Mind Slide (24 page)

She sat across from him. “Well, what did you think?”

He regarded her expression. She was serious.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, his confidence returning.

“
If we're talking a scale of one to ten, I'd say a twenty. Now, as much as I love having that picture up in my head, I actually need your help on something.”

“
What's that?”

He produced the key from his pocket. “Do you know what this is?”

Kelly squinted and took the key from him. When she saw the number eighteen pleasant memories flooded back to her.

“
Oh, wow. My father and I used to rent a boat and go fishing on the eastern shore when I was real little. They had a set of lockers you could use while you were out on the water. We always had locker eighteen. I wonder if it still fits. How did you get this?”

“
I found it in the cardboard with the picture of my parents. He hid it there.”

“
Hmm. I wonder why.”

He took the key back from her. “That's what I'm gonna find out. Could you find the address out for me?”

“
You heading out there now?”

He nodded. He had already called Lisa to tell her he wouldn't be able to pick up Dani, and have her feed Lucy.

“
I'll go with you.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Really?”

“
Sure. It's a three hour drive. We can split it up. Get some lunch. It'll be fun. It'll be like a treasure hunt. We'll drive back before the end of the night. I wouldn't mind seeing the old place again.”

Mason wondered how she'd feel if she knew the
treasure
was sought out by a killer behind bars.

Kelly left Mason alone in the living room while she went down to the basement to change clothes. It was shaping up to be warm day. She instinctively reached for jeans, but changed her mind with a smile. She grabbed a pair of baggy black shorts and kept her white sleeveless shirt.

She caught him looking at her as she locked up the house.

*****

They took Mason's Jeep. It was a pleasant drive with the soft-top folded down. She offered to drive when they reached the halfway point, but he declined. They had to make one stop before they hit the highway, as the sun overhead quickly wrecked havoc on Kelly's skin. She could almost feel herself sizzling in the passenger's seat. She had to buy sunblock only twenty minutes into their trip.

It was a quiet drive for the most part. It was hard to talk over the roar of the wind around the Jeep. She had to lean in close to Mason to say something. She liked the closeness, but didn't want to talk in his ear the whole trip.

Good memories of her father rushed back on the familiar drive. Fishing was one of the things she loved to do with him, before he became engrossed in his work.

They stopped for lunch. Kelly relished the break from the drive. She could only imagine what her hair looked like. She pulled a brush out of her purse as Mason parked outside a diner.

Mason watched her as she fixed her hair. Earlier in the day he thought about distancing himself from her, for her own sake. He didn't know if he could even do that now.

Kelly talked about her father as they ate sandwiches. She told Mason about their last few fishing trips out on the water. She was always disgusted by the thought of putting a worm on a hook, so he did it for her. Sometimes she wasn't strong enough to reel the fish all the way in, so he would give her a hand.

Mason listened with a smile.

“
I've never been fishing.”

“
Really? We'll have to go sometime.”

He nodded. “I'd like that.”

She pushed her plate away and met his eyes. “So what do you have planned for our date?”

He laughed nervously. “All I could come up with was dinner and a movie, and shooting some pool.”

“
That sounds like fun. We'll do a movie on the first date. Second date we'll hit a pool hall.”

He smiled. Kelly planning out a second date ahead of time could only be a good sign.

“
I'm sorry about last night,” he said. “I definitely didn't mean to scare you.”

She shrugged. “I've been scared before.
Much
worse.” She reached her hand across the table and let the tips of her fingers touch his. “I wish you would have been on the phone with me when I was sixteen.”

“
Yeah, me too.”

Memories of that basement tried to push in, but Kelly shoved them aside. She wouldn't dwell on those terrible two days while she was with Mason.

“
You ready to get going?” she asked. “You sure you don't want me to drive?”

“
Nah, that's fine. You're behind on sleep, remember?” he said with a smile. “Take a nap.”

“
I might do that.”

They crossed the parking lot and was halfway to the Jeep when he gently grabbed her by the shoulder. She turned to look at him. Butterflies danced in her stomach as he reached out to touch her face.

“
Got any sunblock left? Your face is a little pink.”

She leaned against the side of the Jeep and opened her purse. She pulled out the sunblock, but Mason grabbed it before she could open it.

