The Dream Jumper's Promise

by Kim Hornsby

  Thoughts of Jamey were reassuring until she remembered he would return to Afghanistan soon. She’d fallen for James again. It hadn’t been difficult but dammit, he would desert her for the second time, and she should’ve known better.

  When Jamey suggested Noble was switching out her pills, Tina wondered what her friend could possibly gain by doing that. “Only the opportunity to have sex with me and that’s no great privilege these days,” she’d said.

  “Don’t be so sure,” he’d said.

  Now she knew it had been impossible to make a baby with a ghost.

  Jamey had seen Noble too. The two men had fought. Some psychic he was. Hadn’t Jamey realized? Or her parents? Noble had been at her birthday party. Hadn’t everyone seen him that night? Then she remembered Noble hadn’t talked to anyone at the party. He’d been on the periphery, watching her. Even her parents, who were rudely ignoring him, didn’t look at him. Only she and Jamey saw Noble. And if they could see Noble, why couldn’t she see Hank?

  “Hank?” Her own pitiful voice scared her. “Are you here?” Obi jumped off the bed and ran to the next room. He’d be waiting at the door. Her dog’s innocent expectation made her heart hurt. If only it was that easy.

  Her cell phone broke through the stillness. Jamey’s number. “Jamey?”

  “Are you at the hotel? Where are you? I’m pulling into the wharf at Kaunakakai and it feels like you’re gone.” His voice had an urgency she’d never heard before.

  “I came home.”

  “Tina, you’re supposed to be on Molokai.”

  “I needed to see the paintings. They’re here.”

  “Is Noble with you?”

  “No. No one is here, alive or dead.” She understood his concern. “I’m just lying in my bed.”

  “Stay there. Don’t go anywhere or do anything, please. I’ll be there soon. If Noble shows up, don’t go anywhere with him.”

  What did he mean by that?

  ***

  Jamey bounded onto the Molokai-to-Maui prop plane, and the flight crew closed the door behind him. He took his seat and fastened his belt, hoping he wasn’t too late. He had to get to Maui, just in case Hank and Noble were still at the house. Jamey wasn’t entirely sure that at least one of them didn’t want to take her with him.

  He’d secured the boat at the wharf under the watchful eye of a fisherman who was happy to make a hundred bucks. Luckily the next flight off Molokai to the West Maui Airport had empty seats.

  The day’s ordeal was finally coming to a close, but until he knew Tina was safe, he wouldn’t let down his guard. The day was adding up to full physical and mental exhaustion. Like a dream jump in Afghanistan. And Tina would probably be feeling it tenfold.

  She’d seen her husband’s dead body, and now she knew that Noble was dead, too. How had Noble’s ghost managed to remain all these months, walking around the house, while Hank’s hadn’t? He hoped to hell that her shrink believed in ghosts.

  ***

  Noble’s footsteps sounded on the outside stairs, and his body filled the doorway.

  “Hi,” Tina said, scooting to a sitting position. He looked remarkably real, although a look of surrender shrouded his face.

  “Scale of one to ten?” he asked.

  “Zero.”

  Obi growled at the man who’d moved to the end of her bed. Now she understood why Obi did this. Her dog mistrusted this ghostly form of Noble.

  “Did you know that I’m not here anymore?” He was on the verge of tears.

  She nodded. “You died.” Had he not known before? “We found Hank’s body.” Her voice was like a scratch on rough pavement.

  Noble nodded. “I killed him.”

  “It was an accident.” She wanted to believe that or she’d never get past this tragedy.

  He didn’t question how she knew. “Still…”

  She folded her arms across her chest and slid back against the wall. “Hank loved me.” It was more of a question than she wanted it to be.

  Noble looked up. “Hank loved you. Yes. He really loved you.” His eyes were clouded with pain. “You know about the plan to leave?”

  “I dreamed of your argument at Honolua.”

  He nodded. “Your mother said she’d turn me in and then found out Hank had priors. She was trying to force us out of your life.”

  Tina’s feelings for her mother plummeted to a new low. “She blackmailed you.”

