“Did you grow up near here?”
“No. Cherry Hill.”
The barn door was slightly ajar. They could hear humming coming from within. A moment later, an older woman with white hair and fair skin stepped into the yard.
“Gran.”
Her grandmother’s eyes were wide and a smile spread across her face, which could only be described as pure joy. “Lena.” She opened her arms and Lena rushed into them and started to cry.
“There, there, you’re fine. I’m here.” After a few minutes she said, “Maybe you’d better introduce me to your friends.”
Lena wiped her eyes. She took hold of her grandmother’s hand and smiled. “Rose Lanier, this is Kane and Joshua Lakeland. Kane…” She didn’t know how to finish the statement. What could she tell her grandmother about Kane?
Rose narrowed her pale-blue eyes at both men before studying Kane carefully. “Telepaths,” she said.
“Yes ma’am,” Kane said.
Joshua looked sharply at his brother, then asked Rose, “How did you know we were telepaths? Are you a dowser?”
She shook her head. “I just have a sense for some things. I’d guess you’re a bit more too.”
Joshua didn’t say anything.
Rose nodded as if to say he couldn’t fool her.
“We need to talk, Gran. Something has happened and I don’t know what it means.”
“What is it?”
They started walking back toward the house. Gran looped her arm through Lena’s and listened. The older woman was taller than her granddaughter. She was past seventy, but strong both physically and mentally. Not very much got past Rose Lanier.
“First of all,” Lena began, “Someone else besides me has triggered a vision.”
Rose stopped. “Oscar?” There was no mistaking the horror the idea caused her.
“No, not Oscar, thank god.”
“Who then?”
“Kane.”
She stopped again and turned to look at Kane. He appeared a little embarrassed. Her heart swelled a little more every time she looked at his sharp features and they softened.
Rose moved closer to the bounty hunter. She examined his face. “It’s very important. The stones never do anything without a good reason. If they responded to you, there must have been a need.”
He dug his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I was about to throw them in the sea. Could have been self-preservation.”
Rose circled him with her hands on her hips. “Maybe, but I’ll have to hear about the vision.”
“That’s the thing, Gran. There were two visions. Two visions that are opposing. The two cannot exist in the same universe. And I triggered the same two visions today when I asked for the future.”
“Impossible.” In spite of her claim, something in her tone indicated she knew more. “We had better go inside and hear the entire story.” She still didn’t take her eyes from Kane and he continued to look uncomfortable.
Then she turned and walked ahead of them to the house.
Kane leaned down and his breath brushed her ear. “Your grandmother lied just then when she said impossible.”
“I know.” She had never seen her grandmother lie before, and since the men were telepathic, she couldn’t imagine why the older woman would choose this moment to fib. There had to be more to it.
He took her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. She looked up at him, then down at his big hand entwined with her delicate one. Joshua had already started after her grandmother and so they were relatively alone.
“Are you going to tell your grandmother about us?”
A knot started to form in her throat. “She probably already has an idea.”
“I’ve had a crazy thought.” He kicked the dirt and looked ahead to where his brother was holding the front door open for Rose. “Could those stones have maneuvered us to preserve themselves? Could all of this be a manipulation?” With his hand still clutching hers, he moved the two between them, first toward him, then toward her.
The idea her stones had that kind of power was both intriguing and terrifying. She’d never known of the Stones of Adeline to do anything but offer a glimpse of the future. “I don’t believe the stones are cognitive. I’d hate to think what is between us is not real.” The lump in her throat grew and tightened until the last word came out as a croak.
He pulled her forward, trapping their hands between them. Their fists pressed between her breasts, his other hand wrapped around her back. He leaned down and kissed her. “I hate it too. I want this to be real, Lena. But I can’t ignore the fact that I have never felt anything like this before in my life. Before I met you, I would have said I was incapable of these kinds of emotions.” His eyes were filled with passion and sorrow.
She wondered if he was sad because he’d been so wrong about his own character or if he was afraid their connection was fake and would fade as soon as the stones were safe again.
She touched his cheek, refusing to believe what they had came from an outside source. “Let’s go and see what Gran has to say.”
They held hands until reaching the house. Loneliness washed over her as his hand slipped from around hers. He must have felt her desperation and reached out and gave her arm a squeeze as she passed into the familiar kitchen.
It was a typical farmhouse kitchen that had not been updated in forty years. Whitewashed cabinets banked two walls. An enormous porcelain sink bore the proof of a well-loved home with its scratches and chips. One wall was windowed and a large wood table filled the space.
Joshua accepted a cup of coffee and chatted with the Flacks as if they were old friends. He asked how long they’d owned the farm and what type of breeding operation they had. Bill answered jovially that they’d been there since the Earth was new and they bred thoroughbreds, but they were getting old and planned to sell the place soon enough.
Lena walked to the counter where the old percolator coffeepot had always been. She pulled two mugs from the cupboard and poured. Kane took milk from the refrigerator, not waiting to be helped by Aunt Peggy, and poured some in his cup. He looked at her and held the carton up. She nodded and he added some milk to her cup as well before returning the milk to the fridge.
