She moved her hands together again and the two motorcycles slammed into each other then fell to the ground in a tangled heap.
“See if you can move Johnny back over here by Feeyuhl so he don’t get runned over,” Denise grinned.
Layla made a movement with her arms to do so and Johnny flew across the pavement stopping next to Phil.
“Let’s get in the car and turn on the stealth. Don’t want any security cameras getting a better look at us when we leave.”
They got into the Mustang and it vanished from sight.
“Just a second,” Denise said.
Listen up you two morons. You do not know who did this to you or why. You will not remember the two women in the boat or the car they drove away in down in Tennessee. And, since you obviously missed our earlier message, IF YOU PUT ANOTHER FINGER ON THE FEMALE YOU HAVE CAPTIVE WE WILL KILL YOU ALL.
Chapter 25
Road to Memphis
Layla sat outside Denise’s trailer looking up at another glorious Southern Illinois sunrise painting the sky and numerous clouds with a brilliant palette of blues, greys, pinks, violets and bright yellow near the horizon that still held the trees in black silhouette. She took another drink of coffee and smiled. With another wave of her hand she returned the heavy boulder on the far end of the yard back to its original position she had just moved it from. Am I a mutant? she thought. She lifted the heavy boulder, holding it in place in mid air. She twirled it. She hurled it at the trunk of a tree stopping it inches from impact, before she once again returned it to its original place in the yard.
Breakfast is ready my dear, Denise said.
She walked back into the trailer and they sat down to a breakfast of ‘Ham and Eggs ala Lithuania’,” as Denise put it, scrambled eggs with small slices of ham heated to perfection, slightly browned, before the eggs were cooked to a juicy consistency along with the ham. Layla loved them.
“I think I may like this breakfast of yours more than Mary Lou’s biscuits and gravy,” Layla said between ‘delicious’ soft moans.
“Why thank you.”
“It’s a glorious morning. Great day for a road trip.”
“I wish we had room for our bikes,” Denise said.
“I bet if we asked Mari they would have a solution.”
“Oh, speaking of Mari. She will be around Memphis later today. I told her I’d keep her updated on our whereabouts and findings.”
“That is comforting.”
“There are eight airfields around Memphis. I’ve highlighted two of them.”
“Highlighted?”
“Yes. One is literally a small airfield in the forest. The other is right next to a couple of drag strips.”
"What about the other six?”
“They are there if we need them. I just have a feeling we won’t.
“Any idea what we’re looking for?
“What or who?”
“Indeed,” Layla said.
After breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen, they hopped in the shower and got dressed. Once the Mustang was loaded up, with Layla once again at the wheel, they headed north on Highway 51.
“Stealth or no stealth?” Layla asked.
“You know I’ve been thinking. It might be dangerous for us to be driving all over Southern Illinois and Tennessee in a Mustang that is being looked for by some rather barbaric thugs who would love nothing more than to beat and torture us to death,” Denise said.
“Ok, I get it, stealth.”
“On the other hand, it is dangerous I think, unless absolutely necessary, to be on America’s crowded roads invisible, I mean how are other drivers supposed to know we are there so they can stop in time?”
“I thought about that twice since we’ve been using this vehicle.”
“So,” Denise said, looking at Layla as her left hand slid the panel back revealing the controls they were not supposed to touch yet.
“Am I going to have to watch out for birds when you do what you are about to do?”
Denise imagined a red VW Beetle and pushed a button, feeling a slight tingle in her finger and another in her brain. “Now, pull over and get out for a second.”
Layla followed her instructions to see that the black Mustang was now bright red and looked like a VW Beetle. “Well we are going to be seen now that’s for sure,” Layla laughed. When she got back into the driver’s seat, the view from the Mustang was that of a black Mustang hood.
“That button will create the outer illusion of the image you send it that you visualize in your mind. I’ve always liked the VW Beetle. It’s a real girl car don’t you think?”
“Mari?”
“Yeah. Early morning tutorial while you were tossing boulders around.”
“Ha. Can’t wait to try that again.”
“No, you cannot practice with either Mustang,” Denise laughed.
“Was my brain screaming that loudly?”
“Yep.”
They decided to head to Cape Girardeau to hook up with the rather boring four lanes of I-55 that would take them to Memphis simply because it was such a beautiful ride. When they turned south on Highway 3, Denise received an image of two hands, obviously those of a female, with bruises on the extended arms attached to them. They reached for a faucet at a small sink and turned on the water, moved together to form a bowl and once filled with water brought it up towards the image blocking it out.
Layla was singing along to a Neko Case song on the radio and did not notice the type of trance Denise was in.
The image in Denise’s mind continued as the hands reached for a towel, opened it and brought it up to her view once again blocking it out temporarily. “She’s washing up,” she whispered. The hands moved out of sight and Denise was now looking at the face of Myla in a mirror. It was as if she were there in front of the mirror looking at her own face. Myla assessed the damage done from beatings. Her right eye was half closed, lower lip swollen and split. She noticed bruises around her neck as if she had been strangled.
