Indigo Incite (The Indigo Trilogy) (8 page)

He
followed her gaze. Sarah was headed their way with breakfast plates in hand.

She set
the plates on the table and took a seat. “So, where are you from?”

“I’m
sorry, we didn’t introduce ourselves. My name’s Eddie, and this is Liliana.”

“Hi.”
Liliana smiled sweetly and then occupied herself with breakfast. Eddie had his
sweet-talking charm up and running and she was ready to let him do the talking.

“It’s
nice to meet you,” Sarah replied. “Where do you know Danny from? Were you in
the military together?”

“Um…not
exactly.” Eddie glanced at Liliana and took a deep breath as he gathered
courage to explain why they had come. He continued to focus positive energy her
way. “The truth is, we don’t actually know Danny.” When he saw that she was
about to ask questions, he quickly interjected, “But we do know that he is away
from home right now and you’re alone. We did come here to make sure that you’re
okay.”

Obviously
confused, Sarah tilted her head sideways and raised her eyebrows. “We’ve never
met, right?”

“Right.”

“And you
don’t know my husband?”

“Uh…no.”

“So…?”

“All right,
this is going to sound a little odd, but please just hear us out before you say
anything. Okay?” When he noticed her confusion start to turn to frustration, he
sent her another wave of warm energy. Soon, the frustration seemed to
dissipate, and he sensed a juncture of peace settle upon her.

She
nodded. “Go ahead.”

“I have
a friend. His name’s Tyler. We only met just a few days ago…”

As he
spoke, he glanced at Liliana, who would listen to Sarah’s thoughts and be ready
to warn him if he needed to boost up the positive energy.

“So
that’s why we’re here,” he concluded after he had explained the entire story.
“I know it sounds crazy. It has to because that’s what I thought when Toby
first contacted me. But it’s all real—every last bit of it. For whatever reason
that we can’t begin to understand, there really are people after us, and they
are
ready to take us when they find us. Even if you don’t care about finding Toby,
think about yourself and your baby. If you come with us, we can watch your back
and track these people down, before they track us down.”

“I don’t
know what to say,” Sarah said.

“Sarah,”
Liliana began, “I know you must be confused, and you’re probably hesitant to
run off with a bunch of people you just met, but you can’t stay here. I’ve
never done anything crazy like this in my life. My parents would be furious if
they knew that I wasn’t in school, but I took the risk because this is serious.
There
are
people after us, and if I had stayed home, they would have
come after me and found me, just like they’re going to come after you.”

Sarah
sat in silence. She picked up a discarded straw wrapper and began to tie it in
knots. Eddie and Liliana turned their attention to their breakfast, as they
waited for her to say something.

Finally,
she looked up. “I understand that you’re in quite the predicament. I get that,
but…” She paused as if to search for the right words. “I’m not the girl you’re
looking for.”

They sat
in momentary silence, trying to absorb this new bit of information. Was it
possible that they had tracked down the wrong person? Toby had specifically
told Tyler that Sarah worked at this restaurant, unless…

“Is
there another Sarah who works here?” Eddie asked.

She shook
her head. “Um, no, sorry.”

“You are
Sarah
Hughes
, right?”

“I am.”

She
smiled politely, but Eddie sensed that it no longer mattered how much charm and
energy he threw her way; this conversation was just about over as far as she
was concerned.

“My name
is Sarah Hughes, but it’s a common name.” She shook her head again. “Obviously
you’re looking for someone else. I’m sorry that I can’t help you.”

Eddie
glanced at Liliana.
Is she lying?
he asked, silently.

Liliana
shrugged.

How
can you not know? I thought you could always detect a lie.

Not for
the first time, he wished that he could hear Liliana’s thoughts. It was like a
one-way conversation; he could silently ask her questions, but she couldn’t
respond.

Help
me out
, he silently
pleaded.
I don’t know what else to say. She has to be the right Sarah
Hughes. How could there be a mistake?

“Sarah,”
Liliana began, “I know that this sounds strange and scary, but if you don’t let
us help you, the kidnappers
will
eventually show up looking for you.”

“Well,
if they do, I’ll just explain to them, like I told you, that they have the
wrong person. Sarah Hughes is a very common name.”

Eddie
felt like there was nothing else he could possibly say, but he took one last
grasp at hope. “What if the kidnappers find you and they don’t take ‘no’ for an
answer? What if they insist that you are the Sarah Hughes they’re looking for
and they decide to take you anyways? Would you at least think about going away
for a little while? Maybe you could take a trip to see family?”

