Page 9
R eeni stared at this man who she knew somewhat, though not as well as she wanted to, as Trevor crashed on the chair across from her. Food would be coming soon, but he’d dropped his phone against his chest and had basically powered down. It was a fascinating process, and he’d done it so quickly and efficiently that she realized how adept he was at this. Maybe he had had years of practice.
She should cultivate that herself. She certainly needed to figure out how to stop the drain of energy, particularly when it decimated her so much, as it had today. She didn’t know whether it was finding the bomb site, just that overload of information, or the final confrontation with Bullard, but something had hit her sideways. Finding out the cops were on her case, hearing the conversation and listening to them basically accuse her of having insider knowledge, had just finished her.
If she was trying to help people, why did the world continuously turn around and hit back at her with crap like this? She never understood that, unless it was because she was doing the wrong thing, and that was something she had wondered about time and time again. Yet, when that urgent feeling came across as being something she needed to do, it was impossible for her to do anything differently. What was she supposed to do when she knew an attack was happening?
The problem was, by the time she explained herself to people, either the attack was already happening, had happened, or they weren’t even interested, maybe weren’t even around after the fact, or argued that she should have done more. She always figured she needed to do more, and honestly, she hadn’t had any other situations quite like this one. She hadn’t realized who Bullard was, but she’d certainly recognized the amount of power at his compound.
Would it have changed anything? No. Even now she wondered at the temerity that allowed her to go up to a stranger’s house and to tell him such a thing. The fact that they were in chaos and were trying to stop a complete outage hadn’t helped because it was almost as if she had brought it with her. She pondered that, but surely that wasn’t anything that she was doing. Similar things had happened around her before, but, as far as she was concerned, that was because of her energy. Seems it was pretty easy to mess up all kinds of things for other people with energy.
She wasn’t very good at starting anything, but she certainly could stop things. And, in the case of the gate, could blow up electrical things. Not exactly tricks for parties—or at least not for the homeowner. Anybody attending would probably think it was the best, as party tricks go anyway.
She groaned as she got up and paced around the room. Whatever food was coming would be here relatively soon, but, in the meantime, Trevor needed the break. Whatever was coming would be big and ugly. She didn’t want to be involved, but there was no way to get out of it now. She was involved whether she wanted to be or not. As she sat down again, she sent out a request for energy to see if anything reached back.
There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not for the first time she wondered if she had imagined the original rush of energy coming to Bullard’s place. But that was impossible, wasn’t it? Surely she couldn’t have made this up. One of her worst fears was that she was doing something to bring these things into existence. It shouldn’t be possible, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t possible. Because she was the only one who could really feel it, she always felt as if she was doing something to bring it all on. Not fair, not even realistic, but, if she was somehow triggering it, that would be bad news.
At the same time, how could she know who and what was going on in this craziness? If she was triggering it, was somebody else using her energy to launch these attacks, or was it something to do with her energy that made everything go on the fritz? No, she had sensed it coming toward them, to that address, in a big way. It hadn’t been hard to follow the trail of energy, any more than it had been hard to follow the energy to the apartment, whether it made sense or not that she was compelled to follow it. Even now she was wondering just what her options were.
She sat here for a long moment, just thinking about her life, her future, wondering what she wanted to do, when Trevor opened his eyes and smiled at her.
“Did you figure it out?” he asked her.
She jumped, worried that he’d read her thoughts. The look in her gaze said it all.
“No, I don’t know what you were thinking about, but it was obvious you were intent on whatever it was.”
She sank back into the chair. “You shouldn’t do that to people,” she declared, her voice harsher than normal. “People might believe you.”
“They might,” he said, looking at her with interest. “And, in your case, it’s really not a bad idea, is it? You have an awful lot going on in that head of yours, and, if you could just find a way to calm it, you might get somewhere.”
She snorted at that. “Hey, if I could find a way to not go to random people’s doors and act like an idiot, I would be totally happy.”
“Yet the reason you do go there is pure. You only want to help.”
She gave him a veiled look. “Whether I like it or not, it feels very much like I have to do it.”
“And, therefore, don’t make excuses for it. You’re doing it with the best of intentions, even if it doesn’t feel it’s working out that way.”
