Seclusion (28 page)

“I gotta go,” Jay said. “I
think I just got a text. Raegan needs something over-the-top rich that is
modest, but still age-appropriate. Late.”

I pulled my email up again
and flipped through the pictures. Settling on one of Raegan, I hit print.

*
* *

After the spa, Elsie and I
met up with the boys to go over our plans one more time. After we finished, we
just messed around, practicing all of our abilities and preparing for the
mission.

“Raegan, can I talk to you
real quick?” Jay asked, pulling me to my room. We sat on my twin bed. “Promise
me you’ll be careful at the bank and trust your instincts.”

He grabbed my hand, and I
felt something unexpected: love. He loved me! He would protect me with his life
if he had to. Tears came to my eyes. I had always wanted a brother. I gave him
a big hug.

Jay laughed. “I’ve always
wanted a sister!” he said. “I spoke to Damen earlier,” he continued, “and he’s
overnighting clothes for the mission. They should be here by tomorrow night.
I’ll be leaving on Thursday, but I’ll make sure Chase watches out for you and
runs with you. I’ll miss you, Raegan. You do mean a lot to me. Sooo…how was
your spa trip?”

My heart fell. I didn’t
want to tell him how I had screwed things up. “Well…it didn’t go so well.” I
saw the rejection hit him as he looked out across my room. “No, that’s not it!”
I said. “She is attracted to you, and to Damen. Although it’s just superficial,
I think she could really like you. The only thing is we sorta miscommunicated,
and now she’s under the impression that you and I have something going on. She
mentioned she wouldn’t get between us, and she took off before I could explain
it to her.”

Jay’s eyes perked up some.
“So, we still have a shot after you explain to her that I’m a free agent?”

“Something like that. But I
do wish there was an us… I know you’re not into me like that, but things would
be so much simpler,” I said, jabbing him in the arm with my fist.

“I understand, but real
love is never easy,” Jay said as he kissed my forehead. “Good night, little
Rae.”

“Night, Jay.”

I didn’t even try to sleep
in my own bed. I walked into E.’s room. She had the bedside lamp on and was
reading
Divergent
.

“Hey, come on in. I’ve been
waiting for you.” She patted the bed.

“Thanks, E.! How’s the book?”

She switched off the light.
“Really good. Four is just so great!”

The number
? I thought as I drifted
into sleep.

Everyone was all hyped up
about the mission, even though it did sound pretty simple. I was just counting
down the minutes until the package from Damen came! It was silly, but the
gesture to help out with our assignment and to make sure all went well did fill
me with a little hope. I was hoping there’d be a note or some sign that he
cared. I was sitting on the couch practicing my powers and flipping through the
TV stations when I heard the door open loudly.

“Girlie, it’s here! I
sweet-talked the post into giving it to me!”

“Really?” It was mortifying
that Elsie knew that I was waiting on pins and needles for this stupid package.

“Yep!” She patted the
package and set it on the couch as she sat down next to me. “Now, Raegan,
please don’t base any emotions on what this package is or isn’t. It won’t
change that he’s not here now.”

“Mood killer!” I grumbled.

Elsie smacked me on the
arm. “Open it already!”

I cut open the brown paper
using the scissors that had been waiting on the coffee table for this moment.
There was one little Dior card. It said:

Raegan,

Hope this helps your
assignment, and good luck.

Damen

“Wow, that was
anticlimactic!” I said.

I didn’t realize how large
the parcel really was until I kept pulling packages out of it. One long, skinny
box, one typical clothing box, one shoe box, and one round package.

“Wow, it’s like Christmas!
Open the clothes one first!” Elsie exclaimed.

I grabbed the extra big
clothing box and opened it with anticipation, removing the surrounding tissue
paper to find the loveliest little dress ever. It was cream and white lace with
a pink floral design, cap sleeves, modest neckline, and flowy short skirt.

“It’s perfect!” Elsie said.
“That alone must’ve set him back at least a few hundred dollars.”

“It looks too small,” I
said, heartbroken.

“Have you looked at
yourself lately? If anything, it might be a little loose.”

“No!” I flew a hanger over
using my power and hung the dress across my bedroom door. Lifting more tissue
from the same box, I found four more little boxes inside.

“OMG, Raegan. He went a
little overboard.”

I smiled as I opened a
small pouch and pulled out a delicate matching floral headband. I set it aside,
grabbing the next one. All the boxes had Dior printed on them. I opened the
next one, and it was a necklace –a long, simple gold chain with a gold heart
sprinkled with pink diamonds.

