Two of a Mind (14 page)

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.” Dale Johnson raised his hand to stop the applause. When everyone had settled down he continued, “I can't thank you all enough for the wonderful support you have given to this project. Without your backing, both financial – still time to donate by the way –,” A wave of laughter flowed around the room, “and hands on,” A group of gap-year students cheered, “the Kalamoombi Community Hub would not exist. I hope this evening has shown you how important these facilities are to the region. In theory, the massive reduction in the world's population last century should have created a more equitable distribution of resources. In reality, the issues affecting the developing countries were simply compounded by the stalling of technological developments worldwide. The wealthier countries looked after their own problems and the poorer regions slipped further behind.

This evening I am pleased to announce that the recent G20 Summit confirmed its support of a new initiative, using our own model as the benchmark, and encouraging successful organisations to forge partnerships with those struggling across the globe. Exciting times lie ahead and we are looking forward to helping even more communities like Kalamoombi.” He raised his glass. “To the future. To a truly ‘Global Village'.”

Images of the hub's construction were projected around the room, accompanied by wild cheers from the students whenever one of their friends was pictured.

“Hey, Beth, there's the one of you chasing off that meerkat.”

“He kept pinching my lunch,” Beth responded, sitting upright and imitating the staccato movements of the cheeky little creature. Just as she popped a spicy snack into her mouth a hand clasped her shoulder, surprising her. Her colleagues squealed with laughter as the hand that had caused her choking fit then slapped her on the back to ease her uncontrollable coughing.

“Sorry, Bethany. I didn't mean to startle you.”

“That's okay, Mr Johnson,” she croaked. She struggled to contain her coughing but the effort caused tears to stream down her cheeks. Could it be any more embarrassing?

“No, it's entirely my fault,” he insisted, handing her a clean handkerchief to wipe her face and pouring a fresh glass of water.

Beth gratefully sipped at the cool drink and her spasms finally subsided.

“I'm fine thank you,” she said, in a raspy tone.

“Hm, I'll keep you company for a moment just to be on the safe side.” The others had wandered away from the table so Dale sat beside her. “I came over to offer my congratulations on your placement at Lloyd and Durleigh. How's it going?”

“You heard?” Beth was surprised that the man she respected almost as much as she did her grandfather would be following her progress.

“Yes. They asked me for a reference.”

Beth felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment again. Of course – she'd put the details of her gap-year work on her application to the Sandridge Magna solicitors' firm. It wasn't anything to do with Dale Johnson taking a personal interest, although for him to have written the reference himself was a nice touch.

“Do you have a specific area of the law you want to pursue?”

So he was interested after all!

“I've only just qualified so I have to take what's handed my way,” she replied.

“Qualified a year early and with honours, if I'm not mistaken. I'm sure you'll soon find your feet, Beth.”

“Gramps has been bragging again hasn't he?” She glared towards the table where Lord Simpson was in conversation with one of the younger royals.

Dale smiled at her discomfort. “And why shouldn't he? If my girls grow up to be as talented, committed and beautiful as you, I'm sure I'll be well ahead of him in the bragging stakes.”

“Are you flirting again, dear?” A tall, elegant and utterly stunning woman laid a perfectly manicured hand on Dale's shoulder.

“But of course, Geraldine, my love,” he said, kissing her slender fingers, “I have to hone my skills so that I can keep up with you. I saw you giving Herr Nussbaum palpitations when you were chatting with him during dessert.”

Geraldine Johnson gave her husband a playful slap on his arm and turned to Beth.

“I'm sorry to interrupt, Bethany, dear, but Dale needs to do the rounds. We have to sign up as many of these multi-nationals as we can.”

“No, please. Don't mind me,” Beth gestured towards her grandfather, “I need to catch up with Gramps, anyway.”

As the Johnsons walked away from her table Beth heard them discussing a potential joint venture with a multi-national pharmaceutical corporation. Her interest piqued when she recognised the company name; Trevalyn. One of these days she really must dig out Great-Granny Julia's old notes. Several years too late for the deal to see ‘Thorny Lyrics' but she had promised to help Gramps with the mystery of Julia's obsession. Although where she was going to find time amongst the heavy workload and extra studies was anyone's guess.

