by Joyce
Rae closed her eyes and took a deep breath to clear her thoughts. “I can feel Bryce very strongly here."
Were the strong emotions between Sharin and Steve part of the problem? Didn't Lynn say there was bad blood between the brothers before David died? Sharin hinted that there was more between her and Steve than their family relationship. Sharin outright accused Steve of killing his brother. She was overwrought. It was hard to credit anything she said. None of it made complete sense yet. But Rae felt a slow movement within her, bringing the pieces together.
"Are you getting another impression about Bryce?"
Rae could almost hear Bryce's voice in her mind. She could feel her. She was so close ... then she was gone. “She was there. But I lost her."
Steve slumped against the wall. “Do you think they'll let her live when this is over?"
She shook her head. “I don't know, Steve. The one thing I can tell you is that every case is different. And Bryce is alive right now."
"Thank God for that."
"Would you mind if I stay here alone for a while?"
"No, not at all.” He turned to leave. “You know I wasn't kidding about you being different."
"I know."
He closed the door quietly and left her alone.
Bryce's room was beautiful. The crib was oval shaped. It resembled the crib in the Sleeping Beauty movie with its huge train stretching towards the ceiling. Bryce had every toy, every comfort. The crib was the only spot in the room that still held baby items. The rest of the pink and white nursery had changed with the child.
Her small bed was also fit for a princess. Rae looked at all of her bedtime story books and games. She had a collection of beautiful dolls from all over the world and porcelain eggs that were priceless. Her toys were neatly picked up and put away. Her teddy bears were sitting on her bed waiting for her safe return home. A little music box sat on her bedside table, a tiny fairy holding court with a flower on the top of it.
Rae heard a noise from the hall and hid in the closet. There was always the possibility that she might overhear something that would give her a lead. She kept the door cracked a little and watched as the bedroom door opened. She sat silently on the floor between the little girl's dress up clothes and the rustle of petty coats and rag dolls.
Sharin walked into the room. She tiptoed around the room as if not to waken her sleeping daughter. She touched her little toys and opened the music box. The soft lilting lyrics filtered through the room. She walked towards the closet. Rae got ready to sprint. But she turned away and walked back to the windows that lined the wall.
Colorful pots of seeds had been planted in the window where stuffed dogs vied with plastic snails for attention. Sharin hugged a life-size terrier to her chest. Rae was ashamed that she was spying on her when she heard her terrible, racking sobs.
"Why? Why would you do this to me?” Sharin's voice was hoarse and choked with tears.
Was she talking to Steve? Rae leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. The other woman's energy flowed through her. Confusion. Anger. Guilt. Standing on the edge of the precipice of insanity. Not able to let go. Not able to hold on. Sharin's sobs continued as she lay down on her daughter's bed.
Rae knew Sharin blamed Steve for Bryce's disappearance. It didn't make much sense. What emotional devastation did? Sharin might never be able to recapture her life if they didn't find Bryce or if she was dead. She'd seen that first hand. Denise Little wasn't even her child. But her death was something Rae couldn't get over.
When there was no movement from the woman on the bed, Rae peeked out and looked across the moonlit room. The curtains made a filmy light that bathed the room in bright angel's wings. Sharin was sleeping soundly. Sobs occasionally wracked her body as she held one of Bryce's dolls in her arms.
The closet floor wasn't her best idea of where to spend the night. Sharin was asleep but Rae crawled across the floor anyway. She didn't want to tangle with the distraught woman in her daughter's room. Staying close to the floor, she sneaked from the bedroom and out into the hall.
She sat in a chair by the window in her room, watching the three-quarter moon follow its path across the night sky. She didn't doubt the toll the past three days had taken on either Steve or Sharin. It brought them together in a way. Whatever their secrets were didn't matter to them now. Bryce was missing and could be hurt. They needed to find her. When she finally fell asleep, Rae dreamed about Bryce Williams.
Her grandmother called them out-of-body dreams. They were dreams that really happened, not just random imaginings. Rae had listened to her grandmother talk about them since she was a child. But she was never blessed with them. She didn't mind. Her own gift was nearly her undoing.
In her dream, she could see the room where Bryce was being held. It was small. No more than a closet. The walls were unpainted bare wood with cracks in it. Pieces of toilet paper were stuffed into the larger cracks to keep out the cold night air.
Rae smelled a pungent odor. Onions. There was a tiny bed, rough gray sheets, and a thin blanket. She could see the rusted metal springs on the bottom of the bed. The kidnappers found it in a junk heap. It was good enough for Bryce.
The floors were little better than dirt. Some kind of old flooring barely covered the ground. There was the scent of dirt. Not like anything was dirty so much as fresh dirt.
Rae didn't know if it was the floor or something outside the room. She saw something slide away from the wall and leave a gaping hole behind it. It was ragged and covered in plastic. Two people wearing masks and gloves escorted a little girl, her dark brown hair draped dramatically down the back of her frayed white nightgown.
"Please don't leave me,” she begged them piteously. “Please don't leave me alone in here again."
Her voice caught on a sob. The two figures never looked down at her. A hand pushed her down on her bed and the two left the way they came. A heavy piece of furniture slid back to cover the hole.
