The Dream Jumper's Pursuit

by Kim Hornsby

  Tina held on to the sleeve of his T-shirt like she didn’t want to get swept away.

  “Wyatt is here,” he said.

  “Oh, thank God. Rose said something, but I wasn’t sure.” Tina stayed close to his side. “How?”

  “Like the dream. Annie found Kevin and Wyatt in town.”

  She nodded. “Is he okay? Not hurt?”

  “He seems fine.” The house was in sight, the truck now parked.

  “Rose is delusional.” Tina whispered against his arm. “She just talked to Kevin, told him to come get her and their new baby.”

  Jamey nodded. “It’ll take him a few more minutes to get out of town. It’s crazy down there.” He wanted to get his family back to the house, then he’d go after Rose.

  Tina sprinted forward to greet Wyatt who was waiting for them at the top of the driveway. “Hi Wyatt.” She crouched and hugged him and Jamey almost smiled to see the little guy angle away to avoid the hug. Same old Wyatt.

  “You got your hair cut,” Tina said, rubbing his bristly head.

  “Kevin said it makes me look older.” Wyatt shrugged.

  “I believe he could be right,” Tina said. “Let’s go inside. I’ll show you Diego’s sword collection.”

  Jamey listened for a car on the road but heard nothing. Not yet. He kissed his son and breathed in Kai’s sleeping baby scent, then headed to the house.

  “Look at that one, Tina,” Wyatt said, pointing at Diego’s sword on the wall, like he hadn’t been kidnapped and dragged through Mexico and Central America.

  Diego looked worriedly at Jamey. “What’s next?”

  He needed to take care of Rose. He handed Kai to Tina. “I need to have a talk with Rose, and wait for Kevin.”

  “Don’t hurt her. Please.” Annie stood in the kitchen area, her expression one of pain.

  “I won’t be the first to try anything.” Jamey looked over to Wyatt. “Hey Slugger, I’ll be right back. You stay with Tina.”

  “Don’t hurt Rose,” he said. “She’s been through a lot, Kevin says, and we don’t want to make her sad.” Wyatt took a glass of juice from Annie and sat down at the table to eat his snack.

  “I’ll be nice,” Jamey said in a soothing voice. Yup, she’d been through a lot. Looney Tunes had finally snapped and he was going to see that she didn’t kidnap any more children.

  “Want company?” Diego looked ready to deliver some justice.

  “Just make sure nothing happens down here.” At the bottom of the driveway, Jamey heard Diego yell for the dogs to stay and then he turned to go up the mountain, flashlight in hand. Thoughts sped through his mind. Would Rose still be at the house? Did she even know that the baby she’d taken was his? She might not have recognized Tina. Kevin would probably be in town, trying to find a taxi.

  Once on the trail, Jamey followed the sounds of a woman crying. Sobbing. It didn’t make him feel sorry for Looney Tunes. Could be a trap. As he crept closer, he realized Rose was slouched in a chair on the veranda, her head in her hands. Jamey looked around. He watched from the shadows for a full five minutes.

  Rose finally stood, wiped her face with her hands, and went into the house. A minute later, she emerged with a duffel bag on her shoulder. She pulled the door closed, extinguished the lanterns and set off down the trail with a flashlight aimed towards his hiding spot. Luckily she didn’t catch him backing into the bushes, and it wasn’t until she passed him that he slipped back on to the trail to follow her.

  Was she walking down to the main road or coming to get the baby? Jamey watched Rose turn at Diego and Annie’s driveway and head towards the house. He let her walk almost to the top of the road. She snuck into the bushes, like him, and stood behind the cover of a huge tree to case out the house. He crept up behind her. “What are you looking at, Rose?” He shone the light on the back of her head. Her hands were visible at her sides. No weapons.

  “I’m going to get my baby.” She didn’t sound surprised to hear someone calling her name from the darkness of the forest. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill him, like you said. Turned out he’s my baby, not hers. I want to keep him.” She turned and squinted into the beam of the flashlight.

  Jamey dropped the beam to her feet.

  Her expression changed. “Jamey? What are you doing here?” She looked embarrassed. “I thought you were someone else.”

  Kill the baby? “Are you planning on killing a baby?”

  She looked horrified. “Oh no.” She said, shaking her head. “No. I love my baby.”

