Mind Waves

by Amanda Uhl

  Unable to stop herself, she nodded.

  “Good. You need to reject it, Grace. Push it from your mind. Only you can do this, Grace. Concentrate and reject it.”

  She nodded again. But some stubborn part of her she didn’t know she possessed was listening, too, and was shouting at her: Hold on, Grace. Hold on. Do not let go.

  Kyle Willard was growing angrier. She knew he was, even though he did not give the outward appearance of anger. He was trying to control it. He needed Grace to give in. She could put a stop to his anger if she gave in and pushed the ugly thing from her head like he wanted her to.

  Grace tried again, but the inner voice was stronger. It continuously urged her not to listen. Back and forth it went, with Kyle commanding her to reject the object in her mind and the other voice rebelling. She was exhausted and finding it hard to pay attention to either side. Suddenly, she couldn’t hear anything. There was blessed silence.

  When she awoke, it was to the sound of voices raised in anger. Instinctively, she kept her eyes closed and listened.

  “Should we push her further? Her mind seems fragile. I’m afraid she’ll crack.”

  “Oh, her mind’s strong enough. I tested it myself, remember. She nearly ejected me the first time I entered,” the madman bellowed.

  “Yes, but you’ve never pushed her this hard.”

  “It puzzles me why she is hanging on to it. She doesn’t remember him.”

  “Shhh. Kyle she’s conscious.”

  Grace heard footsteps, and the madman was there, leaning over her. “There’s no use pretending to be asleep. We know you’re awake. Open your eyes, Grace.”

  She didn’t want to. But like before, she couldn’t seem to say no. Her eyes opened to see his grinning face and crystal blue eyes staring into hers. And the nightmare began all over again. This time, she was sure he would win. At one point, it nearly slipped away from her, exciting his triumph. But it was premature. Grace held on, and eventually the portal settled back into place. She clung to it like a dying person to a life preserver.

  How long did they stay like that, eyes locked in a mental tug of war? It seemed like an eternity, but maybe it was only an instant. What am I holding on to? And why? It would be so easy to let go. Let go, Grace. You don’t need it anymore. It is worthless. Give it up and the pain will disappear. You’ll be able to sleep. The nightmare will be gone. You can go back to your own home. The dream was becoming more vivid. She could picture her bedroom, all nice and cozy waiting for her. She was so tired. Her pillow looked full and inviting. I need to let go and lay my head upon it. She slipped away, like a boat on the water, drifting aimlessly, subject to any bump or wave that came along.

  *****

  Kyle nearly shook her in his frustration, although rationally he knew his anger wouldn’t solve the problem. Why did this woman, of all people, have to prove so stubbornly frustrating? She should have been an easy target. Instead, Grace Woznisky’s talent, which he himself had researched so meticulously before he’d introduced himself online, appeared to lie in her resistance. Kyle could only imagine what a formidable foe she would have made if properly trained as a child. Perhaps one of their future children might inherit the talent. Excitement pooled in his belly.

  Kyle gritted his teeth. He couldn’t take her with another man’s portal lodged in her mind. That must go. But after three precious hours, Grace would not eject it. He could almost admire her if he was not so annoyed. He reached out, snagging the ginger ale Kaitlyn had poured for him. The cold fizz helped to settle his stomach. Kyle could not work on Grace while she was unconscious—at least not without causing irreparable damage. For what he intended, he needed her mind intact.

  “If you don’t watch, you’re going to end up with another ulcer.”

  As if on cue, his stomach gurgled.

  “The girl frustrates me.”

  “I know but you’ll make a mistake, like before.” She walked to the windows, her short strides reminding him of their mother.

  “We were young. We didn’t understand our abilities. Our father only taught us the minimum we needed to learn how to use them.”

  “You were angry. You pushed her too hard.”

  “I did not.” Kyle spoke more sharply than he intended. This was an old argument between them. He reached his hand into his shirt to finger the burn mark on his chest. He could still picture his mother as she lay there, unmoving, after the car she was driving careened off the road and hit a tree. I did not want her dead.

