The letter, when I’d gotten it, had been very plain and simple.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQmim8G6u9
It had arrived a week after Mom’s funeral, and without a return address. I pulled it from the front pocket of my backpack, unfolding it and glancing over the words again. The letter started out with “To Adena Thirira” and then went on to say “we are very sorry for your loss, blah, blah, blah…” I was not interested in the condolences for my mother’s death. I’d heard enough of them. It was the second half of the letter that puzzled me.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTBYGlGCTe
It read: “We at the SDA would very much appreciate if you were to visit us here at headquarters to discuss the details of your mother’s death, and to discuss your future regarding the SDA. At the recommendation of Mya Thirira, we would like to meet you in person to consider you for a position within our organization. You will find enclosed a train ticket and directions to our headquarters. Please keep these directions on your person at all times, and do not show them to any other person. We look forward to seeing you. – Marcus Levan”. 571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAoiP6edGe
I still didn’t know what to make of it. My mother worked in the government, and she had died in a car accident on her way home from a long trip. At least, that’s what I was told…571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFxktJgjsL
I shook my head. There was nothing more to discuss about my mother’s death. That was certain.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLMe3J6lg6
And I’d never heard mom say anything about an “SDA”. The letter was a bit vague about that; I had spent almost an hour searching the Internet and had found nothing. I didn’t even know what SDA stood for.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyWWsuglov
I read the words again. “At the recommendation of Mya Thirira”. It didn’t make any sense. My mom had recommended me, her sixteen-year old daughter, for some sort of position in an organization I had never heard of?571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAVvlFqPdc
So why am I here? Dad had been no help in interpreting the letter. I was lucky to get a “hello” out of him these days. He walked around like a zombie, barely registering what happened around him. I didn’t think he’d been to work since mom had died.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocdAAhM3Ad
Thus, I had no clue why I had decided to go. Maybe because I did recognize the name at the bottom – Marcus Levan. Mom had mentioned him once or twice. And on top of that, I guess I was just curious. The tone of the letter bothered me. Almost like it knew something I didn’t.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHk77Dknp8
I shifted uncomfortably, folding up the letter and putting it away. The right thing to do would’ve been to put the whole thing out of my mind. But I couldn’t. Discuss the details of your mother’s death…571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88gfJXjcWb
I stood up, so suddenly that the person across from me started. I needed to walk around… 571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDk9iTJ5SlC
Grabbing my backpack, I walked through a few of the coaches until I got to one with a lot of doors and a very narrow hallway – they must have been the sleeper carts. My head was pounding, and I leaned against the door. This SDA; what did they know about my mom? Mom…571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqXI17StXK
My eyes burned, but I rubbed the heat away. I refused to cry. Not here, not even if I was alone. And I wasn’t going to cry in front of these SDA people either, whoever they were.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJAGs6LGWA
I heard the door open, and my head snapped up. Two men came through, both wearing black hoodie sweatshirts with their heads covered. I pressed against the wall to let them by, but they approached and stopped, faces covered in shadow.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZe9X1ArXkX
“Um…sorry,” I said. “Am I in the way?” I moved away from the door to let them in, but they didn’t move, and unnerved, I stepped back, only to collide with another man in a black hoodie behind me. I turned around. “Sorry,” I said again. 571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GYTc36vjO
Abruptly, the two behind me grabbed my arms. “Hey –!” I started to protest, but my eyes grew wide as I realized that the one in front of me held a syringe with a long, long needle. 571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2N0Fv0RKl
I opened my mouth to scream when suddenly the grips on my arms vanished and someone grabbed my hand, spinning me around to stare into a pair of electric blue eyes. They gazed at me from behind golden hair and above an insanely grinning face. “Run!”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHZygE91Qe
The men shouted, and I heard their footsteps pounding after us as the guy pulled me along – the same tattooed guy from the train platform, I realized. We ran into the next compartment only to be met with more cloaked men, and only one whose face was visible. Leather Vest skidded to a stop, holding me behind him, and smiled big at the uncloaked man.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTxOK86rcB
“What?” he asked. “Is that all you’ve got?” He looked around. “You should know better, Jadas.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYcZdAtkOO
The man, who had narrow amber eyes and copper-colored hair, smiled bitterly. “As a matter of fact,” he said, “we were after the girl, not you. But two for the price of one isn’t bad either.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcc1pZUaG6z
