Shadow Of The Past Trilogy ∞ THE DISPLACED

42 ∞ appearance

Day Eleven ∞ Monday morning

"HEY, GUYS! Check this out!" Ramiro came in, waving the newspaper in his hand. "They still can't figure out how it happened!"

"Lemme see!" Pace grabbed the paper, unfolded it, and read aloud, "'Still no leads to missing jewelry'... Ha! It's a mystery, and the cops are asking if there's any other witness out there. After all this time."

Jagg nodded and got up from the table. "There'll be more of that. And you better have your bags ready to leave anytime. Lora, finish up—we've got some casing to do. Y'all be here when we get back." He took his plate and cup to the kitchen.

Lora turned to Toni. "'Casing'?"

"Yeah... You've gotta check out the place so you know what you're doing," Toni replied. "You'll do okay."

Lora nodded and rose with her plate. But Sleek stopped her as she was passing him to go to the kitchen. "I need to talk to you," he said quietly, frowning. He took the plate from her, placing it on his on the table, and went to the door. The others didn't pay them much attention, but TJ had a thoughtful look on his face.

Sleek led the way to the garage and went inside; Lora followed and stopped inside the door. She could both sense and see his agitation as he leaned against the van. "Did something happen that I should know about?" he said eventually and turned to her. "You had problems sleeping; are you okay?"

She nodded once, slowly. "But you are not okay."

"It's just a headache from last night. I had a bit too much to drink," he responded, rubbing his temples. Then he met her gaze. "You've got to do it again. The feelings came back last night."

She hesitated. "I am not sure how safe it is to do that several times," she said, her brow furrowing, "how it will affect you. I want not to hurt you."

He stepped toward her with an intense look on his face. "You have to. Until I get you out of my system."

She felt his radiating energy—now she could discern a difference between his and Jagg's energy from last night. But his was warmer. Both memories sent tingles through her body and she drew a deep breath. "Are you sure?"

"Do it," he breathed and took another step but was halted a foot away by Lora's hand in the middle of his pounding chest. He glanced at her arm separating them and sighed, "Please, Lora..."

She studied him a moment longer before closing her eyes. It was easier to focus this time—maybe she would be able to create a longer-lasting effect. Just a couple of minutes...

"Lora!"

Jagg's voice jarred through her focus but she held on, giving Sleek a few seconds more before opening her eyes.

Sleek was looking back at her calmly, smiling with his eyes. "The headache's gone too," he said and pointed with his head. "Go."

She smiled briefly back at him before ducking outside. Jagg was waiting on his bike, wearing a shirt and tie under his unmarked jacket, slowly working his jaws. 

"Two minutes," she said—she needed to brush her teeth and get her jacket. As she headed for the porch, Sleek came out and pulled down the garage door.

 "Everything's cool, man," he said. "I just needed to talk with my sister."

Jagg made no comment.

∞

"Miss... Mr. Johnson... Please come with me." The female customer service manager gestured with a hand full of keys and opened the restricted door. Jagg made Lora go first. They were led through a passage past several closed doors to the spiral staircase.