Chapter 5
Ben rubbed his eyes, taking a moment to look away from the health and safety documents Joey had foist upon him. It was just after one o’clock, and he found he was getting peckish.
He peered up at Addison, still standing quietly in the corner. Iris hadn’t given any indication she’d noticed her, but she wasn’t taking any chances. But she wasn’t in the room at the moment—she’d gone for a shower, while Alex and Joey were loading up the van in anticipation of their field trip.
“This is… thorough,” Ben said, slapping one stapled stack on another. “I now know all about proper placement of mats over camera cables, which is super-duper helpful when the camera’s battery powered. Oh, and I also know that you’re supposed to announce before you turn on a light so nobody gets temporarily blinded. I wish I’d known about that when I first leapt in here.”
“Hey, on the bright side, this information could come in handy if you ever end up on a movie set,” said Addison, before her eyes flicked out to the entry hall.
“Incoming,” she whispered, and returned to an unmoving, tense state.
A moment later, Iris entered, wearing a pair of jeans and black blouse, her damp hair swept back with a headband.
“Hey, have you seen my cell phone? I swear it was on the bed, but…”
“No, I haven’t seen it,” Ben said. “Come to think of it, I haven’t even seen you using it today at all.”
“That’s because I haven’t had it since last night.”
“I take it you’ve checked under the bed?”
Iris gave a troubled nod, her brow furrowed. “Uncle Walter strikes again?”
“Uncle Walter’s kind of a jerk if he’s stealing phones,” Ben said. “What does a ghost need a phone for? Does he plan to sell it on Craigslist? ‘Used phone, slightly haunted?’”
This elicited a laugh from Iris. “May ring in the middle of the night, only for nobody to be on the other end…”
“May order unexplained pizzas with the least popular toppings.”
The two of them shared a giggle as Alex wandered into the house.
“You guys ready to roll?”
Ben looked questioningly at Iris. “Think you can do without your phone?”
“Guess I’ll have to, unless our ghost is ready to give it up.”
She glanced around, as if waiting for a reply. As her eyes moved around the immediate area, Ben noticed them linger a tiny bit longer in Addison’s general direction than anywhere else, before she shrugged and headed out of the house.
The sound of a car horn playing the riff from ‘Ghostbusters’ blared outside, and Ben peered out the front door to see a van painted to look like the one in ‘Scooby-Doo.’
“I’ll be damned,” he mumbled, “it’s the Mystery Machine.”
Joey leaned out the driver’s side window. “Butts in seats. Let’s go!”
* * *
“Alrighty! Final gear check before we split!” Alex said as Ben and Iris took their seats in the van. “Camera and batteries?”
“Check!” Joey said, miming a tick with his hand.
“Shotgun mic and lavaliers?”
“Check!”
“EMF meters?”
“Check!” Ben said, peering down at the box by his feet which contained the devices in question.
“Walkie-talkies?”
“Got ’em here,” said Alex. “Check.”
“Electromagnetic emitters?”
Emitters? Oh! That must be what they’re using to fake the readings.
“I suppose this is it, right?” Iris asked, holding up what looked like a hand built electromagnet.
“That’s it,” confirmed Alex.
Iris inspected the device. “Who built this thing? It could use some better insulation.”
“Take it up with the husband,” Alex laughed.
Ben raised an eyebrow at Iris. He hadn’t pegged her as someone who’d have opinions about electrical insulation. “It… it was a rush job,” he rationalised, “but, as Health and Safety Officer, I pledge to make repairs at the earliest convenience.”
“Very official,” Iris commented.
“Looks like we’ve got everything essential,” Alex concluded. “Now fasten your seatbelts, and let’s go get us some Mickey D’s!”
The van peeled away from Aunt Mel’s house, and the club music of Ke$ha filled the vehicle.
Oh, this is gonna be a long car ride.
As the van drove away, Ben watched Addison on the lawn, blowing him a kiss. Too close quarters with Iris to join them in the van, he assumed.
He turned away as she disappeared from view, and reached into his pocket to bring out Greg’s phone.
“Huh…” he looked up at Iris, patting all his pockets with puzzlement. “My phone… where did it…”
“Yours now too?” Iris raised her eyebrows. “Uncle Walter really is a jerk.” But the statement was less of a joke this time, containing more of a creeping worry.
“Hey…” he called to the front of the van, “you guys aren’t messing with us, are you?”
“What?” Alex said, turning around.
“Both of us have lost our phones…” Ben said. “This isn’t a practical joke, right? Because it’s not funny.”
“No idea what you’re talking about, dude.”
“We can call them,” suggested Joey.
“Yeah, hold on,” said Alex, and pulled out his phone, which seemed just fine. He tapped a few buttons, and put the phone to his ear. He waited for a moment before frowning. “Okay, G-man’s phone is straight to voicemail.”
He tried Iris’s phone next, with the same result. “Uhh, at least we have our walkie-talkies?”
Ben grimaced. That didn’t comfort him at all, and by the apprehensive look on Iris’s face, she felt the same way.
But there had to be a logical explanation. His phone had probably just fallen out of his pocket somewhere. And her phone… well, maybe it was lost in her bedsheets or down in some inaccessible crevice. And they were both out of batteries.
Ben tried to ignore the nagging thought that his phone had been at 94% battery the last time he’d looked at it a few hours ago.
* * *
Addison returned to the main floor of Project Quantum Leap, finding Magic and Jenn standing at Ian’s terminal, reading something on the screen.
“Why do we always crowd around my workstation?” Ian mumbled, adjusting their cat ear headband. “Not like I have things to do or anything.”
“What’s the goss?” Addison asked as she approached.
“Just catching up on this asylum Ben’s going to,” Jenn replied without looking away from the monitor. “Sam suffered a pretty major mental break there after undergoing dangerously high voltage electroshock treatment. He regressed into the personalities of previous leapees.”
Magic rubbed his chin, frowning. “And one of them was me.”
“You’re kidding?” Addison glanced at the old records on the patient called Sam Beiderman on the screen. “What is the actual deal with this leap…?”
“I don’t know,” Magic said, “but I can’t say it’s not eerie seeing my name, rank and serial number described in a psychiatric report from 1954. And look at the date.”
“October third?” Addison’s jaw drifted open. “That’s the same as Ben’s current date.”
“There are too many creepy coincidences here,” Jenn said, stepping away from the monitor. “I don’t like it and I think we all deserve a drink.”
“Well, we’re still on duty, so cool it,” Magic said, turning to his three colleagues. “Listen, I know it’s risky because of whatever’s going on with that woman Iris, but I want someone in the Imaging Chamber at all times. I don’t want to take any chances here, because one guy’s spinal injury seems a little thin of a reason for all this strangeness, don’t you?”
Addison sighed. “Well, if you say so. Who wants a turn then? Because I gotta go pee.”
Ian stood. “Well, I always wanted to ride in the Mystery Machine.”
Addison smiled. “Okay then. Tag, you’re it.” She placed the handlink in Ian’s palm.