The door slid open behind me, and I turned to see the three other men in hoodies burst in. Leather Vest grabbed my hand again and then we were running, and I barely registered that he’d managed to push right past them. We didn’t stop, racing through the next compartment and into the regular coach, where passengers were sitting. 571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjS8OBVrH3
We came to an abrupt stop, and several heads turned to look at us. “Sorry,” Leather Vest said to them, then put an arm firmly around my shoulders and steered me to a pair of empty seats on the right. “You okay?” he asked. 571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA91EwkrirE
I nodded, blinking and trying to figure out how that had happened so fast. And how had I ended up with Leather Vest and Large Tattooed Muscles over here?571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQTFxhvDLU
He held out a hand. “I’m Kas,” he told me. “You must be Mya’s daughter. Was it Adela?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXKFMAkkbS
“Adena,” I corrected, then straightened as it dawned on me. “You…” I tore off my backpack and pulled out the letter. “Did you send me this?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUQ1fzJvag
Kas put his hands behind his head, then shook it. “Nope. But I know the guy who did. He’s my boss.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpj0yMczF6V
“Your boss,” I repeated. “So…you knew my mother?” He certainly didn’t look like the kind of guy my mom would hang around.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHp7ry9SHG
Kas nodded. “That’s right.” There was an uncomfortable silence, and he sat up, smile fading a little. “Well…there’ll be time to talk about that later. You’re probably wondering who they were.” Kas nodded back towards the sleeper coaches.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4OTf3e1yf
I glanced back, not minding the subject change. “Why…were they chasing me?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIePeY9Up9e
“You’re new,” Kas said, shrugging. “They thought you’d be an easy target.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmusS8mlsL
“New to what?” I asked.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8pN2oAhLw
“The SDA.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxtO7ZC0ll
I frowned. “The thing in the letter?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10H34GPaOm
Kas nodded. “Yeah.” He paused. “The organization your mom worked for.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMAWU9vnei
I sat up, and frowned at him wide-eyed. “No,” I said. “My mom worked for the government.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjpjBBVoze
“Your mom worked for the SDA.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrqnaH8ooM
“You’re wrong,” I insisted. “I saw her at press conferences. I used to go to meetings with her when I was little.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULyuTkqvQp
“Adena,” he said, and I tensed at hearing him say my name. “Your mom was in the SDA, just like me, and just like you will be.” He sounded so absolutely sure that it made me grit my teeth. “She had a few assignments dealing in the government, and I guess it was easy for her to pass it off as her job that way.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Co8jWmH0d
Okay. I was done with this guy. I stood up. “Let me out.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ192F7JVfSQ
Kas stood as well, easily blocking my path. “Adena, let me explain.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02CrKcwwaU
“Let me out or I’ll scream,” I threatened.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZrYcCVGGa
He was unphased. “If you don’t stay with me, Jadas and his men will come after you again, and I won’t save you.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJaKyGr675c
Involuntarily, I felt myself go pale. I’d already forgotten about the men in the hoodies. “Sit down,” Kas told me, and he almost sounded like he was warning me. I slowly sat. Kas relaxed and did the same.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIeR4qZy2r
“Jadas and his men would snap you up if I wasn’t here,” he said. “That’s part of the reason I came.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zvZUp9GMz
“Why are they so afraid of you?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbN3bArpLGM
Kas’s smile was back, and he held out his arm.s. “I’m a scary person.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsMSq0DSpZ
I raised an eyebrow. “How so?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGpCFmlpGh
He shifted in his seat, as if settling himself. “Maybe I’d better explain some more,” he said. “SDA stands for Specialty Detective Agency.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NNAQIJPCK
“It’s a detective agency?” I squinted at him. “You’re telling me that you’re a detective?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8kYum2VhAT
“Why shouldn’t I be?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeNj9uAWEl
“Well…” My eyes travelled to his arms, where the tattoos were carved all over his biceps, then looked back at him. “You can’t be much older than me,” I said finally, deciding not to mention the frightening biker gang look he had going. 571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuvtUIkTbLY
“I’m eighteen,” he said. “Legally an adult. Besides, SDA isn’t an ordinary detective agency. It doesn’t matter how old you are – there’s only one requirement.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9IxtwOLgz
“The specialty part?” I guessed.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVfCvQlaO6