Is there anything more cringe-worthy than the 'rents exchanging baby stories?

Mum, Dad and Samuel were laughing at another anecdote about Seth and me from when we were just kids and, whilst it was a relief to see them getting on so well after the initial awkwardness, it was becoming embarrassing to be the subject of their conversation. I looked at Seth and his pained expression showed he was feeling the same way.

“We'll clear the table,” I volunteered.

“Thanks for a lovely meal, Mrs Hanson,” added Seth, as he collected the plates.

“You're welcome, Seth,” said Mum, smiling at the compliment.

It seemed odd to have such normality after our discoveries earlier in the day. Samuel's brief outburst was quickly forgotten and he, Seth and I had sat around the kitchen table trying to decipher Elizabeth's
Handi
entries. It wasn't an easy task. Often we'd break off when the reminder of their loss became too much for Samuel and Seth. Elizabeth could only make vague references to the killer and her device to guide us was to use literary quotes – some easier to understand than others. Through it all, I sensed Nina's presence sustaining Samuel as the revelations kept coming. For nearly four years he'd believed his wife had simply found life too depressing to carry on. He'd felt the guilt of not being able to make her happy, the anger that his love wasn't enough for her and the pain of never coming to terms with the loss of his soul-mate. Now he learned something of the truth. Elizabeth had loved him unconditionally and was devastated that she could no longer be with him. She'd struggled with a dark and awful secret that was impossible to share, even with him. Finally, she'd felt strong enough to take this horror away from her family, knowing that they wouldn't understand her actions. Knowing that she was going to break their hearts.

We were no closer to the identity of Elizabeth's murderous PT although we were convinced that all the entries in her
Handi
were significant and needed further consideration. I tried to focus my memory to see if I could connect to any more of the victims but merely sensed confusing, disjointed images and the voices became intrusive as I lowered my mental barriers. Seth noticed my grimace at the renewed noise and reached for my hand. He shook his head, silently telling me not to risk losing my control over the connections. I reluctantly ‘closed the door' and the voices became quieter again. We hadn't told Samuel about my vivid recollections of two of the murders. We didn't think he'd want us to pursue things if he thought I was at any risk of following Elizabeth's path. There were still some of our own secrets that we weren't ready to share yet.

Unexpectedly, Mum had provided a welcome distraction by calling to insist that we all went back to mine for a ‘proper Sunday roast'. Our light brunch and even the emotions of the day hadn't completely dampened our teenage appetites. Samuel was practical enough to want something to eat as he'd skipped breakfast due to the early call-out. So here we were, stuffed with roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings.

“I'm so glad you and Seth could come over this afternoon,” Mum was saying to Samuel. “It's nice to cook a full family meal once in a while. Desirée's out most of the time these days.”

My teeth clenched at her use of my full name.
Thought she'd got over that!

“It was good of you to invite us, Celeste. Not often we get such splendid home-cooking, is it lad?”

“No, Dad,” Seth replied dutifully, but I saw his eyes roll upwards. Despite the chirpy conversation and mutual appreciation going on, we could feel the underlying tension. There was an uneasiness between the adults – they were being too polite to put into words what they really wanted to say. I decided to push the bull into the china shop!

“Mum's really sorry that she didn't tell you about seeing Elizabeth that evening, aren't you, Mum?”

Her eyes opened wide in shock and her face paled. She swallowed the sip of wine that she'd just taken and licked her lips nervously. The look she gave me suggested I'd pay for that comment later.

“Y…yes. Of course I am, Samuel. I should've come straight to you when we found out she was missing. I'll never forgive myself.” Tears were staining her face and I felt ashamed of myself for putting her in this situation.

“Don't worry Celeste,” said Samuel. “We all feel we should've done things differently. We're only just finding out what happened and it doesn't look like any of us could've changed the outcome.” He leaned across the table to pat Mum's hand. “Now we have to follow her advice and remember who she really was. She wouldn't want us to be beating ourselves up.”

