Mayday (13 page)

THE THOUGHTS OF C. RAINE

An alliance with a powerful person is never safe.

Phaedrus

I QUIETLY OPENED THE DOOR INTO ROOM 56. ISS.
Every attempt had been made to turn this place into a maximum-security prison. Windows? Cinder block sealed and, like the office, painted powder blue, the color designed to perpetuate mental instability.

Flies buzzed the fluorescent lights, and the stale smell of vomit permeated the place.

Seven carrels graced the perimeter of the room, all facing out, positioned to prevent any view of humanity. In the center of the room, two desks fronted two paras who stared blankly into the abyss. They were victims of the room as well. The carpet was brown, stained with large spots of unknown fluid.

My former-life stays in ISS depressed me enough that even I retreated when a threat was given. Today, only Will was in prison, and when I opened the door, he was whistling.

Happy sounds were not allowed in ISS.

A para pounded her desk. “Will, shut the mouth now, or we can help with the process.”

Was that a threat? Sure. But within the walls of Room 56, different laws applied. It was similar to speeding on the Indian reservation. Get pulled over and you never knew what to expect.

Large Marge, as we called her, rose to her feet. She was nearly as wide as she was tall, and when she stood, her considerable girth knocked books and papers clean off her desk. This time the entire desk lifted and fell with a thump. “I said, ‘Stop whistling'!”

“I can't, Large Marge. I'm in a good mood.” Will did not turn. “I've got me a date. Ever had one of those? I can explain how they work, if you like.” He cranked his head around and saw me in the doorway. “The Prophet. Come on in. I think we have some empty chairs.”

“How's the prisoner?” I winked at Marge, and she blushed and flattened her hair.

“He's unusually happy today. You must be Shane.”

“Mr. Shane, the Prophet.” Will started whistling again. I walked over to the carrel on his left and pulled its chair next to his.

He rocked back and forth. “Mm-mm. Smell that stagnant air? This is what I get to experience. Probably much different than your education.”

“You'd be surprised.” I grabbed the front leg of his chair and shoved it back down to earth. Behind me, women sighed with delight at the show of strength. “Sounds like you got a date.”

He nodded big, and a crease of pleasure worked across his face. Yeah, there was something magnetic about him. Will and Basil, they both had it. Poor Thomas.

“Now,” I continued, “you can't leave the grounds for dates. Mr. L was pretty clear on this point.”

“You're right, Wise One.” He pointed to his temple, created two upturned okay signs with his hands, and hummed. “So I will go on a date in my mind.”

“A mental date.”

“A mental date,” he repeated. “Yeah, that's all I'm allowed, but as you see, I've learned to be satisfied with little things.”

“And following your mental date,” I bent over and whispered, “might you just call 555-0177?”

His hands opened. He peeked at me and licked his lips.

“And after you ‘borrow' a car, you might drive, lights off, to 7934 Sycamore Circle, yes? Four raps on the back window. And then it's a crapshoot. Who is going to open the shade? It could be Adele. Ah, the joy if that happens, because your mental date turns into reality.” I leaned in even closer. “Or it might be Crow, in which case your date will take a painful turn.”

Will jumped to his feet, tripped on his chair, and staggered back against a wall. “I don't know who you are, but—”

“No, you don't. But you'll be canceling that date, or when you open the shade, it'll be me you'll see.” I approached him and lowered my voice. “And I know where Jude keeps the gun. Are we clear?” I gestured toward his fallen chair. He eased over, picked it up, and plunked down in it.

“We're clear,” he whispered.

I turned to Large Marge. “I don't think you'll have any more whistling issues.” I closed the door on Will's curse, and exhaled hard.

My threats held no bite, all my words just so much hot air. The truth was that pacifist Jude owned no gun, and I surely wouldn't be able to intercept every date. I needed a more permanent solution. Basil wasn't the answer, but I sure needed help.

I needed Crow.

