Portals (21 page)

We picked up fresh deli meat and veggies on our way home. For lunch, we made sandwiches on thick sourdough rolls.

Reo and Sloane got there first. I hadn’t even thought about Sloane being there, but was glad he was.

Lassiter’s reaction, when he arrived to find a real live elf, was priceless. The fact that said elf did not immediately vanish caused Lassiter to beam from ear to ear as he pumped Sloane’s hand enthusiastically. Reo, Thulu and I grinned at each other. It really was rather cute.

“It’s great to meet you!” He looked at the rest of us. “And he just comes over to your house. That is so cool!”

Sloane gently disengaged his hand, with a smile.

We put everything out to make our killer sub sandwiches and took our plates into the dining room. I fixed a small sandwich for Carter. Thulu lifted him into his booster seat. Aware of the three year old at the table, we discussed neutral topics until Carter finished his sandwich and asked to be excused.

Jenna and Parker had come home and the three of them went into the family room. I heard the TV go on and Parker gave Carter instructions on which channel to go to.

Thulu filled the others in on our new client. Reo gave me a hard time for accepting a live client, but I pointed out that her sister was one of us, so she didn’t count as completely off limits.

We all got serious pretty quickly though as Thulu walked them through our interview with Lilia. He told them he felt this was somehow connected to the man who shot Reo, Lassiter listened carefully and made his own notes on his phone.

Thulu didn’t get frustrated very often. He was very Zen about everything and almost always in good spirits. It bothered me that he was annoyed. It made an impression on the others, too. Thulu didn’t fail. And he didn’t give up.

Lassiter asked some pointed questions, most of which we had already asked Lilia and were able to answer for him.

“I’ll see what I can find out,” he said at last. He turned to Reo and Sloane. “Do the two of you mind telling me about the shooting the other night? It would be great if I had it first-hand.”

They agreed, readily. Lassiter walked each one of them through that night, asking detailed questions.

I sat back and listened to his interview technique and was very impressed. He had a way of zeroing in on small details and helping Reo recall things he hadn’t realized he knew.

Sloane of course, had a memory that could basically recreate the event in his head, so his recollection was as close to being there that Lassiter could get. He beamed every time Sloane brought forth another sliver of information. Sloane was also able to describe the man very accurately and Lassiter asked him if he’d work with a police sketch artist before he realized what he’d asked.

“Scratch that,” he said ruefully. Then brightened as he had another idea. “I’ll see if we can’t find another way to get a sketch. Maybe I can move the program to my laptop.”

In addition to a complete description, Lassiter was very excited to learn that the guy had been well dressed. He wasn’t a kid or gang member. He was clean shaven and dressed in expensive clothes.

“Excellent, Sloane, thank you. That helps a lot.” We all looked at him expectantly.

“People tend to remember someone who is well dressed, easier than someone who is casually dressed. So in theory someone should remember him.” He sat lost in thought for a few moments. “So, to recap, somehow, you’re not quite sure exactly how, but the two cases are connected. Right, Thulu?”

“I’m not positive, but it feels as if they are. One of the reasons I wanted Reo and Sloane to come today was to see if they could connect with Daria telepathically.” He rose from the table and went to the study where he retrieved the bag containing Daria’s brush.

Reo looked thoughtful and Sloane’s expression grew serious when they saw the bag. Lassiter leaned over and picked up the bag from where Thulu had placed it in front of Reo. He asked if he could have another bag and a pair of tweezers.

We got him the items, and pulling a surgical glove from his pocket, he carefully used the tweezers to pluck several of the strands of hair and placed them in the other bag. He wrote Daria’s name and the date on the little white area. He slid the brush back into the bag and returned it to the spot in front of Reo.

Sloane watched all this with interest, while Reo looked at the brush. “You do realize that I have to touch this, right?” he asked Lassiter.

“Yeah, that’s why I didn’t want to contaminate it. Nothing to do with fingerprints and everything to do with not confusing the scent or whatever it is you do.”

