Authors: Paula Bradley
Through the living room window, Winters watched Mariah pace back and forth across the backyard. Of late, he had finally taken an interest in her quirky habits, what with everyone pointing them out to him all the time. Even his scientists had become apprehensive; what was going on?
He could trace her odd behavior back to the day she woke from her coma. Gabriel Winters tried to explain to everyone that, of course she wasn’t the same. If what happened altered her appearance so drastically, what did they expect from her mental state?
What
did
interest him was the increase in her psychic strength. Gone were the puppet shows and the rotating pencils. Mariah Carpenter was focused—and deadly serious. At first it was exciting, watching her elevate and toss bigger and bigger rocks. He didn’t have to be told that the heavier the object, the more psychic energy was needed.
Like the morning he watched her staring at an unaware Jonathan Lurie sitting in a kitchen chair, reading the newspaper. Her focused concentration reminded him of a tiger stalking its prey. His eyes never left her face until he heard Jonathan’s chair scrape against the floor; then he watched the chair levitate about four inches off the ground.
As Jonathan yelped and held on to the sides, Gabriel’s eyes swiveled back to Mariah’s face. He noted the narrowing of her eyes as she kept the chair floating for approximately five seconds then brought it gently back to its original position.
Smiling thinly, her face had the look of a task completed rather than delight at a feat accomplished. Without taking her eyes from Lurie’s chair, she had said, “So,
Agent
Winters, how am I doing?”
He disliked her knowing what he was thinking (without psychically reading his mind), not to mention where he was all the time. If
he
was watching
her
, she sure was keeping track of him. Being adept at body language and voice innuendoes, Gabriel Winters had picked up the emphasis on the word “agent” and it puzzled him.
Coming back to the present, he noted that Mariah had stopped pacing. Her arms were folded across her chest; with her back to him, she seemed to be staring at the line of trees up the hill.
He stiffened. Did she see the surveillance van partially hidden between the knoll and the service road? Winters knew they had done a great job camouflaging the van from prying eyes, it being nearly a quarter of a mile away and in a slight depression caused by the knoll.
Impossible to see from the house or the yard.
Impossible for anyone with normal vision
, a little voice whispered in his head. He shuddered; his eyes narrowed as he stared at her back.
But in the next instant, Gabriel Winters’s fears were allayed as he spotted movement twenty feet up the incline.
Mariah was not staring at the trees. Her attention was riveted on a boulder partially buried in dirt and rocks and weeds. He watched in fascination as stones, soil, and scrub covering the boulder flew into the air, exposing more and more of the boulder’s surface. It looked to be around four hundred pounds. When she’d cleaned away as much as she intended, she dropped her arms by her side and continued to stand rigidly as if she was made of stone herself. Winters happened to glance down at her hands; they were closed into fists.
And then the incline that held the boulder in place for possibly tens of thousands of years began to tremble. Even though he couldn’t hear anything, he saw hairline fissures in the dirt, like a miniature earthquake spreading out from its epicenter.
Astonished, Winters watched the stone begin to change color. Slightly pink at first, it deepened to a ruby red, finally becoming the color of molten lava. Smaller rocks tumbled down the hill, some of them hitting Mariah’s legs and feet. She never moved.
And then ...
Booooom
!
The noise split the air like jets breaking the sound barrier—and the boulder exploded into thousands of pieces.
Mariah stumbled backwards, spun around, and ran for the house. Rock chunks of various sizes flew everywhere, hitting the patio furniture and smashing into the house while dirt rained down over everything.
She came flying into the house like she was being chased by a grizzly bear, tearing around the living room corner at the same time Winters was coming from the opposite direction. As they collided, he caught her by the shoulders and held her at arms’ length, studying her flushed face, making sure she was unharmed.
She was wildly elated, grinning from ear to ear. With a deep breath, she brought herself under control. As her smile evaporated and her eyes became hooded, he let her go. Staring at him, she said softly, “Better than a puppet show, right
Agent
Winters?”