“No. She just wants us to nail the bastard who did this to her!” Seth's voice had an edge to it that worried me. It was one thing to work out the clues but, as Dad had suggested, it was another thing entirely to go after the killer ourselves. Seth's bad language went unchallenged as everyone seemed to be caught up in their own thoughts and I was trying hard not to hear them.

***

The 'rents had gone for a stroll to walk off their indulgent meal and make room for the cake Mum had promised us. Seth and I took a picnic blanket out to the garden and laid side-by-side staring up at the clear blue sky. Bees busily gathered pollen and we could hear a neighbour's children squealing with delight as they splashed about in their paddling pool.

I squeezed Seth's hand.

“Got an idea,” I said.

“Oh-oh. That sounds ominous.”

I squeezed his hand harder until he surrendered.

“Okay, okay. I'm sorry. What's your idea?” he said, rubbing his tortured fingers.

“I was thinking – if I remembered those murders as though I was the victim, maybe I can recall what happened to the others.”

“We still don't know how you're getting these memories. Or whether they're accurate.” Seth sat up and looked down at me, concern obvious in his eyes.

“It's not a good idea to go probing around in there,” he tapped my forehead, “until you've got the all-clear from Alvin.”

I sighed with resignation.

“You're probably right. It's just so hard to ignore all these connections, especially if one of them could help track down your mum's PT.”

“Yeah, but who's to say he won't be able to track you down if you connect with him? You can't risk it, Dez.”

“And that's another thing.”

“What now?”

“Her PT – he'd know who your mum was. Why didn't he come to find her
Handi
to keep his identity secret?”

“A diary's such a private thing – maybe the Bloc keeps it hidden unless you really have faith in your PT. Anyway, even if he knew she was keeping a diary the entries are so vague he probably didn't put two and two together. He might have been flattered that she was keeping a scrap book of his killing spree. He'd feel safe enough knowing she couldn't refer to him explicitly.” Seth's tone was one of revulsion.

No matter what Seth said, I was determined to use my abilities to follow Elizabeth's clues. Yes, I'd wait until I next saw Alvin, but once I knew how to control my open mind and target specific connections, I'd be going after the monster that killed all those people and drove my best friend's mum to her death.

“Come here,” I said, lying on the blanket with my arms reaching up to invite him into them. “Let's try to be a normal couple for a while, eh?”

He grinned and lowered himself until his face was close to mine.

“Like this?” he said and kissed my mouth lightly. “And this?” Kissing the tip of my nose. “And this?” Moving down the side of my neck.

“Oh, shut up!” I said, turning towards him to demonstrate the type of kissing I was really interested in. I felt his lips turn up under mine and I forced my tongue through his grin, savouring his taste and enjoying his slight hesitation before he responded. The sensations I'd experienced as the Parisian girl came rushing back to me. My breath came in short gasps, I felt my nipples tingle and the burning of extra sensitive nerves running through my skin. Every part of me fizzled and I pushed my body against Seth's, hungry for more. I gripped his buttocks and held him tightly to me, thrilled by the obvious effect I was having on him. I could feel his arousal and it made my desire stronger. I no longer had any control – my body writhed and throbbed with passion. My hands slid around Seth's hips reaching to undo his jeans.

“NO!” He rolled away from me. Breathing heavily and flushed red in his face. “Damn it, Dez. What's got into you?”

I was furious. My body still ached for fulfilment and he was looking at me like I was a sex-crazed slut. I was about to lash out with a foul-mouthed response, but the haze cleared and I came to my senses. The shock set in – I began to shake and tears filled my eyes, blurring the image of Seth standing well out of my reach. I felt sick with shame. I ran into the house, up to the bathroom and locked the door, only just managing to reach the loo before throwing up. Seth was right to be disgusted by my behaviour. We'd only just got together as a couple. Okay, we wouldn't be breaking any laws but why did I need it so early in our relationship and why so desperately? Was it even me wanting it or was it just that poor Parisian girl's cravings? I lay on the cool tiled bathroom floor and wept, sure that I'd lost Seth for real this time.