They joined the others at the table. Her grandmother was studying her in a way that had always made her uncomfortable. Her eyes were narrowed and she even looked at Lena’s coffee, which indicated she had seen the exchange by the counter. It was amazing how familiar she and Kane had become in so short a time. Her stomach clutched at the idea that it could all be an illusion. Even if the attraction was fake, she knew her heart would break if they parted.
“Now, what do you mean, Kane triggered a vision?” Rose demanded.
Lena took a deep breath. “We were arguing about how to get out of this mess, he dropped them in the sand and we saw the two opposing visions. In one, I’m dead in the very near future.”
Peggy and Bill both gasped.
“In the other…” She looked at Kane.
Joshua said, “The two of them live happily ever after like normal people, with kids and mortgages.”
Kane gave his brother a sharp look, and she imagined they had some connection that allowed them to communicate without words. The conversation did not look pleasant.
“You saw the vision too?” Rose asked.
Lena said, “I triggered the same two visions this morning.”
“Exactly the same?”
“Yes. What is it, Gran?” The hair on Lena’s arms stood up. Her stomach clutched and her heart started to pound wildly. She was surprised everyone at the table didn’t notice the sound pounding in her ears.
Her grandmother ignored her and looked at Kane. “You are partially right, Kane. The stones will protect themselves, though they cannot give a false reading. It’s not possible. For deception, they have to have human help.”
“The two futures are not both possible, Mrs. Lanier,” Kane said.
“No.” She thought a moment.
“When the future hinges on an improbability, then the stones can show both results.”
“An improbability?” Lena asked.
“Like a heartless bounty hunter falling in love with a fugitive,” Joshua said.
Lena didn’t know what to say. Was Kane in love with her? She knew she was well on her way to loving him, but was it possible he could love her? His face was unreadable. He intently listened to her grandmother and his brother discuss him as if he was a stranger or a potted plant. If anything, he looked angry.
Her grandmother nodded. “And then acting on those feelings.”
Joshua continued to talk to Rose as if the rest of them were not in the room. “But there’s no way of knowing which outcome is triggered by which act.”
“No. That’s true.”
“Why would my touch have triggered the vision?” Kane asked.
“The stones are meant only for Adeline.” Her gaze fell on Lena. “If the stones detected the death of the current holder and she gave them freely into your care, then the gift would have transferred.”
Lena thought her heart might have stopped. She had definitely stopped breathing. She had given her birthright away. Kane’s hand closed over hers. Immediately, her sense of panic faded to a dull throb. “I triggered a vision after Kane. The stones did not react strangely to my touch.”
“Curious,” Rose said. “And the fact that the two visions were exactly the same is very odd.”
Lena thought about it. “That’s true. I have never seen two identical visions before.”
Kane and Joshua both stood up from the table at the same time.
“We have a problem,” Joshua said and went to the living room.
The hair on her arms stood up again. “Kane?”
“Banta,” was all he said. He walked to the windows at the side of the house, pushed the frilly curtains aside and peered out.
“What’s a ‘banta’?” Bill asked.
“He’s a who,” Lena said.
Joshua returned from the living room. “Mr. Flack, do you have a cellar or a bomb shelter?”
Bill was on his feet and taking the shotgun from where he’d leaned it in the corner of the kitchen. He opened a top cabinet door and pulled a box of shells out, while saying, “We’ve got both. The bomb shelter is still dry. I was down in there just about a month ago. It’s out back about a hundred yards into the woods. The cellar is down those steps.” He pointed to a door off the kitchen.
“Mrs. Flack, can you grab some water and a bit of food? Should only need enough to get by for the day,” Joshua said.
Peggy nodded and went to the pantry.
Joshua turned to his brother. “Well, little brother, you’re going to have to go it alone. I’ll stay here while you and Lena lead them away. They likely won’t be interested in us for more than a few hours once Lena’s gone. Take the car, it’s bulletproof. Get out of here and leave it somewhere.”
Kane nodded. “I’ll manage, Josh. You keep these people safe.”
They embraced quickly and Kane looked back to her.
She ran into her grandmother’s arms. “Gran, you take the stones. I’ll come back for them.” She thrust the stones into her grandmother’s wrinkled hand. “If I’m captured, at least they will be safe.”
Rose nodded and hugged her again.
“Lena, we’ve got to get out of here.”
Car tires sounded down the long drive. They only had a few moments before the house would be surrounded.
Peggy returned from the pantry with two sacks that looked heavy.
Joshua took one of them and Bill the other. They started toward the back door.
Bill turned back. “Lena, you could take two horses and get as far as Max’s farm. Just leave them there and take one of Old Max’s cars. He won’t miss it for days and I’ll explain when I can.”
“Good idea, Uncle Bill.” She took one last look at her grandmother as they moved out of the house toward the bunker hidden in the woods.
Kane gripped her hand and tugged her through the mudroom and they ran in plain sight down toward the barn in an effort to draw Banta away from the house.