• • •

I spent the rest of the day in the photographic darkroom, my favorite room in which to cut class. The digital revolution pushed the room into disuse. It sat—small, abandoned, forgotten—near the art room, deep in the bowels of the school.

Pitch-black. Unused. A perfect place to steal a nap.

I never told my disciples about the hiding place. I never told Mel. Only Basil was privy to my hideaways, and he'd peek into the darkroom from time to time.

It was there I first felt it strong. Sitting by Basil in the dark, my head on his shoulder. The switch happened. He must have felt it, too, though now I see how much earlier his mind had navigated the forbidden. We kissed. And I pulled away and elbowed him in the gut. Yes, to hurt him, but more to remind myself of the danger.

But the worst part of the deal was that throughout and beyond the kiss, I never gave his girlfriend Mel a thought. Of course, if the roles had been reversed, Mel would have rejoiced in victory.

Sitting in the darkroom as Shane, unaware of Crow's thoughts and plans, frustrated me to no end. What were the odds that she'd show up on this day? By the end of seventh hour, I'd given up. I stood and stretched and exited the room. I let my eyes adjust and marched slowly back toward the guidance office. The last bell rang. Halls filled and then emptied, but I made no move for the buses. My first day at work reminded me of Will's strength, and threatening him into submission would work for only so long.

Inside my cubicle, I shuffled some schedules, stared around the empty room, and wandered to the door. I flicked off the light and stepped into the hall.

“You're not the first Shane Owen I've known.”

The guidance door latched behind me with a loud click. Across the hall, Crow leaned back, fingers wriggling into her pockets. Her eyes rested heavily on me, and my palms sweated.

“It's a common name around here?” I asked.

“No.”

The school had cleared out, except for a few straggling teachers. The roar of a distant bus fell silent, and Central felt empty, as did I.

“Shane Owen showed up during middle school, popped into my old tree house. In a few weeks she became my best friend, my soul mate. She stayed right up until my worst day, and then she vanished, as though she'd never been here at all. A storm took her.” Crow paused. “She knew stuff; she just knew stuff.”

This wasn't typical Crow. Not at all. I never offered my past to a stranger. But that was the difference—I was no stranger. She was speaking to her own soul, and her defenses dropped.

So did mine.

“A storm took her.” I shifted my weight on weakening legs and forced a grin. “It just blew her out to sea, I'll bet.”

“Yeah,” Crow squinted. “On a raft.”

“A bouncy raft,” I said, and gave my head a shake. “That's quite a story. Anyone ever find her?” I backed against the opposite wall, buried my hands in my pockets, and fingered the locket. She would freak.

“I don't know. Do you?”

“How would I know about a girl you met years ago?”

She shrugged and swept back her hair.

Wow, was I gorgeous.

Crow rubbed the scar on her forearm. “How does anybody know anything?”

We gazed at each other for a minute or more. A thinking gaze. A figuring gaze. “I need to get back.” I cleared my throat. “Missed the bus, and it'll be a long walk.”

“Where do you live, Shane?”

“Hope Home. I took a job there.”

Her lips curled, and she spoke so quietly I barely heard. “Will lives with you.”

“Adele lives with you.”

Crow stiffened. “What do you care about Addy?”

There probably was a better way to do this, but I couldn't think of it. “Listen, I'm in the middle of a predicament, and I need to know about Will and Adele. It's part of my job. How close are they? I mean, how far gone is she?”

Crow rocked, looked off into the distance, and her face hardened. “She says she loves him.”

I breathed heavily. “Crow, due to my peculiar position, one that I am not at liberty to discuss right now, I have a vested interest in seeing that they
not
end up as a couple. How do you feel about that?”

“Keep talking.”

“As I recall, you also share that sentiment.”

“As you recall? Who have you been talking to—”

I waved her off. “I'll have better luck destroying this relationship if I can get your assistance. Any interest?”

Crow thought for a while. “You won't touch her. You never will. So if this is an attempt to open the door for yourself, I have nothing to say to you except, Watch your back.”

