Out in the Dark

by Nicola Adams

  “Did you lock up the car?” she asked Jake. All her possessions were in there, but she wisely carried her money on her person.

  Jake nodded and followed her to the back of the cab. Even he could see there was no way they could go on tonight. A glance out the window showed a blanket of white on everything.

  “They plough this road pretty good,” Johan said, when he saw Jake looking outside. “You can keep going on your journey tomorrow. The beds are clean and here are some extra blankets. I’ll be here in the front if you need anything.” Johan busied himself like a loving and concerned parent, and it made Jake uncomfortable. More so as he read the man’s energy and learned of his regrets at not having had children, and the sadness of losing his wife, which were all so close to the surface. Sometimes this psychic talent to peak into people’s lives could be a real drag.

  Chapter 13

  Jake woke to the smell of cooking and it took him a while to figure out where he was. He could smell breakfast being prepared and wondered how that was possible in the cab of a long-haul trucker?

  “”Mornin’. Jake, isn’t it?” Johan sounded chipper and Jake wondered where he had slept.

  “Yes, that’s right,” Jake said. He sat up and carefully stretched so he wouldn’t hit anything. Then he climbed out of the lower bunk and shook Shelley awake. It was much later than he would have liked and he really needed to get under way again.

  “You two must have some breakfast; my southern hospitality demands it. Besides, my Janey would haunt me if I sent you off into the cold without full tummies.”

  “Well,” Jake started, when Shelley interrupted him.

  “That would be wonderful, Johan.” She swung her legs over the edge of her bunk and lightly jumped down. “I’m just going to wash my face in the snow. I’ll be right back.” It sounded like a good idea so Jake followed her out. He was also eager to see how much snow was out there and how the car looked and if they would have to spend a lot of time cleaning it up.

  Outside, the cold hit them fully in the face and sent them scurrying to relieve themselves. Shelley was quick about everything, discreetly going in a ditch behind the car. As soon as she was back in the cab, with rosy cheeks and numb fingers, Jake took his turn, peeing away from the car. He too washed with snow so cold it made his fingers tingle.

  The car was not buried. The big truck had protected it and Jake nodded a thank-you to Johan. Much as he hated to admit it, the man had been right to take them in for the night. But, it meant more delays and Jake wasn’t sure how much time his father had.

  With a shock of guilt, he remembered he’d intended to send his father a message last night, but never had. He’d fallen asleep almost the instant he’d climbed into that cozy little bed.

  He leaned against the car and closed his eyes. He let his mind clear and sought out the strand of light he always saw when connecting to his father. He concentrated on keeping his breath slow and deep until he felt he had the connection, then he sent his message, outlining in quick images the events of the day before, and asking for guidance on where his father might be.

  “I’m coming, Dad,” Jake whispered, and added, “I love you.” Saying that always made him feel warm and loved inside, which told him his father must have received the message. That was how it worked.

  Shelley gave him a questioning look with one eyebrow raised and he nodded, assuming she was asking if he’d sent a message. Sometimes he could read her quite well and other times she was as closed as a sphinx, but he’d had that experience with Jessica too and chalked it up to a “girl thing.”

  Johan smiled, revealing a gap where one of his teeth should have been, and handed Jake a plate of hash with a fried egg on top. “It’s only out of a can, but it’ll fill you up,” Johan said, as if Jake might judge him for the quality of his hospitality. Jake smiled and said, “Thank you,” aware that this man had gone out of his way to provide shelter for him and Shelley.

  “It’s sure been nice having company. While you two were still sleeping like babies I checked on the radio and the snow won’t be sticking around. Once the sun comes out it should all melt away. You should be able to get into Nevada today. That’s where you’re headed, right?” Johan happily chatted on, brewing coffee, while Shelley and Jake ate their breakfast.

  The CB radio crackled to life from time to time with trucker chatter and Jake listened for reports on the weather.