Reo snorted and looked at Sloane. Some communication passed between them because Reo nodded and slipped the brush out of the bag. Thulu told him he had touched only the tip so Reo moved his fingers more to the center of the bristles and rested them lightly.

He shut his eyes, and the room grew still to let him concentrate. Only the ticking of the clock from the other room and the low sound of the TV could be heard. A couple of long minutes and Reo shook his head. He kept his eyes closed and Sloane took his other hand and closed his own eyes.

The clock ticked some more and I saw Reo’s grip tighten on Sloane’s fingers.

“Damn it!” Reo’s and Sloane’s eyes flew open. “We had her for a few seconds, but whatever is hiding her shut us out.” Reo turned to Sloane. “What did you get? Any more than that?”

Before Sloane could answer, Thulu said. “She’s in an old building here in San Francisco. The room was made of old brick. It was too fast for me to get any more.”

“It’s not human, the entity hiding her,” replied Sloane.

That perked us all up. “Then what is it?” I asked, at the same time as Reo and Thulu. Sloane blinked at us.

“I don’t know. I’m not familiar with the race.” Sloane frowned. “I need to consult with Belus and Aurelia,” he said suddenly. He turned to Reo. “I’ll see you at home later.”

To Lassiter, “It was a pleasure meeting you. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

And to me and Thulu, “Thank you for lunch. I’ll talk to you later.” With that he popped out of sight.

The rest of us were left slightly dazed for a moment.

Reo just smiled. “You get used to it. Although that was a bit different even for Sloane.”

“What intrigues me - and concerns me more than a little, to be perfectly honest,” Thulu said, “is that there is a race that an elf is not familiar with.”

It was a sobering thought.

The four of us looked at each other. It was Lassiter who put it into words. “And that they are here on Earth.”

Thulu got up and went into the kitchen. He came back with his cell phone. “He’s the logical person to call.”

Reo and I looked at each other and nodded.

“Assuming he’s back,” I added. Jones would have gone to Phaete to investigate the situation there and fill in his brother on what had happened. We hadn’t heard anything from him, yet. Not that I’d expected to.

Thulu touched the screen and waited a moment. “Voice mail,” he said to us. “Hi, it’s Thulu. Would you please give us a call at your earliest convenience? It’s important.” He touched the screen again.

“Will I get an answer if I ask who you called?” asked Lassiter.

“Not one you’ll like,” I answered. “One of our sources.”

“Well, then tell me this, is Earth some kind of crossroads? Why are all these races showing up?”

That was a thought that hadn’t crossed my mind before. And judging from the expressions on Thulu’s and Reo’s faces. It hadn’t occurred to them either.

We all three shrugged. “We don’t know, but that’s a very good question. We’ll add that to our list.”

“Well, I need to get back to work. Before I go, Reo, Daria is alive, right?”

Reo nodded. “Absolutely. I was able to let her know we were there to help her before we were cut off. So, she knows she’s not alone.”

“Okay, good deal. Thank you both for the lunch, and I’m sure we’ll be in touch if either side has any new info, right?” he asked pointedly.

We took the hint. “Absolutely, Jeremy. We promise,” I said with a smile.

Reo took off shortly after Lassiter left, glad he and Sloane had driven over for once. He offered to help with cleaning up, but we waved him away and told him to have a good show that night.

Thulu and I were both lost in our own thoughts. We knew that Daria was alive, but I was concerned by an unknown entity. Had they done anything to Daria after the brief communication? The fact that Reo and Sloane had broken through for a moment was encouraging, but I kept worrying at the fact that the race was unknown. It scared the hell out of me. I hoped Jones called us back sooner, rather than later.

Sloane called after an hour or so to let us know that the elves had been alerted and were trying to find out as much as they could about any other race that could have discovered a portal to Earth. They were concerned about it and took it with every bit of seriousness.

I was serious about it, too. I’d been doing a lot of thinking, and I kept coming back to several ideas. It was time to share them with Thulu.

