Soulmates
31
Riding to the Rescue
Jaime and Keira
«SHE WAS THINKING to us, but she couldn’t hear us thinking,» Jaime said as he and Keira left Ms. McCormick’s building.
«I don’t think she intended to think some of those things,» Keira responded.
«She thought Schwartz was awfully pleased with the way the wire mesh in the old plaster walls prevented microwaves from penetrating and reading his mind.»
«That could leave us deaf, too.»
«And it would prevent Trayce from getting a message out to us,» Jaime said. «Especially if she’s in what Ms. McCormick called the basement warren. She made it sound like a whole underground complex.»
«She must have been incredibly panicked to get those few words to us when we were making love,» Keira said. «I need to get the car back to my parents. We have to figure out how we’re going to get to Astoria.»
«It doesn‘t make sense to drive out there tonight. It’s two hours out there and we don’t have a place to stay. Trying to get a room at his inn gives me the willies,» Jaime said.
«I guess we’d better just go back to your house,» Keira said with a mental hug.
«Are you okay with being at my house with me while my father is probably home?» Jaime asked.
«That’s a question you should probably be asking yourself about when your father has Olivia staying the night.»
«Holy shit! Well, if we get used to it, it should be easier for him. Right?»
«We should let Emerson know what we’re doing.»
«What?»
«Not everything,» Keira giggled. «I’m sure she’ll figure that part out. I mean about going to Astoria in the morning.»
«Maybe she’ll want to go, too.»
«Oh, wow! Can you imagine being inside a car with her for two hours? We really need to clamp down on our openness,» Keira said. «You know what she’s going to be thinking about, and I’m not sure I’d be able to keep from pulling into a roadside rest and doing it.»
«We can practice teaching her not to broadcast her thoughts.»
Jaime and Keira and Emerson
“What time do we leave?” Emerson demanded on the phone.
“We didn’t plan it yet. It doesn’t look like snow but it’s cold and roads might be slick,” Keira said. “You really want to go?”
“Of course. Superheroes always need a sidekick. You need a driver. A getaway car. I’ll pick you up at 8:00. The sun will be up and that should give you time to… um… you know… get out of bed and get ready.”
Emerson was too far away for Keira to read her thoughts, but some things were obvious without being a mind reader.
“You’re the best, Emerson. I’m so glad you’re on our side.”
“Yeah. See you in the morning.”
«She really wants to come with us?» Jaime asked.
«Yeah. I think she really wants to come.»
Jaime and Keira and David and Olivia
That solved the problem of transportation, but when Jaime and Keira got to his house after walking from hers, they found David and Olivia cooking dinner.
“Hi, David and Olivia,” Keira said.
“Dad! What are you guys doing cooking dinner?” Jaime signed.
“Someone needed to be sure everyone was nourished. A pizza for dinner and cornflakes for breakfast? Really, Jaime? We got home about four and decided to roast a chicken,” David said. Jaime and Keira could see the lie, but held their tongues.
“Don’t let him fool you,” Olivia said. “We bought a roasted chicken at Whole Foods yesterday and just had to pop it in the oven to reheat. It’s simple fare, but who wants to spend the day cooking?”
“I’d volunteer to make up the traditional black-eyed peas and salt pork tomorrow,” Jaime signed. Keira interpreted. “But we’re going out for the day. With Emerson. She’s picking us up in the morning for an adventure.”
“I think we can wait until Sunday. I already bought all the ingredients, but I didn’t want to infringe on your annual ritual,” David said. “Where are you going tomorrow?”
“We’re all going out to Astoria,” Keira said. “Emerson said she knew of a cool restaurant out there and some fun sights to see.”
“I’ve never been to Astoria,” Olivia said. “You’ll need to give us a report on the best places so we can go, too. I mean, not at the same time. I wasn’t meaning to imply we’d come tomorrow or anything.”
“It’s okay, Olivia. We all have words to trip over while we’re getting used to each other,” Keira said.
