After Thought

by P. A. Crenshaw

  Was he just like Paul? Did she think he would end up the same way? After all, was what he did that much different than what Paul had done?

  Paul had used RTP to get revenge on the people who had killed their children. He used RTP maliciously and violently. He had killed bad people, and the innocent people who were not directly involved with the deaths of their children. But Adam knew that fundamentally he was not like Paul. He was not evil. He hadn’t intended to kill anyone.

  Or had he, in that moment? Still, did using Refined Transcendent Power to kill people in self-defense make it okay? Was it any less evil than what Paul had done?

  Chapter 43

  When they arrived at the hotel in Los Alamos, Maddie insisted they park in the back.

  “Stay here,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Wouldn’t it be better if you stayed here and I went in?”

  “Well, Adam, I think you might have just surpassed me on the list of the KTP’s most wanted. You don’t need to be seen. This won’t take long.”

  Having no valid argument, he nodded and looked straight ahead out the windshield as she closed the car door. He watched in the rearview mirror as she approached the back door of the hotel and wondered why she didn’t have him drop her off at the front. Back doors of hotels were usually locked and only accessible to guests with keys. He saw her attempt to open the door. It didn’t budge. She stood with her hand on the handle for a moment, then pulled again. The door opened, and she disappeared inside. He shook his head. He thought he’d never get used to witnessing her mastery of RTP.

  While she was inside, Adam’s mind started racing again. He couldn’t quiet his thoughts. He worried that Maddie was now afraid of him, like she was of Paul. He couldn’t deny that when Paul was aiming the gun at him, he was angry and he wanted him to die. He couldn’t even say he regretted what he had done because he didn’t. Adam was glad the bastard was dead. It was about time Paul got what was coming to him.

  So did that make him no different than Paul? Was he the first person to use Refined Transcendent Power to stand up to the KTP? Is that why Ian and Jeremy had let them go without a fight?

  Adam had stood up to the bully, and the bully had backed down. They let them go, and now they were willing to negotiate.

  Or was it a trap?

  Deep in thought, he jumped when Maddie suddenly appeared in the driver’s side window. She raised her eyebrows as she opened the door.

  “I know. Don’t say it,” he said. “I need to be more alert now. Let’s get our stuff.”

  When they got to the room, Maddie triple-checked the locks to make sure the door was secure. Then she sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands.

  Without looking up she said, “I need to call Mel and Sancha. We need to warn them.”

  She rubbed her eyes, pulled a cell phone that Adam had never seen out of her purse, and dialed Mel. She relayed the events to them, choking up from time to time, especially when she got to the part about Paul’s death. Adam couldn’t hear what Mel was saying on the other end. He worried that they might all turn against him. At least Maddie told Mel it was self-defense. She told them that, if he hadn’t acted quickly and killed Paul, they would both have been captured or dead.

  When Maddie got off the phone, she turned to him and said, “Mel is setting up a meeting with the leaders of the peaceful ones.”

  Adam was puzzled. “Leaders?” he said. “I didn’t know the peaceful ones had leaders. I didn’t think they were that well-organized.”

  She said, “Actually, the peacekeepers are very well organized. We wouldn’t have been able to survive this long if we weren’t. We formed an emergency plan and a group called 12 Leaders, or 12-L, many years ago just in case a situation like this should occur. Mel, Sancha, myself, and nine others, make up 12-L. 12-L is responsible for getting a warning out to all of the peacekeepers and organizing everybody. We never wanted it to come to this.”

  She looked down at her hands. Adam wondered if she was disappointed in him. The thought of Maddie being disappointed in him hurt terribly.

  Would she rather he had died nobly? That he had let Paul take her?

  He tried to put the thought out of his mind for the moment.

  A text buzzed on Maddie’s burner phone. She read it and said, “They want to meet first thing tomorrow morning. We probably won’t be able to make it back home in time for your gig tomorrow night.”

