by Cat Gilbert
I nodded my agreement, wondering where this was going. The last time we’d talked about Denzel, er, Marcus it hadn’t gone well and I had decided to keep quiet until I saw where Jonas was heading.
“That’s the good news. Bad news is, all we have is a name and a location. Nothing else.” He finished off the roll and stood up. Strolling over to the window, he watched Mama D working the garden, obviously waiting for me to say something.
“A dead-end?” I asked, not just a little confused. Jonas was good at his job and I had no doubt that if there was information to be had, he would have found it.
“A big one. We have an identification, which I am almost certain is false, and a body, and that’s pretty much it.”
I digested this while Jonas toured the kitchen and headed into the living room. Picking up my coffee, I followed him, mulling over the implications of Jonas’s news in my head. Everyone has a past. Everyone leaves a paper trail. The fact that Marcus didn’t, meant he had friends in high places. Someone who could make him disappear. I felt my muscles tense, as my gaze flew to the window, and the street beyond. Marcus Adams wasn’t working alone. Someone else was out there.
Picking up a Christmas photo taken a few years ago, Jonas held it up to me, chuckling, “Don’t you ever feel funny being the only white child in a black family?”
“No, I don’t, and shame on you for saying such a thing,” I chided, taking the photo from him. He might have been joking, but it still bothered me, his tease being a reminder that prejudice still existed. He looked at the photo and saw the color. I looked at it and all I saw was love. I had come for Christmas dinner and afterward we had set up the camera and taken a group photo. It had been a happier time then, before Kevin had been killed. Before I had met Keith and lost him. We hadn’t known what the future held, but we had endured. We had supported each other through staggering heartache and loss and formed a bond that would last a lifetime.
Looking at the photo now, I realized this family of mine was in danger now. Marcus Adams worked for someone and now Marcus was dead. If Marcus had been after me, I was willing to bet there was someone else already in place to step into his recently vacated shoes. Well great. Just great.
Jonas watched the emotions play over my face and reached out to take the photo from my hands.
“I’ll drive you home,” he said softly. I nodded and headed out to the garden to say my goodbyes.
TEN
JONAS NOT ONLY drove me home, but he came in and searched the place too. As he was looking in closets and under the bed, I found myself more and more concerned. Just in case he hadn’t noticed, I informed him his paranoia was freaking me out, which didn’t stop him from going out to check the balcony.
When he finally left, after ordering me to lock the door and set the alarm, I couldn’t have been more relieved. As nice as it was to be mothered and pampered by Mama D, there really was no place like home. Surprised at the thought, I headed into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee.
After Keith died, I was sure I would never have that feeling again. That wherever I lived, at the end of the day, it would always be a ‘place’, not a home. I was even more convinced when I sold the house that Keith and I had bought right after the wedding. We had furnished it ourselves, enjoying picking out the furniture together. I had lasted nearly six months after the funeral before I couldn’t stand being in the house for another minute without him. Every room held a memory, every piece of furniture a story. I sold the house and everything in it. I would never forget him, but the sadness of the empty house tore at my heart every time I opened the door.
I had moved into the city, bought a brand new condo and new furniture, determined to make a new home with new memories. However, regardless of my intent, my new place had remained just that. A new place. Until now. This was the first time I had come through the door, relieved to be here. Maybe it was all the turmoil of the past week, or the hospital stay, or maybe a new sense of awareness came along with the Telekinesis thing. Whatever the reason, I thought, as I took my cup of coffee and snuggled into my sofa, I was glad. I had finally come home.
THE RINGING OF the phone brought me up with a jolt. I’d fallen asleep on the sofa, and now, the blaring of the phone was having a definite impact on my ability to wake up enough to coordinate getting off the sofa and locate where I had laid the cordless phone.
“Yeah?” I mumbled when I finally found the phone, which was unaccountably sitting in its charging base where it should have been. Go figure.
“I’m coming over with dinner and a plan.” It was Trinity and from the sound of the background noise, she was in her car.
Glancing out the window, I saw the lengthened shadows and realized I must have been out for quite some time. As I watched, a patrol car slid slowly by and parked just up the street from the building. Hm. Interesting.
“Are you listening to me? Hello? Hello?”
“Yes, I’m listening.” I may not have been totally focused on the subject at hand, my mind still on the patrol car sitting outside, but I had the gist of it. “You’re coming over with dinner and a plan.”
“That’s right. I’ll be there in 10. You have stuff to drink?”
I abandoned my post at the window and wondered over to the refrigerator to peruse the contents. “I have diet Coke, water and week old tea.”
“Coke is good, I’m bringing pizza. See you in a few.”
Pizza again? That was a first. Not that I was complaining. She hung up and I tossed the phone on the counter while I dumped the tea down the drain. Any good southerner knows, tea is best fresh. Nothing worse tasting than old iced tea, unless it’s tea from a metal dispenser. Yuck.
