by Amanda Uhl
“Roland, come with me.” He barked out as the desk clerk handed him a plastic card.
“That’s room 2514.” She called after them as they took off running toward a bank of elevators.
As luck would have it, the doors opened immediately when they pressed the up button, and they stepped in quickly, punching in floor twenty-five. Rolf hoped to hell they had pegged the bastard for the right suite. Otherwise, they were all doomed.
Within minutes, they arrived at their destination and took off at a run to room 2514. They passed the key over the lock and entered the suite. They went from room to room quickly, but it was soon apparent whoever had been there had left in a hurry. The coffee cup on the table was still three-quarters full. A half-eaten bagel lay beside it. The bed was made, but there was an indentation where a body had lain. Rolf laid his hand upon the surface. It was still warm. His cell phone buzzed. He answered.
“They have resurfaced. Do you have him?”
“Dammit, no.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hospital Stay
Grace came to consciousness suddenly, opening her eyes to see her familiar bedroom. She didn’t know what she expected to see, but it was not the ordinary items in front of her: Her yellow comforter, the overstuffed chair with yesterday’s clothing draped across it, sunlight streaming through the window. Grace took deep breaths to calm her racing heart, but that didn’t seem to help. She was weak and frightened, casting glances every few seconds to each corner of the room, fearing a shadow of the man in her dream would emerge from the walls and reclaim her for the nightmare. Grace clasped her pillow and let out an involuntary sob. She maintained a fragile hold on reality, but was close to the breaking point.
There was a knock on her door. “Grace, it’s the police, and we have an ambulance. We know you’ve been through a trauma. Open up. We’re here to help.”
Grace forced herself to raise her head, but nearly passed out in the process. The urgent pounding continued. “Grace, open the door. We’re here to help.”
“I’m coming.” Her voice was no more than a whisper.
“Grace, stay back. We’re coming in to get you.”
There was a splintering sound and then the door flew open and police officers and ambulance crew streamed around her. “Let’s get her to the hospital.”
She was lifted onto a stretcher. Someone took her pulse and threw out the number fifty-five which made them spring into action. Her arm stung and a shot of something cold entered her veins. I’m dying. Grace felt and heard nothing for a long time.
When she next awoke, it was evening and her mother was in the room. “Oh, thank God. They said you would wake, but I didn’t know when. How do you feel? Are you hungry?”
Grace took stock of her surroundings. “Where am I? What happened?”
“Oh, dear Lord, you don’t know. You are in the hospital, Gracie. Fairview Hospital. They said you experienced a head trauma of some sort. There are policemen who want to question you but not until you’re feeling better. Do you remember anything? Why would someone attack you? It doesn’t make sense.”
Her mother was beside herself.
Grace remembered the terrifying man in her dreams with the abnormally long arms. How was she ever going to explain what sent her over the edge was a figment of her imagination? They were going to need to lock her away. She should be locked away. She was hallucinating. Grace was amazed she still had the mental capacity to realize she was crazy. Tears seeped from her eyes. Grace did her best to convey the urgency of the situation to her mother.
“I’m not…right. I’m seeing things that aren’t real. I need help.” She tried to avoid the word crazy.
Her mother stared at her worriedly but did her best to be reassuring. “It’s going to be okay Grace. Let me get the nurses. They’ll know what to do. You’re gonna be fine.”
She went hurriedly into the hall and came back with two nurses. They immediately checked her vitals.
“Everything’s looking good,” the taller of the two said. She pointed to their names on a whiteboard in front of her bed. “I’m Anna and this is Diane.” She gestured to the shorter nurse across from her. “We have the night shift and will take care of you this evening. You’ve suffered a shock. You’ll need to take it easy until your mind has a chance to adjust to the trauma. In the meantime, let’s get you comfortable. I’ve ordered a light meal. Would you like something to drink? We have water, juice, soda…”
Grace nodded. Her throat scratched like sandpaper. “Water’s fine.”
“Coming right up.” She smiled, nodding at Diane who left the room, presumably to get it. When she returned, though, she also brought with her a policeman and another man dressed in plain clothes.
“The police would like to talk to you about what you experienced. Do you feel up to it? There is some urgency.”
Grace nodded slowly. Her mother remained by her side, eyeing the police suspiciously.
“Mrs. Ellis, we know you’re concerned for your daughter, but we’d like to speak to her alone if you don’t mind. We suspect there might be foul play involved and other lives are at stake. It’s important we capture the crucial details without jeopardizing anyone else’s privacy. We’ll only be a moment, and we’ll send someone to get you.”
Her mother appeared about to argue, but Grace gestured for her to go, relieved she would not have to reveal the details of her mental breakdown to her mother and anxious to share it with professionals who could help. “I’ll be okay, Mom.” Her voice came out as a whisper.
Her mother hesitated, looking at Grace worriedly, and finally after much encouragement on the part of the officer, and after warning them she would be back in a few minutes, let herself be led from the room by the nurses. Grace turned her attention to the police officers. The younger man spoke first.