“No!” I exhaled. “No, I don't want anything from her.”

Crow was silent, trying, it seemed, to figure out why she felt so comfortable with me. She peeked up. “He's all wrong for her.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, he is.”

“But I told her I wouldn't interfere. I've done that too many times already.”

The list of guys I deemed not good enough had been extensive, and my protective streak ran deep and fierce. Addy had sucked from me a promise to stay out of her love life. I reluctantly agreed.

Crow would never go back on Adele.

“Yeah, I know I— you did.” I straightened and took a few steps toward her. “So I won't ask you to do anything. Just help me. I'll take it on. I'll do it, work on it from Will's end. All I need is a complete history of what's happened between them so far. Anything you know about him. I need his story.”

“You want me to write it down?” Crow slowly pushed off the wall and approached. She circled me, stopping directly in front. “Yeah, I'll do that.”

“Okay, well then, I need to be going.” I grabbed her by the arm and looked into her eyes. Confused eyes. “Crow, you're beautiful.”

“I know.” Her face hardened. “So are you.”

I grinned. She didn't.

“Crow! Where the he—” Basil huffed up the hall and skidded to a halt beside her. My hand was still on her arm, and Basil reached out and pried loose my fingers. “I'm surprised you still have all your digits. . . . I know you.”

“Hey, Shane!” Thomas ran up from the other direction. “You missed the bus.”

The four of us stood, gawking at one another. Basil's lips slowly parted. “You're the jerk who watched my sled get tagged.”

“You're the pizza sign who got thrashed by an eggplant.” I turned to Thomas, rounded his shoulder with one arm, and pulled him nearer. “Crow, Basil, this is Thomas; his parents run Hope Home, so he's my boss.”

Thomas raised his hands. “I'm not really his boss—”

“How do you know my name?” Basil frowned, his eyes slits. “Crow, did you tell him?”

She rolled her eyes. “Let it go, Basil. There's something unnatural going on. You push him, and I don't think it'll be pretty.” Crow turned back toward me, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

“I think he needs to be pushed,” Basil said.

I stepped toward him. “How's Dove? Bet she's looking forward to her gardens come spring. And your dad? I saw him and another officer when I first got to town.”

Basil glanced at Crow. “Did you tell—”

“Told ya.” Crow's face held panic, and she backed away. “I'd like you to meet Shane Owen.”

Thomas swallowed hard. “I'm more the son of his boss, but still. So Crow, I've uh, I've been meaning to ask—”

“Shane Owen. Shane Owen, I know that name . . . crap.” Basil winced. “You ain't her, though.”

Crow backhanded Basil hard. “But you wish he was.” She turned and stomped away. Basil scurried after her, paused to glance at me over his shoulder, and then rounded the corner.

Thomas and I stood in silence.

“Hi Crow, how nice to meet you. Me? Oh, I wanted to see if you'd like to grab a coffee. I'm headed that way. My name? Thomas Loumans. But I realize it's hard to care about that with
Shane
around.” He shoved me. “Maybe just stop introducing me. I felt less invisible when you weren't here.”

THE THOUGHTS OF C. RAINE

Pity is for the living, envy is for the dead.

Mark Twain

I WALKED DOWN THE SNOWY ROAD, THOMAS SILENT AT MY SIDE.
It's true I hadn't done much for his cause, which might, in retrospect, have been a tremendous miscalculation. There is a fantastic, stabilizing effect when a level-headed guy likes you. It's like taking a seasickness pill. The waves don't seem so big, and though you still get sick, it seems to get cleaned up quicker.

I would have liked to tell Thomas my story. I think he might have believed it, or half believed it. I could sure accompany it with much convincing proof. But my tasks were complicated, and I remained silent, listening to the crunch of my feet and the rumble of traffic.

And one oncoming snowmobile.

Basil roared up to us and swished me with snow. He lifted his visor and massaged the pressure mark. “Get on!”

