Gifted Connections 1

“I don’t know the hospital, but I can remember the guy,” Alex said confidently.

“Do you know how long it took to get to the hospital from your house?” Troy gently prodded. “How about your address?”

“I lived at forty-two Front Street Apartment B,” he continued to rattle off his complete address. “The hospital was near my school: Woodburn Elementary. You’re not taking me back are you?” he asked worriedly. “My dad likes to hit me, and I don’t want to go back.”

“No,” Jace stated emphatically. “We’re not taking you back.”

Alex visibly sagged with relief.

Troy immediately picked up his phone. “Hey Leo, yeah I know. I’m sorry. I know it’s late, but can you do me a favor and find out who lives at this address? Yes. Yes. I’ll pay you for your time,” he rattles off the address. “And I need you to find out what hospitals are located near Woodburn Elementary and I need pictures of the staff.” There was a pause on his end of the phone. “Yes as soon as possible. Thanks, man, talk to you later.”

“What happened to your mother?” I asked Alex tentatively.

Alex looked up at me. “She split when I was a baby. Dad says I look a lot like her, you must too,” he said intuitively.

I laughed despite the gravity of the situation. “You see too much don’t you?” I ruffled his curls.

It was a bit of a shock to know my mom may still be out there and she had given birth to another child. A child that should have been near impossible. If the gifted generally birthed no more than two children, it was hard to believe I had at least two siblings. Well, by blood.

He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “There’s more you know,” he whispered conspiratorially. “We have two more brothers out there. The man in the suit was really happy when he found me. Before we got to the trailer he made a lot of phone calls. He has someone looking for them. He says Horatio would take care of him for life if he found all of Miranda’s children.”

I felt like I had been socked in the stomach and my heart was in my throat. “Who was the man in the suit? Did you hear where they may be?”

My mind was reeling in shock and I felt the tenseness radiating from Jace, Troy, and Jaxson as we all looked at each other. It was like Pandora’s box had been opened. We knew we had to find my other brothers before Horatio did. He already had my older sister on his side. Alex already showed promise of being powerful. Who knows how strong the other two were?

“He’s the man who hurt you,” Alex said with a frown. “I’m not sure where they’re at. But they’ve been talking to me lately, like you did.” He said hesitantly.

The guys looked at me questioningly. “Before Pops went into the bedroom, where they were kept, I heard Alex tell me that they weren’t alone. Whoever let us know there were only two people watching the children was incorrect. He was able to show me what he had seen and transfer my thoughts to Zach Young. I think he was in deep, but I don’t think he knew that the children were kept in those conditions.”

“So, someone fed us the wrong information,” Jaxson muttered.

“It was a trap,” I stated. “They wanted Pops and I.”

“Micah’s afraid,” Alex suddenly spoke up. “He says he’s in Baltimore. He’s living under an overpass. He had to run away from home.”

“Hey, Remy,” Troy called out. “Can you drop me off at the airport?”

“What’s up?” Remy asked as he took a hard left. It was convenient that we were less than two miles from where Troy kept his helicopter.

“No time to explain,” Troy stated. “They’ll fill you in,” he pointed at us as he got on the phone to get the required clearances to take off.

When he got off the phone he looked at Alex. “Tell Micah to look for a twenty-four hour diner near him. Tell him I’ll be wearing a red baseball cap. Let him know we’re coming for him and not to be afraid.” Then he looked at me. “Let me know what diner he ends up in and what he looks like.”

I nodded in understanding as we pulled up in front of the helicopter hanger.

Troy ran out of the truck with a quick ‘see you later’. I blinked not believing how quickly that all just happened.

“He has green eyes and red hair,” Alex said. “He says he’ll let us know when he has found a place to wait for him.

“How old is he? How tall is he?” I asked urgently.

Alex took my hand and I was seeing Micah through his eyes. He was standing in a mirror, looking at us. Micah smiled and waved at me, but I could see he looked scared and he had been living on the streets for some time. He looked roughly twelve or thirteen years old and he was tall and skinny.

“Hi, Micah,” I stated. “I’m your…sister, Blake. Troy’s on his way to get you right now. He’ll help you. He has dark hair and light brown eyes. Alex and I will be seeing you soon.”

He nodded and smiled, tears coming to his eyes. “Good, these guys showed up today and they’ve been following me. I’m just quicker. I can sense that they aren’t good.” He blinked out and showed up in another mirror, another public bathroom.

I giggled. “That’s a neat trick, I can’t wait to meet you.”