Another peek out the window let me know the patrol car was still there and I decided to give Jonas a ring to check it out. Picking up my cell I discovered I had slept through a couple of calls and a voice mail. Second time that had happened. This falling asleep thing was getting to be a habit. I could excuse it this time because I had a concussion, after all, but still, I had never slept through calls before and it bothered me that I had. Of course, a lot of things were bothering me lately. Not the least of which was this whole business with Marcus and the police now stationed outside.
I listened to a voice mail from Jonas proving my suspicions were right about the patrol car. That was his handiwork. I shook myself as a feeling of unease tensed the muscles in my back. Jonas was worried, and that worried me. The second caller had blocked his number and didn’t leave a message. It wasn’t all that unusual, probably a wrong number, but something to let Jonas know about, just in case. Looking around I noticed the shadows deepening in the condo and flipping on a light, made my way around until I had checked all the windows and made sure they were locked up tight and the alarm was on. So much for feeling safe and secure.
By the time Trinity arrived with the pizza, I had managed to splash some water on my face and run a brush through my hair. I actually looked half way presentable or so I thought before I opened the door to Trinity.
“You look awful,” she informed me, balancing the pizza box and a large bag, while kicking the door shut with her foot. “You should have stayed at Gram’s a few more days. I can’t believe you just up and left like that.”
“I didn’t just up and leave. I needed to get home and get some sense of normal back into my life. Besides, Mama D was spoiling me rotten.” I didn’t see the need to explain my rapid departure to Mama D, or Trinity either, for that matter. If there was indeed someone after me, my presence was the only real danger to either of them. Watching Trinity disappear around the corner, I reasoned that she was safe enough for the time being. It was still relatively early, the police were keeping an eye on the place and I didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough to try anything when I wasn’t alone and an easy mark. Just to be on the safe side, though, I double checked the lock on the door and reset the alarm before I followed her and the scent of pepperoni into the kitchen.
“What’s in the bag?” I ask
ed, while pulling the soda from the fridge and grabbing a couple of glasses. I hoped it wasn’t salad. I wasn’t in the mood for healthy.
“That’s the plan,” she answered cryptically. “I’ll explain after dinner.”
Oh boy. She was up to something. Maybe salad would have been the lesser evil. I had slept through lunch and by the time we had gotten plates and napkins on the table, I was ready to dig in. Trinity told me about her day and filled me in on the progress on our Atlanta felon, as we munched away.
I had barely finished my last piece, when she swept away a clear spot and heaved her big bag up onto the table with a flourish and stupid grin on her face. I covered my eyes with one hand, half afraid to look at what she was up to.
“Aren’t you curious as to my plan?” she asked as she began digging around in the bag. I watched as she put a glass bowl, a roll of aluminum foil, a box of straws and other items out on the table and had to admit that I was in fact curious.
“Okay, we’re all set,” she declared as she threw the empty bag onto the floor and sat back down. “ I just have to make the wheel.”
This should be good, I thought, having no idea what she was going to use to make a wheel. The answer became apparent when she ripped off a piece of foil and started folding it into a square and triangles.
“Trinity, I hate to break it to you, but wheels are round.” I knew it would irritate her, but I just couldn’t help myself. She was so intent concentrating on that foil.
“Ha, ha, ha, Miss Know it all. This is a psi wheel and it’s supposed to be this way.” She had finished with her folding and grabbed a can of play-doh that had been hidden behind a big bottle and some of the other items. Tearing a plug of doh out of the can, she slapped it on the table, and then stuck a straight pin in it, pointed straight up.
“You know that’s dangerous, right?” I said, amused. “Someone could lose an eye.”
“Someone better not,” she snapped back, obviously not as amused as I was. Before I knew it she was unfolding the piece of foil that she’d just spent 5 minutes carefully folding up. Then she sat the foil on the straight pin, exactly in the middle, turned the glass bowl upside-down and plopped it down on the table, covering the foil completely.
Satisfied, she stood back, hands on her hips and looked at me.
“Okay, Yoda, do your thing. Make it spin,” she ordered, circling her finger in the air for effect.
Yoda? I looked at the bowl and the foil suspended on the pin inside and realized what she was doing. Trinity wanted me to make it spin around. With my mind. She had indeed made a psi wheel, and making it spin was one of the tests for confirming Telekinesis. Trinity had obviously been doing some homework on the web sites I had given her. After my torture with the spoons, I hadn’t even thought about doing any of the so-called tests that were listed, but apparently Trinity had other ideas.
“Come on, Taylor. Concentrate! You’re not even trying.” She shuffled around behind me and leaned down. “Use the force,” she whispered in her best Obi Won imitation. I probably could have held it together, but when she started in with the heavy breathing, I lost it. Before I knew it we were both convulsed with laughter and struggling to catch some air.
“This was your plan, Trinity?” I asked, wiping tears from my face. “Testing my so called abilities?”
“No.” She was sprawled in her chair with her arms holding her stomach. “My plan was to see you laugh. Things have gotten pretty intense lately.”
I nodded agreement while feeling my cheekbones, which were sore and taking another swipe at my own eyes, flopped back in my own chair exhausted.
“Well, your plan worked and I feel much better now. My face hurts, but I feel better.”
