The Dream Machine: Book 6, The Eddie McCloskey Paranormal Mystery Series (The Unearthed) (29 page)

A trauma surgeon had patched up Manetti. She was asleep in the same bed and Deanna was checking on her when we came in. She put her forefinger to her lips, asking us to be quiet. Silently, we filed in and stood bedside.

Her pulse and blood pressure were up, still on the low side but at least back within normal limits. Riehl and Megan were rooted to the spot. I bobbed my head at the door, and Deanna followed me out.

In the hallway, I kept my voice down. “Tell me it’s good news.”

She smiled a tired smile. “Looks that way.”

I couldn’t help it. My eyes teared up and I stepped back against the wall and slid down till my ass hit the floor. The cumulative exhaustion finally caught up and broke down what the Brits would have called my stiff upper lip.

Deanna put a hand on my shoulder. We stayed like that for a minute, me crouched on the floor and her there. We didn’t say anything. We didn’t have to. I’d never see this woman again, but I’d never forget this moment where she told me Manetti was going to live. It was a huge weight off my chest.

I hadn’t gotten Manetti killed.

“What’s going to happen to Alison?” Deanna asked.

I didn’t have an answer.

Deanna sensed my mood shift. She let go of my shoulder and rubbed her eyes.

“Your partner is lucky to have you.”

“She was lucky to have you last night,” I said.

“Who are you guys?” Deanna asked, genuinely curious.

I was proud to be lumped in with Manetti, Riehl, and Megan. Though it was undeserved on my part. These three put their lives on the line constantly for their country, for people who would never know they even existed.

“They’re with the government. They work behind the scenes, so they’re the unsung heroes.”

Deanna nodded. “And what about you?”

“I’m just a guy, trying to do my best.” I grinned. “Thanks for everything.”

Deanna left to attend to the other patients.

I pushed up the wall, getting back on my feet. Riehl came out of Manetti’s room, just the tiniest trace of emotion left in his eyes.

“Would have been better if Manetti just stayed with us,” Riehl said. “We’re behind. We can’t get a line on the guys we’re after in D.C.”

“Who are you chasing?”

He gave me the look like I should have known better than to ask. “We should never have taken Manetti out of our game to bring her here. She almost died and we didn’t get much out of this.”

I smiled. “Maybe we can get more.”

Alison’s parents were in the hallway arguing with the security guards, who insisted that the cops should have taken their daughter away by now. Dr. Zane had inserted himself into the debate, taking mom and dad’s side and arguing that with her rapidly deteriorating condition and now-proven abilities, Alison couldn’t be taken away.

Through all the shouting, I gleaned a few key facts. Somehow local LE hadn’t gained admission to Alison’s room yet. Neither had her parents. I assumed that was Zane’s doing, citing her delicate state.

“This is my case,” I said. “I need to talk to her.”

The security guards and cops looked at me like I was crazy. But for once I actually had the law on my side.

“The federal government owns this land,” I said. “Therefore, they have jurisdiction. I’ve been working with them on this case. It’s mine.”

“You’re not even a cop!” one of the security guards said.

“He’s with us.” Riehl stepped into the hallway behind us. “He talks to the girl.”

I pushed through the dumbfounded men, walked right past Zane, nodded at Alison’s parents, went into her room, and shut the door behind me.

***

Alison’s eyes were puffy behind the glasses. They drifted up along a lazy path in space to settle on me. She no longer looked like a child.

“I don’t want to talk.”

I stood at the foot of the bed and folded my arms. “Good. Because I want you to listen.”

She rubbed her forehead. “I’m not well.”

“Shut up.”

Her head snapped up and her eyes were on fire.

“I told you, I want you to listen. Don’t talk. Don’t say anything. Just listen. You need to. Because you’re out of options and more importantly you’re out of time.”

Her eyes filled with tears and it was almost enough to break my heart. But I didn’t need much reminding that her actions had put Manetti in front of White’s bullets.

“Here’s what happened. A career criminal manipulated you. I don’t know how true that is, but I believe some of it is. Maybe most of it. I don’t think you wanted anybody to get hurt. I have to believe that.”

“I could never remember my dreams,” she said. “No matter what I did. Zane wouldn’t let me write them down. Even when I snuck in a notebook and tried to take notes, I could never get the details.”

I nodded. “And Dr. Zane wasn’t sharing the results of the experiment with you, so you had no idea if your dreams were coming true.”

