by Darrell Bain
* * * *
Inside once more and with fresh drinks, Bailey told Hetrick of the little bit of animal research his friend had gotten started on and how the combined chemicals might have worked on the three children who could now read minds. He still didn't reveal that Benadryl was almost certainly the second ingredient.
"I can help you on the research, for sure,” Hetrick said. “I've got lots of contacts and people I trust."
"We don't want this getting out,” Bailey warned. “It would be horrible for Jimmy and Amber and Jeannie."
"I imagine. Still, we'll have to do more than research if your suspicions about Casey are correct. This is so big we need to find out all we can. And frankly, Bailey, I think you need some protection."
Bailey sighed tiredly. He and Pat had gone over all this between themselves. “What can we do? Surround the kids with guards? Change our names and try to hide? I asked for help, Ray but we don't want to call attention to this."
"It's going to come sooner or later,” Ray said positively. “Nothing like this can be kept a secret forever. It's better if we try to control it, but you're right; the less attention, the better."
"So what do you suggest?"
Ray touched his temple reflexively, feeling for the glasses that were still not there. “Mrs. Jones, how do you feel about home schooling?"
Pat had thought about it before. Her main objection to home schooling was the lack of contact and interaction with other students. On the other hand, Amber and Jimmy were special cases, and her mother's instinct was telling her it might be much safer.
"How would you two feel about it?” Pat asked them.
Jimmy waited for Amber to speak. She squeezed his hand, causing their minds to buzz momentarily with pleasure before getting back to business.
"It would be okay with us, Mom. We're finding we have less and less in common with the other kids anyway. They seem so immature now."
"The problem is that I have a job. I'm a teacher,” Pat told Ray.
"I see,” Ray said. “I guess most couples today have to both work to have a decent living. My wife did, I know."
"It's not that, Ray. We're not hurting for money. It just so happens that I like teaching."
"The students are fortunate to have you then.” He grinned sympathetically at her. “You know, teaching is one of the few professions where just about everyone in the world thinks they could do a better job than the ones who actually know what they're doing—the teachers."
Pat laughed, but it was all too true. “Thank you. Not many people realize what a difficult job it is or how much time teachers spend outside of school hours at it."
Ray grinned again. “I do. My sister is a teacher.” He glanced at his watch. “Is there anything else you want to go over tonight? I have some ideas, but I'd like to think about this and do some checking with a few people I trust."
Bailey stood up. “Go ahead and get some rest. We need to toss around the idea of home schooling and security ourselves. Can you give us a hint about what else you're thinking of?"
Ray debated with himself and saw no harm in telling them a few more ideas. “Oh, maybe the witness protection program, a move to a more secure home, bringing in some of my retired friends to help, arranging for more research and the like. Just ideas so far, but don't worry about me or any of my friends spilling the beans intentionally. Anyone I bring into this, you'll be able to trust. If I'm not absolutely certain, I'll bring them by for Amber and Jimmy to test. It's the ones we don't know about that worry me."
"Us, too."
"All right, I'll say goodnight, then. Amber, Jimmy, I'm very glad to have met you, and I'll do everything I can to help you keep your freedom. So will your parents, I'm sure."
"They will,” Amber said positively.
Bailey and Pat shook hands and Ray left.
* * * *
Nothing untoward happened for the next two weeks, but one day while Amber was out of school for a followup to check on how she was tolerating the birth control implant she had gotten the month before, Jeannie approached Jimmy at recess. She touched his mind, indicating she wanted to talk.
Jimmy allowed her to steer him toward a corner of the school yard where no one else had congregated then stopped.
"I know what's on your mind, Jeannie. I'm sorry, but it's Amber I love."
Jeannie smiled as brightly as she could. “I know that, silly. I wouldn't want to break you up, but I don't see anything wrong with sharing occasionally.” She stepped closer. “Wouldn't you like to have a little experience before skipping the rope with Amber?"
"We'll manage,” Jimmy said. His voice cracked. Jeannie was standing very close, her breasts almost touching him.
"Sure you will, but Amber wouldn't mind if we did it. She knows boys need relief more than girls."
"No,” Jimmy said.
"Oh, come on. My parents won't be home until late. We can use my bedroom. Please?” Jeannie accompanied the plea with a vivid image of how good sex could be with her, showing him likenesses of herself naked as she had been with Jordy and using all her mind power to convey the pleasure Jordy felt when he touched her and played with her body.
Jeannie thought he was weakening. She added another incentive. “It won't be for long and then Amber can have you all to yourself. Dad has a job offer in Los Angeles he's going to take soon as school's out. I'll be leaving. Wouldn't Amber want me to leave happy? Wouldn't you?"
Jimmy wasn't wavering. Jeannie, in her enthusiasm, was misinterpreting his reaction. In reality, he was thinking that it would be nice if three people could merge their minds and become permanent partners, but it wasn't working like that. Amber was his girl and she was the only one he wanted to be so close to. He knew with absolute certainty that Amber felt the same way.
Jimmy shook his head. “I'm sorry, Jeannie. I wish we could just be friends. I wish you weren't going to leave, either. You're the only other person like us."
