Teaser Tuesday | Heartfelt 1: The Collins Case Chapter 5

Hard Truth

“Where are my children?” Rachel demanded, a new strength entering her. “I want to see them right now.”

“Do watch your tone, Dr. Collins. I have no desire to waste precious energy on your bad moods.”

The lecturing voice made her angry, which was sort of good. The angrier she got, the more awake she became. “You must know that I’ll be much more willing to listen once I know my children are safe,” she snapped, staring daggers at the shadowy man.

Tell me where my kids are, you jerk!

Another infuriating chuckle emanated from the screen. “I see why he fell in love. I told him not to do that, but since when did he ever take good advice?”

What the heck does that mean?

“Very well, Dr. Collins, have it your way.”

A click caused Rachel’s heart to skip several beats. She feared the man had cut the conversation off for good, but after a few painful seconds, there was another click.

“Mrs. Hart will be there shortly with Jason and Emily.”

Rachel flinched, despite the good news. Hearing the man say her children’s names gave her the creeps. “You mean they’re here?” She partially stood—ready to hit the nearest thing—not quite knowing how to take the news. Her elation over Jason and Emily’s nearness was offset by horror of them being in danger. Rachel’s right palm slammed down onto the table, causing a wonderful stinging pain that gave her something besides the grim situation to concentrate on.

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Teaser Tuesday | Nadia's Tears Chapter 8

Time Marches On

Did I mention waiting is totally against my nature? If I didn’t think all capital letters was an offense against nature, I would render “I hate waiting” in just that manner.

I don’t think Jillian has this problem because she gets so wrapped up in her dream work that her real sleep is very deep. There had better not be a fire in the Blairington home because I think Jillian would sleep or work right through it.

(Warning: Do not try reading the following sentence aloud in one breath nor take it as completely grammatically correct.) A typical school day works like this: wake up at a terribly early hour, do a quick loop between my house and the Blairington’s house to transfer Michio and Isaac to Mom, go to school, pick Jillian up, swing by my house to pick up the boys, do homework, watch Isaac and Michio, help Mrs. B. make dinner, eat with the Blairingtons, take Jillian, TJ, and Michio on their nightly constitutional, do more homework, drive home, greet family, crash into bed. Rinse and repeat four more times and you’ve got my typical school week. The days Mrs. B. has off are slightly easier because I don’t have to do that morning and afternoon loop between my house and Jillian’s. No wonder my mom thinks I’ve abandoned the family. Note to self: spend more time with the family.

The Exhausted One,

Danielle Matheson.

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Teaser Tuesday | Heartfelt 1: The Collins Case Chapter 4

Shocking News

It was a very long drive from Washington, D.C. to Western Pennsylvania, but thankfully, the six-plus hours of driving passed quickly. Unfortunately, the long drive gave Ann plenty of time to worry about Rachel. Actual travel time was lengthened by the need to refuel both herself and the car.

“Home sweet home,” she muttered, nearing her destination. Ann’s family actually lived in Fairview where the Collins family also resided, but Albion was only about a twenty to twenty-five minute drive away. She considered stopping by to say hello, but figured she should try to talk to Officer Long first. Then, she could check out Rachel’s wrecked house and see if there was enough time for a visit home.

Her cell phone played “It’s a Small World,” courtesy of Agent Baker being bored and somehow getting his grubby hands on her

phone.

Darn, I really need to change that ringtone.

Ann fumbled for a moment, trying to dig the phone out of her purse and simultaneously stay on the road. At last, she wrestled the earpiece into position and turned her attention back to driving. “Special Agent Davidson.”

“Oh, you sound so professional!”

“Hi, mom,” Ann said wearily, rolling her eyes.

“Did you hear the news?” Carol Davidson’s tone turned somber.

“About Rachel?”

“Yes.”

“I’m on my way now.”

That piece of information took her mother by surprise. “This is your case? Oh, Julie Ann, I don’t think I like the idea of you working on it.”

“It’s not officially my case,” Ann admitted. “The Pittsburgh Field Office probably has agents on it, but Rachel’s my friend. I have to help her if I can.”

“Honey, her house exploded. This could be a very, very dangerous—”

“Mom, I’m still on the road. Got to go. Love you. I’ll call you later,” Ann said in one breath. She hung up before they could get into the much overdone ‘dangers of your job’ conversation.

Sorry, mom.

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Teaser Tuesday | Ashlynn's Dreams Chapter 5

Dark Place

I woke up with the headache of all headaches. Whatever that big jerk had shoved into my arm was like drinking hard and taking meth at the same time. (Not that I obtained that bit of knowledge via personal experience.) A very nasty kick in the head would have been kinder. In addition, my arm ached like I’d had a dozen shots and then pitched thirty innings of softball. My hands still stung too, but everything else hurt so much that that particular pain seemed negligible. I tried shaking my head, hoping that would clear away the pain. Big mistake. The pain morphed from not-so-good to very painful to excruciating. It felt like my brains wanted to leak out my ears. If that would have stopped the

pain, I’d have been tempted to take the trade.

