Near Sighted (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 2)

by Richard C Hale

  “Elise, you worked for Walmart prior to the accident,” Powers said. “You were a cashier. Your best friend there was Jenny Partridge.”

  “Walmart?” Flash. A Walmart sign appeared. Flash. White canvas.

  Jake’s ear continued to tingle and it was beginning to annoy him.

  “Yes. Walmart. Can you see any of your co-workers?”

  “No.” White canvas. Tingling.

  “How about money? Can you see yourself counting money?”

  “Not really.” Flash. A dollar bill exchanged hands. Flash. White paper.

  “You wear a badge to work. It has your picture on it. You use it to clock in and out.”

  “I don’t wear badges.” Flash. White canvas.

  Dr. Powers turned to Jake. “It’s as if she has a clean slate. This is very disturbing. I’ve never dealt with such a case in my life and I have had little success with colleagues exposed to this kind of phenomenon, either. From your machine’s point of view, it’s as if she’s staring at a blank canvas set up in front of her vision.”

  The tingling in Jake’s ear was driving him crazy and he could not ignore it. It was like an itch deep inside he couldn’t scratch and his face must have conveyed some of his anxiety because Winslow said, “Jake? Are you all right?”

  “Huh?” he said, as he rubbed his ear.

  “Dr. Powers was talking to you.”

  “Sorry, I was thinking. Doctor, do you mind if I ask her a few questions?”

  “No—please do.” Powers shifted over in his seat and relinquished the microphone to Jake.

  “Elise, this is Dr. Townsend.”

  “Hi.”

  “Hi.” Jake couldn’t help but smile. She seemed so innocent yet, somehow, not.

  “What year were you born Elise?” Jake asked.

  “1982.” No hesitation. Flash. White canvas. Flash. A house. A shack, actually, briefly appeared, then was replaced with the white, blank, screen.

  “1982,” Jake repeated. “Are your parents alive?”

  “No. Bart says they were killed in a car accident.” Flash. White canvas.

  Jake turned to Powers. “Who’s Bart?”

  “That’s her fiancé. He’s helped tremendously to give some of her life back.”

  “He should be here.”

  “I agree, but he had a prior commitment today.”

  The tingling in Jake’s ear continued. Jake searched the doctor’s eyes, but could not discern the truth in them. Who was lying?

  Jake turned back to the microphone. “How old is Bart?”

  “Uh…thirty four…I think. Why?”

  “Do you love him?”

  A long pause. The blank white screen wavered but then stabilized. “I don’t know,” she said. “He has a large penis.” Flash. A brief bedroom scene with two naked bodies intertwined appeared, then was replaced with a view of the ceiling in the chamber.

  Winslow said, “Should I slap her now?”

  Jake stared at the monitor in shock. He should know to expect the unexpected but this just threw him for a loop. Dr. Powers cleared his throat, but looked away.

  Winslow was looking at him expectantly. “Will you stop it,” he whispered, but smiled at her.

  “Elise? How are you with math?” Jake asked.

  “She doesn’t like me.” Flash. A picture of a walrus appeared on the screen, huge and bellowing.

  Dr. Powers shrugged his shoulders.

  “No,” Jake said. “Can you add numbers together? Like two plus two?”

  “Yes. Math just seems like a woman to me. She’s bitchy.”

  “Okay. What is two plus two?”

  “Four.” Flash. Four walruses, mating, appeared on the screen. Their massive penises displayed prominently.

  “That’s it,” Winslow said. “She’s getting a slap.”

  On the overhead camera, Elise remained stoic. Jake gave Winslow a look.

  “Five times Five?”

  “Twenty Five. Give me something hard.” Flash. Two naked bodies intertwined again. Jake did not know Bart so he could not tell who the male figure was, but the female was definitely Elise. Her body shone with a sheen of sweat and her face was taught with arousal. On the overhead camera, she smiled, but her eyes were closed.

