Early in the game, Fenton surprised Kearsley by running a match-up zone, something they hadn’t done at all when Coach Piggott had them scouted. The Hornets took a little time adjusting, trying to determine whether to run their man or their zone offense. Eventually, Tanner and his teammates began to control the tempo of the game. Tanner, Kevin, Luke, and even Lance Mankowski were draining three-pointers at a high percentage, and as they started to build a lead, Fenton was forced to spread out their defense a bit, which allowed Tanner to penetrate and make some nice passes. What was supposed to be a close game eventually turned into a 23 point route. Tanner took just 12 shots, hitting five of eight from three-point range and three of four on shots in the paint, one of which he was fouled on and converted into a traditional three-point play. He made three of four other free throws and ended with 25 points. He also had ten assists and four rebounds.
Each of the coaches took a moment to speak with Coach Piggott, who seemed delighted by the attention. Clay had to laugh as he watched all three men wipe their right hands on a pants leg after shaking hands with the Pigman. Not one of the men lingered, each taking advantage of his first opportunity to escape. All three spoke briefly with Tanner and his parents, offering kind words. Jack Harding would have certainly been jealous, had he not missed the game entirely. He had a couple of business meetings and then went back to his office to try to figure out some new way to hurt Clay Thomas. He wasn’t one to give up easily.
***
At home, Clay sensed that something was bothering Jessie. She was distant and uncommonly untalkative. She obviously was taking the kidnapping hard and was worried about Tanner. Clay told her that Tanner had led the police to the house that he was held in by the kidnappers, and he told her about the information he had received about the truck at the impound lot.
“I forgot to tell you there was a message to call the detective, but I guess you found out what he needed to tell you anyway,” Jessie said.
“They’re a couple of pretty good clues. Hopefully they can figure out who set the kidnapping up. They seem to think it’s unlikely that they’ll locate the men who did the actual kidnapping.”
They both slipped into bed without more conversation. Clay kissed Jessie goodnight as he had for more than 19 years, and Jessie rolled over and went to sleep.
CHAPTER 24
The following afternoon, Clay decided to give Zander Frauss a call from his office at the community college. His regular secretary answered and then transferred him to Frauss. “Hello, Clay. It’s good to hear from you. I take it you got my message?”
“What? No, I didn’t get any message.”
“I called your number at home yesterday morning and left a voicemail to call me about the test results.”
“Why would you do that? I told you I didn’t want anyone to know about what we talked about. You told me that what we talked about would stay in your office.”
“I never mentioned anything specific in the message. I take my patient confidentiality seriously, but I told you that I would call when I had the results from the test.”
“My wife doesn’t know anything about this, Zander, and I would have liked to keep it that way.”
“I didn’t know that you’re married. You never said a word about a wife in my office.”
“I have a son, Zander,” Clay said sarcastically.
“Believe me, that doesn’t mean you have a wife. You never spoke of one. Shouldn’t that have come up?”
“You may’ve screwed up, Frauss. She must’ve heard the message. That might partly explain how she was acting yesterday if she thinks I’m hiding something from her.”
“I’m sorry for the mix-up, Clay. But she shouldn’t know anything except that I have your test results.”
“I never wanted to tell her,” Clay admitted. “I’ve always feared how she’d react.”
“I’m sorry, Clay, and I’m sure this isn’t a good time to bring this up, but are you going to bring Tanner in for an MRI? Your results showed both parts of your medulla oblongata are completely open.”
“It isn’t necessary, Doc. He’s got the same thing going that I do, except stronger, I think. I’m pretty sure he’s also clairvoyant. The house the kidnappers held him in called to him, and he found it.”
***
That night, as they lay in bed in the dark, Clay put his arms around Jessie. She noticeably stiffened, but didn’t resist. Clay started nibbling on an ear, then repositioned himself to kiss her. She turned away. “Not now.”
“What’s wrong, Jessie?”
“Nothing…everything…I don’t know.”
“The police are working on the case, and Tanner’s safe. They’re watching him every day.”
“Of course I’m worried about Tanner, Clay. I love him with all my heart, but there’s more wrong than just problems with Tanner.” By then she had escaped Clay’s grasp completely.
“Okay, tell me…I’m listening.”
Jessie took a deep breath. She almost said, “Never mind,” but she’d been stewing ever since the phone message the day before, so she said, “What are you hiding from me, Clay?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re always hiding something from me. You have been since the beginning. It always seems like you’re lying to me.”
“I don’t lie to you, Jessie.”
“Yes, you do. You won’t look me in the eyes—even when we make love. You’re hiding something, Clay. I see it every day. You carry around some inner pain or some inner secret, and you don’t share it with me.”
“If that’s true, it’s because I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Hurt me? Are you kidding? You hurt me every time you hide something from me. You hurt me when you ignore me. You hurt me when you refuse to make decisions over and over again. You hurt me when you have problems and you don’t share them with me. The longer we’re married the more you hurt me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I love you, Jessie. I wouldn’t hurt you on purpose.”
