Brain Storm (A Taylor Morrison Novel Book 1) (26 page)

Shaking my head in disgust, I pushed away from the car and kicked at a clump of grass. All this inner angst had been for nothing. Things would have been so much easier if I had just looked at the facts and accepted them at face value. I still had questions, but I knew the answers would come. The important thing was that the decision had been made. I knew what had to be done. Now I just had to figure out how to make it work.

I MUST HAVE been communing with the cows longer than I thought because Mac had made it a good piece down the road. I was beginning to think I had either missed him or he’d gotten a lift, when I finally caught sight of him. I laid on the brakes and pulled over in front of him. He walked up to my window and I rolled it down.

“I’m driving,” I informed him and rolled the window back up. When he got in, he was smiling but he didn’t say anything. Smart man. I waited until I heard his seat belt click before I peeled out, laying us both back in our seats.

By the time we were at the Greenville exit, I had come to terms with a lot of things. Driving helped. It gave me back a sense of control and I had needed it. I’d been solidly over the speed limit the whole way, tempting fate and the Texas Highway Patrol, but Mac had stayed quiet. With each passing mile, I felt more in control, more like my old self.
 

My mind began to function again, sorting facts and accessing information. Relief flooded through me as my thoughts cleared and the detective in me surfaced again. I’d harbored the ridiculous fear that my ability to be decisive and think on my feet, had evaporated with the arrival of my newfound abilities. The inner panic I’d felt, had been fuel on the fire, only making matters worse.
 

What an idiot
, I thought, as I pulled into the Chili’s parking lot.
 

“Well, we made great time,” Mac said, checking his watch before undoing his seat belt.
 

I stopped him before he opened the door and got out. I wanted some answers while the questions were still fresh in my mind. He settled back into his seat, and waited for me to talk.

“Mac, I need some answers. I know what I want to do. Just not how to do it.”
 

He just nodded at me to continue. Obviously he wasn’t going to make this any easier.

“I need to be able to control this ability I have before we go any further. The agency you worked for, they trained people like me, right?”

“Yes. If they wanted to be trained.”
 

“Well, I want to be trained. Is there anyone there who you trust? Anyone you know isn’t involved in this mess that can help me?”
 

He studied the back of the building for a few minutes, thinking.
 

“There is one man. He recently retired from the agency, but he was one of the best instructors. I don’t think he’d be involved in this. I can’t guarantee anything, but I think he’s our safest bet.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“No, but I am pretty sure we can find him.”

“Good. Let’s see if we can locate him tonight and head his way in the morning,” I said as I opened my door, and got out. The smell of steak and french fries assailed my nose, immediately replacing the lingering scent of manure. With my lead foot, we were sure to have quite a wait before Jonas and the RV arrived and I had no intention of waiting in the car for them. Mac fell into step beside me as we rounded the building, heading to the front doors. By the time Mac pulled the door open and ushered me inside, I was feeling pretty fine. The prospect of good food, a warm bed and a plan in the works, sure did wonders for a person’s outlook. It was all about attitude and mine was becoming more positive by the second.

We’d made our way through a couple of drinks and most of an onion blossom when Jonas, Trinity and Mama D, came through the doors. Jonas had changed clothes and now bore a much closer resemblance to a RV driving, family man. Trinity was wearing the same clothes as earlier, but Mama D had changed into a velour lounging suit and was in good spirits, especially considering the events of the past few days.
 

“Grams got a good nap in while we were on the road,” Trinity explained, when I commented on how rested Mama D appeared. “Whoever thought of the RV, was a genius.”
 

“That would be Jonas.” Mac pointed across the table to Jonas who was more than happy to accept the genius title and Trinity’s gratitude.
 

All things considered, it was a festive meal. Everyone was feeling relief that the gold was secure and we were all safe. I kept quiet, enjoying the time together. There would be time enough later to lay my plans out on the table and let the chips fall where they may. For tonight, it was time to relax and celebrate our success. Tomorrow it would start again.

TWENTY-FOUR

WHEN WE WERE finished, Mac and I headed over to the Best Western across the street. It was new and more along the lines of a Hilton Hotel than the usual BW’s that dotted the highways. Mac got two rooms. One for me and one for Mama D and Trinity to share. He and Jonas would camp out in the RV with the gold.
 

I slid my key card into the door and watched the little green light go on, indicating the lock had been opened. I slipped inside and immediately flipped on the bathroom light and smiled. My own private bathroom. One I didn’t have to share with anyone. Not that I minded sharing, but the idea of being able to take as long as I wanted in the shower without worrying about the hot water supply was all I could think about. I was still admiring the shower and stack of fluffy towels, when the knock sounded on the door.

“I want to talk to you for a minute, before the guys come up.” My illusion of privacy swirled away in the whirlwind that was Trinity, as she pushed past me into the room. “Look, I know you need some down time, but I’ve wanted to say something to you since this morning and there hasn’t been a good time to do it.”

“Okay.” I resigned myself to a discussion that I knew would last until the guys came up in the 30 minutes we had agreed on. “What’s up?”

“There’s a couple of things. First off, I want to apologize for what happened this morning. It wasn’t about the name.”

“I know that, Trinity. You don’t have to explain.”

“Yes, I do. I saw your face. I know you were angry and you had every right to be. Don’t!” She stopped me before I could get a word out. “ Let me finish.”

She began to pace back and forth at the end of the bed. I felt a warm glow as I moved to take a chair at the computer desk across the room, waiting for her to continue. This wasn’t the nervous pacing that I’d been seeing since we’d been on the run. This was summation pacing. I’d watched her do this in the court room so many times, I could probably tell you how many steps she’d take before turning. Trinity was thinking. Choosing her words just so, to make her point the best way possible. All the passion and drama that was Trinity, but none of the chaos of the last two days. She was back in control. Her body language told me what I needed to know. Now I needed to hear what she wanted to tell me.