"That's the problem,” Jeannie said.
"What company is your dad going to work for? We had a vacation planned for the summer. Maybe we'll be coming your way."
"Not likely,” she said, giving up on Jimmy for now. She turned and left him without another word.
Jimmy continued standing in the same spot. Jeannie was angry and had let a thought slip out. Casey was the one arranging the job for her father. He muttered angrily to himself, wondering how she could stand to associate with the man, even to that extent. At the same time, he found himself feeling sorry for her. He knew she missed the intimate contact the three of them had enjoyed until he and Amber's pairing. One other thing he wondered about was how much longer he and Amber would wait. Both their bodies were demanding release from the constraints of incomplete sex. They had delayed so far out of respect for the wishes of their parents—mostly Amber's parents—but he also knew they couldn't last much longer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"Gomez is going to accept the offer,” Casey said, presenting an air of satisfaction and competence to Brazos, the man he was working for. He was sitting across from him in a office located among a cluster of identical buildings, four and five story non-distinctive structures of brown imitation adobe or old mirrored siding. Offices of this type on the southern fringes of Los Angeles were where all kinds of nefarious business activities, both legal and illegal, took place. First, he had gone to see one of the vice presidents of California Pharmacies, the big conglomerate which included pharmacies, manufacturing, and distribution facilities.
Casey had very carefully picked a distribution specialist which careful research showed was vulnerable in his personal life and combined that trait with both ambition and a love of money. His instincts told him there would be others like him in the company who worked their own sidelines without top management being aware of them. In truth, Casey knew that management probably suspected but didn't want to know so long as the stock price stayed up, they collected their bonuses, and their names were never mentioned or put on any kind of
documents. Casey's instincts had been right. That first contact had led to others, culminating with Brazos. The man sitting across from him was very secretive, but Casey knew how to elicit information from junkies and prostitutes. The street talk had Brazos’ tentacles extending into much of the narcotics and counterfeit drug trade. He was also reputedly working for one of the huge drug cartels in Mexico, helping them with their smuggling operations.
"Very good,” Brazos said. We've also checked your facts, Mister Casey. It appears that what you told us is true.” He slid a slip of paper across the desk. “Keep this in a safe place. It's your overseas bank account identification number and instructions on how to set up your security. Do I need to mention that you now work for us and that we would be very unhappy if anyone learned of it?"
"You don't need to mention it,” Casey said, though he wasn't exactly who else he did work for.
"Good. Now, tell me, do you recognize this man?"
Brazos produced a print from a camcorder, showing Bailey, and next to him...” Hetrick! he shouted inwardly. That sanctimonious sonofabitch!
"That's Ray Hetrick, the SAIC of the Little Rock field office."
"Fine. We'll check into it and see what he's doing now. You do the same because he's somehow connected with those kids. In the meantime, go back and continue your activities. Get as many of the special kids out here as you can and continue your work on the personal lives of their parents. I'm sure you of all people understand there's almost always things in a person's private life they wouldn't want made public. Comprende?"
Casey felt his face color and wondered if Brazos knew of his own predilections. “I understand. There's another half dozen besides the kid I'll be working on. They're the ones I believe will cooperate with little need of compulsion other than money, of course. I'll get them first."
"Of course,” Brazos said. All during the conversation he maintained the same countenance. His brown face never cracked a smile or showed any kind of expression. His straight black hair, narrow nose, and full lips gave his dark brown eyes a look of restrained violence, as if he had spent his childhood tearing wings off flies and torturing small animals before graduating to more satisfying methods of expressing his personality.
Casey had met men of his type before, usually in interrogation rooms where he had the upper hand. This was his first experience at being the supplicant, and he wasn't sure he liked it, even for the money.
* * * *
Amber had no sooner opened her eyes Saturday morning when she felt Jimmy's mind touch. Without words, or without going into details, he conveyed the need to see her as soon as he could. Amber rested in bed for a few moments, letting the flow of Jimmy's mind merge with some of hers and allowing some of their body senses to intertwine. This was something new they were practicing. It had already given them a startlingly different perspective of how they each viewed their own selves, but it was early; she wanted to shower and dress and brush her teeth before seeing Jimmy. She gave him the mental equivalent of a kiss and broke contact as she flung the covers off and swung her feet to the floor.
A little later, she went outside to meet Jimmy. The way they liked to touch and kiss and enjoy bodily contact was still a little embarrassing in the presence of their parents, though a brief embrace in front of them was becoming commonplace.
After the initial hug and kiss and the pleasant mental warmth of their minds touching, Jimmy took her hand and they began walking around the block, their usual weekend routine. It gave them a chance to talk about private matters and to stop at the bus stop alcove for a few minutes if no one was waiting there. When they could, they took this opportunity to sit and kiss and touch deeply.
Every time they did this, Amber felt her senses reeling with the pleasure of such closeness.
It was Jimmy who broke the contact first for a change.
Amber looked at him with desire still plainly etched on her features. “Jimmy, I don't think I can wait much longer,” she said.
"I can't either, but for different reasons. Dad has a new job in California. We're moving."
