She felt a pair of smoldering eyes burrowing a hole into her cheek. It was coming from the left, where Derek was breathing. She swung her head to say something to him, but he leaned over and kissed her before she managed to get the first syllable out.
Almost instantly, she felt the telltale sign of a jump countdown starting—the tingle deep within her spine.
“No!” she mumbled at him through the unexpected lip-lock, pushing him away with a firm jab to the chest. He had set her senses on fire—that’s why she couldn’t touch him, let alone kiss him. It was too intense. Just looking into his eyes was almost more than she could bear, especially once the psychic connection was established and the floodgates opened.
She broke eye contact with him and put her head in her hands, taking in several deep breaths in an attempt to stop the pre-jump process. A minute later, the tingle faded and flickered out.
Emily needed to explain her time jumping to Derek, but couldn’t find the words. How could she? There was little chance he’d understand. What had happened to her the night of The Taking was beyond explanation, or belief. So was her resulting condition, and the special powers.
Yet it was her life. He’d certainly get upset or grow afraid of her and run for the hills. Not that she could blame him. She wished she could run away and hide from her own life, too. Sometimes, she’d sit quietly in the shadows and let herself slip into a self-pity party. She’d pray for the blue light to come and swallow her whole, wanting it to send her to oblivion and beyond.
Sure, she figured it was possible to blink out of existence, but only if her emotions warped out of control, reaching a level far beyond what any human could endure. She knew that if she ever achieved that altered state of emotional consciousness, the blue fire would surely come and end her misery once and for all.
But her thoughts of vanishing forever were merely a fantasy, spurred on by the anguish swelling in her heart. Her will to survive was strong—stronger than she ever imagined. She didn’t know how to give up. Reality wouldn’t let her. Even so, her life wasn’t all bad. It had its cherished moments, like now, with Derek.
She relished his mounting desire for her, and thought maybe she might be able to control the jump process, to some extent, if that’s all she had to manage. But it wasn’t. She was being bombarded with a tidal wave of information, probably due to his close proximity and her rising affection for him. Everything he was thinking and feeling was pouring into her synapses, burying her from the inside out.
She glanced at him, but had to look away. In just over an instant, she received a thousand powerful flashes from him, showing her his difficult upbringing and life of despair. He was just as broken as she was—abused and tortured—though in a completely different manner.
Somehow he’d managed to maintain a sense of calm assuredness, not giving in fully to the temptations of evil. There was a cool breeze of tranquility swirling inside of him, but it was mixed with mounds of torment and baggage. He was emotionally and spiritually compromised, suffering deeply in ways she never imagined.
“Someone always has it worse than you,” her mother’s voice said from inside her memories. Now Emily understood what her mother was trying to teach her. Life is a series of disasters and poor decisions, each one adding to the next, molding us into something new. Something other than ourselves.
Emily knew at that instant that a future with Derek was impossible, even though she wanted it more than life itself. Two broken and desperate people can’t be together. It would just make everything worse.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “I thought you liked me.”
“I can’t, Derek. I just can’t. I’m afraid it’s going to happen again.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Don’t act stupid.”
“You mean like in the van?”
“Exactly.”
“What? Because of me?” he asked, pawing at her.
“Yes . . . No . . . I don’t know.” She swatted his hands away. “It makes me lose control, and that’s when it starts. I can’t stand the pain, and I never know where I’m going to end up. I could land so far away that I’ll never be able to see you again.”
“Trust me, I’d find you. No matter where you went.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” she snapped, wanting to tell him about her abduction and the time travel part, but held it all back. She didn’t want to burden him with her problems. He had enough of his own.
“What if you didn’t lose control?”
“I will. That’s the problem.”
“Not if we had a six pack or some Valium, right?”
“That won’t work.”
“Why?”
“I’d be asleep.”
“At least you wouldn’t disappear.”
She rolled her eyes. “There’s no way I’m taking drugs so we can be together. Are you kidding me?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. Just trying to help.”
“Well, you’re not. So stop pushing me. Please! Just stop!”
“Whoa, bitch alert,” he said, slouching in his chair with a pouty look on his face. He folded his arms, then turned and stared at the movie screen.
They both sat quietly, watching a string of advertisements flicker across the screen. The awkward moment lingered, stretching into thirty seconds, then a minute. Soon, five minutes had passed.
Derek broke the silence. “You mind telling me what’s really going on?”
“Yeah, I kind of do mind. It’s just too embarrassing.”
“Why?”
“I’ll sound like a lunatic. You’ll never believe me, and you’ll probably hate me.”
“I could never hate you, Em. Ever.”
She shook her head. “No way. It’s too awful. I can’t even think about it right now.”
Derek’s eyes sharpened. “So that guy—Duane? What story were you going to tell him? You were going to tell him, right?”
“I was.”
“Why him and not me?”
“‘Cause you’re a boy. It’s not the same. I mean, well, I kind of . . . you know.”
“No, I don’t know.”