  Adam was surprised that, in spite of everything that was happening, she was worried about him missing his gig. It made him feel slightly better.

  He said, “I’ll call Zach and let him know that I probably won’t make it. He’s had to cover for me a couple of times when I was sick, or had laryngitis, or was in the hospital...”

  Maddie winced. He wished he hadn’t said that last part. He also knew Zach would not be happy. It was one thing to ask Zach to cover for him when he was sick and truly couldn’t help it. But he knew that he could never explain to Zach what had really happened. Adam could just imagine the conversation:

  Hey Zach, I won’t be able to make it back tomorrow night because I killed two people with my mind and possibly started a war. So tomorrow we’ve got to meet with the peaceful practitioners of Refined Transcendent Power. You know, 12-L, man.

  Yeah, that would not go over well. He would think Adam had dropped some acid or gone crazy and was blowing the band off because he was having too much fun on vacation. Not to mention that Zach was still not Maddie’s biggest fan. So instead, Adam would have to lie to his best friend.

  Maddie said, “Where are the car keys? I need to run a couple of quick errands while you call Zach.”

  Adam didn’t like the thought of them separating. “I’ll go with you.”

  She shook her head. “The less we’re seen together, the better. If they’re looking for us, they’ll be looking for a couple.”

  “Where are you going? I don’t like the thought of you going out alone.”

  She sighed. “Adam, now is not the time. You’re going to have to trust me on this. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I know what I’m doing. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

  With growing frustration, he rubbed his face with both hands.

  “Fine.”

  He handed her the car keys. “I really don’t like you going out alone. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

  “I’ll be fine. Be sure to lock all the locks behind me. Don’t open the door for anyone. I’ll text you when I get back and I’m almost at the door. I’ll knock once and say…‘butterfly.’ That will be our code word. Do not open the door until you hear me say it.”

  With that, she turned, unlocked the door, and walked out without saying good-bye. Adam flopped back on the bed and covered his face with his hands. He shook his head in disbelief. His world had gone from stupendous to shit in just a few short hours. He was alone in a city he had never been to and without a method of transportation.

  He hated to think it, but he wasn’t even sure if Maddie would come back. With the way she was behaving, he didn’t know where he stood with her. He didn’t know if he felt more like crying or drinking heavily, or both, but none of those were options at the moment. He had to remain calm, strong, and clearheaded. He rubbed his eyes a few more times, then sighed heavily and rolled over to grab his phone.

  “I guess I’ll get this over with,” he said aloud to the empty room.

  He called Zach and told him their plans had changed and he wasn’t exactly sure when he would be back. Zach reluctantly agreed to cover for him, but Adam could tell he was not pleased. He told Zach that he would make every effort to be back within a week, but he couldn’t make any promises. He resisted the urge to blurt out the entire crazy story and ask Zach to come to his rescue. He knew that was not really an option, but he thought it nonetheless. Zach wouldn’t believe it anyway. He would think Adam had
gone mad.

  When was this nightmare going to end?

  When Adam got off the phone, he found himself pacing the room, replaying the events in his mind. He looked at his phone every five minutes. When an hour had gone by and he hadn’t heard from Maddie, he grew more panicked. Where the hell was she?

  He resisted the urge to call her and tried to think positive thoughts.

  But even as he tried to force himself to think positively, he found himself doubting she would return.

  After another half hour had passed, Adam couldn’t resist any longer. As he picked up his phone to call Maddie a text came in: ‘I’m back.’

  He stopped pacing, closed his eyes, and let out a sigh of relief. A few moments later he heard a single knock on the door.

  “Who is it?”

  “Butterfly.”

  He quickly unlatched all of the locks and let her in. She held several shopping bags. Adam grabbed a few to help her in. He caught a whiff of French fries and fast food. He realized that he was starving.

  As Maddie walked past him she said, “You should have left the swing latch on and made sure it was me before you opened the door all the way.”