“What are you hiding now, Clay? Are you in pain? Are you sick? Is there some reason you visited a neuroscientist?”
“I’m not sick or in pain. You can stop worrying about that.”
By now, Jessie was sitting up in bed. “Then tell me why you visited a neuroscientist?”
“No. You can’t possibly understand why.”
“Try me. Tell me about Zander Frauss and your MRI.”
Clay hesitated. He’d been dreading this conversation his whole married life. Were his worst fears about to be realized?
“He left a message on the phone yesterday,” Jessie continued. “I called his office and managed to get a secretary to give me information. You had an MRI. His notes said that both parts of your medulla oblong something or other are completely open. Tell me what that’s about!”
“I had some tests done…I’m fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Look at me, Clay. You’re not telling me the truth. I looked up that brain thingy and read about it. I looked up Zander Frauss too. I learned about parapsychology. I read about his tests and his ‘Division of Perceptual Studies.’ Tanner was kidnapped on Friday, and on Saturday you had something so important to do that you left us here and were gone half the day. And now you’re telling me there’s nothing to worry about? Are you sure you don’t lie to me, Clay?”
“I think it would be a mistake to tell you what’s going on. I don’t think you’d understand.”
“Then you don’t love me. If you loved me, you wouldn’t hide things from me. You’d have more faith in me…You wouldn’t lie to me,” she stressed.
“I’m not lying to you. Yes, there’s something that I think is best that you don’t know.” Clay began to think about mind-control. Maybe he should make her stop asking questions, but he put the thought immediately out of his mind.
“Then tell me. Tell me what you’re hiding. Tell me why you had an MRI and what’s wrong with your brain.”
“I can’
t do that. You wouldn’t understand. If you loved me, you would trust me on this one. Please trust me.”
“I’m not so sure I do love you. I’ve been wondering about that for quite some time now.” Then Jessie grabbed her pillow and a blanket and began to leave the room. Clay reached for her, but she pulled away and exited. She threw herself on the couch and began to cry. In the room, Clay cried as well. He knew now that he had to tell her his secret—Tanner’s secret too, and he couldn’t imagine the discussion turning out well, but if he didn’t tell her, he knew he had lost her for good.
CHAPTER 25
The next morning Clay asked Jessie to make arrangements to go in to work late. He drove Tanner to school but didn’t tell him about the conversation he was about to have with Jessie. Kids don’t need to know when parents are fighting. Besides, he had enough on his plate already—new powers, a kidnapping, a basketball scholarship, school, girlfriend, basketball team. Clay would tell his son later, once he saw Jessie’s reaction.
Back at home, Jessie simply sat on the couch and stared out into space. Clay knew the conversation would be difficult, so he said a quick prayer and then began. “I went to Dr. Frauss because I had questions that I thought he could answer.” He paused to see if Jessie was listening.
“What questions?”
“Good, you’re listening.” Clay continued to wait until Jessie turned to look at him. “I saw something on TV that led me to do some research on the Internet. I stumbled across Zander Frauss’s name. As I guess you know, he’s a neuroscientist, but what I found most interesting was that he headed a department that specialized in parapsychology. Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities using the scientific method. Frauss is a scientist that does studies and research about psychic abilities.” Clay paused again.
“And what does that have to do with you?”
“It has to do with me and Tanner.” It was the moment of truth. “We both have forms of psychic abilities.”
First Jessie simply laughed. Clay didn’t flinch. Then she seemed to at least consider what he had just said. “What’s your ‘psychic’ ability, Clay? And what’s Tanner’s?”
Clay took a deep breath. He said, “We both can control minds. Tanner is better at it than I am. And lately it appears that maybe I can read minds too, and Tanner shows signs of being clairvoyant.”
“And why should I believe what you’re saying?”
“Because you asked me to tell you the truth, and the truth is that we both have special powers.”
“How long have you two had these powers?” Jessie still didn’t believe. This wasn’t going well.
“I’m pretty sure that I’ve been able to control minds since I was about ten years old. Tanner’s been able to do it for about three months.”
“Okay, I’m pretending that I believe you. What does this scientist at U of M have to do with anything?”
“By the time I was about 12 or 13, I was sure I could control people’s minds. Once I figured out what I was doing, I messed around with the power, but I knew it would never make me happy. It’s a curse, Jessie; I swear it’s a curse. Anyway, I’ve almost never used the power for the past 20-plus years. But I started seeing things with Tanner that made me believe he was controlling minds too. Once I was certain, I confronted him, and I was right. I went to Dr. Frauss for answers. I wanted to know why we could do the things we could do.”
“And?”
