Jules Hinton's Strange Trip: Chapter 12 by JCH and Kas  

         Jules pissed the cook off by telling him what he had thought of the meal.  The man had come in just as he, Nikki and Gerald were finishing up and asked them if they enjoyed it.  Nikki and Gerald had responded enthusiastically, so Jules concurred.  That was when the man asked him what his favorite part of the meal was.  Jules answered truthfully, “The tea.”  The cook glared at Jules, then stormed off in the direction of the kitchen.
         “Jules has a way with words sometimes, “Nikki said.
         “Don’t worry about it, Nick,” Gerald said.  “Cajun seafood takes a while to get used to.  Rapheal will get over it.  Or he won’t.  Who cares?”
         Exactly, Jules thought.
         “I have some business to take care of,” he continued.  “Why don’t you take him on the tour of the grounds now, Nick?”  His pager went off again and he walked out of the room, trying to get a good look at it.
         “And what kind of business that would that be, Nick?”
         Nikki crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him for a long moment.  “Is there some reason you’re being so sarcastic to me tonight?  I’d think you’d be glad to see me.”
         Jules brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes.  “I’m sorry.  You’re right.  It’s just been a bad couple of days for me, I guess.  For us, I mean.  Are you going to tell me about what you went through this time?”
         “Yeah, but let’s go for a walk first.”

         “Private Plantations is something of a haven for the rich and not-so-famous,” Nikki said, as they walked hand in hand across the huge green lawn behind the main house.  “Two golf courses.  I guess one isn’t enough or something.  Four pools, not including the one indoor.  A weight room.  Tennis courts.  Two conference rooms.  The place has everything.  Plus, it has a great security system.  The people here might not be too famous, but some of them are infamous in their own way.”
         “Mobsters?”
         “Some of them.  And the occasional Hollywood actor.  This place seems to be next on the list after they get out of Betty Ford.  A little R&R after rehab, I guess.”
         “And where do we fit in?”
         “Hopefully, we’ll blend in, more than fit in.  Gerald has agreed to let us stay here in the main house for as long as we need to.  Or want to.  He’s a good man.  I think you’ll really like him when you get to know him.  Without him, I probably would have died a long time ago.”
         “I thought you did.”
         “Ah, there’s that sarcasm again.  If there’s something you want to say, why don’t you just come out with it?”
         “Sorry.  You were about to tell me something.  Go ahead.”
         She sat down on a bench that was nearby, but Jules remained standing, looking off in the direction of the one of the golf courses.  It was a warm night, muggy and a little overcast, but a full moon was shining through the clouds.
         She cleared her throat.  “I don’t know where to start exactly.  I guess it was like we were saying one time, about the people you meet on the road.  Some of them being creeps and all.  You never know who’s the creep and who isn’t.  Well, what if one of the most despicable people you ever met was the man who was your father?  Someone who was supposed to protect you from people like that?
         “He kidnapped me from my mom when I was young.  He said he was doing it to protect me.  What was I supposed to think?  I mean, why would he lie to me?  He was my father.  We lived on the run for a couple of years before settling down in Washington.  Aberdeen, Washington.  I guess I was about ten or eleven when he started showing me off to his friends.  Like he was some sort of big man because his daughter, his flesh and blood, was becoming a woman.
         “At first, that’s all it was.  Showing me off, you know.  But then, I guess he decided he liked what he saw.  So did a few of his friends.  Redneck loggers, all of them.  In-breeds and wackos.  So I ran away to New York.  I thought that nothing I got into there could be any worse than what I was running away from.  I guess I was wrong.
         “I met up with this guy.  Rollie “Fingers” Patterson.  I won’t tell you how he got his nickname.  But he played himself off as being this good guy.  Only looking out for me, you know.  Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.  He said he’d give me a place to stay, but I’d have to do things for him.  I had been up there for a week or so, but my money was already running thin.  I was only twelve or thirteen.  There was no place for me to go.  I thought if I went to a mission, Social Services or to the police, they’d only take me back to Washington, back to my dad.  And I didn’t know where to start looking for my mom.
