Trefoil (11 page)

Chapter
14…

The rest of that evening was fairly normal.  The family had dinner together.  Taggart and their father evaluated all of the surveillance equipment that had been installed.  Meckenzie finished her homework and was able to catch a little TV.  Kellan had been quiet most of the evening, but she hadn’t been overly glum, or started any fights. 

Isabel took Kellan aside after dinner for what Meckenzie could only assume was a pep talk.  Kellan had come back upstairs smiling and laughing with Isabel.  Meckenzie hoped that this was a turning point for Kellan.  With their birthday less than four weeks away, the trips needed to do as much training as possible and still maintain their school work.  The end of the school year was just around the corner, and it was hard to say what would happen after their graduation. 

Meckenzie headed to bed, wishing she was supposed to meet Morgan in her dreams this evening.  She would love to ask her more questions.  There was so much she wanted to know about Aquanis, her mother, and the Morrigan.  Meckenzie hadn’t told Kellan about her vision this evening.  She really hadn’t talked to Kellan about anything.  Taggart was so distracted with all the spy stuff going on, that Meckenzie never really even saw him except at dinner.  She didn’t think that she should bring up her inter-world communication at the dinner table.  Her father was one more revelation away from a heart attack. 

Meckenzie decided that it would be best to clear her head of all thoughts as she fell asleep.  She didn’t want to accidently end up talking to Morgan or even worse to Ty in her dreams. 

The next morning came without any dream interruptions.  Meckenzie had slept terrifically and was ready for her day.  She was not ready to face Ty and tell him that her father had agreed to meet him at seven this evening for a face to face.  Over breakfast Meckenzie was given the run down over how the evening should go from Taggart and Isabel.  It seemed that there was a monitor set up in her father’s office, as well as in the kitchen.  Plus, and this was what Taggart seemed to love the most, they had tied the DVR system into the theater system on the third floor.  So you could view any camera on the big screen.  Taggart had spent part of last night watching the cameras.  Since there was one over the front door, you could get a pretty clear shot of the street and the park. 

Kellan failed to make an appearance at breakfast, but Isabel said she had grabbed something before heading off to school to work out.  Jones the security guy had walked her in about an hour ago.  So Taggart and Meckenzie headed off to school together after breakfast.  The security guy nodded at them as they exited the door and dropped in behind them as they began their walk.  Meckenzie couldn’t help but sneak a peek over her shoulder to see what he was wearing today.  He was still in a suit, and today his tie matched the grey color of his eyes.

“Have you talked to Kellan?”  Taggart asked.

“No.  I really haven’t seen
her;
I figured she just needed some space.  I’m not sure what is going on.  I mean yesterday when we were in the equipment closet; she and I had a nice heart to heart talk.  When we got home, she was like a totally different person.  I think her mood swings are getting worse.  Maybe it is a side effect of her powers, like my headaches and your growing weak after healing someone.”

“Kellan has always been moody, maybe she is just frustrated and
it's
coming off as really moody.  I wouldn’t call her moody to her face though, she might go all She-Hulk on you.”  Taggart laughed.

“I think you are the one that needs to worry.  She did knock you out yesterday and you were the one that laughed at her in the equipment closet.”

“Yeah, I should probably lay off of her huh?”

“I think so, unless you want to eat your meals through a straw.”  Meckenzie actually cracked herself up with that one.

They reached first period and Kellan was already in her seat.  She seemed to be concentrating on her book and didn’t even look up when her siblings sat down.

“How goes it
lil
sis?”  Taggart ventured to break the ice.

“Good.”  Kellan replied, but never looked up.

Kellan was going to be a pain to deal with today, Meckenzie could already tell.  If this was any indication as to how well the talk with Isabel went, Meckenzie could not figure out for the life of her what they had been laughing about.  Meckenzie decided that she would not let Kellan’s mood affect her day.  She was already going to have to deal with giving Ty the “good” news.  She really was dreading his entrance this morning. 