Thomas started toward the sled.

“Not you!” Basil pointed. “You.” He scooted forward, and I peeked at Thomas, raised my eyebrows.

“Oh, go ahead.” Thomas swept snow off his jeans. “Forget that I waited for you.”

I tongued my cheek and turned to Basil. “You're driving me home?”

“Nope. Get on.”

“One short ride.”

A half hour later we reached Basil's corner of Hennepin, and Basil eased to the snow mound that hid the curb.

We walked by Basil's apartment toward Lake Calhoun. We rounded the lake, enjoying an extremely awkward half hour of silence, and veered onto Lake Harriet Parkway. Basil headed for the band shell. There, on the stage, he plunked down. “Sit.”

He looked to be sinking into another quiet phase, but I'd had enough.

“I don't mean to mess with this little drama, but I actually work, and I need to get back, so tell me—”

“Do you know what happened here ten years ago? I was eight?”

“You met Crow for the first time. She was sitting right there.” I pointed to the back bench. “You were across the aisle there. She was cute, but you were only eight. You waved, and she didn't, and something beautiful started.

“But then a few years later, Shane showed up, and it turned out there was a lot less to you than Crow thought. Anything else you want to say?”

Basil jumped up. “So that's what she told you, huh? Even now, my mom lets her stay at her place 'cause at home, Crow has nothing! She's a head case. A freakin' hot head case, but she's
my
head case, you got that? Crow is mine.”

Paying for lunch had morphed into full-blown ownership. Frightening. Basil was sweet and kind and giving. He was also the friend from Hades. Interestingly, the two can coexist.

“I see. So what about Mel? Crow mentioned you spend quite a bit of time together. Mel's all fine with this pimping side?”

Basil's mouth hung open. I'm sure his goal had been to bring me onto his home turf and lay down the law. Nothing went the way he planned. Typical Basil.

“Mel knows what she needs to know,” he said quietly.

I stood. “Isn't she your girlfriend?”

“She's what I want her to be.”

Inside my chest floated a steamy anger, like someone had popped the top of a pressure valve.

“I'm taking Crow from you.” I shoved Basil back onto the stage and walked away. “You never had her. You never will.”

“I'll prove it! When I'm done, you'll see,” he shouted. It was no idle threat. He would try to prove it. I knew where, and I knew when. For the first time I felt worry—not for Addy, but for Crow.

For me.

I broke into a slow jog—I had a ways to go. “Protect Addy from Will. Protect Crow from Basil.” My steps fell to the rhythm of the mantra.

Preventing Mayday was becoming more and more challenging.

• • •

Three hours later, I stood in front of Mom's place, Basil's words ringing in my head.

“Crow!” I pounded on her window. “You in there?”

The curtain shifted, and her voice reached into the night. “In front.”

I marched onto the driveway and waited beneath the streetlamp's glow. The front door swung open. Crow stepped into the chill, wearing only an oversize black T-shirt. I exhaled and tried to look away, but I couldn't. She motioned me nearer, and I obeyed.

“You stalking me now?” She took a step closer. “That's not nearly as appealing as the mysterious vibe you were working.”

“I know.” I bent over and packed a tight snowball, let it fall to the ground. “I want to talk.”

“Not inside,” she said.

“You said you had a tree house?”

She thought hard. “Yeah. Okay.” The door closed, and when Crow reappeared, she was wrapped in a blanket, her bare legs stuffed into winter boots. Stinking adorable.

I trudged through the snow and climbed the steps, squeezed through the hole. I barely fit. Crow followed, reached the top, and shivered. She scooted near me, and my body tingled. We were in frightening territory.

I turned and faced her. “There's stuff I want to tell you.”

She reached behind a stack of books, grabbed a cigarette, lit it, took a drag, and offered it to me.

I never had cigarettes up here before. More changes to Crow's life.

I stared at Crow's outstretched hand
. Does this Shane smoke?

Four big hacks.

Nope.

I handed it back.

