Out in the Dark Read online

  “Sure, if you like,” Jake said with some amusement. “You’ll probably just be guessing to start with,” he said. And to himself he thought she would be guessing correctly most of the time because how many different things would a seventeen-year-old boy throw in a duffel bag? “But you’ll want to focus on details, not just everything that’s in my bag—once you get a feel for how it works, of course.” Jake knew he sounded smug, but felt justified in putting Shelley down just a little because she seemed to think it was all easy and she could learn it quickly. He knew better.

  While Shelley set to work, scrunching up her face in concentration, Jake took a call from James. School had let out early and James was eager to tell Jake what he had found out online about Paul Thomson and the PSI/ESP research firm he worked for. Or had worked for.

  “I saw your mom. She’s not at home, but came to school with Coach. She had a black eye,” James explained hurriedly.

  Jake slammed on the brakes and nearly sent the car into a skid. Shelley collided painfully with the dashboard, her seat belt only just keeping her from cracking her head on the windshield.

  “What?” Jake cried out.

  “Now, hold on, buddy, she’s fine. I talked to her and she said to tell you not to come home. She’s safe with Coach Caruthers. He’ll protect her. You know he will.” James did his best to convince Jake, but somewhere in the back of his mind he was not sure it would work. Jake cared a lot about his mother. Before his father’s disappearance they had been a very close family, of which James had been more than a little envious.

  “Are you nuts?!” Shelley shrieked. She wanted to say more but one look at the anger on Jake’s face told her now was not a good time. Instead, she rubbed her aching neck and shoulder and adjusted the seat belt, to relieve pressure on her bruises.

  “Are you sure, J?” Jake hissed into the phone. “Are you absolutely sure she’ll be safe? Those bastards had no right to hurt her. Who are they anyway?”

  “Jake, she’ll be fine. She even said you should find your father. She’s having the visions now too. She said to tell you Reno.” James stopped talking and brought his inhaler to his mouth and puffed some medicine into his lungs. As usual it made him cough and Jake impatiently drummed the steering wheel, eager for more information.

  “Back, sorry, needed some meds.”

  “Don’t explain, just give the info.”

  “Paul Thomson.” James switched into high gear and rattled off the information he had found. “Former Navy Seal, qualified pilot, psychic warrior, has written a book about that remote viewing experiment your dad was a part of. He has or rather had his own company, and as of yesterday the company is listed as bankrupt and creditors are trying to find him. Who is he?”

  “We met him yesterday and someone tried to kill him, and then shot at us,” Jake said in a very cool voice, as it if had been just an ordinary experience.

  “Wow!”

  “Yeah, wow,” was Jake’s cynical response. He was not in the mood to be impressed. He felt a web of lies spreading around him and he wasn’t sure what or who to trust. Almost as if someone were setting a trap for him.

  “Anything else?” James asked.

  “What?” Jake came back from his thoughts. “Yes, I have a couple phone numbers for this Paul Thomson. See what you can find out for me from those.” He recited the numbers and James took them down. James enjoyed this kind of work and often fantasized about being an intelligence analyst, but he figured he would never make it through the selection process in any branch of the military because of his asthma and other health problems. For now he lived out his fantasy by helping Jake.

  “Will do, boss,” James said. “And, Jake, be careful out there.”

  “You don’t have to tell me that! Trust me,” Jake said, and disconnected the call. It was taking all his willpower to keep from turning around and heading for the safety of his grandfather’s place.

  After he put the phone back in his pocket, he eased the car out of the slush on the side of the road and continued on.

  “Those bastards roughed up my mom,” he said to Shelley, but avoided looking at her.

  “Sorry,” Shelley mumbled from under her blanket.

  “Yeah, me too.” He looked at her and saw she was in pain. “You okay? Sorry about the sudden stop back there.”

  She nodded. “I’ll live.”

  Now Jake felt bad. “Can I do anything? Is it bad?”