My first thought was, Owwwww. And my second thought was Jillian!

I think I said her name out loud, but I can’t be sure because I’m pretty sure I passed out again. I seemed to be doing a lot of that. I might have opened my eyes or just thought I did. It didn’t really matter because, like I said, I didn’t stay with it very long. I sensed another person in the room and had the sensation like I wanted to vomit before blissful nothingness slipped me past the headache.

The second time I woke up, I forced myself to lie still and finish the waking process with the least pain possible. Not that I could have moved anyway, since these people obviously had trust issues and had tied me up as well as giving me that wonderful naptime cocktail. My headache came back down to tolerable levels, though every heartbeat was like a dull hammer being slammed to the floor millimeters from my skull. My eyes felt all gummy like I’d slept for a month; my eyeliner must have melted or something.

I must look a scary sight.

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Teaser Tuesday | Nadia's Tears Chapter 6

Surrender

Malia sat on the van’s floor with her hands folded neatly in her lap. I had to review the dream six times before I noticed the dark cuffs binding her wrists. Malia looked sad and tired. The dark jumpsuit she wore had thin, red and blue stripes that looked like wires running down the sleeves and legs. I’d never seen anything like it, but Varick obviously had for his reaction was to take three angry steps forward.

The guards shifted nervously but held their guns steady.

“I’m all right, Varick,” Malia called. The light shining down on her glinted off the three tears forming tracks down her face.

“No tears, my dear,” Dr. Devya said softly. He reached down with a towel and blotted the tears from her face.

“This wasn’t part of the deal,” Varick protested. “I told you I would come alone. Why didn’t you believe me?”

“Get in the van,” Dr. Devya ordered.

“I want an answer. How do I know this isn’t just a trap?”

Dr. Devya’s laugh could definitely be qualified as bitter. “You’re not that important.” He nodded toward Malia and added, “She’s not that important, but Nadia is. She must live. Now get in or make a move that will likely get two of your sisters seriously hurt or killed.”

Two?

Varick didn’t ask the question out loud, but I felt it blazing brightly in his mind. Without further delay, he climbed carefully past Malia into the van. A hood slipped over Varick’s head, but before it could completely block his vision, I saw him reach for Malia. Even after the hood blocked his sight, I felt his odd mixture of sorrow, joy, and burning anger melt away when he sat by Malia and wrapped her in a warm hug.

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Teaser Tuesday | Heartfelt 1: The Collins Case Chapter 2

Bold Move

Night rapidly approached as the two men carried Rachel Collins to their van.

Jense returned and coaxed the children out. “Your mother’s very sick and needs to go to a doctor. Me and my friend are here to help.”

“You’re a stranger,” Jason pointed out, studying Jense carefully.

“Call Daddy,” suggested Emily.

Jense smiled at the small child and picked her up. “We will later, but now, we’ve got to get your mommy to a safe place. Come on, she’ll want to see you when she wakes up.”

Emily reached out and touched the scar above his right eyebrow then started crying for her mother. Jense held his hand out to Jason. Reluctantly, the boy took the rough hand.

As soon as the two Collins children were in the white van, Thomas Randle drove off. The entire operation had taken less than ten minutes, but he was anxious to get back to South Dakota. He had never liked kidnapping jobs. They rarely ended well.

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Teaser Tuesday | Ashlynn's Dreams Chapter 4

The Day It All Blew Up

I thought things might slow down then, but they sped up instead. The man holding on to me bound my arms behind me and pulled me back into the kitchen. His partner came in a moment later cradling Jillian in his arms. The picture of the man gently holding Jillian’s small form looked oddly incongruous.

Pitching my body back and forth only got me thrown into a counter. My head struck the granite, giving me an instant headache. Stunned, I had no energy to offer further resistance, though everything in me wished I did. Part of me shouted coward, and all other parts of me were completely numb.

“Just let me shoot her,” said the guy carrying Jillian.

“Drop the kid and go get the van,” replied the man holding me. His tone added idiot.

His disgust triggered the recent memory of the threat he’d uttered mere moments before.

There are only two ways for this to end; we take you or we leave your body.

What seemed like hours later, though it was probably only a minute or so, I heard the garage door open then close. Not knowing what else to do, I let myself be dragged to the two-car garage where I was forced into a dark blue minivan with a bumper sticker that declared “soccer mom” on the back. The absurdity of that struck me funny, but I couldn’t conjure even a small smile.

