by Strauss, Lee
“I think I know who the mole is,” I said.
10
Sage
Dr. Drey burst into the room, gun pointed at my face. I was really getting sick of people wanting to shoot at me.
“You told Nigel our plans to get info on Firewall,” I said, things clicking into place. “You gave me a placebo.”
“Yeah,” Drey scoffed. “A lot of good that did. He was supposed to shoot you both—dead.” He clucked his tongue. “Such an imbecile. You did me a favor, Marlow, killing him for me.”
Marlow flinched.
“Dr. Drey,” Dr. Turner said. “I don’t understand. Why?”
“Because I started CISUE with you, Abe. I was here from the beginning, but you get all the credit. You take all the credit. You think I don’t know who you are, where you come from? Or should I say when you come from? You think I don’t know who Sage is to you?”
“Enough!” Dr. Turner said. “If you want me, here I am, but let these two go.”
Drey chuckled. “That’s not how the game works, Abe. I see you every day. If I simply wanted to kill you, I’d have done it already. I want you to be afraid. I want you to fight back. I want you to feel loss.”
“Damn it,” Marlow muttered. Then in a flash he grabbed the red dress off the table, tossed it to me, hugged the black vest against his chest and barreled into Dr. Drey. The gun flew across the room as it went off. Marlow jumped on the doctor and wrestled him to the ground.
I dropped the dress, dove for the gun and clambered back to my feet. Standing straight and tall, my legs braced apart, I clasped the weapon in both of my hands, my arms out in a straight “v” like I’d seen it done on TV. I’d never handled a gun in my life, but in that moment I felt like I’d pointed one a thousand times before.
“Stop!” I yelled. “Or I’ll shoot.”
Drey went still and Marlow pushed himself off, backing away. The door flung open and Black and Seaway rushed in.
“What’s going on?” Black snapped.
“Drey is the mole,” Dr. Turner said. “Marlow and Sage took him down.”
Seaway pulled Drey to his feet, twisting his arm up his back, and she and Black pushed him out of the room.
I slowly lowered the gun onto the table, then collapsed into the wheel chair.
* * *
Marlow and I were once again alone with Dr. Turner. He wrapped his warm brown hands over mine.
“This never gets easier,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Saying good-bye.”
I didn’t understand. The way he looked at me, with eyes full of… I wasn’t sure what. Concern? Affection?
“Do I know you?” I asked. “I mean, beyond CISUE? Drey mentioned something…”
Dr. Turner cut me off. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
He waited a beat before letting his eyes twinkle. “That one never gets old.”
“I still don’t understand why Sage and I were brought into this,” Marlow said. “Was it some kind of test?”
“Yes, Marlow, it was. And you and Sage both passed with flying colors. Look at how quickly you perceived Dr. Drey’s deceit. But enough with shop talk. We must say good bye.”
“And how do we do that?” I said. “Exactly how does this memory wiping work?”
“Normally Dr. Drey does the procedure, but since… Follow me.”
We entered a room with a chair reminiscent of the old beauty salons, with a large hair dryer-like object above. Kato sat at a computer station. “Remove your shoes, belts and jewelry,” she said. “Anything with metal.”
Marlow took my hand again and squeezed. He said gently, “I’ll go first.” I didn’t know what it was about this guy. He made me feel like we had a history I didn’t remember.
Dr. Turner instructed me to join Kato and I watched as Marlow took off his belt, removed change from his pocket, and dropped them into a plastic tray. Then he sat in the chair while Dr. Turner applied wired patches to his temples and the base of his neck. Over Kato’s shoulder I could see the images on the screen, similar to the brain scans I’d seen in biology class. Dr. Turner pulled the “hair dryer” over Marlow’s head.
“Is it going to hurt?” I asked Kato. I felt a bit freaked out by this whole thing.
“Not much,” she said. “And he won’t remember any of it if it does.”
Not exactly comforting.
Marlow’s gaze latched on to mine, and I waved. Good-bye Marlow.
11
Marlow
Her red jacket was easy to spot in the falling snow. At first I couldn’t believe it was her, but then I remembered that Sage Farrell lived in an adjoining neighborhood to mine. It wouldn’t be so outrageous to run into her sometime.
Except I doubted that she even knew who I was.
The fact didn’t keep me from following her. We knew each other on a level that other people, even ones who’ve been friends for a long time, would never know.
Which reminded me of Zed.
Marlow: I need to shop for my mom. Wanna come?
