“That’s easy for you to say. Your world isn’t collapsing around you.”
“Take a shower and go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning. Things will look different in the fresh light of day. I love you, Sis.”
“At this point, I’m lucky somebody does,” I grouse.
“Well, if your twin can’t love you, what’s the use?” he teases as he gives me a big loud air smooch and hangs up the phone.
CHAPTER 22
JAMESON
TOBY POURS A THIRD KIND of breakfast cereal into his bowl before he pins me with a direct stare. “Go home. As ridiculous as it is, we can’t live on this plane forever. I’ve got to move on with my life, and so do you.”
“I’d like to go home — but I can’t. We’ve got things to settle here. I can’t just leave you.”
“Why not? I do fine on my own.”
“For one thing, you don’t have any ID. I need to get your information from Mom and Dad. To do that, I’ve got to tell them something about what’s going on. At this moment, they suspect you might be dead. I feel guilty being the only person who knows you’re alive. Don’t you think we should change that?”
“Rapture said as soon as people knew that I was with her, the world would think I was her sex slave and my reputation would be ruined forever. I’m sorry, I don’t want that crap. I just want to go on living my life. So, if I don’t tell anybody I’ve been found, does anyone have to know?”
“You said it yourself. Rapture isn’t exactly sane. The world of social media is a strange place. People are going to believe what they’re going to believe. You can’t stop that. You can’t make your decisions based on something someone might speculate about you. The bottom line is you had to do whatever you did to survive. You survived. That is an accomplishment all on its own. It’s not fair to you or to Mom and Dad for you to have to continue to hide out because of public opinion. You deserve the love of your friends and family.”
“That’s easy for you to say; you’ve got everything you’ve ever wished for,” Toby counters as he rolls his eyes and takes another bite of cereal.
I shrug. “Don’t know about that buddy. I might’ve just thrown it all away.”
“Why would you do something like that?”
“Because sometimes I’m just stupid.”
“So ... you give good advice, you just don’t take it?”
“Something like that —” I answer.
“What do you think would happen if I took some of your good advice? Do you think all hell would break loose?” Toby asks.
“Honestly? It might. But I know someone who could help with the process.”
“Let me guess? Your ‘richer than God boss’?”
“Yeah, Tristan will probably be involved along the way too, but the person I’m talking about is my girlfriend, Kendall Kordes. She is the director of a nonprofit agency called Locate My Heart. She helps reunite families who have lost children.”
“Was she your girlfriend before you started looking for me?” Toby asks suspiciously.
“It’s a long and complicated story, but I actually met Kendall because her organization had a malware attack. Based on all the craziness that happened when you first went missing, I was reluctant to have anyone else become involved in your case. I thought every organization like Locate My Heart was one big scam. So, Kendall and I got off to a rocky start. In the end, she showed me that not everyone who tries to help is out to fleece families. In fact, it was her involvement that directly led to your rescue.”
“Dude! Why isn’t she helping us now?”
“Did I mention I’m an idiot?” I answer with an awkward chuckle. “I figured it’d be easier for us to sort through our issues without her here.”
Toby crosses his arms in front of himself as he studies me. “Guess you might have a point. Chicks can be weird.”
I smile. “Yeah, but they can be the best kind of weird too. Don’t let one bad experience poison you for life.” I pull up a picture of my girlfriend on my phone and show it to him. “Wait until you meet Kendall. I think the two of you are gonna hit it off well.”
“So, how can this Kendall chick help us?”
“Are you ready to talk to Mom and Dad?” I ask solemnly.
“Do you think they’re going to be disappointed I didn’t rescue myself earlier?” Toby asks as he runs his hand through his newly shorn hair.
“Of course not! They are going to be so proud of you for using your wits and surviving all these years.”
“Mom is probably going to bust a gut when she finds out I enrolled under five different aliases in online academies and have GEDs in several states. Even Rapture doesn’t know about it. Whenever she wanted to upload my programming to her server, she was paranoid our personal IP address was being bugged by the government. She’d make us travel where ever she thought we’d be more anonymous, like conference centers, colleges or libraries. Rapture had me make up a bunch of random IDs. She didn’t know I kept a couple for myself. While I was waiting for all those huge files to upload, I uploaded my coursework.”
“How did you do all this without her noticing?” I ask, impressed by my brother’s ingenuity.
“I was careful to do school stuff while she was sleeping off her drug binges. I wiped my history every time. Mostly, I did it just to prove that I could. Some days, I had to convince myself I hadn’t gone as nuts as Rapture. It kept me busy. Still, it’d be fun to prove to Mom I didn’t lose my knack as a good student. I don’t know if I can ever go back and prove I was actually all those people.”
“It’s definitely something we can work on. If you did the work, you should get the credit.”
Toby is quiet for a few moments. “You’re right. It’s not fair for us to keep the secret. Mom and Dad need to know. Do you trust your friend? She won’t spill the beans just to become famous?”
“Kendall? Oh no, the opposite is true. She has her own painful past and has been betrayed. She knows what it feels like.”
“Okay, tell her we need her help. I want Mom and Dad to know I’m alive; but I don’t want to become a national joke. I just want to start my life over again.”
