The club was packed and around 11:30 the DJ who had been sitting at their table pointed at them and played the song You are so Beautiful by Joe Cocker. They danced, holding each other tight as the whole room seemed to be smiling at them. Jake thought the song fit her perfectly.
Maddy stared into his eyes, her fingers running through the hair at the nape of his neck, a content little smile on her lips the whole time as the music enveloped them. She pressed her body so close to his they were almost one.
He whispered in her ear, “You’re driving me crazy.”
She smiled a sexy little smile and pressed her lower body harder into his.
The song ended and Maddy whispered in his ear, “Let’s go. I don’t want to share you with all these other people.”
They waved to the DJ and left the club, Maddy clinging to him against the cold.
They jumped into his car and cranked the heat up, holding on to each other as the car warmed. When the car was comfortable, he went to put the transmission in reverse but she put her hand on his and said, “Let’s play like we’re teenagers,” and climbed into the back.
He locked the doors and followed her, getting his shoe stuck between the console and the driver’s seat. She giggled at him, pulling on his leg to free it. He kneed her in the forehead as it came loose and she laughed even harder.
“Oh shit, Maddy, I’m sorry! Are you all right?”
He could tell she was because she was giggling uncontrollably. He couldn’t help himself. He started laughing too.
As the laughing settled to giggles, he held her face in his hands and said, “Let me see.”
He looked close at her head, said “I’m sorry,” again and then kissed her softly. It was just a kiss on the forehead, but to him, it looked like he had given her the world.
She softly kissed him, and then slowly ran the tip of her tongue along his lips. He placed a hand on her breast and caressed her until he could feel her nipple harden through the fabric. She took his hand and slipped it up underneath her sweater while she reached behind her with the other hand and unsnapped her bra. When his hand touched her bare breast she gasped and kissed him harder. The sweater came off as did Jake’s shirt.
The windows had steamed over so they didn’t see the police officer approach until a flashlight beam tried to penetrate the fogged windows.
The flashlight tapped on the glass and Jake said, “Shit!”
Maddy was laughing and trying to get her bra and sweater on while Jake fumbled into his shirt.
The flashlight tapped on the glass again and a voice said, “Open up, Police!”
Jake waited another minute until Maddy was decent, and then he rolled down the window. The police officer shined the flashlight directly in Jake’s, then Maddy’s eyes, and finally back to Jake’s.
The police officer chuckled and said, “Everything all right, folks?”
“Yes sir,” Jake said.
“Uh huh,” was Maddy’s response.
“Can I see some I.D., please?” the officer asked.
Jake and Maddy both fumbled around and produced their I.D.s, while the officer shone his light around inside Jake’s car.
“What’s going on in here?” the officer asked with a grin on his face.
Jake thought the officer knew exactly what was going on.
“Just getting some air, sir,” Jake said, kicking himself for how lame it sounded.
“Getting some air, huh? In twenty degree weather?”
Jake started to speak, but Maddy interrupted.
“Sir, my friend and I were enjoying a little alone time since the heat in his house is broken and my house is full of little twelve year old girls having a slumber party. It’s my niece’s birthday.” She smiled her radiant smile and looking at Jake said, “We were going crazy.”
The officer’s face softened and said, “Well—uh—Jacob and Madison, I sympathize with you, but I can’t let you stay here. Why don’t you get a room?” and he handed them back their I.D.s.
He turned off the flashlight, winked and said, “Goodnight.”
“Thank you, sir,” Maddy said, and the officer turned and left.
Jake rolled up the window and they cracked up laughing.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jake said. “Should we go to the house with no heat, or the screaming girlie party?”
“Neither,” Maddy said. “Let’s get a room.”
They went back to Jake’s place and rushed inside out of the cold. They were both naked before either of them said a word.
Afterwards, Maddy said, “I told my mom I wouldn’t be home tonight.”
Jake looked at her and said, “Are you sure?”
She nodded and said, “I don’t want to be anywhere else but right here,” and she snuggled up closer to him, laying her head on his chest.
He stroked her hair and said, “I can keep you?”
He could feel her smile against his skin. “You can keep me.”
“Sweet,” he said.
A moment passed in silence and then Maddy said, “Jake? What if we fall in love?”
“There’s not a chance in hell that will happen,” Jake said “You’re too ugly.”
She barked out a “Ha!” and pulled the hairs on his chest.
He feigned injury and said, “I need those.”
“Seriously, Jake.”
“We’re not supposed to be serious,” he said, still joking.
She lifted her head off of his chest and looked into his eyes. They were so green right then and beautiful. Sometimes she took his breath away.
“Do you feel it?” she asked.
His gaze never left hers and he simply said, “Yes.”
She kissed him sweetly and lay her head back down on his chest.
Shortly, he fell fast asleep.
33
January 16, 2010 – 3:30 a.m.
Orange Park, Florida
The dream was bad.
Jake held Beth again as the blood seeped out of her onto the cold ground. The wind howled in tonight’s dream and her mumblings were carried away with it. The loud thumps were thunderous and her visage, ghastly, when he looked down upon her in his arms. Black blood trickled from her bright red lips, streaking down her pale skin.
