Page 51 of Tiger on the Prowl

“But it’s possible that somebody who works for him, or maybe even Jones, is a precognitive,” Jay said. “It’s also possible that one of the agents from the program went to the dark side and is working with Smith now.”

“Wouldn’t be a first,” Yankee threw in. “I knew one of them, Echo, who was lured to Smith’s side. He’s dead now.”

“And all the others?” Olivia asked. “Jay, you said there were thirty agents. They can’t all have allied themselves with Smith, not if they know what Smith is gonna do to them.”

“No,” Ace said, “but it’s hard to find somebody who doesn’t want to be found, particularly somebody who was trained by the CIA to be invisible.”

“I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that you’re all former CIA agents, and that you have premonitions. What was that program at the CIA about? Or do you have to kill me if you tell me?”

Jay chuckled and winked. “Michelle, Phoebe, and Lilly all know about it, and they’re still alive.”

The others laughed.

“Have you ever heard of remote viewing?” Ace asked.

“Yeah, I’ve read about it. It’s supposed to be a spying method, where the spy sits in a room and tries to psychically see something in a different place, right?”

“Pretty much,” Ace said. “Back in the 90s, there was a program like that at the CIA, but it ultimately failed because the agents recruited for the program had no psychic abilities. However, my father knew that the program could be a success, if only they recruited people who had a precognitive gift. Like himself.”

“So you inherited this gift from your father?” Olivia asked. “It’s genetic?”

Ace shook his head. “Henry Sheppard wasn’t my biological father. He adopted me when he realized that I had the gift. He started the Stargate program again in the early 2000s, and I became his first agent. Over the following years he recruited others with the same gift. But the program was top-secret, and not even the top brass at the agency knew about it.”

“But how’s that possible? I mean, somebody must have paid for the program.” Nothing was for free.

“He managed to divert money from other programs to finance Stargate,” Ace explained. “After all, most budgets at government agencies are so inflated that nobody notices when a few million dollars go missing.”

“Your tax dollars hard at work,” Jay added.

“I’ll keep that in mind next time I send the IRS my hard-earned money,” Olivia said, smirking.

“Speaking of hard-earned money,” Michelle interjected. “Can I just say that I love your books? Galaxy Outcast is amazing.”

Olivia froze. They knew that she was T.R. Harland? She caught Jay’s apologetic gaze.

“Don’t blame Jay,” Fox said quickly. “But when he thought you were planning to kill him, we had to dig into your background, and confirm that you’re not a psychotic killer.”

Stunned, Olivia’s chin dropped. She stared at Jay. “You thought I was planning to kill you? Why?”

Jay grimaced. “Remember that I told you I bugged your house? The guys heard you discuss with somebody on the phone that you were trying to off him, but that you hadn’t figured out how.”

“And apparently Belladonna was getting old, and daggers made a mess,” Fox tossed in with a chuckle.

It dawned on her then. “Oh my God, I was discussing the plot for my next book with my sister.”

“Yeah, we figured that out later,” Jay said, “after you tossed me out on my ass that night.”

She shook her head, everything about that night coming back to her now. “You seemed so different that night.” Yet he’d made love to her nevertheless. But had that been his intent, or had he come to do something entirely different? “Did you come to kill me that night?”

Jay immediately took her hand. “No, baby, I didn’t. I tried to figure out why you were planning to kill me, so I could change your mind.” He put his hand on her cheek and drew closer. “I could never hurt you.”

She saw the truth in his eyes and kissed him. Their lips fused, and Jay put his arms around her and held her tightly.

“Get a room,” Yankee said.

Jay released her, not looking embarrassed at all, and cast Yankee a sideways look. “Not a bad idea.”