by Carol Roi
"What happened?" Joe asked.
"I got out of there as fast as I could, and once I found the restroom, I called Simon. He didn't believe me at first, but once he contacted the Feds, they were there with a warrant before the party was even over. They arrested Kendall in front of all his society friends. He was furious. He was even more furious when I testified at his trial. They sentenced him to twenty-five years in prison at a federal penitentiary. There's no way he could be out now, unless he escaped." Reaching up, he ran his fingers through his hair. "He threatened to kill me, Dee," he whispered, the blood slowly draining from his face.
"Oh, Lobo," she said, pulling him into a comforting embrace.
"That's why he was on campus yesterday," he said, his words muffled by her shoulder. "He was looking for me... looking for me... OH GOD, JIM!" Pulling away from her, Blair glanced wildly around the room for a phone. Joe pointed it out to him on the desk. Snatching it up, Blair dialed the number for Jim's cell phone, then just as quickly hung up as he got the user unavailable message. Panicking now, he tried the loft, and was relieved to get a busy signal "Thank you, thank you!" he said fervently, rolling his eyes heavenward. Taking a deep breath, he called the station and asked for Simon.
"Banks," came the short reply.
"Simon, this is Blair, do you know where Jim is?"
Puzzled, Captain Banks said slowly, "Yes, he was here about an hour ago, dropping off his paper work, then headed home. Why, isn't he there?"
"I don't know, Simon, I'm not there, I'm in Seacouver. It's a long story, but I have to have you check on something for me. Is Evan Kendall still in jail?"
"As far as I know, why?"
Blair swallowed with difficulty. "I just found out he was seen on Rainier campus yesterday. Just check for me, Simon, please. Call me on my cell phone when you get an answer." He glanced at Dee, and she nodded. "We're on our way back to Cascade right now."
While Blair had been on the phone, Dee had taken over the computer, printing out all the records on Phillipe Seis, AKA Evan Kendall. Grabbing them off the printer, she snatched up her trench coat and gave Joe a peck on the cheek. "I'll call you later, let you know how this turns out."
Rising to his feet, Blair hung up the phone, and followed Dee out the door. Hearing the exit to the bar close behind them, Joe picked up the phone, and dialed a number. "Judy, I know I told you that you could have today off, but something's come up. Diandra is on her way back to Cascade now. You can probably pick her up at her apartment in about an hour. Thanks, Judy." He set the receiver back in the cradle and rubbed his hand over his eyes. He hoped whatever deity Diandra believed in was looking out for her, looking out for her and Blair both.
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The searing pain in his side woke Jim. Finding the pain dial, he turned it down to a dull roar, and tried to sit up. The scrape of metal on concrete filled his ears, and he was aware of a heavy weight around his neck. Deciding a sitting position wasn't such a good idea, he remained prone, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light. He was in a small, windowless room, the only light coming from under the door. It was completely empty, except for him, and a thick chain that stretched from a ring in the wall to a metal collar around his neck. Both ends of the chain were fastened in place by strong padlocks. As he surveyed the room, he could see that it was oddly shaped, almost a pie slice, the wall at his back being the curve of the slice, and the door opposite him the point.
He examined his injury next, noting that his captors had at least bandaged it, though the gauze they'd taped over it was stiff with blood, and he could feel the precious liquid still oozing from the wound, though at a much slower rate than before. It didn't take someone with his training, though, to realize that if he didn't get medical attention soon, he would most likely bleed to death.
Turning up his hearing, he noticed a faint roaring sound, like when he put a seashell to his ear. Focusing on it more closely, he realized it was the sound of the surf striking some kind of breakwater, but where along the miles of Cascade coastline he was, he couldn't tell. He turned his attention to the sounds inside the building, and located three voices, most likely the men who had kidnapped him. He listened to their conversation for a few minutes, and realized he had not been the real target of their attack. One of them, the leader by the sound of it, was bent on revenge against Sandburg. Jim had just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they had taken him to use as bait.
"Be safe, Chief, please be safe," Jim whispered to whatever gods were listening. "When you find out I'm missing don't do anything stupid, let Simon know, let him handle it." Exhausted, Jim closed his eyes, and fell into a feverish sleep.
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Dee steered the Jeep rapidly toward Cascade, the speedometer hovering 15 miles over the sped limit, while Blair continued to try to get Jim on the phone. The line at the loft was still busy, and he was almost sure something had happened to Jim. As he clicked the disconnect button, the phone chirped, and he answered it with an anxious "Jim?"
"Sorry, Sandburg, it's Simon."
"Simon, Jim's in trouble, I know it. I've been getting a busy signal at the apartment for the last half hour."
"I've got some men on the way over there now. You were right about Kendall. He was supposedly killed in a prison fight three days ago, but then his body disappeared from the morgue. They're thinking the whole thing was a ruse for him to escape. I'll call you back as soon as I know anything more. Hang on just a minute." Simon put Blair on hold for what seemed like an eternity, then came back on the line. "Jim's not at the loft, but it looks like there was a struggle, and his truck's parked out back. I'm leaving for there right now, Blair."
