Chosen by Denise Grover Swank

Will as he seemed to evaluate his trustworthiness. Will gave him a disarming smile.
    Jake kept his eyes on Will. “He needs to know, Mommy.”
    She scoffed. “I think this is a bad idea.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she turned to face the kitchen.
    Jake looked at Will, waiting.
    “Who are the Bad Men?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Why are they chasing you?”
    “They want me.”
    Will glanced up at Emma to see if she would confirm what Jake said. Her mouth was set in a thin line, biting her lower lip.
    “How do you know when they are coming?”
    “I can see them.”
    “See them? How?”
    “In my head. I see things.”
    Jake stated it so matter-of-factly, as though seeing things in his head was perfectly natural. Will wondered if he was joking.
    “You can read minds?”
    Jake’s tongue peeked out of the corner of his mouth as he thought about the question. “Well, not exactly. I see things, things that will happen. Not all things, just some things, usually only bad things.” His blue eyes clouded in distress. “But lately, I can touch people, and see more.”
    “Like read their minds?”
    “Gah, enough with the read-their-minds shit.” Emma rolled her eyes. “He already said he can’t read minds.”
    Will glared. “I’m trying to understand, Princess. You’ve had about seven years to figure this out. This is my first time.”
    “First of all, he’s only five, so what you just said is impossible,” she spit out, placing her palms on the table and leaning toward him. “Second, we didn’t know until he was two that he had his gift .” The way she uttered the word made it apparent she used it sarcastically. “Third, quit calling me Princess.”
    Holding up his hands, Will said, “My mistake.” He looked at Jake. “Sorry.”
    Jake shrugged. “That’s okay.” He didn’t appear as offended as his mother.
    “I’m just trying to understand.”
    Jake nodded. “It’s okay. We’ve never told anyone before.”
    “Really? Why not?”
    “It’s not exactly the kind of thing you go around telling people,” Emma said, her anger partially tempered. “Think about it. It sounds crazy, so who’s going to believe it. And then if they do…some people try to take what doesn’t belong to them and stop at nothing to get it.”
    “That’s the Bad Men? Right? Who are they?”
    “We don’t know who they are, or even why they want Jake. But Jake has always sensed they were coming and we always got away. The first time it happened I didn’t know what he was talking about, so that time we barely made it. I always listened to Jake after that.” Emma had a far-off look in her eyes, remembering, before her face hardened. “We used to be able to stay somewhere for several months, but the last two times they have found us more quickly and with less notice. Before, we had several hours to pack and leave. This time we had about fifteen minutes.”
    “You know this sounds crazy?”
    Emma narrowed her eyes. “I already told you it did.”
    “Why tell me? Why am I the first?”
    “Because Jake says you need to know.”
    Will turned to Jake. “Why do I need to know?”
    “I see you with us. You’d find out about me anyway, so might as well just tell you.” Jake paused, staring into his eyes. “Soon you’ll know what you’re really protecting.”
    His stomach twisted. He felt like a snake, deceiving a child. But he supposed he was, in an indirect way. He wasn’t there to protect Jake. In essence, he was protecting Emma, but only because he was required to bring her alive. Nevertheless, this was why he didn’t work with kids. Kids didn’t deserve the shit that life handed them. Their parents, on the other hand, usually did.
    “What do you see me doing?”
    A frown formed on Jake’s face. “You don’t need to know what you do. It will happen anyway. You don’t even need to know we need you, but Mommy does. And if I tell you, maybe she’ll trust you more.” He gazed at her again. “In the