by Kim Hornsby
Her dog Obi, raised his head to verify she wasn’t getting out of bed and then settled his blocky, brindle-striped head on her leg while she wrote. Normal. This meant the dream didn’t look like a premonition or what they called a Remembrance. In those, the colors were faded, the scenes usually blurry.
“Nothing unusual, Obi,” she said to the still morning air in her bedroom. Obi’s eyes were closed. She hadn’t said any of the words he wanted to hear, like walk, treat, truck, shop, go. Tina had dreamed of her father, a man she missed terribly since his passing a year earlier.
Dad and I driving in car along a coastal road, maybe Oregon, talking- Dad so serious. Wanted to me to pay attention to driving. Kept saying “look around you. See the road?”
Thinking about the dream, she verified it was a Normal and lay back on her pillows. Nothing to help find Wyatt. No dream jump into Kevin’s subconscious, which is what she was really hoping for. It was a longshot, but still. Jamey couldn’t dream jump without her anymore. Something she detested about this ability she’d inherited from him. She could only take him along on dreams. Tina hoped this ability of hers was temporary. Until then, it was her responsibility to treat dream jumping, and her intuition, very seriously.
The birds in Tina’s front yard began their morning ritual. Doves cooed and then the myna birds joined the cacophony, raising the noise level higher. Kai’s little baby voice broke through on the baby monitor. Obi jumped off the bed and trotted down the hall to the nursery. Obi and Kai had a cute little relationship already. A delighted sigh came from the monitor. Kai had recently mastered rolling over and was probably on his tummy looking through the railings. The handbook on parenting suggested you not run to your baby every time they vocalized, so she forced herself to wait. It was hard.
The best-case scenario for Carrie would be that Wyatt would come home this morning. At the very least, Jamey would have a visit with his daughters, Jade and Jasmine, before he flew back to Maui. He missed his eleven-year-old girls on a daily basis, but kept in touch more than tweenager girls actually wanted from a parent. These days. Up until last year, he’d been stationed in Afghanistan, coming and going in their lives. Carrie and Chris had five kids between them, in a big house nestled in the small town of Carnation, outside Seattle and the girls belonged there. Now Wyatt was gone.
“When I spoke with Carrie from the boat, I had a flash of something,” Jamey had said on the way to the airport. “Kevin won’t be returning Wyatt anytime soon. I think it might be months. Unless I can change the future.”
When Tina asked specifically what he’d seen, Jamey explained it was a long, sandy beach. “With palm trees. That rules out Seattle. Wyatt was playing in the sand with Kevin and Looney Tunes.” Rose had earned this nickname at their wedding reception by toasting the “knocked-up bride” then pouring her champagne on Kevin and storming off.
“If I had to guess, I’d say California. I saw a pelican.” Jamey said. “Looks like they’ll take Wyatt south. If they cross to Mexico, Carrie’s fucked.” Jamey was sure it was a premonition. “To change the future,” he’d said, “I’ll have to find Wyatt and get him home before they get to that beach in California.”
From her bed, Tina stared out the window at the cloudless sky, now brightening to a deep blue. She had a bad feeling about all this. If Kevin and Rose went into Mexico, it would be difficult to use the authorities. From what she knew, thousands of kids go missing every year in America, and abduction by parents wasn’t even serious enough to get a manhunt underway in this country. And Wyatt was taken by a biological parent. If Kevin and Rose crossed the border to Mexico with Wyatt, they’d be traveling away from American intervention to a country that favored men. Jamey’s mission, he’d said yesterday, was to find them before they left Seattle.
“And if that doesn’t work, I’ll have to find them before they leave the U.S.A. or it’s going to be one helluva job to find Wyatt in a strange country, especially without my abilities firing on all ten cylinders.”
***
If he and Tina could dream jump with 2,000 miles between them, he might finally get a clue where Wyatt was. He’d spent all morning with Carrie, talking, reassuring his daughters that Daddy would find their brother and bring him home. He needed to pick up on something useful. At Kevin’s house the roommate wasn’t home, but Jamey left a note on the door saying that he was Wyatt’s Uncle looking for the boy and needed information on Kevin.
