Free Red-Line: The Shift (Volume One) by J. T. Bishop Page A

violence, and as a group, rejected it, they did have the ability to manipulate energy and direct it as needed. It was a special skill cultivated by those who would use it responsibly, if necessary. This group was small, but both Leroy and Ramsey were both members, and now, apparently, so was a thin, well-dressed, grey-bearded, seventy-year-old man.
    “Who, though?” asked Leroy. “How could we not know this person? Who would benefit from taking her?”
    “Think about it.” Ramsey sat up in his seat. “If they got to her before her Shift, they could potentially mold her, control her, and use her. For their benefit.”
    “But they couldn’t hide that for long. At some point, they would be discovered. You can’t hide a Red-Line without someone sensing her after a certain point.”
    “Unless they know better. How much do we know about Red-Lines anyway? If they have an inside source…” Ramsey’s voice trailed away.
    “What?” asked Leroy. “What are you thinking?”
    Ramsey looked at him with concern. “What if they have an inside source? Someone we know. Someone we trust.”
    “That doesn’t make sense, Sherlock. We’re already on their side. We have her. She’s with us. Once she shifts, then we’re out of the picture. There’s no need to kidnap her.”
    Ramsey sat back, putting his mug down. “Then we don’t know everything. There’s a reason to take her now, a valuable reason. We just don’t know what it is.” Ramsey’s earlier weariness now quickly faded.
    “We don’t know anything, Sherlock. You’re just coming up with scenarios. You have no idea if there’s an inside source. Hell, we don’t know if there’s a source, period. This guy could just be some strong old man with good genes and a penchant for pretty, vulnerable women. Don’t get too carried away. Let’s just stick with the facts as we know them.”
    “I am sticking to the facts, Leroy,” said Ramsey. “The facts are adding up to some scary possibilities. We’ve had conflicts in the past with various factions who’ve not had the best intentions for us.”
    “The past is right. That was years ago. If those factions were a threat to us, you know the Council would make us aware of it. I’ve not heard a whiff of anything to suggest that could even remotely be a possibility. The Council would not make us sitting ducks, and they certainly wouldn’t put Sarah at risk.”
    “Maybe they don’t know, either.” Ramsey’s inner alarm bells rang.
    Leroy was done with this line of thought. He stood up and went into the kitchen. “Come on, Sherlock. You can’t whistle a show tune without the Council knowing it’s from your favorite musical. It’s preposterous.”
    Ramsey eyed his friend with annoyance. “Is it?”
    “Yes, it is.” Leroy looked around the kitchen. “You’re right, we need something stronger.”
    “Then what’s your theory, if mine’s so preposterous?”
    Leroy straightened after looking under a kitchen cabinet. “My theory? Hmmm. I’ll tell you what my theory is, my friend. Somebody talked. That’s all. Somebody spilled the beans, told somebody something or somebody overheard something, and now the secret’s out that there’s a Red-Line about to shift. Naturally, there’s curiosity. They want to know more, like who it is, what does it mean, get the scoop, tell their friends. Somebody figures out it’s you who’s protecting her. Not a big leap. You do happen to get some of the bigger cases. So they follow you. Watch you. See where you go and whom you see. They figure out you’re protecting Sarah. They get a little carried away. Think ‘How cool would it be to see a Red-Line?’ Maybe Grandpa heard the story. Maybe he’s pissed over some perceived slight that got handed to him by the Council somewhere down the line, and he volunteers to get to the bottom of it and find out the truth. He watches you, sees you with Sarah, gets an overactive imagination, and thinks he can protect her, get her through