  I know. I never blamed you. It was an accident. You only meant to give her a small push. You were frustrated because she was making us move again. But when you get angry, it’s too easy to make a mistake.

  It had been terrifying for all of them. He received a burn across twenty percent of his body, and Kaitlyn had suffered a severe concussion that had nearly taken her life. Their mother had not survived. That’s when the bed-wetting began and the teasing had gotten worse. That’s when the hitting started, and he first tasted his own blood.

  “I paid for my folly.” He thought of the crazy old coot who was his first foster parent kicking him down the stairs in the morning.

  He was breathing too rapidly. He wrenched his thoughts back to the present. It was a measure of the intensity of his feelings he could not stay focused on his task. A cool hand touched his arm. Kaitlyn. The accident had brought them closer. After a series of rotten foster parents they had been adopted by a wealthy family and given every advantage money could buy. Yet, unlike himself, who had thrived, Kaitlyn had not enjoyed their adoptive family and grew rebellious. At twenty-one, she made a request. She asked him to erase fifteen years of memories.

  “You’ve been a good brother to me, Kyle. When I asked you to free me from family obligations, you did. You helped settled me into my own place. And when I was tired of being alone, you offered me a place to live. I don’t forget.”

  He grasped her hand where it lay on his shoulder. “You never asked me for much of anything. It was the least I could do.”

  “We have to stick together. That’s why you have to control your anger.”

  Kaitlyn had come to live with him a year ago. His family, and for the most part, the world, believed her to be his live-in girlfriend, and that was fine by him. It didn’t seem to bother Kaitlyn either. And he had plenty of women to choose from. He studied Grace, where she lay passed out on the couch. Too bad the one in front of me is proving to be resistant. I will break her.

  “You must remain calm.”

  Kaitlyn was right. He settled in the chair opposite, staring at Grace broodingly, hands steepled under his chin—his favorite thinking pose. He had a decision to make. He could send her back to her condo, none the wiser, or he could keep her here a little while longer.

  Which shall it be? He glanced at his cell phone. 9:43 p.m. Jenkins will be checking in soon. The longer he kept her, the greater the risk. He sighed. Nothing was ever easy. When she’s finally mine, I’ll make her pay for her stubbornness.

  *****

  Grace drifted in a sea of emptiness; her mind could not make sense of anything. At one point there was a bright light, but it faded quickly, sending her into deeper sleep. She awoke much later in her own bed, the whole evening a vague memory. She recalled the first part of the evening well—the chauffeur, the ride to the hotel, the dinner with some new client. That’s when everything grew fuzzy. Hadn’t she enjoyed a fine dinner and wine? Maybe she had had one glass too many? She remembered getting back into the car, and a man taking her home. She groaned. What a lousy consultant she was. She could not remember one thing about the assignment she had taken on.

  *****

  The buzzing of his cell phone awoke David. He checked the time. 6:00 a.m. Peter was always an early riser.

  “After twenty years, you’d think I’d be used to these early morning calls.” David grumbled. He’d never been a morning person, and he still wasn’t. “Hello.”

  “Rise and shine.” Peter wasted no time in getting t
o the point. “We’ve searched the database of likely Patchwork customers. I’ll give you three guesses who we found.”

  “Peter Pan? It’s way too early for games. Who?”

  “Our Chinese friend Thung Yeh.”

  David thought hard. “So, what does that tell us?”

  “Our hacker came across Thung Yeh through the Patchwork Company. That’s how he got wind of DuMar’s breakthrough.”

  “Do we have any leads on who the hacker might be?”

  “Unfortunately, he’s covered his tracks well. No one at the company seems to have a clue. There are hundreds of possible customers. It’s going to take us some time to hack into their minds and find him.

  “That’s what I figured. Call me at a decent hour when you have something more. I need my beauty sleep.”

  He heard Peter’s laugh as he disconnected. Despite the early hour, David could not get the sleep he so badly needed. By his estimate, he had slept a good twelve hours. He knew he needed more, but he must have passed the safe mark or Peter would never have called him.

