Brain Storm (A Taylor Morrison Novel Book 1) (18 page)

“That’s a good question, Taylor,” Trinity chimed in. “Where DID you get that gun?”

“Trinity, I’ve always had that gun. It’s your grandfather’s gun. I put it away when you and Kevin were little, but I keep it in reach now. I’m an old woman, but I’m not foolish. I know about things.” Mama D gave her a reproving look. “And may I add, young lady, that you’re lucky I didn’t blow your head off, the way you came flying through that door in the middle of the night.”

Trinity looked at me, her mouth hanging open in shock. I just shrugged my shoulders and attempted to hide a smile behind my hand. Mama D had a valid point. Trinity hadn’t exactly been coming in low and stealthy. She was lucky she hadn’t been killed by Mama D or anyone else that had happened to be in there with a gun.

“I am curious to know one thing, Mama D,” Jonas said as he reached across the table for the coffee pot. He paused filling his cup as he looked up to give her what I call his ‘kind police glare’. He thinks it’s not intimidating, but he’s wrong. Mama D apparently thought the same thing as she got a hard look in her eye as he continued. “Just how did you manage to get the drop on the guy.”

“Same way I got the drop on you,” she replied, obviously irritated with him. “I couldn’t sleep. Something was keeping me unsettled, so I got up and put on my things and thought I’d get a start on some church baking that needed doing. I had just started through the living room when I heard that squeaky board on the far side of the porch.” She stopped and looked over at Trinity for support, who nodded at her to continue.

“Well, as I said, I keep the gun handy now, so I got it and waited to see what would happen next. He came in, real quiet like, through the front door. I was watching him, but he didn’t see me as I was back in the corner and he was heading toward the stairs. I saw the gun in his hand and it was throwing a little red light up on the wall.”

At this Jonas and Mac gave each other a look. If they had any doubts about who this guy was, Mama D had just put them to rest.

“I watch those television shows. I know that’s a special gun. I saw that light and I knew he was up to no good. That wasn’t Joe Bob sneaking around from down the street. So I shot him.”
 

“Well, you did the right thing,” I said, reaching over to pat her arm and reassure her. No matter how calmly Mama D might seem, she was a solid church going woman and she had taken a life. I knew deep down inside, she had to be shaken. Heck, I was shaken and I hadn’t pulled the trigger. “It’s a good thing you kept the lights off,” I added, rising to clear the table.
 

“Oh honey, I don’t need any light to find my own kitchen.” Her chuckle of laughter flowed over and through me like warmth from a fire. I was so relieved and thankful that she was there, and that she was safe. It could have turned out so differently. She must have picked up on my feelings, because the next thing I knew, her arms were around me.
 

“Don’t you worry, Taylor. We’re a family and we’re together. That’s the important thing.” Tears welled into my eyes as she held me and I knew in that instant, that I would do whatever it took to keep this woman safe.
 

“I love you,” I whispered to her as I hugged her back.
 

“I know baby, I know.” She held me from her and placing her small hand against my cheek, searched my eyes. “They want you because you’re special, don’t they? Because you have the touch.”

I heard Trinity gasp and my eyes flew to hers over the top of Mama D’s head. She shook her head no, she hadn’t told her. Mama D patted my arm gently as she turned away to begin gathering up the dishes before heading to the kitchen. As for me, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Did everyone know about this except me? Stunned, I sat back down in my chair, grabbing my coffee cup for support.

“Um, I still need everyone’s banking information,” Mac reminded us bringing our thoughts back to the problem at hand.

“And you still need to explain why.” Trinity sat back down, and motioned for Jonas to comply.

“Okay, then,” Jonas started again. “As I was saying, we’re being hunted. This cabin is great for now, but we can’t stay here for long. We’ll have to stay on the move for a while and that takes money.” He paused as Mama D returned and took her seat at the table. “Mac and I talked about this earlier and we decided it was worth trying to move some money around before anyone could lock the accounts or put an alert on them.”

