Haven was the unofficial civilian counterpart to the SCU, a private organization that had originally been the brainchild of Agent Quentin Hayes, one of the first group of psychics Bishop had recruited, after an incredible case in Seattle that had involved Quentin’s longtime billionaire friend John Garrett. Not a psychic himself, Garrett had married a rather amazing empath-healer involved in the same case, Maggie Barnes.
Haven had officially been co-founded by Bishop and the Garretts, the organization meant both to complement the SCU and to serve as a place where psychics unable or unwilling to cope with the rigors of being full-time FBI agents trained and functioned as private investigators. It was, by design, a calmer, more peaceful, and more laid-back organization than the FBI could ever be, offering highly flexible hours and jobs, to say nothing of a warm and welcoming home where many psychics, for the first time in their lives, didn’t feel like freaks.
Sited on more than five hundred acres of fairly remote land outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, the sprawling compound that was Haven boasted a huge central home and command center where both the Garretts and dozens of operatives could live in comfort, temporarily or for years, as some had. There were also numerous neat homes built near the main house, also for operatives and sometimes their families, plus for some of the technical and maintenance people necessary to keep such a large compound clean and operating at peak efficiency.
On the same acreage but not near the compound was a private airstrip, fully staffed, with a hangar large enough to house the three company jets plus two helicopters.
Haven had grown just as the SCU had, now boasting dozens of operatives trained and working cases all over the country, and dozens more learning about their own abilities as well as how to be effective investigators. Some made their home base in different cities across the map, while others lived or spent most of their off-duty time at the Haven compound.
John Garrett’s wealth and brilliant business mind kept Haven running, practically speaking, but it was Maggie Garrett, with her deep empathy and compassion, and her unique ability to heal wounds of the mind and soul as well as those of the body, who was without question the heart of Haven.
“Did she say any of their people experienced nothing?” Bishop asked, looking up from his notes.
Tony nodded. “Yeah, five so far. One operative is, like Kendra, pregnant. The other four are brand-new, not yet trained, and tested low on our scale in terms of how strong their abilities are.”
Slowly, Bishop said, “So far, with the exception of Hollis and Reese, all of those summoned are not members of the SCU.”
“And that means?” There was a frown in Galen’s voice, if not on his impassive face. He had experienced all the symptoms of something extraordinary, as most of the unit had, but had not felt anything beyond those, and certainly not anyone or anything calling him to go to Prosperity.
And he hadn’t needed to tell anyone in the room that being contacted in such a way, with all his walls up and likely stronger than they had ever been in his life, had disturbed him more than it had most of the other agents. He was a guarded man by nature, and after a fairly recent case in which his mind had been touched and even used without his awareness, he was extremely wary of anything similar happening again.
“At a guess, it could mean that whatever happens in Prosperity won’t be the sort of situation that drives law enforcement to invite us in officially,” Bishop replied.
“So no actual crime?”
“Could be. Or crimes that seem normal, crimes the locals believe they should be able to solve.”
“You and Miranda didn’t see anything that could answer at least that question?” Despite the rather impatient words, his tone could best be described as deceptively mild. Not that anyone in the room was deceived.
Bishop shook his head. “No, we saw nothing specific as far as actual events are concerned.”
“Then what did you see?” An edge had crept in.
Tony looked at Galen in faint surprise but didn’t comment or question the other agent’s uncharacteristic insistence. He just looked at Bishop and waited, curious.
“Nothing specific,” Bishop repeated, calm. “Except . . . evil. A doorway we have to keep closed. And seal.”
“A door someone or something is trying to open?” Galen asked.
“So it seems.”
“But not an enemy we know.”
“Not one we can put a name to. But likely a negative force we’ve encountered before.”
“Want to explain that?” Galen invited.
“At this point, all I know is what I feel, what Miranda and I felt during that vision. We’ve destroyed countless evil killers over the years. But only a handful were truly destroyed in a real sense, their negative energy transformed and dispersed.”
“So they exist. Their evil still exists.”
“As I said, it’s nothing we can point to specifically. More an emotional . . . certainty.”
“That somebody’s out to get even? Maybe a lot of somebodys?”
“It’s what we feel, Galen. That we . . . received . . . emotions is rare enough. The power of these . . . Whatever this enemy is, it’s something very old and very dark. And very determined. It’s pressing against the other side of that door. Trying to force it open.”
“To get at us?”
Bishop glanced at his wife. “That’s the way it feels.”
“But?
It was Miranda who answered that, her voice very steady. “What we felt was something gleeful. Playful. Destroying us may be the endgame, but this . . . thing . . . intends to have fun. To manipulate people. To hurt people in ways most sane minds can’t even imagine.”
Tony muttered, “No wonder you both looked so shook.”
Galen said, “But not a crime? Not a killer?”
“It’s not what we saw, Galen.” Bishop remained calm—and was uncharacteristically willing to talk about that vision; normally he and Miranda said as little as possible, wary of doing anything that could make a bad situation worse. “No specifics, just emotions. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. In fact, it’s very likely to happen. If something dark, maybe negative energy, begins to exert an influence over the people in Prosperity, anything could happen.”
“Hell,” Tony murmured, “everything could happen.”
Bishop didn’t appear to find that statement overly dramatic. “Yeah, everything could. Including horrific crimes. We’ve seen monsters shaped like human beings. We’ve seen negative energy affect people and events, causing death and chaos. We’ve seen men able to manipulate negative energy who thought they were gods.” That last seemed to be very deliberate, and Bishop kept his gaze steadily on Galen.
After a moment, without looking away, Galen said, “I have to be there.”
“You weren’t summoned.”
“Doesn’t matter. I have to be there.”
“Why?” Bishop asked simply.
Entirely unwilling and not trying to hide it, Galen said, “It’s something I feel.”
Almost immediately, Bishop nodded. “Okay. Hope you brought your go bag.”
“I did.”
Bishop exchanged glances with his wife, who had looked up from her laptop to silently observe. She had been right; Galen was ready to come off official leave and rejoin the unit.
Do you think he’s really ready?
He obviously believes he is. We have to respect that, beloved.
Yes . . .
Out loud, Miranda merely said, “So far, I’m not finding anything on Prosperity except chamber of commerce stuff. Pretty little town with much to recommend it to passing tourists. No crime to speak of, so far, at least. Popular sheriff, well-trained deputies, well-funded police, fire, and other emergency services. They have a very good small hospital with quite a lot of state-of-the-art equipment and first-class doctors. A weekly newspaper still in print, with the online version updated daily. A radio station, but no local TV station.”
Galen asked, “Is anything unusual happening yet?”
“If it is, it’s being kept quiet. No law enforcement alerts, nothing unusual from the radio station, and the closest TV stations are all wrapped up in politics and their own local stories, including the usual sort of local crimes.”
Tony said, “We probably should have someone monitor social media.”