Brain Storm by Cat Gilbert (detective books to read .TXT) 📖

It was gone. All gone. Just like my life. I couldn’t use any of that stuff anyway, I reminded myself, but that didn’t help relieve my feeling of loss. Some things were just too engrained.

“Why do you need that?” Trinity asked with a hard edge to her voice and a reprimanding look toward me. She didn’t trust them. Having worked so well together when the pressure was on, now that Mama D was safe, and we were clean and fed, Trinity had reverted back to her old habits. Jonas and Mac were going to have to fight for every inch of ground.

Jonas shifted uneasily in his chair before answering. I didn’t blame him a bit.

“Trinity, we can’t go back now. To our lives, to what we were,” he explained. “We’re being hunted.”

“Who’s hunting us?” Mama D cut in fast and quick, surprising us all. I had forgotten that she had no idea what was going on here. All she knew was someone had broken into her house, whom she had efficiently disposed of, and we had whisked her away to some cabin in the woods. All in all, it was a good question.

“Bad men,” Mac replied softly. “They’re after Taylor, and they don’t care who they hurt or what they have to do to get her.” He looked over to Jonas, obviously needing an assist.

“That’s right, Mama D,” Jonas picked up, “They want her real bad, and they’ll use the people she cares about to try and find her.”

“That man in my house tonight. He was going to take me so they could trap Taylor?” Jonas silently nodded his head yes.

Okay, this was just awful. How do you tell a sweet little old lady, she killed a man because of you and that she had to leave the home she had made and loved. Wait a minute. She shot a man tonight. That raised a whole new set of questions.

“Mama D, where did you get that gun?” I asked, the food finally having caught up with my brain.

“That’s a good question, Taylor,” Trinity chimed in. “Where DID you get that gun?”

“Trinity, I’ve always had that gun. It’s your grandfather’s gun. I put it away when you and Kevin were little, but I keep it in reach now. I’m an old woman, but I’m not foolish. I know about things.” Mama D gave her a reproving look. “And may I add, young lady, that you’re lucky I didn’t blow your head off, the way you came flying through that door in the middle of the night.”

Trinity looked at me, her mouth hanging open in shock. I just shrugged my shoulders and attempted to hide a smile behind my hand. Mama D had a valid point. Trinity hadn’t exactly been coming in low and stealthy. She was lucky she hadn’t been killed by Mama D or anyone else that had happened to be in there with a gun.

“I am curious to know one thing, Mama D,” Jonas said as he reached across the table for the coffee pot. He paused filling his cup as he looked up to give her what I call his ‘kind police glare’. He thinks it’s not intimidating, but he’s wrong. Mama D apparently thought the same thing as she got a hard look in her eye as he continued. “Just how did you manage to get the drop on the guy.”

“Same way I got the drop on you,” she replied, obviously irritated with him. “I couldn’t sleep. Something was keeping me unsettled, so I got up and put on my things and thought I’d get a start on some church baking that needed doing. I had just started through the living room when I heard that squeaky board on the far side of the porch.” She stopped and looked over at Trinity for support, who nodded at her to continue.

“Well, as I said, I keep the gun handy now, so I got it and waited to see what would happen next. He came in, real quiet like, through the front door. I was watching him, but he didn’t see me as I was back in the corner and he was heading toward the stairs. I saw the gun in his hand, and it was throwing a little red light up on the wall.”

At this Jonas and Mac gave each other a look. If they had any doubts about who this guy was, Mama D had just put them to rest.

“I watch those television shows. I know that’s a special gun. I saw that light and I knew he was up to no good. That wasn’t Joe Bob sneaking around from down the street. So I shot him.”

“Well, you did the right thing,” I said, reaching over to pat her arm and reassure her. No matter how calmly Mama D might seem, she was a solid church going woman, and she had taken a life. I knew deep down inside she had to be shaken. Heck, I was shaken, and I hadn’t pulled the trigger. “It’s a good thing you kept the lights off,” I added, rising to clear the table.