  Noble nodded, his own feelings for Elizabeth Greene apparent. “When she heard that you were trying to get pregnant, she told Hank she’d turn us in if we didn’t take off and never come back.”

  Tina had no other emotion than hatred for her mother, a woman who sabotaged her daughter’s happiness. The light behind Noble was now visible through his body, like he was fading. “Noble, you’re disappearing.”

  He continued like he hadn’t heard. “Hank wanted a baby. Mostly for you, and then in case it changed your mother’s mind. With you pregnant, he thought she’d back off. Taking the paintings was always my idea. When you first met him, you said you had these paintings, worth a lot of money. I thought it would be a quick job. We’d retire on it.”

  She was pained by the words coming out of Noble’s mouth.

  “We didn’t know you then, Ti. We came from nothing. It was how we survived. Me and Henry had been cheating people out of money since we were kids.” Noble sighed. “That’s who we were. I don’t expect you to understand that, growing up rich. But it was our way to survive, until things changed. You changed Hank.”

  The verification of Hank’s love had to be enough. Later she’d process the rest, but she’d never question their love. She stared at his fading form. “Do you have to go now?”

  “Come with me, Ti.” Noble walked to her and took her hand. His was fluttery, like a feather. “You, me, and Hank. We’ll all be together again. He’s waiting for you.”

  Chapter 28

  As the plane descended on the west coast of Maui, Jamey searched for Tina’s house below, not sure what he was looking for. Ambulances? Fire trucks? Nothing unusual stood out, but when he located the clay roof, he noted Noble’s truck in the driveway. Funny, but it had always been there, even when the man was supposedly at work. Which he never was, because he was confined to the house. Why hadn’t Tina noticed that? That, and the fact that Noble only ever appeared at her house. Never at the shop. He didn’t know how clinical denial worked; maybe she rationalized all that too.

  Jamey prayed the whole taxi ride that Tina would be safe, both physically and mentally. If she wasn’t, he didn’t have a clue what to do next. If they’d taken her, or killed her, he imagined himself entering a dream and finding some way to make them pay. He hoped if it came to that, something was possible, because he didn’t want to live his life without her now that he’d found her again.

  The day he’d met Hank, Jamey’s first thought was that this was a guy he could hang out with, look up when he came to Maui.

  They’d been standing in line at the bank, struck up a conversation, and realized they had something in common—diving. Hank was an avid surfer but his new girlfriend was a dive instructor and had just certified him all the way to Dive Master. “So now, I’m a hot shit diver.” He was doing a dive that night with his friend Noble for octopus if Jamey wanted to come along. “Sure!” Jamey loved to night dive.

  “We’ll meet you at the Honolua Store at seven. Get in the water at dusk. Bring a light though, man. Those things are stuck way in the cracks.” Hank grinned at Jamey like the fun would never end.

  When Jamey jumped in Hank’s truck at the rendezvous, he was puzzled. “Your friend meeting us there?”

  “Nah. He couldn’t come. Just you and me, buddy.” They sped up the road to Slaughterhouse Beach, parked and trekked down the steep hill to the water.

  That night they got two octopi, and Hank said he’d give them to his friend to make ceviche for them. If Jamey wanted to come over to the house, they could “have a few beers, shoot the shit. My girlfriend m
ight be there, but she’s cool. I just moved in with her, so we haven’t gotten to the nagging stage yet,” he’d said. They’d laughed. But when Jamey drove his rental car up to the house, he’d known.

  Kristina was the girlfriend.

  This man was the skeleton from the dream. He’d stopped the car at the top of the lane and thought about what to do. He couldn’t go in there, see Kristina. For one thing, it would be too painful, and for another thing, he’d promised to walk away from this woman.

  Hank met him in the driveway. “Hey, my buddy is on his way with the beer and limes. The girlfriend is on a night dive.” Hank’s smile was infectious, and Jamey found himself nodding.

  “Nice house.” Jamey couldn’t help himself.

  “The old lady is loaded.” Hank shrugged. “What can I say?”

  At that moment Jamey knew the man standing in front of him was up to something, maybe after the money, or at the very least motivated by the money. Jamey had to fight to look casual. “A rich scuba instructor?” He tried to grin.

