Free Reality Matrix Effect (9781310151330) by Laura Remson Mitchell Page B

England and the United States. I won’t know quite how many
courts will have to clear this till I start opening things up. You
might as well go home, and I’ll let you know when I start getting
somewhere.”
    Rayna leaned back and rubbed her head against
Keith’s upper arm in a kitten-like nuzzle.
    “I was hoping we could spend some time
together and—”  She broke off abruptly, and her eyes widened
in a sudden shock of recognition. Uneasily, she glanced toward the
bedroom, then turned to stare at Keith.
    “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” he
said, quickly looking away.
    “Yes. All right,” she stammered. “Maybe
you’re right.”
    Rayna pushed the chair back, rose and almost
stumbled toward where her purse lay. “Call me,” she said, sounding
almost panicky in her haste to leave.
    “Sure,” he said uncomfortably as he
accompanied her to the door.
    Rayna half-walked/half-ran down the hallway.
She stopped before the elevator, glaring at it. Finally, and with
an air of defiance, she moved to the stairway and descended the
three flights as rapidly as her legs would carry her.

Chapter 5: Research
      For
a week now, Rayna had been going through the motions of life
instead of living it. She’d slept, eaten and worked her way through
each increasingly depressing school day. She’d spoken with her
parents only once since their big talk about the adoption. She’d
told them matter-of-factly that she was attempting to have the
records unsealed. They understood, they’d said, but she could hear
the deep sorrow behind their words, and guilt gnawed at her
resolve.
      Keith called once to report on
his progress. Very slow, he told her. Neither of them wanted to
talk about the way their last visit ended, nor about the future of
their relationship. Meanwhile, the world outside Rayna’s personal
sphere seemed to be collapsing, too. The news reports seemed to
show a steady disintegration of the world that she had only
recently taken for granted.
    At home alone and still in her bathrobe at 3
p.m. on a Saturday that she ordinarily would have spent with Keith,
she had started thinking about Al Frederick once again. Lately, she
was shocked to discover, she almost envied Al the gift of
everlasting peace that death had bestowed on him.
    It had been three months since his death—more
than a month since she and Keith had cleared out Al’s apartment and
opened the permastore container Al had left her. But from that day
until this, the box’s contents had remained untouched. Now,
however, Rayna sat in stunned silence as the last few feet of the
earliest dated cassette crossed the magnetic tape heads.
    This is just what I need, she thought
bitterly. My parents aren’t really my parents. Keith’s not exactly
the steadfast lover I’d counted on—a vision of the woman in the
elevator flashed through her mind—and now it looks very much as if
the one man I thought I could believe in may have been slightly
nuts all these years.
    Rayna’s eyes grew moist as she reflected on
what she’d just heard. Al actually seemed to think that he had
worked some sort of magic—that he had somehow prevented John Martin
Roberts from dying!  She shook her head sadly and looked at
the tapes she had carefully arranged in chronological order on her
coffee table. Should she hear more?
    “What the hell,” she said aloud. “I’ve got
nothing better to do anyway.”
    With a sigh, she removed the first cassette,
inserted the second and pushed the “play” key. Though she was more
prepared this time, the sound of Al Frederick’s voice seemingly
coming from beyond the grave still jolted her.
    “This is Sunday, August 7, 1971,” the voice stated
clearly.
    “It’s another hot one today. Yesterday, it hit 97
degrees downtown. Must’ve been over a hundred here in the Valley.
All I know is this weather sure hasn’t helped things between Vickie
and me. Both of us seem to have shorter fuses than usual.
    “She thinks I’m becoming