Eye in the Sky

"I love it, but I liked it better the way it was. You're a beautiful brunette but I like the blonde."

"Me too," she confided. "Now help me get this silly paint off."

It took five minutes to get her looking normal and she put some makeup back on. Just a hint of blush and some mascara to enhance and she was gorgeous.

"It's customary for the player of the game to get a kiss from his girl," he told her.

"Well, we wouldn't want to break a tradition," she said. She leaned over and gave him her lips. The sweetness made his heart skip a beat.

"Hey Mike; eyes on the road," he said.

Mike laughed and pretended to swerve. "Don't trust him kid, I've seen this a hundred times."

"That's a lie, Sawyer," Lawson laughed. "He's just jealous. Maybe ten times."

She slapped his cheek gently. "I'm the one who's jealous."

They pulled up at the mall and Mike dropped them at the Dillard's entrance on the other side of the mall from the theatre. Lawson produced a key and when Mike parked and joined them they went inside. Sawyer was like a kid in a candy store. She ran from isle to isle and store to store. Mike and Lawson were soon laden with bags.

"Okay, one more store," Mike grumbled. "We hit Foot Locker and then we have all we can carry. I'm a trained security chief, not a pack mule."

Sawyer picked out a pair of pink and grey Nike's and Lanston also got a pair of the new Adidas high-tops. They carried their purchases to the van and drove back to the apartment. Sawyer wanted to try everything on, but Lawson was exhausted and sore.

"Let's go down and hit the hot tub and then I'm going home."

Mike turned on the news and Sawyer went to her room to change. Lawson put on the trunks he had brought and got in the tub. He was nearly asleep when Sawyer padded in with a towel wrapped around her.

"What you got on under there?"

She hadn't let him see her bathing suit purchase. She was a little shy about dropping the towel. "Close your eyes," she told him.

He peeked from under his lashes.

"All the way, Lawson."

He reluctantly closed his eyes and she unwrapped the towel and climbed the ladder to the deck of the tub.

"Okay, you can open them now."

She had on a little red bikini that was the sexiest thing Lawson had ever seen.

"My God," he exclaimed! "You're beautiful, Sawyer. Let me see the back."

She turned around and peeked back at him over her shoulder, striking a pose. The red material stretched over firm round cheeks and strings connected it with the triangle of cloth in the front. Another string ran around her honey colored back with strings running over her shoulders attached to it.

"Now the front again,"

She turned back. The strings connected two little red triangles stretched over high, full breasts. Her nipples were visible as twin peaks under the thin fiber.

"Oh my God," he breathed again. "Come here."

She blushed deeply at the expression on his face and descended the steps of the tub. As the water reached the swell of her hips she became hesitant.

"It's so hot, Lawson!"

"Yes, it's a hot tub."

"It's burning me," she objected.

"Nonsense," he said, "I'm in and it isn't burning me. Just duck down and come over here and sit by me. You'll get used to it. Haven't you ever been in a hot tub before?"

"No I haven't. I've only been in bathtubs."

"Well, that's really sad, but we're going to make up for lost time." He took her hand and pulled her across the tub and she sat down beside him with a gasp. She soon did grow used to the heat and she leaned back against the jets and let her legs float up until her toes broke the surface. Lawson pulled her over against him and she slipped one arm around his back and he put one arm over her shoulder. They lay back in the soothing water and leaned their heads against the sides and closed their eyes.

Sawyer put her cheek against his chest, wrapped her other arm around him and he could feel one firm breast crushed against his chest.

"Lawson, you have a big bruise on your bicep," she said. She looked him over. "You have bruises all over your arms and an abrasion on your side too."

"I know. Football's a rough sport."

"Do they hurt?"

"A little," he said. "They would feel better if you kissed them."

She laughed and pressed her full lips against his bicep. She kissed two other bruises on his forearm and then he pulled her into his lap, took her face in both hands and crushed her lips to his. They were incredible, full and pouty and he felt her little pointy tongue explore his lips and teeth. Sawyer moaned as his hands found the resilience of the flesh of her cheeks beneath the red cloth. She squirmed, trying to get closer then pulled away with a gasp.

"Lawson, I'm burning up! I don't know whether it's the water or being with you like this, but I need to get out. I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I understand. Have you ever been in a hot tub with a boy before?"