         “Long story short, I started hooking for him.  I guess got real good at it real fast.  Got to be good at something, I guess.  A lot of guys up there like girls who either look young or are young.  In a lot of ways, they were worse than my dad and his buddies ever were.  Then, I got hooked on the drugs.  Cocaine, mostly.  A little speed.  Liquor.  That’s why I hardly touch the stuff now.  But that’s how Rollie kept his girls on the street.  It started out as a favor.  That’s what he always said.  I had a roof over my head.  I should be thankful, he said.  But the drugs are how he kept his girls hooking.  It got to where I owed him.  That’s what he said anyway.  Right.  Mr. Humanitarian-Of-The-Year or something.
         “Anyway, I was up there for two years or so, thinking about suicide every day, working in these real sleazy strip bars, which really were nothing but a front for his prostitution ring.  I guess it was still better than walking the streets.  At least the cops never busted the club.  They came to visit, I guess you could say.  But they never busted the place.
         “Anyway, one day, I walked into Rollie’s office without knocking.  Big mistake.  He and one of his henchmen were standing over a body, some big guy in New York politics, somebody in the police department.  I forget his name.  So I ran.  My roommate, Sheila, she had some info on Rollie.  Information that could do him in, payoff schedules, names of informants, that sort of stuff.  Apparently, she was doing one of his goons who liked to brag a little too much for his bosses own good.  And she stole a notebook off of him.  So when I ran, I took it.  I figured they wouldn’t kill me if they knew I had something on them, especially if they thought I had hid the book.
         “And now, all of these years later, I’m still running.”
         “So, all of this is because of what happened in the 80s?” Jules asked.
         “There’s no statute of limitations on these crimes, especially murder.  I could do him in just as much now as I could have ten or twelve years ago.”
         “But where does Gerald fit into this?”
         “Gerald was one of Rollie’s partners in the early days.  He mostly does business in Miami, but he had been trying to move into New York.  And they worked together some.  But Gerald’s nothing like Rollie.  He never laid a hand on me.  He’s not like that.  He helped me fake my death.  It worked for a while.  It fooled Rollie until one of his men spotted me with Gerald a few years ago.  Since then, I’ve been on the road, trying to put some distance between me and my past.  But I don’t guess I can really get away from it like I thought I’d be able to.  But Gerald’s going to help us, Jules.  I am so sorry I got you involved in any of this, but he can get us out.”
         She dabbed at her eyes and Jules realized she was trying not to cry.  She stood up and fell into his out-stretched arms, sobbing.
         “You don’t have to run anymore.”  He felt bad for not being a little more sensitive to her earlier and said so as he stroked her hair.
         “The last thing I need from you is to start feeling sorry for me,” she said.  “That’s one of the reasons I never told you any of this.  And the fact that I didn’t think you’d believe me.  And you seemed to have a lot more to worry about than to have to deal with my problems, too.  Plus, I’ve been trying to run from this for half my life.  But I guess I just came to the realization that I’m going to have to stand up and face it.  Somehow, some way.”
         She pulled away from him.  “I guess I’ve really been nothing but trouble ever since we first met.  I mean, if I had told you any of this, you could have decided not to have anything to do with me.  It would have been better for you that way.”
         “Don’t say that, Nikki.”
         “It’s true, isn’t it?  Since we first met, you’ve been arrested, have gone to the hospital...  How many times now?”
         “Three.”
         “Three times.  See.  If you had never met me...”
         “I said not to talk like that.  I’m glad I met you.  At the very least, you’ve added some much needed excitement to my life.”  He was trying to lighten the mood, but was failing miserably.  “But there’s more.”
         “More?”
         “Yes.  I saw something out there... I can’t explain it.  And don’t know if I really want to.  It happened first at the rest-stop just outside Smithee.  I was out of it, you know.  I don’t know why.  Maybe it was that Griddle House food.  But I saw him through the window.  He knocked you to the ground, then came after me.”
         “It was one of Rollie’s goons.”
         “Why didn’t you try to get away?  He knocked you to the ground, then came after me.”
         “I didn’t know whether to try to make a run for it or to try and stop him from hurting you.  You must not have seen the other guy.  He was standing out of your line of sight, I guess.  Whatever I had tried to do, he would have stopped me.”
         “Then what happened?”
         “They drugged both of us.  One of the guys drove you in your car.  I don’t know where they took you.  The other guy took me to this van they had.  That was the one who came after you.  See, I knew him in New York as one of Rollie’s guys.  We used to hang out and stuff.  He thought there was more to it and got insanely jealous.  He used to beat up guys who even looked at me.  Rollie even had to talk to him.  I guess he’s still insanely jealous.  Or just insane.”
