Chapter 16

Felicity sat on the edge of the bed and watched Jac pace. She would be pacing with her if the room had been big enough for the two of them to move around at once. They were, once again waiting. She was so tired of waiting.

“I can’t believe what an idiot that guy behind the desk is.” She stopped and huffed out a breath. “I’ve never wanted to smack someone so much in my life.”

Felicity nodded. “I can’t believe we missed them by a day.” She put her hand to her chest. “When he said an older couple with a baby and boy had checked out yesterday, I was ready to run out the door to follow.”

Jac sighed. “I know.” She scowled. “I don’t see what the big deal was to tell us the room they were in. I mean, the vibrations wouldn’t even be a day old. I could probably count the freckles on Damian’s face with clarity.”

Felicity stood up and looked at the door. “I hope the cleaning staff is as cooperative as the last few have been.” She walked towards the door. “I’m standing outside; I can’t just sit here any longer.”

Jac silently followed her to the door and stepped out beside her. They both looked one way, then the other hoping to see the men.

“Why did we get dumped in the room again?”

Jac shrugged. “That was so I could rest. And, if Reid strangled anyone not cooperating I wouldn’t pick up the violent feelings.”

Felicity looked at her and quirked her eyebrows up. “Maybe I should move away, I’m close to wanting to strangle anyone that doesn’t co-operate.”

They both turned to watch Brent and Reid striding towards them quickly. They knew something.

Reid stopped right in front of Jac. “We got the key.” His eyes roamed her face. “Can you do this again so soon?”

Jac put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Try to stop me.” She turned towards Felicity.

Felicity nodded. “Just go. I’ll boil the kettle. Go.” She clasped her hands in anticipation and watched Reid turn quickly. She gave Brent and doubtful look. “You should go in case they need you.”

He nodded and jogged to catch up.

Felicity stood there for a moment and looked in the direction they had gone. Turning she went back into the room as she silently prayed Jac would see what they needed.

After twenty-five minutes she was ready to go find them. Once again, you’re standing here because you forgot to ask which room they would be in. She stood in front of the window for five more minutes, watching. Not able to stand still a moment longer, she headed out the door and walked as far as the corner she had seen them go around. She didn’t see them. What could be taking this long? After having seen how quickly Jac could sense things, she didn’t understand what could take this long. She should reheat the kettle again.

Felicity was just turning around when she heard Jac’s voice. Holding her breath, she waited for them to come into view. Brent was walking with his hands in his pockets and head down, which meant he was thinking. What had they found out? Jac was frowning, and apparently was feeling okay as Reid wasn’t supporting her in any way. She glanced at Reid, he was scowling and had that determined look he sometimes got.

Brent stopped when they reached her, but the other two continued on to the room. “Nothing.”

Felicity turned and watched them go into the room. “What do you mean nothing? They had to be here for several days … Damian was so sick.”

Brent nodded and started for the door. “I know.”

Stepping into the room, Felicity looked at Jac. “There was nothing?”

Jac dropped down onto the couch before answering her. “Little traces, but nothing solid. I don’t understand how they could be there that long and not touch anything long enough to leave a vibration.”

Felicity sat on the edge of her bed. “Maybe the woman is more cautious, that could be the reason.”

Jac shrugged. “Maybe.” She sighed. “I picked up little bits from Damian, but nothing I could really grab onto.”

Reid went over and looked out the window. “So, now we…”

Brent dropped down beside Jac as his phone rang, he answered it quickly. “Hello?” He nodded and pulled out his notebook. “Okay Alec, what did you get?” He nodded a few times as he wrote then stopped and sat back. “Like what?” He waved a hand a Reid who was looking impatient to know what was going on. “What are we allowed to do?” He frowned. “That’s it?” Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face. “No, nothing we can follow yet.” He nodded again. “Yes, we will. I’ll call you first.”

He flipped the phone closed and looked at the notepad. Groaning he flipped it closed and then looked to Reid. “Alec found a private number that we’re pretty sure belongs to our doctor.” Reid stood up. “She got an address too, not too far from here.” Reid nodded and looked like he was going to go out the door. “But…” Reid turned and gave him a glare. “We aren’t allowed to do more than gather information and photos… for now. That task force Alec’s been talking to is ready to head this way just as soon as we confirm it’s the same doctor.” Brent looked at Felicity, who looked confused. “We have to watch how we go about this, so no one can get off on a technicality.”

