Shaking Off the Dust Read online

  Chapter Nine

  An hour later Tom sat in the living room. I held one of his hairs and he was furious. “Why are you avoiding me?”

  I repeated his question to Takeshi. He nodded and did that elegant fall to sit next to me on the floor. He took my hand into both of his, spreading my fingers. “I wanted time alone with Hannah. I still want time alone with her. So, we’re going to pick up her clothes with your ashes and dust on it and try to be alone in the process.” Takeshi looked over to me, waiting to see Tom’s reaction on my face.

  “Takeshi asked to have time alone with you to sort through the situation without my presence. I should have realized it was more than that. I knew he was more engaged than usual. He was laughing and joking, things that used to be rare for him. If he’s happy then I’m glad for him.” Tom had his eyes on me, not his friend, trying to gage my response. “It’s been obvious that you have been attracted to him since the beginning. I hope it’s more than that? Because if you hurt him, I’ll stay and haunt you until the end of your days. He doesn’t give his friendship lightly and I’ve never seen him give his heart.”

  I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat and gave Takeshi a thumbs-up with the hand he still held. “He wants to know if you’re sure this is what you want? And then he threatened to haunt me forever if I hurt you.”

  Takeshi face went from concerned to relief. “I’m very certain this is what I want.”

  “I’m going to grab my purse and meds for the trip. We need to leave soon.” I headed back to my room and Tom decided to keep me company.

  “So are you sure, Hannah? Do you love him?”

  “He makes me very happy, Tom, but I don’t think it will stay this way. Situations like this are rare, what with Tom the semifriendly ghost and a terrorist bombing to solve. Emotions are high and feelings are more intense. When things settle down, he’ll realize it was for the moment. I’ll let him go with good grace, I promise. I won’t let him feel guilty that his heart changed. I learned a while back that you can’t make someone stay in love with you.”

  “You’re wrong, Hannah.” I turned to Takeshi, who stood at the door. “You’re wrong. My emotions are high and intense, but they are not momentary.”

  “I know you believe that, Takeshi. And I believe in what you feel, because you’re showing me. I’m just saying if down the road things change, well, I won’t ever hold it against you.”

  He strode across the room to me and tilted my face to look up into his. “I’ll be showing you every day from now on how I feel.”

  “Get a room,” Tom complained.

  “That’s exactly the plan. Oh and if it bothers you, Tom, to think about us needing a room, don’t think about it in here or the bathroom or the living room either,” I taunted and walked out.

  “Takeshi, you hound dog.” He punched his shoulder. “I’ll stay here until you call for me. I won’t like it, but I’m willing to give you time alone.”

  The drive was filled with conversation. I got the lowdown on his aunt and uncle, Nico’s parents. They owned a Japanese restaurant in Ohio. They were very traditional and I suspected would be very unhappy to meet his non-Asian girlfriend. I didn’t voice that worry to him though.

  I told him about my family, so that took awhile. We laughed and listened to music until we were in front of my house.

  “That was fast,” I said.

  We set to work right away. The too-small black dress had buttons down the front so they hadn’t cut if off when I reached the hospital after my lightning encounter. That was the only reason someone had saved it for me. I said a little thank-you prayer as I spread out wax paper on my kitchen table.

  We took the clothes out of the brown bag. He gently shook out the clothes, while I emptied the ash that had settled in the bottom of the paper bag into a pintsize plastic bag. It wasn’t much.

  Takeshi had better luck with the dress. The ash that had gotten wet from the rain had turned into dried crumpling mud, and he took a knife and began scraping the clothes. It took an hour before we felt satisfied it was done. We had over an ounce of Tom.

  “We need to test it out.” I touched the small pile on my food scale. “Tom.”

  He appeared. “I thought you two wanted alone time?”

  “We do, we needed to make sure that the majority of that is Tom bits.”

  “Am I allowed to stay around or will the two of you be having sex right away?” He was trying for a clinical tone, but I could hear the envy in his voice.

  I repeated his comment to Takeshi.

  “Jealous, Tom?” he asked.

  Tom turned to me as if I’d asked the question.

