Chapter 20: Catching Up

Allison was asleep on the blanket. Can you sleep in a dream?

I sat on the blanket beside her and pulled a bottle of water out of the picnic basket before gently shaking her awake.

She raised her head and said sleepily, "Oh, there you are. I thought maybe you weren't coming. What took you so long?"

I leaned down, kissed her lightly, and said, "You are not going to believe this."

She didn't. "And you say you were headed here when it all happened?" she asked when I had finished.

"Yeah, just like every other time. No, actually, now that I think about it there was one difference. I went through a door at the beginning. Normally I only use a door to transition when I am already here. You know, to go somewhere else from here, or to come back. Normally, when we get together, I just 'wake up' here, or I use my bedroom door. This was a different door entirely."

"I guess that's something. Did you notice anything else unusual? I mean besides the whole thing?"

"No, not really, I seemed to be in observer mode for the whole thing. Any ideas?"

"Yeah, but the only thing that fits sort of scares me. It sounds like someone wanted you to 'meet' a certain FBI agent. The question is who? And just as importantly, how did they do it. Did you happen to notice your ring?"

"What? Crap! I didn't even think of it. Sorry, guess I blew that one."

"Don't worry about it. I will forgive you for being a little bit distracted. I don't know if we are really equipped to get anything more out of this. I think you better talk to Bob about it on Monday. I wouldn't bother him over the weekend. I doubt if it's that important, but definitely talk to him."

I nodded. Allison seemed to collect her thoughts for a moment and went on. "I think you and Shannon are going to be on your own here pretty soon. I hate to say it but Mark's all hands. And before you even think it, I don't want you to say anything about it, or try to do anything. I can handle him just fine. It's nothing serious and he hasn't tried to insist, but I have to keep pushing his hands away from places they don't belong. Must be a boy thing."

"I'm not like that," I said defensively.

"Yeah, I know, and I shouldn't generalize that way, sorry. We'll just call it hormones and leave it at that. Anyway, get ready for a loud smacking sound next time he tries it. At least that will give me the excuse to stop being 'interested' in him. And hopefully the next girl that throws herself at him will benefit from it."

That made me think, "You know, that's probably the difference. Mark wasn't interested in you and you suddenly attacked him. I was already interested in Shannon and have been thinking about how to be careful with her. Mark never had a chance to think. So the hormones just took the driver's seat and it's been downhill from there. Hmm. Well, I'm going to call it a night and go scuba diving or something to get my mind off all this until I have to get up. See you in the morning."

Saturday was a typical southern California day. I did my homework, the regular weekend chores and the two of us washed both cars. Then we swam and generally had a pleasant day together.

That night it happened again.

Once more I 'woke up' to find myself facing a door. This time I checked my ring. It was there, solid and comforting on my hand. I turned away, crossed to my bedroom door and opened it. I was looking into the glade; I could just make out the corner of the blanket behind the stand of bushes.

I went back, walked through the other door and found myself in a church. I was standing alone in a balcony alcove looking down. I checked again and my ring was gone. The groomsmen and bridesmaids were all in place and the Bridal March was just beginning. The scene jumped and I was in the aisle. The doors opened and a woman entered, resplendent in a flowing white gown. She stood for a moment while cameras clicked away, capturing the moment. An older gentleman offered her his arm and escorted her slowly down the crowded aisle. His expression was a mixture of pride and sorrow. His little girl had grown up, and now another man was taking her away. He did a masterful job of holding back the tears that I could see forming at the corner of his eyes as I backed down ahead of them.

They reached the appointed place and it was time. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and said, "I love you, Daddy. I wish Amy could have been here." He hugged her and the tears came.

"Me too, sweetie, me too. I love you, princess." He stepped back and joined a woman in the front row. Without a word she kissed his cheek and slipped a tissue discreetly into his hand.

The ceremony continued; vows were exchanged:

"Do you, Michael Robert Stiles, take this woman... 'til death do you part?"

"I do."

Turning to the bride...

"Do you, Rebecca Jean Hampton, take this man..."

He never finished. When he reached the line 'til death do you part' it thundered across the church in a booming echo. On the third echo I found myself staring down at the bleeding body of Michael Robert Stiles. His bride of six months, <<how do I know that?>> held his head in her lap and her tears fell on his face. Across the room were the bodies of the man who had killed him and the girl he had been trying to rescue. In a blare of sirens two cars screeched to a halt, followed shortly by four men crashing into the room with guns drawn. Shock was immediately evident on their faces. I don't know why but I recognized one of them as Samuel Rodriquez, the "Rod" she had called from the bank. He stepped slowly towards her, talking over his shoulder to the other three as he went.

"Check the others, and see what's taking that ambulance so long." Then he slowly knelt by the dead body of his best friend and the woman who had loved him to the end of his days. "Bex, I'm sorry."

Her tear-stained face turned toward him but it was hard to say if she saw him or not. "I was too late. He was getting ready to kill the girl. I heard Michael go through the door. He couldn't know that it was trapped. A simple wire, just enough to make him stumble. Before he recovered the bastard had pulled his gun and shot Michael twice. I was moving as fast as I could. His mic was still working. I could hear his breathing. Rod, he wasn't dead. Then the girl screamed, but it cut off when the bastard stabbed her. I heard Michael whisper, 'No, ' and then two more shots. When I got here they were both dead. I already knew Michael was dead. I heard him die. Oh, Rod! Why couldn't I have been faster? Just a little faster..." And the tears came again.

He held her for a while as she cried, then went on to take the reports from the other agents. They were surprised to find the girl was still alive, seriously wounded, but the knife had missed her heart. It had punctured a lung though, that would have cut off the scream. She had passed out from the shock of the wound. The ambulance crew thought that she would make it, but they were rushing to meet a medical helicopter at the clearing halfway down the mountain.

Then the coroner arrived and it was time to take Michael away. She held his hand until they closed the seal on the large black bag, and then followed them out. Rod held the door to the car as she numbly climbed into the back seat.

The scene faded to a cemetery. An honor guard stood by. Rebecca stood with Michael's mother as husband and son were laid to rest. Tears were cried. Words were spoken, and the scene went dark.

I was back in my room, my ring once again a solid weight upon my finger. I wondered, whose dream had it been? Why had I been there? Two nights in a row... there had to be a reason. I really needed to talk to Allison; maybe Bob too, but definitely Allison. I turned back to the bedroom door and for the first time I was apprehensive. Twice now I had walked through doors to find myself in strange places watching a woman I did not know. Even though there had been nothing threatening about any of those circumstances I found my self unsure for the first time. What was it Allison had said last night? Something about someone wanting me to meet this woman? Again, the question was who, and more important, why? How could it even be done? I opened the door and stepped through.