Blair glanced at Dee. "Tell him 15 minutes, Lobo," she said, edging the gas pedal closer to the floor, the Cherokee leaping ahead.
Relaying the info to Captain Banks, Blair laid the cell phone in his lap, his fingers tightening around it. "I should have been there, I should have been there," he whispered.
"You can't blame yourself, Lobo," Dee told him, her voice gentle. "If you had been there, Jim might be fine, but you would most likely be dead. I don't think Jim would find that an acceptable alternative and neither do I." Blair glanced up at her, finding her eyes a strange contradiction of love and rage. "If anything's happened to him, we will find him. And Kendall is mine." The intensity on her face at those words was frightening, and Blair was suddenly very glad this fierce warrior was on his side.
Diandra made a little better time once she was inside the city limits than she thought she would, and she was pulling to a stop in front of the loft ten minutes later. Blair was out of the car and running up the stairs before Dee had the engine turned off. She followed him inside a few minutes later, bringing their bags, and dropping them off in her apartment before crossing the hall.
He stood in the open doorway of the loft, watching the forensic team at work. Simon was just inside the door, talking on the phone, gesturing with an unlit cigar. Dee came up behind Blair sliding her arm around his waist and squeezing reassuringly. "Have they... " she started, and then she caught a whiff of blood. "Auggh," she said, putting her hand over her mouth and turning away. Cursing under her breath, she tried to turn down her sense of smell.
She felt Blair's hand on her arm, as he came out of his shell-shocked state long enough to help her. "Turn the scent dial down, Dee," he said gently, his other hand rubbing her back. She almost had it under control when Captain Banks noticed them.
"Sandburg!" he bellowed. "What's that civilian doing in here? Get her out of here, now!"
"Simon," Blair began, then stopped as he realized his voice had cracked.
Dee looked up at the tall black man. "We'll be over in my apartment," she said, taking charge of the situation. "Please let us know when you're finished in here." She led Blair across the hall and inside 308, leaving the door open.
Dee took a seat on the sofa, where she could keep an eye on the activity across the hall. Blair paced anxiously, berating himself for being unable to stop what had happened to his partner. Coming to a halt in front of her, he finally voiced his darkest fear. "There's an awful lot of blood in there, Dee. Do you think he's... ." He couldn't say the words.
Grasping his wrist, she pulled him down next to her on the couch. "No, no, I don't, Lobo. Believe me, you would know it if he were dead. In here," she said, placing her hand on his chest. "It would hurt like nothing you've ever felt in your life. You don't feel that way do you?" He shook his head. "Then the connection is still there. If your police friends don't come up with anything, we can use that connection to find him."
"What if we're too late?" Blair said. "What if we don't find him in time? We don't even know how long he's been gone, how long he's been hurt."
Sliding an arm around his shoulders, Dee pulled him into a comforting embrace. He resisted at first, then collapsed against her. "We do know how long he's been injured, Blair. I'm betting he was hurt at the same time you felt that pain in the gym. That was a little over three hours ago. The trail is still fresh, and I'm sure your friends will find something to go on."
Blair shook his head, wanting to believe in the kind of spiritual connection she was talking about, but at the same time afraid to put his trust in something he couldn't test or measure. He felt her fingers stroking his hair, and he buried his face in her neck, letting her strength support him. He could hear her whispering softly to him. He couldn't catch all the words, but it sounded like she was telling him to take half her strength, and she would take half his pain. Her offer sounded so tempting... he was so scared for Jim, so afraid of losing him. He couldn't imagine his life with out the detective in it. "Please, Dee," he whispered, "please help me."
Her hand moved from around his back to grasp his. Bringing their clasped hands up between them, she concentrated, and spoke a few words in a language he couldn't understand. Even through his closed eyelids, he could see the point where their hands met glow with a soft blue light. The moment was over so quickly, Blair thought he must have imagined it, yet somehow his heart no longer felt quite as heavy as it had. He glanced up at Dee, and she smiled and kissed his forehead gently. "'Tis done," she said. "We are bound."
For a brief moment, Blair felt panic. "Jim, what about Jim?" he asked anxiously, suddenly afraid he had entered into something that would drive the sentinel out of his life.
"Jim is right here," she reassured him, once again putting her hand over his heart. "And right here," she said as she put his hand on her chest. "Three is a powerful number, Lobo. I am now bound to you, and through you to Jim." A small frown flickered on her lips. "Though Jim might take exception to that idea."
Blair had a hundred more questions, but at that moment Simon stuck his head in the door. "We're all through in there, Sandburg. Rafe and Brown got the description of a van one of your neighbors saw parked outside most of the night. One of the men in it fits the description of Kendall. We're trying to trace the van now."
"Thanks, Simon," he said, suddenly feeling like he had some control over the situation. Rising, he held out his hand to her. "Come on, Dee, I want us to go over the loft the way I would with Jim. Maybe we can find something they missed." She followed him across the hall, putting her champion senses in the guide's capable hands.
