Chapter 163

#Chapter 163 – Rockport When Victor and Alvin finally pull into the town of Rockport, Victor is struck anew at the charming nature of the town, almost despite himself. He’d been here before, as a child mostly, on vacation with his brother and his parents.

But today, he is all business. He pushes his impressions aside and concentrates on the road as they drive slowly down the main strip.

“Let me know,” he says to Alvin, “when you see something familiar.”

At breakfast, Victor had shown Alvin pictures of Rockport on his phone, asking him if that’s the place where Ian said he was. Alvin had confirmed it enthusiastically and, as soon as his son was finished eating, Victor bundled him into the car and hit the road.

It was a long drive, but Victor felt vigilant on it, excited, really to find her – to apologize – to start anew.

On the way, he made Alvin explain, precisely, what he meant when he said that Ian was telling him things in his mind.

“Well,” Alvin said, curled up in the passenger seat, considering it. “When we are close together, it’s very clear – I can like, hear his words and I know exactly what he’s saying.”

A mind link, Victor had thought, nodding, knowing that feeling very well. He had mind-linked with some of his Betas before, though the process took a complicated ceremony to achieve and the results only lasted a short amount of time. Overall, he found that radios and cell phones were much more convenient.

But something like this – an eternal link between his two sons, and able to connect over such distances – he had never heard of anything like it before.

“And when you’re far away?” Victor had asked, prompting his son to continue.

“When we’re far,” Alvin says, considering, “it’s…harder. It’s not like shouting across a room or a field or anything – it’s not fainter, or slower, or harder to hear. It’s just…less. Like a crayon on a page, getting worn down the further you drag it along…”

Victor considered his son for a moment there, surprised and a little pleased at the complexity and clarity of the metaphor.

“So what are you getting from Ian now?” Victor asked.

“Nothing,” Alvin had said, shrugging. “We’re not talking right now.”

“Why not?” Victor had asked, frowning.

Alvin looked at him like he was just a little bit stupid. “Because there’s nothing to say.”

Victor had laughed at that – hadn’t been able to help it. He had left his son alone then, not wanting to bug him too much about this strange power. They had time, in the future, to figure it all out.

As they drive through the town, though, Victor begins to push Alvin a little further for information. “Did Ian tell you where they were?” he asks.

“No,” Alvin says, looking around. “Like I said before, words are harder…but some of this looks familiar.”

“Like what?” Victor asks, working hard to keep his voice casual, not wanting Alvin to be upset by the urgency of his search.

“Like…that restaurant,” Alvin says quietly, pointing to a blue building on their right. “They definitely passed that coming in…”

“Okay,” Victor says, trying to be patient. “You tell me if you see anything else that seems familiar.”

They drive a little further, Alvin murmuring “that, I saw that,” a few times, or “yes, that one is familiar too…” before he gasps and sits up in his seat.

“There!” he says, making Victor jump as Alvin points a finger directly at a pink motel on the other side of the road. “That’s it! That’s definitely it, were Ian said they were staying!”

“The Sunrise Starfish?” Victor asks, frowning, working to pull a u-turn so that they can pull into the parking lot. “Really?” He murmurs. “They can afford better than this…”

“No,” Alvin said, eagerly unbuckling his seatbelt. “Ian said the pool is really good.”

Equally eager, but trying to hide it a little better than his son, Victor parks the car. Then the two heads into the motel lobby.

The manager smiles broadly at them, asking how he can help.

“Please,” Victor says, “I’m looking for my…wife.” It wasn’t quite true, but he figured the manager would take him more seriously than that if he said “the estranged mother of my twins.”

The manager nods. “I’d be happy to help you find her. The name?”

Victor provides it, hoping against hope that she didn’t use a pseudonym when she signed in. But, as he imagined would be the case, the manager just shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he responds. “I don’t have anyone by that name.”

“Evelyn…Walsh?” Victor tries, thought he doubts she’d ever use that name again.

The manager shakes his head, still looking.

“Evelyn anything?” Victor tries.

The manager looks at him with a little suspicion then.

Victor sighs. “May I please look at the bookings?” he asks.

The manager stiffens at this request. “No, I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” he says. “It’s against our company policy to reveal who is staying here. I’d be happy to tell you the room if you knew the name, but…” he shrugs, apologetic, but unwilling to budge.

Victor sighs and pulls out his wallet. He slides a $100 bill on the table and looking expectantly at the computer. The manager, thrilled, pockets the money and turns the screen towards them. Quickly, Victor scrolls through the data.

“There!” Alvin says, pointing his little finger at Delia’s name.

“This guest,” Victor says, pointing to the reservation. “She’s here with her friend, I hadn’t realized the reservation would be under her name. Would you please tell me the room?”

As the manager pulls up the booking, Victor frowns a little. Delia was here? How did that happen? He’d had Betas check her property, of course, and they had reported that it was empty – but how –

His thoughts are interrupted by the manager, who shakes his head. “I’m sorry, sir. They checked out a few hours ago. They were supposed to stay longer,” he says, shrugging, “but they left.”

Victor grinds his teeth, his hands balling up into fists. s**t. s**t. Where the hell had they gone?

Victor and Alvin say a quick thanks to the manager and head back to the car. When they climb in, Victor turns to his son.

“Alvin,” he says. “Can you connect with Ian now? I need you to ask him where they went, why they went.”

“Okay,” Alvin says, closing his eyes. Victor watches him work – watches him lean his head back against the leather of his seat and concentrate. Soon, his breathing slows and his eyes move behind his eyelids as if he’s dreaming.

Alvin stays like that for a while, longer than Victor thought it would take. Victor waits, trying to stay perfectly still, to not interrupt.

Then, suddenly, Alvin gasps, his eyes flying open. Victor leans forward, worried and shocked to see tears springing to Alvin’s eyes. Alvin looks to his father, apology already in his eyes.