no way they would believe her. It had been hard enough trying to convince her friends. What would these people, who were total strangers, think of her? Suddenly a warm, comforting hand slipped into hers. Landon’s firm, but tender grip calmed her racing heart slightly. She glanced up at him and gave him a “thank you for supporting me even though I know you really don’t want to be here” smile. He gave a small encouraging smile back and nodded his head prompting her to say something.
“Uh, sure,” Lily started shakily. “Well, where should I begin?”
“Anywhere you want. Usually it’s best to start at the beginning,” Mr. Turner said taking a seat at the head of the huge black table. Lily nodded her head at him and began her story about how her gift came to be.
“And so here I am,” she said when she had come to the end. Lily looked around at the faces surrounding her. Some of them stared blankly, and others crinkled in disbelief.
“Prove it,” one of the assigned street men dared.
“Alright,” Lily agreed. She had known someone would say that. Everyone did. “What’s your name?”
“Gary Phillips.”
“Gary, think of something truly terrible. It’s best if it’s a thought aimed at hurting someone else in some way.” Gary pushed his fingertips together and thought for a moment, and then said, “Okay, I know.” Lily’s head buzzed and she flinched as she heard the contents of Gary’s thoughts.
“You want to slice Gambino’s neck the next time you see him,” Lily paused listening. “You want to kill him. No, not just kill him. You want to see him suffer.” Everyone in the room turned to look at Gary.
“That’s right,” he said in amazement. “How did you know that?”
“She already told you Gary,” Mr. Turner piped in. “She has a gift.”
“So you really can hear people’s thoughts,” Shazzi said in astonishment. It was more of a confirmation than a question. Lily nodded, and everyone all at once was asking her to hear what they were thinking. Lily’s head hummed terribly. She let go of Landon’s hand to rub her temples with her fingertips.
“Hey now, settle down,” Mr. Turner yelled over the frenzy. Everyone fell silent and Lily’s head was cleared of all thoughts that were not her own. “You have all seen a demonstration already, and what she said is true. Her talent will help us immensely on this raid. You can talk to her individually about this later if you wish, but we have other things we need to discuss right now.” Everyone leaned back in their chairs and listened as Mr. Turner laid the plan for Saturday morning before them. He told each person what was expected of them, thanked them for coming, and told them to go home to get anything they might need for the next couple of days. The team members left speaking among themselves, but not saying much to Lily or her friends. Shazzi flashed them all a friendly smile on her way out, but said nothing.
“You are free to go now,” Mr. Turner said smiling at Lily. “I think that went pretty well. They seemed to accept it. I think seeing you in action will be what will seal the deal for them.” He stood and adjusted his blue checked tie.
“When will I need to come back?”
“The job is on Saturday, but it will be early enough in the morning that it will be best for you to spend the night before here in the bunker with everyone else. It will also give you the chance to get to know the team better. I will have Mr. B. bring the three of you over on Friday night. I will feel more comfortable having Landon and Malaya in the bunker while we are on the job, just in case. I’ll walk you to the limo.” He cocked his head in the direction of the tiny door, and began to walk in that direction. Lily, Landon and Malaya followed him back through the small pantry door and out to the awaiting limo.
“Remember,” Mr. Turner reminded them. “I’ll be sending out team members to keep an eye on you. If you spot someone following you, give this sign.” He extended his thumb, pointer finger and middle finger, but kept his last two fingers held down against his palm to make the sign for “three” in American Sign Language.
“Show them the sign, and if they don’t immediately give it back, then press the red button here.” Mr.