I seem to have been holding my breath for several days and now I draw in a deep breath. “You want to do this in person or on a video call? I can have this plane ready to fly to Oregon in a matter of minutes.”
Toby blanches white. “No, I’m not ready for that yet. What if they hate me? I think I’ll just stick to a video call for now. I’m not really ready for the video part either, but I know that they’ll probably want to see me, so I think I can kick up the courage to do that.”
“I can guarantee you they’re not going to hate you. Give me a few minutes to get it all set up. It’s still early in Oregon, so we might be rousing a few people out of bed. However, something tells me no one is going to mind.”
“I hope not. Just to be on the safe side, I’m going to go take a shower and shave. You know what a stickler Dad is for good grooming. I want to make a good impression.”
“I think Mom and Dad would be willing to let it slide, when they find out you’re safe.” I comment as I collect his cereal bowl and stack it with mine.
I pace around the plane for a few laps before I settle into the Jeep to make my call. I almost lose my nerve when I notice that Kendall is wearing one of my favorite Portland Trailblazer shirts as a nightshirt. We may have left things in an awkward place, but at least part of her must still miss me.
“Did you forget about the time zone difference?” Kendall mumbles as she pushes her hair out of her face.
“No, I didn’t forget. I called to eat some humble pie and ask for your help. Actually, Toby wants your help. No, that’s wrong too. We both need your help. My whole family needs you.”
Kendall sits straight up in bed. “Oh my gosh! What’s going on?”
“Toby has decided he wants to let our parents know he’s alive. But, he doesn’t want anyone else to know. The creep who held him captive convinced him that
if anyone found out that he was held by a woman, the whole world would believe he was some sort of perverted sex slave. He is afraid of his story becoming public. He’s hoping to blend back into the world without anyone noticing.”
Kendall is gulping air as she says, “Wow! Just wow. That’s a tall order. Let me think about that for a minute.”
After a few moments, she says, “Okay, I have an idea, but it’s going to take me about four hours. I’ve got to go get your parents — tell them a tiny fib and get them into a secure environment. After I do that, I’ll be in touch. I’ll use Tristan as the intermediary. He is less likely to arouse suspicion than Tyler.”
“Sounds good. Have I told you recently that I think you are a rock star?”
“No — recently you told me I was your mess.”
I flinch as my own words come back to haunt me. “I probably shouldn’t have said that. I can’t juggle all the balls I have up in the air. I’m trying to be everything to everybody, and sometimes I’m not great at that. I have a hard time asking for help when I need it.”
“Like you told me once before. We’ve got bigger issues to deal with right now. Let’s focus on those first. You just gave me a task list a mile and a half long and I haven’t even had a shower yet.”
“Lord knows you can’t properly face a crisis unless you smell like peaches and cream,” I tease.
“Oh shut up! You’re just jealous because I smell better than you do.”
“Truthfully, I wish I was there to hold you in my arms. I was a fool.”
“I wish you were here too. But given the circumstances, you might be a distraction I can’t afford today.”
I smile as I hang up the phone. That was less excruciatingly painful than I expected it to be. Given what a jerk I was the last time I spoke to her, I anticipated worse.
I make a quick phone call to Tristan. He answers on the first ring. “Things getting better?” he shoots.
“Actually, for the first time in days, I think I can say yes,” I reply.
“Good. Headed back to Oregon?”
I sigh. “Not quite that good. But, we’re closing in on a video call.”
“I suppose that’s something.”
“We need the help of Identity Bank to make sure there’s a complete media lockout. My brother is spooked. He doesn’t want the meeting to be discovered by the media. He told me that he looked up kidnapping cases of kids his age hoping he would find that people were looking for him. He got spooked by the nasty comments on the news article he read. To him, it confirmed every warning Rapture had given him.”
Tristan leans in toward the camera. “I have to tell you — your brother’s pretty smart. After some of the experiences I’ve had with Rogue, I don’t blame him.”
“What he’s asking for might be impossible. He doesn’t want any media attention about his rescue. He wants to blend right back into society.”
“Like the witness protection program?” questions Tristan.
“I don’t think he’s thought about anything that formal. I believe he intends to just dissolve back into the world as if nothing ever happened to him.”
“If that’s his plan, he must not have had much exposure to the Internet or reality television over the past few years.”
“I don’t know. The bits and pieces he shared with me are pretty unusual, to say the least. On the one hand, he seemed tightly supervised; on the other, his captor left him with almost administrative type computer clearance.”
Tristan shakes his head at me. “Remember, you can’t judge. Fear and mind control played a big part in Toby’s choices.”
I nod tightly. “You’re right. I keep judging the situation as if Toby were an adult and had every piece of the puzzle. He was just a kid. He still is. Anyway, I called to see if you could help us lock down as much security as possible. We don’t want any media outlets getting wind of this if we can help it. Kendall will be contacting you with any developments. We are leaving law enforcement out of it for now because of the potential for leaks.”
Even through my phone, I can see Tristan raise his eyebrow. “About time you pulled your head out of your butt about Kendall.”