  “She seems to have a fixation with sex,” Powers said. “This has not come out in our sessions prior to this.”

  “Let’s give her what she wants.” Jake pressed the microphone button. “Elise. 22,345 divided by 352.7.”

  No hesitation. “62.354…rounded up.” Flash. The mating walruses had increased to eight and the size of their genitals doubled. They looked freakish.

  Jake pulled out his calculator and did the math. “She’s right.” He stared at the doctor and Winslow in amazement. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, something is wired wrong inside her,” Winslow said. Jake ignored her.

  “She’s almost savant like,” Powers said, “yet the amnesia persists. Let’s discontinue the session for now and let me take the recordings home to evaluate. We’ll have her back in later in the week.”

  “No problem,” Jake said. He stood to help Winslow with the leads and body mold, but stopped and stared at the screens. A vision of the lab popped up on the screen, but it looked different. Something wasn’t right. The chair was there, the chamber, the electronics. Flash. It was gone. He was surprised she had such a good memory of it with so little time to study it. Especially since she could not recall anything beyond the accident. Jake’s ear was tingling again, but he ignored it.

  They removed the body mold and the leads and helped Elise up from the chair.

  “That wasn’t so bad,” she said, grinning. She hugged Jake and squeezed his behind. He tensed but tried to smile. He’d never been goosed before and it took him by surprise. Winslow giggled. Elise glared at her.

  “I’ll be back,” Elise said and walked out of the lab without another word. Dr. Powers watched her go and shrugged, gathering his things to chase after her.

  Winslow looked Jake up and down and said, “You want to slap her now, don’t you.”

  Chapter 6

  Orange Park, Florida

  Jake walked into his house and Luke and Madison ran to greet him. His kids were great and he couldn’t get enough of them.

  “How’re my little munchkins?” he asked.

  “Daddy!”

  He scooped them both up and gave them a squeeze. Madison squealed as he tickled them. He set them both down and asked, “Did you finish your homework?”

  “I don’t have homework,” Luke said. He was five and kindergarten was not too demanding.

  “Yep,” Madison said. “All done.” She was in first grade and everything was a very big deal to her. She had to get straight A’s or she pouted for a week. So far, she had received a B only once.

  Maddy stuck her head out of the kitchen and smiled. “Hey cutie!” she said. He gave her a kiss that lasted too long for the kids.

  “Ew!” Madison said. “Gross.” Luke ran away to his room.

  “It’s not ‘gross’ honey,” Maddy said. “Mommy and Daddy love each other very much.” She looked into his eyes and smiled. He melted like he always did. The world would end again if he lost her. Their connection was that powerful.

  “It’s still gross,” Madison said. She wrinkled her little nose and left for her room too.

  “Well, we chased the kids off,” Jake said. “Now what?”

  She pulled him closer and whispered, “What would you like mister? Dinner or dessert?”

  “I don’t even have to think about that answer. I know what I would like, but I’m sure it’s going to have to be dinner.”

  She leaned her forehead against his and kissed him softly, then more urgently. He dropped his briefcase and enveloped her softness in his arms, relishing the heat that radiated from her. He became aroused and pulled back. “Damn, woman. You’re killing me.”

  “Horrible way to die, isn’t it?”

  They both giggled slight
ly at this and he let her go, then pulled her back to him, whispering in her ear, “Later.”

  “Yes.”

  He reluctantly let her go and grabbed his briefcase, carrying it to his office.

  “Mom and Dad will be here in a few,” she called after him.

  “Okay. Great! What is Mike bringing me?”

  “What does he always bring?”

  He stuck his head out of the office door. “Beer.”

  “Bingo. Don’t get drunk.”

  “I like getting drunk with your dad.”

  “I like taking advantage of you afterwards,” she smiled, “but we have the meeting with Luke’s teacher in the morning, remember?”

  “Oh. That’s right. Okay. I’ll be good.”

