Equilibrium (31 page)

Inez shook her head. “No, her thoughts seem closed to us.”

“I don’t understand,” Olivia said. “Read?”

“Wanderers can often read each other during physical contact. We normally use our thumbs,” Inez replied.

Olivia bit down on her lips, feeling her teeth pierce her lips until she could taste the blood. She needed to keep herself from talking and inadvertently saying something rude. Thumbs? She could feel Rupert squeezing her hands tightly, trying to keep her from saying anything. She had to just shut up and not ask any more questions.

Rupert thankfully spoke up. “Well, we can’t bring Raj back, can we? He’s too dangerous. Question is, is he as dangerous even there? Will he be able to access the portal eventually and create havoc?”

“Simla said that we would be very sorry if we didn’t bring him back. Whatever could she have meant?” Morgana mused. “What could she
do
? Or what could
he
do?”

“Apart from going to the feds and telling them about the portal, what could she do?” Larry said. “And if she does that, it’s likely that the feds will take control of the portal, which is not something that would be in Raj’s benefit. So, I don’t think she would do that.”

“Maybe she’s planning to reveal us,” Constance suggested.

Larry shook his head. “I’m sure she’s smart enough to know that they won’t believe her. Sheesh, even Ollie doesn’t believe,” he said.

Olivia steadfastly kept to her resolve not to utter another word. She looked down at her hand hoping that her thumb wouldn’t inadvertently migrate toward Rupert’s. What a thought!

“You know, it’s probably just a teenage fit,” Constance said. “Of course she wants her dad back; it’s only natural. I bet she’s just throwing empty threats at us. We’ll have Grayson keep an eye on things.”

Inez nodded, not entirely convinced. However, there wasn’t much they could do. They certainly were not bringing Raj back. Even Erica wouldn’t want that. Grayson would have to keep an eye on the situation.

It was almost two in the morning; Olivia looked over to Rupert and whispered, “Hon, we should go.”

He nodded and pulled her up. They said their goodbyes and left.

“Wow, that was some evening,” Olivia said, before she put her helmet on and climbed onto Rupert’s bike.

He kissed her. “Let’s make the next date night a movie night, just the two of us,” he smiled.

~

Morena watched Olivia ride off with Rupert. “They’ve got to be the most perfect couple I’ve ever met,” she whispered.

“Yes,” Morgana agreed and hugged her sister close. “I’m going to miss you, you know.”

I know, big sis,” she replied, kissing Morgana gently on her cheek. “I think it’s time.”

“Ready, Kevin?” Morena asked gently, as she extended her hand.

“Yes. Morgana. Thank you for your hospitality. Thank you all. Inez, I’ll see you soon. Tell David that I’ll see him as soon as I’m sure it is safe. Kiss him for me.”

Inez nodded and they all waved as Morena faded along with Kevin.

K
evin felt the familiar pushing sensation when he closed his eyes to be transported. He felt the comfortable warmth of pure peace. He arrived in Morena’s hallway feeling slightly elated. The feeling faded quickly when Morena let go of his hand. It was replaced by a feeling of desolation and fear. He trembled.

“Kevin? Are you okay?” Morena asked with concern.

“I just have a very bad feeling,” he replied. “Almost like a sense of doom. I don’t know why.”

“Well, you are safe here and you can stay with me for as long as you want,” Morena comforted. “Raj Sen knows nothing about me. There’s no way he could.”

Kevin looked around. The house was quiet and he was fairly certain that they were alone. He couldn’t hide out here forever, but he was safe for now.

“Let’s get you some hot chocolate and then you should get some rest. I’m heading to work tomorrow. What are you planning to do?” Morena asked. “It’s Friday, you could call in sick and then you’ll have the weekend to work things out.”

Kevin nodded. He was too tired to think. Sleep was what he needed the most of now. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the lavender-scented pillow in Morena’s guest bedroom.

