Hidden in Dreams (11 page)

Elena found herself distanced from it all. She knew the answers were coming, and they would alter the course of her life. Of this she had no question.

They were brought into a lavish outer office and invited to sit, offered coffee or anything else their hearts might desire. Privacy, Elena wanted to say. A chance to pray and heal and find a clear way forward. But even here, in the elegant silence, she could hear the clock ticking. Out beyond the polarized glass, the world waited for her once again.

Trevor Tenning, CEO of SuenaMed, was everything that old money should be. His hair was silver, his grip solid, his smile perfect. His tan gleamed, his suit fit perfectly. His every gesture carried a smooth sense of his own self worth. He had worn his power so long he considered it his birthright.

Only the shadows beneath his eyes belied the inner turmoil.

He ushered them across the pair of Persian carpets to a sofa set by the corner windows. They looked out over all of Orlando, the tall spires, the emerald forests, the glistening lakes. Rachel seated herself on the sofa beside Trevor. Reginald remained standing.

When they refused his secretary’s offer of coffee, Trevor waited until the door to his vast office clicked shut, then said, “Rachel assures me that I can rely on your complete confidentiality.”

“Dr. Rawlings and Dr. Meadows are both practicing clinicians, and hold to the same professional oaths as myself,” Elena replied. Now that they were this close to answers, she found herself increasingly impatient. “Either you trust us or you don’t.”

“You are right, of course.” He planted his hands on his knees and declared, “I have been having the most dreadful dreams.”

Bob Meadows huffed his shock. Jacob exhaled softly. Elena only nodded.

“You do not seem surprised, Dr. Burroughs.”

“It is the most logical answer,” Elena replied. “Your company is facing a critical juncture. And yet the director of this huge new product’s development is given free rein to spend the company’s money. On dreams.”

“I understand you knew Ms. Lamprey’s sister.”

“Miriam was my best friend.” Elena glanced at the polished woman seated beside the chairman. Rachel belonged here, she decided. Just as much as Miriam had been suited to the sunlit rear porch of her Victorian home on Notting Hill. Elena swallowed
a sudden lump of longing for all that once had been, and said to the woman, “I’m surprised you shared this.”

The chairman responded, “Rachel and I share a great many things. She and I have been through a number of bruising battles since my arrival here four years ago. She is my right hand, and I would like to think a very dear friend. It is only natural she would share with me about her family.”

Rachel spoke for the first time since entering the office. “Trevor knows about Miriam’s books.”

“Yes indeed. Do you have them?”

“They are locked inside a safety deposit box in London.”

“Pity. I would so like to see them.”

Rachel said, “You don’t think they might be of assistance to us now?”

Elena saw Jacob’s frown of confusion and said, “I will explain later.” To the pair on the sofa she replied, “I carry images in my computer. The answers we require are not there. At least, not yet. But more importantly, it is not the book at all. But the power
behind
the book.”

“You are speaking of your God.”

“He is yours too.”

Even his nod carried a smooth polish. Even his words, “It would certainly be comforting to know there is a divine hand that is planting these seeds. Perhaps the terror would be easier to bear.”

Rachel shifted impatiently on the sofa. “I hate how my sister is winning here.”

The chairman turned slowly to her. “Winning?”

“All my life I fought against the clutches of my family. The history. The traditions. The faith. While still at university, I became determined to make a success of my life, on my terms. No one else’s. Dreams were part of everything I despised. The obsession. The link to a past where women were enslaved. I am
my own person. I have shaped my own personal destiny. Not some invisible deity.”

Elena asked, “Do I look enslaved to you?”

“No,” Rachel almost spat the word. “Only misguided.”

“Then why,” Elena asked, “did you come to me?”

Rachel glowered at the onyx table between them and did not speak.

Trevor Tenning cleared his throat. “The real question before us is, what do we do now?”

Elena nodded slowly. She knew the time had come. “You brought me here because you already know the answer.”

Bob said, “I don’t understand.”

Elena found it easier to respond to a fellow clinician. “Trevor Tenning is filled with the same urgent need as me and all the other dreamers. He has to tell the world.”

“It is a need that consumes me,” Trevor agreed. “At this pivotal point in my company’s global operations, I can think of nothing else.”

Rachel said, “Now you see.”

Elena’s motions had grown to where her entire upper body slowly rocked. “But you can’t, can you? Not without jeopardizing everything you and your firm have invested. You needed an outsider. Someone who could take the step for you. Someone with recognized authority on the subject of dreams. Someone who would make the world listen.”

Trevor Tenning looked at his associate. “You were right all along.”

Elena knew they were waiting. She saw the light of comprehension in Jacob’s gaze, and wished he would say the words for her. But that was not his role. It was hers. Much as she loathed the prospect. The hour had arrived. Elena said, “It is time to go public.”

10

W
hen the meeting with Tenning ended, Rachel rode with them to the floor occupied by the division she ran. As she exited the elevator, Rachel slipped into professional mode. Elena had done it herself often enough. Rachel’s tone became crisp, direct. A general issuing orders. “You will have your own suite of offices.”

“I don’t need—”

“You have no idea what you will need. We haven’t even started. There could be a thousand different things that arise. Trevor has placed SuenaMed’s resources at your disposal. I would advise you to take full advantage.”

Rachel’s assistant was there to greet them. Reginald announced, “You have the conference call with Germany and France in two minutes.”

“And the press conference?”

“We’ve scheduled it in an hour and a half.”

“Take charge here.” She said to Elena, “My PR people are putting together a news conference. We’ve managed to pull together a solid audience, especially for a Saturday.”

She strode off before Elena could formulate an objection. Reginald said, “Shall I get you settled?”

