Equilibrium (14 page)

S
he had only met Inez a few times before, but Olivia had immediately bonded with her. She looked fondly over to Inez now, standing at the doorway to Kellan’s hospital room. Olivia rushed over and threw her arms around her, hugging her close. She instantly felt comforted, just like she had the last time she had met this wonderful lady.

“How are you holding up, Olivia?” Inez asked her, feeling the tension exuding from Olivia’s body.

“Not very well. Not good at all. I feel like I’m going to fall apart and it’s taking everything I’ve got to keep myself from turning into a mess. I keep trying to focus on remembering anything that will help find the kids.” Then she stopped. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything about the kids, the FBI agent had asked them not to. Inez did seem to know something was up. So why lie?

“I gather Kellan has been found. Can we go in and see him?” Inez asked.

“Sure,” said Olivia, opening the door and letting Inez pass through first. She followed closely behind with Rupert.

“Inez!” Larry exclaimed, still holding on to Kellan’s hand. “What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise.

“I knew the children were missing, so I came to lend my support and assistance,” Inez offered quietly. “Are the others still missing?”

“Yes,” Larry said carefully, looking over at Olivia and Rupert. Although both Rupert and he were aware of the Wanderers, neither Olivia nor Kellan knew of their existence. This was probably not the time nor place for a quick lesson into the dynamics of inter-dimensional wandering beings. “How did you know they were missing?”

“Erica told me. We keep in touch,” Inez mumbled, aware of Olivia carefully listening to every word. “Larry, I need to talk to you privately. May I do so? Would it be possible for you to leave Kellan with Olivia and Rupert, just for a little while?”

Larry looked over to Olivia who nodded, slightly reluctantly. She was curious to hear what Inez wanted to talk about. However, she walked over to Kellan’s bedside and Larry put Kellan’s hand in hers, very gently, so as not to wake him up. He needed to rest. The earlier questions from the agent had exhausted him. He looked down at his son, gently kissing his forehead before he left the room with Inez.

“Rup, what do you think is going on?” Olivia asked her husband.

“With Inez?”

“Yes. She asked if she could be of assistance. How? Isn’t she a school teacher or something?”

Rupert looked over at his beautiful, worried wife. For the longest time, he had wanted to share with Olivia the existence of the Wanderers. It would have helped to explain to Olivia the one mystery that she hadn’t been able to crack in all these years–
come find me two years ago
. But, he didn’t have permission to do so. So, much as he wanted to, he just couldn’t. That was Inez’s call to make. “Yes, she works at the library as far as I know. I guess we’ll find out soon enough what she meant. I doubt Larry will be away from Kellan too long. So be patient, honey.”

Olivia nodded and looked down at Kellan’s hand. He was wearing a ring, which was very unlike him. She wondered if Arizona had given it to him. His hands still bore the marks from where Arizona had dug her nails into his skin, holding on to him for comfort, after Simla had assaulted her. His strong hands lay so limp in hers now as he peacefully slept. She loved Kellan, like her own. Her own son, Harry, regarded him as a brother. Arizona had thought of him as a brother, too, until the strange events had started a couple of weeks ago. That’s when it all changed, even the relationship between Kellan and Arizona. That had been a nice change and their new closeness seemed to be based on genuine caring.

“He looks so peaceful,” Rupert whispered. “As if he’s not been through this terrible trauma.”

Olivia nodded. “Rup, I’m so scared, so scared for the kids. I’m too afraid to think.”

Rupert took her free hand and squeezed it. “Me too.”

~

“Larry, let’s head outside and talk in my car,” Inez said gently, as she took Larry by the hand and led him toward the elevator. “I know you want to get back to Kellan, so I won’t keep you long.”

Larry nodded and willingly followed Inez. It must be important. If Inez was here, it was probably because Kevin had sent her. That meant that this probably pertained to the portal, which wasn’t his concern for the moment, but it was best to listen to what Inez had to say. She would not have pulled him away from Kellan’s bedside for nothing.

Once they were cocooned in the safety of Inez’s car, she took a deep breath and turned to Larry.

“Larry, I’ve had a message from Kevin.”

“I guessed that,” Larry replied. “Does this have to do with the portal?”

