Mindspeak (11 page)

Everyone gawked at us. Even Jack
was surprised. I saw the pity in his eyes, and I felt sick. So, I ran. I ran as
fast as I could. I turned the corner and continued until I reached the main
doors out of the school. I didn’t need anyone’s pity.

Once outside, I saw a few small
gatherings of families in the parking lot. Parents and siblings who’d come to
watch their children swim or just to visit that sunny Saturday morning.

To my right was the school’s bus.
The driver stood by a tree waiting for students to finish loading.

After wiping any evidence of tears
or blood from my face, I approached him slowly, giving myself time to regain
composure.

“Good morning, Miss Matthews. Good
meet today? The chlorine did a number on those green eyes of yours.”

I glanced toward the door. No one
had followed me so far. “Hi, Mr. Jenkins,” I said. “Where are you headed this
morning?”

“I’m taking a group into the city.
Dropping off at the public library on Martin Luther King.”

“Can you drop me at the nursing
home on your way? I’m supposed to work today.”

“Sure, honey. Get in.”

The dean and Dr. DeWeese exited the
building, along with a couple of police officers. Jack followed right behind
them, searching for me.

I climbed the steps onto the bus
and found an empty seat in the back. Sitting, I brought my knees to my chin.
The hood of my sweatshirt shielded my head and face. The bus lurched forward
and headed for Wellington’s gates. I tilted my head to the side and stared out
the window. That’s when the tears came.

My body shook.

My father was dead. I had no one.

No one except the grandmother who’d
raised me.

Chapter
Nine

I shuffled into the nursing home in
Midland, Kentucky, my grandmother’s home for the past six years. My hair hung
past my shoulders in damp, brunette waves. Dried tears stung my face. I
immediately smelled the scent of Pine Sol mixed with floral arrangements and
urine.

Most people who knew me thought I
only visited the facility as a volunteer. Few knew that Gram was my only family
left in the world.

“Oh, dear, you’ve been crying,”
Gram said when she saw me. She was seventy-six years old, and suffered from the
late stages of Alzheimer’s. Her silver hair was combed, pushed behind her ears
in a neat bob.

I knelt beside her wheelchair. She
reached a shaky hand to my cheek, and I leaned into her gentle touch. Her palm
was cool and soft against my face. The smell of her hand lotion competed with
the flameless candle on the vanity across the room, a Christmas present I’d given
her last year.

“Oh, Gram,” I sobbed.

“Do we know each other?” she asked.

I squeezed my eyes tight. Tears
leaked out, streaming along already well-worn paths. When I reopened them, Gram
stared out the window where a couple of cardinals dangled on a branch of a magnolia
tree.

This was not the woman who’d fed
and cared for me until I was eleven. The one who drove me to swim practice five
days a week, delivered me to and from school until I was in the sixth grade,
and made sure I had a place to call home.

No, this was just a shell of that
woman, overtaken by a disgusting disease. I saw glimpses of her from time to
time, but she was missing the spark she got in her eye every time I came home
with an A in math or won the swim races she knew I worked so hard for. When I
was happy, she was ecstatic. When I was sad, she was devastated. She even
threatened to beat up the first boy to break my heart when I was eleven.

I smiled at the memory.

“What am I going to do, Gram?” I
whispered as I curled up in a chair across from her and laid my head against
the back. And sobbed harder. My head ached. I couldn’t take in a breath.

Car explosion? Did someone actually
murder my dad? Who would want to kill him? I couldn’t wrap my brain around the
enormity of it all. Everything was coming at me so fast.

My grandmother pointed at the red
and brown birds and smiled.

I cried until I had no tears left.

I wasn’t even sure how much time
passed. A lot, because the lighting in the room had changed. The sun hung lower
in the sky and cast an orange glow through the mini blinds.

I must have fallen asleep. When I assessed
my cramped body, a blanket was draped over me, and my neck ached.

A nurse entered and placed a vase
of flowers on Gram’s bedside table. I stood and picked up the blanket that fell
to the floor.

“Hi, honey. You okay? Can I get you
something?”

I shook my head. “Can you tell me
what time it is?”