  “Rose. Put your hands up, over your head, and start walking towards the house.” He motioned with the flashlight.

  “Listen, Jamey,” she said. “This is none of your business. This deal with Wyatt is between Carrie and Kevin.”

  “You made it my business when you took my son.”

  Rose looked genuinely surprised. Her voice emerged as a faint whisper. “Wyatt is your child?”

  “Nope.”

  “What then? The baby?”

  “Start moving Rose, hands up. I don’t want to have to get mean here, but your cooperation will help decide what I do with you.”

  She looked at him reproachfully. “You’re not going to kill me. I know that. And without me, you have no hope of...” Her voice trailed off like she was confused. “Wait. Who took Wyatt?”

  “I have Wyatt, the baby, and Kevin. Now get moving.” The bluff had her thinking. And walking, which was good. He really didn’t want to have to use more persuasive techniques to get her to the house. They rounded the last corner to see Wyatt standing on the patio with Annie. The boy ran to Rose and hugged her hips. Shit, the kid liked her.

  “Hi Rose!” Wyatt put his hands in the air, imitating her. “Are we playing a game?” He smiled at the woman.

  Rose smiled sadly at him. “Yes. Jamey and I are playing cops and robbers.” She flashed a look Jamey’s way.

  Wyatt danced around with his hands on his head. It was at that moment, Jamey realized that Wyatt had changed since he’d last seen him in Carnation. Physically, he’d changed. He had tan skin, had grown at least an inch or two and his curly hair was gone, but also Wyatt seemed different. More outgoing. Happier somehow. And he had a genuine fondness for Looney Tunes. But that didn’t absolve Rose from kidnapping both Wyatt and Kai.

  Tina stood by the house, her arms folded across her chest, looking madder than he’d ever seen her. Don’t be deceived by this woman, her expression told him.

  “Tina? Can you show Wyatt where the monkeys are sleeping while I find Rose a nice place to relax?”

  Wyatt’s eyes lit up. “Come see, Rose.” He dropped his arms.

  Jamey interrupted. “Nope, Slugger. I gotta show Rose something else. You go.” He nodded towards Tina and then noticed that Annie stood behind Tina with a sleeping Kai in her arms. Her grandchild. Wow. That was going to take some getting used to.

  “Come on, Wyatt.” Tina held out her hand for Wyatt. She led him around the house to the pool deck where the monkey trees canopied the far side of the patio. Annie followed.

  Rose sat down in the closest patio chair and looked at the tile. “I heard a baby crying and came to see. It was my baby.”

  “Not your baby, Rose,” Jamey said.

  She shook her head like it might clear her thoughts and looked at Diego. “How do you know these guys?”

  Diego stared at the woman. “They are friends, Mary Rose. Good friends.” His voice couldn’t have been more of a contrast to Jamey’s harshness.

  “I need rope or line to tie her up until morning. I’m going to put her in the studio for now.”

  “Will you turn her in?” Diego asked.

  “Something like that.” Jamey shrugged.

  For the first time that night, Rose looked like she knew what was going on. “Where’s Kevin? I want to talk to my husband.” Tears pooled in her eyes as she looked from Jamey to Diego.

  “You can talk to him tomorrow.” Jamey needed to get rid of Rose, get her out of the way. Kevin wo
uld come looking for his wife soon, and Jamey would be waiting.

  When Jamey pushed Rose into the studio and flicked on the light, the first thing he noticed was the painting on the easel. It was a portrait of him. Annie had painted his face, his hair, his neck, shoulders. He tried to ignore it, but damn, it looked a lot like him. He even had that five o’clock shadow thing going on. When did she paint this? “Sit down over there.” He pointed Rose towards the couch.

  Diego handed Jamey the ropes and they tied Rose’s feet together, then her hands. After that, they tied her to the couch. Even if she managed to stand up there was no way she could walk while dragging that big, heavy thing.

  “Is this necessary? Come on Jamey,” she said.

  “Shut up, Rose, or I’ll shut you up.”

  Once satisfied that Rose was secure for the night, he closed the studio door and Diego locked it. They walked back to the house, musing on when Kevin would show up. Wyatt was chattering in the living room about seeing the monkeys and other topics relevant to a small child.

  “Wyatt is excited about the big birthday party,” Tina said, her eyes big like Jamey needed to play along. “When Mama, Chris and all the kids and Pops come.”

