The Dream Jumper's Pursuit Page 22

  “You agreed,” Rose said.

  “Where were you that day?” Carrie interrupted. “Chris flew for four hours to get him. He waited all day. You never showed!” The background noise of Chris and Wyatt splashing in the pool contrasted to Carrie’s words.

  Kevin looked at Carrie. “I’m sorry. We started over that way, but Rose had a really bad day and I was worried about her.”

  Rose ignored Kevin’s words, instead whispering to her mother.

  Kevin continued, “Rose said if she lost Wyatt, there’d be no reason to continue. So I made a plan to come to Nicaragua. I didn’t know if there was a warrant out for my arrest and didn’t want to risk getting arrested if Chris had a bounty hunter with him. I needed to get Rose to her mother before I got caught.” He looked over to Jean, who obviously loved Kevin and gave him a smile that told him that.

  “My turn.” Carrie sat down in a chair across from Kevin and took a deep breath. “I hate both of you for doing this to our family.” She looked at Rose. “I hate you, Rose. Do you understand that?” She said the last part patronizingly. “I’d like to have you both arrested and sit in jail in orange jumpsuits while they evaluate how crazy you actually are. Both of you. But I think you have bigger problems, and I’m not going to have you arrested. What happens to Rose is up to Jamey and Tina. And what happens to you, Kevin, Chris and I have already decided. We never want to see you again in Carnation. When Wyatt is eighteen, he may choose to get in touch with you, but I never want your presence, or your cuckoo wife’s presence, to tarnish my doorstep, or telephone or contact my family. You understand? No coming near any of us.”

  The lines in Kevin’s face had deepened in the last few weeks. He looked sad, but thankful. “I do.”

  Carrie stood and went outside to the pool, looking like she’d had enough.

  Tina glanced at Jean and Bob, then spoke. “As far as Rose goes, she needs treatment. I’m sure you know that. Maybe in a home where they can watch her.” Tina asked for a promise that Rose would get professional treatment. “I don’t want to send her to jail. I just want her to get over this devastating loss and get back to normal.”

  Jean let out a deep breath. “Thank you. And I’m so sorry that Mary Rose caused any of this,” she said through tears. “I apologize. Thank you for letting both of them go. Mary Rose will get help. I’ll see to it.” Her expression of worry was that of a mother in crisis. “Bob’s trying to get in touch with Brenda now to see if we can get an emergency appointment,” she nodded at Annie and her husband who was on the phone. “Then, when I take her home to Florida, we’ll get her into a facility. I won’t forget this, and I won’t let her down.”

  Kevin sat forward. “I want to go with Rose.”

  Bob finished his phone call and spoke. “She can take us in two hours.” He nodded to his wife. “We’ll stay in a hotel in Granada tonight.”

  There was nothing more to say. It was over. Rose would get help and Kevin would go with them. Tina heard Kevin outside telling Wyatt he’d see him soon, even though he knew he wouldn’t.

  “See you soon, raccoon,” Wyatt added.

  Jamey followed the procession outside intending to take Kevin aside before he left the property to threaten him within an inch of his life. The baby monitor indicated that Kai was waking and instead of waiting, like at home, Tina went into the guest room to be the first thing her sweet child saw when he looked around.

  When Jamey joined the others on the patio, he looked Tina’s way and made a nipple twisting motion with his hand. She shook her head and tried to not smile at her husband. Apparently Kevin had been warned.

  Diego brought four beers outside and set them on the table. “Let’s talk for a minute,” he said.

  Tina handed Jamey a beer, but didn’t take one for herself. A feeding was coming up. Besides, keeping a clear head seemed like a good idea right now. Rose was crazy, Kevin was desperate, Carrie and Chris had been through hell, and Noble was trying to kill her. Kai’s cheerful smile between his chubby cheeks reminded her that she had something good and pure in her life, something indeed to be thankful for.

  Annie approached the patio, the dogs trailing her, and took a beer. “Wyatt and his folks are down the road singing to the monkeys. That kid looks so happy.” She sat in a lounge chair beside her husband. “This has been a very unusual weekend.”

  Tina agreed. “It’ll take a while to decompress from everything.” She looked at her husband who had to be overloaded with emotions and information. “We are going to sleep for a week when we get home.”

