“So when are you coming home?”
“I knew it. You know it wouldn’t have been so obvious if you had waited a while before you called.” She stood and helped Jeremy clean up the remnants of their breakfast. She had hardly eaten any of hers.
“Okay, so he called. What’s going on there? What do you mean you’re going to take a web designing course? What about your job here?”
“Don’t tell Lester, but I’m planning on quitting.” It didn’t matter that Jeremy heard her. He already read her mind and figured it out. Or had he? Oh well, may as well get it out in the open.
“Are you out of your mind? You can’t up and quit your job just like that.”
“Sure I can. Come on, Allie, you know me better than that. I’ve thought this through. You know I don’t make rash decisions. Okay, I’m not going to quit. I’ll take a leave of absence, better?”
“A leave of absence? For how long?” Rebecca heard the hesitation in Allison’s voice.
“The course is eleven weeks. I have six weeks vacation and sick days built up.” Rebecca looked at Jeremy. She loved the grin on his face. The dimple in his chin. Who knew, maybe after eleven weeks, she’d have reason to stick around longer.
“Eleven weeks? You’re going to be gone eleven weeks? That’s like forever. What am I going to do without you?”
Rebecca straightened her blouse and laughed. “You’ll be fine. Who knows without me around, maybe you’ll finally get it on with Lester.”
“Yeah, right.” Allison’s voice grew tense. “Look, Beck, you know Lester’s coming down there, don’t you?”
“Yeah, he told me. Hey, why don’t you come with him? I’d love you to see this place.” Rebecca turned away from Jeremy and walked toward the bathroom. “And to meet Jeremy,” she whispered.
“Ah, now we get to the real reason for this change of plan.” Allison sounded amused.
“Okay, you got me. So tell Lester I refused to listen to reason, and you’d probably do better confronting me in person.” Rebecca paced the room while she talked. “I’m sure he’ll welcome the company. Les doesn’t like to drive alone.” And who knows, maybe by the time they got here, they might even strike up a relationship. “Should I book you a couple of rooms?”
“Let me call Lester. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”
Allison hung up before Rebecca had a chance to reply. Typical, Allie hardly ever waited for the other person to say goodbye.
“Sounds like family problems.” Jeremy crossed the room and stood in front of her.
“My brother called my best friend to talk some sense into me. They have a thing for each other, but they’re both too shy to act on it. Funny, I never thought of Lester as shy. But for some reason with Allison he is.”
Jeremy’s cellphone rang. He looked at the caller ID. “It’s Dan.” He flipped the phone open. “Marlin here.”
“Jeremy, I’ve got a lead on the guy who shot you. I need you here.”
“On my way.” Jeremy flipped his cellphone closed.
“Gotta go. Dan has a lead on the guy who shot me. Can I stop by later? We can do dinner.”
Rebecca nodded. Probably just as well he was going. She wasn’t sure she could stop him. Wasn’t even sure she wanted to. They were going to have to steer clear of her room and private places. Crowds, that’s what they needed. Lots of people around. “Call me, and I’ll meet you in the restaurant.”
“Later.” Jeremy leaned down and kissed her cheek.
After he left, Rebecca decided to go to the dining room. Her stomach growled. Too bad she wasted a perfectly good breakfast.
The hostess approached her. “Just one?” She said it like it was a crime.
Rebecca smiled. “Yes, just one.”
She followed the girl to a table near the window and sat down.
“Your waiter will be with you shortly.”
“Thanks.” Rebecca picked up the napkin and set it on her lap.
The waiter hurried over. “Coffee or something to drink?”
“Coffee, please.” Rebecca watched him pour a cup.
“Are you ready to order, or do you need a few minutes?”
“I’m ready, thanks.” She handed him back the menu. “I’d like scrambled eggs, bacon, and wheat toast, lightly toasted.”
