by Simone Bern
By the time she left for home the rain had eased to a light sprinkle. Lee hurried along the street, just wanting to get to her apartment. At least tomorrow she could sleep in. It was Friday, her day off, and she had absolutely no plans. She was looking forward to a lazy day hanging around at home. Jeremy probably wouldn’t come see her until dinner. Thinking about Jeremy, she remembered her promise and the spell planted next to the flowers. With a sigh she turned away from the apartment and trudged back to the park.
Lee put her hand over the soil where she had left the girl’s hair and called up her spell again. Immediately she sensed the connection. Her head jerked to the east. The girl had touched the earth in that direction. It was not a fixed point, which meant the girl had moved around and then gone inside somewhere. Hope that the girl was still alive flared in her. Lee dug out her cell phone and dialed Jeremy’s number as she walked toward home. No answer. Maybe he was getting some sleep. She knew he planned to work through the night again. Lee left a hurried message, already making plans.
Fifteen minutes later Lee was pulling out of the underground parking garage on her motorcycle. The drizzle and road spray made for wet riding and poor visibility. It was on days like these when she regretted not having a car. If Alicia had been home she would have asked to borrow her Volvo. Unfortunately Alicia worked ‘til ten on Thursdays. Lee wasn’t going to wait when there was an eleven-year-old girl out there somewhere.
She made her way onto the Trans-Canada highway heading toward the Port Mann Bridge. It was past rush hour but there were still a lot of cars on the road. The bridge was a terrible bottleneck and plenty of people worked late just to miss the worst of the traffic. She turned off the highway just before the bridge, going east toward Mission. Her eyes fixed on two jagged peaks jutting into the clouds. She was sure the girl was somewhere back there.
Lee followed the memory of the girl’s presence down progressively more rural roads. Feeling a need to check her direction again, Lee pulled off the road and parked her bike. The wet leather glove clung to her fingers as she tugged it off. Lee crouched down and put her bare hand on the ground. A fuzzy patch of light blossomed inside her head and she stood to stare straight ahead. She was going in the right direction.
Before she got back on the bike she checked her phone for messages. There were none. She frowned. It was after eight. Jeremy should be at work by now. Maybe he got held up with something or was following but hadn’t bothered to try to call her back. She eased the motorcycle onto the road and continued along the ethereal trail laid down by her spell.
Lee turned off onto a rough gravel road and winced as she hit the first pothole. Her bike wasn’t meant for off-road riding. Every bump jarred her arms and the slick rocks jolted the front wheel, making steering difficult. She kept on, stopping only once at a juncture to confirm which track to follow. A few miles later the thread she was following tugged her to the right into the untracked bush. Lee parked the bike and touched the ground again to be sure her mental trace was still leading her the right way. The girl was somewhere ahead, through the trees. She tugged the glove back on. Her hands were chilled from the ride and even wet leather was warmer than nothing.
Wet mulch squished beneath her boots and branches brushed droplets of water into her hair and down the back of her jacket. She shivered. Not much farther, maybe just over the next small rise. Lee hauled herself up over a slimy boulder and staggered a few steps before she jerked to a halt. There was a trail here, faint and getting crowded by the lush greenery but still a discernable track. It made sense that there would be an easier way in. The kidnapper probably hadn’t beat his way through the soggy undergrowth.
Her head snapped up. Someone was hurt, crying. Lee hurried along the trail, not sure yet what she would do but knowing that she had to get there. Ducking under another thin, water-beaded branch, she froze. The light was fading into the gray of a long northern summer night but the cabin was an obvious dark patch through the trees. She could hear the crying more clearly now but her other senses told her far more. The girl was caught up in such pain and fear that she yearned for release. And a man was getting very excited, sucking up the girl’s pain like a pitiless black hole.
Lee crept closer to the cabin, wondering what her next move should be. She could open up the earth and break the small wooden shack but that might hurt the girl as well. The windows were boarded shut so she couldn’t see inside. There was nothing for it. Either he had to come out or she would have to go in. Lee took a deep breath.