“Those aren’t real diamonds,
are they?” I asked. The memory of opening my key necklace hit me.

“I don’t know, but you do
know he’s loaded, right? He’s owned a huge corporation since he was fifteen,”
Elsie replied.

“What? He never told me
that!”

“He’s not one to talk about
it, or show it off. Well, until now.” She gestured to all the packages.

“It seems like he misses
you,” she said.

“Elsie, you’re the one that
told me not to get my hopes up!”

“I know. Sorry. Open the
rest already!”

I pulled out a matching
pink and gold diamond bracelet and earrings, both simple and delicate, yet
fashionable. I lovingly set them on the table, wondering if I needed to send
them back after the mission. Next, I pulled out the shoe box and unwrapped a
pair of gold sandals. Then I opened a long gold Dior purse. Finally, I grabbed
for the long, skinny box.

“I don’t think he forgot
anything. I can’t imagine what’s in this box! Unless it’s lingerie, and that’s
just sick if it is!” E. said.

I laughed. “I hope it’s
not!”

I opened the box and looked
at the gift, fighting back the tears. I looked at Elsie, and tears were coming
from her eyes, too. “Hey, you’re supposed to be strong for me! Suck those tears
back up, friend.”

In the box was a
long-stemmed white orchid with a purple and pink center. I had totally
demolished the last orchid he had given me, and my heart ached to get it back.
There was another card.

Little one,

Don’t even think about
returning these.

D.

I sat there in shock until
Elsie elbowed me. “Go try it on, already!”

I ran to my room, wiping
the wetness from my cheeks. When I finally looked in the mirror, with E.
hovering near me, I was surprised to see the dress fit perfectly. It was
gathered snuggly around my waist, fit perfectly around my upper body, and
flowed out modestly a couple inches above my knees. I circled in the mirror,
gazing at my reflection. The purse was a bit much, but with the rest of the
outfit, it was definitely in character.

“Darn, why couldn’t I have
the main role?” Elsie said.

I giggled at her pouty
face. “Sorry, friend, but you do have a main role!” I said.  “How’s that
going?”

“Oh, my new job? It’s fine.
Kind of boring. In fact, Dr. Z is like a normal father. Nice and encouraging.”

“Really? You’re gonna have
to dig deeper.”

“I know! One thing though,
he wanted me to call him Dr. Drake. He was insistent I not use Dr. Z.”

“Taylor uses Dr. Z all the
time,” I said.

“Yeah, that’s why I thought
it was weird.”

*
* *

Connor was at our door at 5:00 the next morning.

“Girls, up and at ’em!
Let’s go over the plan one more time.”

“Seriously, Connor?” Jay
said from the dining room table, his head in his arms.

Chase was asleep again on
the couch.

“Wake up! We are going
through the plan,” Connor said.

“Whaaaaat?”

I laughed. “You are so not
a morning person, Chase.”

He looked at me. “You look
hot!”

I smiled. “Thanks!”

After that, he was awake,
and every few seconds I could see him gaze over at me. Jay smirked at me from
the table and gave me a thumbs up.

We packed into a van at 5:30. We were going to be speeding to the bank to get there on schedule. Connor’s
debriefing went longer than expected, and since no one had eaten, the boys
ended up eating us out of cereal!

We parked across the street
from the bank while Connor fiddled with all his equipment. Chase was resting;
he would have to strain to be invisible for so long, so his plan was to just
hold on to my arm so he could communicate with me. It was comforting to know
that he would be there with me. Elsie was tapping her fingers across a bench
seat in the van, obviously absorbing all of our anxiety. Jay sat there
meditating or zoning out.

“Crap, guys. We have some
problems,” Jay said, coming out of his stupor.

“What is it?” I asked,
panicked.

“Well, I can see everything
going as planned until you’re in the vault, but then I see you and Chase
arguing.”

Chase and I looked at each
other in confusion.

“Raegan, you’re holding the
manager’s key, and you’re standing in front of the box, but you aren’t doing
anything. Elsie is getting nervous. Looks like one of the tellers is realizing
a lockbox tour is taking a little longer than usual,” Jay said, using his
powers to see into the future.

“There must be another key
or code,” Connor said.

“Shoot!” I said.

“Well, we can try, and if
it’s taking too long, we can just come back out without the box,” Chase said.