“Very impressive, Ms. Carpenter. The next time we need to excavate, we’ll call the Carpenter Earth Moving Company.” His sarcasm, accompanied by the arch of one eyebrow prompted Mariah to stare into his eyes knowing her yellow eyeballs and elongated pupils bothered him.
“You won’t have to come looking for me for the
next
demonstration, Gabriel.” Her voice reminded him of the scrape of a pumice stone against brick. They stared at each other for several seconds before she smiled and said off handedly, “Later.” Humming, she sauntered past Reuben Creel and Phillipe LaPrad who had come running after her and were now standing just inside the kitchen door.
The two agents followed Mariah outside. She picked up the recliner, shook off the dirt, curled up in it, and promptly fell asleep.
His Cajun accent more pronounced with his wonderment, Phillipe murmured, “Man, tings ah gettin strange ‘round here, for sure.”
Shaking his head, Reuben whispered back, “Quiet, you’ll wake her up. What do you mean?”
Grinning, Phillipe replied, “You don’ hafta worry ‘bout dat, man. Once she rolls up into a ball an’ falls asleep, like, nuttin gets through. What I meant is, since she’s back from the hospital, she’s, like, been non-stop doin weird shit.”
Reuben had been assigned to this duty only three weeks ago and was just becoming familiar with the basics. He’d been afraid of Mariah Carpenter at first, but that past on his fourth day when she tried to tackle him during an impromptu football game. Holding onto his leg and laughing hysterically, she let him drag her across the goal line with the ball tucked under his arm.
Phillipe stared down at Mariah’s still form. “She’s begun to find more then kidnappers, mah friend. People like drug dealahs, rapists, molestahs an’ murderers. At this point,
no
criminal is safe. In the months since she’s been, like, outta the coma, she’s assisted in the arrest an’ conviction of, like, three of the most powerful drug lords; she’s managed to ‘dissuade’ thirty or so serial rapists from, like, doin the deed; an’ she’s helped us find ‘bout twenny-five murderers. Oh, and deahs, like, thirty or so child molesters she he’ped us round up.”
Phillipe cracked his knuckles and laughed quietly; Reuben looked at him in surprise. “Sorry, man, but I keep thinkin ‘bout the condition of those losers, like, when we or the local police arrive on the scene. Man, talk ‘bout the true meanin of an eye for an eye!” They both grinned at that, having read several of the arrest reports.
“But the best is how she keeps the media away from this house. Someone ratted her out, for sure, prob’ly wunna the neighbors down below. Winters has us push ‘em back to the boundary, dude, but thats all he can do. But them vultures keep circlin back. She’s standin in the front room, like, starin at ‘em an’ cursin, so Winters says to her, do somethin ‘bout it. Man, she gets an evil look in them yellow eyes an’ heads out the front door. She stands on the front lawn, lets ‘em snap away but refuses to, like, answer any of their stupid questions. When they quiet down, she tells ‘em she’s thinkin ‘bout anutha television interview an’ she’ll let ‘em know.”
Phillipe’s eyes twinkled with remembrance. “Dude, when they get insistent, she grins. All of a sudden, pieces start blowin off cameras. Microphones go completely static, an’ jest ‘bout anythin electrical inside their vans fries. An’ she ain’t even twitched. They freak, man, an’ beat a hasty retreat.
“But the
coolest
is the choppers, dude.” Phillipe chortled with glee. “A few come into what she, like, considers
her
space, ‘bout three hundred feet over the house. Man, she jes stares up at ‘em, gives ‘em the finger, an’ their engines start stutterin an’ their instrument panels go blank. Those babies are hard enough to fly without engine an’ instrument problems. So the pilots, like, refuse to fly anywhere near here!”
While the two agents chatted in the backyard, Winters stared gloomily out the window of his makeshift office next to the kitchen.