         “But he looked just like me.  It sounds crazy, I know.  But I keep playing it over and over in my head.  It was him, I mean, me.  I mean... Hell, I don’t know what I mean.  But I saw him again last night,” Jules continued.  “I had just somehow escaped from a hotel room where these guys were about to drug me.  They were going to kill me, I guess, although I don’t know why they didn’t just shoot me.”
         “They were going to kill you, no doubt,” Nikki said, “but they wanted to know what you knew and if you had told anybody else.”
         “I hadn’t thought about that.  That does make a lot of sense.  But I managed to get away from them.  There was some tornadoes that had gone through there, remember, and I caught up with a crew of National Guardsmen.  But the guy, the guy with my face, he shot them.  And was about to shoot me when these two men dressed to the hilt, these two men in black, came and rescued me, if you can call it that.  They drugged me and were taking me somewhere on a train when I got away from them.  But the guy, he had my face, Nikki.  As crazy as it sounds...”
         She took him by the hands and motioned him to sit on the bench.  She was trying to think of a good way to say it, he thought.
         “Jules, I know it seems real to you, but you have to realize what you’ve been through lately.  It would be hard on anyone to cope.  I didn’t want to tell you this, but I was real worried about you that night you passed out on the stage.  More worried than I let show.  And then when you told me more about your dad, well, I don’t know much about medicine or anything, but it didn’t sound good to me.  That’s why I was going back to Virginia with you.  Because I was worried about you.”
         “In other words, you think I’m crazy.”
         “Now you’re putting words into my mouth.  But I think you need to go get checked out by that doctor your step-dad knows.  Just to be on the safe side.  There’s probably a logical explanation to it.  But whatever it is, I want you to know that I’m going to be here for you.  I’m not going anywhere, Jules.”
         A thousand thoughts plagued him in that instant, all of them swirling around in his mind, never connecting to anything.  Never making sense.  And, though he wanted to tell her she was wrong, to tell her that he was fine, deep in his private heart, he knew she was right.  That he indeed needed help, that he was afraid he was becoming his father.

         They walked back to the main house slowly, their arms around each other.  Gerald was waiting in the living room for them.
         “Good, I’m glad you’re back.  An old man like me can’t stay up as long as he might have in his youth.  I trust you two had a good talk.”
         “We did,” Nikki said.  “I finally told him everything.”
         Gerald looked at Jules.  “Well, I hope you realize that I only have Nick’s best interests at heart.  Hell, she’s like the daughter I never had.  I hope you don’t think I’m anything like those creeps she got messed up with all those years ago in New York, Rollie “Fingers” Patterson or whoever..”
         Jules stood there, not knowing exactly what to say.
         “In case you’re wondering, no one is going to get on this property.  There’s only one way in and out, the way you came in.  And if you don’t have proof that you belong here, you’ll find yourself on the outside looking in.  The people that come here do so looking for privacy and comfort.  Everything they need is on the grounds and if it’s not, we’ll go get it.  They don’t want to have to worry about anything while they’re here.  And we don’t want them to.
         “And that includes you, Jules.  You’re my guest here, a dear friend of one of my dearest friends.  And I want you to know that I will do whatever it takes to get your life back.  All you have to do is ask me.”
         “That’s very kind of you, Gerald.  Actually, there is something that’s bothering me.”
         “Just name it.”
         “My family.  What’s to stop these guys from doing something to them?  From kidnapping them to get to me or Nikki.”
         Gerald smiled and nodded at Nikki.
         “What?  Am I missing something?” Jules asked.
         “No, not at all.  Nikki had the same concerns about your family that you did.  So we’ve put people near them to make sure they’re all right.  It was hard to do at first.  We didn’t want to tip anyone off.  As far as they know, everything is normal.  They don’t know they’re being protected and, unless you’ve told them, don’t know they even need to be protected.”
         “What about my mother at the University?”
         “Taken care of,” Gerald said.
         “That’s how I found out your brother’s telephone number,” Nikki explained.  “I called the switch board at the University of Virginia guessing that was the college she worked at.  I don’t remember if you told me or not.  Since I didn’t know her new married name, or even if she went by it, I asked for the number to Mrs. Hinton’s office, explaining that she and my mother were old friends from years back and that she was having medical problems.  When I got through to her, I told the truth.  Kinda.  That I had met you in Texas, but we had got separated and I was wanting to get in touch with you.  She said I should talk to Tim.  I told him a little more of the story, but not everything.  Now that I knew the phone number, it was easy to find the address using the Internet.  After that, all I had to do was talk Gerald into protecting them.”
