The Dream Jumper's Promise

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

            Dream jumping was a curse and a gift, no doubt about it. Ever since he was ten, Jamey had been trying to deny his ability. He’d hidden what he knew for years. As a teen, it was inconvenient and annoying to know what other people thought about him. When he figured out how to use the talent to his teenage advantage, he decided to embrace it.

            At first his skills helped him sneak out of the house and then they helped fix his dating prospects. When plans backfired to reveal more than he wanted to know, Jamey saw the ugly side of his intuition.

            In his early twenties he’d tried to lead a normal life alongside this ability. Dream Jumping was like a bonus skill that he was scared to use. Various jobs never worked out for usually the same reason when mind reading always got in the way. The thoughts of his bosses and co-workers was too much for an inexperienced young man to handle.

             He had some rough years, then enrolled in cop school at the age of twenty-six, same as his Uncle Don, the only other person he knew with abilities like his. Donald Dunn was a detective with the Seattle police force. He’d secretly used his extra sense for the greater good and he’d been trying for years to convince Jamey it was the right thing to do.

            Keeping his cards close to his chest in the police academy, Jamey didn’t reveal his secret, agreeing with Uncle Don that it was best for everyone. When Jamey became a decorated policeman, guilt robbed him of the eluding joy. It wasn’t really him who deserved the commendation, it was his ability. Standing in front of a group of deserved police officers, he felt like an imposter but still kept the secret. He was an expert at keeping secrets.

            Years later, when Don was dead from a heart attack during a dream jump with a serial killer and Carrie had divorced Jamey, he went through a dark period of drinking heavily. Don was the only other jumper he’d known and the gift had killed him. Pops convinced Jamey that he was dishonoring his uncle by falling apart and he took a new approach to dream jumping.

            The armed forces found him and he questioned how they knew about him. After months of tests and enough interviews to make his head spin, Sixth Force wanted James Dunn. They offered him a coveted position with the top secret team and Jamey left for boot camp, under oath to keep dream jumping a secret. Later he’d learn that an undisclosed member of the Force had ferreted him out through their ability.

            Tina’s boat hummed along, riding the sunny-day swells as they motored across the channel between Maui and Lanai. Today’s destination was the Cathedral Caverns, a dive site Jamey knew well from years ago in Tina’s class.

            Unable to read Tina’s mood, Jamey was miffed that his ability eluded him. She’d always been a tough read. How was he going to keep a watch on her if he couldn’t tune into her?

            With her hat pulled over her forehead and her Maui Jim sunglasses hiding her eyes, she stood like a statue, hands on the wheel. She said nothing on the whole thirty minute crossing to the house-sized boulder known as Sweetheart Rock.

            “Have you done this dive before?” a customer asked Jamey when they slowed to approach the site. He recalled the day he and Tina tried to make love in the underwater cavern, only to be amused at the difficulty.

“Yes, it’s a beauty.” Catching Tina’s expression, he wondered if she was remembering the same thing and then knew she was.

            “Jamey, can you get the anchor for me?” Tina eased back on the throttle and guided the boat to the exact place on the water where an anchor could be safely dropped in the sand.