Two things chased each other around in his head. One: she had addressed him by his first name, something she’d never done before; and two: she was definitely up to something. He was sure it was not just testing her psychic powers. He had to talk to the CIA scientists immediately.
Winters was positive that the only way they could take her in now was under heavy sedation. And not a dose you’d give to a human being. What he had in mind was a tranquilizer dart full of Tranxene meant to stop a charging bull elephant.
And we don’t have a whole lot of time,
he prophesized grimly, the acid in his stomach flaring into full-blown heartburn.
When Thomas returned from a three day photo shoot, he was surprised that Mariah didn’t want to have sex right away. Usually, when he was gone for more than a day, she attacked him at the front door and dragged him upstairs to their bedroom.
When they had gone to bed that evening, he just held her in his arms. He knew she would tell him what was bugging her when she was ready: he was sure it had something to do with Winters.
Thomas, wake up but don’t talk out loud. Just think what you want to say
.
Mmmmph ... whazzamatter? You a’right
?
Yes, sweetheart, I’m fine, but I need to talk to you about something and we can’t talk out loud so I’m in your head
.
Mariah held her breath as his brain emerged from the fog of sleep. She had promised him never to get into his head and violate his private thoughts; however, she hoped he would be okay with it this time, especially when he found out why.
That’s okay
, he sent back to her and she smiled inwardly. Snuggling against him, she sent her love as well as her next thoughts.
Thomas, there are surveillance cameras all over the house. One is behind the mirror facing the bed.
He stiffened and she held him tightly. He was one of those rare people who never asked a lot of superfluous questions, like how she knew this. His mind just proceeded to the next logical question.
Why would the FBI watch us through cameras
? His thoughts were dark and forbidding.
It’s not the FBI, darling. It’s the CIA, headed by a double agent
.
Drawing the correct conclusion, Thomas’s jaw clenched as his fury escalated.
Winters. That fucking bastard. Man, I’m gonna kill him with my bare hands. Not bad enough he’s always skulking around here, now he’s watching us in bed! God help me, I’m serious; I’m going to destroy that weasel prick. I’ll
...
Those were my sentiments exactly,
Mariah sent
. But I believe he’s following someone’s orders. I’m as furious as you are, but I’ve had time to think and do some planning. Listen to me, baby; I have two things to tell you that will tie in with what I have in mind for him and his cohorts
.
Thomas James Raphael became the first recipient of mind transference as Mariah poured information into his brain. It was like watching the sharpest, clearest, most vivid 3-D video he ever saw. She replayed the events from the time the blue light appeared in their filming room to when she lost control of her astral projection and wound up back in her body in the hospital bed. The color, the sound, every minute detail ... it was as if he were with her while the events unfolded.
She stopped momentarily. Would this be the final straw that would send him running? But, no, with his incredible disposition, this wonderful man accepted this as he did everything else in her life.
She showed him the village, the forest, the glade filled with chanting people and the Kana Gidrol, the High Priest of Judaism, he who guarded the secret of the temple of Shen’dalah
.
Thomas was astounded. More so when she revealed there was a treasure within the temple that she was destined to share with the world.
I need your help. I have to leave. And if you’re willing, I want you to go with me. We’ll come back, but from this point on, I can’t promise you our lives will return to anything like it’s been up till now.
Without hesitation, he accepted. He could not imagine life without her. Besides, where she was going—physically, mentally, psychically—was far more exciting than anything he could even imagine and he wanted to be a part of it.
Adding some minor and acceptable changes to her plan, they worked out every detail before he drifted back to sleep with a smile on his face.
Besides contemplating the adventure of a lifetime, Thomas was sure he heard a heavenly choir singing the political demise of Gabriel Winters.
While Thomas attended to the details of their plan, Mariah drove Bellini and French crazy. One minute she was lounging in a chair, reading or watching television. The next she was prowling the perimeter of the house. Several times over the next five days, she caused them fits when they lost her on the monitors. Bellini had previously warned Winters about this camera overlap problem; he finally became concerned when Mariah began disappearing for more than the second or two it should have taken for her to pass through these blind spots.