“Okay then, be that way. You wanna tell me why you were in that gang?”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
He mimicked her voice and speech pattern. “Because you’d never believe me. And you’re a girl. And I, well . . . you know.”
“You don’t have to be a complete asshole about it,” Emily said, wishing she could take back the insidious words that just flew off her tongue.
She felt a hollow pain in her stomach and a lump in her throat. She hated herself for what she’d just said and needed to apologize. After which, she planned to explain everything to him. But she wasn’t sure how to begin.
She looked at him, but couldn’t speak.
He sat in silence, looking at her as well. Both of them were fixed and motionless with a hundred patrons seated around them, completely oblivious to what was happening in the last row of the theater.
Their eyes melted together.
Emily felt the psychic connection deepen. She was about to fall deep into the comfy, hot silence of his watery blue eyes when she was startled by the sound of an old-fashioned telephone ring coming from her lap.
“Really? Now?” Derek snorted.
She looked at the phone. Only a number was displayed. No name. “Probably Duane.”
“Who has a ringtone like that?”
“Old people do,” she answered. “I think it reminds them of the olden days,” she said, choosing not to answer the phone call. She didn’t want her moment with Derek to end, and that’s exactly what would happen if she answered it.
The phone stopped ringing.
She relaxed.
He grinned.
Then, after fifteen seconds, it started up again.
Most of the adults seated in the three rows in front of them turned around and sneered.
An obese, middle-aged woman wearing a bold, flowery top and a titled white beret held a finger to her puffy lips and shushed Emily.
Emily shot a snotty look back, then stuck her tongue out.
The woman scrunched her face, then flipped Emily the bird.
Emily mouthed the word BITCH.
“Are you going to answer it?” Derek asked.
“I really don’t want to. I’d rather stay here, with you, and forget the rest of the planet.”
“Me, too. But we can’t do this alone.”
She paused, running through it in her head. She agreed, even though she didn’t want to. She pressed the green button on the keypad before plastering it to her ear.
“Hello? This is Duane’s phone.”
Derek was growing tired of the eyes watching him and his girl. It’s impossible to blend in and remain anonymous when everyone’s focused on you.
He decided to apologize, hoping the groups’ eavesdropping would end. “Sorry. It’ll only take a second,” he told the row of angry gawkers sitting in front of him, still twisted around in their seats. He waited to see if his simple apology worked, but the theater’s first video promo sprang to life on the big screen. It appeared to divert their attention away with the thunderous roar of the Dolby Surround Sound commercial. Most of them spun forward to watch it. Derek planned to ignore the few who didn’t.
Emily sat bent over in the seat, using the index finger on her free hand to plug her unencumbered ear.
Derek leaned in to listen to her one-sided conversation. He could hear most of what she was saying, even with the theater music blaring.
“They did?” she said as her eyes went wide. A look of fear played across her face, then she set her jaw in a grim line of determination as she listened. “No. I understand. Okay, I can probably do that . . . Key under ficus? 4678. Spells ghost. Yep . . . 23-17-58. Left, right, left. Then push hard and turn. Got it . . . Where? . . . 333 . . . I know where that is. Thanks for helping us. Feel better soon.”
She ended the call, her face energized with emotion. She spoke softly in his ear. “That was Jim. They took Duane into custody. Apparently Jim’s cop friend called security, then went straight to their office and started checking the video feeds instead of chasing you. A camera caught us talking to Duane outside the hospital. When the cop went back to Jim’s room, he found Duane sitting there. Duane told him we’re hiding at the movies.”
“He sold us out? I thought we could trust him?”
“We can. Jim told me Duane winked at him and then pretended to play ball with the cop. He didn’t have a choice, since Alison saw him with us. As soon as the cops left, Jim called Duane’s number from his hospital room. The cops are on their way here now. We gotta go.”
They hopped out of their seats, banging into the knees of the people seated in their row. They made it to the aisle, then ran down the stairs of the stadium seats to the landing in the middle. Derek wanted to use the emergency exit door to the right of the screen, but a group of disabled people in wheelchairs were in the way, blocking the aisle ahead.
He made a U-turn around the stanchion wall separating the seats from the foyer and headed for the entrance to the auditorium. Derek blasted through the door first, then Emily. He grabbed her hand and led her, using a brisk walk, to the towering lobby of the twenty-four-theater multiplex.
The numerous concession lines were jammed with customers and the smell of popcorn and candy was intoxicating. Overhead, movie previews roared on a slew of big screens.
Derek scanned the lobby for threats then studied the entrance, looking beyond the bank of entrance doors and through the two-story wall of glass that bracketed the main ticket window.
He stopped in his tracks when he spotted four uniformed officers and a curly-haired man dressed in a wrinkled suit arrive in a collective gallop outside, a few yards in front of the entrance. The man with the wild hairdo was talking on a handheld radio and his forehead was bandaged.
“Shit!”
“What?”
He pointed. “Alison. And he brought reinforcements.”
“Now what?”
Derek pulled Emily out of their line of sight, pushing her against the wall under the decorative arch that connected the south wing of auditoriums with the lobby.