“Sort of,” Inez continued. “Arizona called Ames from New Jersey. Luckily the message went through to Kevin, who contacted her.”

“Arizona! You’re kidding? Really? This is too good to be true. We’ve got to tell Ollie,” Larry exclaimed euphorically.

“No, wait!” Inez said firmly. “Think about it, Larry. Arizona spoke to
Kevin
,” emphasized Inez.

Larry was sleep-deprived and not on the ball. How had he missed that?
Arizona spoke to Kevin
. That could only mean one thing.

“Larry, Arizona woke up in her bed in Princeton. She’s fully aware of what she’s been through in the last few weeks. She’s scared, but she’s physically unharmed. She was with Kellan when they were taken. Kevin’s on his way to Princeton to talk to her.” Inez hesitated before she added, “We’ve sent David over to check on her as well.”

“David?” Larry inquired surprised.

“Yes. He is ready to wander on his own, so he took off to check on Arizona. I’m expecting him back with a report any moment.”

“Inez, are Ella and Harry with Arizona?”

“I have no idea, Larry.”

“We’ve got to tell Ollie and Rup. Possibly Kellan as well,” Larry said looking at Inez’s expression change.

She nodded. “You’re right. I won’t be able to, without exposing myself to them. Do you think Ollie and Kellan will be receptive?”

“I don’t know, Inez. We have to explain it in a way that forces them to be.”

~

As Rupert had predicted, Larry and Inez were back in Kellan’s room with them very promptly. Kellan had awakened and was sitting up in bed looking much more alert than before. He was feeling stronger now and was getting impatient sitting in bed. He needed to be up and looking for Arizona. He looked up at his father inquiringly.

“Kell, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good. Can you get me discharged? I need to look for Arizona.”

“Are you feeling up to listening to me for a moment?”

“Yes, of course.” Kellan replied. “But I really have to get out of here.”

“We’ll get to that in a moment. But first, I need all of you to just listen. Okay?”

Olivia nodded, wondering what on earth was going on.

“You already know Inez, David’s mother.”

Kellan started to interrupt, but Larry put his hand on his son’s shoulder, urging him to just listen. “Kell, I haven’t got a lot of time to relay this
information to all of you. So please just listen. I’ll answer all your questions later. Okay?”

Kellan nodded and Larry continued. “Like I said, Inez is David Skoog’s mother. She is also Kevin Sanderson’s ex-wife. Ollie, you know about Kevin, but I’ll briefly explain him to Kellan.” Larry glanced over at Olivia for confirmation and then continued. “You know about the portal, Kellan. Olivia manages this end of the portal and Kevin manages the other end. Kevin was carefully selected for the job and I trust him completely. Kevin and Inez used to be married when I first knew them and they have two children, David and Lena.”

“Did you bring Inez and David through the portal?” Olivia couldn’t but help interrupt, wondering how many others had been brought through without her knowledge. Not that Larry needed her permission or anything, but she was curious.

“Ollie, I’ll get to that later,” Larry said firmly, and then continued. “Inez received a message from Kevin. He’s had contact with Arizona.”

Olivia, Rupert and Kellan simultaneously exploded into a muddle of questions. There was no stopping them. Larry waited for them to quiet down and then concluded. “Arizona is back in Princeton at Dillard’s.”

Olivia felt as though she was going to implode, but she clenched down on her jaw, willing it not to open so that Larry would go on.

Larry could feel the tension in the room as he continued. “She’s okay, unharmed physically. She’s aware of all that has happened to her in the last few weeks. I don’t know what that means exactly. She’s very confused and scared, mainly for Kellan. She contacted Ames to get some information and the call was diverted to Kevin. Kevin is on his way to see her.” Larry hesitated. Should he tell them that David was on his way over as well? Or, would that just complicate matters? He decided to wait. “Right, I’ll answer any questions I can.”

Kellan jumped in first. “Was she taken through the portal? By whom?”

That had been Olivia and Rupert’s first question as well. They looked at Larry for an answer.

“I don’t know. Kevin doesn’t know. Immediately after he spoke with Arizona on the phone, he took off to see her. He didn’t wait to check the portal before he left. We know that someone has been messing with it, so we do need to head over to Ames to look into this.”