  David’s thoughts immediately turned to Grace, and he couldn’t resist entering the portal briefly to reassure himself she was okay. Grace was sleeping soundly…no nightmares. Good. Everything appeared normal. But David couldn’t shake the sensation he was missing a vital piece of information. He hesitated. He should leave. He couldn’t afford the drain on his energy supply. Still, it would only take a moment. Decision made, he focused on her thoughts and was immediately drawn into the waves.

  Grace was walking through her old house in Parma. Everything was dark—her mother and sister were laughing in the basement. She started toward the voices, but suddenly turned toward the front door and appeared surprised to find it unlocked. He watched as she opened it and slipped out. What did she see? He peered over her shoulder and saw an empty landscape with brilliant, white snow that stretched endlessly into the distance. He nearly alerted her to his presence, barely managing to keep his shock contained. Quickly, he pulled himself back through the portal.

  As soon as he could open his eyes, he called for Geneva. She materialized immediately, grasping his hands, her eyes silently willing him to speak. “It’s Grace. A good portion of her mind has been wiped by our hacker.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Making Schemes

  They were sitting in the home office. Peter, Roland, Rolf, Kevin, Geneva and about every other member of his extended family.

  “Tell me again.” Peter was asking. “How do you know it’s our man?”

  “I recognize the landscape. It was the same way in Thung Yeh’s mind. Nearly every trace of memory we were after was wiped clean.”

  “Are you certain?”

  David nodded. “Without a doubt.”

  “He has her.”

  David found himself shaking his head. “Not yet. He hasn’t dislodged the portal I created. It’s still there. She’s not yet under his control.” He struggled for his iron calm, but it was difficult. He wanted so badly to find the bastard and blast him.

  “Son, I don’t want to tell you what to do.” His father laid a calm hand on his shoulder. “I know you care for Grace. But your strong emotions where she’s concerned could spell disaster. Your mother and I think you should let Brian handle this one.”

  “No, it must be me, Dad. She trusts me. Even though her memories of me are gone, some part of her trusts me enough to hang on to the portal. I won’t let her down.”

  His father gave his mother a worried look. The two were clearly exchanging thoughts as they often did. He deliberately gave them their privacy.

  “He’s right.” Peter acknowledged. “As much as Brian would be sure to keep his head, it’s unusual the girl has managed to hang on to the portal David created. That leads me to believe on some level, she’s tied to David and would respond better to him.”

  “And I don’t relish the thought of being zapped by a techno psychopath.” Brian offered, jokingly. “One thing I don’t understand, though, is what the nut-job hoped to achieve by wiping an innocent girl’s mind?”

  “There is something he didn’t want us to find.” David told him. “Something that would have led us back to him. He is using Grace to get to me. He doesn’t care about her. But he knows that I do.”

  “So what do we do now?” Brian asked.

  Peter and David exchanged glances. “No.” David shook his head. “It’s too dangerous for Grace. The bastard will finish her off.”

  “It’s our only choice. Like it or not, the only way to our hacker is through Grace.” Peter’s tone became thoughtful. “It may be that’s what our friend was after all along. He knows you have strong feelings for Grace. He must realize the likelihood of your slipping up when her safety is involved. With Grace under his control, he will have the upper hand.”

  “So what do we do?” David reached deep for control to stifle the panic racing through his system.

  “We need to set a trap. We have to think like he does. The hacker expects you to rush to Grace’s defense. He deliberately wiped her memories so you would be sure to see and react. He wants your emotions to run wild so he can find a way into your mind. Once he does, you’ll be under his control. If he keeps you alive, he will have a powerful minion who can do his dirty work.”

  “If it’s all about control,” Peter spoke slowly, “let’s give him that. Let’s make him think he has you when he’s under. When he least expects it, in the real world, we spring our trap.”

  “What will I need to do?”