“Hello. Is someone hurt? Can I help you?” she shouted. Her voice sounded shockingly loud. The crying stopped. A spike of fear and anger then the door banged open.
“Who the hell are you?” A balding middle-aged man scowled at her. He was shirtless and his belly showed soft rolls of pale flesh above dirty jeans.
“I-I was hiking in the area, heard someone crying. Is everything all right in there?” she asked and moved slowly forward.
He glared at her for a few seconds then answered, “My daughter fell down and hurt herself is all. Damn fool kid always crying over nuthin’. None of your business anyway.”
“I’ve got a first-aid k—”
“I said, none of your business.” There was clear menace in his tone.
“I don’t know. She sounded really hurt.” Lee took another step and started to tug off her right glove. If she could only get close enough to touch him. That naked chest provided such an easy target. “Let me take a look at her. I’m a nurse.”
She froze, the glove still stubbornly clinging to her fingers, and stared at the gun in the man’s hand. Her gaze shifted up to his face. The man was grinning at her, his teeth showing faintly yellow in the dim light.
“I think maybe you’d better come inside then. Seeing as you’re so curious and all.” He gestured with the gun and stepped aside so she could walk past him. “Hold your hands out where I can see ‘em.”
She couldn’t think of anything to do except follow his instructions. If only she’d thought to take her gloves off sooner, or better yet her boots so she could draw on the earth’s full power. Too late now. Lee stepped through the doorway and gasped. The girl was naked, strung up against the back wall. Shallow cuts oozed blood all over her flat chest and belly. A bruised face peered at her through a tangled mess of long blonde hair.
“Now hold those hands closer together so I can tie them up properly. I’ll have to string you from the beam…seeing as I’m already using my wall hook.”
Lee turned and looked at him, shaking with the horror of what was in front of her. Taking advantage of her unsettled state of mind, he grabbed her hands and crushed the wrists together. A nylon rope expertly bound her hands before she could react. Stupid. Bloody stupid of her not to take advantage of that moment when he put his weapon down.
“A nurse, eh? I’ve never had me a nurse before. And you’re pretty enough. Too old for me but you’re here and I might as well make use of you, eh?” The man was babbling with a sickening good cheer as he tossed the other end of the rope over the central support beam. He yanked on the rope and her arms were jerked up into the air, almost pulling her off her feet. She let out a yelp of anger and pain. Excitement and desire stirred in him.
“Now then, let see what’s underneath all this leather.” He unzipped her jacket.
She urged him silently on, waiting for the moment when he touched her bare flesh. But he just pulled the flaps of her jacket apart and turned away. She let out a small hiss of surprise.
“Hey, missy, you watch this now,” he said to the bruised girl, brushing the hair away from her face almost gently. The child winced away from him but didn’t say anything. “See what I can do when I’m not being nice, like I am with you.”
He looked over his shoulder and grinned at Lee. “You like sharp knives, nursie?”
He gestured and she could not resist following the line of his arm to a small table next to the sagging cot in the corner. The table held half a dozen knives of different
sizes and shapes.
Lee’s knees almost buckled and she knew that an audible whimper had escaped her lips. Pleasure surged through the man at her frightened noise. He left the girl and approached the table. He made a show of examining first one knife then another.
“What-what are you going to do to me?” she asked in a hoarse whisper. If he got off on her fear then she would give it to him. Anything to make him come closer. Sooner or later he would touch her.
“I’m going to peel your skin off inch by inch,” he said, approaching her with a long, thin knife. “I’ll start there,” he pointed to her breast with the blade, “and end there.” The knife dropped down to her crotch.
“I was hiking with a group. They’ll be looking for me,” she said desperately, knowing he would see it for a lie but he would expect her to try a bluff.
He chuckled. “Sure they are. Which is why they let you go off on your own to follow the sound of someone crying. Nah. You’re out here on your own. Stupid city bitch. So sure that your cell phone will get you out of any trouble. Yeah. Now where is that phone?”