  No greeting. She was all business. Adam wondered if she was being a tad bit too paranoid, but as she had said, she had been doing this a long time. She was accustomed to this way of life. He was only beginning to understand the full ramifications.

  Maddie unpacked several wigs of various hair colors, various styles of hats and sunglasses, a couple of fake mustaches and beards, and bottled water and snacks. She handed him a bag of fast food and a soda then sat down to eat hers. Famished, they quickly devoured their food in silence.

  Finally, the stress and exhaustion overcame Maddie and she lay down on the bed. Within moments her eyes were closed and she appeared to be asleep. Adam lay down on the other side of the bed and tried to sleep too. But, exhausted as he was, sleep eluded him. He dozed off a time or two. And when he did, he kept dreaming of a car flipping over and over, the crushed driver, and a bullet whizzing straight toward his head. He kept seeing the look on Paul’s face when the bullet struck him between the eyes. He saw Paul’s body slumping to the ground and blood pouring out of the wound in his head. He saw Maddie crying over Paul’s dead body. And then he saw twelve people seated around a table in a meeting room. They were discussing Adam’s fate. Each time he woke up, his heart was pounding and he was drenched in sweat.

  Chapter 44

  The next morning Maddie woke Adam before sunrise. All she said was, “Adam, get ready. We’ve got to leave as soon as possible if we want to get all the way to Albuquerque by 10:00 a.m.”

  The tension between them was palpable. He hated it. He robotically went through his morning routine of showering, brushing his teeth, and getting dressed as quickly as possible, all the while wondering what the morning’s events had in store for them.

  As he was getting dressed, she handed him a blond wig with a matching beard and a fedora. She had donned a red, shoulder-length wig with bangs and heavy makeup. To Adam, she was one of those women who could be beautiful with any look. Still, he preferred her natural blond hair and understated makeup.

  He tipped the fedora to her and said, “Mornin’ Red,” in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  She smiled a half smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She was tense. He hated seeing her that way. They quickly packed up their belongings and checked out. When they got to the parking lot, Maddie headed toward a car he didn’t recognize. He stopped walking and scanned the parking lot, realizing that he didn’t see the rental car anywhere.

  “New wheels?”

  The car near Maddie chirped as she clicked the remote.

  “It’s just a precaution. We can’t be too careful at this point.”

  “This doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy.”

  She didn’t respond but, instead, looked at him sadly and opened the trunk. They stowed their things and hit the road.

  Maddie remained mostly silent on the ride to Albuquerque. So Adam used the time to replay the previous day’s events in his mind and to think about the way he wanted the meeting to go. Would his act of self-defense inadvertently open the door for the peacekeepers to take a stand? To his knowledge, he was the first person to defend himself from the KTP in a way that resulted in the deaths of two of their members. The end result was the classic bully effect. The KTP bully had backed down—at least temporarily. As long as the peaceful ones refused to fight, the KTP would continue attacking them. When Adam took down Paul with RTP, the two remaining KTP ceased their attack. Jeremy had even offered to meet and discuss a possible truce between the KTP and the peaceful ones, although it could be a trap. Jeremy was second-in-command under Paul. He could be planning to avenge Paul’s death by luring them to meet.

  But what if he truly wanted to try to work something out? What if he was telling the truth?

  Adam felt like the peaceful ones had to explore this option. They couldn’t back down now. They would miss their opportunity, and they would have to go on living their lives in fear and in hiding. And now, add on to that the fear of retaliation from the KTP for killing their leader. So he tried to use RTP to think positive thoughts about the outcome of the meeting. He hoped he could convince them to at least meet with the KTP to plead their case.

  Maddie hardly said a word to Adam the whole ride, which worried him because he didn’t know how she felt about what he had done. She had told Mel that he had acted in self-defense. Adam wondered if she was angry with him and, if so, if she could forgive him. It frightened him to think that this might ruin their relationship. But he wasn’t ready to push her or ask any questions. He felt like she needed some time to think.

