Unforeseen Dives – 32b – Secrets

<< 32a – Secrets

Rebecca stormed out of the office. I was hot on her heels.
“I didn’t mean I was willing to risk Sean’s life to keep Casey close.” I yelled. She turned the corner without slowing down. I hated when she did that.  I picked up the pace. “Rebecca!” When I rounded the corner, I almost collided with her.
“I know you just lost your mother and I know it’s hard.” She nearly spat in my face. “But I’m not losing my unborn child’s dad to suit your mood.”
“You know it’s not what I meant.” I sighed. “If I have too, I will stay away from him. I would like to try another option first, that’s all.”
“Psychics can’t shield their mind from a telepathic read.” She hammered.
“I know that. Maybe a good diversion would be enough.” I shrugged. I couldn’t bear not giving it a try. I would choose Sean’s life over my feelings for Casey if it came to it. It would tear me apart but I would do the right thing. “I’m not like every other psychic. I want to try something before we choose to go the usual way.”
Rebecca’s tension dissipated progressively. We were really good at this; a few intense retorts, then back to normal.
“Agreed. But we’re not spending insane amounts of time working on that.” Becky conceded.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. We have a war to stop.”
“Right.”
The rage passed and left us standing awkwardly in the middle of the hallway with worried face peering at us. We acknowledged them with a greeting nod and all the undercover FBI agents re-entered their office without a comment. At least, the bank’s real employees were all on the floor below us.
“Here’s the deal,” Rebecca attacked once we were back in our office. “Your chair’s here but it isn’t plugged. The tech’ll be by later.”
“So we’re on hold anyway.” I grabbed my coffee and joined Becky on the couch.
“Either you master your thought by the time the chair is usable, or you distance Casey for the investigation.” She felt like we were losing our time but, at the same time, we couldn’t work on our lead for now and staring at the Ocean’s map would unlikely reveal anything new. She wouldn’t smile while doing it but she would help.
“That works for me. Where do we begin?” Rebecca sipped her coffee, searching for a viable solution.
“Ok. What do you know about telepathy?”
“The usual, I guess. You read minds and can shield you own from other telepaths.” Now that I thought about it, I didn’t know a whole lot about the inner working of mind reading.
“There are blind spots. If you can learn to navigate those, you’ll be able to lie to Casey.” She sounded uneasy, a rare thing for Rebecca.
“You’re not supposed to reveal the secrets of the trade.” She bowed her head.
“Physical contact makes it easier for us to read. Visual contact is enough to get the gist of thoughts without concentration. The bigger the distance, the higher the required focus and the fuzzier the reading unless the other person is a telepath too.” I finished my coffee and rose to throw it in the garbage.
“Keep touching to a minimum. Don’t worry if Casey’s in the next room. Got it!” I said as I sat behind our desk.
“Yeah, I don’t think he’d voluntarily invade your privacy. He might catch a thought by mistake when he’s with you, though. We’re not perfect at keeping others out.”
“What if I don’t think about work?” Rebecca pondered the possibility while I rearranged the stuff on the desk. We always put the pens and pencils to the right.
“That won’t be enough. He’ll probably bring it up in conversations from time to time. It’s a big change in your life.” She stared at the wall with empty eyes. “You’ll have to spend as much time as possible wandering around the bank and talking to strangers.”
“Why?”
“To build vivid memories. It’ll be your smokescreen. When you talk about work, play those images in your mind. It won’t feel like a lie. Vague images will.”
“I guess every lie detector can be fooled.”
“Wrong.” Her rudeness stopped my fiddling with the desk drawer’s content. She walked over and impressed her seriousness upon me. “We can dig through layers of thoughts and memories if we want to. If he suspects you’re hiding something, he will find out what.”
I was right to think I could find a way to keep Casey among my friends and protect our new super secret organization. Rebecca’s explanations showed me the possibility and also shed light on why people didn’t usually risk it.
“Thanks for indulging me. I’m being selfish.” My voice cracked.
“You need to be a hundred percent for this investigation. Losing people is crippling. It’s okay for you to fight for them.” I nodded. “But I’m not indulging you. I’m uneasy and you’ll be too.” I looked at her questioningly. “I want you to prompt dive every time you meet Casey. If you see him learn the truth, you cancel on him.”
Her demand sank in and indeed made me uneasy. She asked me to spy on a friend and stand him up if need be. I hated the idea.
“Would it be so bad if he knew? He used to partner with psychics maybe he could help.” Rebecca stifled in response to my question.
“I don’t care.” She sounded ice-cold. “Your government asks you to lie. Take my compromise or leave it.”
The nerve I hit minutes ago still throbbed in her mind. She needed her husband back. Being her best friend didn’t mean I wouldn’t inadvertedly stand in her way. She wouldn’t let that happen. I extended my hand.
“Deal,” we shook on it.
“Now go around the office. Rack up some memories than we’ll test the smokescreen with me.”
I headed downstairs, a bit upset. The pins and needles really didn’t help start the first day of a new job on the right foot.

33a – Causes >>