Just then came a knock at the door. She hopped up, but he bolted to his feet first, walked over to the door, and opened it before she had a chance. She glared at him, but he tipped the waiter and then pushed the trolley inside. The smell hit her stomach, and she groaned instead. “Wow,” she murmured. “I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.”
“It goes along with that whole blood-sugar drop and associated temper tantrum,” he said, with a chuckle.
She stared at him. “Is that what that was? A temper tantrum?”
“I don’t know,” he said, looking at her curiously. “Maybe that’s something you should tell me.”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “I’ve never acted like that before. I’ve never found the need to prove myself like that. It doesn’t seem terribly fair, does it?”
“Maybe not fair, maybe not intentional,” he stated, “but, if you think about it, it happened, and now there’s this whole energy pathway.” He hesitated for a moment. “Have you ever tried to follow that energy back?”
She shook her head. “Usually when I notice it,… it’s already dispersed.”
“So, if you could get a jump on it before it attacks, maybe you could figure out where it’s coming from?” he asked her.
She thought about that, as she picked up a burger and stared down at the juicy goodness before her. Yet it was hard to think of food and these attacks at the same time. “Possibly,” she murmured.
“But think about it. How much energy or how many people would be involved in something like this?”
“I’ve never really had any advance notice. I just get this nudge, and that’s where I go.”
He nodded. “That may be, but did you ever consider…” He hesitated, and then thought he better just come out with it. “Did you ever consider that maybe they’re letting you know?”
She lifted her head, startled. “You mean, the bad guys are telling me what they’re doing? No,… but then I would know ahead of time, wouldn’t I?”
“But that’s the question really,” he said, refining that train of thought now. “Are they telling you, and you’re not paying attention? Are they even talking to you? Or do you have precognition visions?” he asked. “I’m just guessing here, but, if you could track the information before it got to the point of an attack, that would be very helpful.”
“Of course it would,” she cried out. “Don’t you think I try to do something useful with this?”
“Of course you do, and you are,” he noted, giving her an understanding look. “Don’t ever forget that.”
“ Right .” She rolled her eyes at him, as she took another bite. She chewed fiercely for a moment and then added, “Surely people understand that I’m not just sitting here and doing nothing, right?”
“I think so,” he said, with a smile. “If anybody thought about it, they would assume you were doing something, but I don’t even know what you’re doing. You may not even know what you are capable of. I just know that you’re finding this. So I’m wondering if you can find a way to get ahead of it.”
“Maybe,” she muttered, and then she looked at him with an uneasy expression. “But I’m not sure that’ll make my life any easier.”
“No, it may not,” he agreed, with a nod, “and that’s definitely part of the challenge. Yet, if you have to do whatever you can do in order to keep your sanity, yet still benefit the rest of the world,… you should take the chance.”
“Why do I have to be responsible for the rest of the world?” she asked. “Why can’t everybody look after themselves?” she muttered. She took another bite and chewed hard for a moment, then sighed. “Nobody else seems to know though, do they?”
“Nope,” he said, with a cheeky grin in her direction. “So far, you’re the only one we’ve found with that specific ability.”
“It’s not as if people like me will be sitting around at hydroelectric stations,” she muttered. “That’ll get you killed.”
“Will it kill you though?” he asked curiously.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never tried. I really don’t want to push it that far either.”
“Of course not,” he agreed. “As soon as you try that,… you’re likely to push yourself off into the brink,” he murmured, “and that is something you just can’t afford.”
“I sure can’t. I don’t want to be on a death mission here. I just want to enjoy my life… and have it be a life that is doable and at least comfortable, if not happy.”
“Not like what we’re dealing with right now,” he noted, shaking his head. “This is terrible, as if it’s some litmus test, without any end in sight.”
They finished their meal in silence. As he cleaned up everything, he looked at her and asked, “Why don’t you have a nap?”
She shrugged. “I’m still too keyed up.”
“Then drain it. Find a spot in the floor and send all that energy right into the center of the earth,” he suggested. “You need rest before all this goes around and around in your head and stops you from doing anything, should something happen.”
At his wording, she looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “Are you picking up on something?”