  When they arrived in Albuquerque, Adam recognized that they were approaching Sancha and Mel’s house. He wondered why they were going back there. They followed the same long driveway to the back of the house. This time, Sancha and Mel were not waiting to greet them. Instead, they parked and let themselves in.

  Maddie motioned for him to follow her as she approached an area of the house he had not seen before. They entered a room that looked like a study or a library, with shelves of books lining the walls. Maddie approached a section of shelves and slid a few books to the side, revealing a keypad. She entered a few numbers and then placed her thumb on the biometric reader. Adam heard the sound of a latch unlocking and watched in amazement as she pushed the bookshelf inward like a door. He followed her as she disappeared through the hidden entryway.

  When they walked into the room, Maddie removed her sunglasses and wig, so Adam did the same. He saw Mel and Sancha sitting at a large computer console with a young man who looked to be of Asian descent. They looked up and nodded but did not smile. Adam nodded back. The atmosphere in the room felt somber.

  They were intently watching a large video teleconference monitor as the young man’s fingers raced over the keyboard as if he was taking a typing speed test. There was a phone console in the center of the desk. The large monitor screen was divided into eight equal-sized squares, some with people’s images, some filling sporadically as people joined the meeting remotely. Maddie and Adam took seats next to Mel and Sancha. Sancha looked at Maddie with sadness in her eyes, which caused Adam to wonder what Maddie might have disclosed to her.

  Adam felt strangely calm in the hidden lair, almost as if he belonged there. Although he did worry they might cast him out since he had used RTP to kill members of the KTP, albeit in self-defense. He tried to keep his thoughts on influencing the outcome of the meeting. He thought about a peaceful agreement between the KTP and the peaceful ones. He thought about the peaceful ones living their lives out in the open—no more hiding, no more fear. It would mean freedom for everyone.

  The KTP could benefit too. They might actually get more members if they didn’t force people to join and use RTP for evil or corrupt purposes. Jeremy had indicated
as much when he told Adam that not all members of the KTP were bad or evil.

  When all of the squares on the screen were filled with faces, Mel looked at the computer whiz and said, “Jonathan, is the room secure?”

  The young man nodded and said, “Yes, sir. I’ve checked all of the phone and network lines. All clear.”

  “It’s time,” said Mel.

  It was clear that he was leading the meeting.

  He opened the meeting by saying, “I want to thank you all for joining us today on such short notice. As you know, we wouldn’t have called this meeting if we hadn’t felt that it was absolutely necessary. A situation has occurred that we hoped would never happen. Now all of our training and planning for such an event will be put to the test. I’d like you all to meet Adam Lancaster, the newest member of our ranks.”

  Mel motioned toward Adam. Not knowing exactly how to respond, Adam raised his hand and said, “Nice to meet you all.”

  Several responded similarly. Some sat silently. An elderly man cleared his throat and said, “If he’s so new, why is he here? How do we know we can trust him?”

  “Maddie has vetted him, Albert,” said Mel.

  “And so have we,” Sancha chimed in.

  Albert’s eyes narrowed, but he seemed to be placated.

  Mel continued, “For those of you who may not have heard, Maddie and Adam were attacked by the KTP yesterday, which resulted in two KTP members being killed. One was Paul, who as we all know was the leader of the KTP.”

  There were audible gasps and murmurs, and some very alarmed and shocked looks on people’s faces. Maddie kept her gaze on Mel, her face a mask concealing her thoughts.

  Mel raised his hands to restore order and said, “I want to make it clear to you that the KTP attacked first. Paul disabled Maddie by rendering her unconscious with what appeared to be chloroform. He attempted to carry her away while two other men attacked Adam. So, as I understand the story, it was in self-defense that Adam used RTP against the KTP to save Maddie and himself. Correct me if I’m wrong, Adam.”