Chapter 14 #2
Jake glanced at Rachel, then said, “My parents had trouble conceiving me, and I didn’t want to run into the same problem when we get married.”
The old woman looked wary.
“I think my parents went to a fertility clinic in town,” Jake continued.
“It’s been closed for years.”
“You worked there?”
Her face tightened.
“You were quoted in a newspaper article about the place when there was a fire,” Rachel said gently.
Maven looked away from her.
“The Solomon Clinic,” Rachel prompted.
The woman’s lips compressed. “Dr. Solomon doesn’t like us to talk about it. He might get angry with me.”
“He’s still alive?” Jake asked.
Her gaze darted away from them. “I shouldn’t be talking about it.”
When she folded her arms across her chest, Jake continued in a soothing voice, “The clinic did a lot of good work, helping childless couples.”
“Yes,” Maven murmured.
“But they were doing something else, too,” Rachel said.
Maven shook her head vigorously. “We’re not supposed to talk about that.”
“Okay.”
The woman looked agitated and lowered her voice. “Don’t tell Dr. Solomon that I said anything.”
“Of course we won’t.”
The woman’s expression turned secretive, and she lowered her voice. “He wanted to make smarter children. That’s a noble goal, isn’t it?”
“What?” Rachel asked.
“Smarter children.” The old woman’s expression changed abruptly. “I want you to leave now,” she said.
Rachel and Jake glanced at each other. They’d just confirmed one of their speculations, and they both wanted to keep pressing her.
“I’m already in trouble. Please leave,” she said.
Some of the other residents were looking at them. Which was probably their cue to get out of there.
They both stood. “Thank you for your time,” Jake said. “It means a lot to us.”
Maven nodded tightly, then looked down at the magazine in her lap.
They both walked toward the door, then into the hall.
She’s afraid, Rachel said.
Was she warned not to talk, or is she trying to protect her role at the clinic?
There’s no way of knowing. But we do know what the clinic was doing. Trying to increase the intelligence of the children conceived there.
If it’s the truth, Jake answered.
It makes sense–with all that IQ Testing.” She stopped and thought for a moment. But wouldn’t all that be illegal?
He answered with a mirthless laugh. The government and private research groups have done a lot of things that are illegal--or stupid--in the name of experimentation.
You’ve heard about soldiers lined up to watch nuclear explosions.
Or doctors who deliberately didn’t treat a bunch of black men with syphilis to find out what would happen to them.
Somebody paid a lot of money to fund Dr. Solomon’s research.
Would a small town doctor have that kind of resources?
I think we have to assume someone with deeper pokets was footing the bill.
The government or a pharmaceutical company, maybe.
But I think they were dissatisfied with the results.
I mean back when Solomon had a working clinic.
Maybe the money man sent Evelyn Morgan to check on the doctor’s progress.
And she reported that there wasn’t anything unusual about the children’s intelligence. The experiment was a big failure.
And when her boss didn’t like what she found out, he told her to burn the place down, Rachel added. Which is kind of extreme, don’t you think?
Apparently he’s an extreme kind of guy. He didn’t just come asking you or me questions. He sent a thug after us. Probably to find out what he could before killing us.
Rachel winced.
But that still leaves us with one big question—why did Evelyn try to get us together?
Suppose she researched children from the clinic and thought they might have developed some kind of special talent when they were paired up?
Of course, there’s another question, Rachel said. We don’t know if Dr. Solomon is really alive. He could have died years ago, and Maven’s not remembering correctly. Or he could be nearby keeping an ear out for anyone who talks about the clinic.
And then what?
Jake shrugged. It could even be that people have heard about Evelyn’s death, and that’s got them worried.
Rachel nodded. Do we look for Dr. Solomon?
That could be dangerous.
As they walked past the front desk, Jake nodded to Ms. Dalton. “Thank you.”
“Did you have a nice visit?”
“Yes.” He waited a beat before asking, “Is Maven often confused?”
“Sometimes her memory is a little shaky.”
“Thanks,” he said again.
In the parking lot, he started the car but didn’t immediately drive away. “We have to find a place to stay,” he said.
