by Jordan Dane
Minutes Later
Her Lexus had been parked on the frontage road under the shadow of the Ventura Freeway. Mia had tailed Rayne before and when her sister rode her motorcycle toward Glendale, she had a pretty good idea where she’d go. She’d followed her to the abandoned L.A. zoo in Griffith Park once before and lost her on the grounds near the zoo entrance.
A really weird place to go, especially at night.
With only one main road though the park, it would be too easy to get caught following her this time of day. Mia had lost Rayne once and wouldn’t make that mistake again. She decided to wait for Rayne outside the park and not take a chance that she’d be spotted. From a safe distance, she used high-tech binoculars to watch. She’d bought the surveillance gear at a specialty shop that catered to the paranoid. The military-grade binoculars had a night-vision zoom lens, a feature she thought would come in handy, but it also shot 1080p HD video and took high-quality still images with audio, if necessary. The gear would be more than she’d need, but it’d be worth it if it helped her find Lucas.
This time she’d be more prepared to follow Rayne, day or night. When her sister came out with a guy on the back of her bike, Mia’s heart lurched in shock.
Lucas. It has to be him.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered as she adjusted the focus on her new binoculars. “She’s been hiding him.”
Mia recognized their father’s old helmet. As she started the Lexus, memories rushed to her mind when she remembered how much that Harley had meant to both her brother and sister. She pulled from her hiding spot to follow the motorcycle onto the freeway, resisting the urge to gun the car and speed up. She had to be patient and careful. One careless move could cost her.
She might never get a better chance than she had right now.
As she hit the on-ramp, Mia made a hands-free call through her Bluetooth system. She hadn’t talked to O’Dell for hours. Not knowing what he was up to worried her. Somehow she had to stay connected to O’Dell, even if he creeped her out. The Church of Spiritual Freedom had assigned the man to Lucas, to search for him without calling attention from authorities outside of the church’s control. With Lucas missing, she felt the urgency of their escalating tactics to find him.
Mia had called O’Dell earlier, but he didn’t pick up. When the call clicked as if it would roll into voice mail, she nearly ended the connection, but a voice stopped her.
“Mia? This is Dr. Haugstad. I heard a cell phone ringing and I saw your name on the display. I hope you don’t mind that I answered. I wanted to find out how you were doing.”
“No, I don’t, but how do you know O’Dell? Is he there with you?”
“I can’t be certain, but I believe he’s stepped away. Is there anything I can do?”
The doctor was new to Lucas’s case, but Mia hadn’t expected her to pick up. She had a hard time processing the link between someone like O’Dell and such a credentialed and noted psychiatrist. After Mia overheard nurses discussing Lucas and his potential transfer to Ward 8, she panicked. She’d heard of kids getting reassigned there, but none came back out. Ward 8 had special security protocols. No one she knew had access and no one in the church talked about it. That section of the hospital felt like a one-way trip where the worst, most hopeless patients were sent. How could Luke deserve that? Dr. Haugstad had evaluated him to intervene on his behalf. The woman seemed earnest in wanting to help, but when timing didn’t play in her favor and the transfer looked inevitable, Mia had lost hope that her brother would ever leave Haven Hills on his own.
Mia had her reasons for being involved with a man like O’Dell—to try to get to Lucas before anyone else—but anytime she had dealings with Dr. Haugstad, she hated keeping things from her. The woman had it together and seemed very sincere. For Lucas’s sake, she would have to trust her gut on how she handled his doctor. If he ended up back in Haven Hills, she would need an ally, someone with influence.
“Uh, no. I already left him a message. I don’t want to bother him again. Sorry I disturbed you.”
“No bother, my dear. We are all concerned for the whereabouts of your brother. His safety is foremost on our minds. I can assure you we are doing everything in our power to locate him,” the doctor said. “I’ve heard you’re doing a commendable job juggling your work hours at the church with your search for your brother. Has something happened? Have you got a lead on him? Is that why you’re calling?”
“Not...exactly.”
Before she said another word, Dr. Haugstad told her, “I sense you’re holding something back. Please, do not attempt to confront your brother alone, Mia. Off his medication, he is a danger to himself and anyone around him. Please, for his sake and yours, tell me. Where are you?”
L.A. County Museum of Art
Thirty Minutes Later
“A museum? What are we doing here?” Gabriel asked as she drove past a row of tall palm trees and pulled the Harley into a parking spot.
The public parked in a muni-garage, but after she’d volunteered one summer, Rayne knew of a smaller lot closer to the library archives building, reserved for exhibitors and volunteers. Although the museum campus was spread out, the location she wanted to go was near her favorite part of the complex, the white modern structure that always reminded her of a human backbone with its modules strung together and distinctive roofline jutting up.
“Not just any museum. It’s the main one for L.A. County and it’s got a research library that specializes in art archives.”
“Ah, smart girl.”
Rayne had to smile. He had trusted her enough to go along for the ride, without knowing where she’d take him. She called that progress. When she turned off the motorcycle and removed her helmet, she waited for him to get off before she told him her plan. It didn’t escape her notice that the minute he removed his helmet, he pulled his sweatshirt hoodie over his head. He covered most of his face in shadow—Assassin’s Creed revisited.