  “Sure, I’d give you a go. You’ve kind of grown on me, all those feminine curves and that mouth. I can imagine that mouth, warm and tangy.” He stared at me, his eyes darting to my chest.

  I tried to ignore that, but I guess my face gave something away.

  “Tell me this instant what he said,” Takeshi demanded.

  “Nothing worth repeating.”

  “I’d like to be the judge of that.” He gave me a look that insisted on an answer.

  “Oh alright, Shimodo. He said he’d give me a go. It was a comeback, that’s all.” I wasn’t so sure of that.

  “Oh, he meant it. He’s become quite fond of you. I mean that in a way that’s not his need for you to help him. His conversations have not been the sarcastic, caustic words he so often uses. He even boxed Melissa’s ears when she made a comment to you. Oh and thanks for that, Tom. It’s exactly what I wanted to do.”

  “Well, don’t take it the wrong way,” I said. “I’m becoming quite fond of him too. When he comes down off the high horse, he’s a pretty good guy. Sorry to say this, Tom, but even with all that, you’re not alive. You can’t get in my bed and seduce me.” I looked at Takeshi now.

  “Yes, he can. He can seduce you with words and he’s already taken to sitting on your feet or touching you.”

  “You’re not jealous of Tom, are you?”

  “Today, I’m jealous of my time with you. But I’m saying this for Tom’s benefit. I want him to know I’ve been aware of the change in his relationship with you.”

  “I’m sorry to have to say this yet again, but both you boys are FOS. Now if we could get back to the whole touching-Tom issue, I’d feel better. What were your ideas, Takeshi?”

  He went through his pants pockets and brought out two women’s rings in silver and gold, one a wedding band. “These were my mother’s. They were in a firebox in the house. I thought we might be able to have one resized to you, Hannah. While the gold is still hot, we could put a little of the ash in. That would be my first suggestion, because you’d be able to take them on and off. If we offer enough money, it might be possible to accomplish this today.”

  He pulled out a bottle of liquid-skin glue from his other pocket. “It would be very temporary, but it would be simple enough to affix a hair or ash to somewhere on your body and apply this to keep it in place. You would take the chance of it being peeled or picked off. Of course, using an ointment would take if off pretty quickly. So it would be far from fail-safe.”

  I nodded my interest.

  “More foolproof, if taken care of, would be a semipermanent tattoo. I should be able to locate a shop where I can find the supplies I need. With ash mixed into the ink, I can paint a Japanese symbol on your ankle, for instance. I would not be injecting the dye, but if I abrade your skin first, it should absorb enough to last a couple of weeks, unless you decide to scrub at it for a long time.”

  “I vote for all three options,” I said.

  “We don’t have time for all three.”

  “We do if we split up.” I went to a kitchen cabinet and pulled out a phone book. “I’ll see about the ring, although I’ll bring one of my own. Your mother’s rings are keepsakes for you, Takeshi. I would never be comfortable wearing something that means that much to you.”

  “That’s the point, Hannah. I want you to wear it.”

  I
glanced up into his serious face. I did that a lot, trying to memorize everything about him, imprinting moments into my brain. “Takeshi, it’s only been a few days since we’ve met. It’s been less than twenty-four hours since we became lovers. It’s too soon for me to accept any gifts from you. I can’t do it. I know better than most that things happen. Accidents and emergencies change your world in an instant and forever. You could meet a beautiful FBI agent tomorrow and fall under her spell. Though once I scratched out her eyes she might not be that attractive anymore. But you get my meaning.”

  “Stop saying these things. Be in this moment with me. Quit trying to convince yourself it’s not real.”

  “Oh believe me, I’m enjoying the moment. I just make sure my touchstone is reality.”

  “Well, we’ll hold this discussion for the time being. Bring me one of your rings and I will take care of the jewelry store. I’ll write down what I need from the tattoo place.” He came forward to kiss the top of my head.

  “I think I can take care of the ring portion of these events.”

  “I think you can too, but my intent is to offer an extreme amount of money to get this accomplished expediently and, as with all this, Tom’s paying.” He pulled out his wallet and handed me a wad of cash. “Take this for the tattoo supplies and hurry with the ring.”