“What if we were wrong about Gabriel opening the portals to the other worlds? We just assumed he did it because he had the ability to do it. But think about it, Thulu. We never had a good reason as to why he would do something like that. Michael thought it was Jones. Jones thought it was Gabriel. But what if it was someone else? Or what if something has gone wrong with the fabric between us and the other worlds now. What if the portals are opening on their own? What do you think?”

Thulu was silent for a long time. We were in the family room and Carter was upstairs taking his nap.

“It’s certainly a possibility, love. You’re right, we all really did just assume. It wasn’t like anyone was on casual chatting terms with Gabriel to find out for sure. Maybe there were other portals and this new entity came through one of those.” He leaned his head back against the sofa cushion. “It’s certainly worth bringing up to Sloane or Jones when we hear back from them.”

I nodded. Once more we were back to waiting. Yeah, my favorite thing.

Slowly, the afternoon passed with no word back from Lassiter or Jones. I was feeling the pressure and very worried. We had a kidnapped a woman kept somewhere in San Francisco, and our hands were tied.

With Thulu blocked, all we could do was hope the elves would be able to use their stronger powers. Reo’s were good, but sometimes erratic. Even Sloane had a problem breaking through to Daria, and he was a very strong telepath and empath. I hoped that some of the other elves would be able to work together and break through whatever barriers there were. And I fervently hoped that Daria was still alive.

Thulu thought she was, but had nothing to base the feeling on, other than he was still blocked. In light of the gravity of the case, I chose not to point out all the times he’d made light of my feelings. But I tucked it away to remind him the next time he said something about mine.

Lassiter did call to say that the police had moved Daria’s case into active mode. He convinced his boss that she had been kidnapped, citing information received from his Confidential Informant.

He didn’t tell us at the time, but did tell us much later that his boss had been very skeptical. Considering his skimpy information, that was hardly surprising. He said that he’d had to point out that there was no way he could have known about a missing person’s case from another precinct any other way.

His boss told him his CI better not be responsible for any of the cases Lassiter had solved or his head would roll. He demanded to know where the CI had been when Daria went missing. Lassiter assured him that there was no connection and insisted that the CI had been out of town.

But, of course, all we knew that day was that Daria’s case was being vigorously investigated by the police. As it should have been two days before.

Using the description Sloane and Reo had given him, Lassiter put that out as well, under the “person of interest” category. They were canvassing the area around the restaurant where Daria worked, as well as the routes she would have taken home and to the restaurant where she was to have met Lilia. They were also looking near the area where Reo was shot, but only Lassiter knew the real reason why.

We called Lilia as soon as we hung up from Lassiter. Daria was going to make the local news, and we didn’t want Lilia surprised. She was grateful that the police were involved, but was afraid that we would stop working on her case. We assured her we would stay on it until Daria was found. We let her know that we had brought in more powerful help and that a lot of different sources were doing everything that could be done to find her sister.

It wasn’t much, but she seemed reassured.

That was another reason why I don’t like to work with the living. The pain, the panic, the fear. The not knowing if the person was alive or dead. Wondering if she could be saved and if she was, what kind of shape she’d be in. For me, this was hell.

Dealing with the dead was so much easier. Sure, I dealt with the living sometimes. If we had to deliver messages or something. But the client was dead and my responsibility was to the client.

In this case, our client was alive, and I hoped to hell her sister was alive too. There was an immediacy to this case that I didn’t have with the dead. For ghosts, the worst that could happen pretty much already had. Time was not usually of the essence and pressure was very rare.

This was heartbreaking and cruel, and I knew I couldn’t do this on a regular basis. It was one thing for Thulu to know exactly where someone was, but this not knowing was horrid. I had an enhanced respect for law enforcement and families who went through this hell. I didn’t know how they managed to not go mad.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I jumped when Thulu nudged me to hand me a glass of wine. It was afternoon, when I didn’t usually drink, but I was grateful anyway.