Eventually, I got my sobs under control and staggered to the washbasin. An occasional dry whimper escaped and my face was swollen, blotchy and particularly unattractive.
Serves you right!
I sneered at my reflection.
Might as well look as ugly as you feel!
Still, I splashed my face with cold water in an attempt to repair some of the damage. A tentative knock on the door interrupted my self- condemnation.

“Dez? Dez, are you okay?”

“Go away, Seth. Leave me alone.”

“Dez. Please. Open the door. I'm sorry. You took me by surprise. That's all. Please, Dez. Let me in.”

Oh, how I wanted to be strong. To send him packing with a flea in his ear for being so judgemental. But I agreed with his reaction. What had I been thinking? Never mind the moral issue – we were in my parents' garden in broad daylight
and
without any form of contraception! Jeez – the stupidity of it almost made it laughable. I released the lock but couldn't bring myself to open the door. After a moment's hesitation, Seth tried the handle and, finding it unlocked, he came in. I could see from the redness around his eyes that he'd been blubbing too.

“Desirée Hanson, you're dangerous to be with.” His lop-sided grin was back again and it made me smile too. “How can I hold out under such an attack?”

“No. Don't,” I said, the smile falling away. “Don't make fun of me. Please. I … I don't know what was going on. One minute it's fine and the next … well, I'm not surprised you're disgusted by what happened next. I just don't know if it was really me doing it.”

“Dez, listen to me. I love you. I wasn't disgusted – no don't shake your head – I wasn't. Actually, I have to admit I was rather flattered that I could have that effect on you so quickly! I was loving it. Don't say you didn't notice. But I got scared. Scared at how fast we could go so far without realising it.”

“You were angry with me, Seth. You were right to be.”

“No, I just told you. It wasn't anger – it was fear. Fear of messing up. I want things to be done properly, Dez. We haven't even been on a date yet. You did say you wanted to be a normal couple, right?”

By now I was in his arms again, my head resting on his chest where I could hear the steady rhythm of his heart –
lub-dub, lub-dub.
He gave me a quick squeeze then steered me out of the bathroom, past my bedroom door and towards the stairs.

“Safer if we go sit in the lounge, yeah?”

“Suppose so.” I agreed.

Although we sat together on the sofa, we merely held hands and avoided any serious kissing. My earlier reaction had created a reluctance to try anything more than an occasional peck on the cheek for now. I sighed and leaned my head back onto an over-stuffed cushion.

“What's it like to be normal?” I asked. “I've forgotten.”

“Wouldn't know,” he replied. He paused before continuing, “I'm a freak just like you.” His grin softened the words and I knew he was trying to lighten the mood. “Maybe not
quite
like you,” he added on seeing my raised eyebrow.

“Tell.” I sat up straight, wanting to hear his explanation.

He hesitated for a moment then said, “I haven't connected to my PT either.”

“WHAT?” I leapt to my feet and glowered at him, “You mean all this time I've been going through hell thinking I'm the only one with this … this defect, you've been the same?”

At least he had the decency to look ashamed!

“Seems I've got to apologise yet again,” he sighed. “Sorry for not being up-front with you. Surely you, of all people, understand why I didn't let on straight away? Then you were all upset about your PT not connecting and I didn't get chance to say anything. And when you were going to see Alvin, I thought I'd see if it worked for you before I tried it. 'Course now you're open on all channels it's scared me off! I'd rather one of us had a reasonably empty head!”

I wasn't sure whether to be angry at his apparently selfish attitude in allowing me to take all the risks with the hypnotherapy, or to be happy that, at last, I knew he understood some of what I'd gone through since my Sixteenth-Eve Party.

“Yeah – your head is definitely the empty one around here!” I grabbed the cushion and started to whack him with it – just as the 'rents came in from their walk. Luckily, the cushion was still intact so Mum's initial irritation quickly disappeared.