Flying Blind by KB
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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 2
Jarod threw the mobile phone down onto his bed as he passed and stared out of the window, seeing nothing of what passed before him. Moving over to the kitchenette, he reached into the fridge and withdrew a can of Dr Pepper. The ringing of the phone sent the can onto the floor, where it sat, gently rocking, as Jarod leapt for the receiver.
"Sydney? Is that you?"
"Jarod? No. It¡¦s me, Nicholas. Why? What¡¦s going on?"
"Sydney should¡Koh, never mind. It¡¦s not...What¡¦s up?"
"Did I leave my wallet in your car? I haven¡¦t been able to find it since I got home."
"I¡¦ll have a look and call you back."
"Okay, sure. Take your time. It¡¦s not that important but I¡¦d like to know where it is."
"Sure thing."
Jarod hurriedly disconnected the call and tried Sydney¡¦s number again. A sigh of relief broke from his lips as the dial tone switched to a ringing sound in his ear, and he resumed his pacing as he waited for the call to be answered.
„Q
Miss Parker stretched out her hand in the dark and, as she made contact with another figure, she hastily withdrew. Trying to rise, she heard the crack of her head on the underside of Sydney¡¦s desk, where she had flung herself only an instant before Lyle had pulled the trigger, and then she felt the pain the knock caused her and swore under her breath. Wriggling to the side, she stood up and tried to perceive anything through the black, silent room. The artificial windows, which only let in artificial light and which had also gone off when the power was cut, were no help. With a frustrated groan, she gave up and tried to work out if she had been injured by Lyle¡¦s gunshots. Realising that she was physically all right, she felt her way around the walls of the room until she reached the door and pulled it open. The darkness of the hallway merged with the darkness of the office and made no difference.
Sydney picked himself up from the corner of the room where he had flung himself when Lyle had moved the muzzle away from him and had aimed it at Miss Parker¡¦s head. Stretching out his left arm, Sydney was able to reach the small, portable, battery-operated lamp that stood on the table near him and carefully switched it on. Instantly a small, yellow glow filled the room and Sydney, who had used his right hand to remove a small pistol from his trouser pocket, looked around to try to find Lyle. An open vent clearly showed the method used by Lyle during his escape and Sydney realised, as he pocketed the pistol, that he could do nothing more about that. Instead he turned to look for Broots and Miss Parker.
Broots stood and, blinking in the dim light, he too stared around for Miss Parker. She had disappeared into the hallway in search, Sydney guessed, of someone she could blame for everything which had happened and Sydney hoped, fervently that she wouldn¡¦t meet¡Koops! Judging by the yelling, Miss Parker had met her new stepmother first of all! He grinned ruefully at Broots, who had taken out his hanky and was mopping the beads of sweat from his face and head. As Sydney was about to say something consoling, the overhead lights flickered once and switched themselves on. At the same time, the alarm system was set off, making speech impossible, so Sydney merely clapped Broots on the shoulder and sent him out into the hall, thus stopping the younger man from realising how much Sydney was still suffering from the activities of the past few minutes. Then he sat at his desk and, one finger stuffed in his right ear to block out the noise, reached over for the phone, which had started to ring when the lights went on.
"This is Sydney."
"Finally!"
"Jarod? I¡¦ve never heard you this concerned!"
"Well, actually, I was more worried that my phone wasn¡¦t working. Are you okay?"
"We all are. Luckily, as soon as Lyle pulled the trigger¡K"
"¡Kthe power went off. I know." Sydney shook his head, amazed again that Jarod somehow always knew what was occurring. In the stunning silence, which came as the sirens were switched off, Sydney was able to concentrate more on what Jarod was saying.
"Is Lyle gone?"
"Do you really think he¡¦d be able to stay around after that? No, he used your favourite method of escape. So I guess things can finally go back to normal."
"I guess so."
When Sydney heard the dial tone in his ear, he hung up the phone.
„Q
Miss Parker sat behind her desk and openly gloated. In her first forty-eight hours back in charge of the search for Jarod she had uncovered five strong leads on his whereabouts, more than Lyle had done in his whole time on top. She glanced through the mail at her right hand and pulled out a small package. As Sydney entered her office she waved it in his direction and rummaged in her desk for her paper knife.
"What¡¦s in it?"
"How should I know? Does it look as though I¡¦ve opened it?" She ripped it open and shook out a parcel wrapped in tissue paper. With a vigorous movement, she ripped the paper off and stared at the pair of dark-rimmed glasses as they sat on her desk, gently rocking.
"Damn it! These puzzles are getting more frustrating the longer he¡¦s out there!" She glared at Sydney, who was still looking with a curious expression at the spectacles. "Well, what is it, Syd?"
"This." He picked up the frames and looked at Miss Parker. "Do you happen to remember what he sent in the last parcel?"