“Very good.” The waiter turned and left. Rebecca stared out the window. What a fantastic view. Nothing but lush, green meadow and woods. She loved this time of year. Maybe after breakfast, she’d take a walk. She had noticed a walking path when she pulled in.
* * * *
Allison punched in Lester’s phone number. He wasn’t going to be happy about this, but there wasn’t much she could do. Should she suggest riding along? She’d love to meet the mysterious Jeremy.
Lester answered on the first ring. “What did she say? Is she coming home?”
Allison sighed. “Nothing like a nice hello. No, she’s not coming home. In fact, she invited me to ride down with you.” Allison held her breath. Where she got the nerve to say that, she’d never know. It wasn’t like her to be so bold, especially with Lester.
“What did she say?”
“Just that she wanted to stay and take that web designing course. She sounds really excited about it.” It wasn’t a complete lie, Rebecca did sound excited, more about Jeremy than the course, but she wasn’t about to tell Lester that.
“What about her job?”
“She told me the same thing she told you. She’s going to take a leave of absence.”
“Can she do that?”
“Good question. I have no idea, but with all the vacation and sick time built up, I don’t see why not.” Allison didn’t have the heart to tell Lester Rebecca wasn’t coming back.
“So…” Lester paused, and for a minute, Allison thought they disconnected. “Do you want to drive down there with me?”
Allison’s knees went weak. Thankfully the bed was there, and she sank down onto it. Lester was actually asking her to go along. “Uh…I guess. I mean sure. I’ll go along for the ride. Besides, I can’t wait to meet this guy she’s connected to.”
“You don’t really believe that crap, do you?”
Allison ran her hand through her hair. She had forgotten Rebecca told her Lester thought it was her imagination. She let out a breath. “Well, she’s having some kind of visions. When are you leaving?” She had to change the subject. The last thing she wanted was to argue with Lester.
“Saturday.”
“I know Saturday. I meant what time?”
“Oh. Uh…probably about seven. Is that too early for you?”
Allison almost groaned aloud. Saturday was the one day she allowed herself to sleep in. Still, she’d stay up all night if it meant spending time with Lester. “No, seven is fine. Do you want me to come there, or do you want to pick me up?”
“I’ll pick you up.”
“So, I’ll see you Saturday then.”
“Okay, Saturday morning, seven sharp.”
“Okay, bye.” She wished she could think of something else to say to keep Lester on the phone.
“Bye.”
Allison ended the call and punched in Rebecca’s number. It rang three times before her friend picked up.
“So are you coming with Lester?”
“Does anyone in your family say hello when they answer a phone?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re just like your brother. He answered the same way with a question instead of saying hello.”
“Oh, sorry, but I knew it was you. So hello, are you coming with Lester? What did he say?”
“He’s not happy, but yes I’m coming with him. I can’t believe I actually had the nerve to tell him you invited me.” Allison leaned back in her chair.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope. Not kidding. So what kind of clothes should I bring? What’s this town like?”
“You really told Lester I invited you? What did he say? Come on tell me the whole conver
sation.”
“He didn’t say much, just asked if I wanted to come along, and I said yes. Are you going to tell me what kind of clothes to bring or not?”
“Just normal clothes, jeans, casual, nothing fancy. Same kind of clothes you wear at home. It’s not the Hamptons you know. What time are you leaving?”
Allison laughed. Rebecca knew Lester better than anyone; she knew they were leaving early. “What do you think?”
“Knowing Lester, early eight, nine?”
“Yeah, early.” Rebecca didn’t know Lester as well as she thought she did. Let her be surprised. “So tell me about Jeremy. What’s he like?”
“I’m going to leave that for you to decide on your own. I don’t want to influence you.”
“Sounds serious.” Allison wasn’t sure she liked this. Rebecca was never tightlipped about a guy.
“I’ll see you Saturday.” Rebecca hung up before Allison had a chance to say anything.