He started fumbling through her jacket pockets. He found the small flip phone easily, dropped it onto the floor and stomped on it. “Hate to have one of those things go off when it’s just starting to get interesting.” He smiled at her and stroked her neck with the flat of the blade. The knife angled down and sliced through her t-shirt like it was made of cobwebs. It bit into the curve of one breast and she let out a gasp of pain.
“Ahhhh…” He let out a small satisfied sigh. His eyes moved down to watch the blood welling out of the cut.
She could feel the hot liquid trickling down her belly. A jagged excitement was mounting in him. This was turning him on big-time. He lifted the knife again and rested it against her collarbone. His knuckles were almost brushing her skin. She tried to shift so that they would touch but he angled his hand away. The blade bit into flesh again and she whimpered.
The cuts kept coming until Lee found it hard to hold on to her purpose, hard to even remain conscious. Finally it happened. He dropped the knife to undo the closure of her jeans. He yanked her pants down and reached for her panties. Fingers slid against her skin, offering the opening she’d been praying for. Lee dove into his mind. She reached into the darkest corners of his twisted psyche and found his worst nightmare. Ignoring what he was doing to her blood-slickened body, she spat out the spell.
Chapter Fourteen
Jeremy dialed Lee’s number for the fourth time. He cursed quietly in response to the mechanical voice of the answering service. Dropping into the chair by his desk, he punched the buttons of his phone to replay the message she had left for him, somehow hoping that it would have changed. His scowl grew even deeper. Lee was following her magic out into the middle of fucking nowhere.
“Weren’t you just here a few hours ago?” Eric asked through the open doorway.
“What? Yeah.” Jeremy grabbed his coat and shouldered past the big man.
“Where’s the fire?” Eric asked, following him.
“I have to go after Lee. She’s out in the bush near Golden Ears Park. Left a message nearly an hour ago giving some half-assed directions. And she’s not answering her cell.” Even with the sirens on it would take him half an hour to get to her last position…if he could find the damn place.
“Why the hell would she do that? Hiking in the rain and at night?”
“She’s following some clues to the missing girl.” Jeremy shot his friend a sharp look, wondering how much to tell him. “Lee is what you would call psychic.” Eric’s expression didn’t change. “I gave her some of the girl’s hair and apparently she got a-a reading off it today. The bloody little fool is out there looking for the girl. By herself. In the dark.”
“Oh shit.”
“Yeah, so I’ve got to run.”
“I’m coming. Your partner isn’t here and you need backup.”
Jeremy didn’t even need to think about it. He slapped Eric on the shoulder and said, “Thanks, man. But I’m driving.”
Eric nodded.
By the time they drove over the bridge Eric looked a little pale. Some deaf idiot in a green minivan had decided to pull over just as Jeremy was starting to pass on the right. He had slammed on the brakes and swerved around the van with only an inch or two to spare.
“Slow down, Jer. I know you’re worried but it won’t do her any good if we end up in the hospital,” Eric said, anger warring with fear in his voice.
Jeremy’s foot stayed on the gas pedal. “Close your eyes if you have to.”
“The hell I will! I want to see my death coming.”
The car skidded sideways on the wet road as they hit the curve of the exit at full speed. Only Jeremy’s fast reflexes kept them on the pavement. He recited Lee’s directions in his mind. An Esso gas station followed by a pizza place. Christ, why couldn’t she just use street names like everyone else? Still, when the gas station came up he had to admit it was an obvious turn. Soon they were following a twisty narrow road through progressively more rural surroundings. Jeremy slowed down. No point missing the next turn.
“Here it is,” he said and swung the car onto a gravel road. The pasture with the dilapidated barn had been a good clue as well.
“You’re sure? I don’t know that this leads anywhere,” Eric asked uncertainly.
“Yeah. I’m sure. Lee’s directions were pretty good actually. There’ll be a fork in the road and we go to the right.”
Sure enough the road split in two. Jeremy grinned with satisfaction. Almost to the spot of her last call.