"Oh, no!” Amber could hardly stand the thought of it, of being separated. “Jimmy, you can't go! I couldn't stand it."
"Neither could I, not for long. I don't know what to do, though. We're not even fourteen yet, nowhere near legal age. The law would make me go with them."
They and their classmates were aware of the legal aspects of being underage. Some other cases had come up like theirs. One girl had been sent to reform school for continually running away to her boyfriend who had moved, and a couple of boys were on the verge of being incarcerated for skipping school too often and refusing to obey parental restrictions.
Amber had a sudden thought. “Maybe your mom would let you live with us!"
"Mom might, but I doubt Dad would. He's funny."
"Jimmy, you hardly ever see your dad."
"I know, but they've talked about it when he was home. Both of them think it'll be a good thing. They've had problems, you know."
"Uh huh. But what will a new job do?"
"Mom thinks it will help them be happier, and she thinks maybe moving away would help me forget all this stuff about being special."
"Oh, Jimmy, she knows we can't forget it. She...” Amber's voice trailed off and she simply leaned against Jimmy. A tear slid down her cheek. She was as aware as he was that Mrs. Gomez was becoming increasingly less responsive to their special status. She would like the whole thing to go away, and Mr. Gomez was even worse. He didn't understand it and didn't want to understand.
Jimmy said nothing, simply using his mind to try comforting her and doing a poor job of it because there was no realistic way out of the dilemma other than both of them running away.
"We can't run away,” Amber said, picking up his thought. She sighed and forced herself to consider what else they might do. Finally, she said, “Jimmy, let's go talk to Mom and Bailey before they leave. Maybe they can think of something to do."
* * * *
"This is Casey's doings, I'll bet,” Pat said when Amber told her of what they were facing.
"Probably, but that doesn't change the facts. Jimmy, would talking to your folks help if I told them what we think Casey is up to?"
"No, sir,” Jimmy responded immediately. “Dad thinks it's a great opportunity and so does Mom. They don't believe it's me they're probably after. Mister Jones, please try to think of something to do. We can't bear to be separated."
"Bailey, he's right. We just can't. We'd run away first,” Amber said.
"Oh no, baby, you can't do that!” Pat exclaimed. She clasped her hands tightly together, her mind racing to think of arguments to dissuade them. “Listen, it would be only two and a half years, and you'd both be sixteen. Jimmy could come back here then. In the meantime, we could take our vacations to wherever you're going, but you just can't run away. You have no idea of what it would be like, and you'd be caught before long and separated anyway."
"Mom, you know it wouldn't be very easy to catch us. We could manage somehow."
"Wait a minute,” Bailey said. “Kids, just hold tight and let me think."
Amber and Bailey passed the few minutes of silence with their minds tangled together in an apprehensive alliance.
"First of all, I think Pat and I need to know just how close this relationship is. I know you've tried to tell us, but is there any way you can make us feel it?"
"We could try, I guess,” Jimmy said.
"It would be something new,” Amber admitted. “Really, we never even considered whether we could show you like that. Let us think a minute, okay?"
The adults nodded and watched as Amber and Jimmy looked deeply into each other while they mentally mapped out the way to proceed. Like the young people, Bailey and Pat were holding hands. Bailey looked down and didn't even remember when it started. He smiled at his wife, trying to reassure her, and found himself wishing that he could do it as easily as the kids could with each other.
"We're rea
dy to try,” Amber said. “We can't do it to you both at the same time, though. Who wants to go first?"
"Try me,” Bailey said immediately and protectively, his first reaction being the urge to take any danger from the process away from Pat if it did prove to be harmful.
"All right, just relax and close your eyes, Bailey,” Amber instructed.
Bailey did so. Presently he became aware of another presence in his mind. He shied away at first but forced himself to accept it. The sensation wasn't painful, and it captured his total attention. His mind was awash with the powerful impression of the children's closeness to each other. It went on, growing even stronger. He could tell how enthralled they were with each other, how wonderful they felt being together. He got an impression of how strongly their bodies reacted when they kissed and touched with their minds merged. From somewhere far away, he sensed that they were actually kissing. The combined emotional storm almost overwhelmed him. It was somewhat akin to sex with Pat, but different in a way he knew he would never understand fully. It was easy to tell how binding such passion could be—stronger than any marriage bonds, deeper than normal love, more satisfying than any sensation he could conjure up from memories of the most pleasurable emotion he had ever experienced. And still it grew. He slumped down in his chair, trying to break loose from the contact, and suddenly, he was free.
Bailey shook his head to clear his mind. He grinned feebly at the children and then at Pat. “Whew! Watch that first step, honey. It's a big one!"
Pat reacted in much the same fashion as Bailey had, but when it was over she was shaking.
Amber got up and went over to sit beside her for a moment, letting her mother hug her, wanting her to be comforted and seeking some comfort of her own. When she thought her mother was able to continue, she returned to her seat beside Jimmy. She took his hand and leaned against him. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. It was simply unthinkable that they could be parted. Demonstrating their feelings to the adults only reinforced the reality.