Her lips did not move tonight, but her eyes conveyed the meaning as “Stop!” was shouted while the howling wind ceased at that exact moment. It was deathly silent as she slowly rose up from his lap, towering over him.
Pointing and breaking the silence she said, “Stop the balance!”
His ears felt like they were going to bleed.
Out of the corner of his eye, another vehicle approached rapidly. As he watched, it lost control and began flipping, careening directly toward him and Beth. A body was flung from the vehicle and landed grotesquely twisted a few feet from him with the truck resting upside down to the right of the body. Jake watched as the male shape slowly began crawling toward him, reaching for a cell phone which had landed between Jake and the male figure.
The phone was ringing.
As his face came into view, Jake realized in horror it was Maddy’s fiancé, Ryan. He was bleeding from wounds on his face and hands, but he was grinning, a macabre mask of pain and anger on his face.
He grasped the phone in his outstretched torn and bloody hand and said into it, “Jake…must not be…lost.”
He awoke to screams as Maddy, her hands held near her face, a look of complete terror in her eyes, pointed to Jake’s abdomen. He looked down, and Maddy’s cell phone lay flipped open on his stomach. A number had been dialed and ringing could be heard through the tinny speaker. It was answered by a voice mail message from a long dead Ryan.
Jake repulsively flung the phone against the wall where it laid speaker up, a happy Ryan asking if the caller would like to leave a message at the beep.
Maddy, terrified, reached for Jake and clung to him shaking and sobbing.
34
January 16, 2010 4:01 a.m.
Orange Park,
Florida
Sitting at Jake’s kitchen table, sipping coffee, Maddy shuddered.
Jake went to her and rubbed her arms and shoulders trying to massage the fear from her.
A half hour had passed since they were both wrenched from their sleep by the horrible nightmares. Maddy had confirmed what Jake already knew. Her dream had also been horrifying and Beth had made an appearance at the end imparting her own words of wisdom into Maddy’s world.
Maddy pulled Jake down to sit next to her and her haunted eyes seemed to search his for comfort. Unfortunately, Jake didn’t have any to give. He was frightened himself and unsure how to proceed.
“Jake, I left my phone down here—in my purse,” Maddy said. “How did it get upstairs with us?”
“I don’t know. Could we have been sleep-walking?”
Maddy shook her head. “I woke up with my head still on your chest and that’s when I saw the phone. It was dialing all by itself.”
“Well, someone is trying to scare the shit out of us,” Jake said, angrily. “I think they’re doing a pretty good job.”
Maddy started shivering again and took another sip of the warm coffee.
“What are they trying to tell us?” Jake asked.
“It’s obvious, Jake. We’re not supposed to use Andee. We’re supposed to stop, now.”
Jake wasn’t ready to abandon his work just yet and he shook his head.
“I’m not sure. It could mean something else.”
“What?” Maddy asked, frustrated. “What else could it be?”
“Maybe we’re supposed to stop. Maybe we’re not supposed to be together.”
Maddy looked wounded. “Do you really believe that?”
“I don’t know what to believe,” Jake said, standing and pacing. “All I know is we’re supposed to stop doing something.”
“Jake, look at me.”
He stopped pacing and sat down in front of her again.
“When I touch you,” she said, reaching out and cupping his face in her hand, “what do you feel?”
He closed his eyes and reached up, placing his hand over hers. He said, “I feel peace.”
She nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. “I feel the same.”
Jake was amazed that they were so in sync.
“And I feel joy. How can this be a bad thing? How can anyone want us to stop this?” she asked, pleading.
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “I do know I can’t give up Andee yet. She’s too important. I need more time to decide what’s really going on.”
“Do you remember the other day I told you I trusted you?” she said.
He remembered.
“Jake, I’m scared, but I trust you with my life. Promise me you’ll stop if it gets out of hand. Promise me you’ll end it.”
“I promise. I could never hurt you and I don’t know what I would do if I lost you now.”
She finally smiled. He touched her face and she kissed his fingers. Before she could stop it, she said, “I love you, Jake.”
He searched her eyes and reaching his other hand up to hold her face, he gently kissed her. “I know you do,” he said, “I can feel it. Can you feel me?”
She smiled and whispered, “Yes.”
Her eyes were shining in the soft glow and he said, “I love you. I think I’ve known I could love you from that first night. I was just afraid to admit it.”
She grabbed him and clung to him. He held her fiercely, the fear and anxiety of the dreams forgotten for the moment. He stood then, picked her up like a child and carried her to the couch where he lay her down and squeezed in next to her. She snuggled up with her head in her favorite spot on his chest and they eventually fell fast asleep.
35
January 16, 2010 10:00 a.m.
Orange Park, Florida
They slept late and woke together, the sun shining on their faces through a window.
She smiled a sleepy smile and he touched the dimple in the corner of her mouth and then kissed it.
“Morning,” he said, enjoying the feeling of waking up with someone next to him. “You are very cute when you wake up.”