The guy who had retrieved the van hopped out of the driver’s seat and ran into the house. I assume he’d gone to get Jillian. I never found out, not then anyway, because the unsavory type holding me shoved me onto the van’s floor. Then, kneeling on my legs, he jammed a needle into my upper left arm, and I passed out.

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Teaser Tuesday | Nadia's Tears Chapter 5

Not so Happy Birthdays

“How can someone close off their mind?” I wondered just as Jillian asked her question.

Varick shrugged. “I’m not sure they knew exactly, but I think she had to be somewhere within a few hundred feet of her target. Part of her training when she turned six helped her get past basic things that kept minds closed to her previously, including certain drugs and very high emotions.” Varick stopped, clearly reluctant to go on.

“Then the really unpleasant lessons began, right?” I asked. I kept my tone soft, partly dreading what he would say.

“Seven and eight were respectively physical and emotional pain,” he said, his voice quietly dangerous. “She also practiced medium proximity manipulation of people’s thoughts.” Varick cleared his throat and forged on. “Nine and ten had her reading people’s physical and emotional states and manipulating them from afar. During her ninth year, they dabbled a little in predictions, but that never went far.”

“Why?” Jillian and I asked in unison.

“Too many variables,” Varick replied. “When Nadia turned eleven, they had her creating complex scenes and illusions inside others. At twelve and thirteen, she was taught how to seek motives and deal with hostile minds. She’ll be fourteen in a few months. As I’ve said, she’s had some problems around her birthday before but never this early.”

“Do you know what she’s supposed to learn next?” I inquired.

Varick shook his head in frustration. “I wish I did. I think that would answer a lot of questions.”

By this point, I didn’t know what Jillian thought of all we had just learned, but honestly, I was reeling. I like Nadia. Hearing her story from her closest brother made it somehow more painful. Maybe you can explain that to me. Again Devya’s dual nature reared its ugly and beautiful head. On the one hand, Nadia’s a victim, a slave to Devya’s scientific whims. On the other hand, Nadia’s one of the most talented and finely crafted humans ever born. Her life could indeed lead to those scientific breakthroughs Dr. Carnasis once promised.

I feel like I’ve been here before.

The Mildly Depressed One,

Danielle Matheson.

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Teaser Tuesday | The Collins Case Chapter 9

Monday morning, the first thing that melted through the fog of Julie Ann Davidson’s brain was the sudden stream of profanities that came from a side office she passed. Her eyes widened and she blushed, scooting by the door as quickly as possible. Two steps from her tiny office an excited voice grabbed her attention.

“Davidson, Duncan, East conference room. Big case coming up!”

Her partner appeared at her side, and they exchanged glances but didn’t speak. Ann wasn’t even sure who had originally spoken to her, let alone how to respond to them.

“Did you sleep at all this weekend?” her partner asked in her ear.

Ann couldn’t decide whether to be flattered by or annoyed at the concern in his voice. She jerked her head in a quick nod, but didn’t have time to elaborate. Inwardly, she cringed a bit.

So much for makeup’s magic.

Ann had just decided to accept the concern graciously when she realized her partner was already halfway to the conference room where the meeting would take place. Rolling her eyes, Ann dashed to catch up.

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Teaser Tuesday | Ashlynn’s Dreams Chapter 27

“What’s this about, Dean?” asked Nadia’s momma. “Who is she?”

“Her name is Ashlynn,” Dr. Devya said.

“Jillian,” I said at the same time as Danielle.

He ignored us. “She was born while you were still with us, but I wanted her to grow up with a natural family for a while. You missed a lot by leaving when you did.”

“Would you have let me stay?” asked Nadia’s momma.

A look I didn’t understand passed between Nadia’s momma and Dr. Devya. He adjusted his suit. I wondered why he always wore a

suit, but it seemed like a bad time to ask. Suits just don’t seem comfortable. Well, come to think of it, Dr. Devya and Nadia’s momma seemed real uncomfortable in that moment.

“Would you have stayed?” Dr. Devya asked at last.

She thought a minute. “Probably not. Not after Brenton.”

“One experiment went wrong. It happens.”

“He was a little boy, Dean.”

“It was an accident.”

“It was an injustice,” Nadia’s momma fired back.

“Training makes them better.”

“It’s not supposed to kill them.”

“I agree.”

“Do you really?”

It was like watching a tennis match.

Their gazes locked and held. At last, Dr. Devya sighed and broke the eye contact, looking real sad. “Well, we did better with the subsequent subjects. You’ve never met Aiden, though you worked so hard to make him what he is. He’s quite a wonder. They’re all wonders, which brings me back to Ashlynn. She’s the dreamer I was searching for all those years, but she’s developed some anomalies, too.”

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