Simon came back upstairs after giving instructions to his men, wanting to reassure Sandburg that they were doing everything they could to find Ellison. What he saw when he entered the loft gave him a shock. The Pallas woman was crouched on the floor near the slowly drying pool of blood. Blair knelt next to her, one hand on her back, speaking to her in a voice Simon knew from experience was pitched for Sentinel ears only. His first thought was, "My god, Jim was right to mistrust her; she is another Alex Barnes." He almost said so out loud, but Blair and Dee had gotten to their feet, and he was leading her to another area of the apartment. He could see Blair asking her a question, and her shaking her head.
"Okay, Dee," Blair said, "I guess that's enough. If there's nothing here, there's nothing here. We'll have to hope Simon comes through with that van."
"I'm sorry, Lobo," she said. "I've never gone over a crime scene before. I don't know what I'm looking for, hell, I could have found something, and not know it."
"It's okay," he reassured her. "I know you, if there was anything here, we would have found it. Thanks for trying." He brushed the back of his fingers along her cheek, in what Simon thought to be an peculiarly intimate gesture for two people who were neighbors, or even sentinel and guide. It looked more like a lover's caress.
Dee became aware of his presence. Her back stiffened, and she let go of Blair's hand. She inclined her head an inch in Banks' direction, and Blair turned toward Simon.
He was clearly flustered by his captain's appearance. "Uh, sir, we were... uh... "
Captain Banks decided to cut through the bullshit. Explanations could wait until after they found Ellison. "Did you find anything we missed?"
"No, sir," Blair replied.
Simon glared at both of them, noticing that Sandburg fidgeted under his gaze, but Diandra met his eyes calmly, her expression neutral. "Well, let me know if you come up with anything, and I'll do the same." Turning, the tall man left the apartment, heading back to the station to supervise the search.
"Oh that's just great," Blair said in disgust, as soon as Simon was out of earshot. "Depending on how long he was standing there, he probably has a pretty good idea you're a Sentinel."
Shrugging, Dee said, "It doesn't matter now. Finding Ellison is the important thing. Come on." Leading him back across the hallway to her apartment, she closed the door behind them, then led him into the center of the studio, pulling a workout mat down on the floor. Taking a seat on the mat, she motioned for Blair to do the same.
Once she had them both sitting face to face in a cross-legged meditation position, she allowed him to ask his questions. "What are we doing? How is this going to help us find Jim?"
"We're going to use that connection we've talked about... ."
"I can't, I don't know how... " Blair protested. "Hell, half the time I have no idea what I'm doing as a Guide; I just make it up as I go along. Jim deserves better... "
Dee grasped his fluttering hands and rubbed her thumbs gently over the backs of them. "Blair, you have to trust in yourself. I know you can do this. You've walked the spirit world before, what makes this so different?"
Shaking his head furiously, he said, "No, no I haven't. That's always been Jim's thing; he's been the one with the visions and the jaguar... I don't have that power... Incacha made me Jim's Shaman, but he didn't have time to teach me what to do... " He was beginning to hyperventilate.
Reaching up, Dee clasped the back of his neck, forcing him to focus on her words. "If you don't have faith in yourself, do you have faith in me?"
Blair nodded slowly. "I don't know... I... you were a priestess, right, that's what you said... "
"Yes, I was a priestess. I've walked the spirit path more than once. But I'm not Jim's soulmate, you are. I can take us there, but you're the only one who can find him."
"And what if I can't? What if Jim dies because we can't find him in time?" Blair's voice had taken on a panic-stricken edge.
Dee captured his face in her hands. "Lobo, Blair, do you trust me?"
His tear-filled eyes met her electric blue ones. Searching for any sign of doubt in them, he found only a quiet confidence, and a strength he wished he possessed. "Yes," he finally whispered, "I trust you."
She nodded then, satisfied with his answer. "Then we will find him." Taking his hands in hers once again, she said, "Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Let out all the tension, all the fear with each breath. Relax, and find your center."
After a few minutes, Blair felt the familiar calm settle over him. "I'm ready," he said.
"Good, just close your eyes and let your spirit go. Th
ere's nothing to be afraid of, I will be your anchor." So saying, Diandra began to chant in what Blair had come to recognize as ancient Greek.
Closing his eyes, he felt everything fade away, except for the warmth of Dee's hands still clasping his own, and then even that security vanished. Frightened, he opened his eyes. The sights, sounds and smells of hundreds of plants and animals assaulted his senses. Turning around slowly, he saw trees surrounding him on all sides, extending so high over head they blocked out the sun, relegating his vision to shades of black and white. No path or trail marred the unbroken foliage.
"Now what?" he said aloud, and jumped in surprise when it came out as a growl. For the first time, he took a good look at himself. In place of the clothes he'd been wearing, there was now fur. Lots and lots of silver fur. He raised one hand, and a paw lifted from the dirt floor of the forest. Terrified now, he opened his mouth and screamed. A blood-curdling howl echoed back at him through the jungle.