She looked down. “I wanted it to be real. It
had
to be real. I didn’t want to die thinking my life was meaningless.”

“And the bitter irony here, Alison, is that you have the sight.”

Her breath caught in her throat.

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. You’ve got me convinced and I’m an unforgiving skeptic. You can see the future, or at least, you can see a possible future.”

“Oh my God…” She broke down and started sobbing.

But we didn’t have time for her to gather herself. “So you and White talked.”

Sobbing, she nodded.

“And he came up with this idea.”

She nodded.

“He had a deal in mind. Where he would teach you how to lucid dream and then tell you what to dream about. While he pulled the strings on the outside to make whatever you dreamed about happen. That way, your dreams would always come true. Am I close?”

She nodded again.

“He could stage a rape for you to dream about. He could get a woman on the outside to report it to the police. That way you could be sure it looked like you had the sight.”

She said nothing. I was getting too close to the hard truth now. But I knew I was right.

“And in exchange, you cooked up a story for the security guard, Warwick. You told him his little girl was going to die, unless he helped White escape.”

She had gone very still. I watched her eyes for ten seconds and didn’t see them blink. I almost walked out. I almost left her there to wallow and live out her few remaining days depressed and ashamed and guilty.

But what good would come of that? I read somewhere a long time ago that so long as there was life, there was hope. People can change. People can atone.

Maybe that was pie-in-the-sky. But I had to believe it was true. As much for my sake as for Alison’s.

“White manipulated you.”

She got off the bed and nearly fell just trying to stand up. Determined to charge over and get in my face, she started going down and I had to catch her. It took most of the oomph out of what she shouted:

"You had years! You had a life to make up for it! I don't!"

"You have time."

"Two weeks?"

"Two weeks, yes."

"What can I do in two weeks? I hate my parents and I can’t help you because I have no control over my real dreams. I’m just a body waiting to die."

I shook my head. "We can help you."

"What?"

"We're going to help you." I helped her get back onto the bed. She was still wobbly and her skin was turning green. I grabbed the bucket next to the bed and held it up for her. She retched. I kept her hair out of the way.

"Oh God," she said when she was done, grabbing her stomach.

"I'm sorry, Alison."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. When she was certain the nausea had passed, I put the bucket in the sink in the bathroom and came back out to her.

"How can you help me?" she asked.

"We'll help you if you help us," I said. "Will you help us?"

She nodded.

"My friends, the other agents, are trying to find some really bad people hiding out in D.C. They're threatening to launch some kind of attack. We're running out of time. We need your help to find them."

"But how…”

“We’ll help you find them. And I think you’ll be able to do it. Or at least point us in a direction.”

“I don’t know how.”

“I do. You see, I got you to dream about White."

"How?"

"Suggestion. In your dream state, we were able to influence what you dreamed about. We applied the techniques that Dr. Nareev uses on Betty while you were sleeping last night. It took a little bit of doing, but you located White in short order. With your help we were able to find him."

"You found him?"

I nodded. "He's not going to hurt anybody ever again. Thanks to you."

"Thanks to me he got out in the first place."

"You can't do anything about that now. You can spend the rest of your time feeling miserable about it, or you can try to make positive contributions to the world. You're right, usually people have months if not years to change their mindset, but you don't have that luxury. It is literally now or never. Choose now."

She wiped under her eyes, smearing her tears. "What about my parents?"

"You have no control over their relationship."

"They'll probably get divorced after I’m gone."

"Maybe. But what can you do about that?"

She looked up at me as I stepped closer. Was I getting through? I didn't know.

I said, "They're the two most important people in your life. You should enjoy what time you have left with them. They love you more than anything."

"How do you know?"

"Because they're good people, even if they can't get along with each other. They care deeply about you. I..." My words caught in my throat. "I lost my parents when I was younger than you. It was the second worst thing that ever happened to me. I never got to tell them how much they meant to me."

"Second worst?"

"I lost my brother too, after."

"I just don't have a lot of time."

"I know. It sucks. But it's all you have. It's your choice. I hope you'll choose to help us."

***

I left Alison's room. Local LE was still in the hallway, barred by Riehl and now Megan Turner also. They snapped questions at me as I pushed through, refusing to answer. Riehl and Megan ran interference for me. I found Alison's parents by the nurse's station. They had been arguing about something. I could tell by how they were turned away from each other. I led them into a vacant room and closed the door behind us.