“Good.” Trinity started picking up the testing materials and stuffing them back in the bag. “Now, maybe you can explain the police surveillance outside then?”
Oops. I raised my eyebrows innocently at her but she wasn’t buying it.
“Don’t even go there Taylor. I may not be the investigator you are or have psychic powers, but I can put two and two together and get four. Gram said Jonas came by and you left with him. I figured something was up and it wasn’t good. The police car out front confirmed it, although I don’t know what good he is doing sitting out in the street.”
“He’s a deterrent,” I explained needlessly, since she knew exactly why he was there.“Jonas came by Mama D’s this morning to tell me there’s no background history on Denzel.”
“No background history?” Trinity stopped as the implications hit her. “Who’s this guy working for?”
“My question exactly. His name was supposedly Marcus Adams and he hailed from Omaha. That’s all there is on him,” I said as I headed into the kitchen with the trash and to put some coffee on.
Trinity was right on my heels.
“So this Marcus fellow was following you, right? Keeping an eye on you. Then you grab his coffee and suddenly everything escalates.”
“Right,” I confirmed, pulling down a couple of mugs. Trinity was no dummy. She had already figured this out. “The turning point was the coffee incident.”
We stood silently for a moment watching the coffee drip, each of us lost in thought. Finally I broke the silence.
“I have to tell Jonas about the Telekinesis. Somehow it’s at the center of this and he doesn’t stand a chance of finding out what’s going on without knowing the whole story.”
Trinity nodded her silent agreement. I looked at the phone, dreading the prospect of telling Jonas that what he suspected, might actually be true. If Trinity had done her homework, and apparently she had, considering the psi wheel, then she knew there was no proof that anyone actually had Telekinesis. If word got out that I did, or even thought I did, things were going to change, big time. The more people who knew about it, the more likely it was that word would get out and life would end as I knew it. Problem was, I wasn’t too sure that hadn’t already happened. Sighing audibly, I resigned myself to the inevitable, picked up the phone and made the call.
ELEVEN
“WHAT ARE YOU doing here?” Jonas demanded as I ushered him into the living room. His words were directed at Trinity who responded as any attorney would.
“I’m her laww-yyer.” She drug out the lawyer part, implying Jonas might be having trouble keeping up.
“I wasn’t aware she needed a lawyer,” he snapped back, not missing a beat. Turning around, he fixed me with a glare. “Do you need a lawyer?”
“Hey!” I could be as assertive as the next person. “Leave me out of this. If you two want to go a round, don’t let me stop you. Just tell me when you’re finished and we can get down to business.”
Trinity sat back down in the chair she had leapt up from when Jonas had entered and started in on her.
“He started it,” she mumbled under her breath.
I heard it and so did Jonas, who snorted loudly and took a seat as far from Trinity as he could get. The tension was so thick in the room you could cut it with a knife. They were both perched on the edge of their seats, looking like they were ready to spring up and do battle should the occasion arise. Whatever was going on here, was more than professional dislike. Either they hated each other for some reason unknown to me, or … hell had indeed frozen over and Jonas, the dedicated cop with no time or desire for a social life and Trinity, man-hating she devil, were attracted to each other. Heaven help me. Like I didn’t have enough on my plate already.
“Okay kids. Settle down.” I felt the need to set some ground rules here, before things went any further. Last thing I needed was a war between the two of them while trying to deal with everything else.
“Jonas, Trinity is here as my friend, not as my lawyer, and Trinity, I invited Jonas here, so lets all try to be civilized.” I gave them both the eye until Trinity leaned back and Jonas pulled out his notepad and pen and indicated he was ready to do business. “Jonas, I would prefer you wait to take notes until I tell you why I called. I believe it may have s
omething to do with what’s been happening, but I would prefer to keep it as private as possible. Just hear me out and then we can all decide on what to do next.”
“Fine.” Jonas tossed the pad and pen onto the table in front of him. “Tell me. I’m all ears.”
Not exactly friendly, but not overtly hostile either. I glanced over at Trinity as she nodded encouragement and began to tell my story.
An hour later, I was finished. I’d told him everything and now sat braced, waiting to see what happened next.
“I knew it,” Jonas exclaimed, slapping his thighs in excitement. “I knew it!” Jumping up he began to pace the room. “I knew you two were keeping something from me and that thing in the hospital? You nearly took my coffee! Just like you did with Marcus.”
“Wait a minute. You believe her?” Trinity was watching him tour the room, as was I. I had expected a reaction, but certainly not this one.
“Lady, I’m from the swamps of Louisiana. There’s not much I haven’t seen, and most of it can’t be explained. My own Grandmother had the sight. So yes, in answer to your question, I do believe her.” His pacing came to stop right in front of me and I looked up to see him towering over my head.
“However, this does put an interesting spin on things,” he said, looking down at me like I was some sort of specimen on display. Not a good feeling and one that I was sure I was going to experience more and more in the future. The feeling of claustrophobia was nearly overwhelming. I could actually feel my heartbeat pulsing in my veins as an unbearable heat began to climb up my neck. Almost instantly a fine sheet of sweat cloaked my skin and the instinct to flee was overwhelming.