Then, he’d laid his hands on the driveway where Kevin usually kept his new truck. Jamey breathed slowly, thinking of Wyatt and his skinny little frame, too small for seven. He got nothing. Standing by both the front and back doorways didn’t reveal anything except that Kevin lived there. Jamey sat on the backdoor step for a few minutes, trying to pull something in, but all he got was that Kevin hated the backyard and mowing the lawn.
Walking back to Carrie’s minivan, he noticed a toy in the grass that he guessed was Wyatt’s. Carrie had said that the roommate, who was a young mechanic in town, didn’t have children. Jamey recognized the toy as a Star Wars character, Boba Fett. He picked it up and thought of the little boy who loved to play Star Wars. Like digging with a shovel, Jamey imagined going deeper and was rewarded.
He got a flash that Wyatt was going to a party somewhere. There’d be a pool, and Wyatt could go swimming. Wyatt loved to swim. Kevin had bought him a new pair of swimming trunks. Jamey had a clear feeling that Wyatt felt bad calling his bio-dad Kevin, but Mama said it was okay. His real dad was called Chris by everyone else. Chris deserved to be called Daddy, not Kevin. He loved Mama’s story about how Chris married Mama and sang to her big tummy until Wyatt finally popped out. The day he was born, Daddy cried because he was so happy. Wyatt loved Daddy. And he loved Kevin a bit too. Off to the party!
Jamey put the toy in his pocket and tried a few more things before driving to pick up the twins at school. He’d call Tina later with an update. Maybe tonight, they could jump together, give it a try from this long distance. Tina was much better at jumping than he ever was. She’d jumped long distance when he was in Afghanistan. For that reason, Jamey was glad his wife was now the jumper and not him. That and the fact that if he was still jumping, he’d be in Afghanistan fighting insurgents and trying to find weapons caches in dreams.
When Jamey landed in the dream that night, Tina was there waiting. He noticed immediately that the colors were faded and the edges of the scene were blurry. “Premonition,” Jamey whispered glancing around at the surrounding beach. Tina would have tried to summon something from Kevin or Wyatt’s mind as she fell asleep. This was how it worked for her.
“Was this the beach?” Tina’s mouth was turned down, her expression grim. “I feel something wrong. Something tricky. You?”
Jamey nodded. The beach was alongside a busy road. A parking lot separated the traffic from the sand and in the distance jammed-together houses filled in the real estate. Palm trees lined the parking lot and a smattering of kids ran around with a kite behind them. The sand was coarse, light brown, and the ocean was deep blue with a surf line rolling in. A beginner surfer fell off a board and some teenagers on shore cheered. Jamey took Tina’s hand and they started walking towards the houses a quarter mile away where he’d seen Wyatt digging. The setting that time was the same. “What do you think? It’s Kevin’s or Wyatt’s?”
“From Kevin, I’m sure of that.” She looked around.
Up ahead, three bodies materialized on the beach, one of them small. Wyatt. With his curly blonde hair and his slight frame, the little guy was easy to spot. When Jamey and Tina got as close as they dared without being recognized, the boy laughed at Kevin and plunked down on the sand. He dug a hole, then gathered water to put in the hole. Tina opened a beach umbrella that had appeared in her hand and pulled Jamey to sit. From behind the umbrella, they quietly observed the seemingly happy family building something in the sand.
Months ago, Kevin had told Carrie he was worried about Rose, worried and afraid of things she’d said. For th
at reason he’d broken things off. At the time, Jamey thought that was a good move, but now he wondered if they’d ever parted ways. They looked so happy playing with Wyatt on the beach. He whispered to Tina. “I wish we could figure out the logistics of this dream, like when and where.”
Tina looked around. “I’m pretty sure it’s California. From what I remember, it looks like Malibu.” She stood up and walked over to the group of teenagers watching a surfer. “Hi there.” They looked up. “Sorry to disturb you but do you know the time?” Then Jamey heard her say something about the date.
This was a damn good idea if the beach was an exact premonition. He’d always wondered if people in these dreams were real, if they could see him. As Tina walked back towards him, he stood.