“I think we’ll have visitors soon,” he shared, “but not just yet. So I want you to get some rest and to get a little sleep at least, before then.”
Frowning, she walked over to the bed, sat down, and looked up at him. “When?”
“Not for an hour or two,” he replied, “and I’ll wake you up so you have lots of warning.”
“ Great ,” she muttered. “Are they friend or foe?”
He looked at her for a moment and shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s one of the reasons I want to ensure you’re wide awake and capable of doing whatever we need to do.”
She winced. “I don’t want to hurt anybody.”
“Good,” he said. “I wasn’t planning on it, not unless they came here to hurt us. I will deal with them, but, just in case all bets are off, then we need to do what we have to do to stay alive. So I need you to be up for anything.”
It was a little hard to take in what he was saying, but she knew she needed rest. Once the food reached her stomach and the adrenaline had crashed, she dropped quickly. She curled up on the bed, pulling a blanket up over her, but not getting under the covers. “Wake me up with lots of warning.”
“If there is any warning,” he murmured. “Just sleep. I’ll look after you.”
With that, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. She didn’t remember the last time she had slept quite so quickly or so heavily. Her dreams were mixed—some positive, some negative—but all had her jerking awake several times, checking that everything was okay, and then dropping back under again. When she finally surfaced the last time, she stared up at him. “No visitors?”
“Not yet,” he said with a smile, as he walked over and sat down on the bed beside her. “How’re you feeling?”
“Like crap. I overdid it energy-wise.”
“You did,” he agreed, “but it’s something that we all do from time to time.”
“I guess,” she muttered. “Any news?”
“I did hear from Terk and Damon. The police have cleared the apartment building, and they managed to disarm the bomb, so everybody’s been allowed back into their homes. Thanks to you, it didn’t go off and kill anybody.”
She smiled with relief. “Now that is good news to wake up to.”
“Yes, but no word on who our bomb-maker is though, so he’s still on the loose. Plus, it doesn’t let you off the hook in terms of the cops wanting to talk to you. They will be on us, probably sooner rather than later.”
“ Great .” She rolled over, staring at the wall. “ Crazy psychic chick tells them there’s a bomb in the building . Think they’ll go for that?”
“It’s what it is in your mind. It doesn’t matter if they go for it or not. Tell them what you know and leave it at that.”
She gave a startled laugh. “That won’t go over well.”
He grinned. “Maybe not, but Terk is also lending some weight to this issue. Besides, you did save a lot of people with that warning,” he reminded her. “So, as much as the local cops may not like it, they also have to respect the fact that it could have been much worse.”
“Not something they’ll want to even contemplate,” she said, with a laugh. “You know they just want somebody to crucify.”
“There isn’t anybody they can have in this instance,” he stated, his tone calm and really relaxed.
She stared at him. “Have you ever been in this situation before?”
“Several times.” He nodded. “It does help if you have somebody like Terk in your corner, but, if you don’t, then you tell them the truth, and you just get marked off as one of the crazies in the world.”
“How sad is that,” she whispered. “We do all this to help other people, and we’re the ones who get marked down as being nutcases.”
“True, but the alternative isn’t great either.”
“How so?” she asked.
“We don’t want them coming to us for answers all the time when we can’t provide them,” he replied. “That’s another aspect to this that you probably aren’t seeing and likely don’t want to see, but we really don’t have a whole lot of answers on demand. Once the cops see that we have answers once, there’s that tendency to want them all the time,… even when we don’t have them. And then we get proven as charlatans.”
“ Great ,” she muttered.
He looked down at his watch and frowned.
“Yeah, so energy is coming toward us,” she muttered, as she got up and made her way to the bathroom, where she washed her face and stepped back out again. “I just don’t know if it’s good or bad.”
“Neither do I, but we’ll find out soon enough.”
When a knock came on the door a little later, he looked at her and asked, “You ready?”
She shrugged. “Sure, whatever.”
He opened it to see Damon, Bullard, and two cops. Trevor looked back at her and let them in. As soon as she saw the cops, she stiffened, but, when she saw Bullard, she openly glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Wow,” she muttered, “this room isn’t big enough for all this.”
