Invisible Touch Read online

  “You can see if anyone has a videographer hobby and work out a reasonable amount for compensation. Give them a week to come up with a concept and find a cameraperson, a week to write the thing, then a week to film and edit. No biggie.”

  “Why didn’t I think of that? You’re a lifesaver, Gray. Bye”

  And like that, the video chat was over. I’m glad that she’s taking her position seriously, but neither Lowell nor I are harsh taskmasters. She’ll get the hang of it. Speaking of Lowell, I made a mental not to begin planning for the PARTY!!!

  Dani, can you send me a text tonight, about 6:20? -Work thing, gotta talk- or something similar? It’s nothing serious.

  Sure.

  Next is the meeting with Lieutenant Alawa of Auraria in the GB. It is a video conference call between me and her office, to finalize the projects she wishes me to work on as well as introduce me to her staff. I’m the host of the call, joy.

  “Good morning. I am Gray Graham, the newly contracted project administrator for Auraria Psycept police unit. Welcome to our initial project setting call. First thing, I sent out the link to the shared drive I created and placed the agenda in the appropriate folder. Most of the folders are set up to have others add or update documents, but not all. Agendas can only be edited by me, to include meeting notes. First item, a brief introduction. Lt. can you lead us off?” The next fifteen minutes were devoted to getting to know one another. My goal was to not ruffle any feathers with the staff, I’m not here to replace them, just provide assistance.

  “Thank you for the introductions, Lt. I also appreciate everyone letting me know what their specialties are. Now, on to the second topic, which is project brainstorming. When Lt. Alawa first contacted me, she indicated she has several project proposals up in the air, but specifics were not provided. Rather than the lieutenant handing me a list, I would like the team to create our projects as well as help prioritize and organize everything. Does this sound feasible?”

  I can feel people in Auraria perking up. Nothing is worse than some outside consultant coming in and handing down tasks to people who have been working for years. It conveys a sense of ‘I know better than you’ and it’s demoralizing. By having the team involved in the beginning, they are invested in the outcome and are more willing to participate in all stages. I spoke about this with Lt. Alawa and she agreed to let me try it out this way first. She has a list of projects she would like included, but she can add those to the group discussion at her end.

  “Great, Lt. Alawa, can you please share what you consider the most urgent project from your prospective? We will then go around to other team members to get their suggestions and feedback of your project, along with a project proposal of their own.”

  The next forty minutes was devoted to this and I was satisfied with the list that we came up with. Time to wrap this up, “Okay, to sum up our first goal, we want to advocate for increased Psycept interaction with non-police members of the Auraria community. The reason for this is that you feel Auraria town council and the GB conservatorship ignores their Psycepts. They leave all dealings with Psycepts to the police, even though most interactions are more civilian in nature. Shifting some of this to the town and conservatorship will free up the police unit to focus on what they specialize in, prevention and investigation of crimes.

  “To accomplish this, I see three key components we must satisfy. First is to establish a conduit directly from Psycepts to the town so they no longer must go to the police for everything. Second is to provide additional culture and sensitivity training to the conservatorship and Auraria, to counteract the reluctance they have with interacting with Psycepts. Third is to redefine the roles and responsibilities of the police so it is no longer an option for everything to do with Psycepts to fall on the police.

  “I suggest that three sub-committees are formed, each focused on one of the three key components. The first should have two sections, one to firm up who will stay with the police and who will transition to civilian help. The other section will be to work with the town council and the conservatorship to set this up. If you approach the town with a solid idea and a built-in base of employees, they are more likely to agree to it than if you try to dump and run.

  “The second sub-committee should work on training. First you need to come up with the materials. I suggest if you have police training materials about Psycepts, you can adapt that to civilians. Then you can have classes with Psycept trainers and speakers. It would not be just for the council, but also town or city workers. An alternate approach would be for the Psycepts to create an advisory council to serve on the town council, and as part of their advisory council, they conduct cultural classes or Q&A. Try to stay out of either process as much as possible, you are trying to extract yourselves from day-to-day Psycept stuff as it is.

  “Finally, your policy experts should draft the proposed roles and responsibilities with those well-versed in conservatorship law reviewing the proposals. You should also decide who you want to approach first, the GB or Auraria. You may also want to speak with other conservatorships to see what language they have concerning Psycepts that you may be able to adopt.

  “We’ve also come up with several more projects that can be discussed later. I can take on handling this project in its entirety or do one of the smaller sections. However, I feel that I can best serve as a facilitator. I can set up meetings, project deliverables, timelines, etc. as well as serve as a sounding board and advisor. As a bonus, you save money by not paying me to do the detail work that you all are very capable of doing. What would you like to do?”

  Lt. Alawa’s staff said they can handle the tasks and she agreed to keep me as project facilitator, which is fantastic. I can stay focused on the big picture while her people are engaged in the various aspects of the project. I set up our first project folder and send out a sign-up link for everyone to pick the subcommittee they want to join as well as come up with their group roles. I give them two weeks to get set up and to come up with their initial tasks. I’ll schedule meeting with each subcommittee to discuss their progress after I return from time off with my siblings.

