Flying Blind
Part 2
Jarod threw the mobile phone down onto
his bed as he passed and stared out of the window, seeing nothing of what
passed before him. Moving over to the kitchenette, he reached into the fridge
and withdrew a can of Dr Pepper. The ringing of the phone sent the can onto the
floor, where it sat, gently rocking, as Jarod leapt for the receiver.
"Sydney? Is that you?"
"Jarod? No. It’s me,
Nicholas. Why? What’s going on?"
"Sydney should…oh, never
mind. It’s not...What’s up?"
"Did I leave my wallet in
your car? I haven’t been able to find it since I got home."
"I’ll have a look and call
you back."
"Okay, sure. Take your
time. It’s not that important but I’d like to know where it is."
"Sure thing."
Jarod hurriedly disconnected the
call and tried Sydney’s number again. A sigh of relief broke from his lips as
the dial tone switched to a ringing sound in his ear, and he resumed his pacing
as he waited for the call to be answered.
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Miss Parker stretched out her
hand in the dark and, as she made contact with another figure, she hastily
withdrew. Trying to rise, she heard the crack of her head on the underside of
Sydney’s desk, where she had flung herself only an instant before Lyle had
pulled the trigger, and then she felt the pain the knock caused her and swore
under her breath. Wriggling to the side, she stood up and tried to perceive
anything through the black, silent room. The artificial windows, which only let
in artificial light and which had also gone off when the power was cut, were no
help. With a frustrated groan, she gave up and tried to work out if she had
been injured by Lyle’s gunshots. Realising that she was physically all right,
she felt her way around the walls of the room until she reached the door and
pulled it open. The darkness of the hallway merged with the darkness of the
office and made no difference.
Sydney picked himself up from
the corner of the room where he had flung himself when Lyle had moved the muzzle
away from him and had aimed it at Miss Parker’s head. Stretching out his left
arm, Sydney was able to reach the small, portable, battery-operated lamp that
stood on the table near him and carefully switched it on. Instantly a small,
yellow glow filled the room and Sydney, who had used his right hand to remove a
small pistol from his trouser pocket, looked around to try to find Lyle. An
open vent clearly showed the method used by Lyle during his escape and Sydney
realised, as he pocketed the pistol, that he could do nothing more about that.
Instead he turned to look for Broots and Miss Parker.
Broots stood and, blinking in
the dim light, he too stared around for Miss Parker. She had disappeared into
the hallway in search, Sydney guessed, of someone she could blame for
everything which had happened and Sydney hoped, fervently that she wouldn’t
meet…oops! Judging by the yelling, Miss Parker had met her new stepmother first
of all! He grinned ruefully at Broots, who had taken out his hanky and was
mopping the beads of sweat from his face and head. As Sydney was about to say
something consoling, the overhead lights flickered once and switched themselves
on. At the same time, the alarm system was set off, making speech impossible,
so Sydney merely clapped Broots on the shoulder and sent him out into the hall,
thus stopping the younger man from realising how much Sydney was still
suffering from the activities of the past few minutes. Then he sat at his desk
and, one finger stuffed in his right ear to block out the noise, reached over
for the phone, which had started to ring when the lights went on.
"This is Sydney."
"Finally!"
"Jarod? I’ve never heard
you this concerned!"
"Well, actually, I was more
worried that my phone wasn’t working. Are you okay?"
"We all are. Luckily, as
soon as Lyle pulled the trigger…"
"…the power went off. I
know." Sydney shook his head, amazed again that Jarod somehow always knew
what was occurring. In the stunning silence, which came as the sirens were
switched off, Sydney was able to concentrate more on what Jarod was saying.
"Is Lyle gone?"
"Do you really think he’d
be able to stay around after that? No, he used your favourite method of escape.
So I guess things can finally go back to normal."
"I guess so."
When Sydney heard the dial tone
in his ear, he hung up the phone.
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Miss Parker sat behind her desk
and openly gloated. In her first forty-eight hours back in charge of the search
for Jarod she had uncovered five strong leads on his whereabouts, more than
Lyle had done in his whole time on top. She glanced through the mail at her
right hand and pulled out a small package. As Sydney entered her office she
waved it in his direction and rummaged in her desk for her paper knife.
"What’s in it?"
"How should I know? Does it
look as though I’ve opened it?" She ripped it open and shook out a parcel
wrapped in tissue paper. With a vigorous movement, she ripped the paper off and
stared at the pair of dark-rimmed glasses as they sat on her desk, gently
rocking.
"Damn it! These puzzles are
getting more frustrating the longer he’s out there!" She glared at Sydney,
who was still looking with a curious expression at the spectacles. "Well,
what is it, Syd?"
"This." He picked up
the frames and looked at Miss Parker. "Do you happen to remember what he
sent in the last parcel?"