"I've never been anywhere with a boy," she said as she climbed out and got her towel. "I loved it, but it's just too much for me right now."

He climbed out and got his own towel. She stared in awe at his deeply tanned body. Huge biceps, pectorals, deltoids and traps writhed beneath his skin. He had a little extra weight around his waist that tapered down to heavily muscled thighs, but on someone his size it looked completely natural.

"What are you staring at? Is something wrong with me?"

"Oh no," she gasped, "I've just never seen a naked boy before. You're beautiful Lawson. You look like a statue."

"Well, you still haven't ever seen a naked boy. I have on swimming trunks in case you haven't noticed. Don't go telling Pop or Mike you saw me naked."

"I know silly," she punched his stomach gently. "I mean without any shirt or pants."

He eyed her nearly naked form with appreciation. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Let me look at you again."

"Lawson, can I look at you? I mean feel what you feel when you watch me?"

"I don't know Sawyer, it seems a little odd, but if you want to, I guess it's okay."

"Oh, thank you Lawson." She reached out and his emotions swept over her like a wave, desire, a touch of sadness about her past, and then a powerful rush of something that threatened to drown her. She leaned against him, closed her eyes and withdrew.

"Can you show me how you feel," he asked?

"I don't know; I've never tried. Do you want me to try, Lawson?"

"I think I do. Will you do it?"

She closed her eyes and expanded her reach. Lanston felt nothing at first. Gradually he began to feel something like a presence, a warm and friendly cloud in his mind that radiated emotion. He felt admiration, gratitude, confusion about her own feelings for him and most of all an overwhelming sensation of a longing that had never known a companion, never been reciprocated and it filled his heart and mind. He staggered and the sensation was gone.

"My God, Sawyer; that was intense." He reached out and held her tightly. She trembled in his arms and he stroked her wet hair. "That was something precious, beautiful. Will you do that for me again sometime? Right now I'm sort of like you were in the tub. It's too much for me, but I loved it and I think I love you Sawyer."

She looked up at him and he saw that she was crying. He brushed away her tears and she offered him her lips. "No one has ever loved me before," she breathed. "Now I have you and Mike and Rawlins. I've never been so happy, Lawson."

Mike was asleep on the sofa when they climbed the stairs. "Hey sleeping beauty," Lawson called. "Wake up and take me home. No, take me to school so I can get my car."

Mike groaned and climbed to his feet. "You've been a nuisance all your life, Lawson. When is Sawyer going to learn to drive so she can taxi you around?"

Sawyer danced at the prospect of learning to drive, and Mike instantly regretted his indiscretion. "Will you teach me tomorrow, Mike?"

"No," he said. "Let Lawson teach you."

"You're a lot better driver than me, Mike. You taught me how to drive. Sawyer, Mike knows way more than me. He knows how to skid around corners and spin cars around so that they're going in the other direction and how to drift around corners and everything. You get him to teach you. I'll do the simple stuff with you, but he's the expert."

Sawyer ran to Mike and jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Please Uncle Mike," she kissed his cheek. "I want to learn all those things. I'll be very good and I'll listen to everything you say. You know I always listen to you."

"Jesus kid: I guess I will. I know you listen good. Now get off me, it's embarrassing." He did hug her a little though. "Now let's get out of here, Lawson before she asks me to teach her how to fly."

He clamped his hand over his mouth as Sawyer squealed in delight. "Damn it, I should just cut my throat. That way I won't say any more stupid things. Well, I just did it again. Sorry about the cursing, Sawyer. Don't you say stuff like that."

"No, I won't Mike. Thank you."

Chapter Four

"What do you mean she disappeared, you idiot?" Dr. Stephen Watts was furious. "She's a child. She has no friends, no resources and nowhere to go," he screamed.

Agent Calston was disappointed in his lack of success and in no mood to be abused by someone he regarded as pond scum. "Watts; step off me and lower your voice. I'm not one of your lab rats or the twisted fucks that work for you. You speak to me like that again and I'll wring your scrawny neck. Just for the record, if I had my way I'd cut your hamstrings and leave you in the desert. I've been assigned to find this girl for you. That's what I'm going to do. I think you've been abusing her and if I find out that's true you're history."

