Conduit (32 page)

After David finished cleaning up the
broken glass from the floor, he left Emily alone in the room to rest. She spent
the time trying not to regret her decision to help Cassie. She also called out
to Jake whenever the darkness seemed to retreat a bit in her mind, but she
worried about calling out to him too much, for fear David would know and take
action.

About a half hour after David left, Emily tested her legs by
focusing on her muscles one by one and tensing them. They responded without hesitation.
Emily sat up straight and moved her legs over the edge of the bed. She put a
slight amount of weight on her legs to make sure they would hold, and slid off
the bed. While a bit wobbly, her legs held up under her weight.

Her first task was to explore the room and see if she could
locate or craft a weapon. She needed privacy to accomplish her goals, and that
meant closing the door so David couldn’t hear her wander about the room. She
turned the doorknob and shut the door with care.

With her mind clear for the first time since David’s needle
punctured her skin, she moved through the room. She rifled through the closet, thinking
she would be able to use a metal or even wooden rod, but he had removed those
from the closet. A few plastic hooks hung on the walls, holding up dresses
similar to the one outside the closet door. She had hoped he had some shoes for
her, but none sat on the closet floor.

Her own socks and shoes, removed while she slept, were
nowhere to be found. The deliberate move on David’s part gave her insight into
both his organized planning and intelligence. If she managed to escape, she
wouldn’t be able to run as fast with bare feet, limiting her ability to get
away from him.

Emily turned her attention to the dresser. Only the middle
drawer contained any clothing, a handful of panties and three silk nightgowns.
When she raced out of her house in the middle of the night she wasn’t able to
change out of her pajamas so she had not been able to put on a bra. He had put
none in the drawer for her. She mused that, like being denied access to shoes,
not allowing her to wear a bra was another way to make her feel helpless around
him.

Bracing her hands on the edge of the dresser, Emily bowed
her head and closed her eyes. Even though he had the upper hand, she could not
allow him to control her emotions or break her. He would do everything he could
to make her understand he was in control. Even loving actions like cleaning up
her head wound and bringing her aspirin were thinly disguised ways to make her
trust him. He wanted her to be dependent on him for all her needs, while
keeping her subservient to his own whims and desires.

She needed to let him think he controlled her, while not
relinquishing herself to him. If she let that happen, she would never find her
way back to Jake. The darkness in her mind had already taken over and
extinguished Jake’s light. Though grateful it no longer made her ill, she
wondered if that was only because it had almost consumed her.

Continuing her search for a weapon, she found that the toilet
paper holder and towel racks were missing from the bathroom walls. She looked
at the toilet seat and noticed he had taken off the lid to the tank. Everything
she could possibly use as a weapon was removed from the room. She imagined the
rest of the house was also void of any potential weapons.

Two clean, white towels sat on the closed toilet seat lid for
her use after her shower, along with a roll of toilet paper. The words of his
note came back to her. He wanted her to shower and wear the dress hanging on
the closet door. After ignoring the note ended with her falling and cutting her
head and arm, Emily planned on following the rest of his instructions exactly
as dictated in his note.

She turned to the shower and rotated the faucet. She lifted
the diverter and water shot out from the showerhead. Cool water splashed on her
hand and she looked around the shower while she waited for it to warm. A plastic
shower caddy containing shampoo, conditioner, and body wash sat in the corner
of the tub. He had provided everything she needed, demonstrating how well he
planned for this day. She undressed and climbed under the warm stream of water.

When she went to the alley to convince him to give up
Cassie, she had no thoughts beyond Cassie’s safety. There was no master plan to
get away from him and get back to Jake. With no weapons available to her, Emily
wondered how long it would take to escape. His smothering feelings for her and
the mention of a move to a new home made his intentions for their lives
together clear. The amount of time she had to get away from him was running out.

David’s efforts controlled even the smallest of details. He
had handpicked everything in her room, from the dress he wanted her to wear
right down to the conditioner she rinsed out of her hair. She had no choice but
to use what he gave her and to do everything he said. If she didn’t keep him
happy at all times, she could end up like one of his many victims. Even though
he treated her with love and respect, he was capable of atrocities that defied
everything he appeared to be. She had seen his handiwork through Lionel’s
memories. Even for a second, Emily couldn’t forget what he could do to her if
she stumbled.