“Well, he believes it has to do with the medulla oblongata. The medulla oblongata has two parts, one that’s closed and one that’s open. In his studies, he determined that those with actual psychic powers had a medulla that was at least partially open in both parts. He said the abnormality occurred generally because of spinal cord trauma or strangulation. Tanner and I both almost died at childbirth because of strangulation from the umbilical cord. Once I demonstrated to him that I actually had abilities, he convinced me to have an MRI to look closely at my brain. I guess the test confirmed that my medulla oblongata is fully open in both parts. It would be a safe guess that Tanner’s is too; he has more power than I do.”
“How do you know that?”
“Tanner escaped his kidnappers using mind control. He told the men to let him go, to give him the truck key, to give him their phone number. He did it while blindfolded. I can only do it with eye to eye contact. Yesterday afternoon, Tanner found the house that he was held captive in. He had a dream that led him right to it. That’s clairvoyance, Jessie.”
Jessie was being very patient; it appeared to Clay that she was thinking deeply, like she was giving grave consideration to his words. Gradually, Clay began to see a realization growing in her eyes, and he knew she was getting to what he feared most.
“This is real?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“You can manipulate minds?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever messed with Tanner’s mind?”
“Besides to make him talk to me a couple of weeks ago, only one other time.”
“When was that?”
“This is stupid, Honey, but it was at a family reunion. You were smiling it up in a rainstorm, and it made me mad. I told Tanner to hate the rain.”
“That’s why he hates the rain?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve told him over and over since then that it’s his choice to like something or not. He doesn’t have to hate rain just because I do. But he’s never changed his opinion.”
“You’re such a jerk! And I suppose you’ve controlled my mind too?” Bingo! There it was—the realization that Clay had feared his entire marriage. “Have you ever told me what to think?” Jessie demanded.
“Once. One time, Jessie, I swear. When Tanner was born and you were told you could no longer have children, I made you believe that it was okay; you were blaming yourself for the tragedy and that you wouldn’t be able to have more children. I didn’t want you to feel that way, so I told you to accept that it wasn’t your fault. I convinced you that it wasn’t your fault.”
Jessie paused like something was bothering her…like there was something in the back of her mind that she was trying to reach…like there was more on her mind than the argument that they were having. Finally she snapped out of it and the emotional Jessie reemerged. “Do you expect me to believe that? One time in twenty years?”
“It’s the truth.”
“You never made me do or believe anything? How about sex, Clay? Did you ever make me have sex?”
“NO! Never!”
“You never raped me, Clay? Did you happen to tell me to love you? Is that how we ended up together?” She was becoming a raving lunatic.
“No, Jessie, no. I’ve loved you too much for that. I’d have to look you in the eyes to practice mind control. I would look away to be sure not to influence you. I wanted you to love me because you chose to love me, so I never influenced you in any way. What joy would there be in making you love me? What kind of relationship would that be? I’ve lived our whole marriage in fear that you would find this out and think exactly what you’re thinking now. No, I never influenced your choices—not ever!”
“I don’t believe you, Clay. How can I believe you? You’ve been lying to me for 20 years. I can’t believe you, and I truly can’t stand you right now. I need you to get out of here. How could I ever love you again?”
“Think about it, Jess. When have you ever done something that you didn’t want? When have I looked you in the eyes and told you what to do? I never have, and if you really think about it, you’ll know it’s true. You even said that I never look you in the eyes. Please, just think about it.” Clay then started for the door, but he turned back. He wanted to ask, “Who’s John?” but instead he simply said, “I may have saved your life when that kid was pointing that gun at you. I made him listen to me, and I got him to lower his gun before Sammy jumped him. I protected you because I love you. I always have, and I’ve let you make your own choices.”
“Le
ave, Clay. I don’t think I believe you, and I want you out of here.”
CHAPTER 26
Pete Piggott pulled up to the Burton Pediatric Clinic at eleven in the morning. He was doing so poorly on his stakeout job that he decided to arrive early enough that he was sure not to miss Jessie again if she happened to leave for lunch that day. Once again, however, her car was already missing from the lot. After her conversation with Clay, she had called back to the clinic and called in sick. Piggott, just for the heck of it, so he could tell Carlee how hard he was trying, drove by the Thomas house, and just as he approached their address, the garage door went up and Jessie began to back out. Piggott’s heart started racing and his palms started sweating more than usual. Except for bashing his passenger side mirror into the neighbor’s mailbox, he somehow managed to drive by the house without further incident. He turned around in a different neighbor’s driveway and began to follow Jessie as discreetly as a no-talent detective possibly could without losing her altogether.
Jessie pulled into the Super 8 Motel on Dort Highway, and Pete Piggott finally snapped his first picture—it was of the motel. He snapped a second one of Jessie sitting in her car, talking on a phone, and his third of her stepping out of the car—it was quite a good shot of her with the motel in the background. She walked directly to room 12—another picture was taken. The door opened right into the parking lot, and Jessie walked directly in, an act that Pete also caught on film. Piggott, so focused on the job at hand, was unaware that he wasn’t the only one taking pictures.
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