He carefully applied the sunblock to her face. He gently rubbed her forehead, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose.

He tried not to laugh. He could see why she complained about her skin. Hopefully she wasn't burned too bad before the end of the day.

It was a simple gesture, but Kelly liked the attention. She liked his hands on her.

She felt tingly as he gently massaged her ears, his hands brushing her hair.

“
There,” he said. “Hopefully you won't roast now.”

“
Thank you.” She circled around the Jeep. “I think I missed some spots on my legs, if you're interested.”

His hand froze on the door handle. “Say that again?”

She laughed. “I was kidding.”

Mason shook his head as he started the Jeep. Images drifted through his mind of rubbing Kelly's legs with lotion.

“
Thanks, Kell,” he muttered.

“
What?”

“
Nothing, nothing. Away we go.”

Ten minutes after leaving the diner Kelly fell asleep.

Mason smiled as she quietly snored. She reclined back in the seat, sunglasses over her eyes. Her red hair bounced wildly in the breeze. He had never seen a more beautiful woman.

He had to convince her to wear shorts on their date.

His thoughts started to wander as he drove. What waited for them in locker eighteen?

He nudged her shoulder as he saw a sign for the eastern shore. She propped her sunglasses on her head and rubbed her eyes.

Kelly could smell the saltwater in the air. “We're there already?”

“
Yeah. You've been sleeping for over an hour.”

“
Wow. I haven't been here in forever. Take the next exit coming up.”

Kelly helped him navigate the streets to get to the docks. They weren't far from the beach. Mason would love to claim whatever was in locker eighteen, then enjoy some time in the sand with Kelly.

He studied his surroundings as Kelly guided him into a parking lot. There was a long pier where people fished off the side. A dock was backed up with trucks waiting to launch their boats. There was a building that had bathrooms and vending machines.

Next to the vending machines was a row of lockers.

“
Dad would rent a boat. We'd spend hours out on the water.”

He thought about all the nausea he'd dealt with over his lifetime, mostly from mind slides and thunderstorms.

“
What's fishing out on a boat like?” he asked as they approached the lockers. “Do you get sick at all?”

They stopped as they reached the shade under the roof. Kelly had the hint of a smile.

“
Do you have any plans tomorrow? I mean, you're not working on any cases right now?”

“
Nope, no plans.”

“
Let's stay here tonight. We can get a hotel room. Don't worry, no moves,” she said, knowing she was probably lying to both of them. “Separate beds, or even separate rooms. Tomorrow we can go fishing.”

“
We didn't bring any extra clothes.”

She shrugged. “We'll just buy some.”

It sounded like fun. Doing
anything
with Kelly was fun. The only important chores on his plate were feeding Lucy and picking up Dani from school tomorrow. He knew a phone call to Lisa would solve both issues.

No doubt Brian and Lisa would love the idea of Mason and Kelly spending a night together.

Mason wrinkled his face. There was one small problem.

“
Aww, come on,” Kelly said innocently. She took his hand and cocked her head to the side, looking up at him. Whether she realized it or not, she could definitely flirt. “We'll have fun. We can rent a movie, order out some food.”

“
There's, uh, a chance of thunderstorms tonight.”

“
Oh. Well, didn't I get you through that last time?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It still doesn't stop me from feeling two inches tall.”

“
Hey.” She took a step closer and squeezed his hand. She dropped the flirtatiousness and grew serious. “I'll take care of you, okay? I owe you from last night anyway. We'll watch out for each other.”

Mason smiled. There was no subtlety in her actions. She really cared for him. He still had trouble wrapping his head around it.

Despite his terror during the last thunderstorm, having Kelly pressed up against him was a pleasant memory.

He smiled. “Sounds like fun.”

He looked toward the lockers and pulled the key from his pocket.

What could Doc have possibly hidden that a failed mind slide experiment subject would want?

“
Shall we?” he asked.

“
Yes. Let's finish up our treasure hunt.”

The lockers were half-sized, stacked on top of one another. The odd lockers were on the top row, even on the bottom. Mason looked around before kneeling in front of number eighteen. It would be awkward if he opened it up to see someone else's personal things.