“I have an idea,” Jay said.
“Raegan, we both have mind powers. Do you think you can push your thoughts to
me? We can figure it out once we know what the problem is.”

“Well, I could try,” I
said.

“I guess that’s really our
only option,” Elsie said.

“It’s time,” Connor said.

I entered the bank, relying
on my acting lessons.
Pretend you’re Princess Asshat!
I told myself.

I felt Chase squeeze my
arm. “You’re doing fine, Raegan,” I heard through my ability. I looked around
the bank, pretending like I didn’t know where the manager’s desk was. I glanced
to my left, and there was a younger, dusty blonde-haired man waving me in his
direction. When I got up close, he glanced over me and smiled.

“Can I help you with
something today, miss?” His chipper mood made me feel more normal.

“Good morning. I was
thinking about using one of your security boxes. I was curious how safe my
items would be, and I’d like to see the boxes,” I said with a push of
compulsion.

“If you could just fill
this inquiry sheet out first. My name’s Sam, by the way. You are?”

“I’m…Zoey…Drake.”

“Don’t fill out anything,
Rae.”
I
heard Chase say in my head.

I took the clipboard and
smiled. “I’m finished,” I said, using my compulsion again.

“You don’t happen to be
related to Dr. Drake do you? He has a lockbox here as well.”
 Wow, you can
tell we are in a small town. They would never give that information to me back
home,
I thought.

“Oh yes, he’s my uncle,” I
said.
Considering we are doing this for the school, he should be a good
cover
, I thought.

“Okay, great. Let me just
grab my keys, and we’ll walk back there. So do you go to college around here?”

I was thrown off by his
question. I heard Chase in my mind,
“He’s flirting with you, Raegan.”

“Oh!” I said out loud. “I
take a few classes, but I’m pursuing acting.” Chase chuckled in my head.

“Well, you’re definitely
beautiful enough to pursue it.” I smiled and let Sam open the vault, and Chase
and I followed him in.

“Okay, Sam, I need you to
open lockbox 419, and then you’ll escort us out and forget about us
immediately.”

“Ok, Zoey.”

Sam pulled his keys out and
sifted through them until he came to the right one. I pulled the bug from my
purse and did my best to follow Connor’s instructions. I pressed the tiny
button and hoped it worked. The light on box 419 began flashing green, and Sam
put his key in and twisted. Inside, there was another lock. I heard Chase say,
“Well,
this would be the problem.”

“Sam?” I asked, “Do you
have another key for this inner lock?”

“No,” he said. “All owners
have their own locks made for high security boxes.”

Crap!
I used my prediction power
to focus on Jay and Connor. They were in the van watching us on the monitor.
Jay smiled when I looked toward the camera. He held out a piece of paper with
bright red Sharpie written on it.
What’s the problem, Rae?

Phew! I didn’t need any
special power after all
. I pointed to the box, and then to the keys, and I shrugged,
holding my hands up. Chase sent me a message through a touch.

“Can you use your mind to
unlock it?”

“I don’t know, I can try.”

Jay held up another piece
of paper. HURRY!

“Jeesh, extra pressure!
Great.”

I focused my power on the
lock. I felt around for the shape of the key and tried pushing. Nothing
happened.

“I can’t do it without
knowing the shape of the key!”

“It’s okay, stay calm,
Raegan.”

I looked toward the camera
again, shrugging. Jay wrote HOLD ON. He pulled out his phone.

“Great, Jay wants us to
hold on. He’s making a phone call!”

“Wonderful,”
Chase thought. “My phone’s
ringing,” he said out loud. Although I couldn’t see him, I saw the black smart
phone appear from nowhere and begin floating in the air where I assumed Chase’s
ear would be. “Hello? Okay…it’s for you, Raegan.”

“Hello? Jay?”

“Rae, it’s me.”

The voice I heard on the
other end of the line made my stomach tighten and brought tears to my eyes.
“Hi,” is all I could get out.

“Okay, I’m sorry, but I
need you to listen carefully. We can talk later, but let me help you get
through this. Point your finger into the lock.”

“Huh?” I said, feeling
dumb.

“Just trust me. Close your
eyes and focus on my voice.”

I did as he said.

“I want you to remember
what warmth feels like. Imagine liquid heat swirling in your stomach and
flowing like lava through your limbs.”

Hearing his silky voice
made hot lava seem cold compared to the heat rising in my body. “My fingers are
tingling,” I said.