  “As hard as it will be, you cannot rush to Grace’s defense. You’ll need to sit back and wait for the hacker to show his hand. He will be back, make no mistake. And when he returns, you’ll need to make him believe he’s won. That won’t be easy. To convince him, you’ll need to give him some bit of your mind, while hanging onto the controls. Meanwhile, we’ll trail Grace. He cannot be doing this at a distance. We’ll watch and grab our man.ˮ

  “Should we bring Grace in on our plan?” Sophia asked.

  David shook his head. “That won’t help. She doesn’t carry memories of me any longer. She won’t have a clue what we’re talking about and won’t believe us once she does. Plus, she’s not one of us. She won’t be able to keep her emotions under control. Our hacker will know we’ve been in touch and will use that to his advantage. I’m afraid that wouldn’t end well for Grace.”

  Geneva nodded. “So that’s our plan? It doesn’t seem right.” She glanced at David. “Letting you face him alone and at such a price. Are you sure this will work?”

  “Nothing is certain,” Peter replied. “Brian will be nearby, in case. The rest of our crew,” he nodded at Rolf, Roland, and Kevin, “will confront the spider in his web.”

  “We’ll also be on watch,” Carl Jenkins said, squeezing David’s shoulder.

  David glanced at his mother. She was nodding at him, but he knew her well enough to know underneath her calm façade she was anxious. Still she smiled and gave him a hug. “We haven’t forgotten what to do even though it’s been a while.”

  Peter nodded. “To achieve success, we’ll need everyone to be on full alert and ready to take action. Once our hacker thinks he has David and the girl, anything can happen, so let’s think like Boy Scouts and be prepared.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Tailed

  Something was wrong. Grace’s brain was not functioning like it normally did. She couldn’t seem to connect her thoughts properly. Why couldn’t she remember her important client? She couldn’t even remember what he looked like. About the only thing she could recall was the feeling he was disappointed in her. Grace had left something undone but what it was, she didn’t know.

  Still in her pajamas, she opened the door to get the paper and shuffled back into the kitchen. It was Tuesday. Thank God she could remember that much. The date on the newspaper jumped out at her. September 5. Claire’s wedding was weeks away. How had that snuck up on her? Grace had her plane ticket and her dress. She felt a twinge
of disappointment. No date. For some reason, it seemed important she bring a date, but why that would be, Grace couldn’t fathom. The last time her sister had almost tied the knot, Grace had still been married. Maybe that was why having a date seemed so important. Or maybe I want a date to avoid the best man. She shuddered when she imagined facing James again—she and her tits.

  What should she do today? The sky had looked overcast the brief moment she had been outside. Maybe a good day for shopping? Now that she had money in the bank, it was time to spend a little. She wanted to give Claire something special for her wedding day. True, she had gone in with her mom to purchase their dishes, but that wasn’t a fun or special gift from a sister. So she had written a poem and had it framed. She would collect it and look for a couple of cute outfits to wear in California.

  An hour and a half later she was out the door and in her car, credit cards in hand. She spent a busy afternoon at the mall going from store to store searching for the perfect outfit. She finally found what she was looking for at Macy’s and was heading back to her car, when she got a creepy feeling, like someone was following her. She glanced around quickly, but no one was looking her way. She shrugged and got in her car and drove toward the grocery store. She needed milk and OJ and more birdseed for Harvey. Grace supposed she could get that at the pet store, but it would be more convenient to make the purchases while she was getting groceries.

  She was pulling into the grocery store when she got the same creepy feeling again. This time she noticed a gray van in her rear view mirror. She did not recognize it or the driver. She pulled into a spot and parked. The gray van did, too. Grace waited for the driver to get out but no one emerged. Strange. She shivered involuntarily. My imagination. She got out and quickly made her way into the store.

  When she came back out again, the van was no longer there. She breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t realized how anxious that had made her. She seriously needed a vacation. While putting her groceries in the trunk, Grace heard a ping. She checked her phone. Claire was texting. Grace noticed Claire had also left a voicemail. She must not have heard the ringer when she was in the grocery store. Something was wrong. She put the key in the ignition and returned the call.