“Oh you decided that, did you?” Trinity interrupted. “How nice of you to inquire as to what we might think of your plan.”

We were never going to get to bed at this rate. My high intake of caffeine since we had gotten back to the cabin was ceasing to make a dent in my state of exhaustion. I rolled my eyes in frustration as I refilled my cup.

“What makes you think there’s not already an alert on them? These guys seem pretty well informed,” I asked, trying to steer Trinity back onto topic and effectively cutting off Jonas’ reply to her snippy comment.

Mac jumped right in, confirming my belief that, at least for the time being, we made a pretty good team.
 

“I don’t know who the traitor is in the government, but he has to tread just as carefully as we do or he’ll tip his hand. There’s no reason for the police to seal the accounts right now. They’re still piecing it together and although they may know Jonas is involved, they have no idea about Trinity and Mama D. I have a contact here in the area that is pretty good with things like this. I think we have a good chance of moving funds before they know what we’re up to.”

Within minutes he had outlined his and Jonas’ plan to attempt to move funds from our accounts into an untraceable offshore account he had already set up. Not knowing who the informant was, his access to funds and assistance from the government were both cut off. We were on our own, and it only made sense to try to pool our resources while we still stood a chance of doing so. Trinity however, wasn’t happy with the idea and had no problem voicing her concerns.

“Pretty convenient, Mac, how you just happen to have an offshore account already set up,” she accused. “I suppose everything is in your name and you’re the only one with access.”

She stated the last as a fact, not a question. I leaned over, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. She had a point, I suppose, but under the circumstances, I didn’t see that we had any choice but to go along with it. Time was critical here and although I had never had an offshore account, I was sure that setting one up took time, a commodity that we simply didn’t have.

“You’re worried about losing your money?” Jonas asked incredulously.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I am.” She was back on her feet, in Jonas’ face. “And Taylor’s money and Gram’s money. Is that so hard to believe?”
 

Jonas took a deep breath and starting to get to his feet ready to do battle.
 

“Jonas, stop!” I said, stopping him mid-rise. “Trinity, in a couple of hours, I’m either going to be declared legally dead or they’ll be tracing any movement on my account. That goes for you and Jonas too. Just depends on which way these guys want to play. If I was them, I’d work to get us declared dead, that way the police aren’t looking for us, and they have a bigger playing field to spread out and find us without anyone looking over their shoulder, complicating things. Either way, your money’s gone. Anyway you look at it, we have nothing to lose.”

I waited for the impact of what I said to sink in. She knew it. I know she knew it, but admitting it was something else entirely. She’d have to trust Jonas and Mac and that was a tough pill to swallow.

When she finally nodded her reluctant acceptance, I got up and wrote down all the banking information I could remember on Mac’s pad and headed off to bed.

SEVENTEEN

I WOKE TO the smell of fresh coffee brewing. I had to search around to find the night stand, much less the lamp sitting on it. With the blacked out windows the darkness was absolute. I had barely noticed when I went to bed earlier, but I definitely had the feeling of being in a cave or buried alive now. Good grief, what a thought. Finally, my fumbling fingers managed to locate the switch and light flooded the room.
 

Mac had gone to a lot of trouble for someplace we would only be using for a few days. Looking around, I had to admit it had all the comforts of home. The sheets even smelled like mine and I had a sneaking suspicion that if I looked, I would find my brand of dryer sheets next to the washer. As much as I longed to linger in the safe confines of the bed, coffee and reality called.

Checking my watch, I saw it was just before 7 a.m. Four hours of sleep wasn’t much, but it had helped. The smells making their way through the closed door told me at least one other person was up and moving around, if they had gone to bed at all.
 

I rummaged through the drawers and pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt and threw them on. I did a quick mirror check to make sure my hair was good enough to make the dash to the bathroom. I must not have moved much during the night because it actually looked halfway decent. One side was flat, but it was nothing a hit with the flat iron which Mac had kindly provided, wouldn’t fix.