"Nicholas? I¡¦m sorry but I couldn¡¦t find your wallet. Are you sure you didn¡¦t leave it somewhere else?"
"I don¡¦t know." The young man stood and walked to the edge of the porch, looking out over the garden. A grin broke over his face as he saw Kerri coming up the path towards him.
"Hi!"
"Hi Nick."
"I didn¡¦t, by any chance, leave my wallet at your place, did I?"
"No, you would have put it on the bench in your kitchen and I¡¦ll bet you knocked it off when you were looking for something else." As Kerri sat down and began chatting to Jarod, Nicholas went into the house, only to reappear seconds later with the wallet in his hand and an amazed expression on his face. "How did you know that? Are you psychic or something?"
"Of course not. I just know you by now, that¡¦s all."
Jarod looked confused. "Psychic? That sounds like something footballer players do."
"No, Jarod." Kerri laughed. "Psychic people have the ability to read people¡¦s minds. There was something about that in the paper that Nick read to me yesterday. Do you have it here?" she queried and Nicholas went inside the house and re-emerged with the paper. He opened the pages to the classified section and showed Jarod the relevant ad.
"Here, see. People pay them a certain sum of money and they tell them what¡¦s going to happen in their lives."
"Load of crap!"
"What?" The two men turned and stared at Kerri, who grinned again as she answered. "Well it is. I mean, find your star sign, Jarod, and just tell me how accurate it is."
"My¡Kwhat?"
"Your star sign. It depends on when you were born - I mean the month and the date." A pained look passed across Jarod¡¦s face briefly but he hid it. "Your star sign for that day or week or whatever will tell you something about what is happening or what¡¦s going to happen. Here¡Kyou were born in¡K?"
"In? Um¡KSeptember."
"Early or late?"
"Oh¡Kearly."
"Okay, Virgo. ¡¥People are depending on you every which way you turn lately, and it¡¦s important not to lose sight of the bigger picture. For the next few weeks attempts to ignore those needy people around you and decide which steps need to be taken to take you to the next level.¡¦ See? Stupid. Vague as all get out and not even any real use. As though anyone is going to turn away from people who really need them. Especially not you."
"What¡¦s wrong with someone just trying to make a little money by fooling gullible people? ¡¥A fool and his money¡K¡¦ you know the saying."
"Because they don¡¦t make little money. They make a lot of money. After I first got out of hospital, I had calls all the time from all over the country about people who would come and tell my fortune, and all I had to do was to send such and such an amount of money to this address and come to this place with this much and make a section in my will to leave this much. It was as though I was stupid as well as blind."
"You mean that they cheat people out their money by pretending to know stuff about them? But why do people believe them?"
"These people are usually pretty convincing. They say things that can be interpreted in different ways. And most of the things that they do say are phrased like questions and people inadvertently answer them and tell the psychics more than they mean to. Mostly, though, psychics are just people with a little bit more understanding than the rest of us. They can guess by body language or expressions what¡¦s right or wrong. And a few decades ago they were burned as witches because of having special powers that scared people. So I guess they¡¦re trying to make up for it now!"
Jarod turned a startled face to her angry one. "And they get away with this?"
"Every day of the week."
Sydney turned over the glasses and mask in his hand and stared out of the now-glassless window in his office. A series of attacks on the Centre, for which everyone suspected Lyle or some of his accomplices, were making everyone edgy. Miss Parker, frustrated from being unable to understand what the latest clue from Jarod was trying to suggest, was an additional pressure.
"Nicholas? Hi, it¡¦s me."
"Dad! How are you?"
"I¡¦m really well. Listen, I really rang to find out about Kerri. I haven¡¦t seen her for a few days and I thought I¡¦d get in touch again, but I¡¦ve lost her number."
"She¡¦s really well. With Paul¡¦s help she¡¦s becoming really independent."
"That¡¦s wonderful. She¡Kthere¡¦s no hope for her to regain her sight, I suppose?"
"Well, not the last time she went to the doctor there wasn¡¦t."
"I see. Oh, I nearly forgot. Do you and your mother want to come around for dinner tomorrow night?"
Jarod left Nicholas¡¦ house with a firm determination to change things but without really knowing how to go about it. He had an instinctive feeling that this was one situation into which he would not be able to slip easily. Psychic powers and abilities were not something which with he had had any connection during his time in the Centre and he had no idea of the approach he should use. However, as he walked, a plan formed in his mind. If, of course, she was willing to help, Jarod knew that he could make a ripple in the psychic community, which would have very far-reaching consequences.
Miss Parker slammed the phone down on the cradle and paced the room angrily, muttering to herself under her breath.
"Come on, Syd. Where are you? Damn it!"
She threw herself into a chair, which creaked in protest, and reached out for the phone again. Under her hand it began to ring.