He woke ten hours later, after a dreamless sleep. It was already one in the afternoon. Kevin was alone in the house. He sauntered down to the kitchen to make some coffee, and found a note from Morena by a basket of fresh bagels. It was brief, just asking him to help himself to anything he wanted and that she’d be back around seven. She’d scribbled down the pass code to her computer and left it on the kitchen counter for him. He made himself a strong cup of coffee and opened the refrigerator to find some cream. He smiled at the selection of coffee creamers that Morena had stocked–hazelnut, caramel macchiato, French vanilla. He stopped at the French vanilla and added a splash to his coffee before turning on the computer. He logged into the Ames system to check his email first. There were over three hundred unread messages. Kevin’s eyes skimmed down the list and stopped suddenly. He looked at the sender again–Raj Sen. He clicked at it with trepidation.

I am at your house and I am watching Ames. I need to talk to you, contact me
.

Well, that was short and to the point. He would ignore it for now. Although Raj would possibly be able to figure out that he had opened it, he hoped that Morena’s computer was untraceable. He considered calling her, but resisted. Even though the computer was most probably untraceable, he couldn’t say the same for the phone. Best to be safe.

Kevin looked out the window. It was a beautiful day and he longed to go outside, but his fear wouldn’t allow him to. What exactly was he fearful of? What, if anything, would Raj Sen do now that the children were gone–gone to a different dimension? Of course Raj didn’t know that yet. For all he knew, Kevin was still hiding the children, his leverage, somewhere. That would make Raj desperate. Perhaps he should just email Raj and let him know that the children had been transported back. Maybe the futility of the situation would force Raj to abandon his scheme.

Kevin started tapping the note on the computer, but hesitated over the send button. He should discuss this with Morena first; not do anything hasty. He saved the draft and clicked through his other messages. Most of them were from his boss asking him to contact her. He had missed a presentation yesterday and his monthly report hadn’t been submitted. Donna, his boss, left him to get on with his projects on his own. She was easy to work for, but liked to get her reports on time. A sick feeling came over Kevin as he read the last email from her.

Kevin, I popped around to your house to get your report. I am waiting with Raj Sen. Please contact me asap. Donna

Kevin felt like he was going to be sick. Now what? He could hardly call the police. Or should he? He needed to contact Morena. Email–he would email her.

Morena arrived back at the house half an hour later. Kevin had downed three cups of coffee while waiting and was totally strung out by the time she got back. He started rambling incoherently, but stopped as soon as Morena touched his hand. An instant feeling of calm came over him and he nodded at Morena gratefully.

“Too much coffee, Kevin?” she asked, eyeing the nearly empty jar.

“Morena, you have to see these emails,” Kevin said, and opened them for Morena to read. “What do you think we should do?”

“I don’t know. Kevin. Do you want me to contact the Elders?”

“I don’t know. I should probably deal with this myself. I can’t get Donna involved with the Elders.”

Morena nodded. “We do need to contact Raj and set up a meeting. We need to make sure that he releases Donna. And we need to make sure that she doesn’t go to the cops.”

“Well, that’s easy,” Kevin said, shrugging in defeat. “This is such a mess.”

“We can do this,” Morena reassured. “We just have to think it through. Raj isn’t going to harm Donna. That would be plain stupid. He’s after the kids. We don’t have them. We do need to let him know that. The question is: Will he flip when he finds out? Would he do Donna harm then?” She closed her eyes to think through the permutations.  They had to get Donna first. Goodness knows how Raj would react once he found out about the children. But how–how would they get Donna out of Raj’s house?

“You could go in and rescue her, like Inez did for me,” Kevin suggested.

Morena shook her head. Kevin was obviously not thinking clearly. “Kevin, think about it. First of all, I would need the Elders’ permission to do so. Then, I’d need to explain time travel and Wanderers to Donna. I don’t think that’s wise. We don’t know her at all. There’s no way we can reveal ourselves to her.”

“You are right, of course,” Kevin sighed. “What if I agree to talk to him only if he first releases Donna? Then you’d have to talk to her, convince her not to go to the cops. You’ll have to convince her that we’ll take care of this. Could you do that?”