The little girl cried. The room wasn't completely dark. There was some kind of colored lighting that showed through the cracks in the wall. Neon?
The girl knelt on the dirty floor and put up her hands to pray. “God bless Mommy and Uncle Steve and Aunt Sarah. And God bless me God, because I'm all alone here and I'm scared."
Rae moved from the corner and the little girl looked up.
"Who are you?” She wiped away her tears. “Are you an angel?"
Rae wanted to speak. When she tried, she woke up, gasping for air in the chair by the window. Was it real?
Pushing herself out of the chair, she ran down the hall, unaware of her surroundings. She turned towards the room she noticed earlier. She was too involved with her thoughts to do more than give it a cursory glance the first time. This time, she opened the door and looked around the room carefully.
The moonlight was coming in through the big windows. The room fronted the mountains. A tranquil lake, nestled between them, gleamed like a mirror in the strong white light. The rolling grounds were kissed by shadows in the night air. Somewhere in the night, a lone owl was calling for a mate to share the coming long winter.
Rae walked through the moonlit room like she was still dreaming. Steve's room. She could feel his presence here. She wasn't sure why she was here. Or how she came to be here. She remembered the dream about Bryce. She looked around herself.
The furniture was dark and old. It was incongruous with everything else he'd brought together there. The rest of the house was set up to be light and breezy with plenty of plants, wicker and glass. It was the home of a wealthy man who created software for a new generation. Sharin's house.
This room was dark and brooding. There was a darker, deeper side to Steve reflected by the heavy colors and rich tapestries. The lamps and picture frames were large and masculine. The scrolled drawer pulls on the massive chests were thick and ornate. She glimpsed a large bathroom with a smoky gray tub and light gray floor tiles. It matched the slate gray carpet in the bedroom. The comfor
ter on the huge old bed and the drapes were a combination of black and gray.
This was the bedroom in her visions.
There were cuff links carelessly thrown on the bedside table and a black robe hanging on the back of the door. The room carried his scent. She fingered the writing utensils she found on the heavy oak roll-top desk and looked at his personal stationary. A silver wafer thin laptop computer lay closed beside it.
She turned and was confronted by the huge bed. She could see herself in that bed. Steve was beside her. The emotions brought to her by the erotic visions churned inside of her. She felt weak. Her hands were trembling. When she brought them to her face, she could smell his cologne. It was like she really touched him.
There was a portrait above the bed done in profound colors and set in a gilded frame. It was a picture of David, Sharin, and Bryce Williams. It made her shiver to look into Bryce's blue eyes that she saw so clearly in her dream.
So much was resting on Rae's shoulders. She had to find out how to handle the sudden change in her mental processes. Because it felt like she was there with Bryce where they were keeping her. And she felt like she'd made love to Steve.
A sound from the outside hall drew her attention from the portrait. It was the sound of voices. Steve's voice.
She was awake now. Her senses buzzed like she'd had a dozen cups of coffee. She didn't want him to find her here. Not stopping to wonder if he was coming into the room, she pushed herself between one of the armoires and the wall. Hardly daring to breathe, she waited. If she was lucky enough to creep out of two rooms that night without their occupants seeing her, she swore it wouldn't happen again.
The moonlight was probably brighter than his lamp would be. He left the light off and closed the door behind him. For a brief moment, he rested against the door. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he looked at the portrait above his bed. He stood still for long moments staring at it.
Rae wished she could see what he was seeing. Then she took it back. After the events of the night, she wasn't wishing for anything of the kind. It was all she could do to handle what God had already given her.
Hiding was probably overkill. He knew she was looking around the house. He wouldn't think anything of her being there. It was her first instinct to hide. Not a logical move but an emotional one. It was tied to the image of herself in his bed.
He removed his tie, unbuttoned his shirt. He laid his clothes across the clothes press in the corner and walked, naked, towards the bed.
Rae drew in a deep breath. She couldn't stop herself from staring. He was exactly as she saw him in her visions. For a computer geek, he had a very nice body. He was slender but athletic with a tight butt and muscled back. He moved with an elegant grace as he reached the bed and climbed beneath the comforter. Then she realized that she was still holding her breath and made herself breathe.
Rae thought about making her retreat again across the carpeted floor. She paused as she heard another movement at the door. She kept her place as she saw a female silhouette approach the bed in the moonlight. Sharin. Her stomach felt queasy as she watched her wander over to the big bed and slide down beside Steve under the comforter.
"Go away, Sharin."
"Steve, it can be good between us. We need each other now. There's nothing else left for either of us."
"Bryce isn't dead, Sharin. We'll get her back."
"If she lives through this, we could be a family. We could be good together. Better than David and I were. You and I are hot together, honey. Let me love you."
There was a distinct sound of flesh touching flesh. Lips pressing. Hearts beating. Rae didn't care if she was caught. She wasn't going to stand there while the two of them made love. Again, she made a move for the door. This time a different sound stopped her.
"Leave me alone, Sharin.” Steve tore himself away from her. “How can I make it any clearer to you?"