  “I’m not happy letting those two go,” Jamey added, shaking his head.

  Diego nodded. “This therapist in Granada specializes in loss and grief.” He looked to his wife to continue.

  “Brenda’s good and she’ll recommend the best treatment when Rose leaves here. I’ve been going to her for years.” Annie looked at Jamey and Tina. “I promise, I will monitor her.”

  “We’d really appreciate that.” Tina said. “I need to know that her spiritual advisor isn’t still telling her to kill babies.”

  Chapter 22

  After the taxi pulled away from the stand outside the Granada cemetery with Carrie, Chris and Wyatt, Jamey reached for his wife. “Alone at last.” He smirked, something she credited to his ability to bounce back from strange situations. Looking her in the eyes, he spoke. “Leilani is an activity consultant on Front Street around the corner from the shop.”

  Somewhere across the street a dog barked several times. “And someone you text?” Tina went ridged, her head tilted as she looked into her husband’s eyes.

  Jamey laughed and blew out through his teeth. “If you looked on my phone, Darlin’, you probably saw that she texts me. I don’t text her.”

  Tina stood back, crossed her arms, and waited.

  “Does it make you feel any better to hear that Leilani is just coming out of the closet as a transgender? It’s true that we’ve developed a friendship and on her part maybe she feels something more. But she knows I’m married to the woman of my dreams.”

  “I saw your expression. You smirk when she texts.” Tina waited.

  “I do. She’s funny. And, I can’t believe that after a decade of no one liking me in that way, I suddenly have attracted the attention of a woman trapped in a man’s body.” He took her shoulders in his arms. “You might be flattered too, Tina. I happen to think it’s kind of sweet.” He stared at her. “I smile at the texts because Leilani was raised Justin from Wailuku and because she’s funny.” His smile changed to a serious expression. “I watched her change from Justin the activity sales person to Leilani and we flirt because she doesn’t deserve to be shot down. She’s had a very hard life.” He looked at her tenderly. “I’ll tell her to stop when we get home, if she hasn’t already. Personally, I think she’s just practicing on me because she knows I’m safe.”

  Tina knew this was the truth. The words were solid and held a validity that was pure Jamey. How had she thought otherwise? “You’re a good man, Jamey.” She looked in the backseat of the truck’s cab where Kai was asleep. “It’s amazing what our son sleeps through,” she smiled.

  “Come on, Mrs. Dunn. Let’s put that to the test.”

  On their way to the hotel, Tina noticed how tired her husband looked. His eyes were sunken. She felt badly that she had one last bomb to drop before they went to sleep but she had to tell him now. Especially because they were hoping to encounter Noble in a dream that night.

  She timed the conversation, so they’d only have a minute or two before they reached the hotel. Taking a deep breath, she imagined herself jumping off a dock into cold water. “Since Kai was born, I’ve dreamed of Noble. A lot.” She took a breath. “I thought it was my hindbrain dreams working through guilt I felt for his suicide. Now I’m not sure.”

  Jamey looked over. “Why didn’t you tell me?” His face took on that pulled look of concern and anger.

  “I told Doc Chan.”

  “So back on Maui? What were the d
reams?” His jaw looked tight enough to snap.

  “In the first ones he told me he missed me, Hank missed me. We were the three amigos. He said it was lonely being gone. Without me. For both of them.” She looked out the passenger window of Diego’s car. “I thought I was making it up. That it was just a dream. Doctor Chan said to take charge next time, tell him that he made bad choices that almost ruined my life. That type of thing.” Tina didn’t want to upset Jamey, but if they were going to go looking for Noble later, he needed to know this. “So I did, but it didn’t work. He was persistent. I wondered if I was just torturing myself with thoughts of him. Then I started jumping out of dreams where he was waiting for me. Once you almost ran into him in a dream, but he disappeared before you saw him.”

  “Tina.” Jamey sounded disappointed.

  “And once I dreamed of him walking in to his childhood home in Compton. It was a remembrance. His mother lay in a lump on the couch, the TV was loud, and she was high on something. Probably heroin. Hank told me once his mother was a junkie and now that I know Noble was his brother… Anyways, Noble walked in and went over to the couch. He picked up a blanket to cover her and told her he loved her. He looked so genuine. Then he picked up the syringe and pushed the contents into her arm.” Tina shivered.