“I have
nowhere to go. In fact, I
am
on a trip, visiting family. My home is in
Fort Lewis. I came here to live with my aunt, when my husband was deployed, so
that I wouldn’t be alone. I have no other family, and I’m five months pregnant.

“Don’t
worry,” she continued. “If they show up, I’m sure they’ll be able to see that
I’m not the person they’re looking for, because when it comes down to it, the
facts are very simple…I don’t have any special gifts. I can’t read minds, or
tell the future, or make objects float through the air. I’m just plain old
Sarah Hughes. There’s nothing special about me.”

That’s
where you’re mistaken
,
Eddie thought to himself. He wasn’t psychic, he couldn’t read auras or hear
thoughts, but he was certain that there was something very special about Sarah
Hughes, even if she had no powers as she claimed. He felt drawn to her and
wanted to protect her, but he felt that there was nothing else that he could
say or do.

“Okay,”
Eddie finally said, with reluctance.

“
Okay
?”
Liliana asked, in quiet bewilderment.

What
else can I say to her?
he asked, silently.

From the
corner of his eye, he saw Liliana shrug and shake her head.

“Look,”
Eddie said, “I apologize for taking up your time with this crazy story, and I
hope that we haven’t upset you too much. Hopefully we can find the Sarah Hughes
we’re looking for. I wish you the best of luck with the baby and hope for the
safe return of your husband.”

“Thank
you,” Sarah said with a sincere smile. She stood, and Eddie and Liliana rose as
well. “It was nice meeting you, even under these strange circumstances. I wish
you the best of luck finding your friend’s brother. If you like, I can package
you up some muffins and juice to take back to the room, for him.”

“Thank
you,” Eddie said. “That would be nice.”

“I’ll be
right back with your check and the muffins.”

“Now
what?” Liliana asked after Sarah was gone. “Where do we go from here?”

He shook
his head. “I don’t know. I hear what she’s saying, but I just don’t buy it. You
can’t tell if she’s lying?”

“No,
it’s weird. Usually, when someone is lying, their auras are, well…different.
Her aura changed a little, but not like she was lying. She seemed more confused
than anything else. I believe her when she says she doesn’t have any powers. I
certainly didn’t hear her think otherwise. But there was something strange. When
I tried to listen to her thoughts, I heard—”

She was
interrupted by Sarah’s return, to the table. “Here ya go.” She handed them the
check, a to-go cup with juice, and a white paper bag. “I packed a few extra
muffins for the road, since it sounds like you might be gone for a while. My
treat.”

“Thank
you,” Liliana said, as she accepted the bag.

“Do you
have a piece of paper I could write on?” Eddie asked.

“Um…sure.
Here.” Sarah handed him a pen and the tablet she used for writing orders.

“I’m
writing down my cell phone number and address,” he told her. “If something
comes up after we leave, if anyone comes around and scares you, or you just
want to talk to us for any reason, please give me a call. We’re flying out to
Salt Lake as soon as we leave here to go meet a girl named Grace. She’s the
last person on the list. After that we plan to head back to Arizona to figure
out the next step. That’s where we’ll be.” He tore the paper off of the tablet,
folded it in half, and handed it to her. “So, please, keep this somewhere safe,
and call me if you change your mind.”

She
accepted the folded paper and placed it in the pocket of her jeans. “Thank you.
I appreciate your concern, really I do. Good luck with everything.”

*****

“What,
no breakfast burrito?” Tyler asked, when Liliana handed him the cup of juice
and bag of muffins.

“You
were lucky to get that,” Eddie said.

“Uh oh.
What happened?”

“She’s
not coming,” Liliana said as she plopped down on the edge of the bed.

“What do
you mean, she’s not coming?”

Eddie
sat in the armchair and sighed. “Sarah claims there’s nothing special about her
and she’s not the person we’re looking for.”

“Are you
serious
? Did you explain it to her? Did you let her know that her name
is on the bad guys’ list and they’re going to come after her?”

“Yeah, we
explained it all, in as many ways as we could think of. She insists that we
have the wrong person and there’s no way she’ll consider coming with us.”

Tyler
slumped on the hard sofa. “Great! So, now what?”

“Now, I
guess we go find Grace.”

“I have
a question,” Liliana interrupted. “Did it ever occur to you guys that if these
kidnappers are as powerful as Toby claims, they can track our cell phones, your
rental car, or for that matter, any credit card transactions that you make?”