Felicity frowned. “You mean they could get away with it.”

Brent shrugged as he got up to get the map of the town. “Close enough, if we’re not careful how we proceed.”

Reid stood there clenching his jaw. “How big is this ring and how long has it been going on?”

Brent pulled out the page he’d been looking for. “From the sounds of it for a few years and it’s pretty big to have a task force working around the clock on it that long.”

Reid blew out a breath. “Well let’s go get the confirmation they need.” He went over and dropped a kiss on Jacinda’s lips and straightened up. “You ladies see if you can work up some more detailed descriptions of the men and woman and we’ll be sitting at the doctor’s house trying to get some shots of him.”

Jac sighed then nodded. “Okay, let us know what’s happening.”

Brent winked at Felicity and went out the door just behind Reid.

Felicity watched them go and then turned to look at Jac. “And once again we get to sit here.”

“Yeah.” Jac got up and wandered to the dresser they were using as a desk this time. “Have you tried looking for some sort of program to sketch things out for you?”

Felicity got up and pulled the chair over to the desk. “They have programs like that?”

Jacinda grinned at her. “They have programs for everything and anything, where have you been?”

Felicity laughed. “Obviously, working too hard.” Opening the search window, she paused. “What do I look for?”

Jac sat on the end of the bed and leaned closer. “Uh, let’s try drawing.”

Both just looked at the screen when over twenty-one million hits came up.

Felicity sighed. “Maybe we should be more specific.”

Jac nodded. “Yeah.” She watched her for a few minutes narrowing down the search words. “So, when you see others in your visions do you end up retaining part of their emotions afterward?”

Felicity opened a few from the list in new windows to look at them. “Sometimes, the strongest ones are hard to shake.”

Jac leaned back on her hands. “Yeah, I get that too.” She smiled into the mirror at the other woman. “Do you know how weird this is? To be able to talk to someone about this, I mean I talk to Sandy—but you, you’ve been there and know like no one else I’ve ever talked to.”

Felicity smiled at Jac in the mirror. “I know. It’s wonderful.” She looked back down at the pages opened and clicked back to try a few more. “I’ve decided to stay, maybe find a nicer house and set down some roots.” She gave her a hesitant look at the reflection. “I’ve never thought I’d ever be able to do that … and if it weren’t for trying to find Damian, I would probably be so excited no one would be able to contain me right now.”

Jac wished she could hug her, and she rarely wished she could touch others. “I’m so glad, maybe you can find one in my neighborhood it’s so great there.”

Felicity nodded. “Yes, it seemed…” She clicked another link. “Oh, I think this one might be close to what we’re looking for.”

“Well then, let’s download it and see if we can give Barbie guy a face.”

Jac lost count of how many unsuccessful attempts they made with the program. “The last one kind of looked like an elf man.”

Felicity threw her hands up and giggled. “Obviously when this program boasted anyone could draw anything … it wasn’t referring to us.” She stood up and waved at the computer. “Your turn.” Going over she rummaged through the bag and pulled out her container of trail mix. She went over to the dresser and set it down. Taking a few pieces out she popped them into her mouth and walked over to the window. “How annoyed will they get if we call for an update.”

Jac squinted at the screen as she tried to control the mouse to do what she wanted. “Oh, fairly annoyed; at least Reid will.” She grimaced at the result on the screen and cleared it to try again. “We’ll give them another hour, and then start bugging them.”

***

Reid slumped further down into the seat. “Have I mentioned I hate stakeouts? Could any part of our job description be any more useless than this?”

Brent chuckled. “Having been on more than a few with you, I think you’ve mentioned it … multiple times.”

“Have you seen any sort of movement inside?”

Brent scanned all the windows in the front of the house. “Nope.” He shrugged. “Maybe he’s not up yet, it’s still considered early to most.”

Reid snorted. “I can’t remember the last time I was allowed to sleep until past ten in the morning.”