  I went to my room and pulled a jewelry box from under the bed. I didn’t have a lot, but I had a few expensive rings. I took out the white gold emerald ring, then decided to give a selection. So I took out the blue sapphire in gold.

  When I went back into the kitchen, Takeshi was on the phone and Tom was sitting on the table. I nodded towards Takeshi.

  “He’s talking to a jeweler. It’s one of those artistic places that create their own stuff. He’s having no problem spending my money.”

  “Well, you can’t.”

  Takeshi hung up the phone. I handed him two rings and he put them in his pocket. His mother’s rings were gone, so they were probably already in his pocket. “They’ll do it if I can get there right away.”

  I handed him a pen and paper. “Tattoo supplies, be specific please. I’m tattoo ignorant.”

  He wrote down what he needed. “Bring me your cell phone so I can program my cell number into yours and vise versa.”

  We accomplished that task and he got up to leave.

  “Wait.” I grabbed my extra house key and handed it to him. “There’s usually a ceremony with this. You know a list of dos and don’ts, like if you should come in when I’m busy with the mailman. But in case you beat me back here, you’d better have it. Take Tom’s ashes.” I handed him the baggie.

  “I’ll keep him company,” Tom said.

  Takeshi bent down and kissed me. “I’ll be back tonight.”

  I picked up a sandwich on my way to a tattoo parlor. I had to do a little convincing to get some of the things we needed. The manager announced he applied the tattoos and didn’t want anyone else doing his work for him. Takeshi’s wad of cash changed his mind. We’d started out late in the day on our errands, so it was nearly eight p.m. by the time I got home. I’d finished putting away the groceries when Takeshi returned. Tom had hung out with him and though I missed his sarcasm, I also felt a little uncomfortable after his surprising words. As I opened the door for him, Takeshi swooped down to catch me, lifting me off the ground. He kicked the door closed and his mouth hovered over mine. “Now, where was I?”

  I laughed and kissed him softly on the lips. “Where’d Tom go?”

  “Quiet, woman. He’s locked about halfway down the block from here, out of our presence.”

  “See now, there you go again, just assuming I’m going to put out.”

  “That would be very nice, because I have every intention of putting in.”

  “Did you eat?”

  His face fell into concern. “Did you eat?”

  “I had a sandwich while I ran my errands.”

  “What a relief, because my appetite is for something else.”

  “Race you to the bedroom.” I stretched my neck towards the back of the house.

  He curled his lips into a seductive smile. “Oh no, Hannah, there’s no hurry tonight. I plan on a slow, thorough ravishing that will disabuse you of any thought that this is a temporary infatuation on my part.”

  “Oh, and if I plan the same tribute to your body, it won’t interfere, I hope?”

  “I will consider it after my explorations are completed,” he whispered as we walked into the bedroom. We stood at the edge of the bed and he showered kisses upon my face, head and ears.

  I had settled into a soft sigh when his cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and let it fall to the floor. It rang for a while longer. Trailing his tongue from my left ear down the valley of my neck, over my carotid, my head tilted back to allow his sensual journey. My phone began to ring.

  “My answering machine will pick it up,” I said. It rang four times then the machine clicked. We both froze as Marvin’s voice came on.

  “Hannah, Takeshi, you need to pick up the damn phone. I know you’re there because there are two policemen watching your house.”

  Takeshi rolled over on the bed so he could reach the phone and answered it. He sat on the edge of the bed and I slid in behind him so I could hear too.

  “I tried to go subtle, but I set off alarms in no less than four Homeland Security agencies by noon. They’ve been interviewing your whole research staff for the last hour. Two deputy sheriffs are outside Hannah’s house, but they’ve promised not to do anything until I get there. I just left Louisville, so you’ve got less than two hours. As long as you don’t try to leave, they won’t interfere.”

  “Thanks for letting us know,” Takeshi said in a monotone.