  “This is great, Johan!” Shelley said. She understood about the man’s loneliness, but wanted to distance herself from it. He was part of her old life, not the new life, which would officially start at college. She was as eager as Jake to get going, though the security and warmth of the truck were very alluring and she was tempted to jump ship; ask Johan to take her to college and leave Jake to go find his father.

  “Ahhh!” Jake couldn’t keep from exclaiming as the image burst into his head. His father was sending what could only be a reply and it was a rush of images, showing Paul, who had been his friend, showing others who had been killed when he himself was taken and whisked off to Nevada. He showed Jake a rapid succession of road signs and Jake grabbed for the paper and a pen clipped to the dashboard to write down the names as quickly as he could before the images were lost. The last image was the word HURRY and then nothing.

  “What was that?” Johan asked. “You all right, son?” He looked at the hastily scribbled names and then at Jake’s pale and sweating face. The experience clearly had been overwhelming.

  “Yeah, I’m OK,” he managed to say between ragged breaths. “But we need to get on the road quickly. Not that this hasn’t been great, but I have to go.”

  Shelley understood, and in that instant made up her mind that she should stay with Jake. It wasn’t about the adventure or the excitement, it was about being there for him. She could see how much these visions took out of him and at some point she might have to take over for him. She knew how to drive a car, even if she didn’t have a license.

  “Well, whatever it is, it must be important. Here, take a thermos of coffee and this blanket. I wouldn’t feel right if you didn’t.” Johan poured the coffee into the thermos and folded up a blanket, handing both items to Shelley. He lowered his voice and whispered, “You sure he’s all right?” Shelley nodded again and smiled. “He’ll be fine, but I have to stay with him.”

  Johan sighed and shrugged, but said no more. He joined them outside and helped clear the Pontiac of snow and produced a shovel from somewhere on the truck to clear a path to the freshly plowed road. Another plow came by just as he was finishing up.

  “Looks like you’re all set.” Johan looked sad at having to say goodbye to the kids. He had enjoyed their company. “Look, I’m headed out to Reno and then Tahoe. You’ll probably get there a lot sooner than I will, but call me if you need help. Whatever’s going on with your daddy, it sounds serious, and I may be an old trucker, but I’ve still got some fight left in me.” He handed Jake a handwritten card with his CB handle on it as well as a cell phone number.

  Jake took it and nodded, then stuck it in his jeans pocket. He could not imagine needing the number, but then again, odd things had been happening on this trip from the start.

  Johan hugged Shelley, or Portia as he kept calling her, and wished her well. This goodbye was starting to take too long for Jake and he got in the car and started the engine.

  It roared to life, despite having spent the night out in the snow, and Jake impatiently gunned the accelerator, as much to get Shelley’s attention as to heat up the engine.

  He was trying to sort through his feelings as well as the images that his father had sent him. It seemed Paul had been telling the truth, which Jake hadn’t really doubted, but it was good to have it confirmed. Then there was this truck driver; Jake liked him despite his connection to Shelley. But Jake did have trouble with the raw grief still so near the surface of the man. It reminded him of his mother’s loneliness and his own inability to help her. He felt maybe he had abandoned his mother, but then again, h
e had asked her to come with him, which she had refused.

  Why did everything have to go around in circles like this? Why could he not just pick one feeling and stick with it? And then there was Jessica…had he done the right thing in walking away from her and leaving her to Brandon?

  He did not want to think about it; he just wanted to get on the road.

  “Bye, baby doll,” the trucker said, waving wildly as Jake pulled away. The road had been cleared well, and was fairly easy to drive on. He shuddered to think what the salt might do to the car body and undercarriage, but that couldn’t be helped for now.

  He cranked up the heater and soon the air inside the car was tolerably warm. Shelley sat huddled under the blanket Johan had given them, stealing glances at Jake from time to time.

  “What?” Jake finally asked.

  “What do you mean?” Shelley answered.