"What?"
"Ah, nice to see nothing¡¦s changed!"
"What do you want, Jarod?"
"Oh, I just thought a cosy chat on a night like this¡K" Miss Parker snorted and Jarod laughed. "Oh, come on, Miss Parker. Do you mean to tell me you never get lonely?"
"What, with you to keep me entertained with all of your little ¡¥presents¡¦? How could I?" Her eyes followed a small, white object around the room and, although her voice didn¡¦t change, the expression on her face showed that she had not found all of Jarod¡¦s ¡¥presents¡¦ annoying.
"So why the call, Jarod? Got another mystic clue for me to follow?"
He laughed again. "Not quite. I just suggest you keep your eyes and ears open."
"Jarod? Jarod - wait."
Jarod pressed the small remote control and the figures on the screen froze, with Kerri in the act of passing over several banknotes to the psychic sitting in front of her.
"Well, at least we¡¦ve got the evidence we need to expose these people. Have you still got all of the other letters?"
"Which ones?"
"You know. The ones that say ¡¥I obtained your address and I wondered if you¡¦d be interested in my services¡¦. We can get them on charges of sharing your address without your permission as well as fraud and working without a license."
"They¡¦re in that envelope on the table. I figured we could also fit the tape in the same package."
"Great idea. Okay, so is everything organised?"
"I think so. I¡¦ve arranged my next visit for Thursday, which, I thought, gave us time to set everything up."
"Oh, sure. But have you also arranged an at-home visit, so I can put the camera into her office?"
"For the day after tomorrow, at two o¡¦clock. And she¡¦s also really prompt."
"Okay, great. Then we can properly get this done."
Miss Parker threw open the door to Sydney¡¦s office and sat down in a chair as he continued to write a report . She glared at Sydney until he finished his last word, capped the pen and then looked up at her.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Where were you last night? I spent the whole night trying to call you!"
"I was at home, why? Nicholas and Michelle came around for dinner."
"Why didn¡¦t you answer the phone then?"
"Because it never rang. You must have dialled the wrong number."
She gave him a withering look. "Oh, please! After four years you think I¡¦d just forget the number now, all of a sudden. You¡¦ll have to do better than that."
"I¡¦m afraid I don¡¦t have a better explanation. And now, if you don¡¦t mind, I have a lot of work to do."
Madame Sabian opened the door and graciously ushered in her next customer, carefully avoiding eye contact with, and attempting to conceal her terror of, the dog as it moved past her into the room. Taking her accustomed seat opposite her customer, Madame Sabian looked briefly at Kerri.
"Well, shall we begin?"
"Of course." Kerri handed over a small, tied bundle, which Madame Sabian dropped into a small slot beside her. A small sound, like a muffled thud, made Paul prick up his ears, but, true to his training, he remained at his mistress¡¦ side.
"I see that your relationship with your boyfriend will begin to fail. He will leave you for someone who has more to offer him¡K"
As Madame Sabian continued, Kerri smiled to herself. The predictions had begun well but, over recent days, had begun to be more negative. The soundproof room prevented her from hearing anyone outside but she felt the vibrations of approaching footsteps and, shocking though it was to the psychic, she herself felt no surprise when the door was wrenched open.
Jarod stood in front of the confused psychic and, it must be admitted, gloated. He always enjoyed moments like this.
"You know, for someone who professes to know the future, you look quite startled."
The woman opposite took several seconds to regain her composure. "Not at all. I simply expected you to enter through that door." She pointed to the entry behind her.
"Now, it¡¦s strange that you should mention that door because I have a little question for you. Actually its more in the way of a test. You see, my friend here" she indicated Kerri who received a glance from Madame Sabian but which had no effect "has informed me that there are few little illegalities in regards to the¡K business¡K that you run here. For instance," Jarod pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket, "I have evidence that, although the job you do is legal, you perform it without a licence, which is not. Equally you pass on the private details of your prospective clients to others in your field - without the consent of the aforementioned clients." He looked over at the face opposite, which was blank in dismay, before continuing. "Now, I have to admit that I¡¦m something of a sceptic about this whole psychic thing. But, I always like people to have a chance to prove themselves. Therefore I¡¦m going to give you a little test. Now, don¡¦t look so scared. It¡¦s quite simple. I have the information that will convict you. I also have several police waiting to arrest you. The information is behind one door, police behind the other. Which will you choose?"
Jarod and Nicholas watched and described to Kerri the process of Madame Sabian being arrested and led to a waiting police car.
"But how did you know Madame Sabian would pick that door?
"Two ways. She saw me appear from the other door and so assumed that if I could come in that way, so could the police. Equally she had no idea that I knew where the other door led, or how easy it would be for me to access."
"So you knew what she would do? What are you, Jarod? Psychic or something?"