The cops looked around uneasily, and the lead cop began, “We do need to ask you some questions, if you are up to it.”
“That’s nice, but you could have asked me to go down to the station.”
“We figured you wouldn’t want to,” the head cop said, looking at her cautiously.
She stared at him. “I don’t have any information, nothing more than I already told you.”
“I understand that, but, now that the bomb’s been disarmed,… we have some questions as to how you found the information.”
“Tea leaves,” she stated, and that answer stopped everybody in their tracks.
Trevor gave a long-suffering sigh and added in exasperation, “She’s just pissed, so don’t mind her, but she is a psychic,” he declared. He walked over and sat down beside her.
The police nodded. “You said that last time.”
“I did, and you didn’t believe me then, so you won’t believe me now,” she declared, with a wave of her hand. “So, what difference does it make?”
“Because, if you know anything about who did this and what the hell’s going on, we need that information.”
“If I had it, I would have given it to you already,” she said, steadily staring at him. “They’re after Bullard, but other than that, I can’t tell you anything.”
At that, the cops looked over at Bullard. He studied her steadily and then said in a firm voice, “We need you to come back to the compound.”
She raised one eyebrow and shook her head. “That won’t work out so well for me.” She looked back at the cops. “You’ll have to check into Bullard’s life as to what’s going on. I don’t know who, why, or how. I just know it’s connected to him.”
The cop looked from Bullard back to her, then back to Bullard again. “He doesn’t know what’s going on.”
“No? That’s because he hasn’t dug deep enough,” she suggested. “I don’t know what’s going on, except it seems to be a personal matter directed at Bullard. I know that answer isn’t good enough for you guys, but, beyond that, I can’t help you.” She looked up, saw Damon, and then something flashed. “Unless you’ve got any answers.”
Damon shook his head. “None of us do. None of us saw this coming. None of us knew anything about it, and we had no warning except from you. That’s the scary part here.”
“Of course.” She gave him a ghost of a smile. “Nobody wants to see shadows creeping through town or through your life, knowing that somebody’s got something planned, and it’s not good,” she muttered, staring off into the distance. “But it happens, and it happens too often. That’s what terrorist cells are all about.”
“Are you saying this is a terrorist cell?” One of the cops jumped in at the mention.
She could do nothing but drop her head into her hands, silently condemning her own slip of the tongue. She raised her head with a big sigh. “No, I’m not saying that,” she clarified. “I’m saying that’s what terrorist cells are like . They operate under your nose, and you don’t know anything about them until they pop up and destroy something. I was just making the comparison.”
“It’s an interesting analogy,” one cop said. “So why would you use those particular words?”
“To help you to understand what this is about. Is it a cell? For all I know, it could be, but I don’t know that it is. I also don’t know that it isn’t,” she explained in exasperation. “This is exactly why I don’t talk to cops because I don’t have the answers that you’re looking for. I share whatever answers come to mind, but, beyond that, I can’t help you.”
The cops looked stumped.
“You’ve obviously talked to the others, and that’s why you’re here, but I don’t have anything more to give you,” Reeni stated. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go back to sleep.” Then she shifted back into the bed, pulling the blankets up over her and glaring at the people in her room. When the cops made no move to leave, she threw back the covers. “Fine, if that is how you choose to play it, I’ll just go get another room.” And she brushed past them all, grabbing her purse as she headed out.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Trevor said.
“No,” she snapped back. “There is no waiting. I won’t sit here and get persecuted.”
“Nobody is persecuting you,” Trevor replied in exasperation.
She turned and glared at him. “Look at them. They already think I’m guilty. I can practically hear them all thinking, and it’s far too loud in my head.”
“They’re desperate and looking for answers,” he noted. “They’re not blaming you.”
She stopped and turned to face the men.
Immediately they both shook their heads. “We’re not. We may have come down a little hard initially because we didn’t understand what was going on,” the lead cop said, “but, right now, we just need all the help we can get.”
She blew the strands of hair off her face. “You do need all the help you can get,” she agreed, “but I don’t have anything to give you. I don’t like being accused. I don’t like being…” She hesitated, her glance switching over to Bullard and then quickly on Trevor. “…locked up.”