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
"Nicholas? I’m sorry but I
couldn’t find your wallet. Are you sure you didn’t leave it somewhere
else?"
"I don’t know." The
young man stood and walked to the edge of the porch, looking out over the
garden. A grin broke over his face as he saw Kerri coming up the path towards
him.
"Hi!"
"Hi
Nick."
"I didn’t, by any chance,
leave my wallet at your place, did I?"
"No, you would have put it
on the bench in your kitchen and I’ll bet you knocked it off when you were
looking for something else." As Kerri sat down and began chatting to
Jarod, Nicholas went into the house, only to reappear seconds later with the
wallet in his hand and an amazed expression on his face. "How did you know
that? Are you psychic or something?"
"Of course not. I just know
you by now, that’s all."
Jarod looked confused.
"Psychic? That sounds like something footballer players do."
"No, Jarod." Kerri
laughed. "Psychic people have the ability to read people’s minds. There
was something about that in the paper that Nick read to me yesterday. Do you
have it here?" she queried and Nicholas went inside the house and
re-emerged with the paper. He opened the pages to the classified section and
showed Jarod the relevant ad.
"Here, see. People pay them
a certain sum of money and they tell them what’s going to happen in their
lives."
"Load of crap!"
"What?" The two men
turned and stared at Kerri, who grinned again as she answered. "Well it
is. I mean, find your star sign, Jarod, and just tell me how accurate it
is."
"My…what?"
"Your star sign. It depends
on when you were born - I mean the month and the date." A pained look
passed across Jarod’s face briefly but he hid it. "Your star sign for that
day or week or whatever will tell you something about what is happening or what’s
going to happen. Here…you were born in…?"
"In?
Um…September."
"Early or late?"
"Oh…early."
"Okay, Virgo. ‘People are
depending on you every which way you turn lately, and it’s important not to
lose sight of the bigger picture. For the next few weeks attempts to ignore
those needy people around you and decide which steps need to be taken to take
you to the next level.’ See? Stupid. Vague as all get out and not even any real
use. As though anyone is going to turn away from people who really need them.
Especially not you."
"What’s wrong with someone
just trying to make a little money by fooling gullible people? ‘A fool and his money…’
you know the saying."
"Because they don’t make
little money. They make a lot of money. After I first got out of hospital, I
had calls all the time from all over the country about people who would come
and tell my fortune, and all I had to do was to send such and such an amount of
money to this address and come to this place with this much and make a section
in my will to leave this much. It was as though I was stupid as well as
blind."
"You mean that they cheat
people out their money by pretending to know stuff about them? But why do
people believe them?"
"These people are usually
pretty convincing. They say things that can be interpreted in different ways.
And most of the things that they do say are phrased like questions and people
inadvertently answer them and tell the psychics more than they mean to. Mostly,
though, psychics are just people with a little bit more understanding than the
rest of us. They can guess by body language or expressions what’s right or
wrong. And a few decades ago they were burned as witches because of having
special powers that scared people. So I guess they’re trying to make up for it
now!"
Jarod turned a startled face to
her angry one. "And they get away with this?"
"Every day of the
week."
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Sydney turned over the glasses
and mask in his hand and stared out of the now-glassless window in his office.
A series of attacks on the Centre, for which everyone suspected Lyle or some of
his accomplices, were making everyone edgy. Miss Parker, frustrated from being
unable to understand what the latest clue from Jarod was trying to suggest, was
an additional pressure.
"Nicholas? Hi, it’s
me."
"Dad! How are you?"
"I’m really well. Listen, I
really rang to find out about Kerri. I haven’t seen her for a few days and I
thought I’d get in touch again, but I’ve lost her number."
"She’s really well. With
Paul’s help she’s becoming really independent."
"That’s wonderful.
She…there’s no hope for her to regain her sight, I suppose?"
"Well, not the last time
she went to the doctor there wasn’t."
"I see. Oh, I nearly
forgot. Do you and your mother want to come around for dinner tomorrow
night?"
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Jarod left Nicholas’ house with
a firm determination to change things but without really knowing how to go
about it. He had an instinctive feeling that this was one situation into which
he would not be able to slip easily. Psychic powers and abilities were not
something which with he had had any connection during his time in the Centre
and he had no idea of the approach he should use. However, as he walked, a plan
formed in his mind. If, of course, she was willing to help, Jarod knew that he
could make a ripple in the psychic community, which would have very
far-reaching consequences.
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Miss Parker slammed the phone
down on the cradle and paced the room angrily, muttering to herself under her
breath.
"Come on, Syd. Where are
you? Damn it!"
She threw herself into a chair,
which creaked in protest, and reached out for the phone again. Under her hand
it began to ring.
"What?"