Recovery. Apology. Doctor. Guarded.
Myla.
Denizen.
I can see what you see.
Moved.
Are you still in Texas?
Yes.
The view changed to the room she was in. A comfortable bed. A chair. A pitcher of water with unmelted ice on a tray with a few glasses next to it.
Overheard.
Yes, overheard what?
Message received. No further abuse.
Is that all?
Thank you.
Myla walked to the bed and laid back on it. New keepers. Her eyes moved to a door opening. In walked two men, one in a dark blue suit with slicked back black hair, the other wearing a shirt and tie under a white lab coat with blonde hair that was cropped short and stuck out in all directions.
“A smile. Two smiles. I can see them but I cannot hear them,” Denise sighed.
Rest for now.
The images stopped. Myla.
There was no answer.
“Message received, no further abuse?” Layla smiled.
“I think they got our message,” Denise smiled back. “Look, I’m going to be lost in thought with Mari for a few minutes so please replay that Neko Case song. It will help me relay this news accurately.”
“Yes commander,” Layla said in a stiff voice.
“Make it so Number Two.”
“Ha. You want me to sing along again.”
“Yes please,” Denise giggled before she leaned back, closed her eyes and connected with Mari.
Chapter 26
Memphis
“She’s singing to me,” Denise said.
From lake to lake we flew, Myla’s voice whispered before it sang. It’s so easy to fall in love, it’s so easy to fall in love.
“Really? What is she singing?” Layla asked.
“Uhm, Buddy Holly I think. Yes I’m certain it is Buddy Holly.”
“Let’s hear it,” Layla said turning off the radio.
&nbs
p; “It’s so easy to fall in love, it’s so easy to fall in love.”
“Yep. That’s Buddy Holly alright.”
“Before she started singing she whispered, from lake to lake.
”Oh they have got to have her on something heavy.”
“Let’s find a Starbucks, get a latte, I need to get some fresh air and figure this out.”
“Let’s see, there is a Starbucks at the Westin Hotel in the downtown area,” Denise said. “I’ll give you directions.”
“Well, we’re here, and I don’t think we are going to get out of here today,” Layla said.
“I’ve been thinking the same thing. Will they rent us a room here with cash do you think?”
“I always HAD to use cash when renting a place before,” Layla laughed. “I’d guess hell yes, as long as you show identification if that is needed at all.”
“Yeah. I don’t know how much getting a hotel room has changed since 9-11. Let’s just stay here, I brought along more than enough to cover expenses.”
“Ok, let’s.”
They walked up to the woman at the desk and Denise asked her if they could pay with cash.
“I am sorry, but a credit card is required,” she said sizing them up as she spoke.
Are you going to zap her or can I, Layla said.
“You know, the ONLY thing that brought us here was the Starbucks and I can see that this is not a place I want to leave my hard earned cash simply because they were SOOOOO benevolent and rented me a room,” Denise said so calmly it was almost a whisper, her eyes squinting into two slits so tiny they looked like wrinkles. “Come on baby,” she said in a deep sexy voice before pulling Layla against her and kissing her deeply.
“Oh baby, let’s go find a room,” she cooed.
They walked out of the hotel and called a few other hotels. One took any form of payment but had no rooms. The Best Western took cash with a hundred dollar deposit so they settled into a room there.
“What would you like to do today?” Layla asked.
“Visit stuff and plan for an early start tomorrow.”
“You can see the Pyramid from here,” Layla said, pulling aside the curtains.
“Sweet.” “Well, I guess we can’t come to Memphis without at least seeing Graceland can we?”
“The King might never forgive us,” Layla said in a southern accent trying to sneer like Elvis.
“Let’s.”
They shot across town to Graceland, parking the Mustang that still appeared to be a VW Beetle in the parking lot behind the Car Museum. As late as it was getting Denise wanted to pass on the mansion and get to the cars.
“All Cadillac’s should be pink or black,” Denise said.
“This all gets to be too much don’t you think?”
“Yeah. If anyone flaunted their wealth like this now, I don’t know how it would fly on this shrinking planet we are destroying.”
“Let’s get some fresh air.”
“Yep.”
They strolled a few blocks north and came to an area that had the planes he owned on display.
“Now these I could see owning as a rock star,” Layla said.
“Hound Dog 2. That’s us, a couple of blood hounds.”
“Amazing he didn’t live somewhere right next to an airfield for them,” Layla said.
“I guess he flew into the main airport and one of those expensive cars was waiting for him,” Denise said.
“Not all the time,” a tall thin man who spoke with a local accent said. He had a young girl with him holding his hand.
“Oh?” Denise said.
“Memphis has a few airports and airfields. Quite often he would land at those, like most rich folk that don’t want to be bothered.”
“Any near a lake?” Denise asked.
“Well now, Memphis International is closest to Lake McKellar, not by it but closest.”
“The big one,” Layla said.