  “You’ve been staring at me off and on since we left him behind,” Jake said. He was not in the mood for games.

  “I was just wondering if you really were all right. You don’t look it, you know. And I could see what that last message did to you.”

  “It was intense, but necessary. There’s a lot of information he had to send to me as fast as possible,” Jake said, not giving her any details, which infuriated her.

  “Come on, Jake, I’m in this with you, or haven’t you noticed?” Her voice got louder as her anger at being excluded spilled out. “I could have stayed with Johan, you know. He would have taken me to Arizona, too, but instead I chose to stay with you and help you find your dad.”

  “Nobody asked you to,” Jake snapped.

  “You wouldn’t would you? You’re just another stubborn male who thinks you can do it all alone. Well, you can’t. It’s obvious you can’t.”

  “Obvious? Ha, that’s rich coming from you…” Jake swallowed the last half of the sentence. It was too easy to hurt her and he realized, despite his anger, that she was right.

  She seemed to sense where his thoughts were going and got very quiet. It just now started to dawn on her what a stigma her past had placed on her. She would have to be very careful who she told about it, if anyone.

  “Thanks a lot,” she murmured, and pulled the blanket closer around her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she fought hard to keep them in. Self-pity had never been one of her indulgences, but with Jake she felt vulnerable. It was a feeling she’d not had since Melvin had died, one she did not think she could afford to have, but here it was.

  “Sorry,” Jake muttered. He could see she was about to cry and he didn’t want that. It usually cost him something when Jessica cried. Now there was a skilled manipulator, but no, that was unkind of him. He pushed the thought away and figured Brandon could sort out how to deal with Jess. He seemed to want to.

  They drove on in silence, past the occasional car in the ditch, people who had not been as fortunate as they had been last night. The road was still fairly empty and Jake risked putting on some speed. He could feel the tires gripping the road as the slush was mostly to the side. If he just paid attention it should be okay to drive a little faster. If he pushed himself he could make it to Reno in good time. It was the last road sign his father had shown him, so he had to be around there somewhere. He just had to be.

  Chapter 14

  “Can you teach me?” Shelley asked after they stopped for a bathroom break and some of Johan’s excellent coffee. Jake marveled at the man’s ability to cook and make coffee in a truck.

  “Teach you what?” Jake took the cup from her and wrapped his cold hands around it.

  “That psychic thing you do.”

  “Probably. Why?” Jake blew on the hot liquid before taking a small, tentative sip. He had already burnt his mouth once on hot coffee this morning.

  “I think it might come in handy,” Shelley explained, in a tone that implied she thought it just another skill to learn, like math or a foreign language. “You know, if we get separated and you need to send me a message, or if we run low on money and I need to make some at a casino.” She gave a sidelong glance to see his reaction.

  “You can’t use it for that. It doesn’t work if greed is involved,” Jake said impatiently.

  “It wouldn’t be greed, it would be necessity.” She paused and then pulled out her ace. “You wouldn’t want me to do what I used to do to get money…would you?” She even pouted and gave him the saddest look she could manage.

  He recoiled, not so much from the look on her face, but at the thought of her giving head to make money for them.

  “It won’t come to that, ever. I’ll make sure of that,” he said in a moment of old-fashioned chivalry. Misguided perhaps, because he really didn’t want the responsibility of her honor on his hands.

  “Whatever, but can you teach me?”

  “I suppose so,” Jake said, and looked at her over the rim of the cup after he took a sip. She was quite pretty in an unconventional sort of way. He realized she hadn’t worn make-up since she had scrubbed it off when they first met. Her face looked young, but sometimes the look in her eyes showed past suffering. He wondered how much she had been damaged by her childhood. His had been a glorious ride in the sunshine at Disneyland by comparison.

  She wiggled her nose slightly and then slowly smiled. He noticed she had subtle freckles, which crinkled up when she smiled and made her look radiant.

