Second Chances

“It occurs to me that you might be of more use to us dead than alive.”

Brian lifted his chin, giving the man who sat having a very late dinner at the poolside table his best version of the evil eye. “My tax dollars pay your salary, don’t they? What a terrible waste.”

James Dixon just smiled. He had a bland, almost round, friendly face. Brian knew he was anything but. “Dr. Townsend is very attached to you,” he noted. “And you to her.”

Brian gave nearly all of his attention to a rough spot on his thumbnail. “So? What’s your point?” he said flatly.

Dixon motioned to his men, both of whom carried lengths of rope, and they hoisted Brian to his feet. They were neither rough nor gentle—they were simply intent upon getting the job done. And that job seemed to be to bind his hands behind his back and tie his feet together.

They lifted him up, but James Dixon stopped them with a single gesture. “Not yet,” he told them, then turned back to Brian. “What we’ve got to do is to lure Dr. Townsend—the one you call Jenn—here. Then we can take care of her and clean up this nasty little mess she’s made.”

“Take care of her? You mean, KILL her.”

“She’s already dead. She was listed as one of the missing in the NASA lab explosion.” Dixon looked up toward the house, toward a large picture window on the second floor. “Good, now we can continue,” he murmured.

Brian turned and saw Jennifer standing in the window, one of the agents holding tightly to her arm. Thank God she was safe.

“I’ve read Dr. Townsend’s work on double memories,” Dixon told her. “Fascinating concepts. Everything Jennifer here experiences---everything she sees and hears and feels---appears as memories in the older woman’s mind.”

It had worried Brian that they hadn’t blindfolded him as they brought him here, but now he realized that Dixon wanted him and Jennifer to know where they were—so that Jenn would know too. So that she would come here. It was the easiest way for them to catch and kill her.

Brian felt fear slice through him as he gazed up at Jennifer. He had to talk to her. He had to tell Jenn, through her, not to come.

Dixon nodded to the men who had tied Brian up, and they each took hold of one of his arms.

“Hey!” Brian said as they began dragging him backward. “What are you doing?”

Up at the second-floor window, he could see Jennifer break free from the man who was holding her. She rushed toward the glass as if she were trying to go straight through it. But it stopped her and she pressed her hands against it as she shouted his name, loud enough for him to hear.

And then Brian felt nothing behind him. Nothing but air as the two men pushed him out and back. With a splash, he went into the swimming pool. Panic engulfed him as completely as the water surrounding him. He tried to kick his legs, to push himself back to the surface. Brian fought on as his lungs burned and his heart pounded, knowing this was a fight that would be very hard to win.

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