“I’m Sergeant Lavillo and this is Chief Brooks.” He motioned toward the plain clothes gentleman. “Mr. Brooks works for a special unit of the FBI.”
Grace found herself carefully studying them. Why would they be interested in her mental breakdown? What have I done? A sudden memory of the unexpected ten thousand dollars in her bank account rose in her mind. Oh, God, she knew it was too good to be true. She’d got caught in a fraud ring. Perhaps, it was a case of mistaken identity. Her confusion and fear must have shown on her face, because the Chief made an effort to calm her.
“Please, call me Peter. Grace, you are an innocent victim. I would like to fill you in on the details of our case. It will explain why you are in the hospital. May I?” He gestured to a nearby chair.
Grace nodded, and he took the chair across from her. For the first time, a glimmer of hope dawned. Could there be a rational explanation for her recent symptoms?
“Officer Lavillo, would you please excuse us?” Peter nodded at the younger man, who immediately left the room.
Grace was alone with the Chief, who seemed at a loss for words. She guessed he was not used to revealing the details of his cases to anyone, let alone a hospital patient. He cleared his throat.
“Your state of mind is extremely fragile right now. I don’t want to do anything that will create undue stress for you. But it’s important I fill you in on the pertinent details.”
He waited until she acknowledged she heard him and nodded her permission to continue. “Your condition makes it difficult for me to tell you everything right away. But we’re anxious for you to recover fully. The lives of other good people depend on it.” He paused as if searching for the right words, and continued. “You see, your brain has been robbed of critical information, making it difficult for you to cope with any situation, let alone one as complicated as this. Do you understand?”
“What do you mean…robbed? How could someone rob my brain? That doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s the tricky part. I’ll do my best to explain.” He paused momentarily again to gather his thoughts, rubbing the back of his neck slowly. For a man well into his sixties, he still had a full head
of hair, although mostly gray. Married with children or perhaps grandchildren. She found it hard to focus on what he was now saying.
“We have a special unit within the FBI that has experienced some success in the area of mind control. We call it the CMU or Cognitive Mind Unit. This unit has been in existence since the early 1950’s. That is when our government discovered a rare genetic mutation, allowing certain families that possessed it, to communicate with one another without words. They could share thoughts and ideas, passed back and forth among them. You can imagine how that might prove useful to our government. It could provide a distinct advantage in a great number of military endeavors.”
Grace stared at him blankly. “Did you say, mind control?”
The Chief nodded and continued, as if he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary. “After extensive testing, it was discovered the mutation only transferred to the males in these families. Although both the males and females inherited the same traits, in the males, the mutation was dominant, where in the females it was recessive. I know this is a bit scientific, and I don’t want to bore you with an unnecessarily long explanation. Suffice it to say in our studies we learned that although the males inherited the ability to control thoughts, they could not do it well without the females present. The females act as a sort of conduit to the mind, if you would, for their male counterparts.
“Since these discoveries, the government has actively followed these families and encouraged them to use their skills for the greater good. As you can imagine, we have also had to track them in the event any family members turn to a life of crime.”
“Are you saying someone—a male family member who has turned to a life of crime—has been in my mind? Why would they do that?”
“Yes, it’s what I’m saying. This would not be the first time a civilian has gotten caught in the crossfire.” He paused and hesitated, as if he feared his next words would cause her to suffer a relapse. “Does the name David Jenkins hold any special meaning for you?”
Grace stared at him blankly, searching her mind for where she might have heard the name before and finding nothing, shook her head.
“I didn’t think so.” He continued, still watching her carefully. “You and David started dating several weeks ago. I believe you have feelings for one another. David is a member of one of those special families I mentioned. He’s been a member of the CMU since the age of twenty. He’s now forty. In our world, he’s something of a prodigy. His unique abilities have made him an incredibly valuable member of our unit. But they’ve also made him a target for an unknown enemy. This enemy wants him eliminated. They want this so badly they have investigated all of David’s relationships to determine where he’s most vulnerable. They discovered where you are concerned, he’s highly vulnerable. So they plundered your mind to get to David.”
“This is crazy. This David you say I’m involved with. I have no recollection of him at all. How is that possible?”
“Believe me when I tell you it’s not only possible, it has happened. Myself and several others are witnesses. A rogue mind hacker has been in your mind and has tried to kill you. If not for David, he would have succeeded. David saved your life. You have survived only slightly worse off than before. But David has not been so lucky. Even as we speak, he is fighting for his life. We believe you can save him. Will you help us?”
“Even if all this is true, what could I possibly do to help? Last time I checked, I couldn’t read minds…could I?” Grace trailed off hesitantly.
The Chief shook his head, giving her a smile. “No, Grace, you can’t read minds. Although we are looking into your genealogy. Your mind has proved incredibly resistant to the hacker. This is unusual.”
“What are you saying?”
“Grace, what do you know about your father’s family?”