Watts cringed away and agent Brown grabbed Calston by the arm and dragged him to the door. "What the hell do you think you're doing," he whispered fiercely. "You lay a hand on that man and I'll shoot you myself. This girl is a national security risk. The doctor's program is signed off on at the highest levels. The secretary of defense was here last week and we're going to carry out our mission and you are going to like it. Got it?"

"Fuck you, Brown. You creep me out nearly as much as he does. I'll do my job and I'll find the girl, but you threaten me again and I'll kick your ass. Take your hand off me. This man is a monster. He's taken twenty children, injected them with horrible stuff and driven 18 of them insane. One is a monster and one is missing. I've heard that the videos show that they tortured that kid. You stand up for him and you're as bad as he is so far as I'm concerned. I don't care who signed off on it. Whoever it is, I may shoot the bastard in the neck myself. But first I'm going to do my job."

"What part of national security don't you understand?" Brown asked. "This girl is vital to the security of this nation. The information she has could save thousands of lives. I don't care how they get it. I know there are terrorists out there that she can find and we can save lives. That's all that matters. You don't get paid to have morals Calston; you get paid to get results. That's your assignment. If you won't do it, we'll bring in someone that can."

"What part of fuck off don't you understand? You can't lecture me about morals, you don't have any. I think you just proved that. And don't tell me how to do my job. I'll do the job. You just go back in there and see if you can get any leads out of that sick fuck. I can't stand the sight of either of you."

Calston slammed the door behind him and went for a walk. How could the girl just have dropped off the face of the earth like that? They had traced her to Albuquerque without any difficulty. The bus driver had confirmed that she got off the bus and walked north. Then the trail vanished. They had turned the area upside down. They knocked on every door, checked the video on every camera in the area and the police were on the alert; but nothing. Not a tip or a whisper. He had tasked satellite surveillance but there was nothing. Unfortunately, the only satellite over New Mexico at the time had been tasked on a weapons program tracking and there was nothing from Albuquerque.

The guard that helped her get away didn't even know his name and the gate guards had no explanation for why they let her go. Nothing added up and Calston was at point non plus. His only plan was that he was going to start at the beginning and retrace every step. Somewhere there had to be a clue. The guard with the mind wipe was useless. He went to question the gate guards again.

The two men were being held in the brig. He got coffee and candy bars and set up the interrogation room. The two men were escorted in.

He offered the Snickers to them and they both took one and a cup of coffee. "How long have you been working here?" he asked.

"Eight years," the first replied.

"I've been here 22 years," the second said.

"Have you ever let anyone out those gates before?"

"Yes," the older man replied, "we let a security detail through every day. They set up a post outside the perimeter and keep an eye on people prowling around."

"Do you know what we do here?" Calston turned to the second man.

"Yes, we test top secret aircraft and weapons systems."

"Did the security detail check through at the regular time that day?"

"Yes sir. 0700 just like always."

"Did you check anyone else through?"

"Yes sir. At 0930 the security detail checked through again."

"You mean the same security detail checked through twice?"

"Yes sir."

"Did the detail check back through your gate from the perimeter going inside?"

"No sir."

"Then how did they get back inside the perimeter?"

"I don't know sir. I assumed they went back inside through another gate."

"But no other gate checked them back through. How do you explain that?"

"I don't know sir," the man was nearly in tears. "The only thing I know was that they checked back through at 0930."

"It was the same detail? The same driver and the same men?"

"Yes sir. I checked them myself."

"We questioned the detail. They say they never checked back onto the base. They were in surveillance on a group of civilians in a motor home outside the perimeter the whole day. We know for a fact that," he checked his notes, "Jorge Perez and a young girl were in the jeep you checked through at 0930 that day. It was not the security detail."

"That's not possible sir. I checked them myself."

This was going nowhere. Either the two men were lying, and they weren't according to the lie detector, or they had been brainwashed by some technique Calston had never seen before. Maybe they had been hypnotized in some way.

He went back to the project. He found Brown in an office working on a report. "What exactly is it that this girl is supposed to be able to do?"

"Not supposed to be able, she can do it. I've seen her and followed up on the intelligence she produced. It's the real deal. She can read minds. She can get inside terrorist's heads and tell what they're planning."