“I’m aware I screwed up. Working on it,” I admit with chagrin.
“As for the rest of it, consider the assets of Identity Bank deployed. I’ll read Isaac in. Remember, this is the long game. Video call this time, in person meeting next. It’s been a long few years for your brother. Normal is not going to happen overnight.”
“Thanks for the reminder. You know me, patience is not my favorite thing.”
“Life has a way of teaching us lessons we don’t always want to learn.”
CHAPTER 23
KENDALL
“HEY, BONNIE. WOULD YOU BE willing to help me out with a project for Silent Beats recording studio today?” I asked in a conspiratorial whisper when she answers the phone.
“You mean with Aidan O’Brien, Tasha and Jude?” Her excitement shines through clearly, even over the phone.
“Exactly! We would like to do a music montage honoring Aidan’s influence on music. I thought it’d be fun to show a broad spectrum of fans. I wondered if you and Wesley would like to be extras in the audience.”
“Oh honey, I’m such a mess, no one would want to see me.”
“Nonsense! Besides, that’s half the fun of this. You get to be made over by Aidan’s hair and make-up people. Isn’t it great?”
“Like they do on those talk shows?”
“Uh-huh, Only Aidan’s folks are better because they do it more often.”
“Oh shoot! I just have to do this — I mean who gets to do this kind of thing? My girlfriends will never believe this. Where would we meet you?” Bonnie asks, sounding flustered.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m getting ready to come down and get you. I have access to the studio.”
“Wesley better not be a party-pooper about this. I’ll never forgive him,” Bonnie threatens.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. As soon as he sees how excited you are, he’ll be supportive.” Even as I say those words with a smile, I’m crossing every appendage I have hoping against hope Mr. Payne understands how important this opportunity is to his wife.
My brother has made the perfect foil to Bonnie and Wesley’s nerves all morning. Whether it was talking autos and woodworking with Wesley or music and arts with Bonnie, he’s been spot on. I never knew my brother had such an affinity for fashion until he started helping Bonnie pick out her wardrobe.
The hairdresser picks up another can of spray and Bonnie holds up her arm to block it. “I think that’s enough. Will, what do you think? Don’t I already look twenty years younger? I don’t want to look plastic.”
Will takes a closer look. “Mrs. Payne has a point. She supposed to look like a fan, not one of the stars. She looks radiant. You’ve done a great job.”
“Oh, hasn’t she? Look what she did with my Wesley! He looks like he did when we were dating,” she gushes.
“Let’s go check out the recording studios. It might be fun to record a couple of little pieces about how much Silent Beats music means to you,” I say as my heart beats in my throat. This subterfuge doesn’t come naturally to me.
“Wow! It’s like being a real music star!” Bonnie says as she tags along behind me.
Wesley lays his hand on Bonnie’s shoulder. “Please calm down. You’re going to cause yourself to have another spell. This isn’t such a big deal. See, those are the monitors Jameson was telling us about. He installed those a while back and got fiberglass in his beard, remember? These people are human beings just like everybody else.”
“I know, dear. They seem like such nice people. You’d never guess they are big stars.”
“They are great. Jameson said so. Still, you need to put it all in perspective.”
I pivot back toward Will, who has been quietly following us. “Thanks for your help. We’ve got it from here. I’ll call you when we’re ready to go.”
“It w
as a pleasure to meet such avid music fans, Mr. and Mrs. Payne.” As he turns on his heel to leave he adds, “I hope all the wishes of your hearts come true today.”
Bonnie tilts her head toward my brother as he walks down the hall. “What an odd young man. I bet he was a fascinating student.”
I can’t cover my smirk as I respond, “Oh, you have no idea.”
I usher the Paynes into Aidan’s favorite recording studio and situate them in front of the cameras which are hooked up to the private servers Jameson just installed. I close the doors to the soundproof room and nervously take a seat.
Mr. Payne observes my demeanor and abruptly crosses his arms.
“We’re not here for any music video, are we?”
I bite my bottom lip. “Well, technically, you could be. But that’s not the primary reason you’re here. I’m sorry I had to bring you here under false pretenses. It was for security reasons.”
“Security reasons?” Bonnie asks with alarm.
“I needed to implement some safety precautions to make sure we didn’t attract any media attention.”
“Why would there be any media interest in us? They hate us,” asserts Wesley.
“I think I’ll let Jameson explain this one,” I reply as I flip on the video feed.
Bonnie’s eyes go wide as she sees Jameson’s face on the screen. “Where are you? I thought it was strange you weren’t at dinner the other night.”
“Mom and Dad, I have a lot of stuff to explain, and some of it may not make any sense. Please remember that overall, it’s great news. Even so, it’s a bit shocking and hard to understand,” Jameson stammers.
“What are you talking about, son? Just spit it out,” Wesley demands.
“I’m calling you from West Virginia. I got a call the other day that someone had seen the flyers Kendall developed with the sketch artist through Locate My Heart. Toby has been found. He is fine. He is scared people are going to twist and turn his story into something it shouldn’t be. He is reluctant to come forward and make his story public, but he wanted to let you know he is doing well — as well as can be expected given the circumstances.”
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