  “Rich family.” Hank moved in and whispered conspiratorially,

  “And she’s really cute, which is a bonus.”

  Jamey had an idea of what was going on here, and his lip almost curled in disgust. “Nice. Hey, man. I actually came over to tell you that a woman I met this morning wants to meet me for a drink.”

  After what Hank just said, Jamey knew he’d understand choosing a date over a beer with some guys. “So I can’t stay, but thanks again.” They shook hands and Jamey retreated from Kristina’s life for the second time in eight years.

  Thoughts of her being taken advantage of wouldn’t die, and over the next two days he fought hard to leave Hank and Kristina alone. He’d promised to walk away from precognitive dreams. Leave the scene as it was. And that promise meant a lot to him, especially because Uncle Don wasn’t alive anymore. He needed to keep the promise he’d made to his uncle.

  Jamey flew away from the Hawaiian Islands the next day, his heart twisted into a hard ball.

  The following year, Jamey was back on Maui before leaving for his tour in Afghanistan, and saw Hank in Safeway grabbing some steaks. Jamey watched Hank flirt with a woman who was contemplating the best cut of meat. He was definitely charming the pants off the blonde in the tight shorts.

  Eventually, Hank headed to the checkout and the woman moved on. But not before Jamey’s eye went to the paper with her phone number on it and the wedding ring on the hand that had been pocketed. Jamey’s heart sank at the prospect of Hank and Kristina married.

  When Jamey found Hank’s same truck parked outside near his rental car, he walked over and hidden from view, grabbed the door handle briefly. The sense of trickery was still there, mixed with something else he couldn’t place. Maybe fondness. But one thing was clear. Hank was not who he said he was and Kristina was destined for heartbreak. He could almost taste the tragedy that awaited her.

  Writing her parents the anonymous letter had been a difficult decision, but in the end Jamey had mailed the warning from the Maui post office and hoped to God that he was doing the right thing. He’d broken his promise to Uncle Don. He’d interfered. He told himself that no one knew what might happen if he messed with the future. It could be good. And this was Kristina. If there was something he could do to help, he had to try before he left for Afghanistan. Knowing he’d done what he could, he walked away, the promise broken. The future up for grabs.

  ***

  Tina, Hank, and Noble. It had been a good combination for a short time. “I can’t come with you, Noble.” She slid back against the wall. “I have a life to put back together.” She didn’t consider the possibility of leaving even if there was a guarantee that an afterlife existed and she could be with Hank again. “Why can’t Hank appear, like you?”

  Noble shrugged. “Maybe I had to set things right because I killed him and then killed myself. That’s a pretty horrible sin for a Catholic.” He almost smiled. “At first, I thought I stayed because I had to give you the baby you wanted. I ruined your chance with Hank. Penance. But then I wondered if killing myself was only a nightmare. That I was still alive. You could see me, and that was good enough.”

  Knowing she was about to lose him, too, Tina finally let her emotion rise to the surface. “I forgive you, Noble. And I forgive Hank. I loved both of you.” She stood to hug him, but he wasn’t solid enough to grasp, and he faded from her like a snowball melting frighteningly fast. Nothing remained of the man named Nolan Santiago, known to her as Noble. She spoke aloud the one word that she could.

  “Hank?” This time Obi merely cocked his head. Nothing. Was that it? “Hank?” If she was able to see Noble again, why couldn’t she talk to Hank? Jamey had said Hank’s spirit had given her the Molokai clue. “Please.” The desperation in her voice was frightening.

  The house phone rang, but she didn’t answer. Jamey would call her cell phone. It sure as hell wouldn’t be Noble. Come to think of it, she hadn’t spoken to Noble on the phone for months.

  Doc Chan would have some work to do getting her back to functionally normal. Tina hoped her shrink was up for the challenge and that she wouldn’t guess the parts of the story that had to be withheld--like Noble was actually walking around her house in solid form. And that Hank’s body was found through dreams. Funny thing was, Tina felt better now than she had in a long time.

