by Rose, Imogen
“When isn’t it?” She sighed, dropping into the couch beside him and stretching. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a day of doing nothing… just reading and watching TV? Boy, I am hoping that, by the time Christmas gets here, we’ll all be sitting around in our pajamas and watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel.”
Larry laughed. “I’ll drink to that.”
“Give me a sec to check my email. I asked security to send me the surveillance footage from the time Simla was here with Dillard. I want to figure out which Dillard was here.”
“That should be fairly easy.” Larry stepped up beside her and peered over her shoulder as she opened the email.
Olivia clicked on the video and then focused in on the image of Dillard handing his driver’s license to the receptionist. “Dillard from Leeds, judging from what he’s wearing.” She pointed to his jeans and soccer jersey. To be sure, she screen-captured the frame that most clearly showed his face and blew it up. Squinting, she focused in on it the best she could.
“That’s not Dillard,” Larry remarked. “It’s quite a good likeness, but it’s not Dillard, either of them.”
“I can’t believe it! Simla snookered me.” She shook her head, half-annoyed and half in awe that Simla had gotten one over on her.
Larry chuckled softly. “Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but that’s funny.”
Olivia nudged him and then laughed. “I wonder if Raj was doing the same thing: just threatening me without any basis.” She got up from her desk and sat back down on the couch. “Arizona dropped by earlier.”
“How is she doing?”
“On the face of it, she seems to be okay. She said that she had no trouble at school or anything, but she is obviously traumatized by not being able to remember anything from the past year.”
“That could be a good thing.”
“That’s what I was thinking. If she could just get back to her normal routine…”
“It’s not as easy as that, though. She’s changed, and she needs to be able to find out why and how. Even going out with Kellan. Her feelings for him seem to be intact, so it’s not like the last year has had no impact on her. It has, and even if she can’t remember all the details, she must be struggling to accept the changes. She’s like you, Ollie. She is going to need answers and explanations. I know you’re not a strong proponent of hypnosis, but that may help her remember.”
“She said that she wanted to see Dillard—her biological father.”
Larry’s eyes widened, and he stood up, pouring himself another splash of scotch.
“Yes, that was my reaction, too.”
“Wow. Well, that is a shock. What was her reason?”
“I am not sure of the exact reason. She said that she just wanted to see him for herself. I guess she thinks going back to her roots will help her make sense of her present life.”
“Well, that’s out of the question, of course.”
“That was my gut reaction as well, but telling her that will just spur her on to find a way to do it on her own. You know what she’s like.”
“Yes, but it’s not like she can zip herself through the Portal.”
Olivia nodded. “Knowing Arizona, she’d probably try. But yes, she couldn’t do that without our help. I’m worried that she’ll look into other ways… like the Wanderers.”
Larry massaged his shoulder. “That really opens up a whole new can of worms. We’ll just have to ask Rupert to order the Wanderers not to get involved with any such plan.”
“Arizona asked me not to tell Rupert about it. Besides, even if Rupert did that, there seems to be a whole bunch of rogue Wanderers around who Arizona could probably manage to round up. She is very resourceful. She may not even need to do that. David’s always been putty in her hands.”
“I don’t think David can be persuaded to go along with a scheme that hasn’t been approved by the Elders when he’s hoping to retire from his assignment. I’m just glad that Kellan’s not able to wander.”
“She’ll find a way.” That was one thing she was sure of. There was always a way. Olivia knew that better than most.
Mom shattered my plans for the evening when she told me that Bruno was going to hang out with Kellan and me. Much as I loved David, even having him around was a PITA when all I wanted was some alone time with Kellan. Still, at least the three of us had been friends forever, so we usually had fun once I set aside any plans for snogging Kell. Hanging out with Bruno would be another matter, though. He’d be a real third wheel. Still, I guess he needed a break. Hanging out with Mom all the time couldn’t be easy, so I decided to make the best of it.