“You can’t let it eat at you, Fi. Everything that can be done is being done. I’m trying to find that pipeline into her location again. I won’t give up.”

I didn’t say anything. I simply nodded as I accepted the proffered glass and took a grateful sip.

“How do you stand the waiting?”

Fortunately, we are so tuned in to each other, my husband knew exactly what I was asking.

“I stand it because there’s nothing else I can do. I get the info to Jeremy and he knows that time is crucial. Not in the beginning, though. Even though we knew each other from the dojo. I thought he respected me, but he was still very skeptical when I first told him where that missing child was three years ago.” He paused, moved closer to me on the sofa and took my hands.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, Fi. I know we’ve been politely avoiding the subject the last couple of weeks. I also know you think I betrayed you on some level. Maybe you’re right and I did - on some level.” His hand brushed a stray strand of my hair behind one ear.

“But in the scheme of things, I know you, and I totally believe you would have done the same thing. There’s no way you’d allow someone to suffer, not if there was even a small chance you could help. And there’s no way you would just stand by knowing a child could be helped. No matter how you pretend differently, you’d sacrifice your own anonymity in a heartbeat if it saved one person. I know this. It’s why I did what I did. And now I’m counting on you to let it go. We won’t take out front page ads, but I want us to be more open to the possibility when we see someone we can help.”

Thulu’s expression was as earnest as I’d ever seen it. His gaze never once left my own. “I think deep down, if you’ll admit it to yourself, that you’ve suspected all along, love. I think you just pretended you didn’t.”

Maybe he was right. About all of it. I sighed heavily. I so did not want to have that conversation at that particular moment, but my sense of betrayal flared up. I tried to keep my voice even.

“I don’t want to spend my life as a lab rat.”

“That won’t happen, love.”

His fingers traced a line down my cheek from forehead to chin. I pulled away and stood up to pace.

 “The thing that bothers me most is that you didn’t tell me. Even if I suspected, I sure as hell didn’t know I suspected, Thulu. Otherwise, you would have simply mentioned it. But you didn’t mention it, did you? And just because we didn’t discuss it and just because you think I may have somehow known doesn’t mean I did know. You can’t assume that means I was okay with it. I’m not okay with it. You went behind my back, Thulu. How is that okay?”

I stared at him from where I had stopped by the fireplace. I felt tears threaten and was determined I wouldn’t cry. He watched me carefully, a frown creasing his forehead, his own eyes troubled. I shook my head.

“It isn’t okay, Fi. You’re right.” He paused. “But I knew where those kids were every time. How could I allow them to not be found when I knew where they were? Was I supposed to let your paranoia be an excuse for a child’s death?”

“No, Thulu, you were supposed to be honest with me and tell me you knew. You were supposed to tell me you were going to the police and let me deal with it in the open. Instead you betrayed my trust.” I rubbed my head where it was beginning to hurt.

“I’m sorry you see it that way, Fi.” His voice was flat and my heart dropped to my stomach. “Do you really think I would ever have allowed someone to die when I could save them? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. You’re right, and that was wrong of me. But I’ll be damned if I’ll apologize for saving a life. I love you and always will, but if it’s your paranoia against a life, then you know what I’ll have to do.”

I looked into his warm eyes and knew this man loved me and respected my opinion and wishes. His voice softened. “Please be on board with this, love. We’ll liaise only with Jeremy. And if anyone finds out that we don’t want to know, well then we’ll turn Jones loose on them to wipe their memories.”

I rolled my eyes. Thulu knew I strongly disapproved when Jones wiped memories, but even I had to admit there were times it had been helpful and healthier for the person being “adjusted.” I was certainly all for it for Reo’s shooter. But of course that was different, I told myself.

Thulu really wanted me to agree to helping when we could. Besides, what alternative was there with the cat out of the bag, and since I knew he would continue to give info to Jeremy?