“By which I assume you mean you will be staying the night here?” David asked.
“Jaime invited me. Unless you object,” Keira said hesitantly. Jaime quickly took her hand as if she might flee.
“No objection,” David hastened to say.
“David, why don’t you spend another night with me?” Olivia asked sweetly. “I’d like that.”
“I’d like it, too, honey,” David said. It was the first time Jaime had heard him use an endearment aloud and it pleased him irrationally. “After dinner, we’ll get things cleaned up and leave the two of you to yourselves. You say you won’t need the car tomorrow for your adventure? Jaime, we should look at the possibility of getting you some wheels now that you’re driving.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Jaime signed. “That would be great.”
They got the table set and the four had a good meal with friendly conversation. They even played a dice game after cleanup, before David took Olivia home—and stayed. Jaime and Keira introduced them to their kissing rule for five-of-a kind.
Jaime and Keira
As soon as David and Olivia were out the door, they ran to Jaime’s bedroom. They were naked in bed in no time. Then they slowed down again.
«She’ll be okay, won’t she?» Keira asked.
«She has to be,» Jaime said. «I know Schwartz kidnapped her, but I don’t think he’ll physically harm her. Remember, his intent is to lure us into his trap so he has all three of us. He wants to use us and we all need to be healthy for that.»
«Why? Why does he want us?»
«I got a little inkling the other day when we met with your aunt, and it got a lot clearer when we met with Emerson this morning.»
«What is it?»
«We understand head talking as listening, right? But when you and I were connected, we could talk to Emerson. She can’t hear us unless we’re touching her. So, we had to be projecting our thoughts to her. Otherwise she’s head deaf.»
«Oh, my God! And what Schwartz always wanted was to use head talkers to command others!»
«Right. He thinks it takes three, but we’ve done it with two if we are touching,» Jaime said. «In fact, the other day, I took your hand and grabbed your aunt’s hand to tell her to please help us. I phrased it politely, but the way she jumped back from us and sent us away—to make love—told me she received the message loud and clear, right through all her barriers.»
«Jaime, what are we going to do?»
«We’re going to get Trayce back. He doesn’t know what we can really do. We’re going to need a plan.»
«I have a plan,» Keira said. «I plan to have you inside me and not think about this again until tomorrow,» Keira said.
Jaime was a ready participant in that plan, but the idea that neither of them would think about Trayce until morning was a non-starter. As Jaime and Keira moved together, kissing, and sharing their entire minds with each other, Trayce kept entering their thoughts. At the peak of their passion, as both were sharing the other’s orgasm, they called out with one voice.
«We love you, Trayce. We’re coming to find you. We’ll find you. We promise.»
«Love,» was the only whispered response.
Rose and Angus and Kate and Thursday
“The kids had already been to see the girl’s mother,” Kate reported. “Mrs. Lombard was pacing around the room with a friend. They’d called the police again after the kids left, but you know what that’s going to yield on New Year’s Day. Anyway, we saw the supposed note Trayce left behind in her car. Leave it to the PDX finest to accept that piece of rubbish as real.”
“What else?” Angus asked.
“Mrs. Lombard confirmed that Trayce was on her way to meet Jaime and Keira. But then she went off the rails,” Kate said.
“How?”
“She said she’d gone into AA and counseling because she’d started hearing voices,” Thursday said. “She pointed at the note and said Trayce was also hearing voices and that this Jaime and Keira were who she was hearing. Sorry. I know how ridiculous it sounds, but that’s what she said.”
Rose and Angus shared a glance that may or may not have been accompanied by an explicit thought. Rose started in on her part of the tale.
“I went to see a friend who agreed to come into her office for a while today. Her office is next door to Schwartz’s,” Rose said. “She suspected Schwartz of some kind of funny work, but didn’t have any specifics. She just said he was acting strange the past couple of weeks with no appointments but a pair of bodyguards popping in and out. Then he just disappeared last Friday.”