“And this time, we don’t mention anything about the Solomon Clinic.”
“Unless word about us has already spread around town.”
She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “You think people are talking about the nosy couple asking questions?”
“No. It was just my frustration talking.”
They drove away from the facility and headed toward the downtown area. They’d just passed the site of the old clinic when Jake made an angry sound as he caught sight of a man sitting in a car in the bank parking lot.
Rachel stiffened. “It’s him. Smithson. The guy from New Orleans. He’s found us.”
“Yeah.”
“And we’ve got to do something about it.” Rachel’s brow furrowed. “Let me think. What about . . .”
He didn’t let her finish. “No.”
“You’ve got a better idea?”
His expression turned grim. “No.”
As he pulled out of the parking lot, Jake took evasive action, driving down a few side streets, then checked his rearview mirror to make sure he had no tail before heading toward the highway.
He passed a couple of large motel chains, then pointed toward a sign that said “Cabins.”
“Probably not as nice as that fancy place, but we need some privacy.”
She nodded.
They drove a short distance up a gravel road hemmed in by cypress trees dripping with Spanish moss where they found a rustic building with an Office sign out front.
Jake parked under a tree with low-hanging branches.
Without being told what to do, Rachel scrunched down in her seat and waited while Jake went in.
Inside he found an old guy wearing a pair of faded overalls.
“Help you?”
Jake affected a thick drawl. “My honey and I need a room for the night.”
“Sure.”
He paid in cash and gave a false license plate number on the registration form.
When the guy reached for a key, Jake asked, “You got a real private cabin?”
“They’re all off by theirselves.”
“Appreciate the privacy.”
“Okay. Number four, then. You go up to the end of the road till you can’t drive no further.”
“Thanks.”
Jake returned to the car and drove down the road, deeper into what looked like a wilderness area.
He could see some cabins through the foliage, but kept going until he reached the end of the road where he found a small shingled building with a parking area in front. Behind it he could see a slow-moving bayou.
After he pulled up in front, they both got out and looked around.
“I guess this is as private as we can expect,” Rachel said, and he heard the quaver in her voice. “It looks like the setting for a slasher movie.”
Jake reached for her hand and knit his fingers with hers.
“We don’t have to stay here,” he said. “We don’t even have to stay in town.”
“I want to.”
He knew she wasn’t exactly telling the truth, but he didn’t challenge her as he crossed the porch and opened the door to the modest unit.
When they stepped inside the cabin, he looked around at the rustic furnishings.
“Early pioneer.”
She laughed nervously.
As he reached for her, she came into his arms, and they clung to each other.
“Is it ever going to get any better?” she murmured.
“Yes.” he answered with as much conviction as he could muster.
“You’re sure?”
“I’ll make sure.”
She clung to him for a moment longer before easing away. “I want to take off this damn blond wig.”
“You don’t think blonds have more fun?”
“Not so far.” She pulled off the wig and spent a few moments combing her dark hair so that it fell in waves around her shoulders.
When she caught Jake watching her, she said, “We should practice communicating when we’re not touching.”
He nodded. “And when we can’t see each other.”
“As many barriers as possible. You should leave me alone here.”
Fear leaped inside him. “Not yet.”
When she walked into the bathroom and closed the door, he retreated to the wall near the entrance. After looking out the window to make sure no one had followed them, he leaned his shoulder against the wall and reached for her with his mind.
It was getting easier. He got a sense of her fairly quickly, but her thoughts weren’t clear to him. However, he didn’t give up, and soon he was picking up flickers from her mind.
He wanted to send her a strong message–of hope and promise.
I love you.
He felt joy leap within her. I ‘m never going to get tired of hearing that. I don’t know how I lived without you.
Same here. And now we have to make sure that we’re left in peace to live our lives.
What if you were free to do anything you wanted?
I’d pick up my life where I left off. My shop and my business.
You were lonely.
But everything’s changed, now that I have you.
There are a lot of impediments to going back to life in the city.
We have to be patient!
They stayed for a few more minutes, speaking to each other, mind to mind. And practicing some of the skills they’d recently learned.