She turned off the water and dried her body with the towel.
She secured a towel around her body and a second one over her wet hair. Opening
the medicine cabinet to the right of the vanity, she found deodorant, baby
powder, perfume, and makeup.

She crouched on the floor, opened the doors on the vanity, and
found a brush and a hairdryer. Because he picked everything out for her, he was
trying to force her to be what he wanted. It would take everything she had to
remember her identity, especially if she were with him for any length of time.
She couldn’t succumb to him in that way.

After styling her hair, applying her makeup, and re-bandaging
her head and arm, she exited the bathroom and went to the dresser to get a
clean pair of panties. Her insides cringed at the thought of wearing anything he
picked out, especially intimate undergarments, but Emily stepped into the panties
and pulled them on under the towel.

At the closet door, she removed the dress from its hook. Thin
straps, lace trim, and red roses added an elegant touch to the simplistic
sundress. The towel peeled away from her body and she slid the dress over her
head. Much shorter than she liked, the dress fell just below the tops of her
thighs.

She smoothed down the material and realized it perfectly fit
her shape. Either David was an expert at telling what size women wore, or he
had been in her home, rifling through her clothing without her knowledge. Emily
suspected it was the latter. When Jake found her and took her home, she would
have to donate her clothes and get a whole new wardrobe. She couldn’t wear any
of her clothes knowing David might have touched them.

Emily hung the damp towels on the wall of the bathtub and
folded her dirty clothes, leaving them on top of the toilet seat. She squirted
one last spray of the musky perfume on her neck. She wanted him to be satisfied
with her appearance to keep him happy. Once he was at ease and let his guard
down, it would be the perfect time for her to escape. While she hoped that time
came as soon as possible, she feared it might take weeks for him to get to that
point and she didn’t know where in the country she would be.

Taking several deep breaths, Emily moved to the bedroom
door. It was time for her to face David and play her part in his chilling
charade. She closed her eyes and called out to Jake one more time.

As soon as Jake could no longer hear
Lionel and Shawn’s footsteps walking away from Cassie’s room, he asked, “What
are you hiding from Leo and Shawn? What was all this stuff about previous
attempts?”

“Emily’s not the first girl he’s done this to,” Cassie said.
“He’s tried to connect with other psychics through victims before now, but wasn’t
successful so he killed them. Since he connected with Emily, he thinks they
belong together. Now, what are you hiding from them?”

Jake took a deep breath. He stood up and dug in the front
pocket of his jeans. “I never thought in a million years I would hide something
from the police.” Jake pulled out the note Emily left for him and handed it to
Cassie.

“I’ve been doing it for at least that long. My uncle
is
the police.” Cassie’s mouth moved as
she read the words of the note. When she finished reading, she folded the note and
looked off to the side. After a long moment she raised her eyes to Jake’s face.
“Alright, so now we know what she wants us to do.”

“I’m not quite sure what it is, but we have to do something
and very quickly.” He pulled his chair up closer to her bed and sat back down. “I
can’t stand the idea that she is with him and I keep thinking about what he
might be doing to her right now.”

“She saved my life out there, Jake.” Cassie’s eyes filled
with tears. “If she hadn’t come, I would be dead or wishing I was dead. We can’t
leave her there for much longer or he will kill her.”

“I’m not going to let that happen, but I don’t know how you’re
going to take me somewhere if you’re stuck in here with a gunshot wound. I’ve
been calling out to her all day, but it’s not working. It’s like she
disappeared.”

“Her note says I’m supposed to take you where we went
yesterday.” Cassie nodded her head and her eyes lit up. “Of course. It’s worth
a shot, at least.”

For the first time since finding the note that morning, Jake
had a bit of hope. “What is it?”

“First, you need to get me out of here.”

“I don’t think the doctors will let you out quite yet.”

Cassie waved her hand. “Forget about the doctors. My clothes
are in that closet over there,” she said, pointing across the room. “I just
need to get this IV out. We’ll have to time this so the nurses aren’t hovering near
the room, and I will probably need your help walking straight since I’m a
little woozy with these meds.”

“This is beyond crazy.”