“I
hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right,” Eddie said. “I don’t know what
other choice we have though. I don’t exactly have a lot of money in my savings
account, and I can’t ask my parents to borrow money any more than you can.
Credit cards are all we’ve got, right now. I guess it’s a chance we’re going to
have to take. But, you’re absolutely right about the cell phones. We should
turn them off.”

After
they had located their phones, Tyler said, “Wait a second. It’s not enough to
just turn them off. The GPS can still be traced. We need to take out the
battery, too.”

Liliana
raised her eyebrows in question. “Really? Are you sure?”

“Well, I
don’t know from experience, but it’s something that I learned from one of my
roommates.”

Liliana
smiled. “At your, uh…special school?”

Tyler grinned
in return. “Exactly. I guess you could say it was an enriched, educational
experience.”

While
Eddie checked out at the front office, Tyler and Liliana loaded their bags into
the car. As they pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the airport, Eddie
looked back at the restaurant. He couldn’t help but think about Sarah and
prayed that it wasn’t a mistake to leave her behind. “Liliana?”

“Yeah?”

“Back in
the restaurant, you said that when you were listening to Sarah’s thoughts, you
heard something strange. What was it?”

“Yeah,
I’ve never heard it, before, but I’m sure I wasn’t mistaken.”

“What
was it?”

“I heard
her baby.”

“Her
baby
?”

“Yeah, I
heard thoughts coming from her, but they definitely weren’t her thoughts. It
had to be her baby.”

“Really?
What was he…or she thinking?”

“I got
the feeling that it was a boy. He was trying to tell me that we should take
Sarah with us.”

From the
backseat, Tyler leaned forward. “What are you saying? Are you saying that the
baby could hear your thoughts?”

Liliana
turned to look at him. “Yeah, I think that’s exactly what happened.”

Armed
with a fresh pot of coffee, Sarah glanced out the window in time to see her
peculiar visitors drive out of the parking lot and head out onto the highway.
They must have mistaken her for someone else, but still, something they had
said resonated in her mind, and she hoped that it hadn’t been a mistake to send
them away.

The hot
drips of coffee down her arm, reversed her awareness back to the task at hand.
Too late, she realized that she had overfilled the customer’s cup. “Oh no!” she
exclaimed. She set the coffee pot on the table and poured the excess liquid
into an empty cup. Then she grabbed a napkin and wiped off the outside of the
mug.

The
customer offered her another napkin, which she graciously accepted. “Thank you.
I’m so sorry,” she said, as she dried her arm; the coffee had dripped down to
her elbow.

The man
appeared to be in his late fifties. Slightly overweight and balding, he sported
a thick mustache and wore a blue flannel shirt. He chuckled and flashed a jovial
smile. “Don’t worry about it. Happens to the best of us. A little distracted
this morning, huh? Daydreaming about your man?”

The
woman beside him smacked his arm. “Chuck! Don’t tease the poor girl.” From the
familiar way she spoke to him, Sarah assumed the plump woman with the bright,
purple, flowered sweater, had to be his wife.

Sarah
smiled. “It’s okay. I guess I was a little distracted. I was watching
some…friends drive away. I’m sorry. Is there anything else I can get for you
this morning?”

The
woman patted her purple, flowered belly. “Oh, no thank you. I’m stuffed.”

“All
right then. I’ll be right back with your check.” The jingle of the bell on the
door caught her attention, and she turned to see a sharply dressed couple, who
looked to be in their late thirties, walk in. They appeared out of place
amongst the other guests, their attire much too expensive for the usual patrons
who frequented the diner. She ruled out the possibility that they were locals
or even Bigfoot enthusiasts and was curious what had brought them to town.

After
she handed the check to the balding man and his wife, Sarah grabbed a couple of
menus from the front podium and made her way over to the mystery couple. They
had seated themselves by the fireplace, at the same table where Eddie and
Liliana had sat ten minutes earlier.

She
noticed the man had manicured fingernails. He had removed his trench coat to
reveal a brown pullover sweater vest with a lightly checkered, long-sleeved
collared shirt beneath. She couldn’t see his shoes, under the table, but from
the glance she had seen when he had walked in the door, they had looked to be
pricey and completely impractical for the ice and impending snow. No, Sarah
thought, this man certainly wasn’t a local.