“Your art-history lesson got me thinking. Something in your train-station sketch reminded me of a class I took once. Who knew such a lame field trip could pay off? I gotta check out my hunch.”
“And why am I here?”
Okay, he had a good question. If she had her way, she’d spend time with him anywhere. Be a girl hanging out with a cute boy, but he was a human torch who channeled through a dead dog and she had a missing brother and an iguana. Things were far from normal.
“You’re the one who saw the vision. I thought if we found something useful it would trigger another memory that could get us closer to Lucas. It’s worth a shot, right?”
“Yeah. Guess so.” He shrugged and kept his head down as he talked to her, hiding his face from the light. “Being in public like this, it takes getting used to, that’s all.”
Before they took another step toward the front entrance to the library, Rayne stopped him by touching his arm. When he didn’t hide his face from her, a sliver of light shined across his hypnotic honey-brown eyes and she almost forgot to breathe.
“I know this is hard for you.” She slipped both her hands in his. “Thank you, for everything, Gabriel.”
“I haven’t done anything yet.” He grinned. “I don’t even have a library card.”
She stepped closer to him.
“You being a legit card-carrying geek doesn’t matter. You can’t check out books here. It’s not that kind of library. What matters to me is that you’re here. With me.”
Looking into his eyes, she felt a lump in her throat. Her fears for Lucas, and every dark thought she’d had about finding him, came rushing to the surface. After losing her parents overnight, the thought of never seeing Lucas again had crushed her. Searching for him alone reminded her how lonely and solitary her life had become. Gabe had secrets to his nature like Luke, but he was living his life on his own terms, without being imprisoned and drugged in a hospital.
Everything about Gabe gave her something to look forward to. She hadn’t lost everything. She had Gabe, and maybe
Lucas wasn’t a lost cause.
“Before I met you, I didn’t have much of a chance at finding Luke in a city the size of L.A.,” she said. “Now I feel like I have hope...because of you.”
She stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. His skin felt warm on her lips and she loved how he smelled. Even with half his face covered in shadows, up close she saw him blush and it made her smile.
“Rayne?” He kept his voice low.
“Yeah?”
“I gotta warn you. I’ll be on the lookout for security cameras and people staring, stuff like that. Once we get inside, I’m gonna be weird.”
“And that’s different...how?” She grabbed his sweatshirt with both her hands and leaned against him, nuzzling into his arms.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Rayne wanted to stay with him like this, feeling the warmth of his body, listening to the softness of his voice meant only for her. But she knew none of this would last. Somehow, with Gabriel, she felt every moment with him would be precious.
They’d crossed paths for a reason, but that same reason would eventually take him from her forever. Even as she smiled up at him now, a twinge of sadness nestled around her heart and stayed.
* * *
The L.A. County Museum of Art maintained significant research on art. Rayne remembered that from a field trip she’d taken to the place. For once a class had done her some good.
When she got inside, she hit the computers to do an initial search, using keywords like mural paintings and turn of the century and Los Angeles and stuff like that. She saw Gabriel shrug out of his knapsack to carry it on one shoulder and felt him with her as she went online. But as she got into her queries, she didn’t feel him standing near her anymore. She looked around and didn’t see him, either.
The library part of the museum campus had smaller research wings that specialized in different stuff. She could lose him if they weren’t careful. She made note of books she wanted to find and went looking for them, but one in particular seemed really good—on mural painting and decorations in Los Angeles County.
It didn’t take her long to find the right stack, but the book she wanted wasn’t there. She stared at the catalog number on the paper and made sure she had found the right shelf.
“Damn,” she muttered.
“Did you strike out already? Lightweight.”
She recognized Gabriel’s voice, but when she looked around, she didn’t see him.
“Where are you?”
“No wonder you can’t find the book,” he whispered. “You’re blind.”
Torch boy was in the next aisle, peering through the book stacks at her. She only saw his amazing eyes.
“You were right,” she said.
“About what?”
“You are acting weird,” she teased. “Or should I say...weirder.”
“Did you find anything worth looking at?”
Besides you? she wanted to say, but didn’t. She didn’t know how to flirt, but Gabe made her want to try.
“Yeah, but I’m having trouble finding my first choice.”
She glanced at the note she’d made and rechecked the book numbers on the shelf in front of her for a fourth time. When she looked up again, Gabriel had vanished. She pushed aside books and looked through them, but he was nowhere in sight.
“Hey, where did you...?”
“I’m here.”
She jumped when she heard his low voice right next to her. The guy moved like a damned ghost. He’d learned something from Hellboy.
Putting his backpack down on the floor, Gabriel grinned and grabbed the paper from her hand. When he gave it back to her too quickly, she thought he’d given up, but she’d been wrong. Backing up one slow step at a time, Gabe ran his fingertips along the spines of the books. With his arms spread across the aisle, he touched both stacks. Hoodie boy kept his head down, so she knew he wasn’t looking at anything except his boots or he had his eyes closed, even weirder.
Rayne almost made a joke, but when he slowed down and shifted one hand up a row without looking, she didn’t say a word. Her breath caught in her throat when he pulled down a large picture book and finally looked at it in his hand.