“Welcome to my world,” Cassie said. She tugged at the
adhesive tape that secured the IV in the back of her left hand. “Unplug the
machine so it doesn’t beep all over the place when I take this out.”

Jake reached behind the IV machine and found the plug on the
wall. He pulled it out of the outlet and let Cassie know she could remove the
needle.

Cassie sat still, her hand resting on the IV needle. “You
know in the movies how the hero just yanks this thing out of his arm and runs
off to save the girl?”

Jake nodded.

“That’s not happening today. You’re going to have to do
this, because I might just throw up. I hate needles.”

“You are so lucky I used to have to do things like this for
my mom.” Jake walked around the bed to her right side. “Look away and it’ll be
easier.”

Cassie obeyed him by looking toward the door. “Give me a
heads-up that you’re doing it, okay?”

“Okay,” Jake said. He positioned his hands so he could take
the needle out straight. “Here we go. One...” He pulled the needle out.

“Ouch!” Cassie said as quietly as she could. She frowned at
him and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “You’re supposed to wait until
three.”

“I never said I was counting to three,” Jake said. He walked
over to the slender closet in her room and took out a plastic hospital bag that
contained her clothes and shoes. He walked back to the bed, but averted his
eyes when she took off the sling and started removing her hospital gown. “Hey!
You need to wait just a second so I can turn around.”

“This is not the time to be shy, Jake. I need your help
getting dressed,” she said. “I got shot in the arm, remember?”

“Ah, jeez,” he said. “This wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Let’s never tell Emily about this, okay? I’d rather not
have that conversation with her.”

“Agreed.”

After Jake helped her dress, he held out his arm. Cassie grasped
his arm for support and climbed out of the bed. “I think I can do this,” she
said, “but I wish we could take the morphine pump with us.”

Jake steered her to the door of the room. “Hold on one
second,” he said. He opened the door, poked his head out, and looked both ways.
Cassie’s room was only a few doors away from the stairs, and he saw no nurses
or other staff lingering in the hall near her room. “It may hurt a bit, but we
need to move quickly before someone comes this way,” he said.

“Let’s hurry up then.”

He led her out of the room and they moved to the stairwell.
He opened the door and, holding onto Cassie tightly, they maneuvered down three
flights of stairs. Cassie’s surge of strength amazed Jake. She only stopped a
few times on the stairs and kept moving without complaint.

At the bottom of the stairwell, he said, “Let me go get the Jeep
out of the parking garage and—”

“No. It’ll look strange if I’m standing here by myself.
Besides, there’s no telling when they might notice my room is empty and come
looking for me.”

Jake examined her ashen face. “Just promise me you will come
straight back here as soon as we find Emily.”

“Oh, believe me, I will. I want all the pain medication I’m
entitled to.”

He managed to get Cassie to the parking garage and into his
Jeep without too much trouble. Once she settled into the seat, she reclined the
seat back and closed her eyes. “Are you doing okay?” Jake asked.

“Yeah,” she said, in between shallow breaths. “Head over to
Hillside and turn left.”

Jake followed her directions for several minutes. When he
parked in front of Marta’s Floral and Gift, a strange calm rushed over him. He
walked around to the passenger side of the Jeep to help Cassie out. “How do you
know about Marta?” he asked.

“Emily brought me here yesterday. It’s where we learned
about conduits.” Cassie climbed out of the Jeep with his assistance. “Wait. How
do
you
know about Marta?” she asked.

“I came here all the time with Janie before she died. After
that, I didn’t come around as much, and then I moved away from Wichita after
high school. Marta makes the best cookies.”

They stepped into the store and the ambience whisked him back
in time. He could almost see Janie running up the aisle back to Marta’s office,
where they would eat fresh cookies and ask Marta questions about their budding
abilities.

Marta walked down that aisle now with a welcoming smile. “Little
Jake Hanley grew up on me,” she said. She enveloped him in her arms. “Cassie,
it’s good to see you again as well. In fact, it’s good that you’re both here,”
she said, her tone distressed. “We need to get to work right away.” They
followed her back to her office.

Despite the situation, Jake smiled at the familiar plate of
cookies on the coffee table. “Peanut butter with chocolate chips,” he said, and
reached for a cookie.