She huffed for a moment and then added, “Some of this is very hard for me. I don’t want anybody in my space who doesn’t believe in me, and you have no reason to. I started this, and I apologize for that. I probably shouldn’t have had anything to do with it at all, but,… well, I was under the impression that I needed to.” She was on the verge of tears, and angrily swiped at her face. “Right now, I would very much like for this to be over.”
“When you say you felt as if you needed to, can you explain why?” the head cop asked.
“It felt as if it would get big and it would get ugly, and it started with Bullard,” she said, staring at him. “What’s so hard to understand about that?”
“That wasn’t mentioned before.”
“I didn’t know before,” she declared, with a shrug of her shoulders. “You really are asking questions that I don’t have any answers for.”
“We found the bombmaker’s equipment.”
“So surely you have some way to trace whoever was there, whoever rented the apartment, the phone numbers that they used, and where the stuff was purchased. That’s what you do, right?” she asked pointedly. “And maybe that’s what Bullard’s guys do. I don’t know. All I know is, I got messages, and I tried to enlighten people to save them from danger. And, for that, well, I can’t say it’s been a great event. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I’ll head back to England.”
At that, Trevor stiffened. “I didn’t even think to ask. Where are you living these days?”
“Just outside of London,” she muttered. “At least I will if I can keep away from my family.”
“Why do you want to get away from your family?” one of the cops asked.
She snorted. “Because they look at me the same way you do. And that’s not exactly how I want to spend my life.”
The cops shared a look and frowned.
“Yeah, so if you already made some inquiries into my life, I’m sure you found out I’m just two steps free of the loony bin,” she shared caustically. “That’s another reason I don’t want to hang around with you.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” one of the cops said in exasperation. “Look. We obviously had to do an investigation into who you are.”
“You don’t know anything about who I am,” she declared, her voice rising, as Trevor felt the hysteria also rising below the surface. “Nothing that your computer spits out says anything about who I really am. I don’t even begin to try and explain it anymore, but what I can tell you right now is,… I simply don’t have any more information.”
“Yet you just gave them something,” Trevor pointed out in a calm, collected, and soothing tone.
She glared at him. “I didn’t give them anything because I don’t know what I have in my head. If they ask questions, and I have an answer, I can give it. Yet, if they’re asking me to just spit out information, as if I’m some printer run amok, I don’t have it,” she snapped, glaring at him.
“That’s not a bad thing. Maybe just have a seat and try to calm down. We’ll bring in some fresh coffee, and let’s see if they ask any questions that might stir up some more information.”
She hesitated, and the cops stepped forward, nodding. “Please,” they said together. The older one added, “We really would appreciate it.”
“But you don’t even believe in psychics,” she stated pointedly. “I can tell from your energy, so why would I want to put myself through this?”
“We don’t believe because we’ve never had any exposure,” the other one offered. “So, we get it. We’re not the typical go-round, but you’re not our typical go-round either,” he said in an understanding tone. She could see his confusion, but while there may have been doubt, there was no deception. “We’re just trying to find information. If we pool our resources, maybe we can get there.”
She walked back to fling herself down onto the chair. “Yeah, it’ll take more than coffee.”
Trevor snorted and quickly picked up the room service phone and called in an order for six coffees and rounds of dessert. She perked up at that. He nodded. “You’re worse than I am,” Trevor noted. “The way to your heart is definitely through your stomach.”
“Yeah, my heart is pretty-well locked up.”
Shaking his head, he smiled. “Your heart is an open book.”
She glared at him and soon turned away, only to be facing the men who were now staring at her with interest. She shrugged. “He doesn’t know me as well as he thinks he does.”
“Nobody knows us as well as we think we do,” Bullard interjected, as he stared at her uncomfortably. “When we meet some people, it can trigger reactions we didn’t think we had in us, like I triggered in you.”
“And I triggered in you,” she replied.
He flushed at that. “Touché, both of us apparently hit some sparks off each other.”
She shrugged. “That’s fine. Every time you look at your gate, you’ll remember me, I’m sure of it.”
He rolled his eyes at that. “Yeah, thanks for blowing it up.”