  “How about lunch? It’s been hours since Johan’s hash and I’m starving.” She batted her eyelashes at him sweetly and he smiled. She was right, of course, it had been hours and it was well past lunchtime.

  “Keep a lookout for a restaurant or truck stop where we can get some food. I’ll buy you the best lunch they have,” Jake said and grinned. It was something he remembered his father saying once when his mother had been upset on a road trip. She had tripped and fallen because he had parked the car too close to the soft shoulder for a pit stop, and afterwards to keep her from scowling at him, he had promised her the best lunch ever, just as soon as they found a restaurant. Jake had only been six at the time, but he remembered the love between his parents and the joy they took in road trips. He also remembered the lunch. It was the first time he had tasted a root beer float.

  “You got it!” Shelley perked up and started scanning the road signs for one that promised food. Perhaps over a meal she could convince Jake they needed to stay at a motel, not in the car tonight. The car looked nice, but would not keep them warm on a freezing cold night. The likelihood of finding another friendly soul like Johan seemed remote.

  “There!” Shelley pointed toward a low log-cabin-style structure that billed itself as having the best chicken-fried steak west of the Rockies.

  The parking lot held only two big rigs, and the smell coming from the place when they stepped out of the car was enticing. Jake’s stomach rumbled.

  The place seemed very appealing.

  Chapter 15

  Once inside, Shelley said in a loud whisper, “Oh no.”. She slunk back and tried to hide behind Jake, looking over his shoulder.

  “What?” Jake asked, but he had a feeling he already knew.

  A big man in dirty overalls said, “Hey, if it isn’t my favorite little whore. Portia, darlin’ come sit on my lap and be a good girl!”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t talk to my sister like that,” Jake said, puffing himself up and clenching his fist. “She’s not this Portia, whatever you called her.”

  “No, then who is she, boy? She’s the spitting image of a lovely little whore I know back on Route 90.” The man was baiting Jake and it would not have taken much for Jake to fly at him, fists at the ready.

  With a supreme effort Jake calmed his voice and through clenched teeth said, “My sister’s name is Caroline. And I’ll thank you to leave her alone.” He felt Shelley grab his arm and he could feel her shaking next to him. All her courage and bravado from when he had first met her had disappeared.

  “Oh, you would now. You would thank me to leave her alone? Just ’cause you say she’s not who I know her to be? Why I ought to pound you, boy, and teach you some proper manners.” The man got up and lumbered toward Jake and Shelley. He easily had several inches on Jake and outweighed him by as much as a hundred pounds, but Jake was determined that this man should not bother Shelley in any way.

  The man stood only inches away from Jake and Jake could smell a sour sweat scent coming from him.

  Jake did not move, just stared into the man’s eyes, even probing in his mind where he could. There didn’t seem much there other than basic instincts, and he remembered his father telling him how dangerous people running solely on instinct could be, but Jake was prepared to fight him. He was hungry, he was angry at many different people, and more than prepared to take it out on this oaf who threatened Shelley. His Shelley.

  Jake’s face took on a menacing look that would have scared him if he had seen it. His lip curled slightly in a snarl not unlike that of a wolf o
n the defense. The man just stood there and stared at him, trying to intimidate him.

  “Earl, you sick bastard, leave those kids alone!” A woman came out of the kitchen and pointed a shotgun at the trucker. “Go on, get out of here. I’ve warned you before about harassing women in this establishment. OUT!” She cocked the rifle, the sound reverberating through the small and very quiet diner where the only other sound was the sizzling of the griddle in the kitchen.

  “Hey, no harm done, just having a little fun. Girl should be flattered I thought she was a professional.” He hitched up his overalls by running his thumbs along the straps and winked at Shelley who tightened her grip on Jake’s arm. Jake remained as an animal poised for a fight. He would have pounced after that wink if Shelley hadn’t dug her nails into his arm.

  As the door slammed shut behind the man, a cold draft flowed in behind him, but in a few seconds the diner was warm and cozy. All tension flowed away, though Jake stood there at the edge of the room with his fists still clenched.