My frustration was that he’d hidden his actions from me. And truth to tell, I probably had suspected all along, even if I refused to admit it. So, he had kept things from me, and I had lied to myself about it. Was it worth continuing to be hurt? I’d said he’d betrayed my trust, but was that even really true? Had I really stopped trusting my husband? Of course, the answer to that was “no.” I trusted him with everything. I always had and always would. I could continue to let this eat at me or we could move on. I didn’t like being at odds with him. It was foreign to me, and I was just going to have to admit we had both been wrong and move on.

I didn’t speak for a long time, staring into the empty fireplace. Still on the sofa, Thulu waited quietly. I nodded, slowly, and he gave a sigh of relief as he got up and quickly crossed to me and drew me in for a tight hug.

I pulled back to look at him. “No more secrets, Thulu. Not those kind anyway, okay?”

“Agreed, love. And you could maybe ease up a little?”

I looked into his eyes and nodded ruefully. “Besides, we’ve already brought Jeremy into the fold and he knows what we can do. I suppose it’s not a very big step to actually give him information.” I spoke slowly, thinking about what I said. “But he must always abide by the rules, the first of which is to never, ever divulge our names without our permission.”

“He knows that, but we will make it clear anyway.” He kissed my forehead and held me tight once more. The unspoken strain of the last few weeks eased between us, and I let out my own sigh as I listened to Thulu’s heartbeat.

There was a knock at the door, and we looked at each other. I knew things were going to be okay again. Thulu planted a kiss on my forehead and went to the front door.

He returned with Special Agent Brown. I tried to smile, but inside I just wanted him to go away. I knew he wanted to know what was going on. I still wondered how he had figured out that Thulu was Lassiter’s CI.

I invited him to sit down and offered him something to drink, which he declined, as he settled in one of the easy chairs. I moved to the sofa and sat in my usual spot.

“You’ve been gone on a trip.” It wasn’t a question.

Thulu sat next to me and took my hand. We both nodded in tandem.

“You were correct in saying that things had settled down.”

We looked at each other and back at Brown and nodded again. He looked at us impassively then changed tactics.

“I’m guessing that the two of you have something to do with the missing person’s case that suddenly has moved up Lassiter’s priority list. Interesting that no one was concerned about it until he started pushing.”

I squeezed Thulu’s hand slightly and he squeezed back. I watched Brown carefully. Neither of us answered, though.

Brown sighed. “What do I have to do to earn your trust? I’m not trying to hurt either of you. But I need to have information if I’m going to be able to investigate cases. The case where your family was attacked is still open.”

I interrupted, “Why? We told you who killed them. We told you that the killer was also dead.”

“And we have not one shred of evidence to back that up. All we know is a family was attacked and some of them killed. We can extrapolate through the crime scene evidence that the killer was extremely big, but that’s all. You claim that Gabriel himself is dead. Fine. Let me see his body.”

Thulu and I exchanged a glance. “We can’t do that, Special Agent Brown,” said Thulu. “His body no longer exists, except as glittering dust in the warehouse where he died. I don’t know if the dust is there or not. If it is, I have no idea if DNA can be gotten from it to help you identify that it is indeed not human and not of our world.”

“No, Mr. Thulukan, we already have the dust from the one who was killed at your parent’s house. That did indeed confirm the existence of something not of Earth. However, the lab was unable to confirm anything more than that it was organic.”

“Oh, right, I’d forgotten about that one. Well, then you know that their bodies collapse when they die.”

“We don’t know that. We know we have organic material. Not who or what it might be from, other than nothing from here.”

“I’m sorry, Special Agent Brown,” Thulu said. “I know you want to close the case, but you must understand that from where we sit, it is closed. What else can we do to convince you of that?”

Brown ran his hand through his short hair. I felt sorry for him. He’d followed his path based on something he thought I could do. Even though I wasn’t psychic, I did have an ability that would confirm his suspicions. And now, he was almost vindicated, but the very people who could offer him that vindication wouldn’t speak. The problem as I saw it was that I doubted that he’d accept any explanation.