Lorenz's story continues; Nell gets pregnant, Lorenz finds Meg; Nell is raped, conceives villain. Lorenz exacts revenge. Good stuff. Enjoy. Jb7
Growing up, Nell had always impressed Lorenz as a quiet, focused child, not much given to play and frivolity. It had seemed at times as if she deliberately eschewed pleasure, much like the early Puritans. Out of respect for her rights, and not wishing to influence her mental and psychological development, he had refrained from scanning her, to confirm or refute his impressions.
Their first night together completely changed his mind. As a sex partner, she was insatiable, curious, impulsive, caring, irresistible, concerned, and imaginative. Came the dawn, he was coming in her hungry quim for the fourth time. Both had lost count of the number of orgasms she had experienced. One thing he had noticed, as she neared her peak, it often felt as if she were in his head, urging him on to his climax and slowing down her own so they could come together.
As enthusiastic and willing as Estee had been, Lorenz had not enjoyed making love as much as he had that night with Nell since Penny had been killed. He asked her to stay with him beyond the summer as they had planned. Her answer was to tighten her legs around his hips and draw him in to her, deeper, tighter.
A few years before this, Lorenz had started searching for mentalists using the travelers. He would send an advance team into a town, to look for questions, problems, unsolved mysteries of varying degrees. Then during his performance, he would reveal the answers to the questions. Eventually this brought him to the attention of police and government agencies, who wondered how he did what he did, and where he got his information.
At the beginning of Nell's third season with the travelers, she and Lorenz were with the advance team, passing out posters and announcements of the upcoming weekend show in the Iowa town of Barnstable. As Lorenz walked out of a grocery store on Main Street, he noticed a pair of men looking at a poster he had just placed in a diner across the street. Besides looking familiar, there was an uneasy aura coming from them.
When he tried to scan them, all he got was what he called surface noise, similar to static on a radio, or snow on a tv. Over the years he had learned that meant either they had been trained to resist scanning (usually meaning they had been military intelligence field operatives) or, more likely, they were using some sort of shielding apparatus (the scientific basis for the aluminum foil helmet).
He sent a mental question to the members of the team, "Where are you all?"
A flurry of responses came back, indicating they were all within two blocks of the grocery store, up and down Main Street. "The two guys in plaid shirts, in front of the diner. Anybody recognize them? Are they familiar to anyone?"
Nell was the first to answer. "I saw them at the Riverton show two weeks ago, and I think they were at Blackbourn Sunday."
"Yeah, they were at Blackbourn," interjected a team member named Luke. "At the afternoon show. I also saw them talking to someone after the evening show, outside the hall, on the street. He had the look of a cop, but I couldn't read him."
"Okay," answered Lorenz. "Luke, keep an eye out for them at the show here. I want to know who they talk to, especially if it's the same guy. Understand?"
"Got it , Boss." came the reply, a smile evident in the tone of the reply.
"Get serious, Luke! I don't want some ESP cop breathing down our necks." Lorenz was watching the two plaid shirted men. One pulled a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and unfolded it. A mental question to a team member near them sent the member past them, to peer over their shoulder, giving Lorenz a quick look at the paper they were perusing-a small poster, featuring a photo of him, taken when he had joined the circus, over thirty years ago.
With a small sigh of relief, he crossed the street and made his way to the diner. He tried another scan of the pair, with the same result. Both men were wearing billed caps with the Deere logo. Passing them, he purposely bumped into one of the men and telekinetically removed his cap. He was immediately able to read the stranger's mind-a Fed, investigating reports of paranormal activity for the FBI. His companion was working on the same project for the CIA.
"Oops! Sorry. Tripped on the sidewalk; you okay?" The stranger nodded, picking up his cap and putting it back on. "You guys planning on going to the ESP show this weekend? If you like, I can get you a couple of passes. Put you right in the front row; you'll be able to see everything. May even get to be on stage; be part of the show," he said grinning. Until being part of the show was mentioned, the two agents were about to accept the free passes.
"Ahhh, thanks, but no thanks. Say, aren't you the guy on the poster?"
"Nah; that's my Dad. That photo was taken over 20 years ago, when he was part of a circus which traveled around the Midwest. A carnival, really, but they had a couple of big cats and an old elephant. We just kept the picture 'cuz folks seem to remember him. He must be 85 or so now."
"Well, you certainly look like him."
"Thank you. I consider that a compliment. Must be all the rest and good food I get on the road," he replied with a smile. "If you guys change your mind about the passes, ask for me at the box office. Larry Morrow."
He sent out the message to the team that they were to be seen talking to as many different people as possible over the next few days, right up to show time Saturday, providing a possible explanation for their success in answering the unanswered.
That night, as he and Nell crawled into their bed at the motel, Lorenz made a decision. "Honey, those pills you take to keep from getting pregnant, it's time to stop taking them."
Nell looked at him, not believing what she had heard. "What do you mean?"
He pulled her close, one arm under her neck, the other hand exploring her butt, caressing it lightly. "I mean it's about time for you to join the ranks of unwed mothers. If I could, I'd marry you tomorrow, but too many people know about our relationship. It's going to cause enough problems when you show up pregnant at the end of the season. You should start flirting with some of the townies as we travel around, make it look like you were careless with one of them."
"What if I don't want to get pregnant yet? What if I want to continue to travel with you?"