Kell and I had planned to go to the movies with David. At least then we could hold hands in the intimate privacy of the darkness. However, that seemed a bit antisocial with a stranger, so we decided to go to the rink instead after Bruno told us that he’d never skated and would love to give it a try.
Open session at the rink was fairly busy with a group of figure skaters taking private lessons and a bunch of people just skating around on their own. I much preferred stick clinics. I gasped.
“What’s up?” Kellan asked, as I sank down onto the bleacher. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Lean forward, and take deep breaths. I’ll call the desk and have them get a doctor or paramedic to come over.” He brought out his cell.
“I can run over,” Bruno offered.
I waved at the boys to shush. “I’m fine! Just give me a minute.”
Kellan and Bruno sat down on either side of me, and Kellan put his hand on my shoulder. They both waited for me in silence.
I preferred stick clinics. The thought hit me like a ton of bricks. What the heck was a stick clinic? I closed my eyes and tried to visualize holding a hockey stick. I saw the bottom of a stick scraping against the ice. That must have been from the other day when I skated with Kellan. No, wait. Following the stick was a pair of black hockey skates. I’d worn brown figure skates when I skated with Kell. The stick raised and then slammed into a puck, and the skating came to an abrupt halt. The focus moved upward, following the puck, which zoomed toward a goalkeeper, who bent down with his stick in front of him. The puck avoided him, sliding into the goal. The focus changed to the other bodies on the ice. Hands were up in the air, and I could tell that there was a lot of excitement, even though my recall was silent. A bunch of bodies skated toward… what must be me… and the visual stopped. I opened my eyes.
“Well?” Kellan inquired. “What happened? You still look pale.”
“I’m okay. Let’s get on the ice.”
“No way. I’m taking you home.” Kellan started untying my laces. I let him. I felt the need to change into hockey skates anyway.
As soon as they were off, I stood up, making sure that I was steady. “I’m going to go use the restroom. You guys wait here.”
“I’ll walk you over,” Kellan said.
“No,” I said firmly. “I’m fine.” I threw him a look for good measure.
Instead of going to the restroom, I stopped and picked up a pair of hockey skates from the rental station. After putting them on, I returned to the ice rink, making sure to use the entrance on the opposite end where Kellan and Bruno wouldn’t see me. I stepped onto the ice and powered forward, forcefully skating faster and faster and then coming to a hockey halt in front of Kellan.
He glowered with fury. Kellan grabbed my elbow and practically pushed me toward the board. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Look!” I pointed to my hockey skates. “And did you see that stop?” I puffed up in pride.
He kept glaring at me, still overcome with anger. He glanced down at my feet. “So?”
“So? I remembered!”
“What?”
“That I play hockey!” I told him what I had recalled.
He nodded slowly. “Did you see anything else? Was I there?”
“Everyone skated toward me so fast that I couldn’t make anything out.”
“This is grea
t. Maybe you’ll start remembering other stuff.”
“Yes. But right now, I just want to skate. Let’s get Bruno on the ice. He looks cold.” Poor Bruno sat and hugged himself.
Kellan looked at Bruno and chuckled. “Yeah, but we’re going to talk some more later.”
We skated over to Bruno and pulled him up from the bench.
“Not used to the cold?” I wondered where he was from. “Sheesh, your teeth are clattering. You must be really cold. Do you still want to skate, or do you need a hot chocolate first?”
“Skate,” he mumbled, stumbling forward.
“Whoa! Steady up first.” Kellan held him up. “Your legs are like spaghetti. Try to stand straight. Put your hands on my shoulder if you want.”
I stood back and watched them, trying not to laugh, but it was just too comical. It was like Bruno had lost all control of his legs, and they bent all over the place like a puppet’s. I had never seen anything like it before. Even little kids usually managed to at least stand in the skates.
“Do they come with two blades each?” he muttered as he managed to get a firm grip of Kellan’s shoulders.