“August fifth. Tomorrow at 3:20. I couldn’t ask the year in case I looked like a crazy lady who thinks she’s time traveling.” Tina didn’t smile but fixed her gaze on the family who were now at the water’s edge getting pails full of water and laughing. “At least Wyatt looks the same age. And he looks like he’s having fun.”
“If they took him, and are headed to California, he’s going to start missing his family soon. Moments of playing in the sand are fleeting.”
“Agreed.” She looked at the sky. “I’d say they were right about 3:20. I’m not sure if dream people would know the date. Another thing to put on our list to test someday. We don’t know if they are actually going to be on this beach on the day that Kevin and Wyatt show up here.”
He nodded. “3:20, you say.” Tina was good at this stuff. Estimating time by the sun, gauging weather patterns, something Jamey also prided himself on. He usually agreed with her guesses. It was foolish to find that sexy, but he did. It was one of the many things that set Tina apart from every other woman he’d ever known, including Carrie. “I wonder what would happen if I went up to them and took Wyatt? What if we tried to jump out of the dream with him?”
“Dangerous,” she said.
“Agreed, but I still wonder.” Never having tried that, Jamey couldn’t risk a botched jump. Maybe he’d wake up with Wyatt in his arms, but probably not. And would it hurt the real Wyatt somehow or change the future? Who knew what the rules were for this weird shit? Not him, and not Tina who looked to him for advice even though now she was technically the jumper. He’d never asserted himself in these dreams, not even when he’d seen Tina marry another man. He’d been warned by his uncle to stay on the sidelines, be invisible, don’t try to change the future. Was Uncle Don right in telling him this? Jamey had already changed the future for Tina when he intervened and told her parents that Hank was a crook, out for their daughter’s money. And look where that landed him. Smack dab in the middle of looking for Hank’s dead body. No, he wouldn’t grab Wyatt on the beach or try to connect with him. Even though Tina was clearly visible to the teens on the beach, he didn’t want to take the chance that jumping out might hurt Wyatt. Or not work. Those teenagers might not even be real people but a figment of Kevin’s thoughts. This was Kevin’s premonition.
Gathering Tina in his arms, Jamey hugged her close. “I fear this isn’t looking good for Carrie.”
“Or Wyatt.”
“Let’s just stay long enough to see the vehicle.” He kissed the top of her head as they pretended to look out to sea. “I guess I’m flying from Seattle to L.A. tomorrow morning.”
Jamey sat in a rental car in the parking lot at LAX, the main terminal in view, his cell phone on the seat beside him. Having seen the beach in the dream yesterday, he had a good idea of where to look today. Tina didn’t need to join him in California. Chris had re-routed his business trip and would be landing in Los Angeles any minute. Together, they’d drive out to Malibu, confirm the beach, and wait for three people to start digging in the sand. Jamey itched for retribution and it was impossible to not rehearse a scathing speech about what a dirt bag Kevin was to do this to Carrie and Chris, but it wasn’t Jamey’s speech to make. He’d follow Chris’s lead because Chris was the real father to Wyatt, having been there for the birth, sat up nights with baby Wyatt, took photos of him at his first steps, first day of preschool, first time he caught a fish. Everything. Kevin just blew into town last year, wanting to be a part of his biological child’s life after blowing off Carrie’s requests for years.
Chris’s flight was scheduled to arrive at 10:12. Once Jamey got him in the car, they’d take off on the Pacific Coast highway for Malibu. It was a glorious summer day in southern California, just like the dream, with few clouds in the vibrant blue sky. The temperature was cooler than Maui, but wasn’t most of the northern hemisphere cooler in August?
When he’d spoken to Chris on the phone last night, he was reminded why they shouldn’t call the police. “If we can take care of this ourselves, we can call the shots, not wait for the cops to tell us how they did it months after they find Wyatt. Remember, Jamey, you were the police. It takes forever to get things approved. There’s channels they have to work through and paperwork. Carrie and I both feel with your ESP, you can get more done than they can.” Carrie’s usually calm husband sounded quietly furious, like he might want to wring Kevin’s neck himself, not caring if he’d get away with it. Jamey understood that feeling. If anyone took Jade, Jasmine, or Kai, he’d be tempted to do serious damage to the abductor. Hell, he was ready to wring Kevin’s neck himself.
