"A dream?" Charlie repeated with doubt. He seemed worried about his ability to convince her, as he felt more comfortable arguing things using numbers..

"You already did most of the work" I assured him.

"So you want me to tell her that Morlock is evil?"

"Something a little more subtle, actually" I corrected him gently. "You will knock on her door, roughly, and in a panic. When she answers, you're gonna to say that you had a dream so horrible that you took a cab to warn her in person..."

"Is that your plan?" Charlie gave me a 'What the hell'? look.

"Why else did you think I had you put on that show?" I asked him with a sigh.

"I dunno." Charlie shrugged sheepishly.

"Anyway..." I continued before he could protest more. "You're going to tell her that she is in danger, and needs to hide in the garage of the house"

"Dad's not gonna like having a guest be in the garage..."

"He'll understand once I explain things to him." I said. "As I was saying, you'll mention that I can be trusted and will help her out. Once she's in there, you, as Charlie, and Dad will pretend that you're unaware of her existence. With her at the house, the girl's father will give me more time to figure out a way to keep her out of the cult."

"What will be the specifics of the dream?"

"You see her...in a body bag, being zipped up." I reluctantly said.

"That's a horrible thing to say to a young girl!" my brother protested.

"It's better than having her stay with that cult, right?" I pointed out. "Besides, you ' can't control these things' "

"Pizza's here!" Antha yelled just then.

"I'll be right there!" I promised. Soon, I, with an inward grunt, paid for the two pizzas, and the large bottle of coke. Thankfully, they came with paper plates and foam cups.

After a long while, the gathering dissipated; I went home , with Charlie, to explain things to Dad, and prepare for stage two. He didn't like the idea.

" Body bag? Is scaring her to death really necessary?" Dad asked with a disapproving frown. "Couldn't Charlie's dream tell her to trust me?"

"Dad..." I began

"All your training and experience and this are the best idea you've got?" Dad demanded. "Yanking her out is staring to sound attractive."

"Come on!" I groaned.

"Couldn't I say that a dead mathematician came to me and..." Charlie began. There he goes again!

"You don't speak to the dead, remember?" I shook my head in exasperation. "You just get 'snapshots' and 'impressions' "

"Oh...right" Charlie remembered sheepishly.

"Okay, let's practice. Go out, knock on the door" I commanded firmly. "And pretend I'm Elizabeth"

With reluctance and a whimper, Charlie did just that. Soon, Dad and I heard a knock.

"Rick?" I asked, while opening the door and pretending to be Elizabeth. "What are you doing here?"

"I had this horrible dream!" Charlie said in a lame monotone, like a terrible soap opera actor, who relies on the teleprompter.

"Come on Charlie! You can do better than that!" I scolded him. "You did well before! Try it again. Pretend I'm the one you had the horrible dream about and act the same way."

"Don!" Charlie glared at me, as did Dad.

"Let's try this again" I ordered.

Sulking, Charlie did just that. Take two wasn't any better.

" A dead mathematician is sending me signals...I.. see a board full of...equations...having to do with you!"

"Charlie...please don't do this..." I groaned and admonished. "No dead mathematicians, okay?"

"Talking about math will give me a greater chance of success."

"Trust me...it won't in this case.." I reminded him. "You gotta stick to your story, buddy."

"Why don't you come with me?" Charlie asked suddenly.

"Because, you will go in a cab to her place, and then come here with her in it" I explained. "Dad will be 'on a business trip'. I'll be half asleep when you pound on the door, and very shocked when you tell me about the dream. I might have a doubt or two when you suggest that she stay in the garage, but you'll convince me like you always do."

"You've really thought this out, haven't you?" Dad asked with a deadpan. "The girl's father's not going to like her being in the garage."

"I'll worry about that when she's here at the house" I told him, then turned to Charlie "Let me show you how to do this" I realized that maybe demonstrating it might help my brother. While I was no Oscar winner, my undercover experience had shown me how to pretend. So, I got the wig and cane.

"Could you have bought a more ridiculous wig?" Dad asked my brother.

Charlie shrugged and waited for me to begin.

I knocked on the wall, and Charlie asked, with a sigh, while pretending to open a door "Rick? Why are you here?"

"I just had to come...I couldn't phone...not with this kind of news!" I began, trying to sound like I was in a panic.

"What news?"

"It's a dream, I had about you!" Using the cane, I went to the couch, sat down and put my face in my hands. "How can I even say! You're so young!

"Tell me!"

"I saw you... being zipped up.. " I paused and took a dramatic deep breath, then said in a whisper "in a body bag"

"Are you sure...?" Charlie pretended to be shocked. Dad watched us with curiosity.

"I'm afraid so" I shook my head, then I put my hand on my left cheek, stared into space, made my body spasm, and said "There's hope!"

Maybe a 'spontaneous vision' could help Charlie. So far, though, Dad wasn't impressed, just entertained. I could tell that he was trying not to laugh by the choking sounds and how he covered his mouth.

"Really?" Charlie chuckled despite himself. "What hope?"

"Don! He's your hope! In the vision I just had, there was snapshot of him warning and protecting you. We have to go to his place! ."

"You want me to pretend to have a vision right in front of her?" Charlie interrupted.

"Yeah..."

"Kraft never did all that..." my brother pointed out. "When he had his 'visions' "

"It'll be more effective if you're more dramatic about having one" I told him and avoided arguments about the validity of Kraft's abilities. It was not a good time to go there.

"Dramatic by whose standards?" Dad asked with a guffaw.

"I don't...know...making it over the top might actually decrease my chances of success" My brother frowned.

If only Elizabeth were a math bluff!

TBC