"Ah, nice to see nothing’s
changed!"
"What do you want,
Jarod?"
"Oh, I just thought a cosy
chat on a night like this…" Miss Parker snorted and Jarod laughed.
"Oh, come on, Miss Parker. Do you mean to tell me you never get
lonely?"
"What, with you to keep me
entertained with all of your little ‘presents’? How could I?" Her eyes
followed a small, white object around the room and, although her voice didn’t
change, the expression on her face showed that she had not found all of Jarod’s
‘presents’ annoying.
"So why the call, Jarod?
Got another mystic clue for me to follow?"
He laughed again. "Not
quite. I just suggest you keep your eyes and ears open."
"Jarod? Jarod - wait."
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Jarod pressed the small remote
control and the figures on the screen froze, with Kerri in the act of passing
over several banknotes to the psychic sitting in front of her.
"Well, at least we’ve got
the evidence we need to expose these people. Have you still got all of the
other letters?"
"Which ones?"
"You know. The ones that
say ‘I obtained your address and I wondered if you’d be interested in my
services’. We can get them on charges of sharing your address without your
permission as well as fraud and working without a license."
"They’re in that envelope
on the table. I figured we could also fit the tape in the same package."
"Great idea. Okay, so is
everything organised?"
"I think so. I’ve arranged
my next visit for Thursday, which, I thought, gave us time to set everything
up."
"Oh, sure. But have you
also arranged an at-home visit, so I can put the camera into her office?"
"For the day after
tomorrow, at two o’clock. And she’s also really prompt."
"Okay, great. Then we can
properly get this done."
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Miss Parker threw open the door
to Sydney’s office and sat down in a chair as he continued to write a report .
She glared at Sydney until he finished his last word, capped the pen and then
looked up at her.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Where were you last night?
I spent the whole night trying to call you!"
"I was at home, why?
Nicholas and Michelle came around for dinner."
"Why didn’t you answer the
phone then?"
"Because it never rang. You
must have dialled the wrong number."
She gave him a withering look.
"Oh, please! After four years you think I’d just forget the number now,
all of a sudden. You’ll have to do better than that."
"I’m afraid I don’t have a
better explanation. And now, if you don’t mind, I have a lot of work to
do."
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Madame Sabian opened the door
and graciously ushered in her next customer, carefully avoiding eye contact
with, and attempting to conceal her terror of, the dog as it moved past her
into the room. Taking her accustomed seat opposite her customer, Madame Sabian
looked briefly at Kerri.
"Well, shall we
begin?"
"Of course." Kerri
handed over a small, tied bundle, which Madame Sabian dropped into a small slot
beside her. A small sound, like a muffled thud, made Paul prick up his ears,
but, true to his training, he remained at his mistress’ side.
"I see that your
relationship with your boyfriend will begin to fail. He will leave you for
someone who has more to offer him…"
As Madame Sabian continued,
Kerri smiled to herself. The predictions had begun well but, over recent days,
had begun to be more negative. The soundproof room prevented her from hearing
anyone outside but she felt the vibrations of approaching footsteps and,
shocking though it was to the psychic, she herself felt no surprise when the
door was wrenched open.
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Jarod stood in front of the
confused psychic and, it must be admitted, gloated. He always enjoyed moments
like this.
"You know, for someone who
professes to know the future, you look quite startled."
The woman opposite took several
seconds to regain her composure. "Not at all. I simply expected you to
enter through that door." She pointed to the entry behind her.
"Now, it’s strange that you
should mention that door because I have a little question for you. Actually its
more in the way of a test. You see, my friend here" she indicated Kerri
who received a glance from Madame Sabian but which had no effect "has
informed me that there are few little illegalities in regards to the… business…
that you run here. For instance," Jarod pulled a small piece of paper out
of his pocket, "I have evidence that, although the job you do is legal,
you perform it without a licence, which is not. Equally you pass on the private
details of your prospective clients to others in your field - without the
consent of the aforementioned clients." He looked over at the face
opposite, which was blank in dismay, before continuing. "Now, I have to
admit that I’m something of a sceptic about this whole psychic thing. But, I
always like people to have a chance to prove themselves. Therefore I’m going to
give you a little test. Now, don’t look so scared. It’s quite simple. I have
the information that will convict you. I also have several police waiting to
arrest you. The information is behind one door, police behind the other. Which
will you choose?"
ÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑÑ
Jarod and Nicholas watched and
described to Kerri the process of Madame Sabian being arrested and led to a
waiting police car.
"But how did you know
Madame Sabian would pick that door?
"Two ways. She saw me
appear from the other door and so assumed that if I could come in that way, so
could the police. Equally she had no idea that I knew where the other door led,
or how easy it would be for me to access."
"So you knew what she would
do? What are you, Jarod? Psychic or something?"