  Jamey pulled into the parking lot behind the hotel and parked the truck. “What happened then?”

  “I think he killed his mother.” Bile rose in her throat.

  “What a life.” Jamey took a deep breath. “He’s been getting into your dreams for a reason. Do you see that now?”

  She nodded.

  “He’s fricking dangerous, Tina. I want you to call me into the dream next time you see that God damned killer. You get me in there, regardless. Agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  Jamey closed the truck door and came around to her side. “And I want you to remember that even though I don’t initiate jumps anymore, I’m the expert at this. Can we agree on that?”

  She’d never doubted that. “Absolutely. You are the expert.”

  He unstrapped Kai from the car seat and put the sleeping baby against his shoulder. “We’re going in tonight to put an end to this bullshit.”

  ***

  On their way from the parking lot, Jamey crossed to the park to grab some vigoron for their dinner. He’d said this local food was delicious and wanted Tina to try it. A kiosk at the corner of the park sold the town’s best local fare and along with cobs of corn, it sounded perfect for tonight. Once back in the room, Tina spread a towel on the King bed in preparation. Her stomach felt like an empty pit.

  When Jamey arrived, they ate the pork, salad, and cassava wrapped in plantain leaves, washing everything down with beer for him and a diet coke for her. Kai was wide awake, sitting in his stroller. Between bites, Tina finished feeding him his cereal and veggies. The evening was still young and they had time to talk about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. It had been a crazy time and they both admitted their exhaustion. Soon enough, they developed a plan for dreaming that night.

  When the last bite was gone, Tina gathered up the empty food wrappers while Jamey took Kai out to the balcony to see the horses. Stepping into the pristine white bathroom, she showered off the remnants of the sweat and dust from the last day. She stood for a few minutes to let the hot water pelt her aching shoulders.

  Coming out of the steamy bathroom, she went to the balcony doorway. Kai was still with his Daddy, watching the horses and flapping his arms. Jamey had a big grin on his face, taking such delight in his son. “If we dream tonight, and Noble appears, I will be screaming at you to join me,” she said, walking up to her husband and putting her arms around his waist. Her cheek rested on his warm back.

  “Get me in there, and I’ll take care of the rest,” Jamey said. She felt him take a deep breath. “I’m going to try to kill him, so if you have a problem with that, you can step aside. Or you can remember that he tried to kill you, and he tried to get Rose to kill our child.”

  “I understand.” She wasn’t worried at all that Jamey might kill Noble. She was worried that it might go the other way. “I’ll help, if I can.”

  “Just don’t leave me there, Darlin’. Keep close, but not close to Noble or he’ll use you against me in a hostage situation. Don’t get close enough for him to grab you when things start going down.”

  Jamey sounded like such a badass. She took a deep breath of his sweaty shirt and man smell, realizing how much she loved that scent.

  Later, when Kai fell into a deep sleep, Jamey and Tina stood at the sink brushing their teeth, their eyes locked in the mirror. She didn’t know if she’d have this dream jumping ability if she’d never met Jamey, but she was glad to have him as her guide through all this craziness. Without him, she might still be having dreams of Hank swimming off Molokai, with nothing resolved. Slowly going crazy by herself. Certainly, she wouldn’t have moved on from that horrible year after Hank went missing, and there would never be Kai.

  She wiped the remainder of the toothpaste from her mouth and laid her cheek against Jamey’s muscular shoulder. “I love you, Jamey Dunn,” she whispered. “I love you so much it kind of hurts sometimes.”

  “I’m here, Darlin’.”

  “I’m kind of scared about dreaming tonight.”

  He reached up to touch her face, then leaned over and spit into the sink. “Trust me,” he mumbled.

  They slipped between the crisp, white, hotel sheets and turned to each other. Without words or a plan, they kissed. First just a friendly kiss goodnight, then another. Deeper. Then Jamey’s hands found their way up under her sleepshirt to her breasts and she sighed against his mouth. Knowing what was ahead in their dreams, they prolonged the inevitable for another hour. A delicious hour of making love, reassuring each other with their bodies that they put each other first. Jamey was in no hurry and that was fine with Tina. She hadn’t felt the freedom to love her husband like this in months, maybe longer. The absence of worry was freeing, and a long time after that first kiss, they lay together catching their breath.