Amazingly, the bathroom was empty and once I had finished my morning routine, I headed out to the kitchen to hunt up some coffee. Turning the corner, I found Mama D standing at the range, churning out omelets and hash browns. Mac and Jonas were already there, each with a coffee in his hand, hovering.

“What are you guys doing? Supervising?” I asked as I pulled out a mug and filled it. Walking over I leaned down to give Mama D a hug. “You doing all right?”

“I’m fine, child. Never happier than when I’m cooking for hungry men.”

I rechecked my watch. “Hungry men? You guys just ate 4 hours ago.” They both just looked at me like I’d grown a second head. Fine.
 

“Mac,” I asked, watching as Mama D piled sliced ham and cheese onto a waiting omelet “how come there’s so much fresh food here? I can understand canned food and maybe a sack of potatoes, but cheese? Ham? Eggs? I know you were living at the condos, so it’s not for you. It’s almost like you were expecting this. You know something the rest of us don’t?”

It was a question that had been bothering me since we arrived, but there had been so many other pressing matters, that I hadn’t voiced it. I had told Trinity we didn’t have any other choice but to trust Mac, and we didn’t, but this was a new day and the time had come to clear some things up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mama D reach up and grab the handle of the omelet pan, even as Jonas set his coffee down on the counter. Everyone was waiting for his answer and I hoped for Mac’s sake it was a good one. I would hate to see him get walloped up side the head with that hot pan.

“If you’re asking whether I set you up, the answer is no. This isn’t part of a grand scheme. It’s survival. I laid in supplies a couple of days ago, after I found out about Marcus.”

“You mean after you killed him,” Jonas corrected. I looked at him, surprised. Apparently he had heard my conversation with Mac the night before. More surprising was the fact that he had decided to let it go.

“Yes. That’s what I mean.” Mac was clearly unhappy at bringing up Marcus in front of Mama D. I had no such qualms, as after the events of last night, I was pretty sure Mama D was made of sterner stuff than anyone suspected.
 

“There’d been a couple of other incidents, with other Watchers. None of us know much about the others, but you hear things. I heard enough to be concerned.” He walked over and held out a plate for Mama D and she obliged by flipping an omelet out onto it. He handed me the plate and put a fork on it. “Eat that. You’ll need the energy later.”

Mama D smiled and went back to mixing omelets. Apparently he had passed muster with her. Of course, Mama D was old school and liked anybody who ordered people to eat. According to her, a good meal was the answer to all ills. I looked down at the fluffy omelet sitting on the plate, swimming in butter and loaded with ham and cheese. A heart attack waiting to happen. If we didn’t get out of here soon, we’d all be big as houses.

I sat my coffee down, leaned back against the counter and picked up the fork, deciding it was worth the risk, and waited for Mac to continue.

“This place was already here. In bad shape, but workable. It didn’t take much to bring it up to speed.”

“I’m surprised you found the time, what with your ‘watching’ responsibilities.” Trinity had come in behind me and joined into the discussion.
 

“We don’t watch 24/7. Things are pretty loose until the Client shows some signs, then we close up surveillance. This place has been ready for over a year. Just in case.” He held up another plate and Mama D tossed on the second omelette. Mac added a huge mound of hash browns before handing the plate over to Jonas, who dug right into it.
 

“It needed furniture, towels, sheets.” He shrugged, indicating the room around him. “Supplies for the road if we had to run. It was just as easy to put in things I thought would make Taylor more comfortable.” He turned to me. “I apologize if it had the opposite effect.”

“No,” I mumbled, my mouth full of omelet. What he said made sense in as much as anything made sense lately. The whole thing was unbelievable, so why doubt the one person who seemed to know what was going on.
Because trusting him could get you killed,
a little voice called out, but I chased it away. Sometimes you have to go with your gut, no matter how illogical it is. My gut said Mac was on the up and up. My brain kept insisting I was a fool to believe him.