Zed: Sure. My bros are driving me nuts.
Marlow: K. Meet you there.
I kept my distance as Sage entered a coffee shop. I meandered past the windows, slowly, peering in. Sage hugged a girl before sitting with her at one of the small tables. Her friend was petite with short blond spiky hair.
I’d never seen her before.
A car traveling too fast around the corner spat up thick, muddy snow. I jumped out of the way before getting nailed, but ended up banging into a “no parking” sign. Damn—my arm hurt!
For a few moments while I wiped away the muddy droplets, and wondered what I’d done to my arm, I forgot about Sage, but then, in an instant, she was front and center in my mind once again. Would I run into her somewhere before the holidays ended?
Probably not.
Besides she ran in different circles, dated guys that weren’t anything like me. The smart thing would be to just forget her. Accept my lot in life and love—mundane and non-existent.
Wondering if I’d ever be able to manage that, I hopped the next bus to the mall.
* * *
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Haven’t yet read GINGERBREAD MAN?
Get it HERE
Read on for the first chapter of LIFE IS BUT A DREAM.
When danger lurks in your sleep...
Dreams aren’t real
Unless they are
And when someone wants to watch you drown
You better pay attention
Sage and Marlow are reunited in this second book of A Nursery Rhyme Suspense serial series. When Sage’s dreams merge with Marlow’s they know something strange is connecting them. But when the drowning dreams start to come true, Sage wonders if she can avoid her own death.
Get it HERE
About the Author
Lee Strauss is the author of A Nursery Rhyme Suspense, The Perception Series (young adult dystopian), and young adult historical fiction . She is the married mother of four children, and divides her time between British Columbia, Canada and Germany. When she's not writing or reading she likes to cycle and hike. She enjoys traveling (but not jet lag :0), soy lattes, red wine and dark chocolate.
Lee also writes younger YA fantasy as Elle Strauss and inspirational romance as Hope Franke Strauss.
For more info on books by Lee Strauss and her social media links visit leestraussbooks.com. To make sure you don’t miss the next new release, be sure to sign up for her readers list!
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www.leestraussbooks.com
[email protected]
Life is But a Dream - chapter 1
SOMEONE was sitting on my head. And blowing a trumpet in my ear. I groaned, stirring up a tidal wave of nausea. I sat up and the room spun, thrusting me onto my back. I wouldn’t make it to the bathroom; I leaned over the edge of my bed and threw up on my black pumps.
I wiped my mouth on the shirt sleeve of my gray satin blouse, which I’d been wearing since the night before, and pinched my eyes shut, desperate for sleep to release me from my agony. Weighted darkness cloaked me and I slipped back into my dreams.
The air is cool and crisp, like late autumn. Leaves fall from the thinning branches. The world is an overexposed purple and green. My feet slip on the damp ground, and I grab the arm of the guy beside me. I don’t see his face.
My chest tightens with fear, but I don’t know of what. In front of us is an abandoned cabin, dark and sinister. Why are we here?
We’re looking for something.
No. Someone.
We climb through a broken window and my pants snag on the jagged glass. My nose twitches at the smell of dust and mold and cigarette smoke.
Someone has been smoking here. Someone’s here. We aren’t safe! I grab the guy’s arm again, this time seeing his face. Black-framed glasses over light green eyes, shaggy brown hair. His expression is serious. Somehow I know his name. Marlow.
We run down a dark hallway into a bedroom, and my heart leaps! A girl is tied to a bed. She’s a brunette, but she has Teagan’s face. Is it Teagan? My Teagan? Her eyes open and flash with recognition when she sees me.
“Sage?”
“Teagan! You’re alive!”
Suddenly I’m in the hallway, walking toward the front door. I stare at my hand. I’m holding a cell phone, my cell phone, but it isn’t my hand. It’s large and masculine. I have a man’s hand. I reach for the door, knowing what I have to do. I have to call 911. I have to get help. I open the door and yelp. A gun is pointed at my head.
My eyes sprung open. My heart beat frantically, thumping hard against my ribs. Teagan. When reality dawned, as it always did after a Teagan dream, a dark blanket of depression settled over me. It wasn’t Teagan’s body that slept soundly in the bed across the dorm room from mine. Teagan was gone. She was dead.
I squinted against the glow of morning light. An alarm went off and Nora’s red head popped up from under thick covers. She tapped her phone, killing the siren, and yawned. Then her freckled nosed wrinkled.