As if Meckenzie had beckoned him with her thoughts, Ty smugly strolled into class.  He smiled as he met Meckenzie’s eyes and headed straight for her.  Kellan, as if sensing Meckenzie’s discomfort, moved to the end of the table vacating the seat between them for Ty. 

As he slid into his newly appointed seat, he gave Kellan a pat on the back and turned to face Meckenzie. 

“So how was the conversation with your dad?  Are we good to go for my meeting him tonight?”

Meckenzie shifted uneasily in her chair to face Ty.  “Yes, he said you should come over around seven, if that was okay with your parents.” 

“Yeah, my parents are never really home, so it won’t be a problem.  I’m very excited about tomorrow night.  Is there some particular kind of food that you enjoy?”  Ty licked his lips as he said this.  To Meckenzie it brought to mind someone getting ready to consume a big meal.  She hoped she wasn’t the big meal that Ty was hoping to consume. 

She still didn’t feel too good about this date.  Meckenzie knew that there was information that needed to be gathered.  The situation with Ty was weird at best.  His proximity to her always brought on the headaches and buzzing that was slightly driving her mad.  Meckenzie hoped that it wouldn’t happen all throughout their date.  The buzzing would make it almost impossible for her to concentrate.

“I like Thai food a lot but I am also fond of Indian food.  I had Italian last night, so I probably won’t want that.  You pick something, I’m sure I love it.”  Meckenzie was trying her hand at flirting.  She coyly smiled at Ty, letting her eyes move down to her hands were she was tracing an outline of nothing in particular on her jeans. 

Meckenzie didn’t know if it was working, but she heard Taggart giggle a little behind her.  She was sure Taggart was getting great amusement out of the situation.  Any instance that made Meckenzie uneasy was always a great pleasure to Taggart.  She could only imagine the amount of teasing she would take from him later in the day. 

Just then the bell rang and Mr. Humphries started class.  Meckenzie turned her focus to the front of the room; she just wanted this class to be over.  It used to be her favorite class of the day.  It was the only class that the trips had together and usually they enjoyed sitting in the back of the room, just being.  But now with Kellan in such a foul mood and Ty taking up residence at their table, there was a black cloud hanging over the table. 

Meckenzie felt like she had never focused so much in her life.  She threw herself into today’s lecture, taking clear notes, participating whenever possible, and reading along in the book with Mr. Humphries.  As soon as the bell rang, Meckenzie was ready to go.  She left class barely acknowledging Kellan, giving a brief goodbye to Ty, and punching Taggart in the shoulder as she raced past him to the door. 

Meckenzie spent the rest of her classes focused in much the same manner.  She learned after about the third class that the day seemed to fly when she threw herself into her school work.  Meckenzie had always been able to get A’s with only half listening.  If she finished out the school year this way, she might even make the honor roll.

As Meckenzie headed down the steps after school, she caught sight of Jones, the body guard, who waited to walk the
sibling's
home.  Meckenzie had not thought to ask Taggart or Kellan if they would be leaving as soon as school was out.  She hoped they had communicated this information to the guard.

Meckenzie walked right up to him, which was not the normal way of communicating with him.  Normally she just nodded and headed towards the house, knowing he would follow.

“Did my sister and brother indicate whether they were staying late?”  Meckenzie asked with a matter of fact attitude.

“Your sister said she would be working out late when I walked her in this morning.  Your brother found me a little while ago and said he would be in the lab until 4:30.”

“Can I ask you a question?”  Meckenzie wanted to get some information from this guy.  She thought he might have some helpful tips on determining if someone was being honest or trying to pull the wool over her eyes.  She assumed Jones had been military at some point.  He had that look about him.   Jones was about 6’2” probably weighed about 180 pounds, he looked ready for anything.  His arms were not only muscular, but very tan, which indicated that he probably spent a lot of time outside.  His brown hair was cut close to his head and he always had sunglasses handy.  She assumed it was so he could look wherever he wanted without anyone knowing he was looking at them. 