Mike Ephraim and Giselle Simone suffered the same fate on their shift. Even in the early morning hours, they had to keep changing camera angles when Mariah suddenly moved a piece of furniture and blocked their line of sight.
Winters was not exempt from this collective neurosis. He nearly had apoplexy when Mariah announced that she was tired of the old furniture, especially in her bedroom, and wanted not only to have everything replaced—even what was on the walls—but change the floor plan at the same time. He tried to feign indifference, managing to temporarily dissuade her with some nonsense about redoing the whole house, top to bottom, and hiring an interior decorator. With a devilish grin and an exaggerated wink, she had sauntered away, humming tunelessly. He just knew she was not interested in the décor; she’d said it just to aggravate him.
John French was sure it was a “female thing,” but then he was a chauvinist who blamed everything women did (that he disapproved of) on premenstrual syndrome. Andy Bellini was positive it was cabin fever. Who wouldn’t go stir crazy confined to the house? Ephraim didn’t know what the fuss was all about: nothing was happening, so he pretty much left the speculation to those who liked to work themselves into a frenzy.
However, Giselle Simone, with typical female intuition, felt like she was holding her breath in anticipation of heaven only knew what. She pointed out to the men that, if you watched closely, especially if you caught the look in Mariah’s eyes, you definitely got the impression nothing she did was random. In this, she and Winters were on the same wavelength.
It was the why that stumped Gabriel Winters. He first thought she had somehow discovered the surveillance cameras. Then why didn’t she confront him? And why, all of a sudden, had she started calling him by his first name? It seemed like she was
trying
to provoke him. After several weeks, she was beginning to crack his granite exterior.
Maybe that’s what she wants
, he thought darkly,
for me to lose control
.
Even the FBI agents were wary. Everyone except Mike Ephraim suffered some greater or lesser degree of suspicion and unease. Even though one day slipped into another with nothing happening, their collective perception that something was afoot did not lessen.
One morning approximately two weeks later, Thomas sat on the edge of their bed and said, “Mariah, I’ve been thinking about a change of scenery. I’ve got friends in Chico who’ve been bugging me for over a year to come see their remodeled horse ranch and I keep putting them off. What do you think?”
She paused in the act of folding laundry. “I think you should go. You really need to get away.”
“But I don’t want to ‘get away’ from you. I know; why don’t we sneak off and drive Winters crazy? We’ll leave him a note that says something like ‘See you whenever.’ It’ll drive him nuts. Hey, I like this idea!” His look of innocent delight made her grin.
“Oh, sure. Like he’s going to let me walk out of this house without the militia. You’d think by now he’d have figured out I don’t need his protection.”
Thomas looked up at her longingly. “Why don’t we just pack up and leave permanently? Like you said, you can take care of yourself, and you don’t need these feds dogging you all day. Let’s rent a house in the woods, maybe Santa Cruz.” Excited by his idea, Thomas jumped off the bed and grabbed Mariah from behind, swinging her off her feet and around in a circle.
He finally set her back down but didn’t let her go. He nuzzled her neck and she leaned against him as they both caught their breaths. “I’m afraid if I leave now, they won’t continue to protect my mother and father,” Mariah said softly. “My sister has pretty well chased off the intruders from her home up on her mountain, and Stephen has screwed with the news people so badly that they stay clear of him. But my folks can’t handle the publicity and my mother has become a basket case over this.” Sighing, she slipped from his arms. “I think you should go. Really. And don’t give me that pout. It’s healthy for people to be away from each other every so often.”
They argued for several minutes but it was obvious who was winning. He called the Schultz’s and made the arrangements. Mariah insisted he needed new clothes and was adamant about going to the mall with him. Winters put up only a token resistance to her demand, but he insisted on accompanying them.