He moved around and stood in front of her. He peered around the corner, looking through a gap between two life-sized character cutouts standing a few feet away from him, facing into the lobby.
An employee of the theater dressed in a red suit and tie went outside to meet law enforcement. Derek assumed he was the manager based on the way he was waving his arms, pointing and shaking his head.
The police were busy chatting outside, probably formulating a containment plan to minimize the risk of collateral damage. There were hundreds of people around, and they couldn’t afford to start a mass panic.
Derek was sure Alison and his crew hadn’t seen them yet, otherwise there’d be more sense of urgency in their body language. He considered their escape options and came up with the only answer: Diversion.
He turned to Emily. “We need to split up.”
She clenched her teeth. “No! I’m not leaving you.”
“It’s better this way. I’ll draw their attention while you make a run for it.”
“No, Derek, no!”
“Yes, Em. It’s the only choice. They’re still trying to figure out which theatre we’re in. I’m sure they think they have the element of surprise, but we have the advantage. There are tons of exits to cover and they don’t have enough manpower—yet.”
Her eyes began to tear. “Please, Derek, let’s just leave together.”
“I can’t take that chance. If I get arrested, I go back to juvie. No big deal. But if you get caught, they’ll figure out about your vanishing act and want to study you.”
“I’ll just disappear if they do.”
“Not if they drug you. Then we’ll never see each other again.”
He grabbed her face, cupping her cheeks with his hands. “Trust me, I’ll be all right. I’m way faster than those old men out there. They’ll never catch me.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m really good at this,” he said, letting go of her. He took the cell phone from her hand. “They can trace this.” He pried the back panel open and tore the battery from its compartment. He tossed all three pieces into a nearby trash can.
He put his hand in his front pocket and pulled out a crumpled stash of money. He pried her fingers open and stuffed the leftover cash from Duane into her hand. “Here, take this.”
He pointed back the way they had come. ”Pick any theatre on the right side and use the emergency door next to the screen. If someone’s in the way, knock ‘em down. Don’t stop for anything.”
She kissed him hard on the lips, then pulled away with a loud lip smack.
“I thought that wasn’t allowed?”
“You know, just in case.”
“Meet up later?”
She grinned. “Jim said we can stay at his house. 333 Glassford. I’ll meet you there at midnight. I’ve gotta go take care of something for Jim first.”
She gave him another kiss, this time only a peck. “Tell me that you’ll be there so I don’t start freaking out the minute I leave.”
“I promise.”
She held her hand up with the little finger sticking out. “Pinky swear?”
He wrapped his finger around hers. “Pinky swear.”
She let go and took off running.
Derek used a casual walk, working his way into the lobby filled with mostly unaware patrons. A few of them had turned around to gawk at the collection of cops growing outside, but the majority were waiting in line with greenbacks and debit cards in hand, studying the menu boards above the sprawling refreshment counter. He planned to focus the cops’ attention on the concession crowd, then run for the far exit door, leading them away from Emily.
He walked to the front of the first line and swu
ng his hand up, knocking a tray of drinks out of the grasp of a young soccer mom with three grade-schoolers standing with her. The kids screamed.
All four cups flew into the air, then their lids popped off and physics took over. Sticky soda jetted out and drenched several people, making them gasp. Two middle-aged men and one teenage girl who was wearing a halter top and short-shorts began cussing at him.
Not loud enough, he thought, ignoring their verbal assault.
He cut across the front of the remaining food lines, whacking popcorn tubs, nacho trays, hotdogs, cheese-covered pretzels, and more super-sized drinks into the air. Finally, the crowd reacted loud enough for law enforcement to notice.
The LEOs ran to the entrance doors, which was Derek’s clue to make a beeline for the exit door down the far hallway.
He began a full sprint, praying that his assumption was correct about the cops not having enough manpower to cover all the exits. Otherwise, it would be a short footrace.
He made it to the door and plowed outside. No cops. He was alone.
He cruised down the cement wheelchair ramp, jumped the black and yellow safety handrail, and took off across the narrow access drive that connected the front of the theatre with the back. He ducked under the sprawl of low-hanging branches from a palo verde tree and scaled the brick privacy wall that surrounded the theater’s property.
Next door was a sizeable strip mall. The shopping center’s impressive lineup of designer shops and chain restaurants stretched to the traffic light on the corner, a good two blocks away. He knew the center’s buzzing parking lot would provide effective cover for his escape, but he needed to vary his path and not run.
Play it cool, he reminded himself.
A minute later, he came upon a drive-through lane filled with at least thirty cars waiting to place their order at an In-N-Out Burger. He cut in front of a black and silver Humvee that had been decked out with off-road lighting, oversized tires, and a massive chrome-plated push bar mounted to the bumper. He expected the driver to be a burly mountain man or a wannabe cowboy, but Derek was wrong. A slender female with hoop earrings was sitting in the driver’s seat, chatting on a cell phone, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Glassford Girl: Boxed Set (Complete Series) (Time Jumper Series) Page 16