“Oh honey, I don’t need any light to find my own kitchen.” Her chuckle of laughter flowed over and through me like warmth from a fire. I was so relieved and thankful that she was there, and that she was safe. It could have turned out so differently. She must have picked up on my feelings, because the next thing I knew, her arms were around me.

“Don’t you worry, Taylor. We’re a family, and we’re together. That’s the important thing.” Tears welled into my eyes as she held me and I knew in that instant, that I would do whatever it took to keep this woman safe.

“I love you,” I whispered to her as I hugged her back.

“I know baby, I know.” She held me from her and placing her small hand against my cheek, searched my eyes. “They want you because you’re special, don’t they? Because you have the touch.”

I heard Trinity gasp and my eyes flew to hers over the top of Mama D’s head. She shook her head no. She hadn’t told her. Mama D patted my arm gently as she turned away to begin gathering up the dishes before heading to the kitchen. As for me, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Did everyone know about this except me? Stunned, I sat back down in my chair, grabbing my coffee cup for support.

“Um, I still need everyone’s banking information,” Mac reminded us bringing our thoughts back to the problem at hand.

“And you still need to explain why.” Trinity sat back down and motioned for Jonas to comply.

“Okay, then,” Jonas started again. “As I was saying, we’re being hunted. This cabin is great for now, but we can’t stay here for long. We’ll have to stay on the move for a while, and that takes money.” He paused as Mama D returned and took her seat at the table. “Mac and I talked about this earlier, and we decided it was worth trying to move some money around before anyone could lock the accounts or put an alert on them.”

“Oh, you decided that, did you?” Trinity interrupted. “How nice of you to inquire as to what we might think of your plan.”

We were never going to get to bed at this rate. My high intake of caffeine since we had gotten back to the cabin was ceasing to make a dent in my state of exhaustion. I rolled my eyes in frustration as I refilled my cup.

“What makes you think there’s not already an alert on them? These guys seem pretty well informed,” I asked, trying to steer Trinity back onto topic and effectively cutting off Jonas’ reply to her snippy comment.

Mac jumped right in, confirming my belief that, at least for the time being, we made a pretty good team.

“I don’t know who the traitor is in the government, but he has to tread just as carefully as we do or he’ll tip his hand. There’s no reason for the police to seal the accounts right now. They’re still piecing it together, and although they may know Jonas is involved, they have no idea about Trinity and Mama D. I have a contact here in the area that is pretty good with things like this. I think we have a good chance of moving funds before they know what we’re up to.”

Within minutes, he had outlined his and Jonas’ plan to attempt to move funds from our accounts into an untraceable offshore account he had already set up. Not knowing who the informant was, his access to funds and assistance from the government were both cut off. We were on our own, and it only made sense to try to pool our resources while we still stood a chance of doing so. Trinity, however, wasn’t happy with the idea and had no problem voicing her concerns.

“Pretty convenient, Mac, how you just happen to have an offshore account already set up,” she accused. “I suppose everything is in your name, and you’re the only one with access.”

She stated the last as a fact, not a question. I leaned over, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. She had a point, I suppose, but under the circumstances, I didn’t see that we had any choice but to go along with it. Time was critical here, and although I had never had an offshore account, I was sure that setting one up took time, a commodity that we simply didn’t have.

“You’re worried about losing your money?” Jonas asked incredulously.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.” She was back on her feet, in Jonas’ face. “And Taylor’s money and Gram’s money. Is that so hard to believe?”

Jonas took a deep breath and starting to get to his feet ready to do battle.

“Jonas, stop!” I said, stopping him mid-rise. “Trinity, in a couple of hours, I’m either going to be declared legally dead, or they’ll be tracking any movement on my account. That goes for you and Jonas too. Just depends on which way these guys want to play. If I were them, I’d work to get us declared dead, that way the police aren’t looking for us, and they have a bigger playing field to spread out and find us without anyone looking over their shoulder, complicating