The floor was dominated by the largest open-plan workspace Elena had ever seen. The ceiling was almost warehouse height. Multicolored glass bricks and blooming plants formed borders between the office areas. Illuminated smart boards showed timelines and ticking clocks on the two sidewalls. Even on a Saturday morning, the atmosphere was quietly frenetic. Most of the faces were young and energetic and so very alive. This floor was clearly Rachel’s domain; very efficient, very demanding, yet somehow maintaining a distinctly feminine feel. Elena had a fleeting wish she could tell Miriam what she had found here. How Rachel might be her own person, and very different from her older sister, but still carried traits that were remarkably similar to Elena’s departed friend.

Reginald led her to a glass-walled corner office connected to a conference room. He touched one switch to turn on the lights, and another to turn the wall opaque. “The wall is electronically controlled, and also baffles all sound.” He turned the walls transparent once more and indicated the adjoining conference room. “I suppose your associates can set up in there.”

Bob Meadows cleared his throat. “Actually, I need to be returning to Miami. My office is in a panic. I have a patient who has escaped rehab, and another who may require institutional care.”

Elena listened as Reginald made arrangements for him to return home, and dreaded hearing the same farewell from Jacob. But her former nemesis merely stood at the window and frowned over the city beyond.

Bob shook Elena’s hand with both of his own, leaned in close, and said, “I will be praying for you. Night and day.”

“Thank you.”

“A word of advice?”

“Of course.”

“Trust Jacob. Beneath all the razor-sharp edges beats the heart of a very caring man.”

When they were alone, she joined Jacob by the window. Orlando was a study in contrasts. Skyscrapers dotted the downtown landscape. But the city was blanketed by trees and lawns and lakes. From this height, it appeared to be a well-tended garden where people lived and worked in an almost idyllic setting. The sun shone, the sky gleamed a bright blue, and yet on the horizon lurked a very dark stripe. Elena stared at the approaching thunderstorm and shivered.

Jacob glanced over. “Do you want to talk about it?”

It was a standard opening line, and under any other circumstances would be good for a smile. But today, Elena said, “Out there to the east I have classes. A place at a college that welcomes me. A few new patients.” She took a breath. “A life.”

Jacob finished for her, “And here in this place, all you have are new responsibilities you don’t want.”

“But volunteered for,” Elena finished. “I feel so conflicted.”

“I’m sure you do. And trapped.” He frowned at the city below. “I need to go back and see to things at my office. I can return on Monday. If you want me to.”

“If I want?”

“I just thought—”

“You just thought what? That I would rather do this alone?”

“No. Of course not.” He grimaced. “I suppose I was hoping you would not need me, and I could go back to my—”

“Don’t even think such a thing. This is as much your doing as anyone’s.”

He nodded slow acceptance. “I’ll rejoin you after the weekend.”

She stared at him. His stony expression only heightened his
good looks. “How many of your young female patients fall in love with you?”

He met her gaze, but did not smile. “Almost as many as the number of male patients whose hearts you steal.”

“I’m not a thief.”

“And I,” he replied, “am not a lecher.”

“I never said you were.”

“No. That’s right. You never attacked me personally. You never questioned my character or my motives.” He turned back to the glass wall overlooking Orlando. “It was one of the things I most admired about you. Even when I most despised your work.”

She turned with him, looking out over the emerald-green city. “I can’t believe I’m actually seeking your advice.”

He was silent for a long moment, then said, “Going public with this could be an act of professional self-destruction.”

“Worse than my book on dreams?”

“That was a questionable piece of research. This is a public pronouncement of impending doom. You are going to be overwhelmed by the bizarre fringe elements.”

Elena lowered her head. “I feel as though my life has been ripped from my control. Again.”

He settled a hand upon her shoulder. The act of a friend offering strength. She fought against a sudden tide of tears. If he noticed, he did not say. Instead, he asked, “You want me, your nemesis, to tell you not to do this?”

“Yes,” Elena replied. “Please.”

“I wish I could,” Jacob said. “So much. But I can’t.”

•    •    •

Rachel came for her an hour later. “We’re ready.”

Elena turned to where Jacob still stood by the window. He was watching her now, his back to the world outside, his gaze
haunted by myriad things she could not fathom. Elena turned in a slow circle, looking for a reason not to go forward with this, a way out. Reginald stood behind Rachel, filling the only doorway. Elena stood inside an elegant glass cage. Trapped.

Rachel crossed the room and picked up the controls to the flat screen from the shelf behind the empty desk. She turned it to MSNBC, and kept her hand out, using the control to point at the screen. “Look.”

“No, I don’t—”

“Look.”
Rachel turned up the sound just as the pretty business newscaster said, “Off-hour trading shows markets down around the globe. I’m joined now by the chief broker with Bank of America’s London branch. Glenn, what’s happening over there?”

“If this wasn’t a Saturday, I’d call it a crash.” The man sounded as though he had breakfasted on gravel. “I dread to think what’s going to happen on Monday.”

Behind the broker, the bank’s trading floor was one degree off pandemonium. The camera panned a giant room filled with screaming, gesticulating people. The newscaster asked, “Can you tell me what is behind the panic?”

“The London bank run caught us off guard. Now we’re hearing rumors about more disasters to come. Dublin, Rome, Athens. Take your pick. Nobody can track down what’s real. You’re seeing the herd mentality at its worst.”

“What do you see as the next logical step?”

“Logical? Did you really use that word?” His laugh carried a manic edge.

Rachel cut off the television and stepped in close enough for Elena to smell her perfume. The scent was subtle, expensive, and suited the woman perfectly. “You must do this,” Rachel said softly. “You must do this
now
.”