  Ever since Maddy’s father, Mike, and Jake rescued her from the terrorist Qayum Omar, he and Mike had become very close. Jake had killed the terrorist with a shot to the neck, but had been severely wounded and actually died. Mike’s efforts performing CPR had been the reason Jake had come back from the dead and survived. Jake owed him his life.

  As if on cue, the front door opened and Sara and Mike McClaughlin walked in. Mike had a case of Bud Light under his arm and Sara carried some covered dish that Jake was pretty sure contained collard greens. Jake walked up and yelled, “Kids! Grandma and Grandpa are here!”

  Both kids came running down the hall from their rooms and greeted the McClaughlins with nothing less than five and six year old enthusiasm. Jake knew Mike lived for these moments.

  Luke was jumping around yelling, “What did you bring, Grandpa? What did you bring?”

  Mike never showed up at the house without some little thing to spoil the kids with. Wasn’t that a grandpa’s job?

  “What?” Mike said looking shocked. “Me?”

  “Grandpa!” they both said at the same time. Sara handed the dish to Jake and said, “How about a hug for Grandma?”

  Both kids almost jumped into her arms, but she took it all in stride. Jake carried the dish into the kitchen and placed it on the counter. “They’re here.”

  “Really?” Maddy said, then smiled. “Our cheering section alerted me to that.”

  Luke came running into the kitchen with a silver dollar in his hand and held it up. “Grandpa gave me a gold money!”

  “It’s a silver dollar, honey,” Maddy corrected him, bending to look at it. “You’re rich!”

  “I’m rich! I’m rich! I’m rich!” He did a little dance and ran off again.

  “That looked like a real silver dollar,” Jake said.

  “It is,” Maddy said. “Dad has a whole coin collection and I’m sure he’s ready to start giving it away.”

  Mike walked into the kitchen and started putting beers into the fridge. He handed one to Jake without saying anything and Jake popped it open. After the day with Elise and Dr. Powers, he was ready to relax. It tasted great.

  Sara came in with Madison in tow and asked Maddy if she needed help.

  “Sure Mom. If you want, you can set the table.”

  Her mom smiled, gave Jake a kiss and opened the cupboard, grabbing some dishes.

  Mike said, “Did you see Benjamin Tolaver was released today?”

  Maddy stopped chopping onions and looked up. Jake froze in mid-sip. He put the beer down and said, “Are you sure?”

  “Yep. It was on the news before we left. They could no longer hold him. The investigation was at a standstill and they lacked the proof to charge him. The judge ruled in his lawyer’s favor and he was released without bail.”

  Jake turned to Maddy who frowned. “But he’s a killer?” she said.

  “He is,” Jake said, stunned. He was remembering the visions on the screens and actually shuddered. “I can’t believe they let him go.”

  “The world is full of injustices and people who get away with things,” Mike said. “You can’t stop them all.”

  “I know. But we saw the murders in his head. It was clear as day. He couldn’t hide it from ANDEE. Damn.”

  “They’ll find a way to catch him,” Mike said.

  “I hope they do it before he kills again,” Maddy said.

  ~ ~ ~

  Later, in bed, Maddy said, “Did we make a mistake with Benjamin Tolaver?”

  “What do you mean, honey? They wouldn’t let us use what we had. The judge throws it out every time.”

  “No. Should we have let ANDEE see his NDE. Maybe we would have found the murder weapon.”

  Jake thought about this, but wasn’t sure if she was right. He had made a promise not to abuse ANDEE and he didn’t plan on breaking that promise. Still, if they could prevent Benjamin from harming anybody else…

  “It would’ve been a risk,” Jake said.

  “Not any more than we’ve taken in the past with ANDEE.”

  “I promised.”

  “I know, Jake, but Beth told you ‘Only with great care.’ I think this would warrant another chance with Tolaver and take great care not to abuse it.”

  She was right. He knew it in his heart. He would call the district attorney in the morning and see if there was a way to get Benjamin Tolaver in the chair again. Maybe this was the imbalance Beth and Ryan mentioned in the nightmare he and Maddy had.