“Your favorite,” Marta said. “Cassie, I made a fresh batch
of your cookies as well.”

“I already gained five pounds from the cookies yesterday,”
she said, “but I can’t resist another one.” She grabbed a cookie off the plate
and steered it into her mouth.

“Jake, I always knew you and Emily would find each other one
day,” Marta said. “I just wish you were here visiting me together instead of
under these circumstances.”

Jake sat on the edge of the couch across from her. “How do
you know Emily?”

“Her aunt and I were best friends for decades until she
passed away,” she said. “I helped Susan teach Emily most of what she knows.
Emily stopped coming to see me not long after Susan died, and there is so much more
for her to learn.”

He remembered seeing other kids coming in and out of the
shop from time to time. “I don’t think I ever met Emily.”

“You didn’t,” Marta said. “You were always missing each
other, but that’s okay. You weren’t meant to meet until now.”

“Do you know why we’re here?” Cassie asked.

Her memory-filled, light-hearted expression crumpled into
downcast eyes. “Emily disappeared into the darkness early this morning and she
needs Jake to find her.”

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Jake said. “How do I find
her?”

Marta stared into his eyes. “You’ve connected with her on
such a deep level that I could see you in her yesterday. You need to use that
connection now to find her.”

It didn’t matter what it took, he would find her. “What do I
need to do?”

“Take Cassie’s hand and both of you close your eyes. Cassie
is Emily’s conduit and has been for years, so she will help guide you to her.”

Cassie slid her hand into Jake’s and he grasped it tight.
His eyes shut and he tried to eliminate all other thoughts from his mind except
Emily.

Marta’s hypnotic tone entered his ears. “Cassie, I need you
to focus only on Emily. Because you’re her conduit, thinking of only her will create
a great energy in your mind. I want you to shift that energy into Jake through
the portal of his hand. Jake, before you do anything, your mind must be clear
of every pollutant. For this to work, nothing can be left in your mind except
for Emily.”

Jake repeated Emily’s name in his mind over and over until he
felt nothing else but her.

“Bring the connection you have with Emily to the surface of
your mind,” Marta said. “Imagine she is right next to you. Visualize her, use
the strength of your love for her.”

Warmth radiated from Cassie’s hand, and Jake used that
energy to call an image of Emily to the front of his mind. He pictured her
lying next to him last night, as he held onto her hand and helped rid her of
the darkness. He could almost feel her next to him, and he had to stop from
reaching out to grab onto her.

“Jake, I want you to see her walking away from you, but she’s
leaving a trail of light. Those are your breadcrumbs. If you follow them, you
will find her, but you have to stay focused on her to see them.”

His eyes opened, and the world around him had changed.
Everything appeared the same, only sharper, clearer. In his peripheral vision,
a small light pulsated. When he shifted his eyes away from it, the light
dimmed. “I can see her,” he said.

“That’s the light you’ve left behind in her mind,” Marta said.
“It was always there, but I’ve given you a visual cue so you can see what you
already sense. Follow it, and you will find her.”

“Do I need to take Cassie with me for this to work?”

“No,” Marta said. “Cassie’s work is done and she must return
to the hospital now. I’ll take her there so you can find Emily.”

“Cassie, keep your cell phone on,” Jake said. “As soon as I
get an address, I’ll call you. Then you can call Leo so he can get out there
right away.”

Cassie wrapped her good arm around him in a strong embrace. “Please
hurry. Bring Emily home.”

“I will,” he said. He walked around the table and hugged
Marta as well. “Thank you so much,” he said. “I couldn’t have found her without
you.”

“I know, dear,” she said. “After all of this is done, I want
you to come see me together.”

“We will.” Jake rushed out of the office and toward the
front door of the shop. When he reached the door, Marta’s voice called his name,
and he waited for her at the door.

Marta took his arm and locked eyes with him. “Jake, would
you give your life for Emily?”

His lips parted and his skin prickled. “I don’t...I don’t
understand.”

“Sooner or later you will need to answer that question, so
you better be sure of your response. Would you die for her?” Marta let go of his
arm and walked back down the aisle toward her office.

Jake remained still for a moment to consider Marta’s words, and
then sprung out the front door and into his Jeep. The time he had left to find
Emily suddenly seemed to be running out.