  Jamey nodded. “Hey, Slugger, we might have to do that big party back in Carnation. Mama needs you to come home. She can’t come here because of baby Harley.”

  Wyatt looked confused. “But Kevin said they were already here. We’re going to have a big birthday party for the whole family with presents and a horse and the real Luke Skywalker is coming too.”

  “Everyone wants to do the party at home because they say it’s too hot here for Harley.”

  Wyatt seemed to buy that idea and asked when he’d go home. “Sooner the better, I guess.” He shrugged his little bony shoulders.

  “Daddy is coming on the plane tomorrow.”

  “Wow! I’m that far away?” Wyatt looked surprised. “No wonder we were driving so much.”

  “It’ll be faster to take a plane, Slugger. But tonight you have to get a good sleep. Tomorrow will be a fun day.”

  Tina broke through. “Can you sleep in the big bed with us? Me and Jamey?”

  “Count me out,” Jamey said. “Just you, cousin Kai, and Aunt Tina. I’m going to wait up for Kevin.” He looked over to the couch where Annie and Diego were watching this exchange, silently.

  Annie spoke. “I’ll wait up with James. Keep him company.”

  Rose’s phone rang and the call display indicated it was Kevin. “Here we go.” Jamey handed the phone to Wyatt. “Just say hi to Kevin, but let’s not tell him you’re with me. It’ll be a surprise.”

  “Hi Kev.” Wyatt said with a twinkle in his eyes.

  Jamey winked at the boy and listened in.

  “Oh my God, Wyatt,” Kevin said. “You’re with Rose? That woman who took you was Rose’s friend, Annie. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m okay but…” Wyatt got that little look of mischief in his eyes that usually showed just before he put a frog in his sisters’ sink.

  Jamey took the phone. “Hi, Kevin,” he said, then let the message sink in.

  Silence.

  “We’re having a party at Annie’s house. You’re invited. Rose is having a pretty good time, aren’t you, Rose? Well, she’s busy dancing but come on up.”

  Silence.

  “Rose, would you like Kevin to join us?” Jamey said, much to Wyatt’s confusion. The boy opened his mouth to speak and Jamey put a finger on his lips to indicate quiet.

  Finally Kevin spoke. “I guess we’re done now, Jamey. You have Wyatt.”

  “Yes, you’re done. I have Wyatt. And I have your wife.”

  “Don’t hurt Rose. She isn’t capable of determining wrong from right. Something has happened to her.” Kevin sounded desperate, his voice full of fear. “Please don’t hurt her.”

  “Come to the party, Kevin.”

  “I’m in a taxi. Tell Rose I’m coming. Please be nice to her.”

  Jamey considered all the things he could say to this man. “Wait until you hear how close she got to my child.”

  Kevin didn’t say anything.

  “And, do you have any idea what’s been going on in Carnation while you had a nice little vacation down here? Wyatt’s family has been waiting for him.”

  “I’m Wyatt’s family too.”

  “Not anymore.” Jamey replied. “You didn’t play by the rules, Kevin, and you’re out of the game.” He winked at Wyatt and smiled. “Come to the party.” He hung up the phone knowing that was enough to lure Kevin up Mombacho.

  Chapter 20

  Tina was exhausted, and very soon got prone on the bed with Wyatt on one side and Kai on the other side. Jamey listened to her tell Wyatt a story about a little boy, like Wyatt, who loved Luke Skywalker. When the story concluded with the boy joining the Jedi Knights, Jamey shut the door on the way out. Such sweet real life existed in that room and such insanity in the studio. Annie and Diego sat in the living room with glasses of wine, their conversation ending abruptly when Jamey joined them.

  “Thanks so much for everything today.” He meant his words for both but looked at Annie. All his life, Jamey thought if he ever saw his mother again, he’d probably spit in her face, rage at her. So far, he hadn’t done either. Sinking into the deep chair across from them, he estimated how long before Kevin showed up.

  “We wait?” Diego asked.

  Jamey nodded. “Are the dogs outside?”

  “They’ll bark when anyone comes up the road. They always do.”

  “They can’t usually be bribed, either,” Annie added. “I don’t know how Rose got past them this afternoon.”

  “Tina said they were in the studio,” Diego said. “I’m going to check on Mary Rose. I’ll be right back.”