  I spend lunchtime in the back lot with Echo running ecstatically in his dog run. Then it’s time for the consultation reading of the afternoon. The petition is an unsolved homicide from over sixty years ago, Cathleen, aged seventeen at death. The request is not from a cold case police department, but from the last remaining relative, a younger brother, and he does not know how much longer he had left. He wants to know who killed his sister, not for legal justice but for his peace of mind.

  The brother sent a sweater their mother knitted for Cathleen which I would read first. Since the mother knitted it, her memory connection may be stronger than Cathleen’s. Next item was Cathleen’s diary. Then finally her favorite locket, found on her body. I will probably have the best result from the locket as she was wearing it at the time of her death. But I prefer to start with the lowest possibility and work my way up, it conserves my energy until the last push.

  A PsyChometrist reads memories stored in an object. Any noises, conversations, or visual stimuli captured by the object and can be accessed by PsyChometrists. I read memories by touching an object, but I cannot read the memories of the object. Instead, a keepsake links me to an individual’s memories, or what I refer to as their memory lake. The memory lake has a memory thread of varying thickness and weight that I can grasp ahold of which corresponds to a certain point in time, then read forward in a linear fashion. The more sentimental the object I read, the more substantial the memories. The object I touch is a link to the person’s memory lake. It also serves as a buffer against the protective defenses of a person’s mind. I am not limited to the memories associated with the object like PsyChometrists are, but I require an emotional connection between the person and object I am reading. That connection allows me access to the person’s memory lake.

  As expected, the mother’s memories were strongly associated with the sweater and I feel little f
rom Cathleen. I put it aside and move on the next item. The diary links me to many memories of Cathleen sneaking away to be with her boyfriend and worrying about graduating from high school at the end of the year, but nothing too sinister. At last, her locket reveals her memories of the killer. I video record all my consultations. The camera is pointed down at my hands touching the objects and my face is always out of frame. There are a few mics placed around my consultation area to capture me speaking my impressions of the readings.

  “I just finished studying at the library, but it’s already dark outside as I walk to my parked car. Winter nights come early. Patty, my study buddy, was picked up by her boyfriend fifteen minutes ago. When I parked, the lot was full, so my car is at the edge of the lot, by the trees. I am leaning down to put my books in the passenger seat when I’m grabbed. I start to scream and kick backwards and his grip slips. I manage to twist around before he regains control. He seems like a big man, or it can just be that since I am now prone he looms large. His hands are squeezing the life out of me. I try to scratch his hands, but he’s wearing gloves. His face is a shadow above me, but his eyes look crazed. He is a scarf and hat and I cannot provide a description, even when I batter his face. Sparks in my eyes, I can hear the blood pumping in my ears, I just need to breathe.

  “Psycept here, the following description is provided through observation after Cathleen’s death. The concealing accoutrements were not removed until after he moved Cathleen’s body to the field behind the library. The person does not match anyone that I am aware of from Cathleen’s prior memories.

  “The top of Cathleen’s Chevy Bel Air comes to about three inches below the shoulder joint, if that helps to estimate height. Male, white, light brown or dirty blond hair. Pale eyes, light grey or light blue, I cannot quite distinguish. Thin diagonal scar on left check, couple of inches in length. Starts at the cheekbone, the upper edge of scar is in line with outer corner of eye and slants downward to end closer to his ear. No other visible marks, scars, or tattoos. After leaving Cathleen’s body, he walks two blocks east-southeast along a road named Whitehill. He gets into a medium green car, I don’t know make. The emblem is a circle surrounding the North and South American continents. The license plate, I can only see the last three digits -572 over the word -MONT 54. I can’t see where he goes, I’m sorry. Hope this helps.”

  I spliced out the portion of the video recording of her diary, I’ll keep that for reference, but neither Cathleen’s brother nor the police need to hear that information. I write my report for our Psycept Police to follow up with, then close out the consultation portion of the case and return to work for a few hours.

  After finishing up for the day, Echo and I head out to meet Tiko and Wendy at the restaurant. Wendy arrived first and obtained a table for us. She’s dressed in her usual cool and funky style of a long-sleeved gold shirt wrap and a loose grey and gold skirt with glittery grey shoes. Her dark, jaw-length curly hair is pulled away from her face and held back by a gold headband, her natural hair bursting like a cloud behind her. Her hazel-green eyes are framed by dramatic gold and grey eyeshadow and liner. Both Wendy and Sully have the dramatic contrast of their dark skin and light eyes and her eye makeup just highlights the effect. Tiko and I arrive within a few minutes of each other. We all pick our food and take it to the central area to be grilled, then sit to wait for the food to be readied and brought to us.

  “So, Gray, I’ve got some news that affects you. Sully and I will be leaving the conservatorship tomorrow around lunchtime. I caught an in-person consultation and must head to Pennsylvania, of all places. A few children were playing in some regional forest a few weeks ago and were presumably attacked. They have slash marks on their body that won’t heal. Sully said he’s sorry, but it looks like he won’t be back to help you on Wednesday. He’s getting someone to escort you though.”

  “Not for me, but isn’t there a PsyWitch closer that can get there sooner? Are the kids gonna be okay for you to wait?”