  “I’m sorry. Listen, if Tom will only communicate with the two of you, you might be able to stay together. Your people told them he could touch and communicate, so they think they can cut you out of the loop, Takeshi. Tell him not to let them. I say that as if they believe any of this, but your staff is pretty convincing.”

  Takeshi hung up and turned to face me. “It will take at least an hour to mix the ink and apply the tattoos to both of us. Letting them dry long enough to become semipermanent takes the longest.”

  “Both of us.”

  “I need Tom with me to let me know what’s going on with you.”

  I didn’t want him to leave me. I was afraid this was the last time I’d see him, the last time I’d touch him. Tears streamed down my face like scalding water and he came to me, pushing me onto the bed, whispering words as he wiped away tears that wouldn’t stop.

  Our night of slow lovemaking was urgent and rushed and more passionate than I thought possible. Undressing each other in hurried silence, there was no foreplay, only the frightening need to be as one. Our bodies came together, restless hands and mouths seeking to soothe heated flesh. The heavy weight of him sinking into my body brought the only peace, for a brief moment we did not move or even breathe. Legs winding around his hips, brought completion. When we finally began to move, every nerve along the path of his entry was on fire. Takeshi talked in Japanese the entire time, beautiful sounds that at times were pleading and coaxing until we both reached climax clinging to each other with no barrier, skin to skin.

  “Jump in the shower, we’ll need to begin,” he finally said in English.

  Scrubbing my eyes to finish my crying, I dashed into the bath. The hard-as-steel ER nurse needed to emerge, I had to be strong now.

  I walked into the kitchen, my hair wet, but with fresh clothes on, to find him mixing ash into black ink.

  “Just in time.” He looked at my swollen eyes and lips. “You’re beautiful.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Go sit in the chair.”

  He sat opposite me at the edge of the table and took my right foot into his lap. He rolled the jeans up about midcalf and scraped my ankle until it was abraded, then used the tiny brush I’d gotten per his instructions, and wrote in Japanese. A
symbol along my ankle curved up the leg.

  “What does it say?”

  “It’s the Japanese symbol for love.” He tapped his finger to the tattoo checking. After he was certain it was not still tacky or damp, he put Saran wrap around my ankle and applied a warm cloth he’d heated up in the microwave. He wrote another Japanese word on his own wrist.

  “That’s different than what you wrote on my ankle. What does it say?”

  “It’s your name.” He winked. His wrist was enclosed in Saran wrap and we heated another cloth. Pulling out a small jewelry box, he opened it for me to see the two rings. The bands were a little wider. Finally we both took a pinch of ash and applied it to our upper arms with the liquid Band-Aid.

  “I need to get cleaned up too. Can you make me a sandwich while I take a shower?”

  He came out less than ten minutes later, still damp and smelling of soap and shampoo. He started to eat the sandwich and pointed to the rings. “Did you try them on?”

  I did. “Tom.”

  Tom appeared in front of me. “What’s the matter? Why have you been crying?”

  “Marvin called. The FBI is on their way. There’s a police car out front watching us.”

  “I’m sorry, Hannah. I guess last night was all you’ll get alone until this is over.” Tom touched my face. “How’s Takeshi taking it?”

  I repeated that to Takeshi.

  He swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. “Hannah, you need to eat something. It may be a long night.”

  It was too late. There was a knock and we only had time to unwrap the tattoos before the police were pounding on the door, ordering us to let them in. When I opened the door, they burst into my house.

  Marvin came in last and nodded to us. He held up a piece of paper and shrugged. “This is a search warrant. They’ll be going through every nook and cranny, Hannah.”

  I raised my eyebrow saying, “Including my pornography?”

  He didn’t smile. “I’d recommend being on your best behavior, girl. They are not your friends in Washington and that’s where we’re going.”

  We were walked out to a car, escorted by at least five silent men in dark suits. Once in the car, they wasted no time getting to the airport. Marvin sat in the front passenger seat and craned his neck back to us. “They are in a quandary over how we are to treat you. They don’t want to alienate you if you really are a psychic, but it’s a power thing. They are letting me use my discretion. I’m afraid that will end once we get to Washington. You’ll be turned over to a much higher level than I am.”