Brent sighed and slid down in the seat to rest his head against the back. “Nope, me either.” He scanned the neighborhood again slowly. “Let’s hope the girls are having a more interesting time than we are.”

Jac sat back and studied the screen. This was the best attempt so far. “Felicity, do you remember which button we clicked to change the shading?” She held the mouse over a few to see what they said. “I don’t want to click the wrong thing again and have to start all over…” When she didn’t answer she turned to look and see what Felicity was doing. She was sitting on the couch leaning forward. What was she doing? Jac watched her for a few more seconds then realized her eyes had the glassy look again. Oh. Getting up she went over and leaned down and looked at her face. It’s like she’s not even in there. She bit her lip and looked around the room as if someone was there watching her. Reid’s going to get so mad.

Quickly she sat beside Felicity and held her hand a few inches over her arm. What could it hurt, maybe nothing would happen. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and lowered her hand slowly until it touched Felicity’s arm. She sucked in a breath when things flew into her head as if it were a video on fast forward. Clenching her jaw, she focused on slowing things down and picking something out of all the images. Felicity hadn’t moved, so it couldn’t be affecting her in any way.

***

“I’m starving,” Reid said in a flat tone.

Brent looked at his watch and then back to the house. “It’s way past lunchtime. I don’t think he’s even here. We’ve seen no sign of anyone so far.”

Reid straightened up and opened the door. “I’m going to go ring the damn doorbell, and have the camera ready.”

Brent gave his head a shake. “And why didn’t we try this sooner?”

Reid snorted as he got out of the car. “We were trying to follow instructions.” He got out of the car and quickly went across the street. Running up the steps he went to the door and pushed the lit-up button. Glancing over his shoulder to see where the car was positioned, he stepped further to the right so Brent would get a shot of anyone that opened the door. He waited. A few minutes later he pushed it again and listened for movement inside. Nothing. They’d been sitting here watching an empty house all this time. Turning he quickly headed back to the car.

“Plan C,” he said as he climbed in.

Brent raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”

Reid started the car. “I have no idea yet.”

Felicity opened her eyes and then squeezed them shut tightly. Her head was vibrating with pain. What happened? She squinted and tried to turn her head to look around. The movements made her feel dizzy. Moving painstakingly slow she looked the other way and saw Jac hunched over clenching her stomach beside her. “You … touched me …” She had to whisper it because any word made her nerves jump which hurt her head even more.

“Sick.” Jac gasped.

Clutching her head Felicity stood up and tried to walk toward the bathroom. She wanted to scream out from the pain shooting through her skull. Her legs weren’t going to let her go any further. Leaning over she rested on the dresser and slid a hand down it and felt around for the small garbage can that was at the end of it. Her hand finally touched it. “Hang on,” she panted and stumbled back towards the couch. She was so happy this room was horribly small now.

Dropping down at the end of the couch she held out the garbage can. “Here.”

Jac lurched for it and dropped onto her side with her face off the edge of the couch over top of the can. Wrapping her arm around her ribs she lowered the can to sit in front of her in case she needed it. “You okay?”

“No,” Felicity whispered. “You?”

Jac breathed in slowly. “No.” She reached behind her and pulled one of the small cushions around and more or less dropped it beside Felicity. “Lay down.”

Felicity dragged the pillow closer and tipped over to lie on the cushion so she was facing the couch and could see Jac. “Just rest for a few.” She moaned when another pain shot through her head. “I’ll get tea soon.”

“Kay.” Jac closed her eyes and tried to breathe through nausea pouring over her.

Reid opened the door and then stopped so quickly that Brent walked into his back. “Jacinda?” He went over to the couch. “Felicity?” The blonde woman lying on the floor moved her hand over her eyes and then squinted through her fingers at him.

Felicity was never happier to see someone. She felt Brent kneeling beside her.

“Can I lift you to the bed?” He asked near her ear quietly.

“Please,” she gasped.

Brent picked her up slowly and pulled her gently into his chest and then stood and carefully took her over to the bed. She was wincing and squeezing her head. He put her down and placed a hand on her forehead. “What can I get you?”

“Cloth … pills from purse.”

He nodded and went into the bathroom to wet a facecloth. Coming back out he looked at Reid as he plugged in the kettle. “What happened?”