“I like your spiky hair,” she said, playfully running her hands through it. “Can you get it to do this during the day?”
“Only with tons of gel.”
She laughed at him and tried to flatten the spikes with her palm. They refused to succumb. She rested her chin on his chest and looked into his eyes. “Was last night real?”
“The bad part or the good part?”
“The good part,” she said, smiling. “The part where we said we loved each other.”
“That was very real. It just felt like a dream.”
He made her breakfast and then they showered together where they immediately made love and then had to shower again. He didn’t mind.
Maddy said she needed to go home to get some fresh clothes so they ventured out into the cold day and arrived at Maddy’s place at one thirty in the afternoon. It was a little awkward at first, but as Mike and Sara picked up on the change in their daughter, everything seemed fine with them.
Maddy pulled her mother aside before they left and whispered something in her ear. Her mother smiled and hugged her and eyed Jake with a knowing look that only succeeded in embarrassing him. Mike tried to get Jake to stay for a bit and have a couple of beers, but Jake told him they were heading down south for the evening and he would have to take a rain check.
Mike clapped him on the back and said, “I’ll hold you to it.”
Before she left, Maddy gave her parents Jake’s cell phone number in case they needed to get in touch with her.
“What’s wrong with yours, honey?” Sara asked.
Maddy looked at Jake and then said, “I broke it. I’ll have to get a new one.”
Sara nodded, a funny look on her face. She hugged them both goodbye and Jake and Maddy headed to Orlando for the weekend. It would be good to get away for a bit. Jake kept trying to convince himself they could outrun their nightmares. At least for a little while.
36
January 17, 2010 - 3:47 a.m.
Orange Park, Florida
Peter met the female operative at Wal-Mart, then they left together in his rental car. Her loaner would remain in the parking lot until someone noticed it, called the police and the police in turn called Alamo.
They drove the few miles in silence, concentrating on the job at hand and parked the car a few blocks from the lab. They walked the remaining distance.
It was 3:47 a.m. on Sunday and they had one hour to get in and out.
The freezing temperatures were bothersome and the woman struggled with the biometric cipher lock, her own fingers numb from the cold. She was able to bypass it but not before three minutes had passed which was two minutes too long for Peter’s liking. He cursed, scowling at her. She glared at him.
The alarm system proved much easier and they were in the lab with the door shut within four minutes.
She worked on placing listening devices while he installed the one video feed. The eraser tip sized camera was placed within a feature of the decorative trim surrounding a picture which faced the main part of the test area. It was virtually invisible and would hopefully remain undetected for the remainder of the lab experiments.
He was glad to see her finding places less conspicuous then he had used while playing the part of Peter Vargas. The bugs had been difficult to hide while he had been watched. Her placements were virtually invisible.
The last piece of equipment Peter used was a listening device which would send him data directly from the CRAY system. It required the woman’s technical expertise and skill to install. It also took twenty precious minutes to finish. Peter was growing very impatient as the clock ticked, increasing their risk of exposure exponentially with each passing minute.
When she had finished, they quickly re-checked their work and verified they were receiving feeds from every device.
Satisfied everything was working correct
ly, they re-armed the alarm system and then attempted to engage the biometric lock, thus leaving everything as they had found it. Unfortunately, the lock was proving stubborn and she once again wasted five minutes engaging it. Peter was livid and berated her when they returned to the car.
The mission had been a success even with the delays the woman had incurred and the only evidence they had been there laid in the biometric cipher logs. They couldn’t defeat the computerized logging system, but they could confuse it. If anyone bothered to check, they would find that the system had been locked and unlocked fifteen hundred and eighty three times between the hours of 3:54 a.m. and 5:03 a.m. Sunday. It should create doubt in the mind of whoever was looking at the data, as to the integrity of the computer log. Peter hoped it would be dismissed as a glitch.
He drove the woman operative to her motel and when he suggested he could keep her company for the rest of the night she glared at him, opened the car door and slammed it shut in his face.
What a bitch, he thought as he drove off. He’d find other suitable entertainment on his own.
37
January 18, 2010 – 8:30 a.m.
Orange Park, Florida
Frank Lucas buzzed the lab entrance at 8:30 in the morning.
Jake shivered as a freezing draft blew in through the door. He hadn’t been this cold since his school days at Johns Hopkins University.
The day was gray and cold with a nor’easter blowing the temperatures into the teens. Most of the northerners had seen days like this, just not this far south. It smelled like snow. He half expected to see a blizzard blowing drifts against cars and storefronts, but of course that didn’t happen in Florida.
Frank, a short heavy set man of about sixty five, wore a worn blue coat and stocking hat with denim jeans and cowboy boots. His plaid flannel shirt was new and still had a tag he apparently could not see. His balding head had a ring of grey hair, with patches of a darker color showing through here and there. His blue eyes twinkled as he greeted everyone and his smile showed a set of cheap but white dentures. To Jake, he seemed jolly, for lack of a better word.
Near Death (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 1) Page 14