“Shelby airfield is right on a lake. Two of ‘em depending on how you look at it.”
Denise thought he reminded her of the guy in Close Encounters that said he saw Big Foot once.
“Now that sounds like an Elvis airfield.”
“He used it a few times but only in his smaller planes.”
“Thanks for the history lesson,” Layla said.
“Any time. Have a nice time in Memphis ladies.”
“Well thank you very kindly,” Denise smiled.
“Hungry yet?” Layla asked.
“Yep.”
“I’ve got a taste for Mexican.”
“Mexican would be perfect,” Denise smiled.
While Layla piloted the Mustang out of Graceland, Denise searched for a restaurant.
“Which way?”
“Head back towards the room. I found one that is pink,” Denise laughed.
“Pink Cadillac, pink Mexican restaurant hey?”
“Yep.”
They sat there eating their taco dinners at Molly’s La Casita.
“Molly makes good stuff,” Denise said.
“The meal is delicious.”
They could not help overhearing the conversation going on at the table next to them. “My grandmother can sense them, she knows when they are near,” a woman said who appeared to be in her thirties.
“And she senses them now?” a teenage boy asked. Everyone at the table was Hispanic.
“Si. Extraterrestre,” an old woman said. She was a tiny thing, with grey hair and numerous wrinkles that created a landscape on her face, no doubt from many years working out in the hot sun. She wore brushed silver Cat’s Eye sunglasses.
“Wow,” two other children chimed along with the boy who asked the question.
“If they were here now, if they were here at all, don’t ask me how, but she knows,” the woman said.
“Wow.”
Ask her how she knows little one, Denise thought.
“How do you know grandma, what is it that makes you so sure?” the young boy asked.
“Los oigo y me pueden ver,” the grandmother answered.
“Really? You can hear them and see them?”
We are not alone, Denise said.
Never thought we were, Layla thought.
After their exchange the grandmother turned to look at Denise and Layla and smiled.
How can you tell where they HAVE been little mother? Denise asked, thinking that if she did hear her she may not speak English and would not understand.
Ayudarle a buscar a sus seres queridos? the grandmother thought.
You help them search for their loved one? Denise heard softly in her mind.
Yes. Some very bad people have taken her.
You will know where she has been and is by what she has seen and heard.
Yes, I understand.
When you are near where she has been, it will come to you.
Thank you.
And there is the smell. There is always a trace of their scent.
Really?
Yes. Our world is toxic and even deadly to some. Their scent is always present. You only need to identify it.
Denise took a final sip of her Coke.
“Excuse me,” Denise said turning to the woman sitting at the table.
“Hello.”
“Forgive me but I could not help overhearing the conversation you were having.”
“Ah, the children and the UFO’s,” the woman smiled.
“It was fascinating and most enjoyable. Please allow me to pay for your dinner, my treat,” Denise smiled.
“Oh, that is not necessary.”
“Please? It would make me very happy if you agree.”
“Who am I to stand in the way of happiness?” the woman laughed.
“I will let your waitress know your entire bill is paid for.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh no, thank you,” Denise said turning to smile at the grandmother.
“Tenga cuidado en su busqueda,” the grandmother smiled.
“I am sorry,
but what did she say?” Denise asked.
“She said to be careful in your quest,” the woman said.
“We will, and thank you beautiful mother.”
You will see the future soon, the grandmother thought.
So I’ve been told. Denise thought.
When you do you must act quickly.
Thank you.
Denise gave the waitress a hundred dollar bill and told her to keep what was left after their bill was paid.
“That was one interesting meal,” Layla said as they got into the Mustang to head back to the hotel.
“Loved her sunglasses,” Denise said.
“Me too.”
“Let’s go get REAL comfortable,” Denise smiled.
“Yes.”
Chapter 27
New Car
Layla awoke to find Denise sitting at the desk on the iPad. “Good morning beautiful,” she said.
“Hey. Here you are,” Denise said, handing her a latte.
“Need I ask where these came from?”
“Nola. She just showed up at the door with a gentle knock and these.”
“How are things upstairs?”
“I think they’re counting on us,” Denise said. “Good news is Aren is up and about and fully healed.
“That is good news.”
“Yes. He’d like to meet with us soon, to thank us personally.”
“You look like you have a lot on your mind this morning,” Layla said.
“No more than usual. I’ve just been sitting here with the iPad thinking about how to put this together.”
“Have you heard any more from Myla?”
“No.”
Layla slid out of bed and walked over to Denise hugging her from behind. “Let’s get out of here, have a good breakfast, and see where this day takes us.”
“Let’s.”
After showering they packed, and checked out of the hotel.
“And here is your deposit Miss Smith,” the clerk smiled.
“Thank you again,” Denise said.
“Can you recommend a good breakfast and coffee nearby?” Layla asked.
“The Cupboard. You won’t regret it,” the clerk said. He handed them a flyer for the restaurant.
“Thanks again,” Denise smiled.
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