  “Come on in, you two,” the woman said and ushered them to a table. “I run a decent establishment here. I will not allow any man to mess with a woman. You’re safe here, my dear.” She put a protective arm around Shelley and squeezed her shoulder.

  Shelley gave a wan smile and sat down at a table by the window. Jake sat opposite her and stared out the window at the man climbing into his truck. He would not stop staring until the truck had pulled out onto the highway.

  “Our special for the day is meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Nothing beats Robby’s meatloaf, trust me,” the woman said as she set down a couple of tall red plastic cups of water with ice. “I’m Ellie, by the way, and dessert will be on the house. You both look a little shook up and I won’t let you leave until you’re feeling better.”

  “Thanks,” Shelley whispered. She looked pale. “I’ll have the meatloaf?” she said hesitantly.

  “You’ll love it, I promise,” Ellie said. “How about you, sir?”

  Jake nodded. “Sure, that sounds good.” He unclenched his jaw, realizing his teeth were getting sore.

  “I’m sorry,” Shelley said, reaching for Jake’s hand on the table. But he pulled it away. This was the second time he had come up close to her past and he did not like it. Why she had been so scared he could not imagine. He also could not imagine that her fear stemmed from the fact that she had naively thought she could leave that past behind for good as soon as she had changed her clothes and set out on the road to college.

  It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, realizing that her past would always be lurking just around the corner.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered again, and fought back tears. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want Jake’s sympathy, but she did want his understanding.

  With the truck back on the road, Jake finally looked at her and saw she was close to tears. But rather than talk to her he tried to read her, figuring he would get a more honest picture of what she was feeling. Her mind was very open to him in this vulnerable state and he almost wished he had talked to her instead. He was “seeing” more of her sadness than he wanted to.

  They ate in silence, though occasionally engaging in small talk with Ellie, who owned the place. Her husband, Robby, was the chef, and he was a retired truck driver. Night-blindness had sidelined him, but Ellie proudly proclaimed she had saved him and discovered his hidden cooking talents. To which Shelley and Jake made the appropriate noises, saying he was a genius with meatloaf.

  “Old family recipe,” Ellie said in a conspiratorial tone. “Goes way back to the Civil War. I kid you not.”

  “Can you recommend a motel where we could stay the night? We’re headed toward Reno to find, uh, meet our dad,” Shelley said, changing the subject.

  “We still want to get some miles behind us before nightfall though,” Jake added. In fact he wanted to put as many miles between them and this diner as possible, no matter how nice Ellie and Robby were or how good the food was. He understood Shelley wanted to sleep in a real bed, but he had to keep pushing on, get to Reno and then figure out where his father was.

  Even though he thought it was a bad idea, he tried to tune in to his father. He didn’t want to feel the searing pain in his head as if he had been struck by lightning. He just wanted to connect with his father.

  Jake stared out the window and let his mind go blank while Shelley got information on possible places to stay.

  “Dad, where are you?” he said mentally.

  Nothing came, not even the pain. No light, just darkness. Jake felt a twisting in his stomach, panic rising. “Dad,” he silently screamed into the darkness.

  “I’m here, Jake.” He heard his father’s voice very faintly coming out of the darkness.

  The diner fell away from his field of vision as Jake let himself be swallowed up. He wanted to be near his father.

  “As near as I can tell, I’m somewhere outside Reno. Underground or maybe a bunker of some kind,” he heard, the voice faint and far away, “Jake, be careful, these people leave no witnesses.” With that the connection faded and Jake suddenly felt very lonely.

  “Jake, are you all right?” Shelley put her hand on his arm, and when Jake looked at her he was taken aback by the look of concern on her face.

  “Yeah, fine,” he lied and swallowed hard. He returned to staring out the window. Clouds were rolling down from the mountains and he could see they would be in for bad weather later on.