“I guess,” Jones responded, “within reason.”

“Okay, well I’ll ask and then you can answer if you want.  Let’s say there’s this guy and you haven’t known him for very long.  He seems okay, polite, clean cut, and attractive.  No real defects on the outside.”

“Ma’am, I’m going to stop you.  If you are asking me a dating question, I’m not the person to ask.  I’ve been married and divorced, and have not had a lot of luck with picking ladies who were not after something other than my wallet.”  He laughed at his own joke.  Meckenzie thought for a second, because it was sort of a dating question.  She was going on a date with him, but it was really more of a ‘Can I trust this guy enough to not think he is going to kidnap or kill me question?’

“Okay, it is sort of a dating question; it is sort of a personal security question.”

“Continue then.”

“Well, this guy asked me out on a date.  I think he might be up to something no good.  Maybe even a safety risk.  How can I find out?”  Meckenzie ended her question with a shrug of her shoulders.  She
really wanted
to find out what this guy would do.

“I’d run a background check.  Anyone can run them now with the internet.  If he is in High School, I’d check out where he says he’s from and see if he is really from there.  Google him.  Anyone with a history has a history on the internet.”

“Can you show me how to run a background check?”

“Sure, you
wanna
do it now since I have an hour before I have to come back and get your brother.”

“That would be great if you don’t mind.  I’m Meckenzie by the way; I don’t think I ever got your first name.”  Meckenzie had been wondering since yesterday when he introduced himself what his first name was.  She still had the image of his mother calling him Jones in her mind.

“Jeff Jones.”  He held out his hand as he said his totally all American name.

“Really, Jeff Jones.
  It seems so, I don’t know.  It just doesn’t seem like it fits you.”  Meckenzie giggled.  “I expected Butch or Duke, something rough and tough.”

“What Jeff isn’t rough enough for you?  I mean it is really Jeffrey.  Does that make it better?”

Meckenzie was actually laughing now.  “Jeffrey fits even less.”

They started walking towards the house with Meckenzie laughing and saying Jeffrey every few minutes.  Every time she would say it she would laugh a little more.  She had created an image for super scary security guy, and the name Jeffrey didn’t really fit the image.  She hoped she wasn’t offending him by laughing at his name.  She caught him smiling out of the corner of her eye and knew that he was okay with her laughing. 

When they got to the house, Meckenzie headed up to her dad’s office so they could use his computer.  Meckenzie’s laptop was in her room and though it could be moved anywhere in the house, she thought it better to do this in her dad’s office so any information she found she could leave it up for her dad to see. 

As Meckenzie sat down to start her first attempt at spy work, Jeff took off his sunglasses and pulled up a chair beside her.  She was mesmerized by his grey eyes.  Meckenzie found herself staring at him blankly wishing she could reach out and touch his hair or his face.  Jeff smiled a dazzling smile that sent shivers down her spin.  Meckenzie snapped herself back to reality; this was not what she was here for.

Jeff thought it might be better for her to start with Google since this was the easiest.  So Meckenzie typed in Tynan Rabe in the search engine and let it do its work.  There were several results, but none where Tynan and Rabe were the individual’s full name.  She then used Ty Rabe and came up with a director at Hewlett Packard and some guy in Massachusetts who was too old to be the Ty in her class.  After clicking several links, Jeff suggested that they search for his school record.  Unfortunately, Meckenzie didn’t know where he went to school prior to moving here. 

That had hit a road block, because Meckenzie also didn’t have enough information to run a background check either. 

“He’s coming over tonight to meet my dad.  Do you think you could give my dad a list of questions that would help us be able to run a background check?”

“Maybe.
  I mean if we have his birthday and his name, I can probably find something out. 
Do you think you should go out with this guy if you’re having this much of a bad feeling about him?”
  Jeff said.