Chris was Wyatt’s father and he loved the boy unconditionally. Jamey was a close second in that love. As Jamey sat waiting in the car for Chris’s phone call, he thought about those days after his divorce from Carrie. When Carrie discovered she was pregnant, the baby’s father beat a hasty retreat. Jamey agreed to help raise the child that wasn’t his, right alongside his twin daughters. He wasn’t going to reconcile with Carrie, because they both knew that would never work, but he’d stick around and be Daddy. But then, Chris came into the picture in Carrie’s final months of her pregnancy. He’d asked Carrie to marry him, taking the Daddy spot. Chris named the child—Wyatt Christopher, his final claim on the baby complete. Jamey didn’t want to admit it, but he was heartbroken when he lost the opportunity to parent that child, the baby he’d imagined as his. Turning that disappointment into something better, he vowed to watch over the little guy in his own way. And he had. Jamey had always felt a soft spot for Wyatt. Being able to get into dreams, premonitions and remembrances was how he could best serve Wyatt now. That, and by being in Los Angeles, maybe he’d keep Chris from killing Kevin and going to prison.
Jamey’s phone rang and he picked it up.
“Thanks, Jamey, for doing this.”
“Sure, Chris. Where are you?”
“I’m at the curb.” Chris was a man of few words, but this morning’s words sounded like a man on a mission.
Jamey swung the white rental car out of the lot and found Chris pacing at the curb’s edge. He put the car in park and threw open the door. “Your ride has arrived.” He got a look at Chris’s face. With narrowed eyes, set jaw and a nod of the head, the man looked ready for a manhunt.
Throwing a small duffel in the back, Chris slid into the passenger seat. “Let’s get out to Malibu and find Wyatt.” He buckled in. “Do you think they flew here or drove?”
“Drove. I saw Kevin’s shiny, new, black truck.”
“Kevin picked him up Friday after school. So four days of driving. Lots of time to get to Los Angeles.”
Jamey agreed. It was early morning still, when they reached the stretch of beach that matched the dream. Surfers came and went from the parking lot, their boards tucked under their arms. The two men had time to develop a plan about how they’d first grab Wyatt and secondly deal with Kevin and Rose. With hours until that sun was in the three o’clock position, Jamey tried to talk Chris out of anything foolish. He wasn’t sure if Chris would attempt murder, but had to argue on the side of caution, in case Chris had that in the back of his mind.
“Don’t do anything serious to Kevin, as much as you want to.”
“I’ll try not to.”
They stayed on that Malibu beach until the sun was low in the sky and sinking fast. No Wyatt. No Kevin. No Rose. No shiny black truck. Chris and Jamey had walked up and down the beach all day searching for the threesome. Today was August fifth, just like in the dream. More than once Jamey wondered if asking the date in a premonition might not be accurate. What if the person Tina asked had the date wrong? What if some other detail of the premonition was wrong? Kevin, Rose, and Wyatt never came here on that day, never planted themselves in the sand just off to the side of the blue house. For most of the day, he’d watched the stretch of beach where Wyatt would’ve built the castle. Finally Jamey tried to get a reading by standing in the area where Wyatt had been digging with his red pail, but nothing came to him.
At dark, Chris and Jamey got a motel room just down the road and lay on their beds talking about what to do.
“Every minute he’s with Kevin, he could be getting further away,” Chris said, his voice full of worry.
“I have to think it hasn’t happened yet. I didn’t feel anything out there today, and even though I’m not jumping these days, there’s nothing wrong with my intuition.” Chris was silent and Jamey continued. “I got nothing on that beach today. Nothing.”
“Wrong beach?”
“Nope. The house, the parking lot, the curve of the beach, the view, all the same.” After a few minutes of silence, Jamey continued. “Let’s try tomorrow. Surveillance is not for the impatient, I’m sorry to say. Tomorrow, we’ll hang out there all day, see if anyone shows. In the meantime I’ll see if Tina can find anything tonight.” It was nine o’clock, six in Hawaii. She and Kai wouldn’t go to sleep for another few hours. He’d call her before bed. See if she could jump.