The barn door rolled easily open on its track. Lena opened a stall and pulled a bridle down. She saw Kane do the same in the next stall out of the corner of her eye. It only took seconds to get the bridle on the bay, but it felt as if it was an hour. She could hear the car rolling closer. No time for a saddle, she swung up onto the horse’s back and gave him a nudge toward the door. She ducked under the doorframe and kicked a bit harder toward the woods leading west.
Kane was beside her an instant later. She hadn’t even asked him if he could ride, let alone bareback. However, he looked as comfortable on the gray as any horseman she’d ever seen.
Halfway across the field, she heard gunfire and pulled the reins back. “Gran!” The horse reared up on its hind legs. She had to grip hard with her knees to keep from falling.
Kane yelled. “They’re shooting at us, Lena. Your grandmother is safe. Joshua won’t let anything happen to them. Come on.”
She looked back to verify if he was right. The white sedan had gotten stuck in the muddy, rutted field. Four people stood shooting at them with the car doors still open.
She saw Troth Banta run toward Bill’s ATV. He was bigger than the rest and she could easily make him out, even dressed in all-black armor.
She kicked her horse into a gallop and headed toward Max’s farm. There was a thick wooded area between Wilmar Farm and the nearest road. She could hear the loud motor of the ATV gaining on them once they reached the woods and had to slow the horses down.
Lena knew these woods. She’d spent her youth riding and playing in them. Her mother and grandmother had brought her here every summer and she remembered the terrain as if she’d only been gone a week. She found an old trail that was not too overgrown and brought the horse back up to a lope. As a kid, she had crossed these woods and trotted down the country roads with friends.
The motor sound got louder. A shot was fired.
“Shit!”
She turned her head.
Kane clutched his upper arm. “Go,” he yelled.
She pushed the horse faster in spite of the thick foliage. Ducking her head did little to keep the limbs from scratching and bruising her arms and legs. Finally, the woods ended, leaving them exposed. She checked for traffic and took off at a gallop across the street. She tucked up and jumped the wood fence, heard Kane come down cleanly and kicked the thoroughbred into a gallop across the cow pasture.
When they reached the next line of trees, she jumped down from the horse, took the bridle off and left it on the ground. Kane did the same and they took off running. About twenty feet later, they found themselves in a small yard with a very large barn.
Max’s barn had been painted bright red with white trim, just as if it was a picture postcard, but when she opened the large door, they were in a very elaborate garage complete with over a dozen cars of various makes and models, and all in mint condition. Some of the cars were up on lifts with other cars beneath them.
“The keys are always in them,” she said.
“Is this guy nuts?” Kane gaped at the cars. “These cars are worth millions.”
Lena laughed. “Max is different. He doesn’t like locked doors. I used to grab the Corvette all the time when I was a teenager. I think he knew, but he never said.”
She pointed to a black 1971 hardtop. It was perfectly polished and gleamed in the open doorway. Kane whistled his appreciation.
“Do you want to drive?” She leaned into the open window and pulled the keys out of the glove box.
He tossed his duffle into the back and jumped into the driver’s seat. “Damned right.”
Lena smiled and got in the passenger’s side.
Kane tore down the drive and onto the paved, winding roads of western New Jersey. He headed northeast. Lena closed her eyes and let the wind whip around her. There was some relief in not having possession of the stones
. She knew it wouldn’t stop Oscar, nothing would. He would find her and he would eventually find her grandmother, but this would slow him down.
She felt Kane’s hand wrap around hers and hold it while he sped north on the New Jersey Turnpike toward Boston. Her trial was in a few days. They had no proof of her innocence. The only thing she could hope for was an honest judge who was not in Oscar’s pocket. It was more likely she would go to prison, and once there, her ex-husband would find a way to manipulate her.
Kane’s gentle squeezing of her hand gave her some comfort. It was late when they pulled off the Mass. Turnpike. The day had gone on forever. Lena watched as Kane expertly made his way through the small town and pulled up to Fairfield Inn and Suites. He pulled in front of the doors of the hotel. “Stay put.” Pulling a jacket out of his duffle, he shrugged into it.
A few minutes later, he returned. They drove the Corvette around to the back of the building and slipped into the side door with the key card. The people at the reception desk never saw Lena, which was the point. Her face had been on television. She might be recognized and that was the last thing they needed.
The room had two queen-size beds, a desk, a dresser and a flat-screen TV. Lena ignored all of it and walked directly into the bathroom. She turned on the shower, stripped off the clothes Joshua had brought her, grabbed soap and shampoo from the vanity and stepped under the hot spray of water. She felt as if the day had begun a week ago. Her muscles ached and her mind was numb.
It was no surprise when Kane stepped in behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his hard chest. He kissed her neck and took the shampoo from the small sill where she had placed the bottle. A moment later, his fingers lathered up her hair, massaging her scalp. When he’d finished, he directed her to stand under the spray and rinse out the soap. Then he tore the bar of soap from the paper wrapper and carefully washed her. His hands caressed every part of her body, leaving nothing untouched. It was stimulating and sweet at once. He made no move toward sex, but only washed her, knowing she was nearly too tired to do it herself. When he’d finished with her, he washed himself. She watched, but made no move to touch him. He was done in minutes, rinsed the soap off them both and turned the water off.
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