Title: Touchstone
Author: Evidence
Chapter: 1
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: A sequel to "Nevermore". Thomas Spade, cousin to Samantha is a main focal point. The title comes form the Shakespearean character of a clown. And I just used it because I liked it. *G* Thanks to D and Maple Street.
He was in the middle of a surreal dream when the buzz from his small black alarm clock told him it was time to get up. Shifting in the warm bed and opening his eyes to the sun streaming in, Thomas Spade sighed audibly. He hated mornings. He slowly meandered out of bed and to the bathroom. The water felt refreshing as it hit his face waking him up further.
So much had changed for him since he went through the Franklin Podena fiasco. His cousin Samantha had secured him a job as a day janitor at the courthouse. He had been booze free and cigarette free for weeks. He had a girlfriend that didn't mind his quirkiness that some would consider strange. Life for once was good.
"Morning guys," he said to the hamsters Shauna had bought him. Sam and Jack he had named them although they were both males. He put some feed into their dish and changed the water. "There you go."
He buttoned up his janitor uniform as he put two slices of wheat toast in his silver toaster. He opened up a new container of milk and poured himself a glass. When the toast was done he walked around the small kitchen and eat. He never looked at the paper nor the TV news. He knew that the media were paid by the members of a higher order to only give out some information. The real, hidden truth was not known to the average person. The thought made Thomas shudder.
The phone rang as it always did. With a smile he picked it up. "Hello."
"Hey Thomas!" Shauna's voice beamed back to his ears. "Good morning. Are you all set for work?"
"Yes, I'm dressed and ready to go. How's the bakery?"
Shauna ran the family bakery, McClaine's, and was making bread at 4 in the morning everyday.
"Good, we have already had a lot of customers. The cinnamon rolls are selling extremely well this morning."
"That's great. Are we still on for lunch?" His heart skipped a beat as he asked.
"Of course, I'll meet you at the courthouse cafeteria at noon. I better go, more customers. Love you."
"I love you, too." He hung up a warm feeling in his soul to start off his day. He had never thought anyone as great as Shauna would care for him given how strange he could be but she was eccentric to a degree and somehow it all worked out for them.
Thomas had been moping the main corridor floor when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly to see his cousin Samantha smiling at him. She was dressed in a blue skirt suit and had her blonde mane pulled back.
"Samantha! What's up?" He asked glad to see her.
"I have to testify on a case today so here I am. How's the hamsters?"
"Great. I haven't killed them yet."
Sam laughed. "Please don't. I want my first namesake to be around for a while."
Thomas grinned. "I haven't seen Jack lately, how is he?"
The color drained out of Samantha's face. "Oh ... things haven't been going well. He asked for the divorce from Maria and then...everything got crazy."
"Crazy how?"
Sam bit at her lower lip deciding which personal information of Jack's she should reveal to her cousin. Tommy had been through hell and back though and now was a model citizen. Maybe she should tell him the truth, she reasoned, sometimes what he came out with was nuts and other times it ended up making perfect sense.
"When Hanna discovered Jack was leaving she...she tried to kill herself."
Thomas nearly dropped the mop he was holding. "Holy..."
"It's a bad situation right now." The tears welled at her eyes.
"Jack's
guilt must be weighing on him."
"His guilt?"
"Not being able to save his mother and driving his daughter to this."
"He didn't pursue her to do anything!" Sam's voice rose in anger.
"No, but his actions led her to this."
Samantha was aghast. "I can't believe you would say this Tommy. I thought you supported Jack and I."
"I do, don't get me wrong but I can see where Jack feels guilty. He's going to have to help his daughter before you two can be together. I'm sorry." He touched her arm.
"You should have seen his face when he got the call. All the life was drained out of him."
"You were with him?" Thomas asked.
"Yeah he was at my place."
"Sam..." Thomas shook his head. "He doesn't have the divorce yet."
"Well he was trying to get it. And don't make me feel more guilty than I already do." She rubbed at her temple.
"Guilt is a hard thing to live with," Thomas replied. "I better get back to work but call me okay?"
Samantha nodded her head. "Yeah I will. Have a good day." She headed off to court, her face still wet with tears and a slump in her shoulders.
Thomas went back to the task of mopping the floor when his eyes caught hold of a blacked suited man with thick glasses entering the area. Something about the man was vaguely familiar but he couldn't place the information. Probably some alien investigator, he thought with a shrug.
The time went by slowly until noon approached and he could put his cleaning materials away. Her heard her voice before he saw her. "Hey!"
"Hey," he responded, showing a bright smile.
She handed up a worn out book. "Brought you a new book seeing you finished "The Stranger" already." She gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Excellent. Oh this book is great- I read it long ago." He leafed through the copy of "The Confidence Man".
"Oh good. You always like the books but...I don't want to give you one that you end up going "yuck" over."
"Would never happen." He took her arm and walked her down to the cafeteria. Samantha was there eating all alone. "Why don't we sit with my cousin."
Shauna's face dropped. "Oh well I was hoping for some alone time with you. There's something I wanted to tell you."
"How often do I see Samantha though? Please." He gave her a frown.
"Okay, fine." She shook her head unable to resist him.
"Hey," Sam said as they approached.
"Mind if we join you?" Thomas asked.
"Please do," Samantha said.
"I'll grab you a tray, you can chat with Samantha," Thomas said. Shauna replied with a nod.
Thomas moved up to the food area ignoring the potatoes he knew that were laced with toxic pesticides set to control your mind and kill you at 45, and settled on the turkey slices and salad. He was just about to grab two sodas when a sound erupted through the building. A blast of some kind had gone off almost immediately followed by screams and shoots.
"He's got a bomb!" drifted through the cafeteria.
Thomas eyes meant Shauna's scared ones and then over to Sam's. The Spades both knew what they had to do.
To be continued...