“Can you send me through, so I can go find her?” Kellan asked hopefully.

“I don’t know, Kellan. We need to investigate it first.”

Olivia looked over at Inez. She or Kevin must have been through the portal, how else would she have communicated with him? “Inez, how was Kevin able to get the message to you? Did you guys use the portal?”

This was it
. Rupert knew the answer, of course. He wondered if Inez would share with Olivia now, especially with Kellan here as well.

“Olivia, no. We didn’t use the portal,” Inez said. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had to explain this to Olivia now. It was a pity that Kellan would hear as well, but it had to be done. She couldn’t lie. “You know how most people don’t believe that time travel is possible? It takes a receptive mind to understand the wondrous possibilities around us.”

Olivia nodded, mystified. Kellan was wondering if Inez had her own little portal.

Inez smiled and said, “I am able to time travel, to cross dimensions, as well.”

“You built your own portal,” Kellan said triumphantly. “I can use yours!”

“Kellan, no. I don’t have a portal. Not one like Olivia’s anyway. I am able to time travel, but it’s an ability within myself.”

“What do you mean?” Olivia asked mesmerized.

“I have the ability to bend in and out of time zones and dimensions.”

“Wow,” was all Olivia and Kellan could manage.

“So, you’re some kind of supernatural being?” Olivia asked incredulously. It was one thing believing in scientifically-possible concepts like time travel, but this sounded like mumbo jumbo.

Kellan did his best to try not to laugh. His face hurt too much, but this lady was obviously not all here, to say the least.

Rupert and Larry could see the utter disbelief on the faces of Olivia and Kellan. Larry decided to speak up. “Inez is a
Wanderer
,” he said looking over at Inez, who nodded at him thankfully. “That means that Inez can transport herself through different times and dimensions at will.
I know it’s hard to take in, but just take my word for it, for now. You both trust
me
, right?”

“What about you, Rup? You’ve been pretty quiet. You’re not buying this, are you?” Olivia said, looking at him and shrugging.

“Ollie, Inez
is
a Wanderer. I’ve known for some time. I wanted to tell you, but it was not my decision to make. It had to come from Inez. Let’s just listen to what she has to say.”

Rupert
knew
? How? Why? Rupert and she needed to
talk
. Olivia swallowed her questions to be able to listen to Inez.

“I know this is very hard to accept, especially in the little time we have at the moment,” Inez said kindly, not taking offence in their disbelief. After all, it was a testimony to the great job she and the others had done to preserve their privacy.

“So, you transported yourself to Kevin, on a whim? Or was it a regular meeting?” Olivia asked, still incredulous, but on autopilot. Her investigative nature took over and she had questions that needed answers.

“We are very close. I could
feel
his need for me, so I went to see him. He was rushing to fly over and see Arizona, so I didn’t get much information out of him other than just what I have already shared.”

“Why didn’t you go with him?” Rupert asked.

“I felt it would be more helpful if I came back to let you know what was going on. Besides I’m expecting more news soon.”

“Is Kevin a Wanderer as well?” Olivia queried.

“No. However, our son David is. I’ve sent him over to check on Arizona. He’ll get to her a lot quicker than Kevin will.”

Kellan felt a pit in his stomach. David was with Arizona. He felt sick.

“Kellan, are you okay?” Olivia asked, noticing his sudden pallor.

“I am. Don’t worry. Just need a drink,” Kellan reassured them. He didn’t want to be drugged and forced to sleep again. He needed to get out of here, even more so now.

“So you can transport yourself geographically as well?” Olivia asked, wondering why her mouth was asking these nonsensical questions.

“No, Olivia. We’re unable to do that. David would have transported himself through to the same geographical point he was at here. Then, he would take a flight to New Jersey,” Inez explained. “He’ll get there quicker than Kevin simply because he is able to transport himself there earlier, time wise, and take an earlier flight.”

This was blowing Olivia’s mind. She was having a hard time taking it all in. For now, what was important was that Arizona was safe, sort of–and that help was on its way to her. She wondered what Dillard made of all this. He could pose a real problem.

“Inez, I’m guessing, since you didn’t mention it, that Ella and Harry are not with Arizona?” she asked, hoping to be wrong.