“You were angry, but you were mostly scared. Scared, not only by what might have happened when you lost control, but by what you were prepared to do when you came around that corner, riding to my rescue.” She stopped pacing to stand in front of me, hands splayed out on the desk as she leaned in to make her point. “Don’t think that I don’t understand what it cost you to kill those men in order to protect me. Or that I don’t realize you’d do it again in a heartbeat if you needed to.”

She started pacing again, gathering her thoughts. I kept quiet, not wanting to interrupt her train of thought. She was heading somewhere with all this, I just didn’t know where yet.

“I know you feel guilty that this all happened. I know you feel responsible. I know I have been making things more difficult for you while I tried to come to terms with things. I know all this, but there’s a couple of things I want to make sure you know before you make any decisions that effect all our lives.”

Well, she had my full attention now and she knew it. She moved back in front and this time got right down in my face, eye ball level.
 

“I want you to know that Grams and I love you. That we don’t blame you one bit for happened. I want you to know that I’ve come to terms with it and, that you can trust me to keep it together. Most of all, though, Taylor, I want you to know that if you can’t do what you need to because you’re afraid for us, we’ll leave. Right now. Tonight.”

She stabbed the desk in front of me to emphasize her point. I had been afraid I would have to send them away to keep them safe and here was Trinity offering it to me on a silver platter. All I had to do was agree with her and they’d be gone.
 

“What do you want, Trinity?” I asked softly. “It’s your life.”

“What do I want? I want to stay. I think we’re better together, than apart! But not this way. Not with you afraid to move because it might expose us or put us in danger. We can’t hold you back and as long as you feel guilty, you’ll play it safe. You have to do what you’re best at. So you decide. I just wanted you to know, I have your back if you want me.”

She turned and walked out the door, leaving me sitting there with my mouth hanging open. What just happened? Did I just get yelled at for trying to protect her? I think I did. Was she right? The epiphany I’d had with the cows on the roadside not to run meant nothing, if I deceived myself about the reason I was staying. If I could sweep away the feelings of guilt and the gripping need to protect them, what was left?

Twenty minutes later, when Mac knocked on the door, I was still sitting in the same place, but I wasn’t the same person. The transformation wasn’t complete and I wasn’t sure what I would be when it was finished, but the roots were taking hold. I knew what I had to do next, I just wasn’t certain how to go about it. Trinity had just cleared that up for me. I felt a shiver of anticipation run up my spine, as I crossed the room to open the door.

EVERYONE ARRIVED TOGETHER with the exception of Mama D, who had opted to watch some television and turn in.

“She’s over there making herself a cup of tea. I didn’t realize it, but she’s never been in a hotel before,” Trinity told me as she threw the pillows around on the bed. “Here we are on the run, I’m worried sick about her, and she’s having the time of her life.”

Trinity plopped down in the little nest she’d made, Jonas took the sofa and Mac the easy chair, leaving me the desk chair. I rolled it over, not wanting the desk in front of me, separating me from the rest of the group. I might be the leader, but we were a team, at least for now, and I wanted them to feel that way.

“Okay, so tell us what happened inside the bank today? Mama D didn’t know much, other than we got the gold,” Trinity said. “Why was everyone running out like that?”
 

“I think it had something to do with Taylor yelling about a gun, but I couldn’t see what was happening,” Mac explained, “ I was busy getting Mama D out of the bank.”

“Yeah, you were moving pretty fast, when you got to the car. I thought you were going to toss Mama D right out onto the street,” Jonas put in, making us all laugh. “What did happen in there?”
 

Everyone turned to me expectantly and I realized I was actually the only one who knew what had gone down. Things had been moving so fast, we hadn’t had time to discuss it. Once we’d gotten on the road, the bank seemed a distant memory, not something that had just happened. I’d been too distracted with other things in the car to even think about it.

“They had a guy in one of the offices watching the bank,” I explained. “He didn’t seem much of a threat as he was paying much more attention to the short skirt in line than he was to the general comings and goings around him.”

“How’d you make him?” Jonas asked.

“The usual way, I guess,” I said, remembering my anxiety that I might have lost my touch.”I just knew.”

I heard the melody from The Twilight Zone and gave Trinity a look, while Mac chuckled, encouraging her.

“Anyway,” I continued, deciding to ignore her, “he either noticed something and alerted them, or they had the box flagged, because a second guy came into the bank. They didn’t talk, but I caught the nod between them, and then the new guy came over and sat down next to me, watching the vault door. When Mac and Mama D came out, he started to go for them and I tripped him up. I saw the gun when he was moving and decided it would make a good diversion and give Mac some cover to move. You know. Bank. Gun. Lots of running and screaming. Seemed like a plan.”

“What about the guy in the office?” Mac asked me. “Did he have a gun too?

“Uh, yeah,” I answered evasively. “He sort of ran into the door.”
 

They all just looked at me for minute. The mood had sobered as I told them what all had gone on. Jonas and Trinity had been outside and had no idea any of this had happened. Mac may have been on the inside, but he’d been in the vault until the last minute. This was the first they’d heard that it’d had been a near thing.
 

“You think they know she was there?” Jonas asked Mac.
 

“Depends.” They both looked over at me.
 

“How hard did he ‘run’ into the door?” Mac asked me.

“Pretty hard,” I answered back. “And I’m pretty sure the other guy has some broken ribs.”