  “I know, the healers in Eastern Subarctic or one of The Plains are closer. But apparently there is something about the area and the various tribes originally from the area won’t go there. This reluctance has spread to other tribes of those conservatorships. The PsyWitches claim they want to help, but the Psycept police won’t escort them. I say ‘claim’ because the PsyWitches I’ve spoken with seem relieved not to go. I think the tribes’ fears have spread to the Psycepts. Which is also why Sully won’t let someone else take me.” We begin to eat when our food arrives.

  “Do you know where the area is, Wendy? Pennsylvania native, remember.”

  “I figured, Tiko. You only watch Steelers games with Sully every time they play,” Wendy replies sarcastically. “I think it’s Susquehan-something.”

  “We’re from one of those super small Appalachian towns and we certainly don’t support those yuppie Eagles. But the area we grew up is the reason we moved to the GT. We were clannish and remote, and some of the family were pushing for us to do things that we didn’t want to. Sages are in both sides of our family history, but Mom didn’t want us to go down a bad path. She did what she could for us but died when Jay was about seven. Da held them back after her death but knew he couldn’t protect us for long. So, he worked in secret on getting us asylum in the GT. He wouldn’t come with us, though. He said the caves and caverns were in his bones.

  “Anyway, there are a couple of Susquehan-something places in Pennsylvania. I’ve heard of some attacks that results in slashes, but I think those are mostly underground miners. There are some black dogs that haunt the backwoods, but they tend to keep to themselves. I remember hearing a story about reptiles with long claws. And I heard about a tribe that was enemies with both the Delaware and Iroquois, and I think there may have been some curses and bad blood spilled that still permeates the land.”

  “It’s cool that your dad and mom protected you. Gran raised Sully and me. She was a witch and taught me. She applied for us to be accepted by the GT too. Since she didn’t know how long it would take, she also worked to get us declared emancipated minors. She was afraid the government would petition for us to become wards of the state at her death. They were waiting like vultures the last few days of her life. Sheriff Lowell and a few others came to get us directly from her funeral after we were granted expedited asylum. But you may already know all this from being friends with Sully.”

  Something came up with work. I need to talk to you for a few minutes, gotta sec?

  Thank you, Dani.

  “Hey, you two. Dani just sent me text, I gotta step outside for few minutes. Can you ask for a takeaway container? I’ll talk about the group stuff when I return, Tiko. Wanna come outside with me for a bit, Echo?”

  As I expected, while I was gathering Echo and his leash, Wendy surreptitiously glanced at my phone to read the text. Personal boundaries, not a big deal to her. Outside Echo and I go. I originally planned to play a game on my phone while I waited but with the news, I decide to contact Sully instead.

  Hey, I’m here with Wendy and she just told me you can’t escort me to pick up Kai and Tommie. Don’t worry about it, I can ask someone else to accompany me. I don’t even know what the big deal is now, I’ve been able to bring them in to SWACon by myself for years.

  You know why Gray, you’re the one that did the reading from the border incursion. All conservatorships are tightening our borders. It’s not the bringing your siblings in that is of concern. Or, not really. It’s that you are bringing them in through Lla-Esta, you don’t have the clearance to grant their entry into a conservatorship you don’t have residency at.

  I can’t bring them into SWACon through Canada like I normally do. When I booked their flight to Yuma, I was contacted by someone hush-hush from Canada and told they were flagged to hold at the request of the US. Then I tried to get them on an approved GT military flight from the US to El Paso, but not enough time to vet and clear them for the base by Cochise Conservatorship.

  I know, Lowell was the
one that worked on getting them approved to enter the Llano Estacado border near Wichita Falls. But the catch was he had to send either a police or military escort along with you. And since he is fully PCSS now, it falls on us police.

  Like I said, I can handle getting someone to come with me. Unless you already asked someone to cover for you?

  Yep, I’ve got you covered. They’ll pick you up from your place Wed morning.

  Thanks.

  Six weeks ago, I consulted on a case where a person was found dead twenty miles inside the Plateau Conservatorship border, a border shared with Canada. I read the body and determined that the man was military from the US and was tasked with testing our border defenses. I supplied that information to the tribal military tasked with protecting our borders and they subsequently tightened security.

  I’m excited for my brother and sister to visit, but it is disturbing that they are being tracked and flagged by the US. I warned Kai and Tommie about the issues and that there may be a delay in returning to the US. It would be too obvious for the US to prevent them leaving the country, but the US can request Canada detain them or they can prevent them returning to the US altogether. I would understand if they chose to stay in the US and not visit me, but they decided to come anyway. I’ll be happy when they arrive safe and sound and we can talk about it further then. For now, enough time passed for me to return to the table.

  I walk in during a funny story, Tiko’s laughing while I settle. Good, mission accomplished. Wendy begs off when I return, citing her upcoming trip. I get down to business with Tiko, I do need to cover some things, though it could have been done as a video chat. I make sure to go over all three of their groups, to overwhelm him with information. No need for Tiko to think too hard about why I had requested this meeting to be in-person and arranged for him to join Wendy and I at our weekly Monday dinners.