  Distracting herself with thoughts of Jamey, she lay back in the bed and pulled the covers up over herself and Obi. God, she hoped Jamey wasn’t another figment of her imagination. He felt real, too. Could you have sex with a ghost? They’d had fantastic sex last night. Several times. She could still feel him inside her.

  Sleeping with Jamey again had been wildly exciting but also familiar, like remembering you had a gorgeous singing voice that made beautiful music. Finding Jamey was the reawakening of something that had been dormant. Only twenty-four hours ago, before she had the dream about Henry and Nolan, before they’d found Hank’s body, and before she realized Noble was dead, she’d felt free enough to imagine herself happy with Jamey when his tour in Afghanistan was over. It was hard to believe that was only yesterday.

  In the past weeks since Jamey arrived on Maui, she’d been totally preoccupied with finding Hank’s body. Now, free from that, she knew James Dunn was the love of her life. She was crazy about him and always had been. Life without him was unthinkable now.

  She turned on the TV and flipped channels, finally settling on the Visitor’s Channel. A show about the best snorkeling beaches touted familiar sites. “Tourists enjoy Black Rock off the Sheraton Hotel…”

  Hank’s original plan was to get the paintings and run. Then her mother ruined everything by blackmailing him and his brother.

  The television volume was soft. “Snorkeling Maui can be done from an arranged boat tour or simply off one of Maui’s countless beaches.”

  After Hank died, it seemed like he lingered in their bedroom, maybe unable to move on like Noble. Somehow Hank had been giving her his body’s location through her dreams these past weeks. ‘Glimpses,’ Jamey called them. And it all started when Jamey walked back into her life. Their hands had touched, and she’d passed out. It was almost like Jamey unintentionally passed her something that would enable her to communicate with Hank. Had Hank’s ghost been lingering all along, unable to reach her?

  Jamey would be back on Maui sometime around ten. It was only seven now. She had hours to wait. Opening the covers, she left the bed and crossed the room to the picture window, she looked out to Molokai. Was Jamey following the coast in Maui Dream on his way home already? She tried his cell phone, but it went to message. Probably out of range.

  “Call me when you get this,” she said. What else was there to say?

  The narrator on TV listed the virtues of a visit to Haleakala Crater. “Renew your spirit amid stark volcanic landscapes and subtropical rainforest with an unforgettable hike through the backcountry.”

  Jamey would arrive and she’d still be wearing the sh
orts and T-shirt from the last few days. In a burst of anticipation, Tina jumped in the shower to wash her hair and lathered her body with gardenia-scented soap.

  Once dry, she grabbed a yellow rayon sundress from her closet. Stepping into the shift, she smiled to think she was getting pretty for Jamey. But was Hank still here?

  Just as she thought this, a burst of cool air swept past her from the closet and rustled the curtains. Obi barked and sniffed, tracking something in the room. She realized now that this cool air always came from the direction of the closet.

  Her eyes skirted the bedroom. If it was Hank and she only had a few minutes before he was gone forever, what did she want to tell him? “I love you. I still love you, regardless of your past. I know about you and Noble, and the paintings, and my mother.” She waited. “And I know you loved me.”

  Had the curtains moved again? Obi jumped on to the bed, barking at the window. Warm tears trickled down Tina’s cheeks to fall from her jaw line. “I’m so sorry it ended this way.” She searched every inch of the room for abnormalities. Obi stared at the closet. Her breath caught in her throat. “I know you love me, Hank.”

  The narrator on TV was now talking about the twisty road to Hana. “Just miles past the charming town, you’ll find a state park that offers…”

  “Tina?” A voice behind the announcer called her name. It was a tinny sound, layered below the narrative. “Tina?” Again. It was a question.

  “Hank? Is that you?!” She tried to block out the announcer’s voice, listen beyond the Hana descriptive.

  Static blocked the audio for two seconds. There were no discernable words to the noise, but the static had a definite cadence—four syllables that sounded like they could have been “I love you, too.” She wanted to believe that was what she heard. The room’s temperature warmed quickly, returning to normal. Tina stood in the center of the room, holding her breath.

  Minutes passed, and she sank to sit on the edge of the bed. Had she just heard Hank on the TV? That sounded too strange to be true.