         “She didn’t have to talk me into anything at all.  Rollie Patterson is bad news.  Somebody needs to stand up to him.”
         A sudden thought occurred to Jules.  Nikki had said that Gerald had been trying to move into New York with his “business.”  If Rollie was as bad as they said, he probably wasn’t one to just let someone move into his territory.  Which meant there was likely another reason Gerald was getting involved.  Not that it mattered to Jules, not if Gerald was as willing to help them as he seemed to be.
         Gerald brought his watch up close to his face and peered at it.  “Good Lord, it’s past time for me to take my medicine and go to bed.  I’m assuming that the two of you will be staying in the same room.”
         “Yes,” Nikki replied quickly.
         “Uhm... sure,” Jules said.  He looked at Nikki, who was looking at him with hurtful eyes at the way he had said that.  “I mean, of course we will.”
         “Well, I’ll leave the two alone for now.  Be sure to come down for breakfast.  It’ll be a different cook.  Rapheal isn’t much of a morning person.”  He patted Jules on the shoulder as he walked out of the room.
         Nikki frowned at Jules.  “Why didn’t you want to sleep with me?”
         “It’s not like that, Nikki.  I don’t know.  I have a lot on my mind, I guess.  A lot of things I need to get straight.”
         She reached over and grabbed his hand.  “You don’t have to do it alone.  I’m here for you.  I’m not going anywhere.  As if I could go somewhere without being kidnapped again.”
         He snickered, trying to hold back his laughter.  But it was impossible, his face contorting into a strange mixture of bemusement and incredulity before he finally broke loose, laughing ruefully.  Nikki watched for a moment with a peculiar expression on her face, before joining in with him.
         “This really isn't funny at all,” she said, when she could talk again.
         “I know, I know,” he agreed.
         Then, they started all over laughing again.

         The trees were roaring, branches whipping at his bare arms as he ran.  Somewhere back there dark fingers of clouds were spiraling down, tearing the earth open in huge jagged chunks.  He was trying to fight his way through the woods, to get to the buildings up ahead and try to get in out of the storm.  But the branches seemed to be holding him back, leaves clutching at him, or smothering his face.  He glanced back and caught a view of the horizon, rolling hills behind him and twenty, maybe thirty thick, black funnels dancing wildly down from the dark clouds above.  He could see more of them closer.  Were they pursuing him?
         Jules broke through the tangled growth, tripping and stumbling.  If he could just find his bike and ride ahead of the storm?  Or was the bike?  Gone, he seemed to recall, running now for the large grey stone building ahead of him.  The trees were groaning under the force of the wind, snapping behind him.  And yet, he had the sudden sensation that if he turned to glance back again, the branches would be reaching toward him, straining to...
         He shot through the front door of the building.  Huge inside, abandoned.  The ground outside exploded as one of the titanic twisters touched down there.  There was nothing... nothing covering the windows in this place.  Huge and vacant.  He could be sucked right out.  The air pulled him and he started to slide.  He reached with bloody hands to grip something.  Powerless.  Being sucked right back toward the door that he had come in.  He could see outside, see the thing pulling at him, and felt a chill.  Death.
         And there was someone out there, standing near the base of the tornado, where it tore the ground into a churning cloud.  Someone that seemed to be waiting for him, or waiting to catch him as he went by, dragged out.  Madness!  The trees had moved closer!  Their roots torn from the ground by the wind, like huge legs writhing closer.
         He caught the frame of the door with his hand and wondered desperately where Nikki was, if she was okay.  If she would be able to get away.  He could feel the pressure build inside his head.  The clearing beyond the building seemed so far away now.  The figure waiting for him seemed to be scowling at him, trying to stalk toward him, but the winds were now catching him too, tossing him about.  Good.  If only the trees weren't moving that way, he thought.   It wasn't right.
         Someone pulled his hand, with strength enough to pull him back into the building.  Jules looked.  The wind was only a tickle on his face now.  Could it be?  Sara grinned back up at him.  She was dressed in all camouflage now.  There was a rifle on her back.  Somehow it didn't seem odd to see her this way.
         "Thanks," Jules said, trying to wipe the blood from his hands.