  Only Annie and Jamey remained in the room. To be alone with the woman he’d despised for the last thirty-six years was unsettling. Annie looked like she felt the tension too. Her gaze went to the door where Diego disappeared through. “I’m glad Wyatt is safe.”

  Jamey nodded. “Thanks for that. I appreciate you making that call and going to Granada. I didn’t think you went to town on hipica day.”

  She shrugged.

  “In the dream you looked badass with Kevin.”

  She smiled to herself.

  “And, I didn’t think you liked kids, but tonight I saw you holding Kai.” He took a risk. Indecision invaded the space between them.

  She wondered whether to say anything. “I usually avoid them.”

  You avoided us for thirty-six years. He almost said it, but held off. There was a long silence filled with the knowledge that Annie wanted Jamey to reach out, to say anything, only she didn’t think she had the right to expect anything from him.

  “I liked your painting.” He wasn’t exactly spitting in her face.

  Annie looked away. “I wanted to remember you when you left.”

  He had a flash of his mother reading a bedtime story to him once. He’d been sick and she’d rubbed some menthol stuff on his congested chest. Same woman, different mother. He leaned over to the coffee table and took a handful of cashews from a dish.

  He popped a few in his mouth and had a clear feeling that Kevin was close. “He’s here.” Jamey stood. The feeling got stronger. “You might want to go to your bedroom. Keep safe.” He motioned down the hall and disappeared out the kitchen doorway to the back of the house. The dogs started barking and Jamey almost smiled to think that his intuition was stronger than the dogs’ noses.

  Making his way through the darkness to the studio, he found Diego on his way out, and motioned for silence. “Kevin.” He opened the door to the studio and called in. “Need anything Rose?”

  “I need to be untied. What do you think you’re doing? I haven’t done anything wrong.” She sounded delusional and Jamey surmised that her voice yelling into the night would be enough to tip off Kevin of his wife’s whereabouts.

  Jamey signaled for Diego to patrol the house. The dogs now barked
from inside Annie’s bedroom. Kevin wasn’t an expert at this sort of thing and would probably head straight for Rose. But, just to be safe, Jamey planted himself half way between the studio and the house where he could watch the door to both, as well as most windows. He’d ducked behind one of those huge trees. If Kevin was smart, he’d realize that they’d just checked on Rose and he’d need to wait to bust her out.

  Jamey settled down behind the tree and waited for a sign that Kevin would make the first move. He didn’t have long to wait before he heard a yell from Tina’s bedroom. A man’s scream, like he’d fallen into a trap. By the time he got there, the light was on and Diego had Kevin in a choke hold on the floor. Tina sat up in bed, her eyes wide, holding a can of insecticide in her hands. The baby and Wyatt were still asleep and Kevin was yelling about his eyes and writhing on the floor.

  “Kids okay?” Jamey asked as he helped Diego shove Kevin face down on the tile and tie his hands behind his back. The room smelled like bug spray.

  “I heard the door open.” Tina said. “When he got close I kicked him and sprayed his face. I need to get the children out of here.”

  Annie hurried in, sniffed and scooped up the baby. “It’s not safe in here for little noses. They can sleep in my room, honey,” she called back. “Diego, bring Wyatt.”

  Diego lifted the half-asleep boy, and Tina followed them out of the room.

  And then there was only Jamey and Kevin. The gun was still stuck in the back of Jamey’s jeans. It would be easy to shoot Kevin and be done with this. He’d seen soldiers kill for less in Afghanistan. But Jamey wasn’t a killer. He only killed people in dreams and even then, they weren’t real people. Even shooting Kevin in the foot now seemed unnecessary. Sure, this guy masterminded a plan to take Wyatt, but that wasn’t Jamey’s business. Retribution belonged to Carrie and Chris on that one. “This is the end, Kevin. Might as well stop struggling.”

  “At least wash out my eyes. I’ll go blind.” His voice was girlie high.

  “You are a piece of work, you piece of shit.” Jamey reminded himself of the moment when Kevin sped away from him in Puerto Vallarta. And then the time he didn’t show up to hand off Wyatt when Chris flew to Mazatlán. And Jamey thought about what could have happened at the hipica when Kevin turned away from Wyatt. That would’ve been an accident. “I think I’ll let you squirm and hurt for a bit,” Jamey said.