That’s when I exploded in snorts and giggles, and my own legs turned to jelly. I collapsed on the bench, tears streaming down my face.
“What’s so funny?” Bruno asked.
Kellan stopped laughing before me and answered. “Nothing… I was just imagining skates with two blades.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Bruno said, his tone slightly snippy. “These are impossible to stand on, never mind walk on.”
“Arizona, can you grab one of the walkers while I help Bruno onto the ice?”
I skated out and grabbed a free one. By the time I got back, Bruno stood shakily, grabbing onto the side, his face ashen but determined. After a lot of coaxing, we convinced him to let go with one hand and grab hold of the walker. And then the other hand. Kellan and I stood on either side of him and pushed him along gently until we’d done one complete round of the rink.
“Try moving your legs—walk. We’ll keep holding on to you,” I encouraged.
“No, I think I’m good for today, but that hot chocolate you mentioned sounds perfect right about now. I had fun, though. I’d definitely come back and try again another day.”
Kellan helped him back to the bleachers where Bruno removed his skates, breathing a heavy sigh of relief as he wiggled his toes.
“That looks much easier than it is,” he remarked.
“You’ll get the hang of it. It’s like riding a bicycle. Once you get going, it’s a breeze.”
“Something else that I was hoping to try.”
“What? You’ve never ridden a bike?” I said, totally astonished.
“No.” He got up. “Where to for the hot chocolate?”
“Up there, in the café.”
Once Kell had gotten us our drinks and a few chocolate bars, I turned to Bruno. “So, how come you’ve never skated or even ridden a bicycle?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t lived a regular human life, ever. I’ve always been at HQ with my dad and sister.” His face turned somber.
“I am so sorry about Rowena. How’s your dad coping?”
“He’s not. He’s asked your dad to relieve him from his duties.”
“I’m sorry. What will you do?”
“What I always do: take my orders from the sovereign.”
“Are you happy with that?” Seemed like all work and no play.
“I’ve never known another life, so I am content. And evenings like this are extra fun, even if I made an arse of myself.” He took another sip of his steaming drink. “This is especially delicious. What are the white things on top?”
“Marshmallows.” I decided to get him an extra large pack of them before he had to go back.
“It’s still early. What do you guys want to do? How about we head to the lake?” Kellan suggested.
That did sound good but would have been perfect if it was just the two of us. However, I kinda liked Bruno, and he deserved to experience at least a bit of a normal life while he was with us in Mountain View.
I decided to pop into the restroom before we left to touch up my face. I took out my makeup pouch and checked myself in the badly-lit mirror, leaning forward so I could get a better look at my eyeliner. It was smudged, so I reapplied it and then reached for the lip gloss. As I looked up again, I froze and was about to scream when a hand clamped my mouth shut.
“It’s just me. Don’t freak out,” Stan said from behind me.
I nodded and squirmed out of his grip. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I told you I’d find out what that message meant and get back to you.”
It took me a while to figure out what he was talking about. The last time I’d seen Stan had been at Granddad’s place, where he’d been responsible for creating the panic that had taken me to Vegas. Then I remembered. Dillard is home. “Yes, the message Raj had you deliver to me? What did it mean?”
“Your father has Dillard. He was in the room with Raj when they were taken.”
I gaped. I was there at the time! The lighting was terrible, but surely I’d have recognized my own biological father. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“But why would my dad take Dillard?” That made no sense to me.
“I have no idea, and that’s all I know. I should go now. You looked great on the ice, by the way.”
“Hey, wait! Are you working for your dad? What’s going on? Seems like something serious by the way my dad’s acting.”
“Yeah, it’s serious all right. And I’m not working for anyone at the moment, just trying to steer clear of all this, hiding out with Luna, who doesn’t want anything to do with it either.”
“This? What this?”
“Ask your father,” he said and wandered off.
Gah!