         "Bloody weather we're having, huh?" she asked with a smile.  Jules stared at her, trying to remember.  Had she said that before?  He felt for his own guns.  Gone.  Must have lost them in the woods.
         "Sara... Sara, I'm so sorry," he said, taking her by the arm.  "About your father.  I tried to do something, but they were there already.  There were too many of them..."  She was staring off, as if he had reminded her of something she had only now remembered.  Anger blossomed on her face.
         She pulled her arm free of his grip.
         "Who do you think I am hunting, Jules?"  The rifle.
         "But, you can't go out in this," he started to say.  The twisters were still out there.  But the man was gone now, probably pulled away.  Like he got too close to it.  She frowned at him.
         "This is all your fault," she said, unslinging her rifle and dashing out through the door.  He turned to try to grab her...
         And sat up suddenly in bed, shaking and coughing.  He couldn't seem to catch his breath.  The dream seemed fuzzy within seconds, sliding away.  Nikki was still beside him in bed.  The room was the same.  Their clothes were scattered all over the floor and chairs nearby.  The clock on the wall told him that it was nearly 4 a.m.  The details of the dream were already blurring.  But he remembered Sara...
         Jules pulled himself up, leaning against the back of the bed.  His heart was still racing.  Nikki would get a kick out of that.  Another dream of tornadoes.  Except that the last time he dreamt of them, they had actually been real.  Hadn't they?  That's all he needed, more devastation in his life.  Jules reached over to caress Nikki's shoulder.  How many times had he told her that he missed her?  But there hadn't been much talking once they were alone.  Jules looked down at the veins standing out on his hand where it lay against her shoulder and froze.  He was getting older.  He had wanted to see more of the world before trying to force himself into settling down to some regular job.
         But now it seemed as if he had seen too much of the world.  Almost dying.  Almost being killed.  That had to change things for him, right?  Certainly he thought it did, but, inside, he wasn't feeling anything.  Not about that.  He didn't want to think about the kind of danger they were in now.  He only thought about how to keep Nikki from the worst of it.  They had formed some kind of bond since they had met.  God.  How long had that meant?  It seemed like a different life back then, a different world--Ed, the band, his motorcycle.
         He had to stretch his legs.  He threw the covers off of him and walked across the room, staring out the window onto one of the golf courses.  It was a beautiful sight.  He could hardly imagine Private Plantations ever having been operational, but that was a long time ago.  Wait.  What was that?  Someone walking across the lawn?  He tried to focus his eyes.  There was no one there.  His mind was playing tricks on him.  Again.  Like the day Nikki was abducted.  For the second time.  He had been...
         It knocked him back, like he had been physically hit.  The feeling he had had that day, being so out of it.  Just like when he woke up on the train.  He had been drugged that day.  That was it.  Someone had drugged the fountain drink that Nikki had given him.  But who?
         And the footsteps in the hallway, someone trying to get into the men’s room.  The boots.  It wasn’t a big leap to believe that the man at the rest stop had also been at the gas station.  Just one of Rollie’s goons.  The woman behind the counter.  She had been looking at him strangely.  Someone could have forced her--or paid her--to drug the drinks.  He shook the thought off.  What was the use in thinking about it this late at night?
         He looked out across the golf course one more time.  He could make out the outline of one of the bodyguards clearly now.  The man brought something to his face, a walkie-talkie.  More likely a cell phone.  He was checking the grounds, making sure the rich and infamous were securely tucked away from the rest of the world.  And whoever may want to do them harm.  Although Jules doubted anyone else at Private Plantations--Nikki excluded--needed much protection.
         He looked at her lying there asleep.  Even though they were virtual strangers, there was something about her that made his blood both boil and cool at once.  And nothing about her past should matter.  Jules snuggled back down into the covers next to her and let himself drift off back to sleep.

         Once, twice.  And into the water.  This was great.  Nikki was already out of the pool, trying not to fall, trying to stop laughing.  They were racing.  Taking dives off of the ten-foot diving board.  A much older couple were smiling at them from down at the other end of the chamber.  But they virtually had the whole place to themselves.  It was raining and a little unseasonably cool to be outside, but the indoor pool was fine.  Nikki didn't even wait, running along the length of the board as fast as she could go and dove head-first into the water.