Morena nodded. “But, what about you? What if he flips? What will you do?”

“I don’t know. The main thing is that all the kids are safe. We have to keep them that way. I’ll do whatever it takes.” He started tapping away at the keyboard, drafting a message for Raj Sen. He looked to Morena for approval once he was done, and hit send when she nodded.

They received a reply five minutes later.

Ok. Come to the house.

Kevin looked up at his house from the driveway where Morena had parked her car. It had never seemed so unwelcoming. He noticed the kitchen blinds twitching and made his way to the front door. Donna opened it and looked at him nervously.

“It’s going to be okay, Donna. My friend Morena is going to take you home,” he said, pointing at Morena’s car. I’ll talk to you soon. Don’t worry about me.”

Donna bit her lip and nodded before running to Morena’s car. Kevin stepped inside and walked into the kitchen. He was a bit overwhelmed when he saw that it wasn’t just Raj waiting for him. Sophie and Dan were there as well. He felt more than intimidated as he sat down on a chair facing them.

“Where are the kids?” Raj spluttered.

“Back home,” Kevin replied.

Raj turned pale, the blood draining from his face.

“Home?” Sophie asked. “Whose home?”

“Their home,” Kevin replied triumphantly.

“How?” Raj whispered hoarsely from his chair. “The portal is not functioning.”

“Think about it, Raj,” Kevin said, not wanting to mention the Wanderers in front of Sophie and Dan. He could see Raj working it out and nodding at him.

“Dan, tie him up,” Raj said unexpectedly, a look of madness coming over him. “Is that how
you
disappeared from the house?” he yelled at Kevin. “They rescued you?”

“Who?” Sophie and Dan asked in unison.

“Shut up, just shut up! Don’t ask any questions! Just do what I say. Is he tied up good?” Raj shouted hysterically.

Sophie backed up; she’d never seen him so agitated.

Dan nodded.

“Get out then! I’ll call you when I need you.”

Kevin watched them leave hastily. He was all alone with this mad man.

“So, are they coming to
rescue
you again?” Raj asked, picking up a kitchen knife.

Kevin tried to remain calm. He didn’t want Inez to feel his terror and come to him. It was way too dangerous. “No,” he said simply.

“They better come, and they better come with the blueprints or they won’t see you again. I expect you’re precious to them in some way, since they came for you before. Tell me how? How did you make contact with them?”

Kevin shook his head. He was not going to say any more. His head suddenly flew backwards as Raj pounded his nose with his fist. He could feel his nose swelling up with blood and a stream starting to flow. He knew that Inez would be in the house by now. There was no way she wouldn’t have felt him. He hoped that she wouldn’t do anything silly. There was nothing she could do to help at the moment. She needed to wait. He closed his eyes and concentrated on conveying this to her, hoping that she was receptive.
Please do not walk into the kitchen
. He repeated it again and again.
I will find a way to get to you
.

“Put the knife down, Raj,” a voice said from behind him.

Kevin looked up at Erica’s beautiful face. “Erica, don’t. Get out while you can. He’s insane!” Kevin begged.

The knife struck Kevin’s chest before he had a chance to take the next breath. He stumbled forward as Raj pulled the knife back out and glared at Erica.  Erica lunged herself at Raj. Inez came rushing into the kitchen. She untied Kevin quickly as Erica continued to wrestle with Raj. Inez saw them stumble out of the kitchen into the hallway, hitting and scratching each other. Then she heard a door slam.

Inez looked down at Kevin’s bloodstained face, crying. Lars appeared and helped put him down gently onto the floor.

“Lars, we can’t transport him back. He’s too hurt. We need to get him to a hospital. Call 911.”

Lars nodded. He went out to the hall to make the call while Inez tried to stop the wounds from bleeding. She held him close until she heard the blood-curling cry from the hallway. She gently laid Kevin’s head back on the floor and rushed out into the hallway. She stopped short as she saw Erica’s lifeless body on the floor. The end of a knife stuck out from her chest. Lars bent over her in despair.