  “You two had better have some of Robby’s pie and fresh coffee. I wouldn’t feel right sending you back onto the road just yet after the shock you’ve had,” Ellie said, squeezing Shelley’s shoulder maternally. She went back to the kitchen to get dessert. Jake looked at Shelley and was glad she was there with him. She eased his loneliness, though he still had such mixed feelings about her.

  Once they were finally able to leave, with many more words of advice and pithy aphorisms from Ellie, they found it had gotten much colder outside. There was even a little frost on the back window, which Jake removed with an old CD; it worked better than a proper scraper, he thought.

  The car was cold inside as well and Shelley quickly huddled under the blanket again. Jake started the car and eased out of the parking space. Just as he was about to enter the merge lane another car came blasting into the parking lot, nearly sideswiping them, before coming to a stop near the front door of the diner.

  “Idiot!” Jake called out, but did not wait to see who it might be. He’d had his share of unpleasant confrontations for one day. He continued on his way and hit the accelerator to put as much distance between them and the diner as possible.

  “Jake!” Shelley cried out.

  “What?”

  “That was Paul Thomson.”

  “What? No way!” He didn’t care who it was, he was not in the mood for games and that’s what he felt Paul was playing with them, if it really was Paul.

  He pressed the gas and watched the speedometer climb rapidly.

  “Shouldn’t we…?” Shelley started to say, but Jake cut her off with a sharp “NO.”

  If that surprised her at all she did not show it. She assumed he had his reasons and she was as eager to get away from the diner as he was.

  Nothing made sense to her anymore. People showing up like that, getting shot at, and to top it off, the unpleasant and constant reminders of her past. That it was becoming something unspoken that hung in the air over them was obvious. She could see it bothered Jake, and she was beginning to understand more clearly why.

  The clouds started to close in as they climbed the next set of mountains. The pass was not very high but enough to send them into the heavy, low clouds. The car hummed along steadily and the heater worked overtime. Jake stared straight ahead, ignoring the signs of inclement weather, focused only on getting to Reno before it was too late.

  Unfortunately, he also ignored some vitally important other signs.

  Chapter 16

  “Great! Just great!” Jake thumped the steering wheel w
ith his hands and continued to swear as the car coasted to the side of the road and down the last crest. They had just made it across the pass when the engine cut out for lack of fuel. The fumes and momentum had allowed them to crest the top, but now the only thing moving them along was gravity.

  Jake put the car in neutral and applied the brakes only when needed as he coasted down as far as Newton’s laws would let him.

  “How are we going to find a gas station out here?” he said more to himself than to Shelley. He was angry with himself for not keeping a better eye on the gas gauge. And to think they even had a pump at that diner!

  “Why don’t you call your friend?” Shelley suggested. “You have him researching all sorts of things, why not have him find a gas station out here? Or can your fancy phone find one for us?”

  Jake looked at her and was astonished she had come up with such a useful solution. His astonishment was more due to his own stupidity than anything brilliant on Shelley’s part, but he had to agree she was right. James could find them a gas station.

  “You call him, I’ve got to keep us going for as far as I can,” Jake said, and handed her the phone. He was finding that a car in neutral going down a fairly steep incline handled very differently than a car in gear with the engine going.

  Shelley took the phone and eagerly explored where she might find James’s number and then pressed Call, again relishing being a part of her peer group.

  “Hey, Jake-o, you dirty dog, what’s happenin’ out on the road? Met any hot babes yet?” James said, not realizing it would not be his best friend on the other end.

  “Um, James?” Shelley asked tentatively.

  “Whoa, who is this? Is this some kind of joke?”

  “No, this is Shelley. Jake’s driving and we need to find a gas station.”

  “Shelley?” James racked his brain to see if he knew any girls named Shelley and then it dawned on him that this had to be the hitchhiker Jake had mentioned. She was obviously still with him in the car and now using his phone! To James that seemed like a very intimate thing. He would never just hand over his phone to a girl, assuming one would even look at him. Although he had to admit that, since Jake had left, Brandon had been unusually kind and even Jessica had asked him once how he was. To James, these were significant moments in his high school career.