        Jules wiped at his nose with the back of his hand, struggling to get up the ladder and out of the pool.  She was going to catch up with him.  Maybe if he just jumped in the water from the edge, without climbing the ladder.  Her head was still under the water--she'd never know.  Of course, she had told him that if she caught up to him or if she caught him cheating she'd snatch his trunks off and run off with them.  If it wasn't for the couple there on the deck, he wouldn’t have minded, probably would have let her do it.  She was already swimming for the ladder, laughing like they really were alone.  Jules pulled at his trunks, trying to keep them up where the water soaking them was dragging them down.
         At the far end of the room, one of the employees was coming through the glass doors from the house, bringing their lunches on a tray.  This was the life, he thought  An extended vacation.  And a beautiful woman at his side.  Forget about everything for a while.  Jules grabbed the rail to the ladder just as Nikki pulled herself up out of the poll.  She really thought she was going to catch him.  But then she looked the other way, seeing the man waiting patiently to serve their lunches.
         "Break!" she called out.  "Either that or I'm going to starve to death!"
         "What?  Our Griddle House take-out is here already?  Man, I'm going to have to move to Louisiana for that kind of service.”  Nikki stood drying her hair with a towel as their meal was laid out on a nearby table.
         "Mr. Johnson will be back later this evening, ma'am," the man said, nodding.  "Please use the phone at the front if you need anything."  Jules wasn't sure he liked the way the man was looking at her.  Of course, the old man sitting with his wife at the other end of the room had also been shooting her a glance every once in a while.  As if his wife wasn't right there.  But somehow that didn't seem to bother him.  The old man wasn’t a threat to him at all.
         They each took a white metallic chair and began to make the sandwiches disappear.  Nikki was looking at him across the table, her mouth full.
         "What?" he asked, taking a sip from his drink.
         "Nothing," she mumbled.  "Can't I stare?"
         "Hmph.  Only if you stare at me.  So, any idea where Gerald went?"
         Nikki continued chewing, wrinkling her nose.  "I think he said something about flying down to Baton Rouge or maybe New Orleans.  I don't know.  I don't like to ask too many questions.  A need-to-know thing, I guess."
         Jules had a sudden sinking feeling.
         "What?" Nikki asked, her sandwich paused half-way to her mouth.
         "Nothing."
         "No, tell me.  Is it that dream again?  Or are you jealous of Gerald?  If you are, you don’t need to be.  I’m pretty sure he’s either gay or asexual.  Anyway, he’s too old for me."
         "Hah, no.  I was just wondering who was in charge around here while the boss is out socializing.  I mean, I know this place is supposed to be secure and everything, but you never know.  I have a feeling your friend Rollie and his goons aren't stupid.  Especially the ones in the suits that had me on that train.  One of them had a pocket computer.  I’m sure that if this Rollie guy is as dangerous as you say--and I’m sure he is--he must have connections or ways of finding out that an old friend of his like Gerald is running a place like this."  Nikki's eyes grew wide for a moment, but she didn't try to argue.
         "Yeah, I've been trying not to think too much about that.  But I trust Gerald.  And you should too.  You don't know him and what he would do for a friend.  He's a different kind of person, one of the most complex people I’ve ever known.  But you need to know one thing.  There are enough people who stay here who would not want trouble of any kind to come looking for them here.  And they’re willing to pay enough money make sure nothing bothers them.  Gerald knows his business, knows what he’s doing.  There’s a reason he’s lasted this long with what he does for a living."
         "Yeah, but..."
         Nikki winced.  "Forget it."  She caught herself.  "Try to forget it.  At least for now.  Nothing will happen to you or your family.  But...  Well, just be prepared for anything.  In case... just in case something does come up.   Just remember where you are and try to play by their rules, okay?  No matter what happens."
         Jules had to look away from her.  He couldn't meet her eyes.  They were like looking into Sara's eyes.  Sara and her father.  He had brought it to their door.  Only now it was beyond his control.  Events had come together in a way that seemed to be snow-balling.  No matter how much time he had to lie around a pool and relax, his mind was racing a mile a minute to comprehend what he had gotten himself into.   If he had never met Nikki... he would not be in love with her.  Odd as it sounded.  He could see it in her eyes too.  But he didn't want to say it.  It could disappear if he thought about it and he didn't want that.  Not right now.  He needed more time than he had just to think about it.
         He was not acting, just reacting.

         “Yeah, Gerald told me about this place,” Nikki said, as she led Jules through the woods.  “He told me we might like to have some privacy.  Smart man.  But don’t worry.  We’re just as safe here as we are up at the main house.  You can’t see them, but there’s some fences all around the grounds.”