He focused on the television, willing it to come on, and felt Rachel joining him in the effort. After several seconds, the screen flickered to life, and he pumped his hand into the air.
“All right!”
Keep it up, tiger.
He grinned. I can’t do it without you.
I’d try to see if we can start a fire or something, but I’m sure the management wouldn’t appreciate it if we burned this place down.
You think?
Finally, he knew they were just stalling. She caught the thought because she said, We both know Smithson is going to find him here soon. We should make him think I’m alone and vulnerable. You have to leave. Maybe you need to fill up the car with gas or something.
He felt his insides clench. “No.” He heard himself make the objection aloud as well as mentally.
She came out of the bathroom and walked to him.
They embraced again, holding each other tightly.
Things were moving rapidly in more ways than one.
It was mindboggling that they had developed so many abilities so quickly.
Maybe they had done it out of desperation—to protect themselves.
And probably Rachel’s psychic talents had given them a head start.
But at the same time, they had to be realistic about their chances of survival.
If things came out wrong, that this might be the last time they embraced each other.
He tried to keep his mind away from those dark thoughts, but he knew she picked them up.
Needing to reassure himself–and her as well--he brought his mouth to hers for a kiss that he intended to be warm and gentle. It quickly turned hot and urgent. His mouth moved over hers as he tried to show how much he needed her, how much he wanted her.
They were both breathing hard when he finally tore his mouth away.
“I’d better get out of here while the getting’s good,” he gasped. “I’ll go down the road a few miles, then turn around. I won’t be gone more than twenty minutes.”
“Okay.”
He dragged in a breath and let it out. “You’re sure you’re up for staying alone?”
“No. But it makes sense.”
Before he lost the will to leave, he walked out the door and closed it behind him.
Outside, he kept up the communication with her.
You’re still here.
He walked slowly to the car, feeling the link between them stretch.
By the time he’d got in, he had lost the contact, which gave him a jittery feeling, along with a profound sense of loss.
With his teeth clenched, he pulled away from the space in front of their cabin and headed up the gravel road.
When he reached the highway, he turned toward the main road.
But his mind was spinning, calculating the time he would be away from Rachel.
Rachel had tried to put on a brave face while Jake had been here.
And she knew she had partially succeeded in keeping him from overhearing her darkest thoughts.
Now that she was alone in this dingy cabin, it was impossible to keep up the act.
When her knees felt weak, she sat down in the lumpy easy chair and gripped the arms.
“Stop it,” she muttered to herself. “You volunteered to stay here. You wanted to prove to yourself that you were steady enough to do it. And that Smithson guy wasn’t right on our tail. We would have seen him if he had been. When Jake gets back, we’ve got time to plan what we’re going to do.
When she had willed herself to calmness, she got up and went into the bathroom where she splashed cold water on her face.
Out in the bedroom again, she peered through the window.
It was dark under the trees, making the landscape look spooky.
She felt more alone and isolated than she ever had before in her life, and she knew it was because now that she had found Jake, breaking the connection with him was almost more than she could stand.
She hadn’t known how hard it would be once she’d sent him away.
The seconds ticked by, and she tried to reach out to him. He was much too far away, and she couldn’t locate him at all. It was like he didn’t exist.
But he would be back soon. She had to cling to that.
Her shoulders were so tight that she was starting to give herself a headache.
Again, she reached toward Jake and found nothing. This time, she couldn’t stop a spurt of fear from slicing through her.
What if they’d gotten it all wrong? What if Smithson came after him while he was in the car? That might make sense. If the stalker disabled the man, he’d have free rein with the woman.
As a graphic image leaped into her head, she shuddered and started pacing the room again.
Did she hear footsteps outside? She wanted to look out the window, but that would only expose her to view if their stalker was skulking around outside.
When the doorknob rattled, she jumped. Her heart began to pound as she sent her mind to the other side of the barrier, searching for Jake, even when she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to find him there.
Instead, the door burst open. Smithson crashed into the room and advanced on her, gun in hand.
Before she could scream, he clamped a hand over her mouth.