“Close to eight.”

I was going to be in huge trouble
at school. “Where’d the flowers come from?” I asked, assuming another resident
had received more than her share.

“A handsome young man brought them
in.” She chomped on a piece of gum like her life depended on it. “Oh, and there
was a note.” She reached into the pocket of her multi-colored nursing jacket
and pulled out a small envelope.

“Thanks,” I said, taking it from
her. “Would it be a problem if I stayed here tonight?”

The young woman bit her bottom lip.
“I guess it would be alright.”

I glanced toward the brown leather
chair and then rubbed at the knot forever wedged between my neck and shoulder.

“That chair actually scoots and
unfolds into a horizontal surface,” she said. “I’ll get you another blanket.”

“Really? It’s no problem, is it?
Because if it is, I can…”

“Sweetie, it’s no problem. But… don’t
you have some place you need to be?”

Eyes that I thought had run dry
produced yet another tear. “No,” I managed.

Without further questions, she
left.

I pulled a note card from the
envelope and leaned in to smell the bouquet of white stargazer lilies and
roses.

I am so sorry about your dad,
Lexi. My father and I want to help. I know you feel afraid and alone, but you’re
not. I’m in the front lobby when you’re ready. ~Jack

Jack? How did he know where to find
me? How did he fit into all of this?

Well, he was in the front lobby if
I wanted to find out. I scratched my bottom lip with the corner of the card.

Bending over, I kissed my sleeping
grandmother on the cheek. “I love you, Gram,” I whispered. “I’m gonna find out
who did this. I promise.”

The bright fluorescents in the
hallway blinded me temporarily. I passed the common area where some men played
checkers. One of them threw a checker at Alex Trebek, apparently not liking the
answer to Jeopardy’s Daily Double.

Across the room, a familiar-looking
man snagged my attention. I stopped and backed up against the wall. I inched
forward slowly and peered around the corner. He spoon-fed Mrs. Whitmeyer
Jell-O. I’d seen him recently. But where? His wolfish grin sent chills down my
spine.

“What are you doing?”

I jerked backwards and flattened my
back and head against the wall at the sound of Jack’s voice in my ear. “Geez,
Jack, you scared me.”

“Well? What are you doing sneaking
around? Spying on old people is kinda rude.”

“I wasn’t sneaking. I just thought
I saw someone who looked familiar.”

“Oh, yeah? Who?” He craned his neck
to peer around the corner.

I grabbed a handful of his shirt
and pulled him back. A little closer to me than I intended. “Don’t.” His fresh,
clean smell practically sent me asking for a wheelchair of my own.

“You’re serious, aren’t you? Who’s
over there?”

“It’s no one. Just a friend of my
grandmother’s. He’s got a crush on her, and I’m not up to his questions.” I shook
my head and tried to laugh.

“How about I give you a ride? You
look exhausted.”

“Really? I thought I was looking
pretty good. I probably need a little make-up or something, but all-in-all…” I
was positive I looked hideous. Red, puffy eyes. Zero make-up. My hair a mess
from lack of effort after the swim meet. I didn’t care.

His expression darkened, and he
frowned. Except, it was more than sadness. Fear, maybe. “I am really sorry
about your dad.”

Nodding and swallowing against the
forever-present lump in my throat, I pointed my eyes to the ceiling hoping to
ward off the unwanted tears.

“Let me give you a ride.”

“I appreciate it, but I’m going to
sleep here tonight. I want to be close to my Gram.”

“You can’t sleep here, Lexi.” His
words sounded like an order.

“Yes, I can, Jack.” I matched his
authoritative tone. Who did this guy think he was? “I’ve already arranged it.
Why are you here anyway? I don’t need you hovering all over me or your
protection. Go home, Jack.” Nothing had been normal since he showed up at my
school.

“Hear me out.” He pulled me down
the hallway to the front waiting area. He sat down and waited for me to do the
same. When he leaned forward, our knees touched. “I can’t imagine what you’re
going through.”

My lip quivered.

“But I want to help you. My father
and I want to help you.”