         They came to a clearing and Jules saw the lake.  It was a beautiful sight.  An open area of at least a few hundred acres cushioned on all sides with thick woods.  The sun was bright overhead, the complete opposite of the day before, shining down on them hotly.
         “We should have brought our bathing suits,” he said, with a sly smile.
         Nikki looked at him.  “We don’t need them.  But you already knew that, didn’t you?”  She kept walking through a slightly over-grown path in the high grass and weeds.
         “What do you mean we don’t need them?” he asked.  “We are going swimming, right?”
         “Shut up, Jules.  And keep walking.”

         They spread the old blanket out on the edge of the grass where the lake started.  Nikki sat the basket down and got out a bottle of wine.  She handed it to Jules to open.
         “I didn’t think you drank.”
         “I don’t drink much.  But I thought I’d make an exception this time.”
         Jules opened the bottle with the cork much quicker than he had thought he would.  “I guess you have a couple of glasses in there, eh?”
         “Nope.  Sorry.  I thought we’d just drink it out of the bottle.  It was all I could do to convince Rapheal to let me have the wine.  I had to keep your name out of it, of course.  But I think he was on to me.”
         Jules took a sip of the wine.  He acted like he was savoring it, like he knew what to taste for, then turned the bottle up and took a bigger gulp.
         “Leave some for me,” Nikki said.  “Anyway, you shouldn’t drink it until we eat.  Which is what we’re going to do after we swim.”
         “But Nikki,” he began with all the seriousness he could muster.  “We didn’t bring our suits.  How can we swim if we didn’t bring our suits?”
         She kissed him to shut him up.  “I’m glad you’re back.  When we were apart...”  She let the thought drift away.  “But why talk about that?  It’s a beautiful day.  We’re safe.  And we’re together.”
         “I like that attitude.” She went to break the embrace, but he held her a little longer.  At one point he had wondered if he would ever see her again.  He had a flash of the morgue in Texas, the corpse of someone who had fit her description.  Now he wondered if he would ever not want to see her.  He wanted to cherish the moment for as long as possible.
         “Last one to take their clothes off and jump in the water is a rotten egg,” Nikki said, giggling.  She was already tearing out of her shirt before she completed the sentence.
         “No fair,” Jules yelled, following her toward the water, peeling his own shirt off.  He went in after her, diving on her back and bringing her down in the water.  “No fair.  You cheated.”
         “Yeah, like you cheated at the pool yesterday.”
         “Yeah.  Whatever.”  He looked around him.  “Are you sure we’re alone out here?”
         “Sure.  Most of the guests are in their room or beside one of the pools with their cell phones and lap tops.  And who cares if anyone sees us, right?  I’m not ashamed to be seen with you, no matter what you may or may not have on.”  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
         “Well, since you put it like that...”
         “Anybody ever tell you that you talk too much?”
         “Oddly enough, no.  Do I?”
         “Sometimes, like right now.  I think it’s time I shut you up.”

         She flopped down on the blanket, still wet from their swim, her arms groping for him.  He kissed her on her neck, moving down her body, kissing both nipples erect, his blood rising.  She shifted slightly, propping one leg up to give her more support.  She knew what was coming.  He continued down her body, moving slowly, smoothly.  She spread her legs slightly as he moved between them, kissing her inner thigh first.  She clutched the blanket in her fists and closed her eyes.
         Then, he rolled her over on all fours, kissing the back of her neck as he entered her.  He wrapped one arm around her, and held onto the ground for support with his free hand.  They came quickly, loudly, and collapsed on the blanket.  It was some time before they could even think about their picnic, the wine, or making love again.
 
         Jules hated wearing the tie.  He could never tell if the things were right--the knot seemed to move if he left it alone for a few minutes.  Nikki was back at the house talking to Gerald.  Dinner would be ready in half an hour.  A nice dinner this time, she had told him.  And he would get to meet some of the more interesting people that were staying here at the moment.  Gerald had hinted that one was a talk show host, with a wink and a nod.  Didn't make much sense to him.  But, then, the man always seemed to be talking in code.  A code that only he and Nikki seemed to understand.