“Do you believe in reincarnation, Shane?”

I chuckled. “I used to. I read a lot of Hindu writs, and they almost had me convinced, but my experience says otherwise.”

“One fifth of the world does,” Crow said. “And if they're wrong, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

For once, I was in no mood to talk philosophy. “We need to talk about Basil. The guy is slimy. I just spoke with him.”

“Basil is a lot of things.” Crow picked at the floorboards. “He's a hard-luck case.”

“No. He knows exactly what he's doing.”

“And what is he doing?”

“He'll expect a gift this Christmas. Something you don't want to give him. You know it; I know you do. I remember thinking, feeling it when Basil and I were together. Do you know what I mean?”

Crow tossed the cigarette and ground the butt into the floor. “What the hell? When Basil and you were together?” She paused. “There is not one explanation in any of these books that explains your possessing the facts you do. Please, is there something I need to know?”

“Yeah,” I swallowed. “But I can't go there right now. I need you to focus. I'm worried. For you.”

Crow rubbed her arms. “You've just joined a very small club. Listen, Basil's doing fine. He has Mel. Good for them both.”

“But as far as he's concerned, you're the challenge, the one always there but just out of reach,” I said. “I'm telling you so you're ready. So when the time comes, you're alert, and your head's on straight.”

“Caution noted. I consider myself warned.” Crow peeked into my eyes. “And what do you want from me?” She raised her black fingernails to her mouth.

“Don't tell her, child.”

Sadie sat, cross-legged, knitting needles in hand. She touched my neck. “I go to all this work makin' you a scarf, and you don't even wear it.”

I point at Sadie. Crow doesn't turn. “I'm waiting. You tell me all about Basil, but you can't say anything about yourself? What's with that?”

“Shane, she can't see me. And I'm only interrupting as you be messin' with the system again. Too much information goin' out to too many people. The future is changing because of you, and not in ways you want it to. People are making decisions based on info they should not yet have.”

“Where are you, Shane?” Crow waved her hand in front of my face. I forced a smile in her direction and turned back to Sadie.

“So listen,” Sadie said. “This is not a request. Consider it commanded. No more prophesying. No more of that. Tellin' folks what they done in private and warning them of what's to come. Your own future is hanging close as is. The locket, take a look.”

I'd forgotten about the colors. I forced my fingers into my pocket and pulled out the chain. I slowly opened the clasp. Yellow had turned to brilliant orange. Red was coming. I'd dreamed red enough to know. Red meant death.

Time was running out.

Crow pushed back. “Where did you get that? What's going on?”

I glanced from Crow to Sadie to Crow to nobody. I pocketed my locket. “Nothing. I need to go.”

“Listen.” Crow sounded near desperate. I'd never heard the tone. “Would you ever consider coming with me to Christmas? I can't bear it here without somebody. Normally, Addy and I stagger through the holiday together, but this year she'll be occupied.”

I thought on that, watched fear ripple across Crow's face. She leaned forward and let the blanket fall, slipped into my arms, and pulled them tight around her. My body tingled, warmed, hardened.

Crow shifted inside my hold; the unbreakable Crow felt soft, open, and she pressed her nose into my neck. I knew if her lips reached mine, something both sensual and really strange wouldn't be far behind. We were already one, soul mates in the truest sense. Like half of a magnet, my soul was drawn, desperate to enter the body it had inhabited. But more than my soul. This body, this Shane, burned with an aggression I'd never felt. I wanted Crow, all of her.

I forced my body back, gently held her face, and kissed her . . . on the forehead, and on both cheeks.

“Yes, Crow. I want to be where you are.” I reached for the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, paused, and watched her open her eyes.

“I've never met anybody like you,” she whispered.

“Yeah, you have.”

Crow thought for a moment. “Good. Well, good.” She rubbed her face and reached for another cigarette. “Adele is bringing someone, too.”

I froze. Addy hadn't brought anyone the last time through.

“Then I'll definitely be here.”