Calston thought for a minute. "What do they feel when she does that?"

"Nothing, they don't even know she's doing it."

"Can she make them do things?"

"What do you mean?"

"Can she make them have hallucinations? Hell, I don't know man; I'm flying blind here. Indulge me. Those men at the gate are convinced that Perez and the girl were the regular security detail. Could she do that? And why did Perez kill that other guard and why did he help her?"

"How should I know, Calston? Maybe he had an attack of morals. I hear some people have them."

Calston grinned a little ruefully. "Sorry about that Brown. You're still a sick fuck but what about the girl? Could she do that?"

"Not that I know of. Go ask Watts."

"I'm not going near that psycho. He makes my skin crawl. You go find out. He's your new best friend."

Brown went to find Watts and Calston propped his feet up on the table. He was going to figure this one out and finish this job. Then he was going to take a long vacation.

Chapter Five

Sawyer slept late on Saturday. A deep rumble outside the apartment woke her up and the clock at her bedside read 9:30. The rumble died and she heard voices in the living room. She got up and showered. Then she pulled on a dress like a long sweater in a deep green color that Lawson had picked out for her. It hugged her curves tightly and she liked it. She put on cream colored leggings and boots. She walked into the living room to find Mike and Lawson sitting at the bar.

"Good morning sleepy," Lawson called. "I've got breakfast burritos."

"Hey Sawyer," Mike growled. "Rested up?"

Sawyer hugged them both and ate two breakfast burritos. "How come you're here so early Lawson?"

"Did you forget I was going to teach you how to drive?"

She leaped up, eyes shining with excitement. "When can we start?"

"Right now," he said. "Come on, I've got a surprise for you."

He led her down the steps and they looked through the door. A low, Polar White car with a Lucent blue stripe down the hood and over the roof stood in front of the apartment.

"It's beautiful," she sighed. "What is it?"

"That's the 1970 Pontiac Trans Am Firebird Ram Air V. It's got the Pontiac 455 with the bigger ports, tunnel ported heads, solid lifters, swirl polished valves and an aluminum intake. It's a stroker and it makes 500 horsepower and it's one of the classic muscle cars. Want to take it for a spin?"

"I don't know what any of that means, but it sounds really nice. Is it yours, Lawson? I thought you drove that cute little Blazer."

"I do. I don't take this to school or out in the rain and snow. I save it for special occasions like when I teach my girl how to drive."

"Oh, I love hearing you say that, Lawson. Am I your girl?"

"Yes you are. I wouldn't let anyone but my girl drive it. Well, I'm going to let Mike drive it too so he can teach you how to really drive. He's kind of an import snob but muscle always tops import. I'm just going to teach you how to stop and go and stuff."

He led her over to the driver's door, opened it and handed her the keys. She climbed in and he got in the passenger seat. The bright blue leather interior was slick and smooth. She ran her hands around the rally wheel and sparkled with delight.

"This is the one with the automatic transmission. I thought that would be easier to learn."

"What's an automatic transmission?"

"I'll show you. Stick the key in that gizmo there. Turn it forward until the engine starts then let go."

The big V8 rumbled to life that with the lope of the idle spoke radical camshaft that was recognizable to the trained ear. The frame rocked and the shaker scoop vibrated. Sawyer was a little afraid of the power at her fingertips.

"Look down there at your floorboard," he instructed her. The long thin pedal makes it go and the little square one makes it stop. The further down you press the long thin one, the faster it goes. The harder you press the square one the faster it stops."

Sawyer nodded. "I understand. Lawson, can I just look at you and see what you know? That would be a lot easier."

"Now why didn't I think of that? Go ahead, beautiful."

She concentrated briefly while Lawson flinched involuntarily. She opened her eyes. "Okay, I'm ready."

"That was it?"

"Yes, I know everything you know about cars."

"Wow, I didn't feel a thing. Go ahead then."

Sawyer put her foot on the brake and shifted into drive. She put her foot on the accelerator and pressed. There was a loud squall of rubber burning and smoke rose from the fat rear tires as the Trans Am broke loose from the pavement. She immediately took her foot off the accelerator and pressed the brake. She looked apologetically at him.

"I guess there's a difference between knowing and doing," she said. "But wasn't that fun Lawson?"