“What’s that awful smell?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling fresh embarrassment. “I threw up.”
“In here?”
“I couldn’t make it to the bathroom.”
Nora turned on a light and a groan escaped my chapped lips.
“Well, are you going to clean that up?”
“Yes. I’m sorry,” I said again. I was sorry. I’d become a drunken idiot since Teagan died.
“Sooner would be better than later,” Nora said as she spritzed perfume into the room. She disappeared into the bathroom and I forced myself to sit up.
Nora O’Shea was my new roommate. We were in the same math and science program so we shared a lot of classes. Like me, she was focused and tidy, and she appreciated numbers and logic.
Teagan had been my best friend since grade school. She was an artist: messy, colorful and disorganized. She was nothing like me. And I missed her so much.
I heard the shower turn off, a signal that I had to start moving. After reaching for my glasses, my faves with bright purple frames, I managed to inch myself out of bed. I found an empty plastic grocery bag and gingerly picked up my pukey shoes and tossed them in. I stuck out my lower lip with regret. I really liked these shoes. I held the bag gingerly as I shuffled out of the room, down the hall and into the common lounge where I disposed of the bag in the garbage bin.
Nora exited the bathroom just as I got back, and I took a turn. I washed my hands then downed an extra-strength Tylenol with two glasses of water. I reached under the sink for a rag and the cleaning products, returned to my side of the room and started scrubbing the low-pile industrial carpet.
“Um,” Nora started. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
I held my breath as I scrubbed my vomit out of the rug. “Yeah?”
“I’ve been hanging out with Jake.”
My hand stopped and I looked up at her. “Teagan’s Jake?”
“He’s not Teagan’s Jake. They broke up two weeks before she…”
“I know. It’s just, I’m used to seeing him with her.”
“That’s why I haven’t said anything before.”
“So why are you saying anything now?”
“Because I think we’re about to make it official.”
I frowned.
“Sage, please understand. I really, really like him and he likes me. It’s awful what happened to Teagan, but life goes on.”
I inhaled deeply, but it wasn’t enough to soothe the swelling pain in my chest.
“Look, if it makes it easier for you, we won’t hang out when you’re around.”
I sighed again. “No. It’s fine. You’re free to date whomever you like.”
“Thanks, Sage. I know the last four months have been hell for you.”
Four months? Already? It felt like Teagan just left me last week.
Once the carpet was cleaned, I crawled back into bed and watched as Nora got ready to go out. She looked really cute in her jeans and trendy spring jacket. Her hair hung over her shoulder in a long, crimson braid.
She paused at the door. “Are you going to be okay?”
I nodded. “I’m fine. Are you meeting Jake?”
Her glossy lips pulled up into a smile. “Yeah.”
“Say hi for me.”
“I will.”
I watched her go and it was like the sunshine left with her. The room suddenly grew dimmer and it threw me back into my dream. The cabin. Teagan. The guy. The gun.
I’d seen the guy before. He’d called a cab for me once, on my first drinking spree after Teagan died. He’d saved me from a potentially bad situation. I saw him around campus on occasion, but we never had reason to talk since then.
I wondered why I dreamed about him. What was the cabin all about? And why did Teagan sometimes have brown hair instead of her natural blond?
I was just glad they’d caught her killer. Some hotline tip. It wasn’t the first time I’d dreamed about Teagan. That was normal. It also wasn’t the first time I dreamed about Marlow, a guy I barely knew. In one apocalyptic dream, I power-hosed him in a decontamination shower. He was buck-naked.
In fact, he appeared in almost all the dreams I had about Teagan. At least the bad ones. Why? What was it about this guy? I wondered if I should look him up.
Amazon
In Print
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to summertime for showing up and inspiring me, even though this short-story is set in the winter. Imagination can be anywhere and anytime. :)
Also a huge thank-you to my editor and friend Angelika Offenwanger for accommodating my impromptu requests and for keeping my stories about Marlow and Sage on track, and as always to my husband Norm, my kids, and to God.
Books by Lee Strauss
On Amazon
The Perception Series
(dystopian/sci-fi/romance)
Ambition (short story prequel)
Perception (book 1)
Volition (book 2)
Contrition (book 3)
Playing with Matches (WW2 history/romance)
Playing with Matches
A Piece of Blue String (companion short story)
A Nursery Rhyme Suspense
(mystery/sci-fi)
Gingerbread Man
I Spy with My Little Eye
(short story)
Life is but a Dream
Hickory Dickory Dock