“That would be the couple we chased away with him,” Kate said. “That’s been two weeks ago.”
“When we found out Schwartz was stalking the boy, we decided to send him a direct message,” Angus said. “I should have shoved my cane up his ass instead of putting it against his neck. Apparently, our message wasn’t strong enough.”
“Well, the other thing my friend Alice said was that Schwartz owns an inn out in Astoria. She’d visited once with her husband and Kenton was inordinately pleased with the fact his inn was impenetrable to WiFi, Microwave, and Cellular signals. Chance are that’s where he took her.”
“Then that’s where we should go,” Angus said. “His house is empty and has a for sale sign in front. He doesn’t plan to come back.”
“Can we find a place to stake his other place out? If those kids find it, they could walk right into his web,” Kate said.
“Yes. Good idea,” Angus said. “I’d suggest we take Rooby, but it’s a little cold for the convertible.”
“I can’t believe you’re still driving that old car. It was old when we met twenty years ago,” Rose said.
“I only use her in the summer now,” Angus said. “She’s been rebuilt a few times.”
“We can take my car,” Rose said. “The SUV has plenty of room in it. We might want to pack some supplies and a change of clothes.”
“Yeah, I’m fine with this whole thing about rescuing a bunch of kids from the claws of an evil psycho,” Thursday said. “But I need to know why. Why is he even interested in these kids? What’s special about them? This all sounds like some sort of plot to capture somebody who is a whole lot wealthier than any of these three seem to be. I’ll go help rescue them, but you need to tell me why he wants them.”
Rose and Angus took a simultaneous deep breath and Angus shrugged.
“Because,” Rose said, “they can talk to each other in their heads.”
Jaime and Keira and Emerson
“Come in and at least use the bathroom,” Keira said when Emerson arrived at eight a.m. “We made up bacon and egg sandwiches. Do you drink coffee?”
“Yeah. That would be great. When did you have time to make that up? I figured you’d be having sex this morning,” Emerson said.
“That was at five,” Keira said. “And six-thirty.”
“Oh, great. I was prepared for hair still dripping wet from the shower. I didn’t expect you to have been up half the day already. Bathroom?”
Emerson headed toward the door Jaime pointed out while muttering in her head: Why am I so fucking jealous? Of both of them. Just pull yourself together, girl.
Jaime and Keira shared a shrug and waited.
“Can we eat in the car?” Emerson asked when she emerged. “I want to get out of town before heavy traffic hits. I expect that the day after New Year’s is going to be as chaotic as the day after Christmas was.”
“We’re with you,” Keira said. Jaime locked the house and they headed toward Emerson’s Kia.
“I’ve got a hotspot in the car, so you can bring your computers if you want. No sense wasting all the time we’re driving out to Astoria. I emailed you a bunch of links last night before I went to bed,” Emerson said.
“You’re really a good partner to have,” Keira said.
“Thanks. Um… Sorry to relegate you to the back, Jaime, but can Keira ride shotgun? I’d like to talk,” Emerson said.
Jaime nodded and crawled into the back seat of Emerson’s car.
“Wow! Is this a new car?” Keira asked.
“Yeah. Why do you think I’m so willing to drive?” Emerson laughed.
“We’d have taken my Dad’s car,” Jaime typed into his TTS app. “He says we’re going to go car shopping for me soon.”
“My grandfather bought me the Kia. Said he’d buy me a new one if I didn’t ask for a lesbian car. I told him if I ever had a girlfriend, I’d bring her boyfriend along with me,” she said.
“You already intended to have them, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but that was before I fixated on you. Dom and Raquel got married yesterday. I guess that was part of why I was so willing to bury myself in your project. I just didn’t want to think about them.”
“It’s okay to miss them, Em,” Jaime typed. “God knows we’re a mess at the moment.”
“Yeah. Which is another piece of the puzzle. Dom and Raq are both in the industry, you know. Raquel is a seamstress and Dom is a model. I imagined we’d be together and maybe create our own fashion house one day.”