The
woman beside him looked equally displaced. She too, had also removed a long
trench coat, and Sarah saw that she wore a cream-colored cashmere sweater. Her
shoulder-length blond hair was tucked behind her ears to reveal pearl earrings
that matched her pearl necklace. When the woman had entered, Sarah had noticed
that she was wearing high heels, shoes that were also equally impractical for
the icy conditions.

She
realized that she still held the menus and quickly placed them on the table.
She pasted on a smile and hoped it wasn’t obvious that she had been staring.
“Good morning. My name’s Sarah. I’ll give you a few minutes to look at the
menu. Can I start you off with something to drink?”

The
couple had immediately glanced at each other when she introduced herself. It
seemed an odd behavior, but she brushed it off as her imagination. The warning
about kidnappers still had her on edge. Surely this couldn’t be them, could it?
She pushed the thought aside; it was a ridiculous idea, of course. Whoever
Eddie and Liliana had thought they were searching for, it certainly wasn’t her.
There was nothing special about her, and no one had any reason to look for her.

They’re
odd, but they’re not here to kidnap me
, Sarah chided herself.

The man
casually flipped through the menu. “Sarah, are you serving lunch yet? We just
flew in, from out of town, and our schedule is slightly off.” He smiled and
seemed nice enough; and yet, a line of goose bumps ran down her arms, in
warning.

She made
a mental note to take a break as soon as she placed their order.
It must be
pregnancy hormones playing havoc with my nerves
, she thought.

“We
don’t serve lunch for another hour yet, but the place has cleared out enough. The
cook might make an exception for you. I can run back and check, if you'd like.”

“Thanks.
That would be great.”

Anxious
to escape their odd stares and her sense of unease, Sarah excused herself to
the kitchen, where she was greeted with a friendly smile by her friend, Juan.
“Hey,
mija
,” he said, “what’s up?”

“I hate
to ask, but this couple that just came in wants to know if you’re willing to
make lunch.”

The cook
glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s no time yet.”

“I know.
I know. But they seem really…uppity. I was scared to tell them no. I told them I
would check with you.”

Juan
looked at her quizzically and shook his head. He didn’t understand her word
choice.

“Uppity…You
know, um…rich…used to getting what they want.”

He smiled
in understanding. “Ah, I see…Snobbish.”

Sarah
nodded. “Yes, and I am in no mood today to deal with cranky, demanding
customers. So, do you think you could just make them lunch so they’ll be happy,
eat, and get outta here?” Sarah pressed the palms of her hands together in a
pleading gesture. “Pleeease.” She offered a beaming smile.

Juan
nodded. “For you,
mija
, anything.”

Sarah
smiled at the Spanish endearment. “Thank you!”

After
she had taken their order, she caught up to her friend, Julie, at the kitchen
door. “Hey, would you mind taking my table by the fireplace? I need to take a
break for a little bit.”

“Sure
thing.” She looked over Sarah’s shoulder to the table in question. “Who are
they? They look a little out of place for these parts. Are they lost?” She
laughed at her own joke.

“Yeah, I
don’t know. I didn’t ask, but I know what you mean. They said they just flew in
from out of town. Definitely not from around here, that’s for sure. Let me know
if you find out anything. I’m curious.”

“All right.
Have they ordered yet?”

“Yeah,
I'm going to put their order in then I’m going to sit in the office for a bit
and take a break.”

“Are you
feeling okay? Can I get you anything?”

Sarah
knew her friend was concerned; it wasn’t like her to take a break so early in
the day. “I’m fine. Just a bit tired. I’ll just prop my feet up for fifteen minutes,
and I’m sure I’ll feel refreshed.”

“Take an
hour. The morning rush is over, and I doubt we’ll get much of a crowd until
dinner. Go on, go take a break. I’ll call you if I need help.”

“Thanks."
Sarah offered an appreciative smile, and with relief, she headed for the break
room.

*****

Sarah
plopped into the blue, lounge chair and turned on the television. She had no
interest in watching anything in particular and did so more out of a desire for
background noise so she wouldn’t feel alone. She closed her eyes, took a deep
breath, and let it out slowly.

When her
husband, Danny, had been deployed overseas, leaving her alone and pregnant in
Fort Lewis, Washington, her aunt had suggested that she stay with her to help
run the family inn and restaurant. Grateful for the offer, Sarah had moved to
Granite Falls, in December.

She had
known from the beginning of her marriage that there was a risk he could be sent
into a war zone, but she had illogically told herself that it wouldn’t happen
to him. She had dreamt that they would get married, she would finish college,
and they would buy a little house with an apple tree in the backyard, get a
dog, have a couple of babies, and live happily ever after.