"Honey, you don't have to do a thing, just let me—"
Without another word of warning, Steve pushed her out of his bed. The sound of her derriere hitting the carpet was as satisfying as anything Rae ever heard.
"Steve!"
"Don't you get it? There isn't going to be anything between us. Not now. Not ever."
She still pouted while the moonlight gilded her slender body. “If sweet Rae is so good, where is she?"
"Sleeping, I hope. Like you should be."
"But not with you?” Sharin chuckled. “You're so stubborn. Why can't you see what we could have together? Why make this so hard on both of us?"
"Go to bed, Sharin.” His pillow muffled his voice. “Leave me alone."
Rae realized after a few moments that Sharin did as he asked. The bedroom was still haunted by her expensive perfume but she was gone. Poised, listening, she waited for the sound of Steve's even breathing that would mean he was asleep. He shifted again and again but didn't get up. The room would be too dark normally to see anything move. The moonlight was making it possible to see shadows and nuances. She didn't dare leave right away even though her left foot was falling asleep.
Finally, she judged that enough time had passed so that she could safely get out of his bedroom. She didn't want to think about how embarrassing it would be to be caught there after Sharin's visit. Moving carefully, quietly, she slid through the near darkness towards the door. She didn't realize that she was being stalked until she reached for the handle.
The shadow grunted when it tackled her. They both fell to the floor under his weight. Steve her pinned her to the carpet without much effort. “Rae?"
"Let me up!” She spit at him.
"What are you doing in here?"
"I can't breathe.” She couldn't take a complete breath after the impact of his body on hers. All the air rushed out of her lungs.
Rae was only a foot from the door. She should've crawled like she did in the nursery. She should've waited a little longer. She shouldn't have been there in the first place. But if she believed in her visions, it was destined to happen.
Steve rocked his weight back a little so that he was off of her chest. His hips still straddled hers. “What are you doing in here?"
"I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I was looking around.” She wheezed. “I saw a little of the portrait before. I wanted to see the whole thing."
"All you had to do was ask me."
"I didn't want to bother you. How hard could it be to find a picture? And there it was over your bed."
Steve was naked on top of her. She could feel his bare skin against her side where her sweater had flown up. His warm leg was resting against her. The weight of his body on hers was starting to make her think about other things that she was better off not thinking on the floor under a naked man in the moonlight. Especially this naked man.
"Was there some reason for this sudden need to see Bryce's portrait? Did you see something else about her?"
"I saw her. I had a dream about where they were keeping her. I don't know how. I'm not sure where. I've never had dreams about people who were missing before."
"What did you see?” He pulled her forward so that she was sitting up.
The movement brought her across his lap. She put out a hand to brace herself. She encountered warm, masculine flesh that was smooth and supple under her touch. She tried to move away from him. His hold on her was gentle but unrelenting. “I don't think I can take you to her or anything. It was a small room behind a wall. I saw her. She talked to me. She thought I was an angel."
"Is that possible?"
"My grandmother says it is. I know it sounds crazy but Bryce saw me. She was saying her prayers and she looked up and asked me if I was an angel but I couldn't answer.” Her hair, long since free from its perch on her head, moved over her shoulders.
"Where were you? Where was she?"
Rae told him everything she saw in the room. She told him about the kidnapers and the heavy object that moved back and forth in front of the door. “She was safe. But she was alone and
scared."
"And you really believe you were there with her?"
"My grandmother has prophetic dreams. She doesn't find things or people like I do but she can see things that are going to happen in her dreams. Real things."
"But you didn't see enough to go out and find Bryce?” He sounded skeptical.
"No."
The look on his face spoke volumes on how hard he was trying to believe her.
"You're doing the best you can,"
"I'm sorry about spying on you. When I saw the portrait, I was going to leave. Then you came in."
"Then Sharin came in?” He was holding her hands. His grip had loosened and his touch had taken on a soothing, caressing quality. His fingers stroked the soft skin on the underside of her wrists and forearms.
"Yes.” She squirmed a little and tried to draw a deep breath. The images came fast and powerfully here. She was naked. She wanted him. The scent of their two bodies together excited her. She was hot and restless. Only his touch could soothe her. He held her hands as she rocked her body on top of his. She called his name as the strings of passion ignited in her. Waves of pleasure sent her sprawling on top of him.
"I believe you. I don't understand the hocus-pocus part but it doesn't mean that I don't believe you."
They were very close, still sitting on the floor. The fact that he was naked didn't help. Her thought processes were quickly unraveling, scattering around her like dry leaves in the autumn wind. She had to get away from him. She had to get closer to him. “Hocus pocus?"
"The part where you can see things or hear things that I can't see or hear.” He shifted slightly so that she was more securely on his lap.
"Not everything. There are some people I'm more in tune with than others."
"I understand that. I've felt very in tune with you from the moment we met.” He stroked her hair back from her face with a gentle hand. “What do you sense about me?"
Rae closed her eyes. She tried to think about him in any way that didn't pertain to how good his hands felt against her skin. Being there with him was a powerful stimulant to her overcharged senses. “You're a man who keeps secrets. Not just for yourself but for others. People trust you with their secrets."