“It must be really hard,” Keira said, reaching over to pat Emerson’s leg. Emerson caught her breath, half expecting to hear Keira in her head, but it was just a friend comforting her.
“I really, you know, loved them.” A tear dropped from Emerson’s eye and she wiped it away with her glove. “I guess having that experience and feeling the emptiness afterward was part—probably a big part—of why I became so attracted to you guys.”
“I can understand how that can be. I mean, Trayce entered Jaime’s and my minds the first time we made out. She never initiated anything, but whenever we got intimate, she showed up. And she was sweet and fun and it didn’t take long for us all to fall in love. You know, we share something that not many people do. I’ve been in her head when she had an orgasm! I thought I had pretty strong climaxes, you know? It’s something else when you experience your own plus another person’s at the same time. Then add in Jaime and it’s a whole different feeling entirely.”
“If you keep talking like that, I’m going to end up driving with one hand between my legs,” Emerson laughed.
“I think Jaime is getting uncomfortable, too. You okay, lover?”
Keira turned in her seat to look at Jaime and he smiled and nodded.
Of course, he hadn’t been uncomfortable, though if he let himself get lost in Emerson’s thoughts, he might have been. She was a very sensual person and could as easily see herself with Jaime and Keira as she could with Dom and Raquel.
«Maybe you’d better describe some of the problems she’d have with the two of us and how we can help her block her thoughts from being read,» Jaime said. «Talk about a division between parties. How would she feel being left out when you and I are head talking? And how would I ever communicate with her?»
“So, you understand the problem,” Keira said. “I mean, even without Trayce in the equation, it would be hard for you to be in a ménage à trois with the two of us—Jaime and me. And, please understand, we both think you are sexy and funny and hot and smart and everything. Did I mention you’re really pretty and sexy? But Jaime and I are constantly carrying on conversations with each other in our heads. How would it feel to know you were on the outside of that?”
“I do feel that way,” Emerson said. “That’s why I’ve been thinking that—just for fun—you could sort of run some experiments on me. I’m not going to compete with Trayce. Really. I’m envious of all three of you, but I’m not going to try to displace anyone. Back a while ago, I looked at Jaime’s thought machine diagram. It made me think it was a little tinfoil hat-ish. At the same time, it woke a desire to experience that. Like I did when you touched me and I could hear you yesterday. That was real, wasn’t it?”
“It was real,” Jaime typed.
“Maybe if you hypnotized me, I’d open up to hearing you all the time. Maybe there is some drug that might open the senses—like they used to say LSD would. I believe it would not only be a good experience to me, I think it would be valuable to you, too,” Emerson said, not taking her eyes off the road as they left Portland behind on Route 30.
“Be careful there, Em. That’s exactly what we think Schwartz is trying to do with Trayce—against her will. Emerson, I can’t tell you how terrified she was when we heard her. He was raping her mind, taking it over and playing with it. We’ve just got to get her free, whether she decides she wants anything to do with us or not. It’s nasty stuff,” Keira said.
“Our, kind of, friend is an old guy who served in Vietnam years ago. When he came out, they treated his PTSD with LSD. He thinks that might be part of what woke him up, but it also totally messed up his psyche,” Jaime typed.
“But, like, you wouldn’t do bad things to me. Right?” Emerson asked uncertainly.
“Of course not,” Keira said. Emerson was suddenly a little less certain.
They continued on out to Astoria, with Emerson carefully watching for icy patches on the road. They talked about other things, including the beginning of the next semester on Monday. Eventually, Emerson pulled into a shopping area on the edge of Astoria.
“What are we doing here?” Jaime typed.
“Before you go assaulting the walls of some medieval fortress, you need empty bladders. So do I. It’s ten o’clock in the morning and I need another cup of coffee in order to stake out a position nearby where I can peel up and open the doors of the getaway car. Then we’re going to go save your girlfriend.”
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