  “I’ll call the DA in the morning. She doesn’t like me, but it’s worth a shot.” Jake hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake.

  Chapter 7

  Orange Park, Florida

  Elise bit Bart’s lip just enough to draw the tiniest bit of blood. He grinned at her and then smacked her rear sharply. She didn’t even flinch. The pain was part of the excitement and Bart had learned that Elise had a capacity for pain beyond anything he could tolerate. She wanted things from him he was almost frightened to perform. He didn’t want to lose her, yet he wanted to give her what she wanted and needed, so he did what she told him to do and hoped she knew her limits. Tonight had been somewhat difficult for him, but she had reached a climax so quickly, he knew it had been exactly what she needed. It had been exquisite.

  As she lay on top of him, her body glistening from the exertion, she pulled at his lip again and said, “Aren’t you proud of me?”

  “Very.” Her performance with Jake Townsend and his staff had been perfection. The little foray into the world of Encephalographic Systems had been a necessary one and the intel had provided them with the knowledge they needed to move forward. Dr. Powers and Townsend had been none the wiser and Elise had been able to fool them completely. At least it appeared that way.

  “I think you need to show me again.”

  “How much can you take?”

  “More than you could know,” she said, but did not smile. It was as if she demanded it. He knew he would have to deliver again. She must be able to sense his hesitation, because she reached down and fondled him and he grew aroused. She made it so easy.

  “We need to make a plan for tomorrow,” he said.

  “After,” she said, working her tongue along his torso causing little electric shocks of pleasure to run along his skin.

  “Promise?”

  “Only if you promise to make me scream.”

  He stared at her.

  She stopped and looked up at him, a smile on her lips that was a cross between coy and fearful. He knew she trusted him, but liked the fact it was a risk too.

  He put his hands to her throat and squeezed slightly. She shivered in excitement.

  “How can you scream if I’m doing what you want?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  He did. And she screamed.

  Chapter 8

  Orange Park, Florida

  Benjamin walked out of the supermarket and approached his van. He was whistling. It had been too long since he last enjoyed a trip to the store. Yes, the mundane act of shopping for groceries was the highlight of the morning. He had been in jail for the last nine months and his release yesterday was a glorious surprise.

  His dumbass lawyers were useless, and until they had received information from some unknown sou
rce, which allowed him to be freed on a little known clause, he had been about to fire them. The DA had filed motion after motion, enabling them to keep him locked up though they had only probable cause without any tangible evidence. She thought she had been winning. The DA’s face in the courtroom yesterday had been priceless. The fools were never going to pin anything on him.

  He reached for the door handle as a dark haired woman stepped from around the rear of the van and approached him quickly. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her perfect, porcelain skin and aristocratic nose were framed by short, shiny, black hair. His eyes immediately wandered to her breasts and he smiled as her quick steps made every curve shift in all the right ways. His distraction proved to be a mistake.

  He hadn’t noticed the black jack she held low at her side until it swung at his head and then the world spun crazily and went dark. He woke sometime later in a vehicle, traveling at considerable speed. He started to speak, but found his mouth taped shut and his limbs tied. He struggled briefly, but soon realized he was hopelessly at the mercy of whoever had him tied up. His head throbbed with each beat of his heart and he believed he might have a concussion. A wave of nausea swept over him and he knew if he threw up while gagged, he might die, so he choked it down, swallowing rapidly.

  A smiling face came into view. The woman from the parking lot leered at him and then ripped the tape from his face. It was like somebody applied a red-hot branding iron to his lips and cheeks. He hadn’t realized it, but he cried out, briefly.

  “Hello, Benjamin.”

  The voice was glorious. Smooth and soft, matching the beautiful face which hovered in front of him. The pain that immediately followed did not jive with his other senses, though. His hands, which were tied behind his back, were pulled until he felt his arms would separate from his shoulders. He moaned and then pleaded. “Please! What do you want? Who are you? Stop!”