Now,
seven months later and only twenty years old, she was indeed married and had a
baby on the way, but she was alone. Her hopes of a little house and happily
ever after, were a wishful dream, for the future. She tried not to worry about
the dangers that Danny faced and prayed daily for his safe return. To keep her
mind occupied, she had transferred her college credits to a nearby college, so
that she could continue her studies to become a teacher. Any free time she had
was spent at the restaurant. Free time meant time to worry, so she tried to
stay constantly busy with work and school.

She ran
a hand absent-mindedly through her hair and sighed; then she closed her eyes
and rested a hand on her belly. Her momentary respite was interrupted by a
voice in her head.
You should go to the airport now
.

She
opened her eyes and shook her head. Was she imagining things? This wasn’t the
first time since she had been pregnant that she had heard a voice in her head,
but she had always pushed the idea aside and chalked it up to her imagination.
Pregnancy hormones could wreak havoc on emotions, and she had assumed that
hearing voices was an adverse product of pregnancy.

It’s
not your imagination. You need to leave. Follow your instincts. You’re in
danger, and you know it.

Sarah
sat up. Maybe she should go, but how could she justify it? Her visit from Eddie
and Liliana, not to mention the strange couple in the restaurant, had her
nerves on edge; but really, she had no justifiable reason to think that she was
in any sort of danger. Maybe she should just take the remainder of the day off
and get some rest.

Her
thoughts were interrupted by another voice; but this time, she recognized the
source. It was Aunt Mae. “Hey there! Julie said that I could find you in here.
You feelin’ okay, sweetie pie?”

Her aunt
stood in the doorway. Obviously concerned, she pursed her lips and frowned.

“I’m
fine, Aunt Mae. Just a bit tired, but I’m fine, really.”

“Well,
that’s good. I’ll tell you what, it’s a bit slow in there right now, but I expect
we’ll have a large crowd tonight. We’re running low on some supplies. How would
you feel about taking a break from the restaurant for a bit and running to the
store for me?”

The
prospect of a drive and some shopping sounded like the perfect reprieve to
clear her thoughts. “Sure, sounds like fun. Do you have a shopping list?”

“Yep,
right here.” Her aunt handed her a folded piece of paper. “Try not to take too
long though. A storm is supposed to roll in later this afternoon, and I don’t
want you to get stuck.”

Sarah
grabbed the keys for the truck off the desk. “No worries, Aunt Mae. I’ll be
there and back before you know it. Call me if you think of anything else you
need.”

*****

The
warehouse store was, thankfully, uncrowded. Sarah loved to shop at the massive
store but found that she had little patience to deal with the hordes of people
who were often drawn there.

It
didn’t take long to gather the desired supplies, and though Sarah was tempted
to browse the children’s clothing section on the way to the checkout line, she
passed up the allurement and made her way to the front of the store. She had
just pushed her large cart past a row of books when an overwhelming sense that
she was being watched made her pause.

She
thought she saw him out of the corner of her eye. A man in a trench coat stood
at the opposite side of the store, at the end of a food aisle. Just as she
turned to get a look at him, he disappeared up the aisle, out of sight. Was it
her imagination? It was winter after all; plenty of people wore trench coats.
And yet…he had looked very much like the man from the restaurant.

For a
moment she was tempted to investigate.
But then what?
she pondered. If
she discovered that it wasn’t him, she would be relieved, but what would she
say if she came face to face with him? On the other hand, if she didn’t look to
see who it was, she would worry for the rest of the day that she was being
followed.

She
picked up a children’s book and pretended to read the back cover, as she
contemplated the best course of action. A glance out of the corner of her eye
revealed that the man was nowhere in sight.
It had to be my vivid
imagination playing tricks on me again,
she chided herself.

After
she had located the shortest line, she drummed her fingers on the cart with
impatience. When the line finally moved, she grabbed a giant jar of salad dressing
to place onto the conveyor belt but froze with the jar in mid-air when she
glanced toward the food court and caught sight of a blond haired woman in a
trench coat. Her back was to Sarah, so her face was undetectable, but it was
too much of a coincidence for Sarah’s peace of mind.

She
silently willed the cashier to move faster, and as soon as he handed her the
receipt, she thanked him and headed for the exit. As she passed the table, on
the way to the door, she noticed that the blond haired woman had been joined by
a man in a trench coat. Their backs were to her, and she still couldn’t see
their faces.