  Jake gave himself a quick shake. This was no time to fall in love, especially with someone like Shelley. He would probably never be able to get over her past. He knew that was shallow of him, but too bad, that’s how he felt.

  “We should get going again,” Jake said, but made no move to finish his coffee or start the car.

  “Yes, we should,” Shelley said, continuing to smile at him. “Do you know, Melvin had a way of being able to do what you do. He used it in his magic act. He taught me some of it, but I thought it was carnival stuff, not something real. Didn’t Paul say he knew Melvin?”

  “I think so.” Jake fished out his phone and felt Paul’s business card in his pocket. He pulled it out and dialed one of the numbers on it. Something compelled him to find out if the man who was his father’s friend was really dead.

  He showed the card to Shelley while he listened to the phone ringing, waiting for someone to answer.

  “Hello?” a tentative voice answered.

  “I’m looking for Paul Thomson, is he there?” Jake asked.

  “Speaking, who’s this?”

  “It’s Jake Hanson, we met last night.”

  “I’m afraid you must have the wrong number. I don’t know a Jake Hanson.” And the call was disconnected.

  “What the hell?” Jake looked at his phone and then at the card in his hand.

  Shelley looked up, questioningly.

  “I could have sworn that man was Paul, but he said he didn’t know me,” Jake explained, still staring at his phone.

  “Did he say he was Paul Thomson?” Shelley asked.

  “Yes, but… He just said he didn’t know me and that I had the wrong number.”

  “Let me try. Which number did you use?” Shelley took the phone and the card.

  “Top one, his cell number.”

  “Let’s try his main office number.”

  Shelley punched in the number and again enjoyed experiencing the technology her peers all knew about already. She would have to get one of these devices as soon as she could.

  “Mr. Thomson’s office, Allie speaking,” a perky young voice answered.

  “Hi, I’d like to speak to Mr. Thomson,” Shelley said, and looked at Jake who looked as if he wasn’t sure she would be able to get through.

  “And who may I say is calling?”

  “Oh, I’m an old friend, and I’d like to surprise him,” Shelley said smoothly. “If that’s all right?”

  “Of course. Please hold while I connect you to our satellite office.” Before Shelley could answer, a click sounded and canned music came on, 1970s by the sound of it, more retro than even current
fashion allowed.

  Shelley waited through three songs before she realized she would be on hold indefinitely. She disconnected the call and handed the phone back to Jake.

  “That’s so odd. Why would he ignore our calls? He’s obviously still alive because you heard his voice.” Shelley looked puzzled. “Can you mind-reach him?”

  Jake nodded slowly. The thought had occurred to him, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to because Paul had been quite good at deflecting his earlier attempts, and after these phone calls he might be expecting something like that.

  “Maybe later, after he thinks we’ve given up.”

  Shelley agreed.

  They got on the road again, the car now fully warmed up and purring like a contented big cat. The engine was tuned to perfection and if a car had feelings, this one would be enjoying itself cruising along the freeway.

  The mileposts slid past and the weather and light changed with each passing cloud bank. The landscape varied from fields to pine trees and back again, the road rising and falling with the topography of the land.

  Jake explained basic meditation techniques to Shelley so she could learn to calm her mind, breathe and start learning remote viewing and connecting with another mind.

  After a few hours of driving, which Shelley spent sitting with her eyes closed and focused only on her breathing, she got bored and started to badger Jake for more detailed instructions on what she could do next.

  “I can’t really set something up for you while I’m driving,” he said, annoyed by her badgering him. “You’ll just have to wait until later. Maybe once we stop for a meal or if we stay somewhere to sleep.” He half expected they would meet up with another one of Shelley’s (or Portia’s) trucker friends and find a bed for the night. Not that he liked that idea.

  “Fine.” Shelley crossed her arms and stared out the window at the road, deeply bored. The wintry view did not appeal to her much, but after a time an idea struck her.

  “How about I start ‘viewing’ what’s in the trunk of the car, or your duffel bag?”