Half an hour later, Kellan, Bruno, and I lay on the grass by the lake with our eyes transfixed at the sky. It was devoid of clouds, and thousands of twinkling stars surrounded the full moon. The enormity of the beauty above had me spellbound in silence for a moment while I took it all in.
I was dying to tell Kellan about Stan. I wished he hadn’t vanished so soon. I had a million questions for Stan.
“What are you thinking?” Kellan turned on to his side and looked down at me.
“I was thinking about Stan, Potomal’s son.”
His lips thinned into an unhappy frown. “I know who he is. Why on earth are you thinking about him? Here? This is our place. I was hoping you’d recall some of the times we spent here.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled myself closer to him. “Sorry, it’s just that he appeared in the restroom before we left the rink and—”
“He what?” Bruno yelled, his eyes gleaming in the dark.
“What he said,” Kellan seethed.
I told them what happened, watching their bodies tense on either side of me. “What’s the problem? Stan’s a good guy. No need for all the drama.”
“A good guy?” Kellan raged. “He’s Potomal’s son. Good grief, Arizona.”
“Oh, don’t good grief me! He is a good guy. He just came to tell me what he’d promised to find out, that’s all. So yeah, good guy.”
“And he told you that Dillard is in the sovereign’s custody?” Bruno asked.
“Not as formally as all that, but yes, that was the gist of it.”
“I wonder how he knows. He had no business imparting that information to you.”
I tried not to giggle at his Middle Earth English, which seemed to get more formal as he grew more serious. “Why not?”
“It’s classified, and either way, he should have no knowledge of it. I wonder how he found out. There must be a breach in the system. I need to inform the sovereign.”
“How do you know it was classified?” Kellan asked. “And how did you know in the first place?”
Bruno didn’t reply.
“Bruno? Well?” I needled.
�
�I am not at liberty to discuss this.”
“That means you knew!” I said triumphantly. “What else do you know? Do you know why Dillard is in custody? It’s a bit odd that he was taken along with Raj. Are they somehow connected?”
“Maybe they know each other from Jersey,” Kellan suggested when Bruno opted to remain on mute.
“Well, I am going to have to tell Mom,” I threatened, hoping that would sort out Bruno’s volume control.
It did. “No! I beg you not to mention this to her. I will let the sovereign know and ask him to talk to you, okay?”
“Hmm. I guess. Go get him, then,” I said.
“Now? I can’t do that. I can’t leave my post, and even if I could, I have no idea where to find him. I will talk to him as soon as he makes contact.”
“No, that’s not good enough. How long has Dillard been gone from New Jersey?” Surely David’s honey, A, would be up in arms if her father had gone missing.
“I’m sorry. I am not at liberty to say any more. Perhaps we should make our way back?”
“Yes,” Kellan agreed.
I got up and walked to the car. It wasn’t like we were going to get much more out of Bruno. He had totally clammed up.
We drove back in silence. My thoughts focused on David and how I would approach him when we got home. Bruno gave us a very cold and curt goodbye as soon as we walked into the hallway.
The house was dark and silent, with only the hallway lamp illuminating the far corner. I looked at my watch as Bruno disappeared up the stairs. It was just after one in the morning. I beckoned for Kellan to follow me to the family room.
“Kell, you were in that room with Raj when you were taken and beaten up. Was my biological dad there?”
He slumped down on the seat and shook his head. “Sorry, Shrimp. I can’t remember. I was totally out of it.”
“I’m going to wake David and ask him if his girlfriend’s father is missing. You’d think he’d have mentioned it.”
“What difference does it make? It’s not like you want to meet him. Or do you? I thought you just wanted to confirm that you have a doppelganger. Is this turning into something more?”
He was right. Why should I care? “No, I don’t think it’s turning into anything more as you say. I have no desire for any father/daughter bonding sessions with him. He’s not the reason I want to head over there. I need to see my doppelganger, but I did use Dillard as my excuse to Mom. If she finds out that he’s not even there, that blows my plan to smithereens.”