Reid shook his hand. “I don’t know.”

“Vision…” Felicity tried to talk loud enough that they would hear her. “Touched me … during…”

Both men looked at each other then at Jac and finally back to Felicity. “Shit,” Brent muttered and grabbed Felicity’s purse.

“Have to wake her, Reid.” She panted as she clenched her head between her hands. “Saw… a lot …”

Brent placed the cool cloth on her forehead and then opened her purse. He held it as wide as he could until he saw the pill bottle. Reaching in, he pulled it out. “Is there only one kind of medication in your purse honey?” He didn’t want to give her the wrong thing.

“Yes.”

“Okay, let me grab you some water.”

Reid was kneeling beside the couch waving the foul-smelling salts under Jac’s nose. “Come on Jacinda, you have to wake up and drink some tea baby.” She moaned and her eyelids fluttered.

Opening her eyes, she took a few deep breaths and glanced toward Felicity a few feet away on the bed. “Is Felicity okay?”

Reid nodded. “Brent’s taking care of her.” He got up and went to the kettle as it boiled. “As soon as my heart slows down, baby, I’m going to be so mad at you.”

Jac smiled through the dizziness. “But you love me,” she whispered.

He grinned as he made the tea. “I do, and it’s a good thing for you I do.” He blew on the cup as he carried it over to her. “You’ve got to stop doing this to yourself; I can’t take much more of it.”

“Sorry.” She tried not to smell the liquid as he held it for her to sip. “I had to see if I could see what Felicity was …” She breathed in slowly. “I had to try.”

“I know. I want to find them too.”

Brent lowered Felicity back against the pillow and set the glass on the table. “Can I do anything else?”

She closed her eyes. “Give me five.” She took slow breaths. “These pills annihilate any pain quickly.”

Felicity turned her head slowly and looked at Jac; she was now propped up on the couch sipping her tea. “We better get started on this while I still remember.” Jac nodded slowly.

Brent picked up her notebook and brought it over to her. “Do you want me to write for you?”

“No, I think I can manage. Thanks.” She let out a slow breath and closed her eyes. Turning her whole body on the bed so she could still support her head she looked at Jacinda again. “I’m not sure what happened for you, even though I didn’t realize you touched me—things suddenly became …”

“Brilliant?” Jac whispered. “I’ve never seen things so bright or clear.”

Felicity nodded carefully. “Yes. One moment I’m seeing things, as I usually do … clear enough but not entirely in focus, and then the next it was like I was in the room.”

Reid sat on the arm of the couch beside Jacinda. “What did you see?”

Felicity closed her eyes. “Just give me a minute here; it’s very hard to focus right now.” She went back to the vision; holding the pen ready in case she needed to write quickly. When it started to come back to her, she held the pen and notebook out to Brent without opening her eyes. He took it. “Damian was talking to the baby, they both seemed…”

“Content,” Jac said quietly.

“I was focusing on him … I’m not sure…” She looked at Jac for help.

“The older woman came in carrying bags, shopping bags.” Jac closed her eyes and concentrated for a minute.

“Damian looked up at the man, the one with the goatee.” Felicity’s eyes flew open. “He was wearing gloves … uh, like doctors latex gloves…”

“That’s why I couldn’t pick up anything,” Jac said more to herself than anyone.

Reid looked at Brent and waited until he stopped writing. “They know we’re following?”

Brent shrugged. “Maybe.” He looked back at Felicity. “Keep going, before one of you passes out or forget.”

She nodded and took a few deep breaths while staring at the wall. “I could almost make out the name on the bags she carried.” Without opening her eyes, she spoke to Jacinda. “Did you see the logo on the bags?”

“Hmm, a white bag … the logo was a burgundy shade. I’ve seen it before.” She clenched her jaw when another muscle spasm rocked through her stomach. “Claries maybe.”

“Yes.” Felicity smiled. “I love that store, that’s what it was.” Massaging her temples, she dropped her head and tried to relax the muscles in her more. “She was packing the clothes from the bag into two little cases …” Lifting her head quickly she winced from the sudden movement and looked at Jac. “The children, they were all cleaned up … she was packing.”

