"He was here." Emma's voice was filled with fear. The night was pitch black around them, with the single street light barely able to keep them from tripping over the curb. Something winged flittered over their heads. Without the sunlight, the air had gone cold.
"Got that in one," Brennan grunted sarcastically, trying to cover his own concern. "We tracked his comm. link to this mailbox. Three guesses as to how it got in there."
"No, I mean Jesse was here, and afraid," Emma clarified. "Something happened to him."
"What?"
"I don't know." Emma cast around, feeling the postal box, trying for remnants of Jesse's emotions. "He was here. He was unhappy, feeling unwanted."
"He was never unwanted," Adam started to say angrily, but Emma waved him down.
"I didn't say that, Adam. But Jesse did feel unwanted and left out. Those were his feelings—ow!"
"Emma?"
"Pain! Jesse was attacked! Something—his head! My head! My head!" Emma clutched her temples. Brennan caught her before she could fall.
"Emma! Snap out of it! Break the link!" Adam commanded. "Emma!"
"I'm all right." But Emma kept her eyes closed a moment longer, allowing Brennan to support her. The tall elemental escorted her to a bench, easing her off of her feet.
Adam sat down beside her. "Emma, tell us what happened. What happened to Jesse?"
Emma stared at him, eyes wide. "They did something to his head, so that Jesse couldn't use his powers to get away. It hurt him, Adam. And then everything went black."
Adam moved on. "That means that whoever did this knew that Jesse is a mutant, which rules out the average mugger." He looked at them grimly. "Want to bet that it was Bea Sutter?"
"She found him quickly," was Shalimar's grim opinion. "You were right, Adam. Dr. Sutter was waiting for him to leave Sanctuary. She must have posted watchers."
"How are we going to find him?" Brennan wanted to know. "Without his ring, there's no way to track Jesse."
"Then we start at Dr. Sutter's last known address." Adam laughed without humor. "Any one for a ride in the country to a certain farmhouse?"