  “We need to do exactly this, more often,” Jamey said pulling out of her and settling on the bed.

  “I agree,” she curled into his side and threw her top leg over his thigh. “Nicely done, Soldier Boy.”

  They lay listening to the noises in the street below their balcony, the whir of the room’s air-conditioning and each other’s heart beats. Soon after, Tina fell into a dream in which she was buying a house at a ski resort, touring the home with her real estate agent. When Noble walked into the room, the agent disappeared.

  “Noble.” She tried to sound calm, but hadn’t expected to see him so soon, or in this dream. Jamey hadn’t even arrived. It was like Noble had been waiting for her. The idea sent a chill through her dream.

  “Together again. Finally.” He walked slowly towards her.

  “I’m buying this house. Do you like it?” Was her shaking voice noticeable?

  “I like it if you like it.” This Noble was cagey, scary. He had a smirk on his face she didn’t like.

  Looking into the snowy backyard, she willed Jamey into the dream, tried to call to him silently. They’d gone to sleep holding hands, vowing to jump together. He said he’d stay awake to watch her and he’d know when she was falling in to a dream. Why wasn’t he here?

  Noble came up behind Tina and massaged her shoulders. “You’re tense.”

  “Buying a house is stressful.” His fingers on her skin had made her muscles lock up in fear. Could he stab her?

  “We both know you’re not buying a house.” He chuckled and stopped rubbing her shoulders, using his grip to turn her around to face him.

  She reminded herself that she needed to take charge. If Jamey wasn’t coming, she had to control her own dream. Taking two steps back she folded her arms across her chest and stared at the man who’d wanted her dead. “What do you mean by finally?”

  “I couldn’t get in for a while. Almost like you
were trying to avoid me. But now here we are.” Noble had a rakishly handsome smile.

  “I’m not coming with you, Noble.”

  “I think you are.”

  Next, they were in a dark room, sitting behind a table with various weapons laid out. “See the control I have over you?” He turned his chair so their legs were touching. “This is actually pretty cool. As a dead guy, I can enter your dreams and make up shit, go places, take you with me.”

  She hoped that wasn’t exactly true but didn’t want to try to block him again in case Jamey was lurking. “Noble. This is a mistake.” Where the hell was Jamey? She screamed his name in her head, tried to summon him. It occurred to her that she might not be safe with Noble and tried to leave the dream. She couldn’t.

  Noble looked around the room and back to the table of weapons. He seemed pleased. “I’ve been waiting to bring you here.”

  She stood and backed away from the table, remembering what Jamey said about not getting close to Noble. “You need to move on, be with Hank, or whatever you want to do. I’m not coming with you.” She walked around the table. “Tell Hank I’m very disappointed in him. And I’m very disappointed in you, Noble. For someone who professed to love me, someone I loved, I now find you detestable.”

  Noble tented his hands on the table and smiled.

  By now she stood on the other side of the table, at least ten feet away. “How many times do you and Hank have to ruin my life? Wasn’t it enough what you did to me when you were alive? You have to kill me too? Look at me, you coward!”

  He did and an emotion flickered briefly across his face. Loathing. He hated her. Up until now, she thought he might love her.

  “If Hank is the one who is controlling you, Nolan,” she made a decision to use his real name, the one his mother used, “you need to get a backbone and walk away from this.”

  “It’s because of my backbone that I’m in this.” Noble picked up a gun and aimed it at her. “It was my idea. Don’t you get it by now? I call all the shots. Not Hank. I’ve always been in charge. Hank only married you because I told him to. He was always under my thumb. And you. Without knowing, you’ve been under my thumb, too. Poor Ti.” He looked at her with pity. “Life has been hard for you, Tina. First you lose a twin, then Hank.” He twirled the gun around then put it on the table and picked up a sharp knife. “Then your father dies unexpectedly.” Noble sliced his finger on the blade’s edge, drawing blood, then licked it. “Then your baby dies.”