Chapter 63

 

Donna was busily stuffing her clothes into a large suitcase when Polish walked through the door of their condo.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m getting out of here; Fred’s getting too goddamn close to me. His trip to the CIA must have been for the purpose of planting an ESP device in him, because he’s now more powerful than I am. Screw it, it’s best to leave the area and forget about him.” 

Donna decided to do away with Polish before she left—no use leaving a trail behind. She went to her dresser to retrieve a weapon hidden below her night clothes in the bottom drawer. She silently released its safety; the bundle of night clothes provided an effective sound buffer. She slowly started to pick her revolver up.

“Maybe you don’t have to leave at all.”

His comment froze her. “What in hell are you talking about?” Donna slowly started to put her revolver back into the dresser.

“I’ve got some good news; actually it’s great news. If you’re nice to me, you know real nice, I’ll give you the news.” 

“Screw you, what the hell is the good news?”

“Fred’s returned to the D.C. area.”

“So what, that doesn’t mean he won’t ever come back to Sarasota.” Donna started to pick up the revolver again.

“He apparently has had a brain operation. And that information comes from one of my very reliable sources.”

“What’s the operation all about?”

“I don’t know that, and it would be difficult to find out; but it sounds like good news to me.”

Donna thought for a long period, weighing the consequences of Fred’s operation before she spoke. “Yes, I agree; I suspect either they had to remove the device because it’s defective or it’s causing some organic problem in his brain. I can’t imagine he would be having a brain operation based on something else; the coincidence is much too great.”

“That’s my guess as well.”

Donna returned her revolver to its place in the dresser and started to unpack her clothes. “I think I’ll hang around a bit longer to check this out. Once he returns to Sarasota, I can determine if he’s still got his powers or not. If not, I’ll start right where I left off with both him and Maureen. All right, things are beginning to look up again.”

* * *

Donna learned two weeks later that Fred had returned to the Sarasota area. She understood that he was still staying in his north Sarasota house and that there were no longer any police guarding the place. She assumed, based on the release of the police watch that Maureen had most likely stayed behind, still protected at the CIA compound. 

Donna was also informed when Fred returned to work. She drove to an area next to the interstate which was about ten miles from Fred’s police station. She knew that was the geographical limit for her to be able to exercise her mental abilities; it was also far enough for her to escape if Fred had not had the ESP device removed, and remained a threat to her. She knew any sort of encounter with Fred was potentially dangerous, but she had to know if the device had been removed. 

Donna stayed in her car in a Publix supermarket parking lot and started to hone in on Fred’s mental signature. If he still had his powers she didn’t want to alert him. So when she mentally located him, her entrance into his brain was as soft and subtle as a butterfly landing on a soap bubble. She knew if he still retained his powers, he would immediately react and send back to her an undeniable powerful signal. If that happened, she would take off as fast as she could. She shivered with trepidation as she meticulously went through the careful probing of his brain, segment by segment. 

Fred was acutely aware when Donna entered his brain. He had no desire to block her, even though he had enough natural powers to do so. He wanted her to feel that he was, in comparative terms, powerless. He did nothing except recognize her presence in his mind as she moved from neuron to neuron. After what seemed like an endless time, she left, as delicately as she had entered.