Jac’s eyes widened. “They were getting ready to move again.” Sitting up further she looked at Reid. “We have to find them, Reid.”

“What did you see of where they were … we need a direction, Jacinda.”

“I know.” She looked over at Felicity, whose expression was saying what she felt as well; they needed to find more. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let her mind relax so she could remember.

Felicity watched Jac for a moment, then closed her eyes and tried to bring the images back from her memory.

“The walls are really colorful…” Jac said quietly.

Felicity nodded without opening her eyes. “Furniture too, like a theme of some sort … but what?”

Reid glanced at Brent to make sure he was writing. He stopped and glanced up at him. Neither wanted to speak and interrupt the women again.

“Alice in wonderland?” Jac asked hesitantly.

Felicity almost opened her eyes from the excitement. “That’s it!” Letting out another slow breath. “What else?” She brought back the images and tried to play through them as she had seen them. “Did you notice the mirror?”

Jac nodded thoughtfully. The mirror was in the middle of a huge playing card frame; ace of clubs. “It’s reflecting something outside…”

“Yes,” Felicity whispered and sat up; still keeping her eyes closed. “A sign?”

“It’s backward… I need a pen.”

Reid scrambled quickly to the dresser and grabbed a pen and notebook; flipping it open to a blank page he hurried back to Jacinda. He put the pen into her opened hand and guided it to the notebook he held.

Brent remained still on the bed, trying to see what she was putting on the paper. He didn’t want to get up in case Felicity said more to write down.

“Got it … keep going,” Reid said quietly.

Jac leaned back again. “It starts to fade now.” She opened her eyes and watched Felicity to see if she saw more.

Felicity tried to reach further, but without having seen it the first time there was nothing she could do. She opened her eyes slowly and frowned at Brent. “That was all.”

Jac slid down on the couch again. “I feel awful.”

Felicity nodded. “I suspect you tapped into the emotions from my visions while you were seeing what I saw.”

“Remind me not to do that again.” She glanced at Reid, who was studying what she had drawn with her eyes closed. “Can you make out anything?”

He squinted at it for a moment longer. “It’s a name written backward.” He walked over and held it out to Brent. “The first part is land written backward.”

Brent took it and studied it for a moment. “Last letter could be an F … maybe a T …” He squinted then held it out to Felicity. “You’re the most artistic one among us, what do you see?”

She took the notebook and studied it for a moment. “Of course.” She held it back out to him. “Go hold it to a mirror.”

Brent rolled his eyes and then shook his head when he got up. “We’re all in need of sleep I think.” Walking over to the mirror he held it up and looked at the reflection. “Fantasyland.”

Reid was nodding as he leaned over to the laptop. “I’m guessing themed rooms. Get Alec on the phone.”

Brent opened his phone and dialed. “Find it and meet the other team there?” Reid nodded as he typed. “Alec. Hang on, we might have something.” He shook his head. “No, you seriously don’t want to know how—let’s just say both of the women are sicker than dogs right now.” He leaned down to look at the screen. “A themed hotel … that one.” He pointed to the screen for Reid to click. Reaching down he took the mouse.

Reid straightened and glanced over at Jac. She was getting up. Rushing over he helped her balance. “What are you doing?”

“Going to the bathroom then getting in the car. I can sleep, while you drive.” She took the arm he offered to help her jelled legs navigate to the bathroom.

Felicity was almost crawling to the dresser when Brent hung up the phone. “Pack it up.” She said quietly.

He stepped over quickly and eased her back down to sit on the bed. “You just lie back and rest, I’ll get it all in the car.” He looked over to Reid leaning against the bathroom door. “I’ll pack up the cars and get the ladies in them; you go check out and then call Alec back so we can coordinate this.”

Reid nodded then looked at the closed door. “Jacinda, just call out if you need help.” He heard a mumbled reply. Sprinting towards the door, he dropped his keys on the desk. “I’ll be back in a flash.

Brent started collecting up papers and moving around the room quickly, the bathroom door opened. “Do you need a hand, Jac?” He took two steps to watch her guide herself along the wall then slid down on the bed beside Felicity. “Just stay there, I’ll get the thermos filled and then get you settled in the car.” He turned to look when he got no reply to see both women sleeping.