“Is that it?” she asked, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.
“Oh, hell, no. Who do you think I am? That Mindfreak dude?”
She grimaced and punched him in his rock-solid arm. The guy had totally scared her with his magic act, but her heart raced even faster when she looked at the book he’d handed her.
The right book.
“Oh. My. Gawd,” she gasped, and Gabriel smiled. “If this whole dead-dog-trainer thing doesn’t pan out, you can always become a resource librarian.”
“Good to have a solid backup plan.”
Rayne had other books to look for, but the one she had in her hand looked promising. It had plenty of pictures. She grabbed Gabriel by the arm and pulled him toward the first table she found to flip through the pages, but he stood his ground and wouldn’t budge.
“Nope, sorry. The tables are too open. I’m staying in the stacks. Flip through that book quick.” He grabbed the list she’d made. “I’ll get these others if this one doesn’t do anything for you.”
“What if I find something I want you to see?”
He smiled and asked, “I don’t know. What trick can you do? Something you only do in front of a mirror when you’re by yourself.”
“Come on. I’ll just cough or clear my throat.”
“Boring.” He shook his head. “Lacks imagination. Creativity points, zero. You gotta do better.”
She glared at him and sighed.
“Okay, there is one thing, but I’m not saying it out loud.”
“Then how will I know?”
“Believe me. You’ll know.”
Rayne turned and rolled her eyes, not waiting for his answer. Sitting at the closest table, she opened the book with a shake of her head. Because of Gabriel’s goofy game, she had mixed feelings about turning up something that would help her find Luke. Yeah, she needed that to happen, but now making an ass of herself had become part of the equation. So not fair.
She only had one unique talent, something inspired by Floyd Zilla, her pet iguana.
When she got into the book’s table of contents, it didn’t do her much good except to narrow down her initial search to the meaty middle. She flipped through those pages and skipped anything that didn’t look like an old mural train station. One section totally grabbed her interest.
“Bingo,” she whispered. One image looked like Gabriel’s drawing. She recognized the style, but she needed to see his sketchbook.
Unfortunately, that meant...
Oh, brother. Rayne looked around, hoping to wave him over and back out on her promise to signal him, but when she didn’t see his eyes staring back through the stacks, she let out a moan. Only for you, Luke. She put her fingers to her mouth, stretched her lips tight across and poked her tongue through them in a sweep. One lick. Two.
Her version of “lizard lips.”
When she didn’t see Gabriel, Rayne did it again and pointed in different directions. She ignored the strange looks people gave her, but when she heard Gabriel laughing behind a bookshelf, she knew when to stop.
* * *
Gabriel had forgotten what it felt like to laugh. Really laugh. Doing it in a library hadn’t been optimal, but Rayne had a way of reminding him what normal felt like—and that his life had strayed far from it.
In a heartbeat, the smile left his face.
“What did you find?” He sat down next to her with his head down.
“This,” she said. “Is it the same?”
She shoved the picture book open and showed him a page with a large mural on it, painted on brick. My mural. In a flash, his vision came back to him. The rush of it forced him to close his eyes, almost as if it hurt. He felt a dank cold on his skin and shadows clouded his mind as if he’d slipped into another reality. He couldn’t put hi
s finger on the sensation of that distant feeling, except that it reminded him of...a cave.
Without answering her, he unzipped his backpack and pulled out his sketchbook. When he flipped it open to the right page, his eyes grew wide. The details were amazing. He’d never seen the real mural. Never knew of its existence, yet he’d drawn it.
Rayne looked eager for an answer. To her this meant she might be one step closer to her missing brother. To him, it only reminded him what a freak he was—and what a messed-up loser he’d continue to be long after she went on with her life.
He hadn’t asked for this. None of it.
“Well?” she asked.
“Dead ringer.”
Rayne grabbed the book and read from it.
“Did you know there were tunnels under downtown L.A.?” She shook her head, not expecting him to answer. “Eleven miles of ’em. What does this have to do with Lucas?”
“I don’t know, but just now...” He swallowed and couldn’t look her in the eye. “I got a feeling like...I was in a cave.”
“Like in a tunnel?”
“Yeah, could be.” He nodded and half shrugged.
“We gotta look for these tunnels, Gabriel. We have to go there.”
“Eleven miles is a lot to cover.”
“Yeah, but maybe Hellboy can help us.” She put a hand on his arm. “I got a flashlight on my bike. The book gives cross streets. I got a pretty good idea where they are. We could do this.”
Before he could answer, Rayne did a double take at the commotion near the reference desk. She didn’t look happy.
“What’s she doing here?” she muttered and used him like a shield to hide behind.
“Who?” Gabe looked up to see a woman at the information desk. She looked like a Hollywood type. Not a hair out of place, classy duds and a picture-perfect face all made up.
“My sister, Mia,” she said, peeking over his shoulder. “She’s been spying on me. She thinks I’m hiding Lucas.”
“Why would she think that?”
“Long story.”
Gabe didn’t have time for long stories. Not here, not now. He had his share of secrets. He guessed Rayne had hers.