I searched his eyes and sucked in a
deep breath. His father wanted to help me? They didn’t even know me. I shifted
so that our knees no longer bumped. “Why did someone kill my dad? I know
controversy followed him everywhere he went, but murder? They blew him up,
Jack.” Tears streamed down the sides of my cheeks. I swiped at them.

Jack pulled me into a hug. “I don’t
know why,” he said. His hand pressed the back of my head into his chest as he
smoothed out my hair.

As much as I didn’t want to admit
it, I liked it there in his arms. It was the safest I had felt in days.

~~~~

While Jack pulled his car around, I
said good-bye to Gram. I held her hand up to my cheek and remembered a time
when her stern words of reason were all I needed to face my fears and any
obstacle in my path.

“I love you Gram,” I whispered in
her ear. “I’ll be back soon, okay.”

She continued to sleep. I sent warm
thoughts to her.
Remember my love, Gram. Always
. I never knew if she
heard them or not.

I raised my backpack over my
shoulder and turned. The man with the canine grin blocked the doorway.

“Hi, Lexi.” He cocked his head with
curiosity.

He wore dress slacks and a
light-colored plaid button down. Thin, wire-frame glasses made him look smart
and professional, but his expression sent a chill down my arms.

I took a step backwards. “Who are
you?”

“Someone who means you no harm.”

Then why was I scared? “Oh, yeah?
Then you won’t mind backing out of the room and speaking to me out in the
hallway.”

His mouth twitched. “I can’t do
that. This is a private message.” He stepped closer to me, forcing me further
into the room.

I calculated the number of steps to
the door, then studied his face again. He was definitely familiar. Then I
remembered. The dinner. After Dad’s speech. Outside, as I had waited for the
car. He’d bumped into me. Coincidence? “I saw you at the dinner.”

He cocked his head again. “Your
father and I go way back.”

Gram was asleep in her bed. The
hallway buzzed with activity. What could he possibly do to me here in this
nursing home? There were probably five nurses at the station around the corner.
“I could scream.”

“You could. But there’s no need. I
mean you no harm.”

Tell that to the organ about to
leap from my chest.

He took another step and reached
for the door behind him.

No, don’t close it.
My heart
sprinted. I held a hand out in front of me. “Just stop right there. Don’t come
closer or I will yell my freaking head off.” I glanced around the room for a
weapon. “How do you know my father?” I asked, present tense, as if he wasn’t
blown to bits earlier today.

“Your father knew my sister.” He
inched closer. “I’m sorry about his death.”

“His death? You mean his murder?”

“Yes. It’s all over the news.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m just someone who wants the truth
exposed.”

“The truth? And what truth would
that be?”

“The truth of who… what you are.”

I heard Jack’s voice in the
hallway, apparently speaking to one of the nurses.

“Jack,” I yelled, but more softly
than I intended. I darted forward, knocking into the wall of a man blocking the
doorway.

He grabbed me and turned me around.
My back pushed up against his chest. He held me there. “Listen to me, little
girl,” he whispered. “I am not going to hurt you. But you have no idea what or
who you’re dealing with. I didn’t kill your father. I’m sorry he’s dead,
actually. But I will make your life a living hell if you don’t find his
journals.”

“I don’t have the journals.”

“You’ll find them. And they’ll
answer all of your wildest questions.” He squeezed me tighter. “Oh, and one
more thing,” he whispered. “Be careful who you trust. Jack DeWeese isn’t being…
What’s the word? Forthcoming. If he found you, who’s to say someone else won’t?”

I clawed and pushed at his arm. Finally,
he shoved me forward. By the time I regained my footing, he was gone.

Chapter
Ten

Shit!

I slid my satchel over my shoulder
and ran from the room. There was no sign of Wolfman in the hallway. Only Jack,
waiting by the exit.

I massaged my chest over my
wildly-thumping heart. Who was that? It didn’t take a nuclear engineer to know
that Jack wasn’t telling me everything. That wasn’t news.

I sauntered toward him. Giving me a
smile of pity, he lifted my bag off my shoulder. He pushed the door open and
led me to his car—not the motorcycle, thankfully—waiting out front.