* * * *
Rebecca flipped down her phone, finished breakfast, paid her bill, and went outside. She headed in the direction of the path she had seen a short distance away. A good brisk walk would help clear her head. The spectacular colors, the crispness in the air refreshed her. She stopped for a minute and sat down on a bench to retie her shoes.
She needed this. Needed her space. Some alone time. Away from work, from Allison, her brother, and right now, away from Jeremy. She stood and began walking at an invigorating pace. Was she doing the right thing, she wondered. Should she take this course, stay here, and see what developed between her and Jeremy?
She felt like she’d known him forever. Yet there was so much she didn’t know about him. She hurried down the path, taking in the beauty of the trees. Suddenly her skin prickled.
“Rebecca, look out,” Jeremy yelled.
Jeremy? She thought he had gone to see the chief. She swung around to see where he was. Something came at her like a freight train. She ducked, but he clipped her head with his arm. She fell down. Everything went dark.
When she woke up, Jeremy stood next to her. Her head hurt. She blinked a couple of times before fully opening her eyes. “What happened? Where am I?”
She tried to sit up, but her head ached. A pain in her foot caused her to wince. What the heck happened?
“Lay still. You’re in the hospital. Someone attacked you. Someone tried to kill you. I was with the chief, and all of a sudden I saw you. I saw it happen, like in slow motion.” Jeremy brushed the hair from her forehead “I couldn’t do anything but scream your name. I still don’t understand it.”
Rebecca tried to answer, but no sound came.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life. Thank God, you’re safe.”
Memory returned. “I heard you yell. I turned to look for you, and someone came at me. He knocked me down. I don’t remember anything else.” Rebecca liked the way Jeremy caressed her head. It reminded her of when she was a little girl, and her mother stroked it when she was sick or needed comforting. “You warned me. I heard you yell, but you weren’t there.”
Jeremy smiled. “Yeah, I guess I had one of your visions. Someone in a dark, hooded sweatshirt was following you. I saw him speed up, and I knew what he was going to do. I yelled. You ducked, but he clipped you with his arm. You lost your balance and fell. You were unconscious when we found you. You have a broken ankle by the way.”
“That explains the pain in my foot.”
“You twisted it when you went down. Not a bad break. In fact, you won’t even need a cast. Just a strange-looking boot.” Jeremy laughed. “I’m afraid you’re going to have a black eye, too. Maybe a few other bruises that won’t show.”
“I feel like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck.” Rebecca rubbed her back and hip. “Oh crap, my brother is going to have such a fit. You can’t tell him what happened, Jeremy. He’ll make me go home. I know he will.”
“What do you propose we tell him?”
“I’ll tell him I fell while I was jogging. That I hit a small branch and went down. He’ll believe that. I always was a klutz.”
“And how do we account for the black eye?”
Rebecca thought for a moment. “My hand was in a fist, and I landed on it, right by my eye.”
“Do you think he’ll buy that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. It doesn’t matter if he buys it or not. We can’t tell him the truth.”
Jeremy walked to the window. “I don’t like the idea of lying to your brother. I don’t like the idea of lying at all. Maybe you should go home. You’re in danger here, and I can’t put an armed guard on you. If anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”
Rebecca stared at him. Go home? The thought had never entered her mind. She took a deep breath. “What good would that do? I’d keep seeing these visions, and whoever it is might follow me.”
“You have a point, but still, why would he follow you?”
“I don’t know. Why did he come after me now? I mean really. I don’t know who he is. I never did anything to him. And he couldn’t possibly know about my visions. Could he?” Was someone else connected to them? Had he heard her scream to warn Jeremy? Heard her that day at the window? How did he know to leave? Sure he could have heard Jeremy running down the steps. But something told her different.
“Jeremy.”
“What?”
“I think he’s connected to us. Why else would he come after me? He must think I know who he is.”
“Or maybe he just wants to get you out of the way, so he can come after me without you warning me. None of this makes sense. Hell, I can hardly comprehend the connection between the two of us. Now there might be a third connection. I don’t like this. Don’t like it one little bit.”