"How is she?" they both asked at the same time. They looked like they'd aged another year in the last few days.

"White manipulated her," I said, not answering their question. "He was a career criminal: charming, cunning, and sociopathic. He used her to get out. In exchange, he promised her what she thought she needed the most."

"Which was?"

"Immortality," I said. "She didn't know she had a gift, but she wanted everybody to think she did. He staged a crime that he got her to dream about in advance."

They both shook their heads, incredulous.

"He manipulated her," I repeated. "She is young and she's had a rough life. I think anybody in her position would have been manipulated by White like she was."

I was being a little generous there, but it was a useful lie. No need for me to tear down their precious image of their daughter in her few remaining days.

Karen pulled out some tissues and cried into them. Ted put his hand on her back. Maybe there was hope for these two. Or maybe they were better off going their separate ways. But either way, that decision could wait now. Alison's days were numbered.

"She's afraid. So afraid," I said. "And she's also brave. If I was her, I would have punched my own ticket, but she's still waking up every day. And she wants nothing more than to be your daughter."

Ted finally broke down.

I was close myself. "She's going to help us find some bad people. She's going to make a difference. But she needs your support. I think she's ready to accept your help."

Before I knew it, they were hugging me.

Manetti was still out but doing better. Nobody made me any promises, but it looked like she was going to pull through. I said my goodbyes to Riehl and Megan, both of whom thanked me unnecessarily.

"See you later, Eddie," Riehl said.

"Whatever happened to calling me Amateur Hour?"

He smirked. "Can't anymore after that righteous kill."

Megan gave me a hug. "Eddie, we might need you soon."

"We'll play that by ear." I smiled. "Now I need a car. I have somewhere to be ASAP."

Five minutes later, the driver pulled up in front of the building. I gave him the good news about Manetti. He actually broke into a smile. It was like watching an egg crack.

He activated his police lights and drove like a madman up I-95. I was back in my apartment within the hour, grabbing some clothes and my car keys, and then I was back out the door.

I jumped onto the PA turnpike and went as fast as I dared. I had somewhere to be. The minutes were ticking. It’s easy to forget how precious time is, how it’s our most valuable resource.

Two hours later I reached Rariville. The country roads were busy with rush hour traffic, most of them one lane so it was slow-going. The last couple miles to the precinct were hell, all stop and go traffic. But I made it in one piece. I parked in the first vacant spot I found. It was practically a quarter mile to the station. But I didn’t care. Time was ticking.

I didn’t bother to lock the car. It was a police station so I figured it was relatively safe in the parking lot. I rushed inside.

The precinct was relatively quiet. There were some people waiting out front. The sergeant smiled manning the desk gave me the nod to go back. I pushed through the door. I passed Detective Harney, one of the cops that had helped Sumiko and me on the last gig. He too gave me the nod and I smiled back.

Sumiko was in her office with the door half-closed. I heard her on the phone, her voice measured as always. She was reasoning with somebody, calmly leading the person down the inevitable path to the conclusion she wanted. I should have probably waited in the hallway for her to finish, but I couldn't.

Not today.

I knocked on the door before entering.

Her eyes flashed wide when she saw me. But she didn't smile. I didn't know how to take that. One of the attractions to her was never knowing quite what she was thinking. She was as deep as a well and just as mysterious at times. Kept me on my toes.

"Sir, I have to call you back in a few minutes." She hung up and replaced the phone in the cradle, slowly rising behind her desk. "Eddie..."

I had prepared a speech but now all the words sounded ridiculous. Sometimes there are no words. Instead of opening my trap and launching into all my whys, wherefores, and therefores, I went around the desk and grabbed her. Our lips met and kissing her was like sticking a fork in a socket. We kissed a long time and held each other a longer time. I finally realized I'd left the door open. It was probably a good idea to shut it so we didn't put on a peep show for the entire police force of Rariville. After nudging it closed I turned back to her.

"Eddie..." Sumiko said, still a little breathless. Her usually golden cheeks were flushed. Sure, I still got her fired up but did that mean she was willing to spend the rest of her life with me?

Just maybe.

I stared into those exotic eyes that were the color of honey. "Sumiko, time is a luxury and I don't want to waste any more of it. Let's get married right now."

"Eddie..."

I wasn't taking no for an answer. I reached for her hands and kissed her. "I can't lose you."

"Eddie." When she looked up, she was smiling. "You're never going to lose me."

*******