Gravel flew as he hit the brakes. The car came to a rest beside a low black motorcycle. Jeremy scrambled out of the car and examined the ground around Lee’s bike.
“She went that way,” he said, pointing into the brush. Her path was clear—tumbled rocks, a muddy print, bent grass. He wondered if it would be as easy to follow her once they got into the forest.
“Christ, Jer. We need to call the dog team. They’ll be able to track her.”
Jeremy nodded. “You do that and wait for the team, I’m going in as far as I can.” He could track Lee better than any dog. Hell, he had her smell imprinted on his brain.
“Not much point trying to follow her, Jer. You’ll get lost in there.”
“Nah. I have an unerring sense of direction.”
Eric looked at him with sympathy. “Guess you can’t just sit here and wait, eh, buddy? Go ahead then but be careful.”
Jeremy flashed him a grin and set off after Lee.
The forest was already captured by the deepening gloom of approaching nightfall and the rain had wiped out many of the marks. After a few minutes he gave up using his eyesight. Stripping off his clothes, he tied them into a tight bundle. With teeth clenched against the pain, Jeremy shifted. Clamping the bundled clothing in his strong jaws, he loped off through the brush.
He dropped his stuff, not caring whether it landed in mud or musty leaves, and his sensitive canine nose found Lee’s scent. The ripe peach smell was barely perceptible but the scent of wet leather and motorcycle exhaust was easy to follow. Picking up the awkward bundle of clothing, Jeremy loped along the trail. Every minute stretched into eternity until the trail ended at a boarded-up cabin. Peeling brown paint and moss creeping up the sides indicated that small hut hadn’t been taken care of in a long while. Still, the place clearly wasn’t abandoned. There was a light on inside and he could hear a girl softly crying. He hesitated. It wasn’t Lee crying.
A scream ripped through the air, filled with such terror that Jeremy jerked back snarling, his hackles raised. He dropped the bedraggled package of clothing and launched himself at the door. The decaying wood splintered easily and he landed with a hard thump on the floor of the cabin. The pungent smell of fresh blood surged into him. A girl’s scream rose above the now-muffled shrieks of a man staggering backward, bloody hands raised to his face. Jeremy’s eyes fixed on the woman hanging from a rope, her leather jacket partially covering t
he angry red slashes across her breasts and belly. Blood had been smeared down her naked thighs.
Consumed by fury, he leaped for the man.
“No! Leave him!”
Lee’s voice rang out while he was airborne. Jeremy managed to snap his jaws shut before he tore the man’s throat out. Still, his weight knocked him over, sending them both down in a heap. Jeremy stood on the man’s chest, snarling. It took every ounce of his control to refrain from savaging the body beneath him. He turned and glared at Lee, silently demanding an explanation.
“Please…go,” she whispered.
He growled at her and raised his lips to show sharp teeth. She would stop him from this kill? The smell of her blood was driving him nearly mad.
“Listen to me, my brave, beautiful wolf.” Her eyes begged him to understand. “He is already dead or nearly so. There is no need to risk yourself.”
Jeremy realized she was right. The man’s whimpering had stopped, the chest no longer rose or fell. With a frustrated snarl he stepped off the man, threw one more agonized glance at Lee and ran outside. Snatching up his clothes, he dashed into a thick clump of brush. There he willed the change to come over him. His hands were shaking as he scrambled into his dirty, wet uniform.
Jeremy didn’t have to pretend shock when he reentered the cabin on two legs. The sight of Lee’s sagging, bloody body hit him just as hard the second time.
“Lee!” Jeremy shouted. He grabbed the knife off the floor and cut her bonds.
She smiled wanly at him. “Welcome back, my wolf,” she whispered.
He enfolded her in his arms, she winced and he released her quickly.
She bent and pulled up her jeans, her movements stiff and awkward. He turned away.
“It hurts but I’ll be all right,” Lee said calmly but he could hear the strain in her voice. “Thank you for coming, Jeremy.”