At that, the cops stiffened and turned to him. “Just kidding,” he said, with a smile and a shrug. “I didn’t mean it that way.” They seemed to relax slightly at that.
Then Reeni laughed, and the moment passed. “Maybe that’s what I needed, a laugh at Bullard’s expense.” Then she looked over at the cops and added, “Start asking your questions. I feel I am up for it, at least for a while.”
And that began what felt like a trip from hell, right down a lava slide.
Did she have any idea who lived in the apartment?
Did she have any idea who bought the materials?
Did she have any idea who the targets were?
Did she have any idea if it was connected to anybody else in the building?
The questions kept coming, fast and furious, and her answers were equally fast. Yes, no, yes, yes, no, no, no. Then she gave a couple names and shrugged. “I don’t think the names have anything to do with this, but they’re there.” Then she frowned. “No, wait, there’s one name that does matter. Josiah . I don’t have a last name for you though, and I feel as if he’s dead. But somehow or other he’s a part of this.” She turned and looked at Bullard, then narrowed her gaze. “You are a part of it, so who is Josiah to you?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“You need to figure it out then,” she stated, “because he is the reason for this in some way, and that’s how you are connected.”
On a long exhale, Bullard replied, “I don’t know that name.”
“You don’t know that name because you knew him by another name, but he died.” She pondered that. “I… I’m getting that it was about three to four years ago, and it involved some job you did.” She looked at Bullard and gave him a smirk. “You have a lot of enemies.”
He nodded noncommittally, then shrugged. “Yeah, when you do a lot of work for governments around the world, trying to keep people safe and putting criminals behind bars, you wind up with enemies.”
She didn’t say anything to that because she knew he was correct, though it didn’t make things any easier. Still, she did feel the need to add one thing. “I know that it’s connected to you, and you’ll need to go back in time.” She pondered that, frowning as she tried to concentrate. “I’m still getting three to four years ago.”
Just then the coffee arrived. Reeni got up and poured herself a cup, then begrudgingly poured one for everyone else as well, realizing that, as long as everybody was cooperative, she might get out of this with a simple end to the questioning. She didn’t know. Then she had a horrible thought. She looked over at the cops. “Did you contact my family?”
One of them flushed and nodded.
“ Great ,” she muttered, rolling her shoulders up and down, as if to ease the instant tension that flooded her body at the very thought of her family. “Did they say anything?”
“Your father mentioned something about coming over to see you.”
She swallowed hard and stared at him. Then she looked around the room, breathing too hard. “That’s guaranteed to move me along. I need to get away from here right now. I presume you told him where I am?”
They nodded, bewildered.
“ Right .” She started packing up her belongings. “Thanks for nothing.”
“He’s your father, with—”
“Yeah, he’s my father, but, if you think he’s got my best interests at heart, you’re wrong,” she snapped, tears already burning her eyes. Just when she thought she could calm down and relax, that had to come up.
As she was still packing up, Bullard stepped inside and she realized something had shifted. “What’s going on?”
“Apparently we weren’t supposed to let her father know where she was,” one of the cops shared. “We contacted family as part of our initial inquiry, not realizing it was a problem for her.”
“Ah.” Bullard winced. “Come back to the compound with us.”
“No,” she snapped. “I’m not going there. I’ll just disappear again.”
“You can’t keep running,” he said.
“Oh, you might be surprised.”
“Why would you run?” the one cop asked, increasingly bewildered.
“Because my father doesn’t care about me. He cares about making sure I’m not an embarrassment to him,” she explained. “So, by telling him where I am, and possibly all the loony answers I gave you for being here, you’ve given him the ammunition to come over with a slew of his lawyers and doctors to try to put me behind bars again.”
“In jail?” he asked.
“It might as well be jail.” She glared at him. “He wants to keep me confined in a mental hospital so I can’t embarrass him any longer.” The cops looked uncomfortable, as they glanced from one to the other. “You can think I’m crazy all you want,” she snapped, as she walked into the bathroom and brought out her toiletries. “That’s your headache, but I’m leaving, and I really don’t give a crap what you do.”
And, with that, she stormed out of the hotel room and slammed the door hard.
*