Flight to Freedom (Flight Trilogy, Book 3) (28 page)

They did not respond, but continued to stare with half smiles, sitting motionless like two ethereal beings. If they had vaporized into a diaphanous mist, he would not have been surprised.

“Ahh…choo!” He hurried down the hall to the master suite. The bed was turned down. Before going to sleep, he went into the bathroom and blew his nose, washed his face, and toweled off.

There
it
is
.

A star-shaped bottle of
Angel
perfume was lying on Angel’s vanity. He chuckled. “I wonder where she had that hidden.”

An unexplainable happiness lifted his spirit, as if he knew he was about to be rejoined with Keri and his two precious children.

He closed the bedroom door, slipped out of his pants and shirt, and got in bed. With his eyes closed, he imagined Keri’s face and her smile.

Keri
,
I’m
coming
.

CHAPTER 42

Buckhead
,
Georgia

Father’s
Day
,
Sunday
morning
—
June
15
,
2003

It was June 23, 1974. Ryan and Keri were on their last date of the summer before he left for the Naval Academy.

This
is
it
!
The
seventh
dream
.
Angel
,
thank
you
!
You
did
it
!

He watched as the scene began to replay in his dream.

“I’m going to miss you,” his dream character said, his back resting against the car door of the 1965 Impala. Keri sat close to him in the middle of the bench seat.

“I know you’ll do great.” She took his hand and gently rubbed it.

Eager to change the ominous outcome he knew was eminent, he attempted to will words into the mouth of his dream double. Nothing happened. He was stuck; a spectator watching a rerun, waiting for the impending tragic scene only minutes away:
Bambi
: the hunter about to shoot Bambi’s mother;
Titanic
: the supposedly unsinkable cruise ship about to be gorged by an iceberg;
Romeo
and
Juliet
: Romeo about to drink the vial of poison and die beside Juliet’s sleeping body.

Wait
a
minute
!
It’s
not
supposed
to
be
this
way
.

His dream double pulled Keri close, kissing her on the forehead. She looked up at him. “Don’t cry,” he said. He kissed her softly on her lips. “What’s wrong? You act like your best friend just died.”

Do
something
you
fool
before
it’s
too
late
!

Ryan was lucid, but unable to will his double to speak or act as he commanded in his thoughts.

She snuggled under his arm as they quietly embraced their last intimate moments. “Keri, you know I love you, don’t you?”

NO
!
NO
!
NO
!
You
must
change
this
!

She sniffed. “Yes,” she said, her head still tight against his chest.

He swept a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. She hugged him one more time. Her hand brushed against his chest as she slipped a note into his shirt pocket.

The
note
!
You
only
have
a
few
seconds
!

She looked at him.

I
remember
this
moment
.
She’s
about
to
do
it
.

“Keri, what’s wrong?”

I’ll
tell
you
what’s
wrong
!
She’s
gonna
dump
you
in
about
five
seconds
if
you
don’t
start
talking
!

She took a breath, exhaling slowly. “Ryan, you’re not going to understand what I'm about to say, but I truly believe it is the right thing for you. I don’t want anything to get in the way of you reaching your goals. I’ve thought about it for a long time and...and...I think....” She paused for a moment, then finished it. “I think we need to break up.”

“No! Don't say that!”

That’s
it
!
Keep
after
her
.

“When you leave, I don’t want you to have to think about me,” she said.

“How can I
not
think about you?”

“You need to be free.”

“But I don’t
want
to be free.”

“Ryan, the only way I can know if we are truly meant to be together is to let you go.”

“But we’re
supposed
to be together. Nobody knows you like I do. Nobody sees you like I do. We
belong
together. I love you...I
love
you, Keri. Why are you doing this?”

Come
on
!
You’ve
got
to
do
better
than
that
!
Tell
her
what
happens
…
tell
her
how
she
is
destroying
the
future
.

“I’m sorry. This is something I have to do, Ryan. I need to date other people.”

She’s
lying
!
She
doesn’t
mean
it
!

She opened her door. “I need to go,” she said.

“Please don’t do this!”

“Ryan, you’re going to do great.” She got out of the car, closed the door, and didn’t look back, hurrying into the darkness.

What
were
you
thinking
?
STOP
HER
!!!
GO
AFTER
HER
!!!

The sound of footsteps on the pavement, running in the darkness, followed by the door to her house being slammed close.

What
!
You’re
just
going
to
sit
there
?
Come
on
…
this
is
IT
!
Your
last
chance
!

The dream double sat frozen like a statue. Ryan read his mind—grasping for answers while the sounds of the summer night engulfed him: cicadas and tree crickets.

Go
after
her
!

He started the car, backed out of the driveway, and drove away. The neighborhood streets were quiet.

I’m
not
believing
this
!
Stop
the
car
!
STOP
!
THE
!
CAR
!

Ryan watched as the dream was on autopilot, replaying the nightmare he had relived for almost forty years.