Kas nodded. “Right now there, are four of us,” he said. “You’ll make five, once Marcus makes it official. Each of us has a specialty, or an unusual talent. So whenever a difficult case comes up that requires special skills, the police pass it over to us.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tk3CDC4ZX
A specialty…? Then maybe mom really had recommended me for this… “What kind of specialty do you mean?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonoXofawuT
“All sorts,” Kas replied. “Anything useful.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPp1ERe5QaU
“So, is that why the men were afraid of you?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ngGpq4Lsl
Kas smiled. “It’s because of my skill, yes.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEq0KYgLIno
“And that is…?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jDmJruqB9
Kas glanced back, like he was checking if anyone was listening, then grinned at me. “I’m a psychic.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70TytuTNAc
I snorted, and Kas looked taken aback. “What?” he asked. 571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejMNDLcJoe
“You?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9M291miZgl
“Yes!” His eyebrows dipped down. “Want me to prove it to you?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuEm76BWtN
“Look,” I said. “The reason I’m here is to find out what this letter means. If you’ve just been bullshitting me this entire time –” Kas’s hand suddenly landed on top of my head and I broke off, heart instantly pounding. His eyes bore into mine, the smile fading from his face as though he was concentrating. His fingers gripped the sides of my head lightly – his hand was almost big enough to cover the whole top of my head. I swallowed. “What are you…?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMn6vysXZiw
“You’re anxious,” he said suddenly. “And you still kind of think I’ve been lying to you, but you also sort of want to believe me. And you’re still afraid that Jadas and his men are going to show up and come after you again.” He paused, as I stared at him. “Now you’re confused.” He grinned. “Come on, think about something less predictable.” I blinked at him, and he didn’t move his hand, encouraging me. “Go on!”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAFbRWhgzo
I racked my brains for something he wouldn’t know about. There was my friend Laura, from school. Actually, I hadn’t spoken to Laura since mom had died. I’d been to school since then, but Laura had been strangely absent from me. My other friends were around, but...they were weird around me, like they didn’t know what to say. At least they were there. I almost thought Laura was avoiding me.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKtoFDVd6u
“Wow,” Kas said suddenly, jolting me from my thoughts. “Laura sounds like a bitch.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuRki5k6gS
I swatted him away and sat back, crossing my arms. “Okay, fine,” I muttered. “So you can read minds.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXkJZclM5D
Kas sat back as well. “I can’t read minds,” he corrected. “It’s not like that. Usually, I can just get an idea of what someone is thinking about, especially if I’m touching them. Sometimes, if a thought is really strong, it’ll come through to me. Like just now, you got pretty upset, so I caught a few bits and pieces.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzd8jEAkgv9
I tilted my head curiously. “Do you have to be touching the person?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1i7uitoJL
He shook his head. “The actual thoughts never come through without physical contact, but I can always sense emotions, and in high-strung situations, I can sense intentions. Which makes me especially good at hand-to-hand combat.” His smile got wider. “It helps to always know what your opponent will do next.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5QMV6n09v
I stared at him for another second, and opened my mouth without thinking. “You’re kind of full of yourself, aren’t you?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohXL2T1sh4
Kas didn’t take offense, shrugging. “Guilty as charged.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0svzJN5Ih
I shook my head, not sure if I should hate hate him or like him. I felt his eyes on me. Was he reading my mind right now? The thought made me so uncomfortable that I instantly started picturing all the things I shouldn’t be picturing, and I had to shake my head to clear them away. Kas was still looking at me, and finally, I met his gaze.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3IT5eyVK0
He studied me. “So, what’s your talent?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkFtsZrmiR
I felt myself blush and turned away from him. “I don’t know,” I mumbled. “I don’t have one.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWv3VNpMQn
“You must have one, or Marcus wouldn’t have invited you,” Kas said. “What is it? Are you…” He frowned. “You’re embarrassed.”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MNCBy10Vb
“I’m not!” I snapped, again drawing the attention of some other passengers. Kas leaned away in surprise.571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN94gJsAkvm
“Okay, fine, you’re not embarrassed,” he relented. “Then what’s your skill?”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQg1Uoonqj
I looked down at my backpack in my lap, letting out a breath. “Well…”571Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MZPWfqXdO
Suddenly, the train came to a screeching stop, and I lurched forward a little in my seat. Kas looked around. “I guess this is us.”
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