“Sure was nice of your grandparents to let us use their house again.” Tank picked up the gym bag he’d dropped behind me. “After our last visit, I wasn’t sure they’d want to have us again.”
I smiled, not needing to be reminded of the last time we’d gathered at the beach house. In the space of a few days, we encountered dead fish and birds, alien creatures, and a green slime that ended up nearly killing me. I hoped this little vaycay would bring nothing but the rest and relaxation I’d promised the others.
“How’s the professor?” Tank asked.
I glanced up to see if he was asking out of concern or mere politeness, but honest curiosity shone from Tank’s eyes. I had to admit—whatever else he was, Tank was a genuinely good guy. He cared about people, even the professor, who seemed to try everyone else’s patience.
“He’s good,” I said, tempering my voice. “Working hard on a presentation he’s supposed to deliver tomorrow at the University of Tampa.”
Tank frowned. “What’s wrong? Something’s bothering you, I can tell.”
I hesitated. I hadn’t mentioned my concerns to Brenda because I didn’t want to ruin her plans for Disney, and because I was hoping my worries were only the result of a hyperactive imagination. But I couldn’t get anything by Tank . . .
“I’m a little worried about the professor, to tell you the truth. His paper is supposed to be on dimensionality and quantum mechanics, with an emphasis on multiple universes. He finished his first draft weeks ago, but he keeps muttering and tinkering with it—” I shrugged. “I don’t know. He just seems . . . unsatisfied, and that’s not like him.”
“Ain’t he a perfectionist?”
“He is . . . but this dissatisfaction seems different. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but something’s going on in his head, something he’s not sharing with me. And that’s not like him, either.”
Tank’s brow furrowed for a minute, then he grinned. “Don’t worry. When the team is together, we always seem to figure things out.” He draped his arm casually over my shoulder, then nodded to a bulky hard case coming down the conveyor belt. “That’s my bag.”
“Good grief.” I gawked at the long case. “What is that, a trombone case?”
“Metal detector.” Tank grinned. “I’ve heard that you can find a fortune on the beach—rings, coins, all kinds of stuff. Since we’re just gonna be hangin’ out at your grandparents’ place, I thought I might pick up a new hobby.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Whatever. Grab your new toy and I’ll meet you on the curb.”
* * *
Brenda’s rental car was parked in the driveway when Tank and I pulled up. Daniel bounded out of the house as I got out of the car. “Space Mountain!” he said, his eyes as wide as saucers. “And more pirates!”
Brenda grinned as she stepped onto the front porch. “I see you had no trouble finding the Tankster.”
“Hard to miss him,” I quipped, then I bent to Daniel’s eye level. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon. I thought you’d stay at the Magic Kingdom all day.”
Brenda gave Tank a firm slug to the upper arm, then threw me a look. “Can you spell overstimulation? I figured we should leave before Daniel short-circuited. If the weather looks good and I can stretch my budget, maybe we’ll go back another day this week. But we had a great time.”
I glanced toward the front door. “Is the professor—?”
“Locked in his room.” Brenda lifted a brow. “I don’t know what he’s doin’ in there, but I can hear him muttering behind the door. Kinda creepy, if you want to know the truth. I know he tends to be anti-social, but today he’s taking grumpy to a whole new level.”
I sighed. “Let’s all give him some space. I think he’s worried about his presentation tomorrow. When it’s over, he’ll relax. Maybe.”
I didn’t tell her about my frustrations—about how he’d taken to locking himself in his office and he hadn’t let me read his latest paper. I didn’t want to invade his privacy and confess that I’d pressed my ear to his office door and heard him sobbing. Cursing, too, at times, and at least twice I’d heard the sound heavy objects being thrown across the room.
I thought the professor and I were close, but apparently we weren’t close enough to share whatever secrets he’d been hiding. But how was I supposed to do my job if he closed himself off from me?
I opened the trunk looked around to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything as Tank had grabbed his bag and his metal detector and headed into the house. I turned to follow, but couldn’t help noticing a pair of children on the sidewalk across the street. They appeared to be about nine or ten, and they were standing motionless, neither of them speaking. They were staring at me.
Something about them sent a chill up the ladder of my spine. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen kids of that age who weren’t fidgeting, running, or talking a mile a minute. We saw a lot of children on this street, most of them tourists whose families had come to enjoy Florida’s sandy beaches. But I’d never seen any kids like these.
I stepped forward to study them more closely. Something else about them seemed odd—their clothes. Most kids in the area wore tee shirts, baggy shorts, and flip flops or sneakers. These children were wearing long, dark pants, oversized long-sleeved shirts, and dark shoes. Like children from some reclusive sect that didn’t believe in showing too much skin . . .
I lifted my chin, forced a smile, and twiddled my fingers at them, then turned and walked toward the front door. But before going inside, I threw a glance over my shoulder. The children had gone. Moved on, I supposed, to explore some other local resident.
And with their disappearance, I felt an overwhelming wave of relief.
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Don’t miss the other books in the Harbingers series which can be purchased separately or in collections:
CYCLE ONE: INVITATION
The Call
The House
The Sentinels
The Girl
CYCLE TWO: MOSAIC
The Revealing
Infestation
Infiltration
The Fog
CYCLE THREE (in progress)
Leviathan
The Mind Pirates
Hybrids
The Village
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The Mind Pirates (Harbingers Book 10) Page 10