The
note
!
You
need
to
pull
over
and
read
the
note
!

His dream double pulled the car to the curb, snapped on the overhead light, and pulled the folded note from his pocket.

June
23
,
1974

Dear
Ryan
,

I
believe
if
we
are
meant
to
be
,
nothing
can
keep
us
apart
.
As
long
as
I
live
,
I
will
patiently
wait
on
each
sunrise
and
follow
each
sunset
into
tomorrow
,
for
I
believe
it
is
the
path
of
the
sun
that
will
lead
us
to
our
hopes
and
dreams
.
Promise
me
that
you
will
never
lose
hope
in
tomorrow
.

I
love
you
,

Keri

Okay
,
chump
…
it’s
make
it
or
break
it
time
.
This
is
your
life
we
are
talking
about
.
You
MUST
go
get
her
…
NOW
!!!

The dream double sat frozen—again—like a windup doll whose action spring needed a fresh turn of the key.

Ryan noticed three women in the back seat of the Impala. He immediately recognized them all. Behind the driver was Mercy, John Dross’s wife—the same woman he now knew to be his Angel from Starbucks. Seated to her right was Grace, the woman that had sold him the
Angel
perfume at the department store in California. And on the far right was the short woman he had spoken with at the cemetery named Peggy—or as
her
people
called her, Hope.

Ryan processed the image while his dream double, still frozen in time with the biggest decision in his life before him, was unable to act.

Seated behind the dream dummy, unbeknownst, were Mercy, Grace, and Hope. Suddenly, everything crystallized in the dim glow of the cabin of his old 1965 Impala.

All
of
the
dream
regressions
,
the
meetings
with
strange
characters
at
coffee
houses
and
cemeteries
,
and
even
the
illusion
of
another
life
had
been
guided
by
these
three
women
—
Mercy
,
Grace
,
and
Hope
.

Mercy—the woman who had connected him to his dream regressions—had made it possible for him to erase his past.

Grace—the woman who had empowered Mercy with a mystical fragrance.

Hope—the woman at the cemetery who had lifted his spirit beyond the brokenness, suffering and pain, encouraging him he would find peace when his focus was set on things beyond this world.

Look
in
the
rearview
mirror
you
fool
!
The
answers
to
all
your
questions
are
behind
you
—
waiting
!

The dreamer responded to Ryan’s command and turned his head toward the mirror and stared. The moment his eyes locked on the image in the mirror, three bright beams of light shot out from each woman, joined into one much brighter laser-like projection, struck the rearview mirror and reflected into the wide-eyed dreamer. In a robotic, focused voice, the dream double said, “I can’t let her go!”

YES
!!
Now
you’re
talkin’
.

The dreamer reached up and flipped off the overhead light, putting the car in darkness. He hammered the accelerator, spinning the Impala in a U-turn in the street, tires squealing, and raced back to Keri’s house. He wheeled into her driveway—his front tires cutting through the manicured grass—parked the car on the circular drive beneath Keri’s bedroom window, flung open the car door, and sprinted toward the front door.

YES
!

Standing guard, as though she had been expecting him to return, Barbara Ann opened the door to greet Ryan. “Ryan, did you forget something?”

Don’t
listen
to
her
.
She’s
the
one
that
messed
you
up
in
the
first
place
.
Stay
focused
!
Knock
her
down
!
Push
her
to
the
side
!
Run
through
her
!
Just
go
to
Keri
!

“Mrs. Hart, I need to speak with Keri.”

“Ryan, darling, perhaps it would be best if you wait until tomorrow.”

“No! I need to see her now!” Ryan edged his way past Barbara Ann. “I just need to talk with her a minute.”

That’s
my
boy
!

Barbara Ann called out as he ran for the stairs, “Ryan, I really think it would be best if you came back tomorrow!”

He ignored her and continued up the stairs and down the hall towards Keri’s bedroom.

He slowly opened the door to find her laying on her bed gazing out the window. “Keri…”

She sat up in bed. “Ryan! What are you doing here?”

“I don’t believe you.” He moved to the side of the bed and sat beside her. “I know you too well. That stunt out there in the car was not for real.” He held her hand. “Keri, there might be a lot of things in this world I’m unsure of, but there is one thing I know for certain. We belong together, and you know it.”

Beautiful
.

She burst into tears, wrapping her arms around him. “Ryan, I love you so much. I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, but…”

“You don’t need to say a word.” He pulled her back, held her hands, and looked into her eyes. “Keri, everything is going to work out fine.” He gently wiped the tears from her cheek. “I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure nothing ever comes between us. If that means not going to the Naval Academy…so be it…that’s what I’ll do. I love you more than anything in this world. We were meant to be together.”

Nicely
done
.

She sniffled. “But you can’t give up your dream.”

“Keri, you are my dream…being with you is the only dream I have ever had…I know it now more than ever before. The only dream that haunts me every day is the dream where I lose you.”