“Not much. My father was adopted. He died when I was two. I don’t even remember him other than pictures.”
“It’s possible your father was a hacker. If he was adopted, he may not even have realized. I suspect that your talent was inherited from your father.”
“Talent for what? This is crazy. You mean as an artist?”
“It’s likely your art talent is closely linked to your psychic talent. Grace, you have the ability to manipulate energy. Because the talent was never developed, you most likely suppressed it, but it would come out in creative pursuits, such as art. I suspect that’s why you were drawn to beach glass. Glass and stones store energy. It would be natural for you to want to release the energy, which is what you instinctively do with your designs.”
“This is nuts. I don’t believe it.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to. We are doing genealogical research on your father’s family and hope to have proof soon enough. But in the meantime, I need you to understand your situation. You can read David’s mind if he allows it. That’s because he placed a portal in your mind when you and he were getting to know one another. A portal is a sort of instantaneous gateway linking one mind with another. It allows thoughts to travel back and forth freely, without energy escaping. It can only be established between people when there is a high level of trust. Your trust in David allowed him to place the portal in your mind. The rogue hacker sought to remove the portal, but you would not allow him access. Your talent protected you.” The last was said with a bit of awe, like she had done something amazing.
“I don’t remember anyone sharing my thoughts. I don’t remember any talk of portals. Why don’t I remember any of this?”
“Because the hacker erased your memories. Haven’t you noticed you have large gaps in your recent memories?”
Grace nodded. She had noticed she couldn’t seem to remember anything.
“Last night, you had a dream didn’t you? And the dream appeared to be real?”
She stared at him wide-eyed.
“The dream involved a man trying to kill you and others coming to your rescue, correct?”
She nodded slowly.
“The dream was real. The battle that took place was real. The men in your dream—all real.”
The cruel man’s hands had stretched across the great gulf like giant rubber bands. “I saw a crazy man stretch his arms an impossible distance across a great chasm. You mean to tell me that was real?”
“Not in the way you are imagining and certainly not in real life. In the mind, you are limited only by your imagination. Energy travels quickly and across great distances. Your brain needs to make sense of what is happening, so it uses images you will understand so you can follow the energy exchange.”
Her heart rate accelerated. Somewhere nearby a machine went off, beeping steadily. “So when the men in my dream were injured, they were injured in real life?”
“That’s right.” The Chief nodded.
The nurse, Anna, reentered the room and checked her vitals. “Sorry, sir, but your time with the patient is at an end. She needs her rest.”
“I need a few more minutes. I’ll be quick.”
“All right.” The nurse Anna agreed, but not before giving him a look. “I have to check on another patient. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”
When she had left the room, the Chief leaned over Grace’s bed urgently. “David needs you. He has slipped into a coma, while his brain attempts to repair itself. We are assisting him with drugs known to help the healing process. However, the portal he created in your mind will provide him with a lifeline. We also believe he will fight harder to recover if you are nearby. We would like to have you transferred to our private hospital, where we can easily monitor the two of you and prevent the hacker you dreamt of yesterday from reentering either of your minds to finish you off. Will you do it?”
His voice took on a fierce tone, and Grace realized this request was personal. The Chief must have a strong attachment to David, beyond business.
The man in her dream had taken the thrashing on her behalf. The evil man in her dreams…he could return at any time. The choice did not sound hard. Gra
ce would take being monitored around the clock, thank you.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
Grace was surprised at how fast the Chief was able to set things in motion once she had agreed to his plan. She didn’t know what her mother had been told, but whatever it was must have been plausible because she was all for the move as well. She held Grace’s hand tightly as they traveled by ambulance to the new facility, which, as it turned out, was on the opposite side of town.
The hospital was small and private, reserved mostly, she was told, for military patients. Within two hours, she was settled in her new room. Before Grace could sleep, though, she was asked to visit David Jenkins. He conveniently was given the room next to hers. They wheeled her by his bedside, prompting Grace to take his hand and have a conversation. She did as they asked. Grace wasn’t sure what to talk about, so she explained who she was and how she wanted him to get well. David lay silent in his bed. The only indication he was living was the slight up and down movement of his chest as his lungs continued to draw breath.
Chapter Thirty
Mind Talk
David gasped at the harsh pain and pressure in his head. Someone was holding his hand.
“I think he’s waking.” A woman’s voice called, excitedly. The sound seemed to come from a long way off. “What should I do?”
“Talk to him.” A familiar voice responded. “Be encouraging.”
“David, it’s Grace…Woznisky. Do you remember me?”
David strained to focus on what the woman was saying, but the pain was so sharp, he immediately closed his eyes, slipping blissfully into unconsciousness.
*****
“I’m sorry,” Grace said, turning to the Chief. “I tried.”
“You did well.” He reassured her. “We need to give it time. He’ll come to when his mind has recovered enough. Plus, the drugs are keeping him under. We’ll wean him and see what happens. Let’s get you back to bed. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
