was about to do, she had almost gotten back to the steps when she heard Ward move through the foliage. Stopping, she read his mind, ‘Running,’ and knew what was coming next. Jan looked at the gap in the brush just as Ward walked through. Ward was about six feet tall, toned, proportionally perfect, and nicely muscled. Jan never got tired of looking at him, he was easy on the eyes, and with the time they had spent in Mexico, at their beach hideaway, he had become evenly bronzed as well. It wasn’t his body she was tired of skirmishing with it was his mind.

He walked over to her and gently kissed her on the cheek. He knew there was a problem, and when she didn’t reciprocate he read just enough of her thoughts to see what was coming next. He also read enough to avoid it.

‘Ready to go for a run?’ He silently asked as he completely avoided the issue. He had read that she had not meditated for the past week and the reasons why she suspected she hadn’t. He had also not meditated for the last week, and his conscious was also bothering him, for the very same reasons. He had read everything in her mind and she didn’t know how close she really was to the truth. Soon she would though. Ward knew he couldn’t stray from his plan, no matter how much he wanted to. He had to be sure, very sure, before they took the next step. Ward left the subject alone for long enough, afraid that he would have to deal with the consequences of his actions, his conscious, as well as hers. It hadn’t been the right time until now.

“Okay,” and that was all Jan had to say. They went off down the beach at a steady pace for about ten minutes. The talent Jan and Ward shared, one that had been developed, used and abused by the government, was strangely not in use.

Jan and Ward had been empathetically sensitive all their lives. The government had harvested them, as well as others, in college to train them to become exceptional mind readers. Some had made it, others had not. Jan and Ward were now sure that the ones who had not made it into the department might have been the lucky ones.

Now, the tables were turned. They were the ones who were on the run from the government and society. They could live in neither and were needed in both. Today they ran for exercise and away from the people they had once been. And on this run, unlike the others they had taken on many other days, they chose not to share words or thoughts. They were avoiding the obvious, for the last five or so months they had been on the run from everything and everyone, even themselves. They couldn’t run from themselves much longer.