         Ugh!  He pulled the tie loose and tried again.  He could do it as long as he didn't try to watch his reflection in the mirror.  But that didn't make sense.  You always saw men looking in the mirror to tie their ties.  But it only served to confuse him.  Well, he looked presentable, at least.  Even with a fading bruise or two and the ponytail.  He'd just sit back and try to enjoy the meal as long as he didn't have to put up with any of that so-called 'Cajun cooking'.  He had run into Raphael again earlier that morning and tried to be pleasant, but the man had ignored his greeting as if he had not been there at all.
         Jules slipped the knot up as tight as he could and sat down on the bed.  At least it was softer than the one in the house they had slept on the night before.  The cabanas had turned out to be much nicer than he had imagined.  He cut the TV on with the remote and surfed for the weather.  He came to a local news channel with a young, attractive blonde as the anchor.  She probably wasn’t two years out of college.  Her nasal drone was somehow endearing.  And then he realized with a shock what she was saying.
         "...still searching for the man who gunned down four Army National Guardsmen in Smithee, a small Texas town devastated by recent tornadoes.  Two of the Guardsmen were fatally wounded. Another remains in critical condition.  A fourth man is expected to make a full recovery.  Officials hope to speak to him later this week, possibly as soon as tomorrow.  This man, Jules Verne Hinton, until three years ago serving a five year prison term for armed robbery and drug trafficking, was arrested by police on the scene of the crime, but later escaped.  He is thought by authorities to be traveling on foot.  A sighting was recently confirmed here in Louisiana at a Walk-A-Mart..."
         The woman's voice seemed to drift off.  On the screen was The Face.  His face.  But not him.  His name, beneath a man with cold eyes, a slight white scar on his cheek.  He looked rougher.  He had killed the guardsmen.  He...  Wait.  Nikki had told him the man was just an old acquaintance, someone whose advances she had spurned.  But it didn't make sense now.  His heart was pounding.  How could they think he was the one that had killed them?  He felt cold.
         And then he remembered--the guardsmen had called his name in right before they had been attacked by that man.  But why would they think that he was the one who did it?  Just by the name?  He wasn't the one who had fired the gun--guns--that had killed the men!  This was crazy!
         It was the man that looked like him.  He would tell them, explain what was really going on... get whatever protection--honest protection--the law could give him and Nikki.  This was only the tip of the iceberg!  They would have to go up against this "Fingers" man now.  They had no choice.  He doubted the law would believe him if he left that part out, about who the other man was who looked like him.  About why he had come after him in the first place.  As the newscast shifted to another topic of national concern, he wondered what his family must be thinking now.  Surely the police had contacted them.
         It was a good thing he had not called Tim again and mentioned where he was.  He could just imagine what might happen if the police tried to storm the place.  Surely people had seen him on the train and after that.  Before he was picked up by the limo.  How could he go to dinner now?  Jules pulled the tie off and threw it at the screen.
         No.  Surely the police had contacted his family.  He half rose.  They had to have spoken to them.  The police... wait!  Prison?!  What was that about serving a prison term?   He had never...  Well, he had gone to jail recently.  But the jail he was in could not be mistaken for a prison.  And what was that about serving a five-year term?  Something wasn't right.  The police would never make a mistake like that.  And why had they shown the other man's face instead of his own?  They had taken his picture and finger-printed him back in Texas.  They knew who he was.   But they were showing the other man's face on TV!
        This prison record had to be part of that man's records and not his!  Obviously.  To think that all these little mistakes could get him killed!  First they have his name from the national guardsmen, and now they were mixing it up with the other man's picture!  Or could this be some insane plot set up by this "Fingers" man from Nikki's past?  He stomach turned.  He couldn't go to dinner now.  He didn't want to have to try to explain to anyone else there who might have seen the news.  Even if he was innocent.  But how could this man look so much like him?
         Jules began to pace the floor.  What could he do?  Gerald Johnson wouldn't likely to agree to Jules turning himself in.  Not with who he was and what he was.  But it could save Nikki.  If he could slip out quietly...  Then he remembered the man's words all too well: "There is only one way in and one way out of this place."  Jules stalked out to the living room and peered out the curtain.  Now the gardeners and groundskeepers took on a whole new light.  They were ears and eyes, and they seemed to be everywhere.  But everyone was getting ready for dinner.  If he could slip out now, maybe make up some excuse for needing to run into town?  But he was sure that one of the drivers would have to call Mr. Johnson and ask his permission.  And then what?  Nikki would want to avoid confrontation.   But now if both sides of the law were looking for him, it would make the danger for them--for her--all the more prevalent.
 

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