Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine.

Spoilers:Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

This is an AU story, with a mix of characters in canon as well. Originally the second half of Traitors Among Us.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest, as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as beta on this one. I appreciate all your help. I'd also like to thank Vanessa Loor for translating my English into Spanish. Any mistakes are mine.

A/N: I ask for your patience in allowing me to develop the story. I guarantee the end result will turn out if you can just keep believing.

Chapter 3: Murder Remembered

Bree's POV:

I knew the day was waiting to spring on me, but didn't want to give in to the need to get up and get the day started. I was relieved that there had been no nightmares the night before. I was keeping an open mind to Stephanie's suggestion yesterday about bringing in a professional. Micha had been suggesting it periodically over the past ten years, and each time, she'd claimed she was fine. I was happy to see she wanted to truly make sure there were no lasting effects from what she'd gone through ten years ago. I knew deep down that this was what all three of them needed, but held out no hope that whoever Ranger brought in would be able to help me. After all, most people didn't even believe in psychic phenomenon.

I hugged my pillow tighter and let myself admit that I missed my own dad. Although Micha had done an awesome job making sure I knew I was loved and wanted very much in his life and I loved him with all my heart, until I'd met Lester, no one had ever offered me the silence that I'd gotten when I was with my dad. I knew that had he not been murdered, my dad would've been able to teach me things that no other person in my life would understand. I pushed my memories back inside because I couldn't take a chance on anyone finding out about my father. I was remembering that day ten years ago, when Micha had been called to come pick me up from preschool because I was in hysterics and no one could calm me. Micha had taken me home, and when I'd told him I knew Momma and Dad were dead, he'd told me we had to hide who I was from the world. He'd told me that our parents had been murdered and we had to hide my connection to my father because of his renowned abilities. He was afraid for me if it got out.

It was while we were running from the past that we'd met Stephanie. Micha had told me to stay in the car while he went to see if he could help the person in the car that had gone off the road, but I'd known that he would need me in order to help the woman. When we'd gotten to the car, I'd sensed there had been another presence, and since I hadn't been sure whether it was a good or bad presence, I'd put up my defenses. I think that was why I always reacted like this when Diesel was around. I remembered the smell of Christmas and associated it with that day. Stephanie had seemed frightened by Micha, but when I'd crawled into the car with her, she'd seemed to calm down.

Stephanie had told us that she needed a new start. Micha had glanced at me, and after a couple seconds in which I knew he had been weighing whether to trust her or not, he'd told her we were looking for a new start as well. He'd told her about our parents being murdered and how he thought they might come after me.

Stephanie had turned and looked at me for several minutes before she'd turned back to Micha and said, "They're looking for a young man and a little girl. If we change the dynamic a little, we could probably walk right beside them and they'd never know it."

Puzzled, Micha had looked at her for a moment before asking, "You mean if we team up, they might not even give us a second glance?"

Stephanie had nodded. "We're just two young people with our child."

I remembered the way Micha had looked into her eyes and asked, "You're willing to do that?"

Stephanie had turned to me and touched the top of my head before saying, "It would be protecting all of us and give us all what we need."

Micha had helped Stephanie out of her car and over to where our car was parked before going back to get her stuff out of her car and transferring it to our trunk. With that done, we'd traveled for a time before pulling into the town where, until a few days ago, we'd made our life.

I went to turn over and stilled. Something was pulling me to the outer regions of consciousness. I worried as to whether I should open myself or shore up the wall the best I could. I cautiously opened myself and was rewarded with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Although I was unable to bring the person into focus, there was a feeling of love surrounding me and I felt safe. I saw myself walking along the beach with the person. Suddenly, there were three men in front of us, and although I knew there was danger, I knew I was safe. I watched as the three men pulled out weapons and repeatedly shot in the direction we were standing. I felt the pain in my chest and looked down at the two bodies lying on the ground. What I saw had me sitting upright in bed. My chest was heaving and I couldn't catch my breath. Finally, a sob escaped and I threw myself on the bed and let the pillow muffle the sounds of my sobs.

The warm hand on my back had me momentarily stiffening until I realized there was silence, and I knew it must be Lester.

I turned to look at him, and he gently ran his hand through my hair and asked, "What's wrong, Chula?"

I shook my head and whispered, "A bad dream."

He looked at me for several seconds before his eyes narrowed and he leaned down to whisper, "When Micha hired on at Rangeman, he had a conversation with Ranger, Tank, Bobby and me. He told us everything, Chula, so you don't have to worry about telling me anything."

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand as I tried to sit up and whispered, "I saw my parents' murder."

Lester's face was blank as he asked, "Then? Or just now?"

"Just now. I felt a presence that made me feel safe, and then there were three men with guns and they were shooting. When I looked down, I saw my parents lying there."

Lester pulled me into his arms and held me to him as he did his best to comfort me. "Did you see what the men looked like?"

I nodded against him.

He hesitated before asking, "Did you recognize any of them?"

I hesitated for a minute and then replied, "The man in the middle seemed familiar somehow, but I can't place him. They were dressed a lot like those men you went out to check out with Ranger."

"Do you think one of them might have been involved?"

I shook my head. "None of them looked like the three I saw…but the feeling they gave me was similar to the feeling when my parents were killed."

Lester ran his hand down over my hair and whispered, "You're safe, Chula. We'll keep you safe."

I rested in his embrace for several minutes before groaning and saying, "I guess I'm going to have to get up. Everyone else is up and moving around."

Lester pulled back and winked at me. "If you want some extra sleep time, I can hold them off for a bit for you."

I blushed and smiled before shaking my head and replying, "Thanks, but I'll go ahead and get up."

Lester chuckled. "Okay, Chula. Just let me know if you change your mind."

Once Lester left, I got up and headed into the bathroom, where I answered nature's call before brushing my teeth and hair. I went into the bedroom and slipped into a pair of black jeans, an emerald green T-shirt, and my sneakers. I paused before pulling my hair back into a ponytail and then headed out to the dining room to see what our choices were for breakfast. When I got there, most of the others were already seated at the table and eating. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lester glance my way, as if he was checking on me, and I nodded in his direction.

Once I'd fixed my plate at the buffet, I went to sit in the open seat beside Lester. He winked at me, making me blush again. I glanced around the table at the others before starting on my breakfast. I felt eyes on me and looked around the table until my gaze rested on Diesel. He was looking at me through hooded eyes, and something about the way he was looking at me reminded me of the man I'd seen killing my parents. I studied him for several seconds and felt a pressure in my head, as if someone was trying to get inside of it. I narrowed my eyes and pushed them forcefully back out. When Diesel fell off his chair onto the floor, everyone else stopped eating and looked over to where he was sprawled out. I lowered my eyelids and bent my head down to concentrate on the food in front of me. Lifting my fork, I slowly started eating.

A/N: Just so you know, the group that is at the safe house is as follows: Ranger, Stephanie, Julie, Micha, Bree, Lester, Bobby, Hector, Angel, Tank, Hal, Ram, Woody, Vince, and Cal. Diesel and Alexander Ramos are there as well. As to who was in the cars that Ranger and the guys went to check out… ;) More will be coming on that eventually.