Falling Awake(76)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

The fog had grown thicker and heavier as evening approached. Yolland had driven the van cautiously along the winding road to the abandoned amusement park on the lonely bluffs outside Roxanna Beach.

Amelia had walked Isabel through the gate in the high, chain-link fence. Once inside the grounds Isabel was steered through the eerie, foggy shadows created by the rows of sagging, boarded-up concession booths, arcades and dark, looming thrill rides.

It was after five. The shutters closing the opening at the front of the stand had been partially pulled aside. There was enough gray, misty light left in the day to illuminate the shadowy interior. She could make out the faded image of a corn dog on the back wall.

A tall man in his early twenties with a thin, bearded face and haunted eyes had been waiting inside the concession stand. Vincent Scargill looked even more jittery and unstable than Yolland. Either that or he was feverish, Isabel thought. There was a film of sweat on his brow.

“I still say we don’t need her,” Scargill had muttered, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

“She will ensure that Cutler remains cooperative.” Amelia had checked the screen of her small phone where she was watching the progress of Ellis’s car. “He’s making good time. Should be here in another hour and a half. Keep an eye on Isabel. I’m going to make sure Yolland is in position. I also want to check on some of the other arrangements.”

“What other arrangements?” Scargill had asked, blotting more perspiration off his brow. “It’s supposed to be a simple trade. You said that as soon as Cutler hands over the new version of the CZ-149, we’re out of here.”

“Take it easy,” Amelia soothed. “I’ll handle the details. Just don’t let our major asset get away while I’m gone. She’s the only thing we have to trade for the meds.”

“Okay, okay,” Scargill muttered. He looked at Isabel with the eyes of a man fast approaching his limits. “She’s not going anywhere.”

The moment Amelia had left, Isabel tossed Scargill her one and only lure. I can tell you the meaning of your dreams.

Scargill paced back and forth in front of the arcade booth counter, a lean, lanky, hunched shadow in the darkened interior. He wasn’t just ill, she realized. There was an air of despair and desperation about him. He reminded her of a junkie who had gone too long between fixes. He held a pistol loosely in one hand.

“What can you tell me about my tsunami dream?” he rasped in a hoarse voice.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked gently.

“Yeah, sure.” He made an impatient motion with the gun. “The doc told me you were Belvedere’s special Level Five dream analyst.”

“That’s right. Martin Belvedere showed a portion of your dream report to me. He wanted my take on it.” She paused. “I’m sure Amelia must have told you that I’m an expert on extreme dreams.”

“Some expert.” His mouth twisted. “Are you the one who told Belvedere that the red tsunami is a blocking image? A symbol of my inability to access the Level Five state? Thanks for nothing. You think I couldn’t figure out that much for myself? I know I’m blocked, damnit. I wanted Belvedere to tell me how to get past it. The CZ-149 isn’t working.”

“I keep telling people that I do my best work when I have context. I need to know something about the dreamer and the situation in order to provide the most accurate interpretation. But Dr. B. wouldn’t tell me anything about you or the circumstances surrounding your dream.” She broke off, making certain she had his full attention before adding, “Now, of course, I know a great deal more so I can do a better job. It would be helpful, though, to have a few additional details.”

“What the hell do you need?” Scargill demanded, wiping more sweat off his face. “My social security number?”

“Can I assume that your gateway dream involves water?”

Scargill hesitated. He looked as if he were trying hard to focus on her face. Interested at last.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “I usually dive down to get into it. But now all I see when I try to enter the dream is that damned red tsunami waiting to drown me if I even make an attempt to access a Level Five state.”

“I understand that you suffered some sort of head injury and that it affected your dreaming.”

He swore again, angry and frustrated. “My wound healed. Supposedly everything’s back to normal inside my head. Why can’t I dream the way I did before?”

“Stay with me here, I’m still gathering context. I got the feeling from what you said to Amelia that you think Ellis can provide you with a new and improved version of a dream-enhancing drug?”

“That’s right.” The pistol in his hand shook ominously.

“You do realize that Amelia is a liar and a killer,” Isabel said very calmly. “You can’t trust anything she says.”

“That’s not true. The doc is trying to help me.”

“Actually, I suspect she’s setting you up.”

“Bullshit.”

“She doesn’t intend for any of us—you, Ellis, me or even Yolland—to survive the night.”

“Shut up,” Scargill hissed. “Stop talking about the doc. You don’t know anything. She saved my life that day at the cabin.”

“Only because she concocted a new plan to use you. That’s what Amelia does, you see. She uses people to get what she wants.”

“I told you to stop talking about her.” Scargill resumed his restless pacing. “Tell me about my dream.”

“I’m doing my best.” She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Still trying to pick up some context. Tell me, when you consulted with Martin Belvedere, did you inform him that you were getting regular doses of the CZ-149?”

“No.”

“Well, that certainly explains why neither he nor I could get a handle on your tsunami dream.”

Scargill turned and took a threatening step toward her, his desperation and fear palpable forces in the shadows. “Tell me about my dream, damnit.”

“Okay.”

the fog was so thick now that Amelia could no longer see the parking lot beyond the chain-link fence. The heavy, gray mist was eating up the daylight before the sun had even set. She hadn’t counted on the weather being such a major issue tonight. But it wasn’t like she’d had a lot of choice, she thought angrily. When she’d seen Ellis in the hallway outside Belvedere’s office she knew she had to move and move quickly.