Chapter Eleven
Rebecca woke early Saturday morning. If she knew Lester, he’d be here by noon, the latest. Heck, he’d probably be here by ten o’clock. After Allison called her back, she had reserved two rooms for them. She swung her legs over the bed, put on her boot, and pumped it up. She hated the dumb thing, but at least it wasn’t a cast. She hobbled to the bathroom. Maybe she should look for a pair of shoes the same height as the boot. At least she wouldn’t be limping. She turned on the water, sat down on the edge of the tub and took the boot off again. This was getting to be a royal pain. Oh well, she sighed, still better than a cast. She stepped into the shower, and let the steamy hot water ease her aching muscles. She just stood there, for what seemed like hours, letting the water flow over her and work its magic.
She finally turned off the water and stepped out. While drying off, she noticed a bruise on her hip. Didn’t really surprise her the way her body hurt. If she hadn’t turned around, she probably would have landed flat on her face. Instead of a black eye, her face probably would have been a mangled mess. Actually now that she thought of it, if she hadn’t turned around, she might be dead. She shivered at the thought. Whatever the reason she and Jeremy were blessed—or cursed—with this gift, it saved her life.
She had no doubt whoever wanted to kill Jeremy was after her. The only logical reason she could see was another connection. She sat down on the toilet, pulled on her pants, and redid her boot. She’d never felt a connection to anyone besides Jeremy. Suddenly, she shivered. Maybe her real connection was this person who wanted to harm Jeremy. The practical side of her mind helped Jeremy instead of him.
No, that couldn’t be. She had felt the contentment with Jeremy sitting in front of his fireplace. Felt his pride and accomplishments when he received the award. No, she wasn’t connected to this other person. But then how was he connected to her? To Jeremy?
Or was he?
Someone knocked on the door. Crap, she wasn’t even dressed. She hurriedly hooked her bra and slipped on her top. By the time she got to the door, the knocking had increased, become insistent. Only one person she knew knocked like that. She looked through the peephole. Lester.
She unlocked the double locks and opened the door.
Allison followed behind. “Sorry.”
Rebecca shrugged. No big deal. She knew her brother. His bark was worse than his bite, and patience wasn’t his main virtue.
“So hello to you, too. I just got out of the shower.” She pulled the towel off her wet head. “And if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish blow drying my hair. Did you check in yet?”
“No, we came right here. Your brother was in a big hurry to see you.” Allison sat on the chair. “Nice room.”
“What the hell happened to you?” Lester looked at Rebecca. “Looks like someone beat you up. What’s going on here, Beck? I don’t like this.” He walked up close and touched her eye.
“I fell.”
“Like hell you did, looks like someone punched you in the eye.” He backed up, looked her up and down, his gaze stopping at her boot. “And what the hell are you wearing on your foot?”
Rebecca backed up and sat down on the edge of the bed. May as well get this over with. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She had to make this believable.
“I went for a jog on the hiking path, and you know klutzy me. I wasn’t paying attention and tripped over a small branch. I twisted my ankle and broke it. Guess the way I landed if my hands hadn’t been clenched in fists, I probably wouldn’t have gotten a black eye. On the other hand, if I hadn’t put my hands up to stop me, my face would have been pretty messed up.” She shuddered at the thought of what really happened. The look on her brother’s face told her he doubted her story, but he didn’t argue.
“You really shouldn’t jog alone,” Allison said. “How many times have you tripped? How many times did I tell you to try just walking? What’s the big deal with jogging anyway?”
Rebecca felt like kissing Allie. Of course, her friend knew she was lying, just like she always knew when Allie was lying. Fortunately, her comments helped reinforce the lie. She’d never tripped at home. And she hardly ever jogged. Maybe that had been the tip off. She’d have to tell her the truth later, when she and Allie found some time alone.
Lester just stared at her. “So you’ve fallen before?”
Connections of the Mind Page 6